Man of Honor (Passion in Paradise Book 4) (48 page)

“As kind as the offer
is, Honor, I’m gonna stay here, too.  The brothers… they’re good to us.  Really
good.  They don’t ask us to do anything we’re not completely willing to do and
it’s all a hundred percent consensual.  We truly don’t feel used, honey.  We
feel well cared for and for some of us girls, that’s the first time anybody has
cared for us, period.   And just to put your mind at rest, we don’t
entertain
any brother that has either an old lady, a wife, or is in a committed
relationship.  The boys have a code about that.”

Honor’s shoulders sagged. 
“Well, if you’re both completely sure…you’ll extend the offer to the other two
ladies, won’t you?  Just in case.”

“Sure will,” Aimee
responded gently. 

Clearing his throat,
Wrath looked down at Honor with smiling eyes.  “Still want to come to the
picnic with me or do you think I’m the Devil incarnate now?”

“I still want to go,”
Honor declared softly.  “But, you should know that if I find out
any
of
these sweet ladies are bein’ mistreated, your rivalry with Zeke will feel like
a week at the beach compared to the hell I bring down on your head.”

“Consider me duly
warned,” Wrath grinned.  “Now, let me go get that grill and we’ll get this date
started.”

~~***~~

1:45 pm – Paradise
Town Park

Over two hours later,
stuffed to the brim with hamburgers and potato chips, Honor smiled as she
watched Wrath’s son practice tossing a football with the biker everybody called
Rev.  She thought maybe it had been because the guy was a mechanic at Wrath’s
shop, but Aimee had shared that it was because he’d come from a super religious
family before he fell in with the biker brotherhood.  The guy seemed nice, if a
little standoffish, and Honor had liked him almost instantly.  She’d actually
gotten to meet most of Wrath’s biker brothers today and found herself comfortable
with almost all of them.

But as friendly as
everyone was and as welcome as the whole group made her feel, she missed Zeke
and found herself watching for him to appear.  She supposed today had proven,
unequivocally who she was meant to be with, too.  Because as wonderful as Wrath
was… and he
was
definitely pretty great… she definitely wasn’t attracted
to him.  There was no tingle when he touched her.  There was no belly flip when
he smiled in her direction.

Simply put, there was
just no spark between them at all.

He knew it, and so
did she.

The good news was
that the heavily muscled man seemed perfectly content to just be her friend.

The only pall on
their afternoon together had been the three blocked hang-up phone calls she’d
received while they’d been having lunch.  On the third call, Wrath had taken
the phone from her hands and made a few snarled threats to the heavy breathing
caller on the other end.

The caller hadn’t
rung her again.

So far.

She refused to think
about who’d been on the other end of the call.  Not on a day as beautiful as
today.

Turning her head
toward him when Wrath dropped to sit on the blanket she spread out for them on
the ground and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, Honor smiled.  “You know,
don’t think I didn’t notice you avoiding my question earlier,” she remarked,
picking up the discussion they’d been having before he’d been called away to
talk to one of his longtime customers at the garage.  “I’m not going to forget
I asked the question, Wrath,” she chided.

“I never promised to
answer that question, Honor,” Wrath countered, grinning at her. 

“You said you were an
open book… ask you anything, I believe you said,” she parroted, deepening her
voice to try and replicate his. 

“I never said I’d
answer, though,” he replied with a chuckle.

“Is it bad?” Honor
questioned, curling her nose.  “Something like Angus or Buford?”

Wrath made a gagging
noise and shook his head.  “Nothing quite so hideous,” he denied with a wide
grin.  “But I’m enjoying your guesses.”

“Carl.  Dunston. 
Edgar.  Frederick,” she continued to guess.

Wrath laughed out
loud.  “Very nice.  Try Gideon, Little Girl,” Wrath shared.

Honor’s eyes lit up. 
“Gideon McKay,” she breathed.  “That’s a great name!”

“Thanks, but I prefer
Wrath,” he returned, lifting a hand to wave at his cheering son as Rev missed
the pass and the football went sailing past him.

“Because it strikes
fear in the hearts of your enemies?” Honor teased bright eyes. 

“Something like that,
sweetheart,” Wrath agreed, squeezing her shoulders gently as someone cleared
their throat loudly behind them.  “Now, it’s my turn for a question.  How long
you gonna keep our dutiful Sheriff hanging by the skin of his teeth while you
make up your mind about bein’ with him, Dollface?  I’m happy to take you out
any time you like, but I get the distinct feeling that it’ll never be anything
more than it is right now.  Two friends hangin’ out together.   Don’t get me
wrong.  I enjoy the hell out of watching Zeke dangle out there all exposed and
vulnerable before the town populace while he waits for you to decide if you
want him, but even I’m beginning to feel sorry for the guy.”

Honor coughed to hide
her laugh.  “That’s not very nice,” she chastened her date in a hushed voice. 

“Babe, I’m not a real
nice guy, and you are avoiding the question on the table,” Wrath pointed out
bluntly.

“Up until recently, I
wasn’t sure that I could be with any man, Wrath,” Honor informed him quietly. 
“I was scared and confused.  And then, I wasn’t.  Mostly because Zeke has the
patience of a saint and waited for me to be ready.  Then, my therapist didn’t
want me making any quick decisions and insisted I go on these stupid dates…”

“And now?” Wrath
asked nosily.

“And now I know.”

“Know what?”

“For Faith, it was
Cain.  For Harmony, Jake.  Everyone always knew that Abel was for Patience. 
And now, I know that, for me, it is and always will be Zeke.”

Wrath’s face split
into a wide grin.  “’Bout damn time, girl.  ‘Bout time!” he exclaimed, hugging
her to his side as the sound of a man clearing his throat loudly stilled them.

“McKay, you’ve got
about three seconds to either remove your arm from my woman or lose it
entirely!”

~~***~~

2:00 pm – Paradise
Town Park

Zeke

As soon as Ezekiel
Monroe spotted Honor and Wrath in the crowded park, his jaw clenched and his
spine straightened.  There, no more than twenty paces away, sat his woman in
the curve of another guy’s arm.  “Son of a bitch,” he bit out under his
breath.  Late by a half hour, he’d been waylaid by at least eighteen people
since climbing out of his SUV and setting off on his mission to find Honor in
the busy picnic area beside the man-made duck pond.

He was hot. 

He was sweaty. 

And, finally, he was
well beyond being irritable. 

Now, walking up on
this fucked up bullshit?  That was his breaking point.  The final fucking
fragile-assed straw. No way was he keeping his cool this time.  He didn’t care
how pissed Honor got when he called Wrath out for this crap, he thought
indignantly as he watched Honor bury her red, laughing face in Wrath’s side as he
said something in her ear to make her laugh.

Stomping toward the
pair, his gaze narrowed to the hand Wrath had cupped around Honor’s delicate
rounded bare shoulder.  Barely controlling the urge to rip that hand from the
other man’s body, his voice was rough as he commanded, “McKay, you’ve got about
three seconds to get your fuckin’ meat hooks off my  woman or lose it
entirely!  It’s your choice.”

Turning to look over
his shoulder, Wrath shot the sheriff a lazy grin.  “Maybe she likes having my
hands on her, Zeke.  Ever think of that?”

Bolting to her feet
before blood could be shed, Honor whirled to face a fuming Ezekiel.  “Ignore
him, Zeke,” she ordered tersely, offering Wrath a look that clearly said she
was wondering if he’d lost his mind.

“Well, Kitten, that’s
gonna be hard for me to do since I want to rip his face off for touching you. 
And in the interest of full disclosure, I’m not too thrilled that you were
allowing his hands anywhere near you.”

“We’re just friends,
Zeke,” Honor replied truthfully, taking a half step closer to him.

His bad temper was
rapidly approaching the boiling point, and Zeke’s eyes narrowed on her.  “That
so?” he snapped.

“Yes.  That’s so,”
she returned, lowering her voice as she closed the distance between them. 

“You were letting him
hold you,” Zeke retorted, unwilling to let go of his anger despite the fact
that she slipped her small hand into his. 

“No, I was leaning
against him,” Honor disputed him, keeping her voice level and calm. 

“The asshat had his
arm around you,” Zeke further maintained, pulling his eyes from a bored looking
Wrath to Honor’s earnest face.  Damn it, he wasn’t accustomed to these feelings
of jealousy.  Sure, he’d been possessive of Honor for years, considering her
his before she ever technically was.  But damn it, before the last three days,
she’d never given him a fuckin’ reason to feel
jealous
of her
attentions.  Hell, he wasn’t even sure if he’d ever
felt
the brutalizing
sense of resentment he currently had battering at his emotional defenses right
now.  He supposed not since there wasn’t a woman alive – aside from Honor –
that made him feel purely homicidal with rage when he saw another man touching
her.  He couldn’t lie to himself; this freaking
sucked
.

“Friends sometimes do
that, Ezekiel,” Honor contended mildly.  “Doesn’t mean anything.”

“Means a lot when I
do it,” Zeke challenged.  “Doesn’t it?”

“Of course it does. 
Wrath isn’t you, Zeke,” Honor noted in a hushed voice meant for Zeke’s ears
only.  “He’ll never be you.”

Something in the way
she made that statement made Zeke still and turn his head to catch her eyes. 
Seeing the quiet dignity in her gaze, he swallowed and reached for her hand. 
“We’re going,” he bit out as he laced his fingers with hers and pulled her into
his side.

Unfurling his body,
Wrath came to his feet.  “Don’t I get to kiss my date goodbye?” he asked
sulkily, feigning disappointment. 

“That depends.  Do
you have a good dentist on retainer to repair the damage I do when I knock your
teeth down your throat if you get anywhere near her mouth?”

“Zeke!” Honor chided,
tugging at his hand.  “Stop that!”

 “So, that’s how it
is,” Wrath drawled, his grin nearly blinding. 

“Told you.  She’s
MINE.”

“I am not an object,
Ezekiel,” Honor began to bluster.

His eyes blazed as
they met hers.  “You can shut it.  Wrath knows exactly what I mean.  Now,
date’s over, and you and I have plans.  I’ve got a surprise for you back at the
house.”

“You do? What?” Honor
asked, her eyes dilating with excitement.

“Wouldn’t be a
surprise if I told you,” he replied, nodding quickly to Wrath as he began to
lead Honor away.

“Just a second!” she
huffed, quickly pulling her hand from his and running back to Wrath to press a
hasty kiss to his whiskered cheek.  “Thank you for a lovely afternoon, Gideon,”
Zeke heard her murmur.  “I had a good time, but it’s time for me to go home.”

“Home’s a good place
to go when the right person is waiting there, darlin’.  Be happy,” Wrath
returned sincerely as he met Zeke’s wary gaze. 

“Kitten,” Zeke called
as his patience ran completely out.  “We’re going,” he announced more for
Wrath’s benefit than Honor’s.  “Honor?” he called, holding out his hand and
finally relaxing slightly when she flew toward him, her pale green dress
flapping around her shapely legs.

“Let’s go home,
Zeke,” she beamed, her face glowing with excitement.  “Together.”

3:30 pm on July 4,
2016 – The McKinnon Homeplace

Honor

“Climb up, Kitten.”

“You’re crazy, Zeke! 
Do you know how long it’s been since anybody’s been up there?  It’s gonna be
filthy and hot, and we’ll more than likely fall plumb through the floor!” Honor
refused as she tilted her head back and eyed the rickety wooden ladder attached
to the side of the McKinnon family’s ancient dark wooden barn with a mixture of
trepidation and disgust.    Looking over her shoulder at the man in question,
Honor shook her head.  Dang it!  He had that determined look in his eyes.  She
knew it all too well.  It was the look that said he’d stand behind her and take
root if he needed to in order to bend her to his way of thinking.  “You want me
to fall to my untimely death when you’ve worked so hard to keep me safe?”

Zeke snorted.  “Would
I
ever
knowingly place you in danger?  I’ve already checked up there,
darlin’.  The floor is solid.  Now, put that dainty foot on the ladder and step
on it,” he urged, slipping his hand underneath the silky material of her
sundress and stroking the skin at the back of her thigh.  “C’mon, baby, I’ll
give you a boost and be right behind you.  You know I’d never let you fall, and
I’ve made sure it’s safe.  We’re good.”

“What about the
creepy crawlies?  Did you make sure you asked them to depart the premises,” she
mumbled as she put her hands on the ladder and hauled herself up the first
rung.

“I swear, the only
thing crawling all over you when we get up there will be me… and that’s only if
you give me permission,” Zeke returned with a grin.

Bending her head to
look down at him below her, she found his hungry gray eyes glued to her swaying
backside.  “Ezekiel Kinkaid Monroe, put your eyeballs back in your head and
quit starin’ at my behind,” she giggled as she climbed up another rung. 

“Can’t help it.  You
put that pert little bottom in my face, and a man would have to be dead not to
notice,” he muttered, licking his lips as he watched her butt bounce up another
step.

Honor was laughing
when she finally reached the loft’s platform.  Blowing a few tendrils of hair
that had escaped her bun out of her face, her eyes widened when she finally
focused on what was in front of her.  “Oh, my heavens,” she breathed, her
expressive blue eyes widening in delight when she found that her barn’s loft
had been transformed into a romantic outdoor hideaway complete with candles and
outdoor day bed.  Large freestanding fans blew, keeping the interior of the
barn cool and breezy despite the muggy heat outside.  “Zeke,” she babbled in
stunned wonder as her eyes looked around at the idyllic atmosphere he’d created
for her.  “This is gorgeous.  So, gorgeous.  How did you do all this without me
knowing?”

“First of all,” Zeke
returned, climbing into the loft behind her and coming to stand at her side,
“This all might be nice, but you’re the only gorgeous thing up here.”

Blushing, Honor
smiled at the man responsible for her amazing surprise.  “I think you’re wrong,
but thank you.”

“Haven’t you learned
yet that I’m rarely wrong and never wrong at all about how beautiful you are? 
But to answer your question, I did all this the last few nights after you fell
asleep.  Ice helped me lift the outdoor furniture out here, but I set it up. 
No one but you has seen the finished product.  I wanted to give you the perfect
spot to watch the fireworks tonight,” he explained, pointing into the distance
where the fireworks would explode later that evening.  “We’ll be able to see
everything perfectly and still have our privacy.  I’ll be honest; I didn’t want
any nasty crowds horning in on my time with you tonight. So, part of this was
for purely selfish reasons,” he said, gesturing around the loft.

“And what about the
other part?” Honor asked with a soft look at his face.

“Oh, the other part
was so I could see you smile, babe.  I love that smile,” he murmured, lifting
his hand to trace his fingers against her upturned lips.

Gently biting the tip
of his index fingers, Honor’s eyes twinkled.  “Well this surprise deserves a
reward,” she noted softly, sidling closer as she slid her hands over the
defined muscles of his chest, silently cursing the thin white tee shirt
covering his abs.  She could feel every well-defined ridge of his eight pack
and every single touch to his hard body made her lady bits tingle.

“Oh, yeah?” Zeke
grunted, lowering his head until his lips just barely grazed hers. 

“Yes,” Honor declared
with a wispy puff of air a second before her lips met his.  Having Zeke’s mouth
on hers was like receiving an electrical jolt of unadulterated pleasure, and
Honor knew that no matter how long or how hard she looked, she would never find
a joy as pure as this.  Lifting her hands to grip his strong shoulders, she
pressed her body closer to his, loving the way his muscles jumped at the
contact.  Moaning into his mouth as his arms locked around her waist, she met
his tongue eagerly, enjoying his low groan of need as she suckled gently.

“Sweet Christ, you
taste good,” Zeke rasped as he finally drew his lips from hers to pepper kisses
down her jaw to the hollow behind her ear, slowly backing her up until the back
of her legs touched the outdoor bed he’d placed in the center of the loft.  “Let
me take this off?” he requested against her ear as his finger hooked underneath
the thin strip of material holding up her pretty sundress. 

Eager, but nervous,
Honor licked her dry lips and nodded mutedly, gasping a little as Zeke’s teeth
nibbled her collar bone while he pulled her dress’s strap over her shoulders. 
Shivering as the silky fabric pooled at her feet, Honor stood naked except for
her high heeled sandals, white satin panties and strapless bra.  Gripping
Zeke’s hips in order to resist the urge to cover her nude body, Honor forced
her gaze to meet his and the intense need she saw burning in his eyes robbed
her of breath.  “Zeke?” she whispered shakily, biting her lip as his eyes
roamed up and down her body, scalding her with his gaze.

Running the back of
his hand down one of her arms, Zeke paused for a moment to stare at her.  “Not
gonna lie to you, Honor.  I want to make love to you more than I want my next
breath, but the next move is entirely up to you.  I won’t pressure you, but I
can’t deny how much I want to make you mine.”

 Terrified, Honor
knew it was time to bare her soul to this man.  He’d waited long enough for her
to overcome her fears and doubts.  She just prayed she didn’t make a complete
fool of herself.  “I’m already yours, Zeke.  I realized it today when I was
surrounded by a whole club of handsome, friendly bikers trying to get my
attention.”  Smiling when she heard the low growl coming from Zeke’s throat,
she patted his solid chest soothingly and felt the pounding of his heart. 
“Calm down, Ezekiel, before you have a heart attack.  What I finally recognized
this afternoon is that the
only
man I’m interested in spending all my
time with is the one here with me now.  It’s you, Zeke.  It took me a long time
to believe it and even longer to be able to say it, but I know in both my heart
and
my head that it’s you I want.  And the truth is, it was only ever
going to be you.”

“Kitten…” Zeke
breathed heavily, cupping her cheek as she met his eyes.

“I love you,” she
whispered.  “I can see now that it was always you meant for me; I just refused
to see it for so long.  I put on my blinders because I wasn’t sure I could give
you everything a good man like you deserves.  But, now… I know it’ll take work,
and I’ll inevitably make some missteps, but I need to try to have this with
you.”  Lifting a hand to grip the wrist of the hand he held to her face, she
continued, “You waited for me to find my strength, Zeke.  I don’t want to make
you wait any more.”

“God,” Zeke said as
he smiled down at her.  “I’d wait forever if that’s what it took to have you. 
If you need more time before we get more physical with each other…”

Honor giggled as her
face lit up.  “Zeke, if the town’s calculations are correct, you – a man that
I’ll note is in his prime – has abstained from sex for six years.  Honey, I
don’t want to say something coarse in this tender moment between us, but your
balls must be bluer than a berry by now.”

Zeke snorted.  “Let’s
just say that I passed indigo a few months back and we’re rapidly approaching a
shade of cobalt that’s a mite alarming. “

“Sounds serious,”
Honor drawled.  “I certainly don’t think we should wait any longer to handle
that particular problem.”

“You sure, baby?”
Zeke questioned seriously, sliding his hands from her arms to curl around her
hips.  “This is a decision that you only get to make once.”

“I’m sure,” she said
quietly.  “Just be what you always are with me.  Patient and gentle.  Okay?  I
know you’ve been with other women that were more adventurous. I want to be
enough for you, but…”

“Honor, when I look
at you, I can’t remember any other women from my past.  It makes me sound like
an asshole, but I didn’t care about them.  Not the way I should have if I was
sharing their bodies with them. I certainly never loved any of them.  What you
and I have… it’s nothing like the relationships I had in my younger years. 
Those women are a part of my history - one I’m not particularly proud of
having.  But you are the owner of all my tomorrows and the keeper of my
future.   Every time I stare in your eyes, I see all my hopes and dreams coming
true.  So, yes, I know – without any doubt- you are
nothing
like the
women I was with before and I thank God every night for it.  I love you, Honor,
and whether we make love now or not, you will
always
be enough for me. 
I don’t care whether I show that to you with my body or not today… it won’t
change the fact that I get up tomorrow morning and feel this same exact same
way.  You’re not just enough. You’re
everything
to me.”

“Oh, my,” she exhaled
tremulously with hot tears dripping down her cheeks.  

“Don’t cry,” Zeke
growled, his lips moving over her damp cheeks.  “Hate seein’ your tears,
Honor.  I’ve seen you shed enough of them for a lifetime.”

“These ones are
happy, though.  They don’t count,” she assured him with a watery laugh, turning
her head to meet his lips with hers.  “No more talkin’ now,” she whispered
against the corner of his mouth.  “Aren’t the poets always sayin’ that love is
more of a show and less of a tell?  Show me, Ezekiel,” she urged him softly. 
“Show me how much you love me and I’ll try to do the same.”

Honor smiled as Zeke
groaned, his large, capable hands controlling her fall as he guided her body
down to the thick mattress of the outdoor chaise lounge.  Flat on her back and
mostly naked, she bit her lip as she watched him straighten and reach behind
his head to fist the collar of his tee shirt, sweeping it over his head in one
smooth movement and tossing it to the roughly hewn log floor. 

“You’re completely
positive this is what you want, right?” Zeke asked as he held his hand poised
over the metal buckle of his belt.  He waited until she nodded against the
mound of pillows at the head of the bed before unfastening the belt with a few
quick, sure jerks of his hands.  Moments later, Zeke stood beside the double
chaise lounge, his big body held tensely as he waited for her reaction. 
Wearing only a pair of formfitting black boxers that left nothing to the
imagination, he stared down at her with eyes that asked a silent question.

Swallowing hard,
Honor lifted a nervous hand to lightly touch the skin just above his belly
button.   “It’s okay, Zeke,” she said in a hushed voice.  “I’m okay.  Really.”

Leaning over her, he
brushed her lips with his.  “You get scared, you call a halt to things,
Kitten.  I don’t care how deep into this we are.  You want it to stop at any
time, say so.  And I swear, I will not be angry.  You’re in control here.  We
can do as much or as little as you like.  You got me?” he asked, his solemn
gray eyes drilling into hers.

“I’ve got you, Zeke,”
she offered quietly as she looped her arms around his neck.  “Now, I want for
you to come get me,” she suggested with a playful wink as his warm, reassuring
weight began to settle over her. 

“Minx,” he chuckled,
teasingly nipping her earlobe before slowly dragging the tip of his tongue down
her clavicle while one of his hands slid between them to snap open the clasp
holding the twin cups of her simple lace bra together.   

Arching her back as
his heated palm cupped the full weight of her breast in his hand, she gasped
against his mouth as his thumb circled her sensitive areola.  “Mmmm,” she
hummed as he settled between her splayed legs, her core rubbing the hard length
of his erection through his cotton boxers. 

“You like that, don’t
you, baby?” Zeke murmured into her neck, pressing his lips to the drumming
pulse in her carotid.   Using his fingers, he twisted her stiffen nipple
gently, pulling at the turgid bud.  “You want my mouth on them?  You want me to
suckle these pretty nipples?”

“Y-yes,” she replied
in a burst of air as his dark head moved down her body until his lips hovered
over the mounds of her breasts, his hot breath ghosting her skin and pulling
goosebumps to her flesh.