Man of Honor (Passion in Paradise Book 4) (11 page)

She hadn’t deserved a
bullet in the head, though.

And that’s how she’d
died a few months back.  The attorney who’d been in town from Atlanta to
represent Diego Fuentes during his father’s drug trial had been executed in
cold blood in the I Don’t Care Cafe’s parking lot, and her killer was still at
large.  And Zeke couldn’t help this sinking feeling in his gut that the two
crimes - Angie’s murder and Honor’s car wreck - were connected. 

Not that he’d shared
that information with Honor.  Hell, no.  Any kind of link between her and
Angela wouldn’t go over well at all.  The McKinnon sisters were unified in many
things, but their combined hatred of Angela Hastings was legendary.  Add that
to the fact that Honor knew about his long ago, ill-conceived night of play
with Angie -play that he wished like hell Honor had never heard about because
it wasn’t who he was any longer - and to say he avoided mentioning the dead
woman’s name around all the McKinnon girls, but specifically
his
McKinnon
girl, would be an understatement. 

At any rate, he’d
waited Honor out until she nodded off and snuck back into her bedroom after she
was deeply asleep, making his own bed on the loveseat.  His process had worked
out for him pretty well, and his luck held for three nights.  On the fourth
night of staying with Patience and Abel, however, Honor’s nightmares managed to
break through the drugging effects of her pain medicine.   Her harsh screams
had jarred him awake and he had her in his arms before the door crashed to the
bedroom crashed open and Abel filled the doorway.

~***~

“Zeke!” Abel’s
deep voice called, alarmed, as he stood in the darkened hallway outside the
room they’d assigned Honor as her screams died away.  “Is she…”

Holding Honor’s
shivering body securely against his bare chest, Zeke glanced over his shoulder
as Patience joined her man just outside the doorway.  “She’s gonna be fine. 
Just a bad dream,” he deemed huskily as Honor’s warm breath panted against his
chest, her small hands still clinging tightly to either side of his open
shirt.  “Go back to bed, y’all.  I’ve got her.”

“But maybe I
should just…” Patience began to interrupt, her low voice concerned as she took
a half-step inside the room toward them.

“Patience, I love
you, but let me handle this, okay?” Zeke replied, his voice hard but even as
Abel caught the back of his woman’s silk robe and hauled her back against his
chest.

“Zeke’s right,
Hellion,” Zeke heard Abel murmur.  “Let him do his thing and get her calmed
down.”

“I’m okay,” Honor
managed to say tightly.  “Go back to bed, y’all.  I’m sorry for waking you,”
she apologized, peeking around Zeke’s body at where her sister stood with
Abel.  “Really, I’m fine.  Anyway, I need for Ezekiel to explain what in
tarnation he’s even doin’ in here with me anyway!  Unless one of you wanna tell
me why you let him stay in here,” she added with a bit more of her usual
spirit.

“Oooohhhh, dang! 
Did y’all hear that?” Patience asked, pointing toward the stairs behind her. 
“Y’know, I think I hear Harri whimperin’ for her bottle,” she stated quickly, stumbling
over Abel’s feet as she took a step backward.

“And Bronson and
Granger’s dirty diapers won’t change themselves.  Sorry we can’t stay and chat.
Don’t forget, tomorrow’s a big day.  Everybody needs their shut-eye.  See you
in the morning, Zeke.  At least, I hope I will.  G’night, Honor!” Abel declared
with a sheepish grin before he swiftly closed the bedroom door.

Staring at the
closed door for a second, Honor shook her head.  “Those two deserve to spend
the next forty to fifty years together,” she grumbled under her breath.  “I
hope those babies give them both white hair.”

Zeke chuckled as
his arms tightened around Honor.  “Well, their wedding tomorrow should
guarantee that for you, Kitten.  Now, how you doin’?  Has the bad moment
passed?” he asked, lifting a hand to run his fingers through her disheveled
hair.

“It was just a bad
dream, Zeke.  You know I have them more often than not.  I’ve been lucky the
last few nights because that Vicodin the doctors gave me usually knock me out
cold.  I guess I’m getting’ used to them.  But, I suspect you already know all
this, don’t you?”

“How much trouble
am I gonna be in if I tell you the truth?” Zeke asked curiously, relieved to
see a little color returning to her pale cheeks as he shifted her back against
the pillows of the bed and moved to lie beside her on top of the coverlet. 

“Not as much as
you’ll be in if you try lyin’ to me,” Honor clipped back, crossing her arms
over her chest as she turned her head to glare at where his head rested on the
pillows beside hers.  “Honestly, I can’t believe you did this.”

“I don’t see why
not.  Kitten, in my defense, I never agreed that I’d go home when I brought you
here after the hospital.  I’ve also never told you that I wasn’t sleeping on
that loveseat over there at night,” he pointed out with a nod at the
overstuffed piece of furniture on the opposite wall.

“No, you never
said.  I just assumed you’d be smart enough to seek out your OWN bed at night,”
she snapped.

“You know what
they say about assumin’,” he drawled back, his lips kicking up slightly at the
corners as she huffed irritably.

“Ezekiel, this is
unseemly,” Honor groaned, rubbing her forehead tiredly.  “You can’t be in my
bedroom.”

“I’m not.
Technically, this bedroom belongs to Patience and Abel,” Zeke countered
reasonably.

Honor’s eyes
narrowed.  “I’m gonna strangle you, Zeke!  I know YOU know exactly what I
mean.”

Zeke sighed.  “I
do,” he acknowledged softly.  “I just don’t care.”

“That’s goo-… I
mean, WHAT?” Honor balked, her jaw dropping as she rapidly realized what he’d
said to her.

“I think this
might be the third time I’ve told you that I’m done dillydallyin’ where you’re concerned,
Honor.  Someone probably tried to kill you in that car wreck. You had life
threatening injuries and I nearly lost you for the second time in your very
young life.  I’m done trying to give you space to sort out all your feelings. 
I know you’re scared of what I make you feel.  I know you’re terrified of
intimacy.  And I know you are horrified on a daily basis that two of those
soulless pricks that hurt you years ago are still out there, wandering free.” 
Zeke paused as Honor stiffened beside him, her little body going rigid at the
mention of what she’d endured eight years ago.  “Baby, I know all these things
as well as I know my own name, and I swear to you, I’ll have a mind to them.  I
won’t push too hard.  But, I am gonna push, though.  I’m also gonna keep you
safe while we find out who’s tryin’ to hurt you.  And that means that I’m gonna
stick to your beautiful side tighter than a baby clings to his mama’s breast.”

“Z-zeke…” Honor
whispered.

Zeke shook his
head.  “No, Honor.  No amount of arguing or cajoling or bargaining is gonna
change my mind.  See, I made my mind up about us when you were fighting for
your life on an operating table, and nothing you can say or do will change
it.   I’m not going anywhere.  Not now.  Not ever,” he insisted, curling one
arm around her and pulling her tense body against his.  Separated only by the
bedspread, he could feel the fear emanating from her.  “Baby, lay your head
down on my chest and close your eyes.  I’ll keep the bogeyman at bay tonight. 
You just rest and garner your energy to fight with me about this tomorrow.”

And, for once,
Honor buried her head in his neck and did just exactly what he wanted without a
word of complaint.

He should have
known then that her acquiescence was entirely too easy.

December, 2015 –
Christmas Eve

It was a couple more
weeks before Honor felt well enough to try to take a true stand against Zeke,
but when she’d finally mustered the energy and actually done it, it had
certainly been memorable.  And in a true stroke of genius, she’d waited until
his guard had dropped and decided to bolt bright and early on Christmas Eve
morning.

Luckily for the
sheriff, he was intelligent enough to instinctively know where his wayward
woman had run off to in the still dark hours of morning.  Thankfully, he’d
known something was different the moment his eyes had cracked open, the early
morning sunshine filtering through the blinds nearly blinding him when he’d
lifted his head from the pillow and looked across the room to find Honor’s spot
in the bed conspicuously empty.

Don’t ask him how he
knew she was gone, but he did.  It was too still… too quiet, and he’d known
down to his bare toes that wherever Honor was, she wasn’t in the house with
him.  Throwing off his blanket, he didn’t bother folding it as he quickly
sorted himself out, grabbed his keys and headed for his truck.  He frowned when
he noted Patience’s missing vehicle from the driveway. 

It looked like his
little minx could add grand theft auto to her rap sheet, he thought grumpily
while he climbed behind the wheel of his own SUV and took a deep breath. 
Shaking his head, he stared out the window into the cool, clear Christmas Eve
morning.  Now, where the hell would one very agitated woman go to nurse a
growing grudge against him? 

Hell, he’d known
she’d been pissed to high heaven that her sisters had decided to forego the
usual holiday hoopla at the McKinnon family home this year since Honor’s
accident and instead have a simple, smaller Christmas celebration at the café
this year.  Even worse, when he’d refused to take her side in the matter and
suggested that maybe she’d be better served to work on her recovery rather than
her Christmas plans, she’d taken it as an act of betrayal on his part, and for
over a week, his girl had sulked, ignoring every peace offering he’d extended.

He’d tried flowers. 
He’d tried bringing her favorite brand of Rocky Road ice cream.  He’d even
offered to hire a company to come in and decorate the family home for the
holidays so that she and her family could still celebrate the Yuletide season
at the family homestead.

Nothing had swayed
his Honor.

So, it didn’t take a
rocket scientist to contrive where she’d gone on the eve before Christmas.

Zeke smiled.

Why, his wily
she-devil had chosen to go home, of course.

And he was in hot
pursuit of the runaway patient.

Fifteen minutes later
as he parked his Durango behind Patience’s tank of a vehicle, he finally
allowed himself to take a deep breath again.  Because while he’d been convinced
he’d find Honor back at her family’s farmhouse, he hadn’t been able to relax
until he’d been certain.  Seeing the crooked park job that his woman was well
known for, he felt some of the tension seep from his shoulders as he hopped
down from his SUV.

Seconds later,
however, that tension came flood back tenfold when first, he found the back
door unlocked and open for anyone to walk inside and do her harm and then,
found her stubborn ass climbing up on a rickety ladder, straining to open the
pull-down attic trap door in her kitchen despite the incision still healing in
her belly.

Honest to God, the
woman was a walking, talking holiday terror.

~***~

“What in the name
of all fucking HELL do you think you are doing, Honor Grace McKinnon?” Zeke’s
deep voice roared angrily as he stepped over the threshold into the kitchen and
slammed the door shut behind him, rattling the windows with the sheer force he
used.

Jerking sharply as
she heard him, Honor squealed as she lost her footing on the ladder, turning
her head to stare at the sheriff with wide eyes as she struggled to remain
balanced.

Lunging across the
room when he saw her begin to wobble, Zeke barely held back a howl.  What was
it about this woman and taking risks?  “Damn it, woman!  You’re determined to
be the death of me, aren’t you?” he thundered, reaching up to latch his large
hands around the curve of her hips and lifting her insubstantial weight toward
him.  Frowning, he made a mental note to start bullying her into eating more. 
She couldn’t afford to lose many more pounds.  “Honest to God, are you TRYING
to get yourself killed, Kitten?  First, with that damned car wreck you had, and
now with this horseshit you’re determined to pull here,” he ranted, careful not
to hurt her as he lowered her against him until her feet touched the floor. 

Staring into
Honor’s face, Zeke noted her glittering eyes even though she remained silent
and knew he’d pissed her off even more with his question.  But then, he didn’t
much care if she WAS aggravated with him at this point.  Especially since she
seemed intent on driving him nuts with her ill-advised antics.  “Well?” he
growled harshly, his voice loud in the otherwise silent kitchen.  “Tell me. 
What the hell do you think you’re doing, Honor?” he asked, gesturing around the
room.  “You’re out here, in the middle of nowhere – all by your damned self. 
Just like you wanted, right?  So, I gotta know, did you swallow a stupid pill
instead of your vitamin when you got up this morning?” he clipped, his jaw
flexing rhythmically the longer she stood there mutely staring back at him.

“Say something,
damn it!” he demanded sharply, growing even more furious at her obvious
disregard for her safety.  “You put yourself in that kinda danger, I gotta
think it was to do something a whole lot smarter than baking a few treats,” he
continued to reprimand scornfully, sweeping his arm out to encompass the
counters where pans of goodies were laid out to cool.  “Please, God, tell me
you are more intelligent than that!” he demanded as Honor’s temper finally got
the better of her.

“You can shut up
right NOW,” Honor hissed, her cheeks reddening.  “Because I think you’ve said
MORE than enough for the morning, Ezekiel.  I apologize if I alarmed you,
but….”

“Alarmed?” Zeke
yelped, bending his head to stare into her pretty face with darkening eyes. 
“Alarmed is an understatement, Honor.  You scared the shit out of me.  I woke
up and you were GONE!  Sure, I had an idea of where you’d run off to, but I
wasn’t positive.  Drove over here with my heart in my throat, and you wanna
apologize for ALARMING me?  Then, I walk in here and find you admittedly fine
ass up on an old ass ladder, humming a fuckin’ Christmas carol?  Gotta be
honest, my so-called ALARM turned to rage pretty damned quick!  For fuck’s
sake, if you wanted to do some holiday baking, you could have done it at
Patience’s house, Honor.  You know, somewhere I knew for certain you were
SAFE,” he raged, every muscle in his body going tight with anger.

Honor’s chin
jutted out rebelliously and her eyes sparkled like sapphires in the sunlight as
she faced off with Zeke.  “Now, just one cotton pickin’ moment here!  You are
standin’ in MY house.  Unless I’ve broken some kind of law that I don’t know
about by cooking in my own blasted home, I don’t owe you a single explanation,
Sheriff.  Let alone any form of apology,” she snapped in a tone that would have
flayed the skin off a lesser man.

“No!”  Zeke
retorted, shaking his head swiftly as he pointed his index finger at Honor’s
pert nose. “Nuh uh.  You don’t get to do that.”

“What?” Honor
asked, blinking and canting her head slightly to the side, the picture of
undisturbed innocence as she met his gaze unswervingly. 

“Do not use my job
title in an attempt to put emotional distance between us, Kitten.  Don’t you
dare.  You’ve be been doing it for years and I don’t like it and I’ve had more
than enough of it.  It stops here and now.”

Honor arched one
eyebrow.  “Oh, really?” she asked calmly as her eyes narrowed just the tiniest
bit.

“Yes, really, damn
it!  Despite you very best impression of a moron, woman, you KNOW damned good
and well why I was both worried and angry with you.  You nearly died!  For the
second time in your life, you almost… you know what?  Forget it.  I sound like
a fuckin’ broken record.  Suffice it to say, I’m not gonna allow you to be
taken from me for a third time, Honor!   You heard Wrath McKay as well as I did
after Patience and Abel’s wedding.”

“I was there and
I’m not deaf, Zeke.  I heard him fine,” Honor retorted with a glare.

“Then you are
aware that somebody intentionally cut your brake line and tried to KILL you. 
Until I find the son of a bitch that did it, you can’t just go gallivanting off
on your own without leaving so much as a fuckin’ note, goddamn it!” He shouted,
his own face flushing with anger as his heart pounded in his chest.  How he
could love this infuriating creature so damn much and still want to paddle her
ass until it turned cherry red was a mystery.

“Okay, listen up,”
Honor seethed, taking a stiff step forward as she jabbed a finger aggressively
into Zeke’s chest.  “Firstly, I did leave a note, Ezekiel.  One that a blind
man could have found.  It was propped up in front of Abel’s coffee pot and had
your name on the front of it written in big freaking block letters so I’d
suggest you get your facts straight before making accusations, Officer Obtuse!”

“Sorry,” Zeke
sneered.  “I didn’t exactly wander into the kitchen for my morning cup of joe
since my woman was MISSING!”

Honor refused to
be intimidated by his sarcastic comment.  “That’s on you, not me,” she
snapped.  “Secondly, don’t you EVER stand in my momma and daddy’s home and take
the Lord’s name in vain.  I won’t have it – not even from your all-knowing lips
– not in my home.  I don’t know if you noticed, but I did not invite you here,
SHERIFF,” she pointed out, deliberately using his job title again.
“Technically, as far as I can tell, you’re currently trespassin’ on McKinnon
land.  And you know what that means?” she asked in as close to a bitchy tone as
Zeke had ever heard Honor approach.

Zeke shrugged. 
“Enlighten me,” he invited.

“It means that I
could have one of your own deputies lug your sorry, self-righteous tail right
on out of here.  Wouldn’t that be something, lawman?  You’d hate to have to
take up residence in one of your own jail cells, wouldn’t you?”

“Alright, Honor. 
You’ve made…”

Wagging a finger
at him, Honor shook her head, unwilling to absolve him of any of his sin,
perceived or otherwise.   “You just put a cork in it because I’m not near
finished.  I have a third point to make with you, Ezekiel and you need to hear
it.  While I agree with you that, yes, I did almost die, yet a-frickin-gain
when I got in that wreck, I think we can both agree that it was in no way my
fault!  Also, while I am willing to recognize that I MIGHT remain in a bit of
danger, there are, indeed, a couple of pretty important things your thickheaded
self needs clarified once and for all.”

“Is that so?” Zeke
drawled, his voice grave and low as he reminded himself that shaking Honor
until her teeth rattled wasn’t a viable alternative.

“Yes, sir, it
certainly is!” Honor asserted ardently.  “I am over the age of twenty-one,
Sheriff Monroe.  Well past the age of consent in ALL fifty states, I do
believe.  It is completely acceptable for me to be here – in my home where my
name appears on the frickin’ deed – without supervision.  In fact, given my
age, I’m fairly confident that I can be anywhere I choose to be as long as
there aren’t trespassin’ signs posted.  I do not now, nor have I EVER, needed
YOUR permission to do anything,” she maintained, bravely meeting his stony gaze
with her own hard stare. 

“Honor, babe…”

“You can hush up,
Ezekiel!  You got to speak your peace and now it is my turn,” she declared.  “I
left my sister’s home and returned to my own in order to cook and decorate for
Christmas, a holiday that I happen to love.  I want to celebrate HERE in my own
home among my own things in my own way.  While I appreciate Patience and Abel’s
hospitality, THIS is where I live.  I was terribly injured; I know that.  But I
am better now and capable of seeing to my own needs again.  I’m coming HOME. 
That’s MY choice which by law I have every right to make for myself.  It’s NOT
stupid.  I AM NOT STUPID!!!  Be warned that the next time you imply that I am stupid,
you’ll need to form a search party to find your missing head when I knock it
off your arrogant shoulders, you egotistical pig!  Pay attention because this
is MY life.  You don’t get a say in it unless I let you.  And right now, I do
NOT feel very accommodating.  But more than all of that, you need to wrap you
fool head around the fact that you are NOT responsible for me.  I am not your
obligation.  You owe me NOTHING.  You keep blathering on about how you almost
lost me, Zeke, but that’s just not true,” she denied.

Zeke shook his
head at her as inhaled deeply.  “Believe me, Kitten.  I was there for all of
it.  Both eight years AND a month ago.  I did almost lose you.  Both times.”

“No, you didn’t,”
Honor snapped querulously.  “Don’t you see?  I’d have to have been yours to
begin with in order to have lost me, Ezekiel.  And I wasn’t.  Not then. Not
now,” she announced curtly, recoiling slightly when Zeke burst into deep full
belly laughs.