Man of Honor (Passion in Paradise Book 4) (38 page)

Honor slowly lifted
her mortified gaze to him.  “You’ve never seen me without my clothes, Zeke. 
There are scars.  So
many
scars.  They’re raised and bumpy.  Some are
red and raw.  It’s disgusting, Ezekiel.”

“Bullshit.  Every
single one of those marks remind me of one thing, Honor.  One,” he growled,
holding up a finger between them.  “You lived.  You survived.  When all the
odds were stacked against you, you defied modern medicine and every one of
those damned doctors predictions, and you
lived.
  And all those scars
will ever do is remind me of how
lucky
I am to still have you.  Don’t
you
ever
tell
me
you’re ugly because
you’re
the most
beautiful thing in
my
world.  You wanna be scared to share your body
with me because of what happened to you?  I get that.  I can accept
that
. 
But worrying about some marks on your flesh?  I love you, baby, but that’s
insane.”

Honor stared at him a
long time, gauging his sincerity.  “It doesn’t
feel
silly,” she finally
grumbled.

“You need to reassess
your feelings then because I assure you, it’s one of the silliest concerns you
ever had.  Christ, baby, how long have you been agonizing of a worry as
pointless as your scars?” he asked, shoving a frustrated hand through his dark
hair.  “I could have put these fears to rest ages ago, Honor, if I’d known
about it.”

“It’s hard to talk
about,” she revealed in a low voice as her head twisted to look at him.

“Yeah?  Is feeling
like shit alone better than talking it over together with me?” he returned
calmly, reaching up to tenderly tuck her hair behind one ear.  “Baby, you gotta
start getting this.  When you hurt, I hurt.  When you suffer, I suffer right
along with you.  Don’t make either one of us feel that way needlessly, Kitten. 
Just talk to me.  I know you have scars.  You’ve got them on your body, and
you’ve got them on your soul.  I’ve sat by your hospital bed too many times to
count and watched you while you did your damnedest to heal them both.  Those
wounds are not new information to me and they don’t change shit.  I still love
you, and I don’t allow those scars to do anything other than remind me to
treasure every day I have with you.  Okay?”

Honor’s eyes were
soft as they locked with Zeke’s.  “You really do love me a lot, don’t you?” she
asked in a small voice.

“So much that I ache
with it, Honor.”

Watching his girl
closely, Zeke saw her bite her lip uncertainly before she slowly leaned
forward, bracing one hand against his chest and pressing her damp, trembling
lips to his.   “That’s my brave, strong girl,” Zeke praised hoarsely as he felt
her blunt teeth gently nibble his lower lip. 

“I know I haven’t
said it…it doesn’t seem fair to tell you before I know if I can give you myself
in a way that will let us be truly together, but I do, too, Zeke,” Honor
confessed, her voice soft and hushed as she leaned her forehead against his. 
“I wanna believe I can let go of all my doubts and fears and be with you, but I
can’t help bein’ terrified.”

“Kitten, my arms are
the one place I guarantee you will always be safe,” Zeke pledged truthfully
before tilting his head and capturing her pink lips with his.  Kissing her
slowly, but thoroughly, he felt her body slowly melt against him, her concerns
seeming to dissolve at least for the moment.  “Let me show you how good I can
make you feel, baby,” Zeke urged between deep drinks from her lips, his hands
sliding over the soft cotton covering her torso to cup one perfectly rounded
breast while his thumb swept across the crested peak to worry her nipple.

Gasping, Honor’s
mouth pulled from his as she stared at him with surprised eyes as he eased her
body back to lean against the arm of the couch.

“You like that?” he
asked, rolling her pebbled nipple under his thumb again and pulling another
shocked puff of air from her lips.  “Because it feels like you do.”

Arching her back when
he gently palmed the weight of her breast in his hand and squeezed gently,
Honor nodded.  “W-when you do that, it makes me tingle.” Licking her lips as
Zeke smiled, she moaned when his thumb and index finger gently pinched her
throbbing nipple.  “Oh, God,” she breathed before sinking her top teeth into
her lower lip.

Loving the color that
bloomed in her face because he knew this time it wasn’t embarrassment heating
her cheeks, Zeke smiled.  “Good.  Tingles are good, baby.  Can I unbutton
these?” he asked as his fingers toyed with the top button of her nightshirt. 
“I wanna see you, Honor.”  Seeing the alarm in her rapidly changing expression,
he added.  “I just wanna look for now.  I won’t touch or taste until you give
me permission, sweetheart.”

He could see the
internal war she was waging reflected in her clouded gaze.   He knew she wanted
to find out for herself if there was pleasure to be found in his embrace, but
her reserved nature and prior experiences tainted her healthy curiosity.   And
now, she had to make a choice.  He needed her to trust him.  Trust him to respect
her limits.  Trust him to take care of her body.  And trust him to never lose
control like those animals who’d hurt her in the past.  “Courage, Kitten.  I
know you have it.  Use it with me here.  Now.”

Holding his breath,
Zeke wanted to pump his fist in the air as Honor quickly jerked her head in a
nod and reached up to fumble with the first button, unfastening it with an
uncoordinated pull of her fingers that almost sent the button flying.    “Let
me.” He gently brushed her cold fingers aside and began to unbutton her
nightshirt himself, smiling as he realized Honor’s was watching his fingers
like a hawk, not quite fearful, but not eager either.  “Honor, look at me,” he
demanded quietly.  Waiting until he had her eyes, he continued.  “Nothing
happens that you don’t enjoy.  You don’t like it; you stop it.  All you gotta
do is say the word.  Understand?”

Bobbing her head
again, Honor shifted in his lap.

“I want the words,
baby.  Tell me you understand that I’ll stop if you say so.”

“I…I understand,” she
whispered nervously.

“Good girl,” Zeke
praised, his voice low and sure as he continued to unbutton her nightshirt
until he reached the last one, conveniently positioned in the center of her
chest.  When the last button slipped from the loop, he looked into Honor’s
crystal blue eyes.  “I’m gonna part the material now, okay?”

Honor inhaled
quickly, squeezing her eyes shut.  “Just do it,” she ordered anxiously.

“Sweetheart,” Zeke
murmured, stroking the pads of his index finger down the center of her chest,
“I’m not marching you to the guillotine.  We’re makin’ a little light love. 
This is supposed to make you feel good.  Open your eyes and relax for me.”

“You’re right.  A
girl wore her clothes to the guillotine,” she muttered with a panicky laugh. 
“Just tell me, do you have my shirt open yet?” she asked weakly, her eyes
remaining tightly closed. 

“No.”  Zeke grinned,
watching her shiver as his finger traced its way back up her chest.  Biting his
own lip, he nearly groaned as he noticed her nipples tightening behind the
sheer cotton she wore.  God, he couldn’t wait to taste those sweet little
buds.  Sliding one hand up her nightshirt to stroke the outside of her thigh,
he whispered, “I already know you’re gorgeous, Honor.  This is just gonna prove
it.”

Her eyelids twitched
before slowly lifting to reveal her slightly anxious gaze.

“There’s my Kitten,”
Zeke sighed, leaning forward to press his parted lips to hers as he slowly
opened the nightshirt, revealing her swollen breasts to the cool night air.
Nipping her lip, he slowly lifted his mouth from hers and looked down her
body.  “Oh, God, you’re fuckin’ perfect.  Everything I could ever want wrapped
up in a tiny breathtaking package right here for me to admire.  I could look at
you every minute for the rest of my life and still feel like it wasn’t enough
time,” he growled, gripping her thighs to keep from reaching up and palming
handfuls of her generous tits.   “Tell me I can kiss you, darlin’,” he begged
as his hands slowly slid up her thigh and around her ass to tug her pliant body
closer to him, his humid breath ghosting over her pebbled nipples.  “Just give
me one taste of heaven and I can die a happy man.”

Shuddering against
his body as she felt his warm breath hit her chilled skin, Honor bent her head
and watched as Zeke’s lips moved closer to her breast.  “Y-yes, Zeke.  Kiss
me.”

 Zeke’s heart nearly
burst from his chest as he finally heard her consent.  Tilting his head back to
meet her eyes, his fingers convulsed against her ass, tightening and releasing
the rounded flesh quickly.  “You won’t ever be sorry for trusting me, Kitten,”
he promised before slowly parting his lips to envelope the dusky petal pink tip
of one aroused breast into the hot interior of his mouth.

Honor

Wet. Scorching.
Pleasure.

It bit deeply into
her, burying its unforgiving teeth in her body and refusing to let her go.  It
was a feeling unmatched by anything she’d ever felt before. It made her
wild…abandoned, and before she’d realized she’d done it, she buried her fingers
in the thick strands of Zeke’s short hair and pulled his incredible mouth
closer.  “Zeke,” she moaned breathlessly as the tip of his tongue traced the
perimeter of her nipple before sucking it between his lips.  “Oh, God,” she
mewled, her body surged upward, her body moving artlessly in his lap as a need
deep inside her began to awaken. 

His lips wrecked any
sense of self-preservation she had, and any hope she’d clung to of keeping
herself distant and apart from being in this moment had long since been
shattered by his talented lips and soft tongue.  Panting her excitement as he
slowly dragged his lips across her chest to capture her other breast, she
whimpered as she felt a quickening within her, a heavy, pulsing ache settling
itself low in her groin the longer Zeke’s mouth worshipped her breasts. 
“Please, Zeke,” she cried, her voice tight and desperate as her nails dug into
his scalp and the throbbing between her legs grew stronger.  Her mind wasn’t
sure what exactly she was begging him for, but her body seemed to be striving
toward some invisible goal that lingered just beyond her reach.  Somewhere
along the way, she’d lost the ability to control her responses, and each wanton
sound that escaped her lips was needier than the last.  With every passing
moment, she could feel her core growing wetter…slicker… hotter.  And dear Lord,
the empty ache within her was enough to drive her insane.

Whimpering when Zeke
offered her nipple one last lethal flick of his tongue before biting the tip
gently between his strong teeth, Honor felt lost as her body rioted, starved
for the long overdue attention he provided it.  “Oh, Zeke!  Yes, Yes,
yes!
”
she exclaimed as a wave of sensation so strong it stole her breath slammed into
her body, the acute pleasure almost painful in its intensity as it flowed
through her.

“That’s it.  Ride it
out for me,” he murmured as he trailed gentle kisses over the swell of her
breasts, his nose skimming her smooth rosy skin as her body jerked in his
arms.  Waiting until she’d caught her breath, his head rose and he gave her a
wicked smile.  “How do you feel, sweetheart?” Zeke questioned, his deep voice
gentle and low as his thumb caressed her nipple, still shiny with the wetness
from his tongue.

Shaken to her core,
Honor could only stare at him for a long minute.  “I’m not sure.  That was…I
don’t know
what
that was,” she confided, her voice still hoarse from her
cries of pleasure. 

“That, baby, was an
orgasm,” Zeke explained patiently.  “Did you like what happened to your body? 
Feeling my mouth pulling and sucking at these pretty breasts?”

“Yes,” she breathed,
nodding fervently as she watched his thumb make a circle around her tight
swollen nipple, her back arching reflexively into his touch.  “It felt like
this big ball of tension just exploded inside me… it was… I can’t describe it,
but it was amazing.  The most extraordinary thing I ever felt.”

Zeke’s loving gaze
softened as he lowered his head to kiss her gently.  “That’s the way it should
be for you, Honor.  Always.  It’s a man’s job to satisfy his woman.  If he
doesn’t take the time to do it, he’s not much of a man at all.”

“Well, then, you’re
definitely all man because I’ve never felt so satisfied,” Honor admitted with
an embarrassed smile. 

“I love how
responsive you are for me,” Zeke admitted huskily, blowing softly against one
breast before lapping his tongue against the rucked flesh.  “I can already tell
that you’re gonna be addictive.  And this is one habit I’m never going to be
able to break, Honor.”  Licking her nipple again, he grinned when she squirmed
against his lips.  “Feel good?”

“So good, Zeke,” she
panted, moaning softly when his teeth gently bit one firm globe before soothing
the burn with a swipe of his tongue.  “It throbs and aches, but it feels
amazing at the same time.  I know it’s bad of me, but it’s as if my body craves
something… something…
more.
”

Zeke released her
breast and lifted his head.   “No, baby.  It’s not bad.  It’s right.  When two
people care about each other and love one another, this is the rightest, most
naturel thing in the world to happen.”