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.
Chapter Four
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 o
ff 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 snee
red. “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.
Man of Honor (Passion in Paradise Book 4) Page 9
