Wrath’s amusement was uncontainable as he guffawed loudly. “Atta girl,” he praised Honor with a firm nod. “She’s growing a backbone, Zeke. That’s good news.”
Zeke smiled faintly and nodded. “I guess it is,” he admitted as he heard Honor’s light footsteps approaching the door. Holding his breath as the screen door opened and Honor walked out onto the porch, fresh - faced and smiling, Zeke’s heart flipped in his chest. She looked beautiful. And happy.
And she was leaving with another man.
FUCK.
“Wrath, I’m so sorry I kept you waiting,” Zeke heard her apologize as Wrath’s eyes widened on Honor, his interested gaze sweeping up and down her body.
“Wrath,” Zeke warned. “Remember… She’s mine.”
Wrath looked from Honor to Zeke and grinned evilly. “Not for the next few hours. I think I’m gonna see what I can do to turn this pretty lady’s eyes my way, Sheriff,” the other man taunted with a wink.
Zeke couldn’t blame the other man for wanting to try, but he also couldn’t help the growl that escaped his mouth.
Turning stern eyes to Zeke, Honor pointed at the lawman. “Don’t you dare,” she told him, refusing to be intimidated as Wrath snorted with amusement.
Zeke pressed his lips together and glared at Wrath, his eyes promising painful retribution if the motorcycle riding nightmare so much as stepped a hair out of line. “I’ll pick her up in a few hours at the park, McKay. Make sure you take care of what’s mine,” he remarked pointedly before cupping his hands around Honor’s neck, pulling her toward him and dropping his mouth to hers.
“Zeke!” she squealed against his lips as her hand met his chest and tried to push him away.
Ignoring her protest, he kissed her quickly, but deeply, making his point to Wrath in a way he couldn’t mistake. Especially when Honor’s body softened against his and her lips returned his kiss.
Releasing her mouth, he dropped a quick kiss to her forehead as she panted in his arms before grinning at a scowling Wrath McKay. “That ought to hold my Kitten over,” he informed the other man with a smirk. “I’ll see you both soon,” he declared with a grin as Wrath took a dumbstruck Honor’s arm and guided her toward the steps.
Zeke watched as Honor followed docilely behind Wrath and waved at her when he lifted her into the passenger seat of his truck. He didn’t like seeing her leave without him, but he couldn’t help consoling himself with the knowledge that it would be his taste in her mouth all afternoon.
And as the truck disappeared down the gravel driveway, he turned and went back into the house.
After all, he had a memorable evening of his own to plan for the love of his life.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Monday, July 4, 2016
11:35 am – The Hell Hounds MC Clubhouse
Honor
“Again, Wrath… I am just so sorry about that back at the house. I don’t know what’s gotten into Ezekiel lately,” Honor fretted out loud as Wrath turned into the rock road that led toward both the garage she knew he owned and the huge building that housed the Hell Hounds’ motorcycle clubhouse. She’d only ever visited the garage to drop off her car, but the clubhouse was visible from the parking lot. “Are you sure it’s alright to bring me to your clubhouse, Wrath?” she asked worriedly. “Don’t you need to be a member or something to go in there?”
“Babe, you’re with the President,” he reminded her with a smile. “And as President, I can do whatever I want, including taking a pretty lady to my clubhouse.”
Fidgeting in her seat, Honor forced herself to smile. She didn’t want to be rude, but visiting his motorcycle brothers’ base of operation wasn’t exactly on her bucket list. She knew she didn’t need to be frightened. The Hell Hounds riders had been nothing but kind to her for years, showing her every possible respect when they visited the café.
But this was their turf, she thought to herself nervously as she scratched at the skin on the top of her hand. Those men inside the big warehouse looking building wouldn’t need to be on their best behavior inside their own territory. And it didn’t help that all the members of the biker group Wrath led were freaking huge. She didn’t think a single one of them was shorter than six feet tall, and they all looked like they could bench press a Buick!
“Honor,” Wrath called softly as he covered her anxious hands with his. “Sweetheart, you’re gonna make your hand raw if you don’t quit scratchin’. If I send you back to Zeke with your hands bleeding, the lawman’s likely to lose his mind and shoot me on sight. You don’t want my death on your conscience, do you?” he teased gently.
“Of course not,” Honor denied, automatically stilling her hands as she tried to pull them from Wrath’s grip as unobtrusively as possible.
Letting her go, Wrath nodded toward the building. “I can guarantee you that no man, brother or not, will bother you on my property. If they do, they answer to me and everybody here knows that I’m not exactly a man that tolerates assholes. Especially men that are assholes to women.”
Shaking her head, Honor blushed. “Oh, I never thought…”
“Yes, you did, baby,” Wrath corrected her gently. “And after everything that’s happened to you – I don’t blame you.
“That wasn’t your fault,” Honor whispered.
“Once upon a time, one of my prospects hurt you. The bastard wasn’t a brother yet, but he was damn close. Knowing that eats at my soul. Honor, what he did to you is always gonna feel like it’s on me because I let that filth into my club. What I can promise is that it will never happen again. Every one of my brothers and prospects know that both you and your sisters are under this club’s protection. Dishonoring or disrespecting any one of you means there would be swift and harsh retribution,” he vowed solemnly. “So, just to say, babe, on this property, you are as safe as a newborn baby in her momma’s loving arms. Alright?”
Throat tight, Honor nodded wordlessly. Because, really, what was there to say?
“Now, I need to get our grill loaded up in the bed of the truck to take over to the cookout at the park. Since it’s about a million degrees today, I’m gonna take you into the clubhouse so that you’ll be comfortable. Nobody in there is gonna hurt you. Okay?”
“Okay,” Honor acknowledged softly, nodding slightly as she watched Wrath throw open his car door.
“Where’s Storm?” she asked a few seconds later when he pulled open the passenger door and helped her down from the truck.
“His mom’s got him today,” Wrath replied unhappily as he dropped a hand to her back and guided her toward the door. “I’m gonna try to steal him away for a burger when we get to the park though.”
Honor smiled and nodded. “That’d be wonderful.” And she meant that. Storm McKay was a great kid. The same age as her niece, Heaven, the little boy was a constant source of amusement when he ate at the café. Always smiling and joking, no one would ever know that the young boy’s mother was one of the most conniving and vicious gossips in town. Yes, Darla McKay Tilden was one woman that Honor could safely say she’d be happy to never see again, but in a town the size of Paradise, that was unlikely. Thankfully, the woman detested the basic fare her restaurant provided and rarely ate there, but she’d been in the café enough for Honor to dread her visits. Nothing was ever good enough, and the uppity woman wasn’t shy about letting the waitresses know her displeasure. More than once, Honor had been forced to take over for one of her employees because of that horrible woman’s nastiness. And it didn’t help matters that two years ago, Darla had married the sitting mayor.
It had been a scandal of epic proportions since she’d been cheating on Wrath for the last year of their marriage. The miserable woman, however, had done her best to make the affair Wrath’s fault, saying that she’d only cheated because he valued his ‘brothers’ more than he’d valued their marriage.
It was a lie, of course. She valued Mayor Tilden’s money more than she’d valued the family she created with Wrath, if you asked Honor.
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“It’ll be good to see Storm again. He’s a great kid. You’ve done an amazing job raising him, Wrath,” Honor praised.
“Thanks. Luckily for me, he was born a good kid,” Wrath said with a humble smile as he held open the steel door for Honor to precede him inside the building.
Squinting as she went from the bright sunshiny morning into the dim light of the clubhouse, Honor gasped when her eyes adjusted. “Oh, my,” she yelped, spinning around to stare at the now closed door they’d just walked through as she threw up a hand to try and rub the image she’d just witnessed from her burning eyes. Seeing a naked woman down on her knees between one of Wrath’s brother’s splayed legs while she sucked on his ding-a-ling was NOT the image she’d expected to find when she walked inside what had appeared to be a cavernous game room.
“Jesus, Rocky! Put on some fuckin’ clothes, dammit! And zip your shit up, Ghost!” Wrath roared.
“I tried to fuckin’ warn them not to start that shit out here in the common room, Prez,” a voice that Honor instantly recognized belonged to the unsmiling biker that everybody called Giggles rasped from the corner. “Told ‘em you and Miss Honor were comin’ back for the grill.”
“Sorry, Prez,” Honor heard Ghost apologize softly. “Thought me and Rock had more time.”
“Yeah, sorry, Wrath,” a feminine voice whined.
“Don’t hand that sorry shit to me, motherfuckers. You point your apology at the woman behind me,” Wrath spat angrily. “I just got done guaranteeing her that she’d feel comfortable around us, assholes. Pissed as fuck to know you assholes could all prove me wrong in record time!”
Lightly touching Wrath’s stiff arm, Honor looked up to see his harsh face eyeing Ghost and the woman furiously.
“What’s going on out here? Fang and I got the potato salad and macaroni and cheese loaded in my car. We all should get a move on or…Oh, my gosh! Honor? That you?” another woman’s voice asked as Honor reflexively turned to see who was talking to her. Seeing Aimee Jarvis staring back at her in shock, Honor lifted a hand to wave weakly at a woman with whom she’d graduated high school. Dressed in a tube top and a pair of tight denim shorts that left very little to imagination, Honor could only imagine the trouble Amie was getting up to here at the club. Her classmate had been as wild as the wind in high school and seeing another leather clad man wrap an arm around her chest and grope her ample breasts, Honor thought she could safely assume that not much had changed for the other woman. “Hey, Aims.”
“What in the world are you doing here, sweetie?” the curvy blonde asked with wide eyes as she looked from Honor to the MC President. “Wrath, I don’t think Honor is the type of girl that you wanna bring in here. No offense, Honor. I swear I’m just tryin’ to look out for you,” she added hastily with a kind look. Directing her attention toward Wrath, Aimee shook her head, her dark ponytail swinging from side to side. “This isn’t gonna be her scene, Prez. Let me take Honor on over to the park and we’ll wait for you there.”
Wrath chuckled without humor. “At least somebody has got their head on straight,” he remarked, narrowing his eyes on Ghost and Rocky.
“Wrath, it’s fine,” Honor assured him with a light hand on his arm. Relieved to see that everybody had their clothes back on, she smiled at the men. “Maybe the boys can help you load that grill now,” she suggested.
“Be happy to, Miss Honor,” Ghost said gladly, nearly dumping Rocky in the floor as he shoved her off his lap and jumped to his feet. “We’re real sorry you caught us like that, aren’t we, Rocky?” he said, slapping the voluptuous blonde’s bare shoulder as she adjusted her own tube top.
Glaring at Honor, Rocky pouted.
“Rock!” Wrath barked.
“What?” The blonde whined. “I was just doing my job, Wrath. Taking care of your boys just the way they like.”
Honor’s face paled at that remark. “What? Your job?” she repeated, looking from the blonde to Wrath. “That was her job?”
“Aw, shit,” Giggles cursed under his breath.
“Yep,” the blond announced, popping the gum she had in her mouth.
“Babe, it’s not what you think,” Wrath said quietly, shooting Rocky a look that would have silenced a sane woman. Instead, Rocky just shrugged her shoulders carelessly. “Rocky and Aimee are sweetbutts. It’s their job to entertain the brothers. In return, the Club offer them protection and a place to stay.”
“And by entertain, you mean…with their bodies?” Honor asked stiffly, shooting a look toward an embarrassed Aimee.
“Yep,” the blonde Rocky answered again.
“Will somebody please get that bitch out of here?” Wrath growled, gesturing at Rocky.
“No! Wait. I want to understand,” Honor said before Ghost could drag the other woman from the room. “You and your brothers use these girls for your own personal pleasure? Like… like whores?” she whispered violently.
“Aw, hell,” Giggles muttered as he leaned against the bar on the other side of the room and tilted a bottle to his lips.
“It’s not like that at all, Honor,” Wrath denied with a sigh.
“It’s really not,” Aimee offered loyally, taking a step forward as the towering man behind her dropped his hand from around her. “All us girls choose to be here, Honor. We can leave any time we like.”
Honor blinked. “All you girls? As in, more than just you and Rocky?” she balked. “How many do you have?” Honor asked, looking at Wrath.
“Two more women stay here besides Aimee and Rock. They all have their own room and bathroom on the other side of the compound,” Wrath replied quietly.
Shaking her head, Honor could only stare at the man she was supposed to spend the afternoon with a sort of stunned horror. “I…you… this is prostitution, Wrath!”
“No, this is a fair exchange of services, Honor. No money ever changes hands,” Wrath contradicted.
“Sex for safety is NOT a fair exchange,” Honor argued as her hands began to shake mildly.
Wrath frowned at her. “Listen, you may not agree. You may not like it, but…”
“No more words from you!” Honor threw up a hand to shut him up and turned to face Aimee and Rocky. “If either of you or the two other girls want a job that doesn’t include servicing the men in this Club, I’ll be happy to hire you at the café,” she offered hopefully. “I offer both health and dental insurance and a nice 401-K. I’m assuming you don’t have any kind of retirement plan, right?” she questioned with a narrow look up at Wrath.
Wrath nearly choked on his tongue. “Babe, are you actually trying to coax the sweetbutts into leaving the Club and working at the café?” he asked, unable to remain silent.
“Oh, I absolutely am. If I could, I’d hire all four right out from underneath you and whatever brother they’re havin’ to service at the moment!” Honor hissed. “Using these girls to sate your own carnal desires is despicable. You all ought to be ashamed of yourself,” she huffed, shifting her disappointed gaze over all three of the men in the room.
“Well, I, for one, ain’t goin’ nowhere. I love the way they use me, chick. And I can’t get enough biker lovin’,” Rocky declared, stroking Ghost’s muscular arm.
“What?” Honor blurted, surprised.
“I said, I’m stayin’ right where I’m at,” Rocky asserted.
“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.
Man of Honor (Passion in Paradise Book 4) Page 40
