Man of Honor (Passion in Paradise Book 4)

by Sarah O'Rourke

  The harsh set of Zeke’s face softened marginally at her heartfelt confession. Sighing, he reclined in bed, propping himself up on a pile of pillows and straightening his legs and patting his chest. “Alright, Kitten, assume the position,” he ordered, holding his arms out at his side as he arched one brow at her and waited.

  “Zeke, crawling in your lap…”

  “Crawling in my lap and assuming the position will make us both feel a hell of a lot better while we have this talk. Now, c’mon. Haul that gorgeous ass over here,” he demanded, unaffected by the irritated sound she made in her throat.

  She stared at the man she’d fallen in love as his dark eyes challenged her to argue with him. “I swear, you’re like a dog with a bone when you want something,” she grumbled under her breath as she conceded defeat and began to clamber across the mattress to him on her hands and knees. She might as well give in; she probably had about three more seconds at best before he was done waiting for her to move and simply picked her up and put her on his lap where he wanted her. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time he resorted to caveman tactics since they’d gotten engaged.

  “I’ve learned that tenacity pays with you,” he returned with a grin as she yanked her gown up to her waist so she could throw her leg over his body and straddle his waist with one trim leg on either side of him.”

  “There! Happy now?” she snapped when she got settled on top of him, his arms securely wrapped around her middle as her face found it’s favorite spot nestled between his shoulder and neck.

  “Gettin’ there,” Zeke muttered as he slid his hand underneath her long heavy mane of hair to slide around the nape of her neck and squeeze lightly. “I love you, Honor.”

  The last of her tension slipped away as she heard him, his low spoken words more of a vow than a statement. “I love you, too. That’s why I don’t want to hurt you. Admit it though, if you woke up and found you’d scratched and bruised me up, you’d want to do something to stop it from happening, too.”

  “Probably, but I’ve got over a hundred pounds on you. The damage I could potentially do to you is a hell of a lot greater than what you could ever do to me on your worst night. I get where you’re coming from, though. That said, there’s still no way in hell we’re sleeping apart.”

  “You’re hopeless,” Honor mumbled, rubbing her nose against the warm skin of his neck before pressing her lips to his thumping pulse. “But I suppose that’s one of the reasons I love you. You believe in lost causes.”

  “Words like that are gonna piss me off,” he warned with a low growl. “If you’re gonna talk shit, I’m gonna insist you put that mouth of yours to better use. Kiss me, baby.”

  Honor chuckled, lifting her head. “Sorry,” she replied quietly, pressing her lips to his and exchanging a chaste kiss with him.

  Breaking the connection between their lips after a second, Zeke met her eyes. “You wanna talk about your nightmare?”

  “Not much to say. You probably heard it all,” she murmured with a frown.

  “It was a hell of lot worse tonight. I guess that’s to be expected after what you had to see last night, but I still hate it.”

  “Me, too,” Honor whispered, sighing as his hand slid beneath her silky nightshirt to stroke her back, his fingertips digging into the knotted muscles.

  “This okay?” he asked. She could tell he was trying to keep his touch light, almost impersonal.

  And she didn’t like that.

  Not one bit.

  Pushing against his chest, she rose slightly so that she could look him in the eye. “I’m not afraid of you, Zeke. I know who’s holding me right now. You don’t have to be afraid to touch me.”

  “I just don’t want to scare you, Honor. Doing something that frightens you is the stuff my nightmares are made of.”

  “I love your hands on me, Zeke. Even before I could admit I was yours, your touch offered me comfort,” she confided in a soft voice, her face coloring at her bold admission. Once upon a time, she’d never have had the courage to say a thing like that, but being with him had given her a strength she hadn’t known she possessed. And he needed to know that his touch… the sure, confident stroke of his hands on her body; it was something she craved.

  Zeke’s hands firmed on her back. “Good,” he replied with a satisfied look. “Then you won’t mind if we get rid of this gown.”

  Honor shook her head and chuckled when he quickly gripped the bottom of her nightshirt and pulled it up, sweeping it over her head.

  “Fuck, that’s better,” Zeke sighed, his eyes heating as he stared at her bared breasts. Cupping one firm globe in his hand, he met her own aroused gaze. “You’re sure this is okay?” he asked, his voice growing gravelly as she watched him lick his lips.

  Still wearing a pair of satiny panties, Honor nodded, grinding her core against his groin as his talented hands worked their magic. “Oh, yes,” she consented breathily as his thumbs worried her hardening nipples while her body became more plaint beneath his touch. Moaning when one hand drifted down her body to cup her through her panties, her eyelids fluttered as she squirmed on top of him. “Zeke, that feels so good,” she praised as she wriggled on top of him again, her panties dampening as she rubbed her mound over the erection straining against his black silk boxers. Rolling her hips against his hardness, she couldn’t help her impish grin when she pulled a deep groan from his mouth. Leaning forward until her lips grazed his and the hard tips of her breasts met the hot skin of his bare chest, she hummed against his mouth. “Make love to me, Zeke.”

  Dropping a hand to grip one hip, stilling her gyrating hips, Zeke pressed his head back against the pillows. “Baby, I want to. God knows, I want nothing more than to peel those panties off and bury myself in that tight heat of yours, but are you sure you’re up for that? You had a hell of a night, and I don’t know if you can handle…”

  “I let those awful animals steal years from me, Zeke. Years that I could have spent safe in your arms doing exactly this,” she said, pressing her aching core against his hard erection. “So, believe me when I tell you that, with you, I’ve learned that I can handle anything. Especially this,” she stressed, dropping her voice to a husky purr as she dropped a hand to fondle his hard length, reveling in her newfound feminine power. Because with this man, she knew down to her soul that it was safe to throw caution to the wind and lose herself in the moment. He’d make sure she remained safe.

  “Fuck, Kitten,” she heard him gasp as she scooted back a few inches to give room to maneuver as her hand slipped into his underwear to explore every hot, velvety inch of him. Using one hand to tug his boxers down his hips, she uncovered his penis. Hard and throbbing in the palm of her hand, she gently squeezed the helmet, producing a small bead of his essence. Catching his eyes with hers, she slowly leaned forward, swiping her tongue against the swollen head.

  Zeke’s nostrils flared as he watched her pink tongue dart out to seductively trace a slow circle around the ridge of his cock. “Shit,” he hissed when she wriggled her tongue against the tiny slit at the tip of his dick. “Honor, you’re killin’ me, baby. Either suck it or ride it, but make the call and put me out of my misery before my dick explodes.”

  Savoring his salty taste, Honor moaned, sucking his tip gently before releasing him from her mouth and straightening until she knelt between his spread legs. “Killing you definitely isn’t my goal. I’d miss this too much,” she admitted, offering his cock, shiny with her saliva, a longing look.

  “You talking about me or my cock?” Zeke asked with a playful grin.

  “Do I have to choose?” Honor returned with her own naughty smile.

  Doing an ab curl that accented his six-pack in a way that made Honor grow even wetter between her legs, Zeke’s back rose from the bed as he reached out to curve his hand around the back of Honor’s neck and urge her toward him. “Nope, both are yours. Now, enough talking. Give me that mouth, baby.”

  “Yes,” Honor breathed as he pulled her willing bod
y down on top of his. Parting her lips as she felt his tongue slide inside her mouth to stroke and curl around hers, she moaned into the kiss as his fingers slid between them, stroking through her slit to find her throbbing bud.

  “Love how wet you get for me,” he groaned into her mouth as he slowly pierced her with two fingers, testing to make sure she was good and ready for him. “You want my dick, baby? You ready for me to slide it into its home.”

  “God, yes,” she murmured against his cheek as he reached between them to aim his length toward her center. Honor released a long breath and kept her half-closed eyes on Zeke as he slowly filled her, making them one. “I love you,” she breathed as they began to move together in a slow, gentle rhythm that curled her toes. “I spent so long feeling broken, but you make me feel whole again.”

  “That’s good. Especially since I only feel complete when I’m inside you,” Zeke breathed as he pumped his hips, burrowing deeper into her tight heat as he lifted his head to claim her mouth for a sensual kiss.

  Honor’s hips churned as Zeke’s hips rose and fell while their tongues tangled together. “Oh, God, Zeke,” she whimpered, her body growing taut as she rode the brink of her release, close, but not quite close enough to fall over the edge.

  “Whatdaya need to take you there?” Zeke asked, gently biting her full lower lip as she tilted her head back.

  “You. I need to feel you surrounding me,” Honor begged, almost mindless with her need for climax. Her body was poised for it, desperate and needy for him to give her the push she needed.

  Rolling her until she was pinned to the mattress by the heaviness of his body and his cock, Zeke took his weight on his elbows as he reared back to look down at her. “How do you need it, baby? You want it hard and fast and deep, or you want it slow and steady? You tell me and it’s yours.”

  “Deep, Zeke,” Honor responded with a breathless moan as she hooked her legs over his hips. “I want you to make me forget everything but the feel of you inside me,” she begged before biting at the cord of his neck.

  “Challenge accepted, Kitten,” Zeke growled before dropping his mouth to hers and thrusting deep.

  Honor cried out as she felt the man she loved begin to lunge in and out of her with a controlled brutality that stole her breath. It wasn’t anything she’d ever experienced before, but it was everything she craved. Gripping his shoulders, damp with his sweat, she arched her hips and met every downward plunge of his cock eagerly. “Yes,” she whimpered as he built the hunger between them to a level so intense it threatened to drive her out of her mind. “Oh, god! Yeah,” she wailed helplessly as she felt him pulse deeply inside her. “Right there,” she begged, tightening her legs around him as her channel convulsed around him.

  “Honor,” Zeke groaned as his back bowed, his strokes now wild and unsteady. “Fuck, baby, I need to pull out,” he ground out, his voice rough and pained as he threw his head back and grimaced.

  “No!” she denied, clutching his shoulders when he would have withdrawn.

  “Forgot the condom, Honor,” he rasped harshly against her ear. “I’m bare inside you. If I don’t pull out, there’s a risk I’ll put my baby in you,” he explained tightly, holding himself perfectly still with a willpower that would impress her later.

  “I don’t care,” she moaned, lifting her head to press her soft lips to his. “Don’t stop,” she begged, purposefully tightening her core around his straining penis. “Give me all of you, Zeke.”

  “You’re…”

  “If you ask me if I’m sure one more time…” Honor began to threaten him through clenched teeth as she rocked against him, trying to coax his strong body into action, but intimidation became unnecessary as Zeke’s iron will seemed to melt under the heat of her stare. His hips jerked as he began to thrust inside her again, his strokes fiercer and faster than before.

  “You want me to come inside this sweet little pussy, I’ll be damned if I’m gonna argue with you. Not when you’re offering heaven,” he grunted as he slid his hands underneath the back of her thighs, urging them higher and changing the angle of his penetration.

  Feeling him slide impossibly deeper, Honor moaned. “Zeke, yes! Oh, that’s it. Right there,” she cried out as he found her sweet spot.

  “Come for me, Honor. Let me feel you flood my cock with your sweetness,” Zeke grated against her swollen lips. “Do it, and I’ll fill you so full of all that’s me that you won’t remember a time you didn’t have me inside you.”

  “Zeke, yes!” she shrieked, as her core clenched and released around him one last violent time. His sexy promise sent her over the edge as pleasure exploded throughout her body, tightening her muscles and pulling a low scream of ecstasy from her lips that Zeke muffled with his mouth.

  “Love you so much,” he grunted, punctuating each word with a vicious twist of his hips as she felt him begin to grow larger inside her. “Ah, fuck! Gonna shoot, baby,” he groaned as his body stiffened and she felt long, hot streams of his cum begin to fill her, throwing her into another gentler orgasm as his body continued to ride hers with slower, but no-less-sensual strokes.

  Exchanging a long, wet kiss as his hips finally stilled, she felt his body settle heavily over hers. Smiling into his mouth, she hummed her satisfaction.

  “Have I ever told you how much I love the sound my woman makes after she’s been well-loved?” Zeke mused out loud, his warm lips moving over her cheek.

  Wrapping her arms around him, Honor ran her nails lightly up and down Zeke’s back in the way she’d learned relaxed him best. “You might have mentioned that before. Have I ever told you how much I love the look my man gets on his face after he finishes lovin’ on me?” she countered.

  “I might have heard you make mention of that a time or two,” Zeke replied, finally forcing himself to pull his softening cock from her. Hearing her dismayed whimper, he pecked her lips. “I don’t wanna crush you. Besides, I need to go get you a warm washcloth… clean you up,” he continued, moving his body to her side.

  Catching his arm when he would have sat up in bed, Honor shook her head. “No. I like having you inside me. I’m keeping you where you belong,” she muttered, scooting closer to curl an arm over his chest and settle her head in the curve of his shoulder.

  Zeke groaned. “Christ. You can’t say things like that,” he admonished, pinching her ass as he dipped his head to steal a kiss.

  “Why not?” she grumped, nipping his upper lip in retribution.

  “Because, you’re gonna get me hard again, and unfortunately, we need to get some more shut-eye. Tomorrow’s gonna be a long day for both of us, and I predict that you and I will have more than a couple of skirmishes over that bitch, Sherry.”

  “We’re not talkin’ ‘bout that in our bed, Ezekiel,” Honor chided sternly, tugging a tuft of his chest hair as a silent warning.

  “Fine,” he sighed. “We’ll talk about it in the morning,” he grumbled, adjusting the pillow behind his head before dropping his gaze to hers. “Did I tire my pretty lady out enough so that she’s sufficiently tired enough to try sleeping again?”

  Honor smiled up at him. “You did,” she acknowledged softly. “Turn out the light, Zeke.”

  Reaching for the lamp, he pushed the button at the base, sending the room back into darkness. “Always and ever, I love you, Honor,” he murmured into her hair as she curled closer to him.

  “I love you, too, Zeke. Always and ever,” she yawned with a sleepy smile as her eyes slid closed and a thankfully dreamless slumber claimed her.

  Chapter Thirty

  August 20, 2016 – Paradise Sheriff’s Office

  10:30 am

  Zeke

  Zeke’s eyes narrowed as they glared accusingly at where she sat with her legs demurely crossed and her small hands clasped in her lap in the chair in the corner of his office, undisturbed by the chaos she was causing him. Silently reminding himself of all the ways he loved her, he bit the inside of his cheek to keep from cursing at her.

&
nbsp; “You can stare daggers at me for the rest of the day if you want, Zeke, but nothing will change. I am NOT sorry for insisting you wait to pick that woman up,” Honor declared unrepentantly. “Really, what were you and your deputies going to do? Burst into Paradise Elementary School and tackle the first grade room mother to the ground and slap handcuffs on her in front of a classroom of six and seven year olds? I hardly think so.”

  Zeke grunted, crossed his arms over his chest and turned to stare out the window into the sunny morning. As far as he was concerned, that hadn’t sounded like a half bad plan to him. “Maybe it would do the kids good to see how justice works,” he growled irritably as he stared into the municipal parking lot and frowned when he noticed that Deputy Hightower still hadn’t returned with Sherry Lawson.

  “What in the world do you mean by that?”

  “Kids need to know that no matter who you are or how much time passes, if you commit a crime, you pay a price.”

  “Zeke, they’re children,” Honor admonished. “Kids need to be allowed to be kids. It’s the adult’s job to worry about distributing justice.”

  “Those kids are just adults-in-training, Honor. Maybe if we showed them the consequences of disregarding the law earlier in their lives, there’d be less crime. Ever think of that?” he questioned grumpily.

  “Well, someone’s moody today,” Honor muttered, tapping her nails against the wooden arm of her chair.

  Turning on his boot heel to shoot her a heated glare, Zeke growled. “I’m not moody, woman. I’m pissed! For eight years, you’ve walked around, scared out of your mind that those bastards were hiding around every corner. And all that time, there’s been a woman that could have helped put those fears to rest, Honor. And you wanna let that deranged bitch serve cupcakes and Kool-aid at her kid’s birthday party instead of letting me haul her ass in here and get us some answers to questions that should have been asked long ago! It’s stupid, dangerous, and fuckin’ foolhardy, and I never should have let you talk me into it. If I wasn’t sharing your bed, you WOULDN’T have been able to talk me into it. And THAT fact makes me fuckin’ livid,” he finished on a roar, breathing hard as he lost control of his ability to control his mouth.