Free Man of Honor (Passion in Paradise Book 4) by Sarah O'Rourke Page B

easily be a first cousin
of the cloven-hoofed Prince of Darkness. 
    “Mmmmm,” he heard
Honor’s pained hum as her slender body shifted on the bed uncomfortably.
“H-hurts,” she mumbled hoarsely, her eyes squeezing tightly closed as Zeke’s
hand stroked her hair gently.
    “Shhhh, Kitten. 
Everything’s going to be alright.  Just lie still,” he urged, frowning as he
looked quickly over his shoulder toward the nurse’s station.  Waving a hand at
one of the women behind the desk and pointing at Honor, he saw the nurse nod in
return, rising from her chair.  “The nurse is coming, baby,” he shared softly
when Honor whimpered again. 
    “Ouch,” she cried,
trying to twist her body in the bed.
    “Don’t move,
honey,” Zeke chided again as Honor’s eyelids slowly opened to reveal cloudy
bewildered eyes.
    “Z-zeke?” she
whispered, weakly lifting a hand toward him.
    Catching her hand
in his as a nurse in bright orange scrubs bustled through the door, Zeke
brushed a kiss against the back of her hand.  “I’m here, Honor.  So are your
sisters and aunt and uncle.  They’re out in the waiting room.”
    “Keep them there,”
she directed on a wince as she tossed her head on the pillow.  “They’ll just
try to fuss over me like I’m a toddler if you let ‘em in here.  B-but I would
like to know where here is, exactly?” she asked, her voice cracked as she
looked around to see the nurse smile at her.  “And what happened to me?  I hurt,”
she moaned as she grew more agitated.
    “Miss McKinnon,
don’t fret, doll.  I’m your nurse tonight.  My name is Farrah, and you’re in
the recovery room at Paradise General,” the older woman explained calmly as she
pushed a button that began to tighten the blood pressure cuff around Honor’s
arm.  “You’ve had a real hard evening, sweet girl.”
    Watching Honor
lick her dry lips and offer the nurse a long blink before turning confused eyes
toward him, Zeke held her hand tighter.  “What do you remember, Kitten?”
    “I remember that I
hate when you call me Kitten,” Honor grumbled tiredly, her eyes going back to
watching the nurse as the woman adjusted the medications running through her
IV.  “Throat hurts,” she whispered.  “Thirsty.”
    “You can’t have
any water yet, but they gave me a cup of ice chips to wet your lips, baby,”
Zeke informed her as he offered her a white plastic spoon with a couple of
chips on it.  He couldn’t help his smile.  If his girl was feeling well enough
to give him attitude, she was on the mend.  “And, if you don’t want me to call
you Kitten, then don’t hiss and claw like one,” he countered lightly, stroking
the back of his fingers over the apple of her pale cheek while he reached for
the cup of ice chips the nurse’s aide had left in the room earlier and refilled
the spoon. 
    Turning her head
toward where the nurse now ran a thermometer across her forehead, Honor’s
forehead wrinkled as she greedily sucked on the slivers of ice.  “Can you toss
him out, too?  And maybe get me a drink of water?”
    The woman laughed
as she made a note on Honor’s chart.  “’Fraid not, sweets. No water for a while
yet, and your man has been about as immoveable as a statue since the docs let him
back here.  And since he’s carryin’ both a badge AND a gun, I think I’m gonna
let him be.”
    Honor’s nose
curled even as she bit her lip, flinching as she tried to adjust herself in the
bed.  “The Sheriff is NOT mine, Farrah.  Trust me.  He’s just a bit over-dedicated
in his mission to protect the citizens of our town.”
    “Oh, I’m hers,
ma’am.  She just hasn’t wrapped her head around the fact that she’s mine yet,”
Zeke snorted, shaking his head at the frustrating patient currently glaring at
him as he rubbed an ice chip against Honor’s dry lips. 
    “Quit lyin’ to
this woman, you mule-headed fool,” she demanded through clenched teeth. 
Honor’s jaw set as she tried to