Free Wounded Pride by Mandee Mae Page A

never left.”
    “Kin…” He closes his eyes and hangs his head for a brief moment before looking back up at me.
    “No…” I cut him off before he even gets started. “Why can’t you just admit that you still love me? Why can’t you just say those words? I see it in your eyes, Pierce. I see it every time you look at me.” I’m hoping like hell he can see how much I love him.
    “Of course, I’m in love you, Kinlee. I have always been in love with you, but I don’t know if I can ever love you again. The way a man is supposed to love a woman.” He reaches up and grabs my hand. Jerking it down, he places it directly on his cock. “I’m not whole, dammit. Do you understand now? Can you stand there and tell me that you still love me knowing I can’t get it up?” He releases my hand and falls back on the couch. 
    I’m stunned. Speechless, actually. The realization of what he’s telling me hits me square in the face. I look down and see him hunched over, his face buried in his hands. I can’t imagine how hard this must be for him, but he needs to realize that I don’t care about that.
    I sit down beside him and place my hand on his leg, giving it a squeeze for a little reassurance. For him, for me…for both of us.
    “I don’t care about that. We belong together, Pierce. I’m not going to let that stand in our way. There are other ways for us to make each other happy.”
    He shakes his head. “I could never live with myself for not being able to make you happy. Can’t you see that.” He finally raises his head and I see his tear streaked face. “How can you ever truly be happy with someone who can’t please you?”
    Reaching up, I wipe off the tears. He looks so broken…beat down. Placing my hands on either side of his face, I force him to look directly at me. “You please me all the time. A simple kiss. A single touch. The way you hold me. Every time you say I love you. That pleases me. Being able to have you in my life is what pleases me.”
    He rolls his eyes. “How am I supposed make you happy if we can’t make love.” The look on his face is utterly heartbreaking. He thinks he’s broken and I have to find a way to convince him otherwise.
    I lean in and give him a kiss, sweeping my tongue across his bottom lip, then bring it to mine and start sucking on it. He always loved to have that done. It used to drive him crazy. He grips my head between his hands to deepen the kiss, groaning in the process. He pulls back after a few minutes, breathing harder than before.
    “Will you please just give us a chance? I know we can make this work. I realize there are a lot of things that we have to work on, but I want this. I need this, Pierce. Can you do that?” I’m hoping like hell that he tells me yes. I know I’m asking a lot of him right now, more than I ever have.
    “Things will get rough, Kinlee. Can you handle it?”
    Can I handle it? Of course, I can handle it. “Yes.” I blatantly state like my life depends on it.
    He’s looking at me, trying to figure out if I’m telling the truth. If I’m being honest with him and really want this. Finally, he nods. “You’re not going to stop working with me, are you?” he asks, then chuckles.
    I give him a soft shove and start laughing with him. “No, you big goober.”
    He brushes the back of his fingers across my cheek then rests his forehead against mine. “Good because I really need you. Now more than ever.”
    “Me, too.” Closing my eyes, I enjoy the closeness with Pierce and pray that this moment doesn’t end.
    “Now, can you move? I need to lie down for a bit.” He gestures for me to get off the couch. Wow! I get up and start walking for the door. “Where do you think you’re going?”
    “What? You said you wanted to lay down.” I shrug my shoulders and realize that I said that a bit louder than what I needed to.
    He spreads himself out on the couch and opens his arms. “Yeah, but I didn’t say for you to leave. Get your ass