“In the future no matter what, I won’t take myself away from you again. I’m sorry I was such an ass. Maybe because I was too close, that’s why I couldn’t see the truth. Deep down I think I always knew, always hoped that you were innocent. It was just my stubborn pride.” She wouldn’t even look at me, just stared straight ahead like I wasn’t even there.
I dropped the cloth and took her face in my hand. “Snap out of it Cierra. Where’s my fighting princess?” The look she gave me wasn’t the nicest but at least there was life in her eyes again. “Oh, so you want to hurt your Hank.” I grinned and picked up the cloth again.
I spoke to her gently as I cleaned her before taking her out again. She didn’t lift a finger to help as I got her dressed in one of my shirts, which I had to button up myself. “Sit.” I sat her on the bed and put some socks on her feet before getting to mine again.
“I’ll make you some soup after we set sail.” She laid with her back to me staring out the porthole at the water. Closing my eyes with a sigh I turned and left her. What the fuck Hank, what did you do? I berated myself as I wrestled with the sails, going through the motions of setting the boat out in the water by rote.
Once everything was ready I headed down to the galley to make her some soup and a sandwich. She was still in the same position I’d left her in and I had to practically force her to sit up. She stubbornly refused to feed herself. “I’m not hungry.”
“Cierra open your mouth. You’re mad, be mad but I won’t let you starve yourself to death before my eyes.” I forced the spoon past her lips and kept feeding her until the bowl was empty. When she was done I left her with the sandwich and headed back up under the pretense of washing the bowl. I think I was running from my own shame.
It went like that for the rest of the day. I didn’t know yet how I was going to heal her heart, but at least I could nourish her body back to life. Every few hours I’d force her to eat or drink something. Her stubborn ass didn’t say two fucking words to me all day, but I kept up a running commentary. Not even a smile.
She fell asleep sometime in the early evening and I left her alone for the first time. Other than the few times I’d left to check on the boat I’d stayed in bed with her wrapped in my arms. She’d slept most of that time while I kept watch over her with my own heart in tatters at her feet.
I made sure she was really sleeping before heading for the SAT to make a call. My brother answered on the second ring. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
“Tell you what brother?”
“That Cierra was killing herself? How could you not tell me…?” My voice broke with emotion. It was finally hitting home that the strong capable girl I’d admired even before we met was now lying in my bed broken. How could such a thing happen? How could someone so strong become so weak? Love!
The word was like a silent whisper on the wind and I dropped into the captain’s chair as my knees weakened. My head turned swiftly in the direction of the room I’d left her in. Jaxx’s voice droned on in my ear but I only caught enough to know he was ripping into me for causing her pain. I hung up without saying goodbye and made my way to her.
I stood looking down at her as she slept with my mind in turmoil. “Are you in love with me Cierra?” I whispered the words as I ran a finger along her cheek. I’d passed it off as her guilt when my sisters talked about the way she had been. I’d convinced myself that she was a scheming bitch who was playing my family to get back into my good graces. How the fuck could I have been so blind?
I turned and walked away, back up top to get some much-needed air and to clear my head. If she wasn’t onboard I’d pop open a bottle of scotch and down the shit in one go. You fucked up royally boyo. Now I understood her silence, her deep-rooted anger. I’d fucking hate my guts too. Fuck that, she’s not allowed.
15
Mancini
For the next three days I bullied, threatened and even came close to spanking her ass a time or two. She refused to talk to me, and if I didn’t force feed her she would’ve starved to death. Pain in my ass. Didn’t know she had that much stubbornness in her little body.
Each morning, I took her up on deck for some fresh air. I talked, she ignored and then we fought when it was time for her to eat. Today was no different. I sat her on my lap and fed her the oatmeal I’d made her while enjoying the breeze coming off the water. It was almost time to head back but I didn’t want to go back to the city with her still in a snit.
“How long do you think I’ll let this go on Cierra?” She was looking better today, even though she still wasn’t saying shit to me. Stubborn little shit. I pushed the bowl away and pulled her closer into my chest with her head on my shoulder. She didn’t stiffen or pull away; progress.
I spoke softly as I rocked her and kept up a running conversation about everything except what happened between us. That I’ll keep until she was feeling strong enough and was ready to face me instead of hiding behind her silence. Plus the few times I’d even hinted at the subject she’d done everything but cover her ears to block me out.
I hadn’t touched her since bringing her on board. I felt she needed my care more than me using her body, which was already so torn. Instead, I treated her with kid gloves. I did hold her at every opportunity though, and she was never far from me whether asleep or awake. But the abstinence was killing my ass. Each night I went to bed hungry for her only to wake up with a stiff cock and a pain in my gut.
It had been three long days of her silence and my guilt eating away at me. Nothing seemed to get through to her, and she was still treating me to that cold blank stare. If I’m right; if she is in love with me, then I’d hurt her heart more than I knew, but she wouldn’t let me in to fix it. Like hell!
I got up from the table with her still in my arms. I didn’t give her a chance to argue just kissed the hell out of her before heading down below. I had her on her back with my tongue in her mouth and my cock pressing between her thighs before she could deny me.
The way her body softened under me gave me hope, but I forced myself to go easy. I could still see in my mind’s eye, the way she looked a few short days ago. The sight would haunt me for a long time to come I’m sure. That lost emaciated look that I hope never to see again in this life.
Once she was completely pliant, I raised up and crouched over her. I studied her body after removing my shirt from her small frame. Her ribs were still prominent but her face had lost some of its haunted look. She looked so frail still though, I was almost afraid to touch her.
But since my words weren’t getting through, I decided it was time to go with my natural instinct. I should’ve fucked her into submission days ago, but I was trying to be a gentleman. Shit wasn’t working so fuck it.
I ran my hands over her, feeling what my eyes saw. She’d lost a good ten pounds but my constantly shoving food down her throat seemed to be working. I was so fucking starved for her, I was afraid I’d hurt her with my greed. That’s all the fuck I need, something else to feel guilty about.
“I won’t hurt you baby, I promise.” The reassurance was as much for me as it was her.
I took her nipple on my tongue and tasted as I ground my growing cock into her heat. Her heart beat wildly beneath my hand as I cupped her free breast and I suckled her until her nipple pebbled in my mouth.
At least here I know that she can’t deny me. Her body was still under my control, now it was time to bring her heart and mind back into the fold. I took my time as I made my way down her body with my mouth and hands, until she writhed with need. I couldn’t wait any longer to feel her sweet hear wrapped around my cock. “Too long.”
I slipped into her body for the first time in days and felt the peace that had been missing. I held still and enjoyed the feel of her pussy stretching and around me, making way for my cock to hit bottom. “Won’t you look at me sweetheart?” There were tears in her eyes when she looked up at me, breaking my heart.
I took her lips so that I didn’t see them and tried to show her
with my body what I felt, what was in my heart for her. It wasn’t working this time. I wanted all of her back including her words. She had no right to keep what was mine from me.
“Talk to me dammit.” I took her chin in my hand, forcing her eyes to meet mine as I drove into her. Her silence was tearing me apart; I’d had enough.
I fucked into her roughly as I held her head back with a hand wrapped tightly around her throat. “You will not shut me out, look at me damn you. I fucked up. I said I will make it better. Now stop fucking punishing me.”
Her stubborn ass ignored me. At least her body knew me, knew what it wanted. She may have locked off her head and her heart for now, but she couldn’t hide the fact that she liked having me inside her; so I used that.
I made her cum on my cock over and over before shooting off inside her, only to turn her over and take her from behind. I didn’t say shit to her either, since she wanted to freeze me out. But her moans turned to screams while I used my cock to teach her some damn manners.
“You can’t shut me out, I won’t fucking let you.” I tugged on her hair, pulling her head back so I could reach her mouth with my tongue and just took her body, as was my right. I bit and sucked into her flesh, marking her in every conceivable way with my teeth.
Anger kept my dick hard and her stubbornness only fueled it. By the time I got her off for about the tenth time, she was pleading with me. “Hank, I can’t…”
“Too fucking bad, this is what you unleashed, take it.” Now it was my turn to be pissed. What the fuck did she want from me?
When I pulled out and threw her to her back with her legs in the air, she tried covering her over used pussy with her hand. I snatched that shit away and slammed my cock into her. “If this is all the fuck you want from me, so be it, your choice.” I purposely brought her to orgasm time and time again, using her body against her.
I stayed buried in her all that day and the next until we were both sore. I left her ass on the bed the third morning without a backward glance. She could run her own damn bath. Hardheaded fuck.
CIERRA
He’s been storming around this boat like a general for the past week. Good for him. I refuse to let him off that easy. He may use my body against me but I won’t give him my words. It’s killing him I know, the high and mighty Hank Mancini, to know that he can’t break me and I’m having a grand ole time making him pay.
“Cierra, it’s time to eat.” I made a face but didn’t answer. My throat was going raw from disuse. I don’t think I’ve said two words since we boarded back in New York, not even to ask where we were going. When we made love I bit my tongue to keep the cries of pleasure at bay, though the diabolical fiend always won that fight.
I wanted him to suffer, to feel the pain he’d put me through and this was the only way I knew how. My stupid heart might have softened but I’ll be damned if I’ll give in. He’ll never get the chance to do this to me again. To turn me into a weak sniveling female.
I’ve been on my own all my life; I’ll learn to live without Hank Mancini again. Funny, but now that he was back my anger knew no bounds. While I was curled up on my bed in agony, my heart breaking, I didn’t feel the anger I do now.
Then I felt alone, lost, hurt. It was as if the sun had gone out of my day and all I knew was darkness. Now he was back and the sun shone again, but I won’t give him the satisfaction of knowing that. He came to get me since I refused to answer his call. If he fed me nasty ass oatmeal again I’ll throw the damn bowl at him.
I let my body go limp as he dragged me up from the bed where he’d left me just a short while ago. I needed a shower in the worse way since the jerk didn’t run me one today after leaving his scent on me, but he dragged me up on deck and parked me on his lap as per usual.
“Open.” I huffed out a sigh and opened my mouth since I didn’t feel like another tussle with him. I’m beginning to think he likes making me feel like a petulant child. I didn’t miss that annoying half smirk half smile on his face, and when I tried to take the spoon away so that I could finish feeding myself, he moved it out of my way.
I sat there in silence and ate until this morning’s breakfast of eggs and toast was done before hopping up off his lap. I heard his mumbled ‘pain in the ass’ as I made my way back down below to grab that much needed shower.
Alone in the shower with the water cascading down over my sore body, I let released the smile I’d been holding. It probably wasn’t fair, but I so liked seeing him out of his depth. When he wasn’t storming around like a dictator or trying to break the bed with me in it, he’d spend hours just watching me.
Half the time I pretended to be asleep, but I heard every word he said. I’m sure somewhere in there he’d said the magic words that would make me forgive him, but somehow I wasn’t quite ready to. Besides, I like the way he takes care of me. The thing is, I think the jig might be up if the way he stormed off this morning was any indication.
16
Cierra
After my shower, I grabbed a book from the shelf by the bed and settled in to ignore him. I know how much he hates that, and now that my head was clear again it had become my favorite pastime. I paid more attention to him moving around above than I did the page I was reading, but just as I was about to toss the book I heard his heavy tread on the stairs.
He peeped around the corner, gave me a look and then turned and headed back the way he came. I didn’t think my soft snicker would carry but apparently it did, because the next thing I knew, he was there standing over me. “You little shit.” The book went across the room and the shirt I’d filched got torn as he pulled it from my body.
He bit into my jaw as his hand fumbled around between us. I arched when his fingers slipped into me and he caught my sigh in his mouth. His fingers disappeared and I felt the smooth wet tip of his cock at my entrance. I spread my legs on the sly and took him all the way inside.
When I needed to breathe, he released my lips and buried his face in my neck. One of his hands fisted in my hair and I felt the sharp pain of his teeth as he nipped into my neck before sucking the skin into his mouth. I wasn’t quick enough to hold the moan behind my teeth this time and his answering growl made me cum, which made me wetter, which made his cock sink deeper into me.
I loved it when he went there, the slight pain and all. Since I’d already cum, I was ready for a nice hard pounding to ease some of the sensitivity my body always felt after, but he didn’t seem ready to speed up his pace. He kept up that slow deep grinding, hitting all the right spots and keeping my body on that plateau.
It seems as soon as I came down from one orgasm I was flying through the air on the wings of another and it just kept going. By the time he lifted up on his hands my legs were spread as wide as they could go and I had the fingers of both hands grabbing onto his ass cheeks, pulling him into me.
From this position he seemed to have more traction, plus the base of his cock kept grinding into my clit each time he bottomed out inside me. Just as my lips opened on a scream, I found my mouth full of his tongue. I squeezed down on the hard thick flesh that was buried inside me and was rewarded with the shaking of his body just before I felt his hot seed hitting my inner walls.
He wrapped his arms around me tight and grunted out his orgasm that triggered my own and now it was me who was biting into him, leaving my mark. This seemed to trigger something in him and he stroked into me again as I felt another stream of cum leave him and enter me.
“Fuck, you’ve killed me!” We were both breathing like it was our last breath, and his hold hadn’t eased. “If I’m too heavy you’ll have to deal. I’m not moving.” True to his word he stayed exactly where he was and I accepted his weight gladly. He lifted his head and looked down at me and I schooled my features.
“Still pretending to be mad huh! Just so you know your time is up. I’ve given you more than enough time to get your shit together, now I’m telling you, cut the shit.” That one had my brows going into my hairline. What an ass.
He grinned. No it was more a cross, between a smirk, and a silent smile, that said so much. It said he knew what I was thinking. And when he lowered his head to take my lips in one of our most lascivious kisses, I knew that I had not misunderstood that look. But just in case I did. “You’re mine Cierra. Always and forever.” Aren’t we the cocky one? Let’s see how cocky you are after this.
Without warning, I slapped him in the face, hard. He looked at me in shock; I did it again. I didn’t think things through though because now I was trapped between his legs and he wasn’t budging. I tried slipping out from under him while he was still in shock, but I’d waited too long.
He snatched both my arms and slammed them into the bed hard before pounding into me. My eyes widened and my mouth flew open on my first scream. “Ahhhhhh…” He didn’t stop at my screams but thrust into me harder and harder with a look in his eyes that had I not been sure we weren’t enemies would’ve scared me to death. “Hank!”
MANCINI
I can’t believe the little brat slapped me. I guess she felt she had a right. Since I can’t, won’t put hands on her, I did the next best thing. I ignored her screams and rambling half ass apologies as I slammed into her. “Do you know how a lion tames his mate Cierra?” Her eyes grew even wider as I pulled out of her snug body.
I flipped her onto her stomach and mounted her from behind, thrusting into her hard. “Oh.” I ended her cry with my tongue in her mouth as I rode hard and high in her pussy. Her body, in an effort to protect itself, tried keeping me out.
Hold Me If You Can (Mancini Way 2) Page 10