CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

It was the next morning when Derek looked down at Chloe's sleeping body, that he noticed what he had missed the night before when he had been swept up in his passion with her.

Chloe's body was covered in scars.

His eyes swept over each mark as the back of his fingers ran down her spine. They each varied in shape and size and some appeared darker than others. A particular prominent one rested low on her hip and disappeared out of sight. Kissing the back of her right shoulder, his finger stroked her waist causing her to begin to stir.

He watched as her eyes slowly blinked open before a small smile came over her face. “Morning.”

Derek grinned back. “Good morning beautiful.” As he lowered his lips back to her skin, she signed contently and cuddled the pillow.

A temporary silence came over them as Derek began to caress the scar where he had just kissed her. She shifted, seeming to struggle with an internal debate, before sighing. “You want to know how I got them, don't you?”

“Yes,” He replied, moving his fingers in light circles over her back. “But I'm not going to pressure you to tell me if you don't want to.”

Chloe seemed to register this for a moment before glancing over her shoulder at him. Their eyes met before she redirected her attention to his headboard.

“I didn't exactly have the childhood most people talk about. I have no happy memories. I was adopted at birth and reminded everyday that I was not their biological child.” She took a deep breath. “My dad was very abusive. He liked the bottle a little too much, and I was the one he took his frustration out on while my mother and sister did nothing to stop him.

When I was little, it started with being locked in my room, not getting fed, a shove here and there. Stuff like that. It steadily got worse as I got older. My dad's favorite tool was a thin brown leather belt. He loved to humiliate me in front of my sister and mother.” Derek watched as a tear slipped from her closed eyes. “I used to think it was my fault - he made me believe that I deserved everything I got. I always wondered why they adopted me in the first place, how they used to put up with me.”

Derek traced one of the long scars on her back under her left rib cage. “Most of the scars are from that belt. He would whip me so hard that it would cut into my skin, mostly leaving open wounds to heal on their own.” She lifted a hand and rested it on a scar on the back of her top shoulder. “This one is when he struck me, and I fell into our glass coffee table.”

Almost hesitantly, Derek moved his hand over to the large scar on the right side of her hip. As he followed the line across her body, she rolled over, and he was unable to suppress the gasp that came with the blow to the gut. It ran across under her breast line almost reaching her belly button. He struggled to suppress the rage that was beginning to build inside of him at the sight of the mark.

“That one is a different story all together and can wait for another time.”

Swallowing back bile, he placed his hand on top of her left shoulder where another pink line marred her creamy skin. “Another cut from the belt.” She said.

Derek ran his hand down her arm and then traced her spine where various circular burns were. “Cigarette burns,” Chloe clarified. “I guess I wasn't the only one who thought I was worthless.”

Ignoring her failed attempt at humor, he placed a chaste kiss on her marks before hesitantly moving to her abdomen. Derek placed a comforting kiss on her trembling lips and watched as she cleared her throat and ran a shaky hand through her hair before she continued. “I hated them for it, but I finally won a scholarship to attend university and worked towards my degree to become a teacher. It was my chance to get away from my own personal hell.” A harsh laugh broke from her trembling lips. Hearing the pain in her voice, Derek rested his head on the side of hers. “The only attention I ever received from them was my father’s beatings. It was pretty pathetic, to say the least.”

Derek watched as her shaking became worse and he rubbed his hands up and down her shoulders to try and calm her. Exhaling loudly, she persevered. “When I finally left, I never looked back. I knew that I never wanted to see any of them again in my entire life, even though they are the only family I have. I haven't seen any of them in over six years.”

Derek was stunned. He ran his fingers through her hair as her breathing began to slow.

“So why didn't you finish school?”

Chloe looked at him. “Again, that is a story for another day, unfortunately. It goes with this scar.” She said tracing her finger along the scar that lay under her breast.

Her reminder of Jesse.

He watched her as vulnerability entered her eyes but then she exhaled in an attempt to cover it. “I've never told anyone this before.”

Derek stared as shock overwhelmed him. “Why?”

“It's not exactly something I'm proud of.” She confessed.

“But none of it was your fault, Chloe. What he did to you is inexcusable.”

Chloe’s voice was a whisper. “I endured so much for so long that I honestly thought it was my fault – he had made me believe that I deserved everything I got. I used to wonder how they put up with me.”

Derek gently gripped her chin and lifted it. “Chloe…” He breathed. “Now you listen to me, young lady. You are the most gorgeous – soul shatteringly sexy woman I have ever met. You are so strong. None of this was or is your fault. You were a child trying to please the people that were your family. He is a monster and deserves to go away for a very long time. Don't you ever think that this was your fault, ever!” He said while looking into her watery eyes.

Silence came over them again until she spoke. “Do you think any different of me now?”

A look of confusion flashed across his face. “What do you mean?”

“Well you've seen my scars now - I wouldn't blame you if you aren’t interested anymore.”

Derek cut her off with a passionate kiss that left her gasping for air before proceeding to run kisses all the way down her body. “I meant every word I just said.”

“Thank you.” She whispered as he fisted her hair, deepening his kiss. His lips had just begun to follow a trail down Chloe's neck when his cell phone rang. As it continued to pierce the serenity, he dropped his head and groaned.

“I have to take this.” He said getting up and walking into another room. A moment later he returned. “Work. Something has come up, and I have to go into the office.”

“It's ok. I should be getting home anyway.” She smiled.

“Ok, I'll be back in five minutes. Get dressed, and I'll drive you home.”

**

Chloe watched Derek leave the bedroom and go into the bathroom. She slipped out of bed, finding her clothes on the floor. She dressed and fingered her long hair for a moment and smiled to herself, letting her mind drift back to last night’s events of their love making.

She could hear Derek whistling in the bathroom. She went back over to the bed and sat down near the head of it. Slipping open the top drawer of the nightstand, she looked inside. She saw a flashlight, a pen, and pad and some kind of remote control. She closed it and opened the next drawer. That one had socks and underwear; nothing interesting.

Standing up she walked over to the dresser and glanced at several pictures while she waited for him. Her eyes landed on a frame that was lying face down on the dresser. She picked it up to see the picture that was hidden and gasped out loud. Her hand came up and cupped her mouth pulling the frame closer to get a better look. Chloe stood in a trance not being able to tear her eyes away from the picture that revealed a woman with long blonde hair and brown eyes. She was smiling and curled up in Derek’s arms.

Holding the picture in her hand, she couldn’t rip her eyes away from the woman in the picture, and then the bathroom door opened behind her. Chloe let out a little scream, and the photograph fell from her hands, and it struck the dresser, breaking the glass. The photo frame landed face up. Chloe was staring down at it as Derek stood frozen in his spot. After what seemed like a really long time she finally looked up at him. She knew in that instant that he saw it too. She wasn’t crazy.

She was staring at herself in the picture. This woman was identical to her in every aspect, except her eye and hair color. How could this be? What the hell was going on?

Chloe stood there stiff as a board. She thought her heart would burst out of her chest at any moment.

“What the hell is this?” She finally asked in a hostile voice, her body starting to shake uncontrollably. She stared and took a step forward, her hands curling into fists. This time she screamed at him. “Derek!?”

She could see the look of apprehension on Derek’s face as he began to speak.

“Chloe let me explain.” He said bending down to grab the frame from the floor.

She was over the boiling point in a mere second. Was he just some sick fuck? Is he married? This is exactly why she vowed to not trust anyone again! “Explain. Now! Who is this woman and why does she look like me?”

Derek walked over to the bed and sat down with the frame still in his hand as he stared at the picture. Not looking up at Chloe he whispered. “She’s my wife.”