Scarred (Book 1, #1) (11 page)

He curled his lip and said, “Then no more lawyer talk today.”

*****

T
hey made it to the Roger Williams Park Zoo just before noon. When they got to the front gate Derek took her hand and as soon as he did she was convinced...she was letting her paranoia rule her thoughts again. Derek was real, he was genuine...she could feel that.

“What first?” he asked her.

“Monkeys,” she said without hesitation.

Derek smiled slightly and said, “Okay, monkeys it is.”

They followed the signs to the gorilla exhibit. It was a natural habitat where they were swinging from trees and long, thick cords that were strung across the wide opening. Chloe watched them swing from one tree to the next, sometimes letting go with their hands or their tail and flying through the air to catch the next one.

“You like the monkeys?” Derek asked her with a smile still playing at his lips.

“They’re gorillas,” she corrected, “And yes, I like them. They look so free when they’re up there in the trees like that.”

“They do,” he said. “It looks like fun.”

When Chloe was satisfied that she’d seen it enough she took hold of his hand again and pulled him along to the next exhibit, the lion habitat. Chloe loved the lions. It was so easy to see why they called them the “King” of the jungle. He just sat there with his golden paws crossed in front of him like he didn’t have a care in the world. His shaggy brown mane and his large rib cage expanded and fell in a silent rhythm while his yellow eyes took in everything around him. His sleek gold fur rippled across his long, muscular frame and he seemed to be almost sleeping. Then in one big, fluid movement he was suddenly up on his feet. He glanced around at the humans who stared into his cage and as if just to prove he was bored with it all, he yawned and stretched like a common housecat. 

“He’s awesome,” Derek said.

Chloe glanced at the man who stood next to her. He was always so confident and self-assured. Of all the animals here, the lion most reminded her of him. She hoped that someday she could get to that place in her life where her self-confidence really came from within and wasn’t just feigned for the outside world to see.

They moved on from the lion cage to the sea life area. They watched the sea lions swim underneath the water in a glass tank that was about twenty feet deep with rocks and a faux beach along the top where they could get out of the water and rest in the sun for a while. There was amphitheater like seating all around up above and they sat there for a while and watched one of the sea lion shows before moving along to “Stingray Bay.”

Chloe washed her hands up to her elbows like they were told to do and then like an excited child, she lay down on the cement barrier between them and the stingrays and stretched her hand out into the cold water. She reached and stretched and tried to touch them as they swam by for several minutes before she realized that Derek wasn’t next to her. She looked up and saw that he was standing back about a foot from the tank.

“What are you doing? Don’t you want to touch one?”

“Not even a little bit,” he said.

Amused and surprised at the same time, she thought she heard a little nervous quiver in his voice. “Big baby,” she said as she let her hand glide over the top of a silver stingray. “I touched it! Oh wow, it feels so weird. You have to touch one, come on.”

“No thank you,” he said.

Chloe laughed. “Oh my God. You’re scared of a stingray.”

“I’m not scared. I just don’t like...squishy things that swim around in the ocean.”

Chloe laughed. “I thought you were a tough guy with all of your big muscles...”

“I’m not scared.”

“Prove it,” she said, “Touch one.”

With a sigh, Derek laid his chest across the barrier next to her.

“Look,” she said, “Just stretch your hand out like this.” She took his hand in hers and stretched them both out into the water. Derek was making a face like he was just about to get a shot at the dentist. “Here it comes!” she said. A big black one was coming in their direction. Just before it got there, Derek pulled back his hand. The sting ray got scared and swam away. “You scared it. You big baby!”

“Okay, that’s it!” he said. He stretched his hand out again, this time further and deeper. He squinted his eyes and Chloe laughed.

“You can close them,” she said, “If that makes it easier.”

“I’m fine,” he said, trying to sound tough.

“Good, because here he comes. Hold steady...don’t move...There! You did it!”

Derek’s face was beaming. “I did, didn’t I? He feels kind of spongey.”

Chloe’s face was right next to his. He looked so exhilarated over the simple pleasure of touching a sea creature and proving to her that he wasn’t afraid. Shocking herself she brought her lips to his. He draped his arm around her waist and pulled her up against him and they kissed like no one was watching. It was an amazing, delicious kiss. Unfortunately...someone was watching. They heard a throat being cleared loudly and looked up. One of the zookeepers was standing over them with her arms folded tightly across her chest. “This is a family place,” she said.

“Um...sorry,” Chloe said.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Derek said. When she walked away, Derek kissed her again.

The rest of the day at the zoo they were like two little children on an adventure. Every other exhibit or so, they would stop and one or the other of them would initiate a kiss. When they finished seeing everything, they bought a picnic lunch from the snack bar and took it out to the park and ate their lunch underneath one of the giant old trees and watched the kids play on the playground. As they lay back in the grass Chloe said, “I’m going to be a teacher.”

Derek turned his head towards her and said, “Really? That’s great. What age do you want to teach?”

“I don’t really care. I guess if I have the chance to choose, I’d like to teach the little ones. It’s fun watching the way their little brains soak up information.”

“I think you’d be a great teacher,” he told her.

“I’m only working at the club until I have enough money to finish paying for my degree.”

Derek reached over and stroked her cheek with his fingertips. Then he pulled her face towards his and kissed her lightly on the lips and said, “I hope you know that I don’t think any less of you for working at the club. I can see how badly you hate it there, so I hate it for you. But it’s a job and you do it very well and regardless of what some people might say about it, you have nothing to be ashamed of...or explain.”

Chloe kissed him back and then said, “Where did you come from?”

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W
hen they got back into the car Derek looked at her and said, “I’m going to ask you something, but I want you to know that it’s only a request and there is no pressure involved, okay?”

“Okay...”

“It’s early yet. Would you like to come back to the yacht and spend the rest of the day with me? We can watch the sea lions and sometimes the dolphins swim by. I’ll make us dinner...I won’t ask you to do any more than that, I promise.”

Chloe wanted to say yes but saying no was so ingrained in her... “I’m not sure it’s a good idea,” she said.

“Okay,” he said. She thought he was going to leave it at that but then he said, “I’m sorry that you don’t trust yourself.”

Chloe laughed incredulously, “Excuse me? I don’t trust myself?”

“Well, I know how trustworthy I am...and I also know that every promise I’ve made to you so far I’ve kept...So I can only assume it has to be that you don’t trust yourself. This pretty face of mine can be a curse.”

“Wow, you’re resorting to blatant manipulation techniques, how sad.”

“No manipulation,” he said. “I really feel bad for you. I know how hard I can be to resist. I completely understand what you must be going through.”

“How good of you to understand my struggles,” she said, still laughing.

“Pretty face and compassionate...you didn’t have a chance. I guess you’re right. I better get you home in a hurry. I have no idea how you’ve controlled yourself this long. I have to admire your impulse control up to now. I guess you’re just at your limit though, huh? You can’t trust yourself not to attack me if we’re alone on the yacht...”

“Okay, okay...an hour...or two. I’ll prove to you how good my impulse control is.”

Derek grinned and the first chance he got, he turned the car around. Chloe sat in awe of his ability to make her say yes to just about anything. He’d definitely got more attention from her than any other man in the past two years. She sat nervously wondering how she was going to handle being really and truly alone with him on his boat. She hadn’t been really and truly alone with a man in his own environment for a long time...and the last time she was he had tried to kill her.

Derek’s yacht was a fifty-foot house on water. The top looked like a boat, but down inside there was a kitchen, a living area, a bathroom and two bedrooms. It was decorated as nicely if not nicer than most homes Chloe had been in.

“Wow, this is...wow, it’s incredible,” she said.

“Thanks,” he said, “It’s home.”

“I’ve never been on a yacht. Do you always stay in the marina or do you take it out?”

“I take it out sometimes,” he said. “Why, do you want to go for a ride?”

“No!” she said, too quickly. It was bad enough for her to be here alone with him...in his home. She wasn’t going out to sea with him where he could easily dump a body.

Derek laughed at her quick response. Sometimes she wondered if he could read her thoughts. “You want something to drink?”

“Water would be fine,” she said. He looked like he wanted to smile, but he didn’t. He was getting it that she wasn’t going to do anything that might alter her thoughts or lower her inhibitions when she was alone with him. He went into the kitchen area and came back with water for her and a beer for him.

“Do you want to go up top and see if the sea creatures you’re so fond of are out?”

“Sure,” she said.

They went up to the deck and took a seat on the soft white leather seats. Derek reached over and pushed a button and soft music wafted out of the speakers. Chloe was no stranger to the finer things in life. Tom Ward...her adoptive father was a pretty successful man. They lived in a nice house and they drove nice cars and had nice clothes. The house was filled with the latest gadgets and electronics...and Jesse’s father had spent his son’s life giving him any and everything he wanted so his apartment had been filled with all of the fancy gadgets and the top of the line furniture and he drove the nicest cars...Chloe never really enjoyed any of it from either of her lives. She had always been too busy trying to survive them.

“Look!” Derek told her. He was pointing out to the sea behind her. She looked where he was pointing and saw the silhouettes of two dolphins disappearing into the ocean. She squealed and said, “Oh my god! They’re beautiful!”

Derek patted the seat next to him and said, “Sit over here, you can see them better.” She moved over and sat with her back to him as they watched as the sleek mammals jumped and dived and played. Chloe glanced back and realized that Derek’s eyes were on her face and not the dolphins. She smiled at him and said, “Do dolphins scare you too?”

Derek threw his head back and laughed. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her up against him. With his lips nearly touching her ear he said, “No, dolphins don’t scare me...I just can’t take my eyes off of you. You’re so beautiful, Chloe.”

She felt his lips on the side of her face and when she leaned further back into him instead of pulling away, she let them slide down to her neck. He kissed across the tender flesh there, sending shock waves down along her spine. She was shaking and she was scared, but she wanted him...worse than she could remember wanting anything in her life.

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R
eaching forward, she pressed her lips against his cheek. The warmth of his skin and musky smell caused her to linger. Their breaths mingled as their eyes met before Derek turned his head to capture her full lips. A steady burn began in her core as his soft lips teased hers, his taste making her crave more. Tongues dueled for dominance as a moan was drawn from her lips. Chloe’s arms secured themselves around his neck as he sucked at her bottom lip before drifting his own over her closed eyelids and throat. Each caress felt like he was worshipping her.

It was as if something inside her snapped. Grabbing a handful of his hair she pulled Derek’s head back so she could ravish his mouth. Clawing at his top, she slipped a hand underneath to feel his scorching skin under her palm and heat spread through her fingers. Derek ran his hands across her shoulders before gripping the back of her neck. Insistent, she pushed up the material and he quickly complied, ripping the top off. Their eyes met briefly to reveal a burning desire before they reconnected.

Lifting her up, he carried her downstairs to his bed before depositing her in the middle of it. Clothes came off as a desperate need took over them. The way he looked at her was primal, as if he wanted to consume every inch of her. All she saw was him: his bare torso was that of a gladiator and his shoulders and arms knotted with muscles that flexed and popped when he moved.

The rise and fall of his chest, the swelling of his lips and most of all the way in which his eyes seemed to glow in arousal- flecks of the brightest blue light almost appeared to dance in the irises as his stare held hers.

As soon as their skin touched they both groaned. It was like an electric shock had run across their bodies at the contact leaving licks of awareness across their overheated limbs. With a low deep growl, Derek began to suck at the juncture between her neck and her shoulder, marking her in a gesture so possessive it made her body shiver.

He devoured her as his hands brushed against her hardening nipples; teasing them with determined strokes. His tongue and lips tasted every part of her skin while her fingernails raked his back. There was no time to think, she could feel herself on the edge of something and the animalistic need to get there almost brought her to tears.