Chapter 26:

We're lying in bed, my head is resting on Christian's chest when I notice his scars again. I reach my hand up and touch one and he flinches slightly. "Ana." I look up at him and his eyes are wide.

"What? You let me touch you all the time." He sits up.

"Yeah but not there." I look at him confused and he sighs. "Ok, look I know that you've been waiting so patiently for me to tell you what happened to me as a child. But I hate reliving it. And I'm afraid that if I tell you you might leave." I shake my head. "Ok. I'll do it. But you have to bare with me, it's not easy remembering this stuff."

"Tell me about it." I say, smiling at him lopsidedly. He smiles back and takes a deep breath.

"When I was four my mom killed herself. She was a crack whore, a drunk, she neglected me, she was the worst mother anyone could have asked for. She had this pimp, who would come home and when he was angry he would take off his belt and beat me with it. Or, he used to use me as an ash tray." I gasp and he closes his eyes. "He put his cigarettes out on my chest and back, and when my mom died he found her and left, he didn't call anybody. He just left me with her. I had to eat frozen peas for four days until someone found us. And then Grace and Carrick adopted me, I didn't speak until Mia came. She was the reason I started talking and interacting with my family. But I couldn't be touched. I couldn't stand it. Whenever someone touched me I would always freak out. I could still feel the burning of the cigarettes on my skin whenever someone touched me. But you changed that. I don't know what it was, but when you first bumped into me you were touching my chest. I didn't even notice because I was captivated by your eyes, you lips, your everything. You were the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen. I knew that you were different from the minute I laid eyes on you. And boy was I right because, for the first time in my life I value someone more than I value my own life. You are my life Ana, and I could never let you go." He starts crying and I pull him to me.

"Shh, it's ok. Thank you for telling me, it means so much that you trust me enough to tell me what happened to you. I love you." He sniffs and holds my face.

"I love you too." He pulls me to him and we lie back, just staring at the ceiling, listening to each other breathe, knowing that this is where I want to be for the rest of my life.

When I wake up I can't feel Christian with me. So I get out of bed and put on one of his tshirts then make my way down the corridor. I hear the faint sound of a piano as I get closer to him. When I walk into the living room I see him playing a piano in the corner that I never noticed. I recognise the piece. The one that he told me about. "Transcriptions by Bach." He jumps and turns around, then smiles.

"Hey. Come here." I walk forward and sit down next to him. He pulls me to him and kisses my hair. "Play me something." I smile and start to play one of my favourite love songs. When I finish he pulls me back into his arms. "What was that?"

"Passion by Hikaru Utada. It's my favourite love song to play." He smiles at me and I kiss him. "Why aren't you in bed?" He looks down. "Christian." I hold his face in my hands. "You can tell me anything." His eyes fill with tears and he takes a deep breath in.

"I had a nightmare." My heart goes out to this lost boy with a troubled soul he has inside him. I kiss his forehead and pull him into my arms.

"You wanna talk about it?" He shakes his head. "It'll help you." He slowly sits up and wipes his eyes.

"First it was the pimp burning me, which is what my nightmares used to be about when I had them-"

"-You don't have them anymore?" He shakes his head.

"Not since I started sleeping with you." He says with such sincerity I can't help but grin. "Then it changed and you were there. I was standing in front of you and you were scared of me. You started running away from me and no matter how fast I ran I couldn't get to you. Then you disappeared and I - I was left alone." He looks so sad that I can't help the tears that fall from my eyes.

"Oh baby. I will never leave you. What happened in your past shaped who you are today, and I love that man more than anything in this world. Even more than I love, chocolate cake." He chuckles lightly at my reference. "So I will never leave you. You're stuck with me Grey, and there's nothing you can do about it." He smiles at me.

"You're amazing." He pulls me into his lap so that I'm straddling him with my back against the piano. I nod.

"I know." We both laugh and then he slips inside me. I moan and start moving up and down on him. I sit forward and bite his neck, he growls and thrusts into me, both of us meeting a perfect rhythm. Then I have an idea. I start sucking on his neck, knowing that I'll leave a mark and that he won't be able to hide it. He picks me up and lays me on the piano, going faster. I rake my nails down his back, leaving red lines across his skin. When we both finish he lifts me and carries me to bed, I then fall into a deep sleep with my man wrapped around me.

A/N - If you haven't heard Passion by Hikaru Utada then it's really worth a listen, it's a beautiful love song. Thanks for reading!

Sophie x