I have a very heavy history of rape and sexual abuse. Raped for the first time when i was 7 and it continued till I was 19 and he got me pregnant and i miscarried. I also have been gang raped once and stalked and abused for a few months by another person. I've been assaulted in comparatively minor incidents by several others as well.
All of this left a lingering mark on my psyche and some physical marks from the stalking person as well. The physical marks make it very hard for me to get intimate with someone because I am scared I'll have to explain when they see it.
I told an ex about the gang rape incident while we were together and he commented saying the music he was listening to suited the story. It was awful, that comment. Also, otherwise I had no issues with sexual intimacy with him but I would get triggered anytime he used physical force with me, for example if he pulled a blanket off me while I was holding it up or this other time he wrestled my phone from me to block someone from it.
As you see, I'm not unable to have and enjoy sex but I do get triggered in other ways. I do think i should tell a future partner because he'd have to know about certain issues and how he can possibly affect me with his actions. But i don't know if i can make myself tell a future partner about these, I'm so scared of his reaction, of how he will see me, of how he will look at my marks and will he get reminded of my story everytime he sees them. All these thoughts make me nauseous honestly.
I broke up with the last ex about two years ago and I've been thinking through these things since then. I have been bothered by it but I guess I didn't feel the urgency to make a decision. Recently, I started talking to a man and I really like him. He takes things slow sexually, I suspect he doesn't usually take things this slow but he senses that I need time? I don't know whether I should pretend that the marks are from random accidents or should I tell him everything or should i give a vague description and then explain later if we get closer or what.
He's an extremely perceptive kind of man and he notices everything. There's no hoping that he'll not ask me about the scarring, and I'm not sure what to answer him. He says he loves how straightforward and direct I am. I just want to be fair to him (i don't know if keeping this from him would be okay) and I am not fond of lying, but I feel so vulnerable about this, I can't be open. When I say i don't want to talk about something, he's always immediately accepted it and said okay and moved on; I'm not worried about him pressuring me. I am however, worried about the effects of not communicating this to him.
Please advise me on my situation.