Free Forgotten Truths (The Forgotten Truths Series) by Justine E. Domke Page A

able to lift my head off the comforter. James had pulled the chair up next to the bed and was watching me anxiously.
    “I’m so sorry,” h e whispered. “I really am.”
    I felt my heart slow down and buried my face in the comforter again. I didn’t want to see or talk to him. I heard the door open and when I lifted my head, James wasn’t there. I sat up all the way and rubbed my eyes. I felt ridiculous for crying in front of him, but I couldn’t help it. I leaned back against the bedpost to wait for James to come back. If he left the door open, it most likely meant he was going to come back. Sure enough, he came around the corner with a stack of clothes in his hands. When he saw me sitting up, he stopped. He stood in the doorway while his eyes searched my face for an answer.
    Instead of replying to his expression, I whispered, “You apologize a lot.”
    He looked at me curiously. “I do?”
    I nodded. “Yes. I lost count already at how many times you’ve done it today.”
    He shrugged. “It’s a habit I guess.”
    “Oh.”
    He took a step into the room. He kept his expression cautious as he opened his mouth to speak.
    But before he could, I held up my hand. “I’m fine.”
    He set the clothes down on the chair and came closer. “What happened?”
    I shrugged. I wanted to act as if this was normal for me instead of completely embarrassing. “You grabbed me from behind.”
    “I realized that. But what happened to make you respond like that? I’ve never seen anything like it.”
    I stood up and went over to the clothes. I picked through them before I started to sort them. He’d given me a couple pairs of pants and a few more shirts. They weren’t like what he was wearing now, which was still his uniform, but more like everyday commoner wear. He came closer to me. My body tensed, but I tried to force myself to relax.
    “Why won’t you tell me?” His voice was soft and anxious.
    I looked up at him. I studied his expression before I said “Why should I? I know nothing about you. Plus, why should I trust you when you’re the one who kidnapped me?”
    He sighed. “I know that’s how it looks, but you’re going to need to trust someone.”
    “I can trust myself just fine.” I looked back at the clothes.
    “You really think being independent is going to help you right now? I’m trying to help you.”
    “Kidnapping me from my life is not what I would consider as helping me.” I slowly turned back to him. “How would you feel if I kidnapped you from this life and made you join mine?”
    “I’m a little more carefree in my thinking than you are.”
    “So you wouldn’t have cared?”
    “The fact of the matter is that you have not kidnapped me but I have kidnapped you, so how about we change the subject?”
    I threw my hands up in the air, quickly frustrated. “What is it that you have against pirates? What have we ever done to you?”
    He opened his mouth to answer but then shut it. He sighed and covered his face with his hand. He held it there for a second, and then dragged it down his face. When he opened his eyes again, he didn’t look at me. He reached beyond me for a pair of pants and a shirt. Then without looking at me, he handed them to me and walked out of the room. I watched him and was about to ask what his problem was when he appeared in the doorway again.
    “I will be back. I’m just giving you your privacy to change.” He reached in and closed the door. I looked down at the clothes in my hands and then down at the dress that I had forgotten that I was in. I threw the clothes on the bed and ripped the dress off, flinging it across the room.

 
     
    Chapter IV
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    James knocked on the door before he entered. I was standing at the armoire, just closing it after I had put in the rest of the clothes he had given me. Since he was taller than me, I had to make some adjustments. I had done it most of my life, but most of the time the clothes were, at least,