Forgotten Truths (The Forgotten Truths Series) by Justine E. Domke

There were no other houses to the right, but I could see the town. To the left there was a building that was made in the same style as the house, but there was a patch of grass around it, and it was fenced in. Off in the distance there was another building, possibly a house, but other than that, there was nothing.
    I looked back up at the house and didn’t realize I was about to miss the first step that I had been slowly lowering myself to. I fell forward but James caught me before I hit the ground. My head was against his chest, and his arms were around me as he slowly set me on my feet. I felt the slight scare from falling start to evaporate. My breathing slowed and then picked back up when I realized that his arms were around me. That slight fact hadn’t registered when I was thinking about getting my breathing and heart back to normal.
    I straightened up quickly. I smacked my head on the underside of his chin and grimaced. I took a step back as he touched his lip. A small drop of blood came off on his fingertip. He looked at me and then at his finger again. The finger was on the same hand with the bandage. I shouldn’t have cared because it had never bothered me when I would beat up a man. However, this was unintentional, and when I looked at his black eye, and then at his hand in the wrap, I was overcome with an emotion I wasn’t used to. It wasn’t exactly regret or feeling guilty, because he did kidnap me, and I tried to fight back. But he still hadn’t acknowledged any angry feelings toward me, which made me wonder if that’s why I started to feel like this.
    He wiped his hand on his pants and motioned for me to come toward him. I did, very slowly since I didn’t know what to expect, and he put his hand on my back. I shifted, but then his hand was on my shoulder. He turned me so that I could look at his face.
    “You’re going to have to live here, and it’s proper for a man to put his hand on female’s back out of courtesy. I promise, whatever you think I’m going to do to you, I won’t.” His eyes scanned my face as he said this.
    “You’ll only put your hand on my back, nothing else?”
    “I can’t guarantee that. But whatever it is that you’re thinking I’m going to do to you whenever I touch you, I’m not going to do it.”
    “Look, it’s nothing personal. I just have a problem with anyone touching me.” I looked down at the ground.
    “But see, in this lifestyle, you’ll have to get used to it. I’ll try to give you plenty of warning before I touch you.”
    “Warning?” I looked at him skeptically.
    “Yes, like on the ship when I kept clearing my throat to get you to open your eyes before I felt your forehead. It’s pretty obvious that you don’t like it when people touch you, but sometimes it can’t be helped. All I can do is give you a warning.”
    So he was more observant than I had originally thought as well. I turned to the house. I still would not be comfortable, but maybe if he gave me warning, I could at least deal with it. If nothing else, we could discuss it later. I turned back to him. “It’ll only be when you absolutely have to?”
    “Absolutely.” He bowed low and swept his arm in front of him in a grand gesture. I thought maybe he was being sarcastic, but then he looked at me with a genuine smile. “Are you ready to meet Captain Brown?”
    I looked at the house again, and then the ocean beyond it. How long would it take for my father to find me? Not soon enough. I brought my attention back to James, who was still patiently waiting for me. “I guess.”
    He kept his eyes on mine as he moved his hand to my back. I clo sed my eyes and felt my body tense as I waited for the feel of his hand. When I didn’t feel it, I opened my eyes. He was still looking at me and his arm was around me. He must have barely been touching me. He applied a little pressure, enough where I had to take a step. Then we walked up the steps, and he opened the door for me, but I didn’t