Under My Enemy's Roof: An Enemies to Lovers Romance Collection (Under Him Book 7)

by Jamie Knight

  Or, at least, so I’d assumed. Looking at it in light of the new information, what I thought would be a Grand Canyon of irreconcilable difference, tuned out to be more of a puddle.

  I tried my best to process it all. Almost every word from Augustus, either typed or spoken, since we started messaging that fateful morn, had been another shock to my system. Everything I’d thought I’d know being smashed like glass under a hammer.

  The Seven Tenets, as Augustus had put them, sounding like the most beautiful set of ideals I’d ever heard. Rational, practical and empathetic at the same time. Really basic, fact-based things it honestly felt that all people could embrace. Even if they already had a religious belief.

  Nothing I’d heard really contradicted the monotheism I knew. Even if it did have a few welcome additions like personal autonomy. If anything, the Jesus I knew would agree with most of it. I wasn’t about to ‘switch teams,’ my faith far too precious to me, despite some uglier side effects. Though I would never forget what Augustus had told me. Showing a better, more compassionate way to think and live.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, finally pulling away.

  “No, I’m sorry.”

  “For what?”

  “For whatever I did, to upset you.”

  “Oh, oh, no. You didn’t upset me. Quite the opposite, you freed me!”

  “From what?”

  “Prejudice. I never had any idea about any of it. We were taught that anyone not like us was a heathen and therefore our enemy. Including Jews and Mormons. Mom tried to point out that Jesus was a Jew. Dad called her a filthy liar and broke her jaw.”

  “Your dad sounds like a real charmer,” Augustus said, dripping with sarcasm.

  “You don’t know the half of it.”

  “He gave you that?”

  I followed his arm to the cross. Unconsciously, I covered it with my hand. Embarrassed by how it looked.

  “Yes, I deserved it.”

  “No. I don’t care what you did. No one deserves to be mutilated like that. Especially not a kid.”

  “How did you know I was a kid.”

  “I started with your current age and subtracted the level of healing. My baby sister is fifteen.”

  “Do you have anything?” I asked.

  “Not like that. All mine were voluntary. Like I said, my body is mine along with all my senses, for both pleasure and pain.”

  “That’s what upsets you isn’t it? Not the fact of the brand but because I was so young and didn’t and couldn’t consent to it. I-I was forced.”

  “Damn right you were, and if I ever meet your dad I am going to give him a piece of my mind. I have a lot to spare.”

  The giggle was wildly inappropriate but there was still nothing I could do about it. It wasn’t the threat against my daddy that tickled me so much as his delivery. I didn’t think for a second that Augustus would actually hurt him. Aside from his stated principles, he just didn’t seem like the type. I’d seen violence in a man’s eyes and Augustus just didn’t have the look.

  “I could use a drink, how about you?”

  “I-I don’t know. I don’t really drink. Except communion wine.”

  “Apparently,” Augustus mused, searching fruitlessly through the kitchen.

  “I think there’s some cider in the fridge.”

  “Bingo,” Augustus said, coming up with two bottles of soft apple cider.

  Popping them with the bottle-opener, he returned victorious, handing me one. We were a lot closer, both personally and physically, as I’d scooted over to the middle cushion. I’d already wrapped myself around him like a baby koala and really didn’t see what it hurt. I figured if Jesus had been friends with tax collectors and prostitutes, I could be friends with Augustus.

  “Can I ask you something?”

  “Sure.”

  “What happened to your eye?”

  I thought he might leave. At least with the slow way he put his bottle on the coffee table and wouldn’t look at me.

  “How much detail do you want?”

  “All of it.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yes.”

  I didn’t even have to think about it. It was clear he had something to get off his chest, and I was happy to help him carry that load. He’d already helped me so much.

  “It was shrapnel.”

  “Someone shot you?”

  “No, not directly anyway.”

  Augustus, took a deep breath and let it out, rubbing the palms of his hands nervously on his pant legs.

  “It’s going to be a bit of a long story.”

  “We’ve got time.”

  “True.”

  Recovering the cider, he took a big, long swig, emptying nearly half the bottle before beginning. I didn’t have the heart to remind him it was non-alcoholic.

  “I was the middle of five kids. Two older, two younger, a boy and a girl on each end. My parents were the chapter founders where we were and were really busy. Trying their best for us, even if they weren’t there wasn’t a lot. I never doubted that they loved us.”

  He took another drink. I guessed he was trying to calm his nerves before he tried to continue.

  “When I was fifteen, we had a new arrival to the Temple. A life-long LaVeyan who had moved across the country just to join our chapter. She’d heard good things and was looking to make a difference. Deadly serious and with the force of a hurricane, she really shook things up.”

  “What was her name?”

  “Jax. Short for Jackson. She was named after her uncle who had been killed by a Bible-thumping sheriff who took a disliking. She took a liking to me and became a sort of mentor. Both more and less than either. She taught me everything I would need to know to get by in the world. Especially how to deal with the hate I was going to get by being different. Something she’d been dealing with for years.”

  “How old was she?”

  “At that time, a ripe old twenty-four. Keep in mind, I was only fifteen, so she seemed a lot older. In some ways she was. Already having lived more lifetimes in less than a quarter century than most people do in their entire lifespans. I heard about a lot of it. Usually when she was trying to talk me down from doing something stupid. Using her experience to set me on a better path.”

  “Did you love her?”

  “I mean, in my own way, at the time. The way only teenagers boys can love.”

  He took another drink. His hands were beginning to shake, his lower lip following close behind.

  “She was amazing and terrifying, depending on if she liked you or not. Outside my family she was my whole world for a time. Not everyone felt the same. As the temple started to grow under her influence, more people started to take notice. Both positive and negative. This was about when the trouble with your dad started. It went on for about two years. From when I was seventeen to when I was nineteen. Counter Protests and that sort of thing. Nothing we couldn’t handle. I got pissed when my older sister got hit by a rock thrown by one of your dad’s flock. Felt honor bound to try and do something but Jax talked me down. She probably saved my life.”

  He was quiet for a long time. His head hung, looking at the bottle clenched in his hands between his knees, like it contained the secrets of the universe. His breathing became ragged. Like he was trying not to cry.

  “The death threats started coming. Mostly bullshit. Ghost stories as Tom MacDonald would say. It even became funny after a while. We should have paid more attention.”

  “It’s okay,” I said, taking his hand.

  He didn’t pull away.

  “We were at one of our demonstrations. Jax was giving a speech, powerful and mesmerizing as ever. Just as she started saying how the words used to describe us are widely misunderstood and greater understanding was needed if monotheists and others were ever going to co-exist like the bumper-stickers say. She had made it as far as ‘bumper’ when the first shots rant out. We’d been warned. Some pastor had written in saying he had bought a new box of hollow points jus
t for her. Dammit if he wasn’t telling the truth. The church letterhead really should have been a clue.’’

  The sound made me jump. His fist nearly breaking the coffee table in half at the center. Augustus rubbed his eyes, ending tears before they were able to start.

  “I was standing behind her. We all saw her fall but I was the only one who tried to catch her. She tried to say something but the shots had gone right through her lungs. The bastard kept going. Most of the rounds exploding into the brick wall behind us. In all the excitement I got hit while I was holding her in my arms. Watching the life flicker from her eyes.”

  I wanted to hug him. Though I didn’t know if I should. I kept holding his hand, squeezing it tighter. Letting him know he wasn’t alone.

  “It’s what I see every time I go to sleep or look in the mirror. The speech, the shots, what happened after. I don’t look in the mirror much anymore. Up until recently I was lucky to get three hours of sleep.”

  “What happened?”

  “You.”

  “Really?”

  “I don’t pretend to know what it is or what will happen. All I know is there is something very special about you.

  “Of course!”

  I hugged him tight and he returned. Holding me gently in his strong arms. We really were quite a pair. Both of us damaged by the past but looking forward to the future.

  Chapter Fourteen - Augustus

  The owls started up again, not able to tell time. Their hoots accompanied the breaking of the day. There are always rebels in every group. Rachel hadn’t heard them yet. Still, off to sleep long before me. I looked down at her. Cuddled like a kitten in my lap. She shifted a bit as I stroked her hair.

  It is interesting how habits can form. One day you only want to eat junk food, but after only about a week off of it, you don’t even like it anymore. The physical dependency is gone and you taste it for what it really is. So it can be with people. Once the image you held has been shattered, you can see them for what they really are.

  I certainly didn’t know what to call our coupling. We were as close as any romantic partners except we hadn’t had sex. I hadn’t even seen her naked, though right now, I was getting close.

  The sexy number she wore the first day of classes more due to the weather than anything else. Rachel often coming out wrapped in her robe, it was apparent she was bare underneath. Or when she dressed it was sparse, in shorts and a tank top. I joked that now that her classes were online, she could do them naked. She shocked me by confessing she already did.

  “What time is it?” she asked, eyes still closed.

  “Breakfast time? Did I get it right?”

  “Well done.”

  Disentangling ourselves, plans were set in motion for the biggest breakfast spread in the history of the year. We were both on fruit at that point. Rachel was skeptical at first until I made her one of my blender drinks. It was all it took to convert her. We still got protein through alternative sources, things like plant-based burgers.

  “Who’s on cutting?”

  “It’s my turn, I think,” Rachel volunteered.

  I held out the designated fruit knife as though it were a regal sword, bowing deep before my queen.

  Her technique was still a bit rough but her enthusiasm was undeniable. Going through many pieces of fruit of all types aside from pineapple which I was allergic to and mangoes which Rachel was. It was a Rockwell portrait of perfect domestic bliss. Pride before the Fall.

  It was my fault really. I never told her about avocados. How their ‘stones’ very much lived up to the term and could glance off blades better than plate armor. I could have sworn I actually saw the knife bend slightly before it sprang back.

  “Fuck!” Rachel screamed as the gleaming steel did its grim purpose.

  It was like a reflex. So fast even I didn’t even know I was doing it. The offending knife clattering into the sink in the same instant as I took her wrist. Her blood was in my mouth. Warm and coppery as I sucked, trying to stem the flow. What started as surprise soon turned to calm, her eyes actually half closing with what looked very much like relief as well as pleasure. Without even looking, I pulled a paper towel from the roll and lightly wrapped her hand. Waiting for a moment to see if the scarlet soaked its way through.

  The cut wasn’t deep but in one of the worst places possible. Right between her thumb and index finger.

  “‘Tis no deeper than a well, nor wider than a church door,” I muttered.

  “A plague on both your houses.”

  Our eyes locked, each burning with their own color of fire, the same source feeding the flames. We kissed almost violently. The driving desperation driving us together. I lifted Rachel onto the shelf opposite the sink as she untied her robe. The tight knot finally giving way to reveal her full glory.

  My hands went to her tits as though drawn there by a magnetic force. Her young, pink nipples already stood rigid as pencil erasers. Her muffled moans vibrated against my mouth and tongue as I fondled her. Getting her warmed up and ready for what was coming next.

  Blazing a trail of warm, wet kisses along her neck and down her chest, I gently took one of her nipples in my mouth. Keeping the other between my thumb and forefinger, pulling on it making her moan in unbridled delight. I switched sides, giving an equal amount of love to each tit before continuing my progress downward. Rachel instinctively pulled her heels up onto the edge of the counter-top, holding her legs wide.

  Her smooth young cunt was glistening like a spring in the middle of the desert. I dove into her tender depths like a starving man. Relentlessly devouring her sweet little pussy. Bringing up banshee howls of pure delight. Encouraged, I introduced my fingers. Slipping two of them in up to the second knuckle, working her tender folds as I focused my tongue on her hard clit. Caressing it in light, fast swirls.

  I honestly thought she might pass out from sheer pleasure. Pressing her back against the wall as she began to quake with impending orgasm. She hit the stratosphere and started to slowly come back down to earth. I kissed her lightly as she recovered, covering her precious pussy with warm kisses. Her hand stroking my hair. There was nothing. Nothing in the world but the two of us. Locked in the embrace of lovers, not quite knowing where it might all go.

  “C-can I s-suck it?” Rachel asked, nervously.

  “Of course babe,” I said, kissing her on the mouth.

  Helping Rachel down onto her feet, she continued lowering until she was on her knees. Naked except for the light silk robe hanging from her shoulders. Stroking her cheek, I let Rachel take out my cock, already at full hardness from the very sight of her luscious body.

  Holding me in her warm hand, Rachel paused for a moment. Her eyes went wide. I’d figured she was probably a virgin. A suspicion attested by the tightness of her pussy. Though she was also pretty young, so it wasn’t final proof. Though the look in her eyes told me that mine was the first cock she’d ever seen, at least in real life. Whether her reaction was from wonderment or fear remained to be seen. Though it could have always been a combination of both.

  You okay, honey?”

  She nodded mutely. Her eyes still locked on my cock. It was like she was trying to figure out what to do with it. With some guidance from me, Rachel smoothed the savage beast with some smooth, fluid strokes.

  Getting braver, she opened her mouth and licked the head as she stroked. Experimentally at first and then with much more enthusiasm. No doubt realizing it didn’t taste like she had feared.

  Slathering my raging erection with succulent licks from her sweet tongue, running the course from my aching balls to my throbbing head, Rachel opened her mouth,subsuming the whole of the throbbing head and the first bit of the shaft. Still, not quite sure where she was going with this, Rachel started to gently suckle the head while gently cupping my balls. Like she was afraid of being too rough. Which wasn’t that silly a notion. While the shafts were a bit heartier, particularly when hard, but the head was super sensitive, similar to the clit.
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  With a breath of courage, Rachel slipped her lips even further down my cock, getting almost half of it into her mouth. The space was so spare, her tongue stroked flat against the bottom of my monster cock as she moved. Squeezing my balls a bit harder but not enough to actually hurt, my sweet little virgin possessed a natural sense of pressure, she started to suck.

  Hard and fast, eventually increasing in depth, until the head of my cock was grazing the back of her throat as she swallowed me deep. Not quite to the point of deep throating but as near as. I stroked her hair affectionately as she did her best to pleasure me, getting near the tipping edge of a massive orgasm.

  It was going to happen. I was going to cum and it was going to be hard. I didn’t know if I should cum in her mouth and try to get it onto her face or tits. Best to let her decide for herself.

  “I’m coming,” I said, giving fair warning.

  I could see the serenity in her eyes as she kept going. Undaunted by the news. She was going to try and take it in her mouth. Fair enough, I would do my best to limit the ferocity to give her time to swallow.

  It all worked out well. Instead of a massive torrent, flooding her mouth and nearly drowning her, the load came in intervals. Five in all, giving her time to swallow one and catch her breath before receiving the next.

  Guiding Rachel to her feet, I closed and retired her robe as she stowed my satisfied cock back in my pants, and we continued making breakfast.

  Epilogue - Rachel

  I wasn’t sure where I was. At least not at first. The sun coming in through the window made it difficult to see clearly. Eventually, my eyes adjusted and I was able to take in my surroundings. I wasn’t in my bedroom or the living room, that much I knew. It was really different. Strange but wonderful at the same time.

  From the feeling of the sheets, I knew I was naked. My hand went unconsciously to my pussy. I was wet and very relaxed. It was clear something had happened down there. Terrified I might not be pure anymore I put two fingers inside. Letting out a sigh of relief as I felt my still-virgin pussy squeezing me back. It must have been a hell of a licking!