Loving the Enemy (Seven Forbidden Arts Book 0)

by Charmaine Pauls

  He smoothed his hand over her hair. Right now, he needed to make up for the loss of control, for that last part, where he literally fucked her so hard he would have bashed her head into a concussion against the headboard had he not held her in place. Jacob lifted his head. He scowled when he saw the beginning of a bruise on her hip where his fingers had clutched her skin. There was a red mark in her neck, peculiarly shaped like his teeth, and a scratch on her shoulder. He closed his eyes and ran a hand over his face.

  “Jacob?” Her voice was small, pulling him from his dark thoughts.

  Forcing himself to stop being a selfish prick he pulled his cock, which was already growing hard for her again, from what he could only imagine to be her very tender pussy. She moaned at the friction, making him feel like an even bigger jerk.

  He rubbed his thumb over her cheek, feeling her smooth skin under his calloused pad.

  Her pretty eyes filled with concern. “What’s wrong? You’re not regretting this, are you?”

  Regret? Was she kidding? “No. My only regret is hurting you.”

  “It wasn’t so bad.”

  Yeah, right. “Next time, it’ll be better. There won’t be any pain.” Or maybe there will be, if he had been too rough. And he was an arrogant bastard for assuming there was going to be a next time.

  “I know.” She sighed, and put her head back on his chest.

  He held her for only a few minutes. It was nothing compared to what she deserved. She should be cuddled up in his arms the whole night, but he was feeling restless. By now, the cops or the assassins could be on top of their naked asses.

  He got up and discarded the condom. In the bathroom he wet a washcloth with warm water and went back to the bed to press it on Lily’s swollen sex. She flinched again, and with every bat of her eyelashes and hiss-like intake of her breath he felt angrier with himself.

  She took the cloth from him, and sat up. “Tell me, Jacob. What is it? I can see something’s wrong, and you at least owe me the truth.”

  He rested his hands on his hips and studied her. What he owed her was the truth. Soon, she’d learn the truth about the man who had taken her virginity, and instead of loving him, she’d despise him.

  “Jacob?”

  He lifted her to her feet and hugged her. “I’m sorry for taking you so hard in the end. God knows,” he blew out a sigh, “I tried, but I couldn’t hold back. I know it’s no excuse. I wasn’t the right man for your first time.”

  She pushed back from him, her blue eyes flashing. “Don’t you dare degrade what happened between us. You were the perfect man for my first time. And for your information, I liked it best at the end.”

  He had no words.

  She threw the washcloth at him. “We need to get out of here. I’m having another shower, and then we leave.”

  Jacob stared at her narrow back. Lily was a girl–a woman–he could get used to spending time with. A lot of time. He had taken her, and in doing so, had claimed her. He was in one hell of a predicament, because now he could never let her go, and when Lily found out the truth, she wasn’t going to want to be kept by him.

  Within fifteen minutes they were both showered. Jacob kept watch by the window while Lily got dressed in the bathroom. She stepped out, wearing her cowboy boots and the white shorts and frilly yellow lace blouse he had bought for her. Her wet hair was brushed back, smelling like jasmine. Personally, he preferred the candy apple shampoo she had picked the first time. It made her downright edible, whereas now she had the fragrance of feminine vulnerability, and his protective instinct was already in overdrive. Especially now that she was his. Because that’s what she was, whether she knew it, or not.

  She lifted her arms and looked down at the blouse. “You have a thing for yellow, don’t you?”

  In fact, he didn’t, but it looked like sunshine and he reckoned she could do with a bit of it in her life.

  “You look gorgeous.” He folded his arms around her. She looked delicate, and he had never feared failing a mission this much in his life.

  “Thanks for the clothes,” she muttered against his chest. “I mean, thanks for going out to get me some.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “Don’t mention it.” He pulled away to look into her big, innocent eyes. “How are you doing?”

  She chewed the inside of her cheek for a bit. “Physically, or emotionally?”

  “Both.”

  “I don’t know,” she answered without hesitation. “Right now, I’m basking in the afterglow of that last orgasm you gave me.” Her cheeks turned a pretty pink. “At the same time, I’m horrified about what happened at the mall, but I’m trying not to think about it. At least not now. All I need to focus on now, is getting the hell away from here.”

  She was more mature in her thinking than what he’d expected. Seeing that her dickhead father had kept her hidden from reality for all of her life, he thought she’d be bitter about being on the run, but instead, she was taking it in her stride.

  He picked up their bags. “I called a cab.”

  “What about the car?”

  “We’re leaving it here.”

  “Good move.” She turned for the door.

  He smiled at her back. She spoke as if she was an expert in dodging criminals and police.

  The taxi was waiting in the parking lot. Jacob threw their bags in the trunk, and helped Lily inside.

  “To the station,” he said to the driver.

  “We’re taking the train?” Lily said.

  Jacob folded his hand over hers, but didn’t answer, and she didn’t insist.

  At the station, he guided her through the building to the parking lot at the back. He kept alert.

  “Won’t the trains be the first thing they search?” Lily said.

  “Exactly.”

  “Then why are we here?”

  He spotted the camping car. “To throw the taxi driver off track.”

  “Is that why you wouldn’t answer me in the cab?”

  He stopped to look at her. “Never trust anyone, Lily.” Especially not me.

  “Right. I shouldn’t give information away in front of the driver.”

  The keys were on top of the back wheel, under the bumper, as arranged. He unlocked the vehicle.

  “Wait here,” he said.

  He inspected the car for tracking devices or explosives. Satisfied that the camper was clean, he motioned for Lily to enter.

  She hopped into the passenger seat and fastened her seatbelt. “How did you manage this?”

  “It helps to have connections.”

  “Lucky for me that you’re in a line of work with these kinds of connections.”

  He looked at her quickly, but there was no accusation in her voice. She didn’t suspect.

  “What about the boat?” she said.

  He started the engine. “It’s probably booby-trapped with explosives by now.”

  Her face paled. “They want me dead,” she said more to herself than to him.

  Jacob didn’t answer. She didn’t need confirmation that her death warrant had been signed. He activated the smartphone application that would warn him of roadblocks or police cars, and took the route to the north.

  She only spoke again when they were on the open road. “My father is a very powerful man.”

  She should tell him something he didn’t know. Jacob only glanced at her. She was wringing her hands in her lap.

  “He’s involved in some criminal things, some really bad things.” She sounded ashamed as she said it. “When I found out, I told him I hated him.”

  “And do you?”

  “I hate what he did, what he’s doing,” she said in a soft voice, “not him.” She looked back at Jacob. “He left me with guards, thinking they’d be able to protect me from his enemies, but his enemies are just as powerful as he is. Maybe even more.”

  He waited patiently for her to spill the beans. Lily was giving him her trust, and he should have been glad, because this was his ultimate aim, but in
stead he felt like a piece of shit.

  “Do you believe in magic, Jacob?” She chipped away at the pink varnish on her nails.

  Jacob inhaled long and slow. This was a conversation he wasn’t looking forward to, because he was going to lie to her. “Magic like how?”

  “Like forbidden arts.”

  He wasn’t supposed to know about it. Few people did. Admitting to it would blow his cover, so he said, “What are you talking about?”

  She turned to him in her seat. “In the Dark Ages, there were people who could practice a certain kind of magic. Only, it wasn’t really magic, it was a craft. They were born with the ability to manipulate elements. Not the four we know today, but seven–fire, air, water, earth, human, animal and spirit. The church forbade the practicing of these arts, because it threatened their power. They went on a rampage to rid the world of these people, burning them on the stake, and their craft became known as the seven forbidden arts.”

  She gazed through her window. After a while, she looked back at him. “You must be wondering why I’m telling you this.”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ve recently discovered that these arts still exist.” Her voice became more animated. “There are people in this world today, all around us, Jacob, who can manipulate air and fire and water and people and animals, and spirit. I know you probably think I’m crazy, but it’s the truth.”

  “I don’t think you’re crazy.” At least that was the truth.

  Her eyes lit up. “You don’t?”

  “Why should I? Weird and wonderful things are happening on a daily basis.” Like her.

  “I saw it,” she said, sitting up straight, “with my own eyes. There was this guy in our house and Daddy thought I was in bed, but I sneaked downstairs because this man, Lupien, who came for dinner … fascinated … me, and he gave a demonstration right there, in my father’s study.” She paused for effect. “He set Daddy’s chair on fire. He’s a firestarter, Jacob. Daddy called him a pyromancist.”

  Fuck. She had met Lupien? That dangerous, crazy son of a bitch? Lupien fascinated her? He couldn’t help himself from asking, “And you were attracted to him?”

  She looked away again. “No. He scared me.”

  Thank God.

  “I suppose you know why Lupien was in our house?” she said.

  “Doing a job for your old man?”

  “You could say that. My dad said he needed people like Lupien, that he was recruiting a team to help achieve his mission, and Lupien said that he was going to grow even more powerful by stealing the art of someone like him, some woman in France.”

  This was news to him. “Stealing her art?”

  “Lupien said the only way to do it, was to kill the person, but their soul had to be black, or twisted, or something, for the power to transfer from one human recipient to the next.” A shudder ran over her body. She was quiet for some time again.

  “Do you want to know what Daddy’s mission is?” she finally said, her voice laced with sarcasm.

  Jacob nodded.

  “To be the most powerful man in the world.” She gave a cynical laugh. “But Daddy said it wasn’t the Dark Ages any longer, it was the age of technology and communication, and that he was going to take it over, bit by bit, until he controlled every single internet, satellite and telephone company in the world.”

  Suddenly Jacob understood why he would want to buy the Eiffel Tower. It was one of the best transmission buildings in the world.

  “At first I couldn’t understand why he wanted more. He already had everything a man could ever dream of. But then it hit me. He wants to be God.”

  “Is that why you ran, Lily?”

  She shook her head slowly. “I ran because I had to. I found out that my father, the man I love and trust, was a cold-blooded murderer, that he paid people to destroy other people, just so he could decide the way the world should turn. I was devastated. I felt cheated, deceived. I didn’t know what to do, so I turned to the only other person I thought could help, my stepbrother Adam. I told him what I had seen, and heard, and said we had to go to the police.”

  The police? Jacob flinched at her naivety. She had no idea how powerful her father really was. The man practically owned the police force.

  “But,” her lip quivered, “Adam betrayed me. He works with Daddy, you see, and he knew all along. I felt like I’ve been living in some fairytale tower, in a false reality. I felt so stupid. When Adam told Daddy about my plan to rat on him, Daddy told me that my disloyalty disappointed him. He wasn’t angry. He just hugged me and told me he was going to France to buy the Eiffel Tower, and asked me what I wanted from Paris.”

  Jacob folded his hand over hers.

  A single tear fell from her eye and ran over her cheek. “I told him I was going to run away the minute he was gone, and he just laughed and told me I’d always be his princess.” She wiped at her face with the back of her hand. “He made sure I couldn’t run anywhere. He put even more guards on duty than usual. I knew it was as much to keep me prisoner, as to protect me.”

  Even if he knew the rest of the story, he said, “What happened?” He sensed her need to get it off her chest.

  “Daddy’s enemy, Sky Communications … they came in the night. I recognized their uniforms. I was lucky I had fallen asleep in the attic.” Goose bumps broke out over her arms. “They killed everyone, but I managed to get away.”

  “And then you ended up on Green Market Square,” he said gently.

  She sniffed. “And then you found me in the park, and saved me.”

  He pulled his hand away. He wanted to be the hero for her, he really did. But he was the villain.

  Chapter Eight

  ‡

  Camping wasn’t Lily’s style, but she tried to pull her weight. She guessed Jacob took the task of cooking from her hands, not because he was being helpful, but because her food was either charcoal, or raw. She lay back on the blanket he had spread out on the forest bed, and watched him grill their meat. Instead of going to a camping ground, Jacob had driven them into the forest far enough from the road so that their fire wouldn’t be spotted. The sun was setting in an orange glow.

  They had driven all day straight, and Lily was tired. They didn’t take a direct route to the Mozambican border, because Jacob said it would be easier to track. Instead, they were heading west, and then north. They had stocked up in Ermelo, using the opportunity to buy more clothes and toiletries. The plan was to enter Mozambique from Komatipoort. From Mozambique, the rest of the way through Africa would be safe enough up to Kenya, but from there it became too dangerous to travel by car. Jacob was going to try and get them a Cessna charter now that he had access to his funds via his smartphone. A software application scrambled the transactions, so it couldn’t be traced, but withdrawing money from a bank or a cash dispenser would leave a trail.

  By now the stolen money had almost been spent. Soon, they’d have to get their hands on more. She hated that Jacob had to use his resources, and worse, steal because of her. She’d make sure her dad returned every cent Jacob spent to get her to Paris.

  The last town they had passed through, was Nelspruit. The area wasn’t tropical like Durban, but it was warmer than Cape Town. It had dry winters with clear blue skies. Despite the warm days, the nights were still cold, even more so in the shady woods. Lily had changed into her new jeans and a warm sweater.

  Jacob now carried the revolver on him constantly, and the automatic rifle he had taken from the guard was always within his hand’s reach. He flipped the meat. A delicious fragrance of grilled fat and burning wood infused the air. Lily could imagine him just like that, on a lawn of a house, a pet running around in the yard. It didn’t have to be anything fancy, just a place where one could live, like really live enough to not worry about ruffled scatter cushions on the sofa and toys on the floor. That was all she wanted. A chance at a normal life. With Jacob in it. She sighed.

  He turned. “Tired?”

  She folded her hands under
her head and looked up at the first stars appearing in the twilight. “One day I’m going to have a puppy.”

  He chuckled. “A dog? What made you think of that?”

  “I’ve always wanted one. Daddy doesn’t like animals.”

  “So it’s an act of defiance.”

  She sat up and wrapped her arms around her knees. “No. It’s a shot at normality.”

  His smile faded. In the light of the fire, his gaze shifted.

  “Don’t you like dogs?” she said.

  “I like them fine.” His voice was clipped.

  “Then what’s the matter?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Jacob, don’t sulk. It doesn’t suit a man of your age.” Her statement was an attempt at being playful, to lighten his sudden dark mood.

  “You’re dreaming of suburban bliss, Lily,” he said, losing his cool. “What do you see? The white picket fence, the swing in the yard, the kids running around?”

  She blinked at him in confusion. “Something like that.”

  “It doesn’t exist, sweetheart,” he said, his voice cold, “not for people like us.”

  Her heart started beating with a dull ache. “Like us?”

  “I’m a bodyguard. I put my life on the line for a living. And you, you’re your father’s daughter.”

  He was right. Of course he was. What gave her the right to believe that her life could ever be ‘normal’? Her father was who he was. The all-powerful Godfrey. He’d always have enemies, and her life would always be in danger. She was the daughter of a criminal, a monster, and she was running back to him to beg for his protection. Come to think of it, it was pathetic. On top of that, she was risking Jacob’s life to run to the very man she was supposed to run away from. Why hadn’t she seen it so clearly before? Maybe because she was frightened and lost and cold and starved. But she wasn’t that girl anymore. And she didn’t want to go back at being the ignorant person she was before.

  She got to her feet and turned toward the car, but Jacob rushed to her and laid his hand on her arm.

  “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings, but I’m not your dad. I’m not going to let you live in a dream, because to do so, isn’t safe. It isn’t safe, and it’s not real.”