Bodyguard of Love

by Lane, Terri

  “It wasn’t because he didn’t love you. It was because he loved you that he tried to give you the best, that he didn’t think he could give you. Your mom left because she had her own issues, and he didn’t think he would be able to provide you a good stable childhood if you were with him. He was right, Sam. It wasn’t easy.”

  Sam nodded. “I know that now. But it doesn’t make it less painful.”

  Jack pulled her into his arms. “I know.” He bent to place a kiss on her belly. His hands reached behind her to rub her back, and then they trailed lower to cup her bottom. He alternated squeezing and stroking them, building a pressure inside her that she’d needed release from since the last time they were together.

  “I want you,” Sam breathed. “All of you.”

  Jack looked at her in surprise. “Now?” He licked his lips. “Are you sure...you can?”

  “Trust me,” she said huskily. She pulled back the covers and helped him lie down in a reclining position. Straddling his lap, she gently pulled off his shirt and opened her top to reveal her full breasts. “I’ve had this scenario in my head for a long time.”

  “This specific one,” he teased, rubbing her stomach. “Are you sure about that?”

  “Well, there are a few changes,” Sam said rubbing the pad of her thumb over the injury on his shoulder. She leaned down to plant a light kiss on it. Moving lower, she left a trail of kisses down to his chest and began to nip at the tips. She smiled to herself when she heard the sharp intake of his breath.

  He began to grow thicker under her and she rubbed herself slowly against him. He groaned. “Sam,” a low growl rumbled in his chest and she grew more excited. “You can’t go too far or I’ll go too far,” he warned her.

  “What do you mean by that?” Sam paused in her assault of his ears and neck to ask.

  Jack’s hands dug into her rounded hips and he ground himself upward into her. She felt herself wanting to open for him and was glad she was wearing shorts that were easy to remove. Reaching between their bodies, Sam continued to undress him. She unsnapped his jeans, the rasp of the zipper filled the room. She scooted back and encircled his thickness with her hand. Before she could start stroking him, Jack stilled her hand.

  “I want you to be in control, really,” he said breathlessly. “But I’m not that strong right now.”

  The throbbing piece in her hand said otherwise, but she released him reluctantly anyway. “What do you propose we do,” she asked him.

  “I don’t want to frighten you,” Jack said with his eyes squeezed shut. “You have to understand that if something happens, and I shift, I’m still never going to hurt you. It’s usually something I have control over, but occasionally, I transform without will. I don’t want you to leave me if that happens.”

  Sam felt a wave of tenderness wash over her. Was that why he was hesitating right now? “Jack,” she said sweeping her hand across his forehead, clearing the hair away. “I’m sorry that I made you feel like I was that frightened of you. I was a little, but I’m over it now.”

  Jack was quiet for a minute. Sam looked at him questioningly. He exhaled. “I didn’t tell you that I was in and out of foster care when I was younger.”

  Sam felt her heart break at his words. He didn’t have to say anything more, she understood immediately why he had been distancing himself from her before he left. He was trying to protect himself from the pain of rejection. Her eyes welled with tears and they began to spill down her cheeks.

  “Hey, hey, hey,” Jack said in alarm. “What’s going on here? I’m fine, see?”

  “I should have just talked to you. Told you how I feel about you,” Sam was blubbering but she didn’t care.

  “How you feel about me?” Jack echoed. “And what do you feel?”

  “I love you, Jack,” Sam said trying to control her sobs. “Papa was right about you, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you how I really felt. If I did, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt.”

  “Sam,” Jack rose up as much as he could on his elbows and pulled her down to him the rest of the way to hold her close. “I love you too. I could have told you how I felt too. If you’re at fault, so am I. But you came and took care of me. You carried our child alone. You worked so many long hours on my behalf. You’re not at fault. I was just too dumb to realize what was in front of me.”

  After Sam’s cries had subsided, Jack helped her wipe her face, kissing her gently on her eyelids and then her mouth. “You still up for this?” he asked half-teasingly.

  “Yes,” she said, adamant. “I need you.”

  Jack reached into her open blouse and cupped her breasts. Sam let out a high moan, trying to maintain her control. One touch of his calloused hand over her nipple and she had to bite her lip to maintain her control. The nerves led straight to her core and electrified her in an instant.

  “How much do you love me,” Jack growled. He began tugging her shorts down. After a little adjustment, he slipped them off and tossed them aside with her underwear. He started to remove her top, but she stopped him.

  “No, leave that,” she said. Sam was embarrassed by the big stomach that rested in front of them.

  “No, I want to see all of you,” Jack said. “You’re so, so beautiful right now.”

  Blushing, Sam allowed him to remove her shirt and tried to cover up the parts that had swelled to their capacity.

  Jack drew her arms down to his shoulders. “You hang on here and do what you want to do with me.”

  Feeling emboldened by his encouragement, Sam did just that. She came to her knees while he lifted his hips to shuck off his pants. She reached between them again and rubbed his tip against her sensitive nub. Closing her eyes, she continued to rub it until she felt herself taking him deeper and deeper until she eventually, she had sheathed him inside of her. Holding him in there for a few seconds, she squeezed her muscles around him before rising over him before plunging back down.

  “I love you, Sam,” Jack growled.

  Sam’s eyes had closed to find her rhythm but she peeped at him with one eye to see him admiring her body with wonder in his eyes. “You’re so beautiful right now, you have no idea what you’re doing to me,” he ground out.

  “I think I have somewhat of an idea,” she said breathlessly. She was feeling the pressure build already, and his words were carrying her over the edge.

  “Jack, I love feeling you inside me,” she said honestly. “I want you to let go. I want all of you.”

  Jack groaned, “Sam, you’re killing me. I can’t last much longer if you keep talking like this.”

  “Good,” Sam breathed. Her pace quickened and her breasts began to bounce with her.

  Jack captured them in his hands, “Oh, Sam,” his composure was slipping. Sweat poured from his temples as he fought to hold back. His hands slipped helplessly to her hips and they squeezed before sliding up and down her thighs.

  “Now,” Sam cried out just before she let go.

  Jack lifted his hips up off the bed and held her hips tight against his pelvis, pumping her full of his seed as he finished. They stayed like that together for a long time until Jack slipped out of her. He helped Sam lay on her side and pulled her up against him, kissing her temple.

  With no words left to speak, they fell asleep, content at last.

  THE END

  = Bonus Book 9 of 9 =

  Learning with the Dragons

  It wasn't Linne's first time being in Professor Halthorne's class, but it was her first time entering as a teacher's assistant. A little trepidatious, but willing to overlook the butterflies in her stomach and help others work on the subject matter that meant so much to her was what was important. She was a young woman in her mid-twenties with straight black hair and bright eyes. She was lithe and lean with a small frame and not much in the way of curves.

  She used her slim body to squeeze past groups of students and, with her laptop case in hand, she set to work getting comfortable in the back of the class, a place she had always noticed other t
eachers' assistants positioned in. She opened up her computer and set to work.

  A young man with shaggy blonde hair and brilliant green eyes sat down next to her and looked to Linne to ask, "You're the TA?"

  She nodded and closed her laptop to give him her full attention. Something about him caught her off guard as she focused on him fully. She realized her breath was caught and she hadn't inhaled before laying eyes on him as he spoke and she inhaled sharply as his words came out.

  "I may be able to help with your workload. This is my last semester here before I graduate. I'm on track to have a job with the biggest tech developer in the state and I know my way around. I'm Riley."

  "Riley," Linne said, breathing somewhat normally again. "It is very nice to meet you. I could certainly use your help. This is my first time doing this sort of thing. I want to do right by Halthorne."

  "Is he cool?" Riley asked.

  Linne smiled, nodding, "Very."

  "That's good, I'd hate to have a terrible teacher and receive bad marks or some such," Riley told Linne as she looked to the front of the room as the door had opened.

  "Let's get going," Professor Halthorne said after he had set his own laptop on the table in front of the white board.

  "Talk to you later," Riley said, running a hand through his blonde hair and smiling before turning around.

  Halthorne wrote out his name, then underlined it. "That's who I am. Now, who are you? Why are you here with us today? You want to get into tech developing. If you didn't, you wouldn't be here. We're going to go around the class and get to know each other."

  And that is what they did. They went around the room, one row at a time, until they had gotten to the back of the room to Riley and Linne, the last ones to state their name and a little about themselves.

  "Hi, I'm Riley," the blond said, then chuckled. "I guess it's my turn? I am getting into tech because I love using tech and I love to figure out even more how it works and what other people can do with it. I guess that's it."

  "Well put," Halthorne said.

  It was Linne's turn and she said, "Hi all! I'm Linne."

  "Ah, this is Ms. Barsthed. She is our TA this year and the best I could wish upon you kind folks. She'll be here and in my office to answer any questions you may have. Think of her as the liaison between you and a better grade," the professor said.

  "Thank you, Professor Halthorne. You're too kind to me," Linne said to him, then to the class spoke. "Yes, you can come to me with any questions you may have. This is a really fun class and you have a fun professor for it!"

  "Eloquent, as always," Professor Halthorne said with a smile.

  "Thank you, again," Linne said as she nodded to the class. "And thanks to all of you for taking this class!"

  The professor nodded in agreement and went on to the syllabus with the rest of the class, then over the textbook and requirements of the class beyond what the syllabus offered. The class ended and Riley turned to Linne and lifted his blonde brows on his lightly freckled face.

  He asked, "What are you doing after this?"

  Linne looked at her phone, seeing the time and calculating just how much time she had until she had to start on a project for work.

  She said, "I have a few hours with nothing to do."

  "Then want to grab a coffee?" Riley asked.

  Linne nodded happily, then grabbed her laptop case and pocketed her phone and followed him out, stopping to exchange smiles with the professor before leaving with Riley.

  "I know the campus sells coffee, but if you really want a good cup of joe, you'll go off-campus to the local coffee roaster. You know the one I'm talking about, right?" Riley lilted the tone of his voice to denote the question and turned to her as they walked down the hall.

  "I don't think I do."

  Riley nodded and said, "Then let me lead the way. You'll likely love it."

  "I do like a 'good cup of joe' if I do say so myself," Linne said.

  "Using my own words against me, Ms. Barsthed?" Riley said and nearly laughed as he again turned to look at her as he walked the campus' halls. "So, what turned you on to tech developing? I gave my reasoning. Now it is time for yours."

  "My reasoning?" Linne asked, thinking back. "I took a required course for my core units with Professor Hawthorne and never looked back. He made the industry and the study of it so interesting. There was no way I couldn't."

  "Did you grow up around here?" Riley asked of her as they got out of the main building.

  Linne shook her head to say no, then added, "No, I moved from the East Coast."

  "I envy you. Did you enjoy it?" Riley asked as they walked underneath great redwood trees on campus and made their way down a meandering walkway beneath the great trees. The sounds of birds chirping could be heard above their conversation and the light splashing of a creek that ran through the campus was nearby.

  "Not really," Linne said, wrinkling her nose. "I like it here a lot better. Nice weather, nice people. What more could I want?" She lifted her arms, as if to bring to light all of the wonders around them.

  "That's good," he said to her. "You should like where you live."

  "What about you?"

  "What about me what?" Riley asked.

  "Do you like where you live? Did you grow up here?" Linne asked.

  "I do and I did. I do and did, indeed," Riley said as they exited the campus. "I like the questions about myself, but I really want to get to know you." He looked at her as he said this and moved to walk backwards, looking at her in the sunlight. She had dark black hair that fell to the small of her back and light brown, almost orange eyes.

  He turned back around and fell in line to walk next to her as they went across a crosswalk. He smiled like he knew some secret about her and she questioned him.

  "What? What is it?" Linne asked.

  He just kept smiling and said nothing, looking straight ahead as he did so.

  "You have to tell me, Riley. What is it?" Linne pleaded.

  He shook his head to say no to her, lips pressed tightly while he stared away from her.

  She stopped in the middle of the crosswalk and balled her free hand into a fist.

  He broke his silence as he stopped walking forward and took a step back to where she was now standing.

  "You really want to know?" Riley asked, a little shocked but smiling wider than he had been before. "I'll tell you."

  Pouting now over, Linne smiled and nodded and her eyes widened in excitement.

  "I find you beautiful," Riley said as he put a lock of her straight black hair in between his fingers and twirled it.

  Linne opened her mouth and drew her head back a bit as she breathed in, then pushed her face forward and gave him a light peck on the lips.

  Surprised and caught off guard, Riley kissed her back, but opened his mouth against hers and let his tongue meet hers.

  Just then, car horns erupted and the two realized where they were. They both nearly jumped in surprise and looked to one another, eyes locking. And, then, they laughed overjoyed and ran across the street towards the coffee shop.

  ***

  Riley grabbed Linne's hand as they walked and she felt the soft texture of his hand against hers and smiled.

  "Just around this corner," he told her.

  "I can't wait."

  They were quiet, but both were giddy and out of breath, almost, as if that one kiss had knocked the wind out of them eternally.

  When they got there, Riley ordered an Americano and Linne got a latte. The two chose to drink their coffees in an alcove that was freed up for them as they approached. They sipped in it delightedly, at first. Then, they opened up again.

  "So," Riley said. "What makes you tick?"

  Linne replied, "Not a lot of abnormal stuff. Work. Play. That sort of thing."

  "Do you like to be around people or be alone?"

  "A mix of both," Linne told Riley after he had asked the question.

  "Which do you like more, animals or people?" Riley asked, lea
ning forward.

  "Animals, most definitely," Linne told him. "People are not as nice as animals are."

  "Ain't it the truth?" Riley asked, smiling. "Do you like adventure or staying at home?"

  "Do I have to decide?" Linne said. "I think both has a place in my life."

  Riley shook his head, "You have to decide."

  "Fine, adventure."

  Riley smiled, "Adventure, huh?"

  "Now you," Linne told him ambiguously.

  "What?" Riley asked.

  Linne told him, "Now you answer those questions."

  "Oh! That's what you meant," Riley said. "Well, I like to be around people. I prefer animals, though, like you. And I like to stay at home."

  "We're a little bit different and a little bit alike," Linne said.

  Riley leaned forward even more and whispered, "It wouldn't be fun if we were the same exact person, now would it?"

  "No, it wouldn't be," Linne agreed. "So, is that all?"

  "I like having met you, Linne," Riley said. "It's very refreshing to meet someone as down to earth as you."

  "I thank you for the compliment." Linne then added as she laughed quietly, "I just like blonds."

  He smiled and rubbed a hand through his hair, pushing his eyebrows up and down as he made eye contact with her.

  "Then it's a good thing I am one, isn't it?" Riley asked her rhetorically.

  "It is indeed," she said. "What do you like about me? If I may know."

  "I like you. I just do," Riley shrugged. "Is that not enough?"

  "No, no." Linne said, "It's more than enough."

  The two looked across from one another, then after a brief silence both laughed at the same time. There was a connection between them, that could not be doubted.

  "How do you feel?" Riley asked out of nowhere.

  Linne put her lips against the latte's foam and took a small drink before answering. She wanted to think about her answer.