Bodyguard of Love

by Lane, Terri

  "Professor—" Riley began, but was cut off.

  "Call me Jimmy, please," he said. "Go on."

  "Jimmy," Riley said. "Where will you be taking us?"

  "You'll soon find out," the professor said.

  "I can't wait," Line said between them.

  ***

  The trio were soon entering their destination, which was a hilltop hotel's restaurant complete with chandeliers and mirror walls. There was a tinkling fountain in the front and gilded chairs. They went in and the host greeted them warmly and they all found themselves sitting in a booth that fit them well.

  "So," Jimmy Hawthorne began as they sat down. "Make your choices from the menu then we can get engrossed in some good conversation."

  The other two turned their heads to the menus and Jimmy did, as well. They each decided and looked up once they had. They all seemed to choose at the same time and Jimmy smiled, as did Linne and Riley.

  "I see you two have decided. So, Riley," Jimmy began without quite finishing his sentence.

  "So, Jimmy," replied Riley.

  Jimmy gave a small laugh and said to the other man, "You are going to get into tech developing?"

  "Yeah, I am. I'm going to be working for one of the largest companies in the sector very soon."

  Linne asked, "Will you be moving?"

  "No," Riley replied, moving a hand trough his shaggy blonde hair. "I'll be staying in my apartment close to campus."

  "Linne moonlights," Jimmy said to Riley, gesturing with his hand up to the black-haired woman next to them. "Do you enjoy working for the company you're with?"

  "Very much so—" Linne said, about to say more but she was stopped short.

  A woman in her late thirties with blonde hair and tanned skin approached the table and slammed a fist on it as she got close enough to do so.

  "Excu—" Linne began, but again, she was interrupted.

  "You leave me and then start seeing someone," the woman said, looking straight at Jimmy.

  "That is not the case, actually." Jimmy said, sounding succinct.

  The woman asked, "Then what am I seeing here?"

  "You're seeing a couple of students out with their teacher," Jimmy replied.

  "Yes," interjected Riley. "Professor Hawthorne invited us to dinner as a way to get to know his sudents more thoroughly."

  "He already knows her," the woman said, putting extra emphasis on the last word as she pointed to Linne. "I know that for sure!"

  "Professor?" Linne said, looking to Jimmy. "Should we leave?"

  "No, no." Jimmy went on to say, "She will be the one that is leaving."

  "Not to mention his secret," the blonde haired woman said. "Do you know his secret?"

  "We don't need to know anything else," Riley said, scooting out of his seat and moved her arm so that her fist was no longer resting against the table. "The professor was taking Linne and myself, who are dating, to dinner. Nothing to worry about here, alright?"

  The woman asked, "What do you mean, you're dating her?"

  "Don't worry about Linne, okay?" Riley asked as he pulled her towards the door.

  "Oh," the woman said, satiated. "That's good to hear."

  "Let me walk you to the door," he said and turned with her to the exit. Several other restaurant goers had looked up and peered at the booth they were in.

  "Goodbye, Jim," the blonde haired woman said. "Be good without me."

  "See you," Jimmy Hawthorne said only.

  "Let's get you going," Riley said as he guided her. She was mostly quiet until they got to the front lobby. He said to her, "It's been great meeting you."

  "You seem a fine young man," she said.

  "Thank you," he replied.

  The woman told him, "It's a shame you have to get mixed up with Jim, though."

  "What do you mean by that?" Riley asked. "He's a fine professor."

  "He's a," she said, then lowered her voice and leaned in to tell him, "dragon."

  Jimmy was struck off guard and said, "He is?"

  "Oh, yes. So stay far, far away..."

  Riley nodded absentmindedly while deep in thought, then seemed to snap back and kissed the woman on the cheek.

  "Safe journeys home," he said back to her and she looked at him with an odd look, then turned away in a huff and walked down the stairs, away.

  Riley approached the table and the three of them seemed to move on from the incident without another word about it. They talked about their jobs or, in Riley's case, what he anticipated his job was going to be like when he started it. They talked of their childhoods, to some extent, as well as their goals for the future. They talked for a few hours after they had gotten there, eating in between, and got to know one another better than they had before.

  After the dinner date, Jimmy hugged the both of them and whispered into Linne's ear, "It may be best for us to not be seen leaving together."

  "Got it," she whispered back and then looked to Riley. In an audible voice she said, "Want to walk me back to my place?"

  "I would love to," Riley replied. He then looked to Jimmy and said, "Professor, have a good night." The two shook their hands and then Jimmy looked from Riley to Linne before nodding and turning away.

  "Shall we?" Riley asked.

  "Let's," Linne said, leading the way for them to get to her place.

  The two talked further and the conversation was relatively uneventful until they got to her apartment.

  "Linne, will you tell me something about the professor?"

  Linne looked to Riley with concern in her eyes, "What's that?"

  "Will you be honest with me?" he asked.

  Linne nodded, then said , "Don't you know who you're dealing with?"

  "Fine," Riley said. "Is Jimmy a," he lowered his voice to say, "dragon?"

  "I don't know about that," Linne said. "I thought they were extremely rare."

  "That's what I thought, too."

  "I have never met one," Linne said in a whisper. "Have you?"

  Riley whispered back, "I am one."

  Linne, shocked, put her hand on her chest as her mouth opened wide. "You can't be serious?"

  "I am." Riley said, "I am a dragon shifter."

  "Then... doesn't that mean that you have to abide by dragon codes?"

  "Yes, it does. That's why I find it so odd that your professor would be with you."

  "It's so weird that you would be with me..." Linne said, trailing off.

  "You're like an aphrodisiac to me, Linne. Since I met you I've been nearly paralyzed by lust. It must be the same for Jimmy."

  "You're... really a dragon?" Linne asked.

  Riley asked, "Do you have a rooftop?"

  "Yes, let me take you up."

  "Okay," Riley said.

  They made their way through her apartment's halls and stairs to get to the rooftop. It was a long plateau of flat ruddy brown shingles.

  "Are you sure you want me to do this?" Riley asked as he cupped Linne's hands in his.

  She nodded with a happy, excited expression.

  He took a few steps back and his form transformed. He became thirty feet taller and much, much wider with his back legs against the roof as his front legs fell forward. He raised his wings and flapped them a few times before gaining some altitude and he was higher in the air and no longer standing on the roof. He stretched his neck into the sky and then looked to the woman on the roof. He touched back down onto the roof and extended his head towards her.

  She put her hands forward and put a hand on the top of his grey head and a hand below his eye on one side of the dragon's face. He closed his eyes as she embraced him, then with his thoughts communicated with her telepathically.

  "Do you still like me?" Riley asked.

  "Yes," she said out loud. Then, in her head to him telepathically, she said, "I do still like you. You can hear me think this, right?"

  "As long as you want me to hear your thoughts, I will be able to," Riley told her.

  She nodded and asked, "Can we fly?
"

  "How did you know I wanted to do that?" Riley asked her telepathically.

  She giggled and ran forward, then picked her way up and onto him. She held on to a ridge of scales on his back and he flapped his wings as he had before, but this time he raised both of them into the air. With a few sweeps of his wings, they were in the air and off through the wooded suburban area next to the college. He flew up high and skimmed to the top of a nearby hill and dropped down to the valley below before raising back up and flying to the top of the hill before skimming to the bottom again, giving her the thrill of a lifetime.

  "Jimmy can do this?" Linne asked Riley telepathically.

  "I assume he can, if that woman was telling me the truth," Riley replied.

  Linne told him, "I would like to know."

  "I think it's more his thing to tell us," Riley said.

  "Then why did you tell me?" Linne asked.

  "We-well," Riley said and his thoughts were even stuttering. With less of a stutter, he told her, "I don't want to keep anything from you."

  Linne said thankfully, "I don't think you could."

  "I like you a lot, already," Riley said as he skimmed down to just above the tree line and then flapped his wings hard to gain altitude again.

  "Thank you, Riley," Linne said. "Do you think you could learn to love me, too?"

  "I do," Riley said.

  Linne told him, "I feel like I could love you, too."

  Relishing in that for a moment, Riley closed his eyes and smiled, then opened them to make sure he didn't crash. He landed atop a hill that he went to often. It overlooked the city and its twinkling lights. She stayed on his back while the two looked at the view and began talking.

  She wanted to know more about him and he wanted the same thing from her. Then, he asked her a question.

  "Can we be in love even with you and the professor?"

  "I think so," Linne said. "I love him, but not in the sense that I can't love another."

  "That makes me happy," Riley said.

  "And you? Can you love me despite my being with Jimmy?" Linne asked.

  "I can," he said decisively.

  He had long since transformed back into a human and they hugged, then turned to one another and began kissing, lips on one another's lips and tongues touching one another's tongues. After a moment of that, though, they could hear a sound off in the distance coming faster towards them.

  They parted and before she could see exactly what it was coming towards them, Linne said, "Helicopters? At this time?"

  "Linne," he said, transforming once more into his grey dragon form. "Get on."

  Linne nodded tersely and got on his back and held onto the ridge on his neck while looking at what was once distant become closer. It soon became apparent that there were other dragons on their tail.

  "Could it be Jimmy?" Linne thought to Riley. "Maybe with some friends?"

  Riley asked, "You know dragon code?"

  Linne said, "Yes, but only parts of it."

  "Well part of it is that dragons must fight for turf. This is mine. This is where I sleep and live. This is where I live and they're not supposed to bother me here."

  The dragons approached fully and circled around where Riley and Linne were before one lashed out with the claws on their lower legs.

  "We're out of here," Riley said telepathically.

  "Alright! I'll hold on!" Linne told him.

  He shot up into the air, flapping as little as he could to be as streamlined as possible. Then, once clear of the barrage of dragons above them, he gave a few quick flaps and jettisoned away from them. He flew hurriedly and they were close behind, all three of them giving complete chase as he flew towards the university.

  The one of the three in the lead breathed out fire when he was a football field away from the grey dragon and Linne. She felt the heat on her feet and rear as it grew close. Riley was unaffected, but she couldn't stand it.

  "Help!" She sent out telepathically.

  He swooped into the tree line and swerved in and out of trees. The one in the lead above him breathed down through the trees, but just set those aflame and did not get past the trees to Riley and Linne. The other dragon dropped down to meet Riley and Linne below the tree line and tried to catch up, but was too slow.

  The ones that were not in the lead breathed out fire in the path of Riley where the trees became staggered and sparse.

  Just when Riley thought they were too close to not get bitten or burned, a fifth and sapphire blue dragon presented itself by swooping down, almost to the ground, then launched itself up and swiftly threw his blue body's weight against the attacker closest to him.

  The dragon was thrown out of the air and fell hard against the ground.

  The sapphire dragon then turned his attention to Riley and Linne and asked telepathically in Jimmy's voice, "Are you both okay?"

  "Yes, professor," said Riley.

  Linne spoke out telepathically, "We're fine, so far!"

  "That's good," Jimmy told them before breathing out a large burst of flame. It hit the second other dragon, which fell through the air to the ground with a large splash of dirt from his landing area. The third dragon turned tail and flew as far away as he could.

  "Come," Jimmy said. "Let's get you home."

  "Alright," Linne said and Riley and Jimmy flew her back to her apartment.

  They both transformed once Linne was off of Riley's back and on the roof. Linne walked with shaking legs backwards as Riley and Jimmy transformed back to humans.

  "What were you thinking taking her out when other dragons are stepping in on your turf?" Jimmy asked Riley, striding towards him quickly.

  "I didn't know they would tonight," Riley told him. "Besides, I don't normally fight so I thought I wouldn't have anyone on my back."

  "It's dangerous out there." Jimmy said worriedly.

  "I can tell," Riley added.

  "So can I," Linne said. Jimmy and Riley turned to look to her, then both walked over to her and hugged her.

  "I'm so sorry." Riley said.

  "I am, too, Linne. Are you okay?" Jimmy asked.

  "I am fine," Linne said. "I promise."

  They ended the hug and Jimmy was the first to speak.

  "Right," Jimmy Hawthorne said. "I'll see you two tomorrow. Then, lunch to talk about this. For now, sleep."

  "Right," Linne said.

  "I've got you," Riley said, nodding. The two of them pecked Linne on either cheek and walked forward, with Jimmy leading the way, to her apartment. They watched her go in and nodded to her with wan smiles.

  "When she had closed the door, Jimmy said to Riley, "I'll see you tomorrow. No hijinks until then."

  "None, professor," Riley promised, walking away from the door.

  Jimmy raised a finger and laughed, "That's Jimmy to you!"

  Riley nodded and said, "Jimmy, then. I promise. None."

  "That's good," Jimmy said, putting a hand on Riley's shoulder before parting to walk the opposite way than the one that Riley had turned to walk. "Until tomorrow."

  "Until then," Riley said with a wave.

  ***

  The next day the three smiled at one another individually as they filed in to the classroom and, afterwards, they met up at the front of the classroom. Talking idly about the coursework until the rest of the classroom had exited, the trio looked warmly at each other. Finally, once everyone else had left, they began talking.

  Linne went first by asking, "When did you two first know you were dragon shifters?"

  Riley went first, "My parents were both dragons."

  "Same," Jimmy said. "That's the way it works, dragon shifters have dragon shifter parents. Or, one dragon shifter parent and very lucky genes."

  "So that's how it works," she said. Linne went on to ask, “Did it make life tough?"

  "When?" Jimmy asked. "Growing up?"

  "Yeah, growing up."

  "Not as much as you'd think," Jimmy said.

  "That's good," she said to
him. Linne then asked, "What about you, Riley?"

  "I hid it well."

  "Not with me," she jested.

  Then, Riley lifted himself up and strode forward, putting a hand on her cheek and another on her waist. He looked into her amber eyes and spoke out.

  "Nothing is the same with you, Linne."

  Jimmy said, "Riley, do you want to continue what we started last night?"

  "I do," Riley told Jimmy.

  Linne took off her clothes while Jimmy and Riley did the same, looking from one another then to their clothes, then back to one another.

  "I want to do you two so badly," Linne told them as Riley was done taking off his clothes and walked towards her. Meanwhile, Jimmy locked all of the doors of the classroom. He then took up a position on the stool he had previously been sitting on and stroked his shaft in his hand while the other two began kissing.

  Riley and Linne felt one another's tongues in each other's mouths and felt each other up with their hands, moving against the surface of the other's hips and chest. Riley ducked his head down to begin suckling from her breast and she put her hands up towards his head so that she ran her fingers through his blonde hair.

  He held her breast with both hands, squeezing it as he sucked on her nipple. Linne let her head fall back so that her hair spilled down her back and she felt her insides grow wet as he continued to suck on her.

  "Riley..." Linne said, not able to finish her statement.

  "Yes, Linne?" Riley said after he had taken his mouth away from her nipple.

  "I want you, Riley," Linne said. "So badly, I want you."

  "I want you to, Linne," he replied. Then, gesturing with a hand, he pointed to the sturdy table at the front of the classroom. "Up here."

  Linne hopped up onto it and Riley crawled atop her.

  "You two are so hot, you know that?" Jimmy asked.

  Linne giggled and said, "Thank you, Jimmy."

  "Thank you, Linne. For letting me enjoy you. The both of you," Jimmy added for Riley's sake.

  Riley guided his manhood into Linne and felt her tight, waiting womanhood engulf him. He felt her body squeeze around him and he pushed into her, then exited her almost fully, before pushing into her once more.

  "Tha—" Linne began. Then, after a moment's pause on Riley's part, she was able to finish her sentence and said, "Thank you, Riley?"