Hank pointed at her and beckoned and she joined him. He introduced her to the group and set up a likely scenario, involving someone sneaking up on her in the backroom of Stigall’s and then walked her through various ways she could get the advantage on a much larger opponent.
He grabbed her from behind without warning and let out an “Ooof!” when she elbowed him sharply in the solar plexus. He grinned and rubbed his abdomen and in a strained voice said, “Very good, Leah. Looks to me like you’ve had practice.”
She smiled and glanced over at James and said, “A friend gave me some pointers after the store was attacked a few years ago.”
Vincent frowned and wondered if that was the kind of stuff James had been talking about. Not all gifts cost money. He wished he’d thought of it. James glanced at him and grinned as if he could read his mind.
“Now, let’s have six volunteers to go through the four step process I explained earlier with the guys. Remember ‘SING,’ ‘S’ for solar plexus, ‘I’ for instep, ‘N’ for nose, and ‘G’ for groin.”
Leah took a seat and six others came forward as the men lined up on the mats. One of the ladies he didn’t know approached him with a smile on her face, batted her eyelashes, and turned to stand in front of him.
Prepared to get elbowed, kneed, and otherwise injured, he waited a few seconds and then quickly grabbed her around the shoulders from behind.
She gasped and a light squeak escaped her. She struggled for a second and whispered, “Oh, you’re so strong.”
“Remember what Hank taught you, ma’am,” he said encouragingly as she struggled to get free, which seemed a little more like rubbing herself against him than actually wanting to get free, but who was he to judge? He tightened his arms and said, “You’re not going to hurt me. Do what he taught you or you could be in a world of hurt.”
He intended it to sound as a warning of future dangerous situations but he heard her soft moan. Weakly, she tried to elbow him but she only wound up pressing her breasts against his arms and he finally released her and she said, “I’m sorry. Can we try again?”
“Sure. This time I want you to give me all you’ve got. I’m your attacker and you have to defend yourself or there’s no telling what could happen to you.” He watched as the excitement grew in her eyes and her cheeks turned pink.
Shit! I wouldn’t have to worry about this crap if I’d been paired with Charity or one of her friends. He glanced at Charity, and as if to prove his point, she was currently kicking poor Wyatt’s ass and already had him on the ground. It occurred to Vincent that wasn’t necessarily better than being paired with the lady with latent bondage fantasies.
The lady turned back around and nodded, and he came at her again, this time grabbing around her waist and by her hair. She got the solar plexus hit in, even though it was weak, as if she was afraid of hurting him, but when he lifted her off of her feet, her struggles dissolved into more rubbing and panting. He set her down again.
“Sorry,” she whispered. “I’m trying—I really am, but…”
“I know you’re stronger than that. Why are you having difficulty?”
“Be–Because,” she said, panting a little from the exertion. She looked around and whispered, “When you grab me all the fight goes out of me. You’re just so big and I’m not sure I can do all those hurtful things to you.”
“You’ll feel differently if your attacker is a stinking, horny stranger with a knife at your throat and determined to rape you, or a junkie robbing you of your wallet so he can get a fix.”
“Oh my.”
Over her shoulder, he spotted Leah drilling him with the evil eye, and frustration bloomed inside of him. He had a job to do here. Did Leah not see that? But there was a little voice in his head whispering that she wouldn’t be jealous if she didn’t feel a sense of ownership. That had to count for something and improved his mood. Then he had an idea. He grinned at Leah, hoping to kill two birds with one stone.
He gave his attention to the lady he was working with. “You can’t be afraid of hurting your attacker. Let me show you with someone else, okay?”
He beckoned to Leah, while the class continued, and when she joined them, she whispered, “Enjoying yourself?”
“Huh?”
“Never mind. How can I help?”
He turned to the student, who was gazing at him with limpid blue eyes. “Tell me your name.”
“Pamela.”
“You can do this, Pamela, and she’s going to prove it to you. Watch closely because your life could depend on it.”