Dark Secrets(34)

Twenty or so minutes passed and Trey was behind her with an arm around her throat as she slowly showed the girls how to grab the arm and slide down and backward to slip out.

"That's great," a very familiar voice called casually, making her stiffen and turn to find Danny leaning against the doorway in a tight black tee and matching basketball pants, his hair just a little sweaty from, obviously, working out.

Of course. Of course she would be teaching a class at his gym.

"But that works, say, ninety-five percent of the time," he added, making both her and Trey give him their full attention. "See, ladies," he said, addressing her class like it was his, with the same familiarity and casualness of a man who had done it hundreds of times before, leaving her to wonder yet again about his past. "Most attackers will be normal guys with little or no training. In which case, that will likely save you from getting choked out and assaulted. But," he said, moving toward Faith and giving her a small smile, "if your opponent has either immense strength or even the smallest bit of training, it won't work. Want us to demonstrate?" he asked, making Faith's mouth open to object, but there was a chorus from the girls that made her snap her mouth shut, eyes shooting daggers at him.

"I didn't invite you to help me," she whisper-yelled at him as Trey moved away, light brown eyes interested, lips amused.

"But you obviously needed my help, sweetheart," he said with a sly smile as he tapped her hip. "Turn around."

Oh, she wanted to turn around alright. Turn around and slap that look off his face. But they had an audience and she needed to keep her cool. So she turned and waited.

It was a long minute before his forearm went around her throat, making her immediately grab it, yank hard, then plant her feet and slam her ass back to hip check him as her body slid back and down. But whereas she should have been able to slip free from that angle, his arm tightened, strangled. Her face got hot as she tried to claw and wiggle and pull free.

But he was right. Nothing worked.

And he was also right; the girls needed to know of any possibility. If they wanted to survive and get away from a bad situation, they did need to know that five-percent of the time, they wouldn't be able to get away with a simple hip check, pull back, and slide through.

He released her, making her pull in a deep breath. 

"And the thing is, girls, you have seconds, just seconds to make a move that will hurt him enough to get you free. Because if you try to struggle, all he has to do is squeeze his arm tighter and you're unconscious."

"So what you want to do," Faith cut off the rest of his speech, "is this," she added, turning her back to Danny again. She wasn't going to let it sound like she didn't know what she was doing. She knew what she was doing. And even though her traditional rear choke escape had always worked for her before, that didn't mean she wasn't quick enough to know how to escape when it didn't.

So he grabbed her, she hip checked him, she went down and backward. His arm tightened like she knew it would. She twisted slightly, slamming her closed fist into his crotch and the second his arm loosened, shot up and shoved the bottom of her palm against his jaw, making his head shoot up and back. "And from here," she said, just the tiniest bit out of breath, "what do you want to do?" she asked, both of them holding the position.

"Cause maximum damage as fast as possible and run away," one of the girls called.

"Right," she agreed, still holding his chin. "So you bring up this arm and you wail into his face. If that doesn't work, right to the throat." She demonstrated without actually punching his face or throat, but coming close. "Don't try to be a hero. Don't try to knock him out. Your plan is always to get him off you and get away."

"Admit it," he said close to her ear, voice a little rough, "you just wanted to punch me in the balls."

"Oh, I admit that happily," she said with a saccharine smile before clapping her hands and pointing. "You three, one of you with one of us to test this out. Everyone else, pair up. We will rotate. What," she said to him when his brow rose, "you wanted to teach my class so you're helping with the practice."

With that, she moved away and they worked with the girls until they could all escape.

"Okay," Danny announced as he, Faith, and Trey moved to the front of the room again. She watched him with a raised brow and a smile that was both impressed and amused by his take-charge mentality. "Rape position," he said, the word making all the girls in the room stiffen, their smiles falling from their faces. "I know," he said with a nod. "No one wants to hear that, but the reality is, most women who find themselves attacked by a man will find herself in rape position. That's what it is called because that is what it is."