Connor rolled a blue exercise mat into the center of the room. He’d booked the space this time and they still had half an hour. He intended to make the most of every minute. “I call that cardio. Now get your ass over to the mat. I’m not done with you.”
Her pretty chin scrunched. She wanted to argue—didn’t she always? But she put her water down and swayed over to him.
“What else you got then?”
He smiled. “Grab my wrists and watch carefully.”
Charlize sighed and grasped his wrists. Her fingers curled over his skin. For a second he had to think about a maneuver that was normally as natural to him as breathing. He rotated his arm, snapping her hold on him, then stepped in fast, hooked his foot behind her ankle, grasped her arm and sent her sprawling onto the mat.
She landed on her hip with a grunt. He released the wrist he’d gripped to break her fall and she sprang up on her sneakers.
“What the hell was that for?”
“That’s how to break a hold and get away.” He circled her, coming up behind her and grasping her shoulders. “We’ll start with breaking the hold and then move on to the getting-away step.” He shoved his foot between her sneakers and nudged her legs apart. He leaned closer. “First of all when you face someone, distribute your weight evenly. Bend your knees slightly and you won’t be knocked over so easily.”
She said nothing but the muscles under his hands tightened.
He walked back around and faced her. “Your turn.” He grasped her wrist and tugged her closer, watched her eyes widen, her breath rush between her lips. He stared down into her flushed face before holding up her wrist. “This is the weak spot right here.” He ran his finger over the silky, pale skin of her arm where his thumb and fingers joined. “You want to rotate your wrist toward the weakness and apply force away from it. Twist and push.”
Her gaze followed his fingers over her skin.
“Try it slowly.”
She took a breath and rotated her wrist then pushed her arm free—hard. He grinned. She was a pro. Charlize raised an eyebrow, her lips tugging up to one side. He’d let her enjoy this brief success because the rest wouldn’t be so easy.
“Good. Now we repeat it until you can do it clean and smooth.”
They went through the move over and over. The skin on her wrists grew red then raw. Not as raw as the look on her face when she completed the move for the tenth time and all he said was “again”.
He reached for her and she jerked her wrist away before he could clutch it.
“Enough dammit, I can do it. I can do it perfectly.”
He seized her one last time. “Can you? Do it again now and we’ll stop.”
Her face flamed and her lips thinned. She twisted her forearm, straining muscles, but he tightened his grip, prevented her from rotating away from him. He caught her other wrist to bring her hot little curves against him.
“I want you to be able to do it without thinking, to be able to get away from me when I’m actually trying.”
Her expression shattered, her features fell. “All this time you weren’t trying?” Her chest heaved. “What the hell is the point of this then? If all you’re teaching me is stupid, wanky maneuvers I can’t use for real.” She fought him, futilely trying to twist her wrists away.
A pang of guilt hit him but he ignored it. They needed to start at the beginning and she needed to learn properly. He was the expert—she’d learn it his way.
She shrieked and pain slammed up from his knee-cap. His grip loosened for a moment and she moved, twisting her wrists and breaking his hold. She vaulted back from him, her gaze murdering him.
What the…?
She’d actually done it. The sneaky she-cat kicked him in the knee and got away. Damn…
“You bastard, you made me think I was actually going to learn something. You made me think I’d be able to protect myself. Why don’t you teach me something real?” Tears shone in her luminous eyes. “Why don’t you teach me how to get away from some fucker who’s got me by the back of the head?”
His breath stilled, dread slinked through him at the aching hopelessness in her voice.
“Why don’t you show me what to do when my face is being slammed into something and some prick is trying to get into me from behind? What the fuck do I do if I can’t use my teeth? If they’re not covering my mouth, what the fuck do I do then?” Her voice cracked.
He stepped closer but she backed away. Fuck. He was going to kill that asshole. First he was going to address this problem, make sure she did know exactly what she could do. He couldn’t give her an instant fix but she was more resourceful than she realized. He’d make sure she never had to wear this kind of frightened look again.