Page 72 of Whatever It Takes

“Now, are you feeling up to a bit of self-defense training?” I ask, studying her huge bluish-gray eyes. “Or should we check the holiday romance channel and snuggle until the furniture arrives?”

Her lower lip pokes out, and she frowns. “My instincts want to stay here and cuddle, but my brain says not to pass up an opportunity to learn how to defend myself.”

I snort, thumbing that puffy lip of hers. “There will be plenty of chances to learn how to cause pain and suffering, but I want you to see that I’m honoring the promises I made to you.”

Her eyes sparkle as her face breaks into an easy grin. “I guess we might as well see what you can teach me.”

My forearm wraps around Briar’s neck from behind. “Dip your chin, dig it in, drop your weight, and once you’re low, grab this hand.” I pull hers up, patting the one she needs to aim for, but Briar struggles, clawing at my forearm. I move close to her ear and repeat my instructions. “You’re doing great. You managed it once, but you have to do it again.”

Her shoulders rise and fall like she took a centering breath. She follows through the steps, snags my hand, and pulls my arm behind me.

“Perfect, now twist my wrist up and back, which locks the appendage in place. And what do you do next?” I ask.

Briar doesn’t answer, but she kicks the hell out of the back of my knee while twisting my fingers at an unnatural angle.

I fall to one knee, chuckling good-naturedly. “That was great. You’re getting the hang of it. We just need to prevent that freeze that comes when you’re grabbed from behind.”

“It’s easier when we’re face-to-face because I remember it’s you.” She shrugs, offering me a hand.

I take it but use my own strength to get back to my feet. The hair on the back of my neck stands up because her words indicate that she’s been in such a position before.

“Okay,” I say, trying to shake away my anger. “We’re going to work on pressure points. These are highly sensitive areas of the body that, if you apply acute pressure to, you will cause something between discomfort and extreme pain. Raise your hand like mine. With these, we’ll be working with the fifth metacarpal.” I bring my other hand up, running my pointer finger over the area under where my pinky ends on the side of my palm. “This area has no give, unlike if you connect with your fingers, so you want to aim with this region.”

She twists her hand to the side and says, “Got it.”

“Good.” I drop my hands and move in front of her. “You can spot my Adam’s apple with no problem. I want you to raise two fingers on each hand and push gently on either side of it.” I give her a quick demonstration. “See how my voice changes when I apply even moderate pressure? That’s the ST-9 pressure point. It runs adjacent to the carotid artery.”

Briar follows my instruction, pushing her fingers in on either side of my Adam’s apple. I wrap my hands around hers, showing her that she can go a little deeper without causing injury. Once she’s got the idea, I pull her hands down.

“Now, face me and put your hands up like you’re going to take a swing at me. Thumbs on the outside, this time, love.” I chuckle, recalling that debacle. It was the first tidbit of information I bestowed on her.

“I remember,” she says, licking her lips.

“Perfect, now throw a punch at me. I’m going to go in slow motion, but I want you to study my movements, because next, we swap positions.”

“Okay.” She nods.

She bounces on her toes and throws a solid punch with decent follow-through.

My left hand lands on her wrist, pulling her arm down, and my right hand lands against the side of her throat, using the flat side of my palm.

I barely apply any pressure, but I want her to see the chopping motion and where it should land. “Depending on your level of force, you can disrupt blood flow and make your opponent woozy to send them flat on their back. It will also cause a radiating ache that can be felt in the jaw and temples, even though you haven’t connected there.”

“Damn,” she whispers with wide eyes. “I get the idea, but I’m not sure I could ever stop a real punch from someone your size.”

I wrap my hand around her neck and bury my fingers at the base of her skull. “You will be able to with enough practice, but all of this is last-resort training. For an enemy to get as close to you as I am now”—I bend, brushing my lips over hers—“I’d have to be dead to allow that to happen. Not to mention Keir.”

Her eyes clench closed, and she nods as her sadness floods the bond.

“No, love. Don’t even allow that thought to cross your mind. I’m very hard to kill.”

The furniture delivery arrives a short while after Keir and Calder get back. Keir is busy feeding Briar at the table in the kitchen, so I help Calder lug in the massive thing.

“You should have sprung for setup,” I grumble as we lean the king-size mattress against the wall upstairs. “How much is left?”

“It’s just this, the bed frame, and a couch.” Calder shoves up his glasses.

“You only got one bed?” I growl.

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