Page 16 of Mending Scars

I scoffed. “They probably wouldn’t give us the time of day.”

Her voice took on a higher, anxious pitch. “Well, what are we going to do, Ryker?”

Shit.

She sounded so vulnerable and afraid, like when she used to talk about Kaleb. I never wanted her to feel like that again—I was supposed to make her feel safe, protect her. And I was failing.

I pulled her into me and kissed the top of her head. My breath rustled her hair as I spoke. “We’ll figure something out. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

She buried her face in my chest and let out a heavy sigh. Then, the door opened, causing Kaiya to lift her head and turn to look at it.

Some of the students walked in, and Kaiya stepped away from me. She gave me a small smile and hefted her bag over her shoulder before walking toward her usual punching bag.

Once class started, I couldn’t get my mind off the texts. Thoughts were running through my head non-stop as I watched Kaiya hit the bag.

Who is it? What do they want? What should I do?

I walked around the room, monitoring the students as I tried to think of a solution for our problem. The police would probably be a dead end—they’d make us fill out a police report that would get forgotten at the bottom of a stack of other reports.

Maybe Kaiya can call her cell phone carrier and see if they can trace the number. That’s probably the best option we have right now.

Kaiya seemed to feel better after hitting the bag—her body wasn’t as tense and some of the worry lining her face was gone. But once we moved on to the self-defense part of class, I saw it come back when I announced what we would be working on.

“Today, we’ll be practicing techniques to get out of a choke that comes from behind. This is a very common M.O. for rapists and muggers.”

Kaiya still wasn’t comfortable when we did choke maneuvers, but I was concerned that whoever was texting her would come after her at some point. She needed to be prepared in case I wasn’t around.

After demonstrating the first technique with Mark and David, I met Kaiya at our usual spot. “I know you hate chokes, but I want you to be ready for any situation, especially since someone is threatening you.”

“I know. Let’s get this over with.” She exhaled heavily.

“Come behind me.” When I felt her at my back, I continued, “Now, put your dominant arm around my neck and squeeze my throat with your bicep. Use your other hand to secure the choke by grasping right below your wrist.”

I squatted some so she could reach my neck. When she had the choke in place, I instructed, “When put in this position, the escape is actually pretty simple. First, you’re going to move your inside leg around and behind your attacker like this.” Kaiya had me in the hold with her right arm, so I moved my left leg around her right one, shifting my body to face her as I planted my foot behind her. My dick pressed against her hips. I had to shake the dirty thoughts that formed in my head so I could concentrate on the move.

Focus. She’s yours—you can have her later.

“Feel how my body’s fitted to yours? My elbow is right against your stomach, so I’m going to use that to my advantage. Throw an elbow strike to the stomach, then follow through using your body to push them over.”

I lightly elbowed her, then pushed against her, turning my body into her and using my momentum to knock her over my thigh to the ground.

I helped Kaiya up, then pretended to brush some non-existent dust off her ass, trying to get her to loosen up. She giggled and swatted my hand away, giving me a look of amused disapproval.

“What? You had something on your ass.” I laughed.

She rolled her eyes. “Sure.” She was trying so hard not to smile, but it broke through after several seconds.

“Ready to try, Warrior?”

Her smile faded some as she stiffened slightly and nodded.

“I’m going to come up behind you and put you in the choke, okay?” I made sure to meet her eyes and get her approval before walking behind her. I hated how tense she was, especially considering that it was me—I felt like she didn’t trust me.

Rubbing her shoulders, I attempted to help her loosen up. “Easy, baby, it’s only me. You know I would never hurt you.”

She relaxed some and shook out her arms. “I know, I know. It’s not you—it’s me. Some habits are hard to break.”

I knew it would take her time to get over her trust issues, but it still made me feel like shit that after everything we’d been through, she still didn’t trust me. I told myself that it would take longer to reverse all those years of fear and trust issues, and I was determined to break through every wall by earning her trust.

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