Page 17 of Soliv Four
Angie nodded. “I think that’s a good idea, there are some scary looking guys here.”
“Most of them have no honor, and there is no protection against them if you can’t protect yourself,” he said. “I have---”
Tomak went still as four males from Havel’s gang strode into the room like they owned the place. One of the four was human, two were reptilian, and the other was a humanoid of unknown origin. Angie knew they weren’t friends by his reaction.
“Bah’rin, enjoy your female while you can. She will be ours when I kill you in the ring next rotation span,” said one of the reptilians.
“Get up,” Tomak hissed as he stood.
Angie jumped up from her seat, watching Tomak for direction.
“You think so?” Tomak taunted. “It will take more than you.”
“Maybe, we will just take her now.” The reptilian took a step toward them.
Tomak stepped in front of Angie and stood his ground. The reptilian took another step closer, and his lackeys fanned out beside him between the tables and chairs that were anchored to the floor.
“You really want to do this here?” he muttered. Without warning, Tomak stepped onto the chair onto the table and kicked the reptilian in the face.
Blood gushed from his nose and mouth as he fell backward onto another table. Tomak whirled and kicked the human in the head, then leaped at the other reptilian and knocked him back over another table. As Tomak fell on top of him, he punched the other male in the face three times in rapid succession.
Next, the gargoyle faced humanoid charged with both of his giant hands clenched, and raised them to slam down on Tomak’s spine. He heard Angie shout a warning while he noted the approach in his peripheral vision and twisted away at the last second. The gargoyle’s bone-crushing strike landed on the reptilian’s chest.
They all heard the ribs crack; then, the gargoyle roared as his cohort stopped breathing. The gargoyle was head and shoulders taller than Tomak with broad shoulders with bulging muscles. But he was slow.
Tomak grabbed Angie’s hand, and they slipped away while the alien assimilated that he had just killed one of his own gang. The couple went to a private training room as they planned, and Tomak locked the door behind them.
“Tomak, that big ugly could have killed you!” Angie exclaimed. “He was aiming to break your back. Why did you attack them first?” Her eyes glittered with unshed tears.
“To surprise them. They had us cornered, and I knew I couldn’t take them all at once. I don’t think I could take Feglag alone without weapons. I figured we could outrun him.”
“But the other lizard guy said he would kill you in the ring, next rotation span.”
He could see that she was quite upset.
“If I am killed, my team will protect you until you claim another,” Tomak said to soothe her.
“Is that supposed to reassure me? Well, it doesn’t.” she snapped. The tears spilling down her cheeks only seemed to make her angrier. “I don’t want anyone else. I want you.”
Tomak liked that answer and wrapped her in his arms. “I think that could be arranged,” he teased. All he had to do was hold her, and he went hard.
Of course, she could feel his erection as she was pressed tight against him. That made her laugh through her tears. It also made her wet, and he could scent it.
He wanted to kiss her, but that would only escalate things, and no training would happen. Instead, he kissed her forehead and gently put her out of his embrace. “Later. Training first.”
Angie wiped the tears from her face and nodded. “This is so not what I signed up for.” She sighed and shook her head. “But you are,” she added with a faint smile. “I don’t want you to be killed in these stupid games.”
Tomak smiled at her. “I like you, too.” Even as he said it, he knew their bond had already passed that point for him. The look in her eyes told him all he needed to know.
“Now that we are all warmed up, I’m going to teach you the movements infar’ya.We’ll do them slow to get the form right and repeat them until they are second nature. There are ways to take down an opponent that don’t require great strength. We will start with those. Then I will teach you how to throw a punch on the bag over there.
“That looks a lot like the kind they have back on Earth,” she said. “Do you really think I can defend myself against someone… like…you?”
“Probably not in a regular match fight, but with the right moves, I think you could buy yourself enough time to make a run for it. Males are generally bigger and physically stronger. If they don’t know how to fight smart, they tend to use their superior strength, especially trying to subdue a woman.”
Tomak showed her how to stand and demonstrated arm positions and the step patterns, along with breathing. At first, they repeated them ten times in sequence, then they did the whole set ten times.
“It’s a lot like Tai Chi that we had on Earth. I didn’t do it, but I saw vids. I dabbled a bit in yoga and meditation.”
