Page 84 of Wolf.e
“The first part of self-defense is always knowing more than your attacker,” I tell Brinley two hours later.
We’re in the gym after a difficult hour at the shooting range where Brinley effectively missed every single target. I expected that. It took me forty minutes to get her to even pull the goddamn trigger.
What I didn’t expect was the darkness that lives in this woman runs deeper than I thought. When she finally did fire, all I could do was stand back and watch.
Brinley didn’t stop until the fucking mag was empty. Then she turned to me, chest heaving, determination lining her face and demanded, “Again.”
I’m not going to say it was easy for me to see her like that—hair back in a ponytail, hearing protection on, that concentrated look on her face, her plush lip between her teeth as she took her shots over and over. It took everything in me to remind myself we had a job to do.
I could fuck her later.
I keep reminding myself of that now, as Brinley standsbefore me, after a thirty-minute weight training session where she did surprisingly better than the gun range. She’s already strong from daily yoga. Now she’s only going to get stronger. I simply can’t be with her every second, and knowing she can protect herself will give me the tiny semblance of peace that I never got with my mother.
“You won’t see them coming. Time is never on your side, so you need to start focusing on being hyper aware in every situation,” I tell Brinley as I push her shoulder, probably a little harder than I should. “Could be something as simple as someone shoving you.”
Her mouth pops open in surprise as I push her again. “Nine times out of ten, your attacker will come at you from behind like this.” I spin her around roughly and grab hold, reminding myself as I ease up a little that sheisn’ta soldier yet.
Her ass presses up against my cock, she shifts herself to try to break free and presses into me a little more. If it’s on purpose I’m fucking proud of her because it would distract any man.
For the first time maybe ever, I have to force myself to focus as I wrap an arm around her neck tighter. She starts clawing at me.
“You can claw but it’s not very effective,” I tell her, knowing she’s struggling to breathe, but I don’t let go. She needs to know what it feels like so if it really happens, she isn’t afraid.
“You need to be smarter than your attacker. Strategic, waiting that extra second to calculate could and will save your life.”
I let go and she inhales deeply. Leaning down to rest her elbows on her thighs as her breath returns.
“Youson of a…” She lunges at me, smacking at me for taking her breath. She’s not helping me contain the urge to fuck her.
I grip her throat to calm her down and tsk at her. “The smart little mouth doesn’t mean you’rethinkingsmarter,” I tell her.
“I couldn’t breathe,” she says, still a little out of breath.
“I know. And you better get used to it. I’ll be choking you out every day until you can break my hold.”
I pull a step stool from the wall into the center of the room, it will give her enough of a height advantage to wrap her arm around my neck. I grab a still scowling Brinley around the waist and hoist her up onto it before she can complain, then I turn so her front is to my back. I grab one of her arms and pull it around my neck, she grips tight and yanks on me, hard. I chuckle.
“Christ. Calm down,” I tell her. “You’ll get more chances to beat the shit outta me while you’re learning.”
“Well, there’s that to look forward to,” Brinley grunts out, still trying to keep her grip on me and failing. I grip her hand and pull it forward; she yelps with the pain.
This gets her attention.
“You’re my attacker,” I tell her as I wrap her arm back around my neck.
“The first thing I’m going to do is lower my chin. It’s much harder to get in and to choke me if my chin is down.” I tap her other arm.
“Now, lock your hands around my neck.”
She does and gets a damn firm grip too, but not firm enough to actually do any damage.
We run through this a few times until she seems to get it.
I turn and face her. She’s still on the stool, almost reaching my height. I kiss her lips once, and she scowls. I tilt her head, I can’t help myself, and I run my tongue from her collarbone to her jaw, satiating myself until this training is done. She shuddersas I lift her off the stool and place her before me, spinning her quickly so her back is to my front.
I wrap my arm firmly around her throat, explaining to her step by step how to break my hold. After a few tries, she does it.
“Attagirl…next, you’re gonna step to the side and use your hand to swing backward. Aim for the groin.”
