Page 57 of In Hiding

His thumb trailed across the back of her hand, sending a thrill up her arm. “We’ll start easy. I won’t use any force.”

She nodded and tried to take her hand out of his, but he held fast with just enough strength to trap her. She tugged but he didn’t let go. Was this the first lesson? Glancing down at their joined hands, she tried once more to pull out of his grip.

“What will you do?” he mused softly.

“I could kick you in the balls.” She met his gaze.

He shook his head. “We’re too close. You can’t get a good backswing with your kick and trust me, if you’re ever going to try it, you have to make sure you give it all you’ve got.”

Her mind raced to come up with an alternative. She considered slapping him but doubted her left hand could deliver enough of a blow to do anything besides piss him off.

Whatever she did, it needed to make up for the imbalance of strength between them. She glanced down at her socked feet, and then his. Lifting her knee, she aimed her heel at his toes. Jake hopped out of the way, chuckling.

“Cunning. I like it.”

“If I had heels on, I could literally stab you in the foot.”

“True,” he conceded. “But how often do you wear heels?”

He had her there.

What next?

“The weakest points are the thumb and elbow,” he hinted. “Turn them back on themselves and you can break the hold.”

She twisted, rotating his arm in an unnatural arc. Jake let go and nodded. “I’d never remember,” she confessed. “But then, that’s not how he’d restrain me.”

A curious expression urged her to go on.

“He’d go for the element of surprise and use a big move, like an arm around the throat. You may think elbows and wrists are weak, but soft fleshy necks and abdomens are much more vulnerable.”

Jake stopped moving and stood still as a statue. He studied her and the close attention got under her skin. Quite unexpectedly, she welcomed the intrusion. Confiding in him hadn’t been her intention, but now she’d started, the words wouldn’t stop.

“He’d intend on inflicting as much damage as possible in the shortest amount of time. I mean, when he comes for me, he won’t want to hang around.”

“I’m sorry this happened to you.”

Her throat tightened. “Don’t. I don’t need sympathy.”

With a shake of the head, he stepped into her space, the heat of his strong body reaching her. “It’s not sympathy, Sarah. It’s rage. He should never be set free.”

“Agreed.”

He reached up to push hair out of her face, his touch gentle, his eyes intense. “You must have been terrified.”

“I don’t think there’s a word to describe how I felt. I knew he wanted to kill me and there was nothing I could do about it. That’s why you need to help me be prepared, Jake. It’s not in my nature to fight.” She rubbed her temple. “It’s not even in my nature to flee. I freeze and hope I become invisible. It’s a terrible way to be. Teach me how to stay alive if the worst should ever happen.” She rolled her eyes in self-deprecation. “Again, I mean.”

Determination sharpened his features. “Tell me if it gets too much.”

She braced herself. “I will.”

Moving to stand behind her, he slowly raised an arm over her shoulders and wrapped it around her. His grip was loose at first before his body pressed her from behind and his arm tightened at her throat. A flash of fear streaked through her, paralyzing her. Panic set in and she grabbed at his forearm, trying to pull him off.

“That won’t work,” he whispered at her ear. “Think, Sarah.”

“I can’t,” she wheezed, feeling her heart race. “I can’t think.”

“Want me to stop?”

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