Page 17 of Two Favors Repaid

Rob leaned forward and took her hand in his, squeezing it gently. “Breathe, Emma, breathe. We can take as long as you need.”

She nodded, gulping air. “I’m ready. Tell me the third rule.”

“The third rule of self-defense: keep fighting. Once your opponent is down, you don’t stop and wait for him to get up again. You don’t run away and hope he doesn’t catch up. You keep fighting.”

“So I bite him again?”

“Or knee him in the groin or hit him with a hard object. But you keep fighting until you’re safe.”

“Okay. So when do we put this in practice?”

Instead of replying, Rob grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her back tightly against his chest in a back chokehold. And even though Emma trusted him completely and knew Rob would never hurt her, the sudden feeling of helplessness was too much. Emma felt herself hyperventilating.

“Relax, Emma,” Rob whispered in her ear. “You can get away from a hold such as this.”

His soft voice brought her back from the brink of panic.

“How?” she asked, wishing her voice didn’t sound like a whine. She pulled down on the arm choking her but only succeeded in tightening the hold further.

“No,” he said. “I’ve got both my hands locked together. You won’t be able to overpower both of my arms.”

“So what do I do?” she gasped, already exhausted.

“Put your chin down,” he said.

That small move immediately reduced the pressure on her throat, and she drew in a deep breath gratefully.

“Good,” he said. “Now you need to destabilize me. So you stomp on my foot as hard as you can.”

I don’t even know where your feet are.

She danced around wildly with her feet, finally finding his right foot but slipping halfway as she tried to step on it.

“Harder. You find my foot and stomp on it like your life depends on it.”

He wasn’t even out of breath, and that filled her with a sudden rage. She leaned sideways then stepped on his foot as hard as she could. She was rewarded with a sharp intake of breath from him.

He released his hold momentarily. She used the moment to try and sneak out underneath his arms, but his hold tightened again.

“No,” he said, “that was good. Now you elbow me in the ribs.”

“I don’t know how to do that.”

“Bring your arm in front of yourself and drive it back as hard as you can. Best if you can get under my ribs … Ouch!”

His hold loosened again, and she finally managed to sneak out under his arms. She bounced back, looking for anything she could use to defend herself.

“Good,” he said. “You’re not running away. You’re looking for something you can use to hurt me.”

Over the next half hour, he taught her simple techniques and tactics, things she’d known about but had never actually practiced, like how to attack soft areas like the eyes, throat, and groin, how to fight to her feet from the ground. Emma’s heart rate was double her normal speed, and her hair was plastered to her forehead with sweat, but she felt like she had a lot more energy than when they’d started.

“Okay,” Rob said, raising his hands palms up. “I think that’s enough for today.” He leaned down to rub his shin, where she’d stuck a particularly ferocious blow.

“Really? That’s it? You’re not going to teach me any throws and sweeps?” she asked, taking a long swallow from her purple water bottle. “I have to admit, that’s what I thought we’d be doing this morning.”

Rob’s pupils were huge.

“I’ll be happy to show you a throw and a sweep,” he said, his eyes glinting as he approached her. She felt a burst of desire so strong she wanted to jump him there and then.