Page 35 of When She Tempts (The Fallen)
Equipment lines the perimeter, and there’s a big empty space in the middle with a padded mat. There’s a lot of light, high ceilings, and the mirrors on the wall make the gym seem even bigger than it really is.
Giorgio catches my gaze in one of them as he takes off his boxing gloves.
“Ready?”
Not exactly. I anticipate I’m going to absolutely suck at this.
My tongue darts out to lick my dry lips. “Yep.”
He nods. “Get on the mat then.”
I shrug off my zip-up, letting it drop to the ground, and then meet him in the center of the mat.
His eyes scan my body, his gaze assessing but not entirely cold.
“Have you ever taught anyone before?” I ask, my heart bouncing against my ribs.
He cuts a circle around me. “No. But I had a good martial arts teacher many years ago, and I’m going to show you some of what he taught me.”
I glance over my shoulder, following his movements. “I always thought made men learned this kind of stuff on the job.”
He stops before me. “They do, but I wanted to have an edge. There’s only so much you can learn from getting into brawls. We’re going to jump right into practicing some escape skills. Those will be most useful, since for someone your size, the best strategy is to get away from the attacker and run. You want to avoid fighting at all costs, as chances are you’ll lose,” he says bluntly.
“Makes sense.”
“Let’s start with how you escape a wrist hold. Give me your wrists.”
Snakes move inside my belly as I extend my arms. He’s so intense. His big, warm palms engulf my wrists with a firm grip. “Try to escape.”
I tug. And tug. And TUG.
“Ugh! I can’t. You’re too strong.”
“Instead of pulling toward your chest, jerk your wrists up, as if you’re trying to break through my thumb.”
I do as he says, but his hold on me doesn’t budge.
“Harder, Martina. Use all of your strength.”
“I’m trying.” His hand might as well be an iron shackle. “It’s not working.”
He readjusts his grip. “Pull downward first, and then quickly jerk your wrists up. You’ll see, it’ll help.”
I’m skeptical, but I do as he says.
To my surprise, I manage to break free. My eyes widen. “How? You must’ve been holding me less firmly.”
“I wasn’t. Here, let’s reverse. You’ll see how effective the move is when you feel it yourself.”
The tip of my thumb doesn’t reach my index finger when I wrap my palms around his wrists, but I squeeze as hard as I can.
He uses the same technique on me, and suddenly, I understand. “It’s like you’re confusing me about which direction you’re going to go in.”
“Exactly. When I pull down, the thumb loosens.”
“Let me try one more time.”
He steps closer and takes me into his hands. While I run through the technique in my head, his right thumb slowly swipes over my wrist.
