Keep your movements
small. Keep your left hand up in front of your face with your elbow covering
your chest and stomach. Keep your right wrist locked, fist should be parallel
with the ground.”
I
fell out of position. “Oh my God! How am I supposed to remember all of that?”
Rafael
laughed. “If you do it enough times, you won’t even have to think about it.
That’s why we’re doing this now.” He nodded toward the bag. “Let it rip. One
hit, then run.”
“Run?”
I asked incredulously.
Rafael’s
face grew serious. “Yes. Your goal isn’t to win the fight. Your goal is to get
away. Hit and run.”
I
silently reviewed the checklist. Then I hit the bag and took off toward the
door. I felt like an idiot running, so I pretty much just jogged. Backwards.
Rafael
just shook his head. He motioned me back over to the punching bag. “This time,
I want you to quickly follow that right punch with a left and then run. I’m
standing behind the bag, but I’m going to take off after you when you run. Your
goal is to get to the end of the hallway before I catch you.”
I
took a deep breath and blew it out. “Okay. I can do this.”
He
smiled as he pushed the bag. “You’ve got a moving target this time.”
My
eyes followed the bag as I got into position. I hit it with my right and left.
Then I ran as fast as I could.
Rafael
caught me just before I reached the door. He flipped me around as he pinned me
against the mirrored wall. “What are you going to do now, love?”
I
tried not to smile. “Scream?”
He
shrugged. His forearm was still braced under my neck. “You could. It wouldn’t
hurt. How are you going to get away?”
I
tried to raise my leg so I could knee him in the groin.
Rafael
laughed as he stepped on my foot. “Not a bad choice. What else could you do?”
My
eyebrows furrowed. “Head butt you in the nose?”
He
smiled. “Good. You could also hit me in the neck or gouge out my eyes.”
The
smile slid from my face. The thought that someone would try to hurt me again…
that I might truly have to defend myself… scared the crap out of me. There had
been too many near death experiences. I could not go through that again. My
pulse quickened as I began to panic.
Rafael
still held me pinned against the wall. “Shins, groin, neck, eyes,” he repeated.
“If you can’t reach those areas, do the unexpected.”
The
unexpected . My mind flitted to what I’d done to get away from
Justin. I grabbed Rafael’s shirt and pulled him in for a passionate kiss. My
head fell back against the wall when he broke the kiss. “Do you know how long
I’ve been fantasizing about this mirrored wall?” I rasped wantonly.
Rafael
blinked back his surprise. His body instantly hardened against mine. “You want
to have sex against this wall?”
I
bit my lip and nodded.
Rafael
released his hold on me. He bracketed his arms on either side of my head as he
leaned in for another kiss.
I
ducked under his arm and made a break for the door. I made it halfway down the
hall.
He
was laughing as he tackled me onto the floor. “I didn’t give you nearly enough
credit, baby. That was very, very good.” He rolled me over and eased his body on
top of mine until we were touching in all the right places. “Now about that
mirrored wall…”
*
* * * * *
I
smiled as I pulled the cork from a bottle of Pinot Grigio. Rafael and I had
gotten a little sidetracked on the self-defense lesson, but the feel of his
warm body pressing me against that cold glass wasn’t something I’d soon forget.
I was secretly hoping all our self-defense lessons would end on that lovely note.
I
had wandered back over to my place so I could finish pulling dinner together. I
asked Rafael to come by when he was done with his phone call. He was stuck on his
computer troubleshooting some problem for his security team. He pulled his
attention away from the computer long enough to warn me that our lesson wasn’t
over. I wasn’t sure whether he was
small. Keep your left hand up in front of your face with your elbow covering
your chest and stomach. Keep your right wrist locked, fist should be parallel
with the ground.”
I
fell out of position. “Oh my God! How am I supposed to remember all of that?”
Rafael
laughed. “If you do it enough times, you won’t even have to think about it.
That’s why we’re doing this now.” He nodded toward the bag. “Let it rip. One
hit, then run.”
“Run?”
I asked incredulously.
Rafael’s
face grew serious. “Yes. Your goal isn’t to win the fight. Your goal is to get
away. Hit and run.”
I
silently reviewed the checklist. Then I hit the bag and took off toward the
door. I felt like an idiot running, so I pretty much just jogged. Backwards.
Rafael
just shook his head. He motioned me back over to the punching bag. “This time,
I want you to quickly follow that right punch with a left and then run. I’m
standing behind the bag, but I’m going to take off after you when you run. Your
goal is to get to the end of the hallway before I catch you.”
I
took a deep breath and blew it out. “Okay. I can do this.”
He
smiled as he pushed the bag. “You’ve got a moving target this time.”
My
eyes followed the bag as I got into position. I hit it with my right and left.
Then I ran as fast as I could.
Rafael
caught me just before I reached the door. He flipped me around as he pinned me
against the mirrored wall. “What are you going to do now, love?”
I
tried not to smile. “Scream?”
He
shrugged. His forearm was still braced under my neck. “You could. It wouldn’t
hurt. How are you going to get away?”
I
tried to raise my leg so I could knee him in the groin.
Rafael
laughed as he stepped on my foot. “Not a bad choice. What else could you do?”
My
eyebrows furrowed. “Head butt you in the nose?”
He
smiled. “Good. You could also hit me in the neck or gouge out my eyes.”
The
smile slid from my face. The thought that someone would try to hurt me again…
that I might truly have to defend myself… scared the crap out of me. There had
been too many near death experiences. I could not go through that again. My
pulse quickened as I began to panic.
Rafael
still held me pinned against the wall. “Shins, groin, neck, eyes,” he repeated.
“If you can’t reach those areas, do the unexpected.”
The
unexpected . My mind flitted to what I’d done to get away from
Justin. I grabbed Rafael’s shirt and pulled him in for a passionate kiss. My
head fell back against the wall when he broke the kiss. “Do you know how long
I’ve been fantasizing about this mirrored wall?” I rasped wantonly.
Rafael
blinked back his surprise. His body instantly hardened against mine. “You want
to have sex against this wall?”
I
bit my lip and nodded.
Rafael
released his hold on me. He bracketed his arms on either side of my head as he
leaned in for another kiss.
I
ducked under his arm and made a break for the door. I made it halfway down the
hall.
He
was laughing as he tackled me onto the floor. “I didn’t give you nearly enough
credit, baby. That was very, very good.” He rolled me over and eased his body on
top of mine until we were touching in all the right places. “Now about that
mirrored wall…”
*
* * * * *
I
smiled as I pulled the cork from a bottle of Pinot Grigio. Rafael and I had
gotten a little sidetracked on the self-defense lesson, but the feel of his
warm body pressing me against that cold glass wasn’t something I’d soon forget.
I was secretly hoping all our self-defense lessons would end on that lovely note.
I
had wandered back over to my place so I could finish pulling dinner together. I
asked Rafael to come by when he was done with his phone call. He was stuck on his
computer troubleshooting some problem for his security team. He pulled his
attention away from the computer long enough to warn me that our lesson wasn’t
over. I wasn’t sure whether he was
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