Tease Me (Private Listing #4)

A smile comes over her and it’s like the world is bright again. I rub my chest where it aches at how much I love this woman.

“I hate how things are between us,” she says softly.

“Me too, love.” I want to take her into my arms and hold her through the threat of the stalker. Sending those texts to her friends and family definitely upped the stakes. If the two of us weren’t in this weird in-between, I would have kept her in my arms as long as I could.

This fear grows every day that we might not figure out who the stalker is before he does something to her. Keeping her locked inside isn’t healthy for her or us, but fuck, would it ease my mind if we locked her away with us twenty-four seven.

Bill is doing what he can to move us up the line, but there are always higher priorities in a police station. I hope the evidence we need is on that phone. Madison is right though. The conference room was bugged when we talked about retrieving the phone. The stalker may have known about it as well.

Even if he tampered with it, he’ll fuck up. He has to.

I can’t lose her.

The elevator doors open and we step into the workout room. I turn on the lights while Madison stretches on the mat. Having Noah down here as a buffer was good before, but now it’s just her and me.

Joining her on the mat, I warm up, knowing both of us might have bruises by the end of this. If Madison is alone and attacked, I need to know she can handle herself. I’d rather her not be alone. I plan to haunt her every step until we have the stalker behind bars.

“Okay.” I clap my hands. “Escaping a choke hold.”

She swallows and straightens, pulling her shoulders back. The determination on her face to work through this fear makes me proud.

“We’re going to walk through this step by step. Okay?” I step closer. “We’ll do it in slow motion over and over until you have the rhythm down. Then I’ll put on some protective gear so we can go full force.”

“Let’s do this.”

“First thing, when my hands touch your throat, take a deep breath to steady yourself. Then tuck your chin so I can’t put pressure on the front of your throat.” I put my hands on her throat with no pressure.

She inhales and tucks her chin down.

“Next, from the outside, grab the inside of my wrists.”

“Like this?” She rests her hands over my wrists.

“Yes, now you’re going to pull me toward you and knee or kick me anywhere. If you can aim for the groin or stomach, that would be best, but you can kick my shin too. You want me to bend toward you so you can push me off balance and escape.”

She gives me a nod.

“No contact these first few times. We’ll walk through it. Ready?”

Her blue eyes sparkle. “Yes.”

We go through the motions multiple times. I encourage her to make some adjustments until she’s moving through the motions quickly.

“Good. Let’s go through the other escape method.”

She shakes her hands out in front of her. Her eyes are fierce.

“Same thing. Breathe, tuck your chin. This time you’re going to grab my left wrist with your left hand, crossing over both my arms. With your free hand, you’re going to aim for my nose with the palm of your hand or pull back and punch me. At the same time, you can knee or kick me.”

“Okay.” She stands with her feet apart ready.

When I put my hands on her neck, she goes through the motions as I repeat the instructions. Over and over we practice, going in slow motion without any real striking.

Then we move on to a back choke hold.

“As soon as you feel the arm around your neck, tuck your chin and grab their arm with both hands. Step to the left and pull down while you snap your arm back to their groin.”

We go through the motions several times before working through a few more hold scenarios.