For Her Protection: An Alpha Romance by Amber Bardan Read Free Book Online

up on her sneakers.
    “What the hell was that for?”
    “That’s how to break a hold and get away.” He circled her, coming up behind her and grasping her shoulders. “We’ll start with breaking the hold and then move on to the getting away step.” He shoved his foot between her sneakers and nudged her legs apart. He leaned closer. “First of all when you face someone, distribute your weight evenly. Bend your knees slightly and you won’t be knocked over so easily.”
    She said nothing, but the muscles under his hands tightened.
    He walked back around and faced her. “Your turn.” He grasped her wrist and tugged her closer, watched her eyes widen, her breath rush between her lips. He stared down into her flushed face before holding up her wrist. “This is the weak spot right here.” He ran his finger over the silky, pale skin of her arm where his thumb and fingers joined. “You want to rotate your wrist toward the weakness and apply force away from it. Twist and push.”
    Her gaze followed his fingers over her skin.
    “Try it slowly.”
    She took a breath and rotated her wrist then pushed her arm free—hard. He grinned. She was a pro. Charlie raised an eyebrow, her lips tugging up to one side. He’d let her enjoy this brief success because the rest wouldn’t be so easy.
    “Good. Now we repeat it until you can do it clean and smooth.”
    They went through the move over and over. The skin on her wrists grew red then raw. Not as raw as the look on her face when she completed the move for the tenth time and all he said was “again”.
    He reached for her and she jerked her wrist away before he could clutch it.
    “Enough, I can do it.”
    He seized her one last time. “Can you? Do it again now and we’ll stop.”
    Her face flamed and her lips thinned. She twisted her forearm, straining muscles, but he tightened his grip, prevented her from rotating away from him. He caught her other wrist to bring her hot curves against him.
    “I want you to be able to do it without thinking, to be able to get away from me when I’m actually trying.”
    Her expression shattered. “All this time you weren’t trying?” A pang of guilt hit him but he ignored it. They needed to start at the beginning and she needed to learn properly.
    She jerked and pain slammed up from his knee-cap. His grip loosened for a moment and she moved, twisting her wrists and breaking his hold. She vaulted back from him, her gaze triumphant.
    What the…?
    She’d actually done it. Sneaky girl kicked him in the knee and got away. Damn…
    “Think you’re the only one with moves?”
    He stared at her in hopeless fascination. Touché .  Her techniques may not be polished or professional but Charlie was plenty resourceful.
    “What else you got?” She dared him with the gleam in her eye.
    “Turn around.”
    She turned. Her long neck rose gracefully above the smooth stretch of skin on her upper back. He stepped up behind her and grasped her ponytail. She went rigid except for the slight tremble of her shoulders.
    But then she moved, a hand flying behind her to grasp his t-shirt like she might fall down.
    He forgot what he’d been about to show her.
    He almost forgot his goddamned name.
    “Aren’t you going to show me your moves?” Again her words were taunting, daring but he felt the moment she melted into the heat that generated whenever they touched. She went liquid against him. Moved restlessly.
    “I need you to kiss me.”
    He remember her words. “No woman wants to feel repulsive.” Is that why she toyed with him now. Did she need him to prove she was irresistible?
    That she made him cross every line he’d ever had.
    His grip tightened on her hair. “How can I when you’re pulling out all of yours?”
    “What are you talking about?” She leaned back into him.
    His hand slipped from her hair and he wrapped his arm around her middle. “You had the balls to walk right up to me in the middle of a bar and demand I kiss you.”
    Her