Odin leaned even closer toward her. “Try it,” he murmured.
Hadn’t she just covered that she didn’t want to hurt him? “Odin—”
“Try it. Prove it. You show me that you can take care of yourself, and we’ll get the hell out of here.”
“I happen to like your nose! I don’t want to break it! I don’t want—”
“You’re scared.” Flat. “If you’re scared in a real attack, you know what will happen? You’ll get shoved into a truck and taken away, and I won’t ever see you again. Do you know what that will do to me?”
She couldn’t quite name the emotion that had entered his voice. “Odin…”
“Attack.”
She slammed her head forward, but he just jerked away.
“Not very effective, baby.”
First sweetheart, now baby? Her breath huffed out as she tried to ignore the endearments. “It’s not like I will broadcast my plans to the bad guy. You knew what I was going to do. You freaking told me to attack so you were prepared for my move.”
“Get loose. Do whatever the hell you need to do. Break free of my hold.”
Fine. With a burst of energy, she twisted and heaved against him. She tried to bring up her legs. She tried more head-butting. She tried yanking her hands free. But, no matter what she did, Odin didn’t let go. He didn’t even seem to be putting any effort into restraining her.
His gaze stayed on hers. Never wavered. His expression never altered. He just stared at her with eyes that seemed to burn with a banked fire.
Her breath came faster. Harder. “This isn’t funny.”
“Not supposed to be,” he tossed right back.
“You’re huge, Odin. Way bigger than any guy I’m probably going to face.”
“Size doesn’t matter.” A slight pause. “In this particular instance.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Odin…” A lock of hair had slid over her left eye.
“From this position, you can’t go for my groin or my eyes, two of the most vulnerable areas on a man’s body.”
Yes, she knew that.
“Head-butts don’t work so well if your attacker can put enough space between you. Obviously, I can do that.”
Because Odin was huge.
“You have to think about maneuverability. What parts of your body are free right now?” His voice was all calm and cool.
Like he held women pinned against walls all the time.
“What?” His head tilted. “Why are you staring at me that way?”
“No reason.” Her breath still came too quickly. “Parts of my body that are free?” She evaluated. “My legs. I mean, you’re between them.” That had her tensing because it reminded her of last night and how he’d been between her legs plenty during those hot hours. “But, ah, I can still move them.”
“You can’t kick me with them. Not from this angle.”
“No.” She’d tried. Failed.
“Your attacker isn’t gonna just stand still while he holds you. He won’t be a statue. You have to watch his body. Pay attention to every single movement, no matter how small. Feel where he touches you. When my weight shifts, when my hold shifts, notice it. Look for those telling signs because that’s when you attack.”
She pulled in a breath. Tried to focus.
“Feel me,” Odin told her.
Then she waited.
His left leg slid back, as if he were trying to get better balance.
“From this position, you can work your foot closer to mine. Go for my ankle. You can pound your heel into it as hard as you can. Ankles and knees are always good for kick attacks—provided you can reach them.”
She gave a little nod.
Waited more.
Felt the faint ease of his grip on her wrists. She prepared herself. Got ready and—
His hold dropped to her shoulders in a flash. Now he had her shoulders pinned to the wall.
“Sometimes, it’s not about fighting back. It’s just about getting the hell away. Remember that. The priority is saving your ass. When you’re this close to someone, you won’t have a lot of mobility. So if you’re going to break for freedom, break, baby. Break and don’t look back.”
She was still waiting. Still focusing. She could do this. She would get out of his hold.
“Make him think you’re scared. Make him think you’re weak. Do whatever you need in order to get him to lower his guard, and when he does…”
There. She felt it. He’d just eased the hold on her right shoulder.
Her hand flew up, but Odin caught it.
“You don’t have to use a fist.” He opened her fingers. “Palm strike. Go for the chin, shove his head up. Or slam the heel of your palm up into his nose. The goal is to make him back away. To give you time to haul ass.”
He stepped back.
Maisey started to spring past him.
His arm immediately curled around her stomach, and he jerked her back against him. “If he has you this way…” His breath blew against the shell of her ear. “Hit hard with your elbow.”
Maisey shivered.
“I’m going to show you how to get out of different holds. Don’t get scared. Remember to focus, and you are going to break free.”
Then he showed her. Over and over. From the back, he had her use her elbow to drive into him. Then he flipped her around. He grabbed her from the front, with his hand curling around her neck. He had her swing her arm—first her right, then her left—across to break his hold when he was in front of her. She wasn’t hitting hard enough at first, but he kept going until she was.
He flipped her around again. Grabbed her in what felt like a tight bear hug. “Drop your weight,” he gritted. “Someone has his hands and arms around you like this, you want to be a dead weight. Drop. You can also stomp the hell out of your attacker’s feet. And don’t forget, fingers are weak. You want to inflict some fast pain, you grab your attacker’s pinkie fingers and snap them like twigs.”
That seemed oddly brutal. Maisey’s stomach twisted.
“There are a thousand ways to attack.” He let her go.
Maisey turned to face him. The knots in her stomach were worse.
“But the major thing when defending yourself…” His expression hardened even more. “Fight with everything in you. Know that you will hurt him. Embrace it.”
How long had they been at this? “It’s not like I can learn everything right now.”
“No, you can’t. You and I are gonna start daily lessons. Even after this case is done, we’re gonna stay at it.”
“Why?” She was certainly all for learning as much as she could, but Odin seemed particularly obsessed.
“Because you matter.” He didn’t blink. “Because I need to know that you are safe, always.”
“I like to know the same thing about you,” Maisey admitted. Did he understand that?
“I can defend myself.”
Obviously. “It’s one thing if it’s hand-to-hand, but what if it’s a gun or a knife? You’re not bulletproof.” She thought of the scars on him, and a lump rose into her throat. Odin had been hurt badly in the past.
What if…what if she’d never met him? What if he’d died on some battlefield and their paths had never crossed?