Page 60 of Heartsong
It was another long moment before Anna responded. “You want to teach me self-defense moves?”
“Yes.”
“I’m not sure…”
Folding his hands behind his back, he strolled casually for her, a flirtatious smile curling his mouth. “You’ll get to hit me.”
She blinked at him more, blush rising on her cheeks. Goddesses, he loved her blushes. She always blushed for him. A guardian could get lovesick with it.
“I don’t want to hit you.”
He didn’t believe her for a moment, and his face expressed as much. “We could talk about your going out into danger instead. Or perhaps the mate bond?”
Her scowl was delicious.
“Okay, yeah, maybe a little bit.” Throwing her hands up in the air, she marched for her bedchamber. “Just let me change.”
More than a little smug, Frey did his best to hide his triumph when Anna returned in comfortable, stretchy clothing. He loved her comfortable, stretchy clothes, too. The leggings left little to the imagination about the contours of her legs, and she always looked softer in her knit sweaters.
Her expression was curious but open as she reemerged, coming to stand before him in the center of the living room.
“So…”
“First, we learn to take the proper stance.”
He sank down into a stance, knees bent and weight on the balls of his feet. His wings unwound from his shoulders to hover at the ready.
Anna took all this in with a little smile that Frey felt all the way down to his talons.
“So we’re not just doing the classic crotch-kick-and-run?”
“If you can strike a male enemy there with minimal risk, by all means. Strike hard, fast, and unforgiving.” He adjusted his feet, turning his hips away from her when Anna’s smile turned a little evil. “A maleenemy. Leave my crotch, as you so eloquently call it, alone.”
“Alone? Such mixed messages from you, Mr. Wants to Mate.”
His lips twitched at her teasing. “Later. When you’re ready. Now, take a stance, wench.”
Frey’s blood heated and rushed through him as he led his Anna through a few stances, showing her which was best to intimidate an incoming threat and which was good for defending the torso. They practiced kicks and throwing a punch. He thought she hurt her little fist more than his palm when she first struck him, but after adjusting her form, her next one did register.
“Good,” he said with a wide grin, “that one almost tickled.”
Anna huffed. “Har har. Not sure what good throwing a punch is gonna do against a person like you.”
“Luckily for you, this would most likely be against a weak, spindly human male. Your strikes will have more impact.”
Her lips twisted with humor. “Not all men are weak and spindly, you know. And those that are probably aren’t going to attack me.”
“Agree to disagree. Now, hit my palm, right in the center.”
He held up his hands, cupped and ready for her fist.
Anna puffed out a breath, retook her stance, and put her shoulders into the strike, meeting his palms with a decentsmack.
“Good. Again.”
Set, stance, strike.
“Again.”
