Author note:

*I am not a trainer do not pretend to have self defense knowledge*

I appreciate your reviews, they feed my muse.

CH 16-In Her Own Defense

After the mugging, Clay ended up spending the next three nights with Emma at her house. With Clay holding her, she managed to sleep calmly with no nightmares. Jason pretty much left them alone at night, trusting they would respect that he and Mikey were in the house. They relished the time together at night to talk. And sleeping in each other's arms was a balm for both of them.

Emma was doing better, but still wouldn't go out at night without Clay, her dad, or one of her Bravo family. Her trauma was understandable, and Clay could sympathize. There were events in his past that had affected him to the same degree. He did whatever he could to be there for her and encouraged her to talk to a therapist as well.

Clay had another plan to help her. Being Jason Hayes' daughter, he was surprised that she hadn't learned some self-defense. He planned to teach her some basic moves. He hoped that would help her get some confidence back. He also hoped that it would help him feel better about having to leave her.

He picked her up Saturday to take her to the gym. When she walked out of the house wearing tight, spandex leggings and a sports bra, he knew he was really going to have to compartmentalize in order to concentrate. She leaned over to give him a peck on the cheek and they started for the gym.

Clay started slowly, explaining the basic ideas behind the moves and the thought process.

"Em, first, what you did by handing over your purse was the right thing. Money, things are never as important as you. If you have a choice you should never engage. But, if it comes to it, there are things you can do to get yourself away from an attacker. That is always the goal, to get free." She swallowed hard and nodded.

"You okay? Is this too soon? We can do this later if you want to."

"No, no. I'm okay. I need to do this."

"Alright. You always want to try to stay out of reach and keep anyone from getting a good hold on you. Let's try some things." He showed her some simple escape moves and had her practice until they were both confident that she had it down.

"Next, if you have to, go for 'soft targets' to get away. By that I mean, eyes, throat, and if it's a guy, his groin." Again, he had her run through some ways to exploit these targets.

"Last, if nothing has worked and you are pinned, there are ways to shift the center of gravity and get free." Once again, they practiced until Emma could move out from under him. She was working had and he was proud of her.

In a moment of inattention, Emma flipped Clay over on the mat and ended up on top of him, straddling his waist. She was glistening with perspiration and breathing heavy with exertion. He saw the cheeky smile on her face. She was very proud of herself. Clay placed his hands on her waist and grinned.

"What's next Clay?" Only he didn't answer her. He was tracking a droplet of sweat that traced its way down from her temple, past the shell of her ear, down her neck and between her breasts.

"Earth to Clay. Clay?" She laughed at him. "Eyes on the prize Spenser."

"Ha, funny." He easily flipped her over and pinned her beneath him. He stared down at her and she licked her lips. "I think we're done here."

They gathered their things and went back out to his truck. "Your place or mine, Em?"

"As much as I want to say yours, I didn't bring any other clothes with me."

"Sure honey. I've got my bag with me. I can shower up at your house. You really should start keeping some clothes at my place."

"Well…usually when I'm taking my clothes off at your place, I'm not putting anything back on."

He gave one of his half-grins. "Damn right! You know I prefer you naked Em. But you should have a few things there for when we have to leave the apartment."

They arrived back at the house and Emma started for the stairs. Knowing her dad was still gone at one of Mikey's games, she decided to have a little fun with Clay. He had stayed downstairs in the living room and flipped on the TV. She called to him.

"Hey Clay? Can you get me a towel from the hall closet?"

"Sure, thing honey."

He climbed the stairs, grabbed a towel from the closet, and stepped into her room. He assumed she would be waiting for him still in her workout clothes. But there she was in the middle of her room without a stitch on. His mouth fell open and he went instantly hard. No matter how many times he saw her body it got him every time. She got him every time.

"Em, what are you doing?" She walked over to retrieve the towel and started toward the bathroom. He was looking around nervously, expecting Jason to appear at any moment. She finally busted out laughing.

"It's okay. He's at Mikey's game right now."

"Shit! You little devil," he said in relief.

"I'm sorry. Your face was so funny."

"Yea. I thought hat my boss was gonna sneak up and whack me."

"Clay, dad's not stupid. We've spent several nights together. He has to know we've had sex."

"Suspecting and confirming are two different things. And, I don't need him cutting off my dick, thank you very much. I'm kind of attached to it."

"So am I," she smiled wickedly ad wiggled her brows at him.

He shook his head. She really was going to get him killed. But, he thought as he gazed on her naked ass, what a way to go!