Bodychecking Read Online Free Page B

while every fiber of her being coiled, ready to strike.
    Something didn’t seem right.
    Walk with confidence and purpose , she always told her students. Yeah, and she told them a lot of other things too. Stay in well-lit, populated areas, carry Mace or bear spray, travel in pairs. Everything she had so carelessly dismissed tonight.
    “Ma’am, I need to escort you out of here.”
    “I can find my own way out.” She tried to keep her voice even, but she sounded a little too affected by his presence. His low, ominous chuckle told her he’d picked up on her tone too.
    Bella kept her eyes straight ahead, but the end of the block and the next streetlight seemed a mile away. Her mind spun with all the self-defense techniques she’d not only learned over the years but taught. She debated on taking the guy out with a quick kick to the groin or chop to the neck, but she couldn’t very well attack a security guard.
    Adrenaline pumped in her veins, and her breath sounded loud and harsh in her ears. She assessed him out of the corner of her eye. He was large, lean, and moved like a cat with athletic grace. He met her gaze, and his eyes gleamed malevolently with a coldness that chilled her to her very soul.
    Then it hit her.
    She was in deep shit. He wasn’t a security guard.
    “This is your lucky day, bitch,” he snarled.
    She should’ve attacked, grabbed the offensive, taken him out first. Instead, she froze. For all her bravado and claims of confidence, she froze. She fucking froze.
    He seemed to sense her hesitation and took advantage of her moment of indecision.
    Without further warning, he lunged, catching her off guard, as his powerful fist slammed into her cheek. Bella tried to kick, defend herself, but her movements were slow and sluggish after his almost knockout punch. She reeled and staggered. He hit her again in the gut, doubling her over, then kicked her in a way that took her legs out from under her. Her head hit the plywood walkway, rendering her paralyzed for a few short yet agonizing moments. She willed herself not to pass out.
    The truth of her predicament slammed into her harder than his fist had a moment earlier. He had training in martial arts, possibly MMA, and she had severely underestimated him. She had to fight, and fight for her life, because this guy wasn’t messing around. The iron taste of blood made her nauseous, but she refused to succumb. She was in a slow-motion nightmare and trapped like an animal.
    He slammed the hard toe of his boot into her stomach once, twice, three times. She tried to rise to her feet, despite the world spinning around her. Digging her fingernails into the ground, she reached for the side of the building. He kicked her in the ass, catapulting her face first into the deep, rancid mud piled along the deep ditch. Before she reacted, he gripped her legs and dragged her down a dirty, narrow alley littered with construction debris and dumpsters.
    The pounding of Bella’s heart mimicked the pounding of the rain. She lay on her back, unable to gather enough strength to move. Her attacker stood over her, forming an impenetrable blockade across the open end of the alley. His menacing chuckle forced her to lift her spinning head and try to get her bearings. Bella ignored the sharp pain stabbing her skull and rolled to her hands and knees as waves of nausea almost incapacitated her. She crawled away from him with the speed of a turtle.
    “Think you’re going somewhere?” He spoke from close behind her, and she imagined a smirk on his face and lust in his eyes. Bella staggered to her feet, knowing she didn’t stand a chance on the ground. He let her stand, like a cat playing with a mouse.
    As soon as he was in range she kicked, but her reflexes were too slow, and her foot connected with nothing but air. His amused laughter drowned out patter of the rain.
    He advanced on her, and she managed an off-the-target kick to his upper thigh, barely missing his nuts. The close call enraged