Chapter l197

Chapter 0197

“Nicholas? What are you doing here?”

Crossing his arms, he tilted his head to the side. “Mark told me you asked him to teach you self- defense, but his duties are too essential to allow for the time to teach you. But, I do think it’s valuable for

I

you to learn. So I’ve decided to step in instead.”

I wasn’t entirely sure he was being honest here. Yes, Mark did have important duties, but surely so did

the prince? For Nicholas to be here instead of Mark made me wonder if there was more to this than he

was saying.

“I’m still mad at you,” I said. My hurt from the day before didn’t magically disappear.

“I’ll make it up to you.” He came closer. His eyes were earnest, even if his face was impassive. “I’m

proud of you, Piper. For how strong you are, and how far you’ve come all on your own. But I hope you will

let me help you now.”

My cheeks burned a little. “Just teach me, okay?” I didn’t know what else to say.

He smiled a little, at the corner of his mouth. “Whatever you say, Piper.”

In one corner of the basketball court, some servants began to put down soft mats that we could

practice on. That way, if we fell, neither of us would get hurt.

When the area was set up, Nicholas led me over there.

I was wearing a comfortable pair of sweatpants with a tank top. He wore some loose–fitting pants with at

white t–shirt. I noticed just how tight it was when he turned his back to me. The shirt struggled to stretch

across the width of Nicholas’s shoulders.

I swallowed hard and averted my eyes.

When we were on the mats, Nicholas turned to face me again.

Okay, now, for the first move. I want to show you how to stop someone who is reaching for you. Say

are just standing there, and I try to grab you.”

where to stand, and then made a grabbing motion for me. A move, unfortu

mes before.

“Now twist.”

+15 BONUS

I twisted.

He hissed in pain as I turned his arm in an awkward angle.

I immediately released him. “I’m sorry!”

“No,” he said. “That was good. Perfect even.”

Over the course of the next hour, he showed me many different defensive stances and tricks.

“Always play d*rty,” Nicholas said. “If they are coming for you, it’s not a fair fight, so you don’t have to

treat it as such. Go for the groin or the eyes. Don’t ever back down.”

He was a good, patient teacher and I felt myself retaining most of what he said.

Eventually, we moved on what to do if someone trying to grab me, to what to do if they already had me.

“I’m going to grab you from behind. Show me how you would try to get away.”

He walked around behind me, moved close, and then wrapped his arms around my waist. He locked his hands together in front of my stomach. His hard chest pressed against the line of my back, and for a

moment, my thoughts went very quiet.

“Okay,” he said. His breath was hot on the shell of my ear. “Now try to get away.”

His words called me to action. I placed my hands on his wrists and tried to twist, but his grip was too strong. With his arms locked like this, I couldn’t get the leverage I needed to hurt him that way.

But honestly, in this position, I struggled to get my thoughts back online to think of anything else to do, so I ended up simply shoving at him halfheartedly.

When I started to twist my b*dy, he made a cut–off choking noise.

stilled at once. “Nicholas?”

His voice was rough when he said, “Keep trying.”

ed and he struggled too, Eventually we were both panting a little. But his arms around me were The only difference was the heat within me was swelling, nearly unbearable.