Sanctum: A Motorcycle Club Romance Novel (12 page)

Sliding his protective glasses up against
his eyes and starting his bike, Jase worried for a moment that she was going to
feel his heart racing underneath her palms.   But when Maggie
’
s
chest pressed firmly against his back, his mind became more pre-occupied with
why her heart was doing the same.

~ TEN ~

Jase was indeed able to convince the
manager at Rudy
’
s Range to give
them extra time to practice
—
for
a couple hundred dollars, which Jase slipped him as he was walking up to
announce closing time.

At first, Maggie had struggled with the
9mm and he tried to keep her from getting frustrated and quitting. Once the
place was empty, it seemed to relax her, and the second hour
’
s
target practice was much improved. Mostly he watched her and stayed out of the
way, popping up every now and then to gently adjust her form. Her resistance to
his instruction got better as the night went on, too. She always used to tell
him that bike rides made her calm, and the ride over had certainly seemed to
make her amiable.

During the last half-hour of their time,
Jase made her put away the 9mm. He rented a shotgun similar to the one of Henry
’
s
that Maggie had left by her bedside. She loved the feel of the little Bersa in
her hands, but her eyes widened a bit at the huge rifle as he handed it to her.
“
I
heard I can break my own shoulder if I fuck this up,
”
she said.

“You
’
re
not gonna fuck this up,
”
he
said with a laugh.
“Just relax.”
He
took a few seconds to crack the barrel and instruct her on its reload.
“
Put
the butt up to your shoulder.
”

Maggie made a little noise when she lifted
it, surprised by the weight. She shifted around to get it settled. Jase came
around from behind her and nestled the shotgun butt into her shoulder with one
hand. The other arm reached around and helped her hold the barrel steady.

Jase realized he was more or less wrapped
around Maggie as he had been by her on the bike. Her warmth radiated into his
chest and arms. The little voice that was normally supposed to be on top of
situations like this was suspiciously silent.

Jase leaned down with his face next to
hers. He could smell her shampoo and body wash, and that scent beneath that was
purely her own. He said softly,
“
Lean
into it. Got it? It won’t kick as bad as you
’
re
imagining.
”
He began to move his hand
off the barrel to see if she had the weight balanced.

“Yeah,”
she said back, almost a
whisper. He could see her eyes flitting around, uncomfortable. Her breath came
in shorter reps.

Jase cleared his throat and unwrapped
himself from around her and backed away. He put Maggie
’
s
ear protectors back down so she didn’t have to move, then replaced his own and
gave her the go-ahead tap on the shoulder. Maggie hesitated a few seconds, and
then the shotgun blasted. The paper target hanging just a few feet away nearly
shredded in half as the air filled with the acrid burning of the shells.

Maggie laughed as she lowered the rifle
and pulled her earmuffs off.
“Oh, let
’
s
definitely do that again.
” 

Jase laughed at her and handed her two
more shells for her to reload. Maggie kept going until the gun felt too heavy
to safely practice with; her arms just weren’t used to the work of absorbing
the firearm
’
s energy yet. They
left Rudy
’
s with a few
minutes on their clock to spare, and both immediately decided they were in no mood
to return to the clubhouse, or to sleep.

“
We should go to the
ridge,
”
said Maggie after a few minutes of brainstorming.
“
You
could teach me how to throw a punch.
”

“
That
’
s
not a bad idea,
”
said
Jase, though he only meant the second part. The ridge wasn’t just any hang out;
that was his and Maggie
’
s
place. He had actually made himself stop visiting alone, because he always felt
like shit afterward.

Already, he could feel their connection
slipping back into old territory, into habitual comfort. Ever since he drove
away from the clubhouse with Maggie against his back, the night had felt just
like the old nights, when she was his. The smart thing would be to do some
self-defense training at the clubhouse, he knew. At least somewhere people
would be around, and he wouldn’t be put in a position where he might do
something else that made him sorry.

But Maggie was already on the bike, helmet
on. She waited and watched him. And the feeling of seeing her there was far
stronger than any warning bells going off in his mind. He climbed on and smiled
to himself as she wrapped against him again.

After a quick stop to grab some beers,
they rumbled up the dark and winding trail through the low hills towards the
ridge. It wasn’t a far stop from the town, but the curve of the path made it
longer, cutting through the high desert forests and up into the cooler mountain
air. The ridge itself was little more than a half-moon of clear space that
looked out over the sparkling lights of both LeBeau and Howlett, with a dark swath
of country farmland set between them. Jase pulled his rumbling bike into the
vacant space. He killed the engine and waited until Maggie hopped off.

He let them both get a beer in before
adjusting the headlamp of his bike to give them a little bit of light to work
with. Maggie had a mischievous smile and began to hop around a little on her
toes.

“
Okay now, here
’
s
the thing,
”
said Jase as he rolled
his shoulders.
“
You and I have
very different body types, so the same fighting style isn’t going to work for
both of us.
”

“
Did you have to learn,
like, the jerk style of fighting?
”
said
Maggie with a scoff and a smile.

“
Aha, see, you thought you
were gonna hurt my feelings,
”
said
Jase, raising a finger.
“You
could
have asked if I learned the ugly style of fighting. But you didn’t-- you went
with jerk. Probably because you don’t think I
’
m
ugly. So I win.”

Maggie made a hissing noise and rolled her
eyes in exaggerated fashion.
“
If
you
’
re trying to get me
excited to punch you in the face, mission accomplished.
”

Jase grinned at her and took off his cut.
He laid it carefully over the seat of his bike.
“I
’
m
a big guy. I don’t really have to have much style when I fight.
”

“
Must be nice,
”
said Maggie, raising her dukes at him.

“Not gonna lie, it
’
s
pretty sweet.”

“
So for us non-giants
…”

“
You have to learn how to
use your weight and your attacker
’
s
weight against him. You have to be a lot more tactical when you fight, and
focus on weaknesses instead of big hits,
”
said
Jase.
“
Now,
turn around.
”

“
What?
”
she said.

“
Spin around,
”
he twirled his finger.
“
As
a female, you
’
re much more
likely to be attacked from behind.
”

“
And here I thought men
were the braver of the species,
”
she
muttered. Jase laughed at her as she sarcastically turned her back to him and
waited.
“
I
don’t like this, this is creepy.
”

“
It should be creepy,
”
said Jase.
“
Someone
coming at you from behind is dangerous as hell. Trust creepy instincts because
they’ll probably give you a few extra seconds.
”

Jase approached. He hesitated a moment
before he wrapped an arm around the top of Maggie
’
s
chest. She tensed up against him, and he could feel her heart beating a little
faster. He put his other hand loosely on the top of her brown curls.

“
If someone comes at you
from behind like this, you want to try and upset their balance. Don’t think
about fighting them. They
’
re
probably bigger than you, or armed. Just think about escaping,
”
said Jase next to her ear. He thought he felt her
shiver. He took her left elbow in his hand and directed it slowly back to his
solar plexus.
“
Feel that? You need to
elbow that spot as hard as you can. That
’
ll
put anyone
’
s dick in the
dirt.
”

Maggie giggled underneath him. She grasped
his arm around her neck with her right and mimicked the elbow move a few times
for him.

“
Then, put your leg
outside mine, like this.
”
He
put his left hand on her left thigh and gently pushed until Maggie lifted it
into position, on the outside of his stance. The arm around her neck that had
been grasping was now little more than a draped nuisance.

“Now,”
said Jase.
“
Grab
my pants right by my crotch.
”

Maggie
’
s
reaction didn’t disappoint. Her face twisted in disbelief.
“
What
the hell, man? What kind of self-defense is this?
”

Jase couldn’t help laughing while he said,
“I
’
m
serious! This is completely legit, one-hundred-percent. I swear.
”

“
Is this how you
’
re
picking up women now?
”
said
Maggie, shaking her head and muttering sarcastically to herself. She couldn’t
look at him, but her face lit up with a huge grin and flushed red as she
followed his instructions. She took a nice handful of denim on his inner thigh
dangerously close to trouble, and then looked up at him with smirk as if to say
your move.

Jase cleared his throat, the timing of
which made Maggie start to laugh. He said in his best authoritative voice,
“C
’
mon,
Oliver, sack up here, this is serious business.
”

“Sir, yes sir,”
she
said without even a breath to break up her laughter.

Jase shook his head, but he couldn’t fight
his own smile as he decided to press forward.
“
Alright.
So you’ve delivered the elbow of doom. You
’
re
outside his stance. Take a hold of his pants like that, and then twist, and
shift your whole body weight towards him.
”

Maggie hesitated at first, skeptical. Then
Jase felt the grip on his jeans tighten as she moved into him. As planned, the
shift of balance coupled with her grip on his pants sent his center of gravity
off-kilter. Half of him lifted over her leg as he tumbled to the gravel with a
thunk
.

“
What!
”
said Maggie in an excited voice. Both her hands shot
into the air.
“I can’t
believe that worked!
”

“
I told you,
”
said Jase as he dusted off his thigh where he
’
d
landed. He reached out a hand and Maggie didn’t hesitate to help pull him up.
“It
’
s
not going to kill the guy, but it gives you time to get loose and get help.
”