Chapter 14 - Kick Your Ass


Cate next taught Jon how to force a standing suspect to kneel or sit on the ground, using pressure to the jugular notch. She faced Jon and approached him, then placed her index and middle finger on the point at the base of his throat where his clavicles joined. Jon’s mind immediately flashed back to yesterday in the supply room, when Cate had laid the end of her measuring tape against that same spot and slowly smoothed the tape down his chest. Down boy.

Cate warned him that he would feel pressure, then stabbed her fingers into the hollow above the notch. Jon’s knees buckled and he dropped to the mat. He shook his head to clear it, then stood back up at Cate’s direction. He noticed her smile was not quite a smirk, but he knew she was enjoying this, being able to make him submit to her will. Good. I wanna play too….

“Okay, your turn.” Cate stepped forward to Jon. “Let me have it.” Jon looked Cate in the eye and saw a bit of a dare. His gaze lowered to her chest, and he reached up to touch the base of her neck. His fingers rubbed over her t-shirt as he tried to find the notch it obscured.

“Hang on,” said Cate. She quickly drew her t-shirt over her head and tossed it aside, revealing her grey sports bra. Jon saw the burn marks from last night’s range incident, and his mouth watered as he saw her tattoo peeking out at him again, from under her bra strap. Involuntarily, he licked his lips.

Cate’s voice brought him back. “Right here.” Cate captured Jon’s hand with hers and placed his index and middle fingers together at the point under her neck. “Now, a short, jabbing, downward motion. Remember?”

Jon drew in a breath as Cate’s hand guided his against her skin. At her command, he pressed against the jugular notch, pushing downward. “No, no, no… Stop, stop, stop….” Cate reached up again to grab Jon’s hand, stopping its pressure. “Look,” she said, raising her own fingers and placing them against the same point on Jon’s neck. “You have to make a stabbing motion, not constant pressure. Really zing it. Try again.”

Cate dropped her hands and looked expectantly at Jon’s face. Jon met her gaze and hesitated. He knew she expected him to be rough, but he felt strange causing her discomfort. The head and neck points were one thing; they were steady pressure, not striking. This was basically a controlled hit.

“Jon, you with me?” He heard Cate’s voice. “C’mon, zing it.” Jon pressed his fingers against Cate’s neck, not stabbing as she had instructed. “JON!” Cate commanded. “Come on! Harder! Really poke it in there! HARDER!”

Jon gave Cate a startled look, then suddenly Cate realized what she had just shouted. Her cheeks flamed and Jon burst into laughter. Cate groaned, then started to laugh too. She dropped her face to look at the floor, her body tipping forward slightly so that her forehead bumped against Jon’s chest. Automatically his hand went to her back and he gently rubbed between her shoulders, feeling her shudder with embarrassed laughter.

At Jon’s touch on her back, Cate’s pulse jumped. Damnit! Not only did I just make an ass of myself, now I’ve gotta get my damn self back under control! She stepped away and looked up at Jon, an awkward little smile still on her lips. “Sorry about that. That didn’t come out right at all.”

Jon grinned. “It’s okay.” He raised one eyebrow saucily. “I don’t mind taking a little direction…but it’s been a long time since a woman has shouted ‘Harder! Harder!’ at me.”

Cate blushed again. “Alright, we need to focus here.” She took a deep breath and blew it out, shaking her head and smiling sheepishly, trying to collect her composure. She was quiet for a moment, then continued with the lesson, her voice level.

“Now, the jugular notch….” Again she demonstrated on Jon, dropping him to his knees with one strike. Then she took his hand and guided it toward the spot on her own neck, propelling the stabbing motion. Jon was still reluctant to strike her, but she made him practice several times until she was satisfied that he understood the mechanics of the move. After all, they had a lot to cover and couldn’t spend all afternoon on one small technique.

After covering all the passive resistance moves, Jon and Cate moved on to defensive strikes. While Jon understood the need to cover these moves – there were several hand-to-hand fighting scenes in his movie – he was not at all enthusiastic about hitting Cate. For the first time he wished that Danny or one of the other guys was his training officer, at least for this part of the program.

As before, Cate pulled out her instructor handbook and led Jon in a brief review of the various moves. She asked Jon to point out the pressure points on the torso, arms, and legs, which he did without error. Then Cate tossed the book aside and they began.

She first demonstrated the brachial stun, which Jon thought was a pretty apt name for the move. Cate stood facing Jon and instructed him to come at her as if he was attacking. He made a half-hearted lunge for her, and Cate immediately brought her right forearm up to club the side of his neck, impacting his brachial nerve.

Jon felt as if he had received an electrical shock; he felt a jolt throughout his body and staggered backward, nearly losing his footing. His head again buzzed slightly as his nervous system adjusted to the blow.

“Damn,” he muttered, shaking his head to clear it. He focused on Cate, who was waiting patiently for him to recover. “Let me guess – that was only about 20 percent force too.”

Cate nodded. “See how effective that is? It’s a basic self-defense move, even taught in non-law enforcement training. The stun gives you enough time to put some distance between yourself and your attacker. For an officer, it’s time to draw a weapon or deliver a counter-strike.”

“Yeah, I can see how that would work.” Jon nodded, rubbing the side of his neck where the blow had landed. It still felt numb.

“Okay, your turn.” Cate moved to stand in front of Jon.

“Wait a minute, Cate. I don’t know about this…. I don’t think I can do that to you.” Jon’s face betrayed just how uncomfortable he was in this situation.

“Sure you can. You did just fine with the other moves – you didn’t hurt me a bit. And you won’t now.” Cate gave stern look. “C’mon, just do it.”

Jon shook his head and stepped back. “Cate…” Suddenly he saw Cate rush toward him, her fist pulled back like she was going to punch him in the face. “Jesus!” Jon yelped, ducking and turning away as she crashed into him. The next thing he knew he was face-down on the mat, Cate kneeling with her knee on his back, her right hand formed like a gun with her index finger pressed against the back of Jon’s head.

“What the FUCK???” Jon swore loudly.

“Ya know what, Mr. Poh-lice? You’re dead.” Cate drawled. She sprang up from her crouch and stood, arms crossed, peering down at Jon on the mat. He rolled over and glared at her, then climbed to his feet.

“What the hell was that? You ambushed me!” Jon was indignant.

“No shit. Ya think the bad guy is gonna warn you before he comes at you, trying to kill you?” Cate shot back. “And guess what – sometimes the bad guy is a bad GIRL. And we fight dirty. So you damned well better get over your stupid chivalry crap and Cowboy Up, Buddy. ‘Cause I WILL kick your ass.” She glared at Jon.

Jon stared back at her for a moment and Cate saw a spark of anger in his eyes. She knew he wasn’t used to being talked to like that, and he didn’t like it. Good. Get mad.

“Fine,” he retorted. “Try it again.” He drew himself up and readied for her attack.

“Remember the technique.” Cate prompted. “Stun to the brachial nerve complex.”

Jon just grunted in response. Cate took a few steps to Jon’s right, then lunged at him, as if she was going for a holstered gun on his hip. Jon swung his forearm toward Cate’s neck, but missed and smacked her in the shoulder instead. He knocked her off balance enough that she didn’t reach him, but he didn’t finish the intended strike.

“Nice try, but not quite.” Cate’s voice still carried a bit of a taunt. She didn’t want him to relax and get all self-conscious about hitting her again. “You gotta do better than that, Rock Star.” She drew the last words out sarcastically. “Let’s go again.”

Jon was trying hard to focus. On one hand, he was starting to get angry at Cate’s taunting. On the other hand, he knew that was exactly what she wanted him to do, and she didn’t really mean what she was saying. And then there was that little voice in his head -- or at least in his pants -- that kept saying Man, if she’s this tough in the gym, she must be a Hellcat in bed….

As he was trying to sort out the tangled rush of his thoughts, Cate attacked again. This time Jon reacted and landed a blow on Cate’s neck, but not quite in the right place.

“Good!” she shouted. “Again!” She immediately sprang at Jon, and this time he landed the blow. He heard as well as felt the thud as his forearm bounced off the side of Cate’s neck. She staggered backward for a step, then regained her balance. Jon saw she was slightly dazed. Oh shit…I hit her too hard! Jon immediately felt a pang of guilt.

“God, Cate, I’m sorry! Are you okay?” he asked anxiously. He moved toward her, his hand out to soothe the spot on her neck where he had landed the blow.

Cate quickly stepped out of his reach and fixed him with a glare. “Why the hell are you apologizing? That was a great strike! Exactly what you were supposed to do!” She arched an eyebrow. “Don’t you dare start wussing out on me. You’re supposed to be an actor – get in character.”

She moved a couple steps to her right, her stare never leaving his face. “And don’t you DARE think about trying to take it easy on me – I’ve taken out way bigger and stronger guys than you.”

Jon could see that she was deadly serious about her last comment. He felt his own temper stir, but it still didn’t override the slightly sick feeling in his gut, that he had hit a woman. Especially this woman. He bit his tongue, and nodded.

“Alright. Moving on…” Cate demonstrated several more strikes to the shoulder and arm on Jon, then had him perform the moves on her. She could tell his discomfort increased every time he touched her, and she wanted to keep him off-balance. Cate stalked, glared, postured, and taunted, trying to get Jon’s temper to rise enough that he would focus on defending himself rather than on hurting her.

After covering shoulder and arm strikes, Cate moved on to leg strikes. She showed Jon how to aim kicks to the various pressure points on the thigh, calf, and behind the knee. He seemed a little more comfortable with performing those strikes, since he didn’t have to use his arms or hands. But Cate could see he was still holding back. She knew the next tactic wasn’t going to go over well.

“Okay, now we’re going to do the defensive counterstrikes.” Cate kept moving as she spoke, pacing back and forth to keep Jon’s attention on her. “Basically that’s a fancy term for punches.” Even though Jon had read the material and knew what was coming, she saw a brief moment of panic in his eyes. “I assume for one of your other movies you had a stunt trainer who showed you the proper way to throw a punch?”

Cate’s question caught Jon by surprise. “Huh? Oh…yeah. But we were taught to do near misses for the camera, to make the punches look real.”

“Well, we don’t train that way here,” Cate answered bluntly. “Here we mean it.”

She stepped forward to stand an arm’s length from Jon, facing him. She slowly walked through the mechanics of a correct straight punch, explaining the body position, distribution of weight, impact point, and follow through. She demonstrated in slow motion, landing her blow lightly at the top of Jon’s abs.

Jon silently followed along with her instruction, nodding that he understood. But Cate could tell from the stormy look on his face that he didn’t like this one bit.

“Alright, let’s see what you got, Rock Star.” Cate stepped back three paces. “Come at me and I’ll demonstrate a straight punch.” She gave him a look that said “I fucking DARE you!”

Jon stood motionless for a moment, then took a deep breath. He squared his shoulders, then launched forward toward Cate, his arms reaching for her neck. As if in slow motion, he saw her right hand come up and her hips rotate as she stepped into the punch.

Her fist landed on Jon’s stomach, pushing out his breath with an involuntary “OOOFFF!” The blow wasn’t painful, but it was hard enough that Jon doubled over and lost his footing, dropping to the mat. He lay on the mat for a moment, gasping to regain his breath. Nuh uh. He thought. No way am I gonna do this to her.

Cate was watching Jon carefully as he lay on the mat, breathing hard. She could see it in his eyes the moment it happened. He was going to quit. Cate felt her temper flare. She had trained many, many students in the past couple years, and they didn’t all graduate. Failure after an honest effort she could accept. Quitting she did not.

“C’mon, Rock Star. Get your ass up.” Cate’s voice was quiet, but she purposely taunted him. She knew she had to piss Jon off or he wasn’t going to finish the exercise. Jon regarded her for a moment, then rocked himself into a sitting position and stood. Cate could see anger stirring in those blue eyes. She stared him down, her own eyes like ice. “Now, your turn.”

Jon shook his head. “No way.” He crossed his arms. “Knock me down again if you want, but there’s NO way I’m gonna punch you in the gut.”

Now Cate felt her anger rising. “What, you think I can’t take it? I’ve taken harder hits than you’ll ever put on me, Pretty Boy.” She glared at Jon. “Come on. Defensive position. NOW.” She stood rigid before him, her muscles coiled, ready to spring forward.

Jon stood his ground as well. He lowered his chin and gave Cate an angry stare. “I SAID no.” He froze, his arms still crossed over his chest.

You stubborn Shit. Cate swiftly strode over to Jon until she stood directly in front of him, tilting her face slightly upward to meet his glare. “Why not, you Candy-Ass?” she retorted. “Afraid I might make you look bad?”

Jon returned her stare with defiance in his eyes. “No. But I draw the line here. I’m done.” He and Cate stood toe to toe for a long moment, staring each other down. Cate could see the steely resolve on Jon’s face. As far as he was concerned, this discussion was finished.

Cate blinked at Jon for a couple moments, then stepped back. “Alright, you don’t wanna do this all the way? You’re at least gonna do it halfway. Jon’s expression turned wary. “You’re gonna ‘pretend’…” Cate sneered as she used that word. “…to punch me. You’ll move through the body motion, but you won’t land the strike.”

Jon considered that for a moment. “Okay,” he agreed tentatively. “But don’t you get cute,” he warned. “You can try to piss me off all you want, but I’m not gonna hurt you. Ever.”

If Cate hadn’t been so annoyed by Jon’s whiny-ass, misplaced chivalry, she might have been touched by the subtext of his vow. But she was so fixated on Jon wimping out on her training that she missed it entirely. “Fine.” she growled, her jaw clenched.

She directed him to take a defensive position, then to move through the steps of the punch as she watched. He did, twice, then she walked toward him in a slow-motion “attack.” Jon responded deliberately, executing the movement perfectly and stopping when his knuckles touched Cate’s midsection. She made him repeat the move another three times, each more quickly, then had to admit he had satisfactorily demonstrated the tactic.

“Good job.” Cate said snarkily, then turned her back on Jon, moving for the door. The second she sensed he had relaxed, she spun and launched herself toward him, hoping he would react without thinking and land a real punch.

Jon was still a little pissed at Cate’s attitude, and he watched her intently as she ended the lesson and started to walk away. His eyes were on her sculpted back muscles when he saw them tense as she began her spin. As a result, he was ready for her sneak attack.

Cate lunged toward him, reaching for his neck. In lightning response, Jon raised his arms and captured her as she slammed into him, forcing her arms to her sides and pinning her against his chest. Her momentum carried him backward, and they tumbled together to the mat.

Cate’s eyes widened in surprise as she found herself laying face-to-face with Jon on the floor, his arms around her, crushing her body against his. His right leg hooked over her knees, pushing his hips against hers and keeping her from kicking free of his grasp.

Cate’s first thought was Christ, he’s strong! Then she was overwhelmed by the warmth of his skin and the smell of his sweat and the feel of him, growing hard and urgent, pressing against her hip. She found herself staring into stormy indigo eyes, and forgot for a moment just how annoyed she had been at him for wimping out on DTs….

Jon stared into Cate’s eyes and saw that she was slightly dazed. His lips curled into a slight smirk at his ability to turn the tables on her. He reveled in the feel of the full length of her firm, warm body against his. Jon couldn’t help himself, and leaned in to taste her lips.

6 comments:

  1. Erm.......... Jon I wouldn't smirk too soon.

    Loving this story.

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  2. Very cool take on fan fic Catte. It's refreshing to read something that isn't the stereotypical story, particularly since I hardly ever read ff. Hath gave you such a stellar review I was definitely intrigued, glad I stopped by and am looking forward to reading more. :) Oh yeah, my favorite part so far was when that hot brass whatever-it-was went down her shirt. Bet that's one way HRH has NOT experienced his first glance at a woman's physique. lol

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  3. FM - Thanks for the kind words! Gosh, I'm humbled by high praise from a Fictionista of your status! (LOVE your stuff, BTW!)

    Sadly, the "Hot Brass Incident" really happened to me. IT SUCKS. Would have been SOOO much better if HRH had been there to rub that cream on... had to do it myself (grumble grumble) LOL. :)

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  4. I wouldn't smirk either...she'll freak out in a minute and you'll find out what 'Kick your ass' really means!

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  5. Ut oh. This could end up badly... or really really good.

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  6. Dont go getting all Cocky now pretty boy, she isnt going to take kindly to that. You are still in some deep shit here.

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