Chapter 92 - Final Exam

“Time to see what you’ve learned,” Cate said quietly, trying to keep her voice calm and even. “This is our last session of DTs, so you need to show me that you can pull this all together, all the strikes and defensive moves and control techniques I’ve taught you.” She gave Jon a direct look as the smile faded from his lips. “Final exam time.”

Oh, fuck, Jon thought. He knew this was coming. It was time to fight. He let out a little sigh, then gave Cate a short nod. “Okay,” he said quietly. “How are we gonna do this?”

“You’re gonna be the officer, I’m gonna be the suspect.” Cate replied. God, that sounds like a dirty sex game. The thought flashed through her mind without warning, and she tensed slightly. As she looked at Jon she saw the corner of his mouth twitch upward, and she knew he was thinking the same thing. Damnit, focus! she reminded herself.

“I’m going to perform various types of attacks or resistance movements,” Cate continued. “You’re gonna have to react with an appropriate tactic or combination of tactics to stop me, subdue me, and get me under positive control.” Inwardly she groaned. That sounds even dirtier….

Again Jon’s mouth curled slightly at the corners. “After I subdue you, do you want me to cuff you?” he asked, his voice silky-smooth.

Cate shook her head. “No. You already proved you can do that, last week.” She swallowed hard. “Just get me to one of the control positions we covered earlier, and we’ll terminate the exercise with the assumption that you continued to restrain and transport me.” She shot him a challenging look. “Assuming you actually get to that point.”

This time Jon couldn’t stop his smirk. “I’ll get there,” he replied confidently.

Cate nodded, then took a couple steps backward, to the middle of the room. “We’re gonna need quite a bit of room for this,” she said, beckoning to Jon. He followed her direction and moved to the center of the mat, where he stood facing her. His expression sobered as he mentally prepared himself for what was to come.

“Alright, here we go,” Cate said firmly. She walked up to Jon and stopped directly in front of him. Giving him a defiant stare, she reached up and shoved him hard in the chest.

Jon’s eyes flew open in surprise as he staggered backwards. He wasn’t expecting that – he was ready for Cate to launch at him like a leaping tiger. “Hey!” he exclaimed as he righted himself.

“You gonna stop me? Or let me do it again?” Cate sneered, again raising her hand to poke at Jon’s chest. He swiftly reached up and captured Cate’s wrist in his hand. Immediately Cate slumped downward, passively resisting his grasp. She twisted around until she was sitting on the floor at his feet, facing away from him.

Ahaaa... NOW I get it! Jon thought as he realized that Cate was trying to get him to use one of the pressure point control tactics he had learned on the first day of training. With a confident little grin he knelt behind Cate and placed his hand against her face, pressing on the infraorbital nerve under her nose.

He pressed steadily upward until Cate's head fell back against his shoulder, then Jon grasped her left arm and slowly rose, pulling her with him. When they were both standing, he released the pressure on the point.

“Good,” Cate praised, still leaning back against Jon’s chest as he held her arm firmly. She started to stand upright, but was stopped when Jon dropped his right hand to rest on her left shoulder, his arm wrapping across her chest. Cate held her breath as Jon held her close, anchored against his chest, for a long moment. She heard him inhale slowly and deeply, and realized what he was doing. He was smelling her hair.

Damnit, Jon! Cate thought angrily. She threw her body forward against his arm, breaking his grasp on her. Stepping away from him, Cate turned and gave Jon an icy stare. “What are you doing?” she asked cooly.

“Restraining you,” Jon answered calmly, meeting her glare with a hint of defiance in his eyes.

“You know what I mean,” Cate said accusingly. “And you need to stop it. This is serious.”

Jon stared back at Cate and gave her a little shrug. “Okay. Whatever.” It’s getting to her…

Cate exhaled, trying to blow out her annoyance. “Alright. Next movement.” She turned to face Jon and gave him a moment to ready himself in a defensive stance. Again she walked directly toward Jon, striding quickly and raising her hand, pointing menacingly at him.

Jon immediately recognized the threat from the scenarios they had practiced last week. He stepped slightly back as he raised his hand, then stabbed his index and middle fingers against the jugular notch of Cate’s neck. He felt a little wave of sickness in his stomach as his fingers impacted her flesh and she staggered backwards. But he remained silent, knowing it would piss her off if he revealed his thoughts.

Cate nodded, then cleared her throat. “Good,” she said again. “Quick response, good strike.” She stepped a little further back away from Jon, then gave him another “ready?” look. Jon nodded silently and tensed for her attack.

This time Cate rushed toward Jon, reaching for his hip as if she was going for his gun. Jon immediately reacted, turning to the side and chopping down on her forearm with his, then giving her a shove in the shoulder, causing her to stagger backward.

Again he felt a little sick as his arm impacted Cate’s, but he ignored his response. Cate nodded approvingly at Jon, then immediately launched herself forward again, this time reaching for Jon’s neck.

Jon swiftly stepped to the side, evading Cate’s grasp, then swung his right arm toward Cate’s neck. He felt a sickening thud as his forearm impacted the side of her neck, stunning her brachial nerve. This time he couldn’t stop himself from cringing at the sound and the feel of his blow.

Again Cate stumbled backward, slightly dazed. She kept her footing, but swayed unsteadily as she recovered from the stun Jon had delivered. She stood silently, breathing heavily as she waited for her senses to return.

“Cate?” Jon asked anxiously, stepping toward her with his hand out. “You okay?”

“Fine.” Cate snapped. “Back up. You did what you were supposed to.” She shook her head slightly, then fixed Jon with another direct look. She stalked sideways, to Jon’s left, then again launched herself at him. This time her hands reached his waist as Jon raised his arms defensively.

He swept his arms downward, knocking her hands away from his midsection. As he did so, he captured her right wrist with his hand. He quickly gripped her elbow with his other hand and pushed downward, forcing Cate to the mat with the takedown move he had learned earlier.

Cate grunted as she hit the mat, then lay panting as Jon crouched beside her with his hand on her back, between her shoulder blades. “I’d cuff you from here,” he said quietly, just a hint of cockiness in his voice.

Cate raised her head and nodded. “Yep,” she said shortly. Jon released her arm and stood, stepping away while Cate pushed herself up to her knees. She watched him as he turned back to face her, then climbed to her feet. Okay, he’s ready… she thought, realizing Jon was fully engaged in the exercise, for once. Let’s see what he does.

Cate stood and watched Jon for a moment. He took a breath and nodded at Cate, ready for her to attack. She gave him a direct look, then launched herself toward him, swinging her right arm in an arcing punch.

Jon reacted quickly, blocking her swing with his left arm and reaching out to capture Cate’s wrist with his right. As she had taught him, he quickly jerked her arm downward and stepped to his left, turning as he did so. He pulled on her arm, forcing her to turn away, and deftly twisted her arm behind her back, pulling it up beneath her shoulder blades.

Moving up behind her, Jon grabbed Cate’s left arm just above her elbow with his left hand as he tightly gripped her right wrist, keeping her arm bent behind her, making her comply with his restraint.

Cate winced as Jon pulled her arm upward, tweaking the muscles of her arm. She realized they were facing the mirror and she looked into it at their reflection. She leaned back slightly to lessen the pain in her shoulder, and bumped against Jon’s chest.

Jon drew in a breath as Cate leaned against him. The scent of her hair emboldened him, and he relaxed his grip on her arm, releasing her wrist. Jon deftly slid his right arm forward to encircle Cate’s waist, and he pulled her back so that her body rested fully against his torso. His left hand gentled at her elbow, and trailed down to rest on her hip.

With a little growl, Jon lowered his face to Cate’s neck, his lips finding the warm skin just below her earlobe. He slid his tongue over the spot, groaning at the feel and taste of her.

Cate gasped at the feel of Jon’s mouth on her neck. She felt a jolt of electricity course through her body, and her heart flipped. Her eyes widened as she saw their reflection in the mirror, Jon holding her and nuzzling at her neck. Oh, God… yessss…. NO!

Cate jerked her head sideways, pulling her neck away from Jon’s lips. Her hands went to his arm around her waist, and she pried it loose. She angrily pushed herself away from Jon, striding three steps forward before whirling around to face him. “What the Hell was that?” she spat.

Jon gave Cate a defiant glare. “I stopped your resistance, subdued you, and had you under positive control,” he replied smugly.

Cate opened her mouth to respond, then snapped it shut when she realized she didn’t know what to say. She let out a little growl of frustration as she glared at Jon. “Don’t fucking do it again,” she warned him once again. “This is serious.”

“Whatever,” Jon answered calmly. “Is there more?”

“Yeah, there’s more,” Cate responded heatedly. “You ready?”

“Bring it on,” Jon replied, dropping his chin a bit as he widened his stance in preparation for her attack.