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Cael tugged his hand out of Ash’s grip, the wrapping unraveling. Ash snatched a hold of it before it could hit the floor.
“Hey, your brother loves you. You can’t be mad at him for wanting you to be safe.”
“Yes, I can,” Cael huffed, turning to march off, his one hand still wrapped.
“Come here. Please.” Damn. How was it that Cael looked adorable even when he was pissed off? “Cael. Please.”
With a frustrated groan, Cael turned and headed back to Ash. “What?”
Ash lowered his voice so no one else could hear him. There were no Therian agents anywhere near them, but he didn’t want to risk it. “Had Dex not approached me, I would have suggested it myself anyway. When I found out Hogan had you, I wanted to tear all those bastards apart with my bare hands. I couldn’t stand the thought of him hurting you. It’s not because you can’t handle yourself, but things are getting rougher out there. The Order, the Coalition? It’s only the beginning.” He put his hand to Cael’s shoulder, his thumb finding a small patch of skin to stroke. “Please. I need you to do this for me. For my peace of mind. But I also need you to want this for yourself.”
Cael wrinkled his nose. “Fine.”
“It’s not going to be easy.” Ash took hold of Cael’s hand again and gave it a small squeeze. Cael knew what he was agreeing to. What he was getting into.
“I can handle it,” Cael stated firmly.
“I won’t hold back.” If they were going to do this, they were going to do it right. Ash only had one way of training. All or nothing. His opponent could either hack it or they couldn’t. He never cut corners, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to start with Cael. “Do you trust me?”
Cael’s expression softened. “You know I do.”
“Okay.” Ash finished wrapping Cael’s hand. “I promise you, this is going to hurt me as much as it does you.”
“You’re going to kick my ass to get me ready. I get it. We gonna get started, or we gonna stand around talking about our feelings all day?”
“Ooh.” Ash held his hands up in front of him. “The claws have come out.”
Okay. This was good. He could work with this. Cael, much like his big brother, had a bit of a temper. Ash
could use that to his advantage. Unlike a lot of agents, whose anger made them sloppy, Cael and Dex’s anger made them focused and determined. Ash remembered the first time Dex had sparred with Sloane. Little bastard refused to stay down no matter how many times Sloane floored him. The more Sloane had pissed Dex off, the more Dex was determined to kick his ass.
Ash stepped on the mat and motioned for Cael to follow. “Hit me. And don’t hold back.”
Cael gave him a deadpan expression. “Darn, and here I was planning on using my knockout punch.”
“You planning on carrying a stepstool around with you to use it on a dude my size?”
Cael arched an eyebrow at him. “Oh, I see. It’s going to be like that, is it?”
Ash grinned. “It’s gonna be like that.” He put a hand to his chest. “Unless that hurts your feelings? I’ve heard more and more criminals are taking sensitivity classes these days.”
“Okay, then.”
Cael rounded his shoulders. He did a few stretches, and Ash could have sworn Cael was doing his best to look as seductive as possible while he did it. Once he was done, Cael bounced on his toes to loosen up before he charged Ash and threw a right hook. Ash stepped out of the way with ease. Cael came at him with a series of hooks and jabs that Ash was able to easily deflect. He grabbed Cael’s wrist, twisted his arm behind his back, and kicked at the back of his leg, forcing him down onto one knee. He released Cael and stepped back.
“I saw that coming from a mile away.”
“That’s because you’re so freakin’ tall,” Cael complained.
“No, because you pulled back a fist two feet away from me. By the time you reached me, I knew how you were going to hit me and figured out what my countermove would be.”
“It was not two feet.”
Ash took hold of Cael’s waist and pulled him closer. “We’re talking close quarters, so it might as well have been. You’re also swinging with no purpose in mind. When you’re dealing with someone up close and personal, it’s about putting your opponent down. You already know everything you need to know to subdue a perpetrator. You’re not training with me for that. You’re here to take down someone of my size. Most perps won’t be trained the way we are or even the way Hogan was, and sometimes you might not have anything available to use as a weapon. If this is the case, you’ll be using your fists, elbows, and knees to cause the maximum amount of damage.” Ash lifted his elbow and moved it slowly toward Cael’s head.
“Elbows cause a shit ton of damage. You’ll want to go for your attacker’s most vulnerable areas.” He pointed two fingers to each part of Cael’s body as he listed them. “Eyes, neck, liver, kidney, groin, and knee. And when I say groin, I’m not talking about punching the guy in the balls. It might hurt like a motherfucker, but eventually he’s going to get back up. So not only will he not be out, he will be fucking pissed.”
Ash moved away from Cael and stood to face him. “You can’t rely on your punches alone. Look at me. Think about what I just told you, and attack me.”
