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muscled chest was pressed up against her back.
    Sam was considering nominating herself for sainthood, because the fact that she was still facing forward, that she hadn’t turned around in his arms and pulled him down for a kiss, was definitely a miracle.
    “Do you have it, or do you want me to run you through it one more time?” he said into her ear, his voice a low, warm rumble.
    “…One more time,” Sam said faintly. She wasn’t kidding; she didn’t know how much she’d picked up from that at all.
    “No problem,” he said, and she couldn’t see him, but she thought he was smiling.
    * * *
    It was incredibly hard to make himself let go of Sam and get her to practice on her own, but Dale managed it.
    Mostly, he managed it by telling himself that he wasn’t going to be the creepy instructor. He kept a careful eye on any new instructors at the studio, even members of the pride, to make sure that no one was taking advantage of any of the female students. He’d never once been tempted to do so himself.
    But Sam…it was hard to stop touching her. It wasn’t only that she was gorgeous, that her curves and her soft skin felt so amazing, it was that touching her felt right .
    And he was sure she’d leaned back into him a little when he had his arms around her. She’d turned her face toward him when he’d been speaking into her ear, and he’d wanted to kiss her temple, nuzzle down her ear to her neck, where her scent was stronger, and just inhale her.
    He hadn’t, obviously. He had some self-control. But he’d wanted to.
    “Good,” he said, as he watched Sam practicing her swing. “That looks really good.” Sometimes women were hesitant to put their full strength into exercises, but Sam didn’t have that problem.
    Of course, she knew that she might have to use her full strength to defend herself.
    “Okay, stop for a second,” he said, jogging over to the corner to get a practice pad.
    He came back and set himself up in front of Sam. She waited, the stick up on her right shoulder, at the ready.
    “I want you to try and hit me, right here.” He slapped the pad over his forearm.
    She eyed him dubiously. “What if I miss?”
    “You won’t miss. Come on.” Judging by Sam’s precision so far, there was no way she wouldn’t hit the big target the practice pad presented.
    “Okay,” she said, and swung, no hesitation.
    The stick thwacked against the pad with a solid impact, and without having to be told, she followed through up to her left shoulder and came right back with a backhand. Thwack .
    Dale grinned. She was such a fast learner. “That’s great. If you hit an attacker like that, he’s not going to be using that arm to attack you anymore.”
    “What if there’s more of them?” she asked. He could see the fear peeking through her eyes.
    She’d probably been worrying about this all night, that if she successfully used any of the techniques she was learning on one man, she might still be vulnerable if there were more.
    “They’re likely going to be surprised that you know how to defend yourself,” he said. “It’s a stereotype, and it’s a dumb one, but most guys don’t think that a woman could hold her own against them. If some guys are after you and you break one of their arms, well, that guy’s going to be pretty loud about it, and everyone’s going to be taken aback. Take advantage of that moment and run.”
    She nodded seriously.
    He hated that she had to ask these questions. It was heartbreaking that any woman would have to be worried about four men coming after her on the street, but that it was Sam …
    He wanted to offer her the administrative position they were hiring for at the studio on the spot, but Lynn would crucify him. The job was really Lynn’s assistant, so she was the one overseeing the applications.
    Maybe now that she’d met Sam, she’d consider it, though.
    “Come at me again,” he said, to distract himself from thinking about things that probably wouldn’t