Authors: Samantha Leal
Samantha Leal
Copyright ©2015 by Samantha Leal. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic of mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Thank you so much for your interest in my work!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
2012
Lisa Fuller jogged, her strides lengthening along the path in time to the music blaring over her earphones. She had decided to take the scenic route today, jogging down the forest path that was least popular among most joggers in Fidelity, Philadelphia.
It was quite early in the morning and the air was dewy, fresh, and invigorating. The smell of fresh pines tantalized her nostrils and she inhaled deeply as her feet pounded along the path. Her red hair was done up in a simple bun atop her head and she was clad in a skin-fitting exercise outfit that accentuated the generous curves of her waist and hips.
A noise like thunder rumbled overhead and she almost lost her footing as she looked around in amazement. It was still a bit too dark to tell but the skies didn’t seem to be cloudy. With a shrug, she resumed her jogging, humming in time to the music as a slight wind began to rustle the leaves of the trees lining the forest path. Lisa picked up her pace a little, almost running now.
She had gone almost a half mile along the forest path when she suddenly got the unmistakable feeling of being watched. Her eyes widened with irrepressible panic as she scanned the tall pine trees on either side of the path, extending in every direction as far as the eye could see. She saw no one. Fear coursed through her veins and almost automatically she started running, her breath burning in her lungs as she ran faster than she had ever run before.
Then she saw him. A huge, brown, absolutely beautiful, and deadly, bear with chestnut brown fur with flecks of gold. Its teeth were bared as it raced towards her. She almost froze in her terror. She couldn’t remember … are you supposed to freeze when you see a bear, or play dead, or run? While she tried to figure it out, he kept coming right at her in long lopping strides.
Raw fear clotted her blood in her veins and adrenaline burst through her in a rush as her terror took over and she faced forward and chose the “run away” option. He caught up to her effortlessly, his large paws closing about her waist as he lifted her in his great big paws and roared loud enough to wake the dead. She didn’t have to speak bear to recognize a roar of triumph when she heard it. His scent assailed her nostrils, surprisingly clean and nice. There was something strange about this bear. Why wasn’t she dead already? Her eyes fastened in fascinated horror on the pink inside of his mouth as he roared anew. The sound so loud she was almost afraid it would break her ear drums. Goosebumps erupted all over her hands and sweat poured down her body in rivulets. His paw encircled her entire waist effortlessly as he held her closer to his face and studied her.
Then things got even stranger as some deep survival instinct took over. This was a wild animal, but there was something different about it. There was an intelligence behind its eyes. Rather than scream she chose to speak.
“Please, please,” she panted, barely breathing through her fear. “Please don’t. I have little kids depending on me! Please don’t kill me!”
She was talking to a bear, her subconscious screamed. But even knowing that it couldn’t understand a word of what she was saying – or at least shouldn’t be able to, didn’t deter her as she continued to cry and plead for her life. Every nerve in Lisa’s body strained to breaking point as the beast kept her on level with its shiny white teeth, the size of small tusks.
Lisa struggled weakly in its arms, tears coursing down her cheeks as the animal stopped roaring long enough to look right at her out of strangely beautiful grey eyes flecked with bits of golden color. The animal seemed to freeze as it looked into her clear turquoise eyes. It blinked its great big eyes as though in confusion and Lisa wished desperately that she had a gun or tranquilizer.
The bear shook her slightly staring at her as though in wonder and she screamed anew. Then it extended one paw an
d
unbelievabl
y
stroked her cheek gently. Lisa’s eyes widened in terror; was that the signal to begin eating her?
The beast made a low sound deep in its throat, its pale gaze fastened on hers. They stared at each other for a while and then with a grunt, it gently, almost reverently, with a deftness she did not think a bear could possess, placed her on her feet back onto the ground.
Lisa stared up at the immense bear, almost afraid to believe this was happening. The beast, as though understanding her disbelief, poked her slightly with one claw on its paw. She jerked backwards, almost falling over. Then with one last glance back at it, she turned and began to run, expecting every second to hear its feet thundering after her and the large furry paws closing around her neck again.
But with every step that took her farther away, the bear just stood watching her, an almost wistful expression on its face.
It let her go.
She ran for all she was worth, gasping as she stumbled and fell. Her alarmed gaze flew over her shoulder again and then widened in disbelief; the bear was gone! In its place, she saw a naked man walking away.
He turned for one last glance over his shoulder, the distance masking his features, and then he himself disappear. She fainted on the spot in mid-stride.
2015
Lisa Fuller grinned down at three-year old Emily, sharing the little girl’s happy laughter as they both threw more bread down to the swans floating around in the pond.
Emily was a little girl with a tangled mop of blonde hair, deep-set dimples, and the bluest pair of eyes she had ever seen on anyone. Emily had the sweetest smile possible and whenever she grinned at Lisa it felt as though all was immediately right with the world. You wouldn’t know it to look at her but she had known so much tragedy in her short life it was a wonder she even knew how to smile. Children really were resilient, Lisa decided.
“Lisa?” Emily chirped, in her little girl voice.
“Yes hon?” Lisa said, tossing a particularly large piece of bread to a giant swan at the far end of the pond.
“Who’s that man over there?”
“What man?”
“Over there. He’s been staring at us,” Emily said, pointing in the direction of another bench with the typical innocence of children.
“What man?” Lisa repeated craning her neck. In today’s world, a staring stranger could spell more danger than a rabid dog. “Stop pointing Emily,” she scolded gently as she finally saw the man who had caught the girl’s attention.
He was at least five-eight, slim with straggly strands of greasy black hair that fell all over his face and sunken cheekbones and hungry eyes that spelled ‘addict’. Lisa swallowed, her hands knotting together in her lap as a slight tendril of fear worked its way down her spine.
His gaze shifted imperceptibly to Emily and Lisa jerked to her feet immediately. She clutched the girl’s hand in a protective grasp as she turned and began to walk away.
The man followed immediately, a nasty grin on his face. Lisa quickened her steps automatically; so preoccupied with getting them both away from the man that she didn’t realize they had wandered into an almost deserted section of the park.
“Are we playing a game Lisa?” Emily chirped conspiratorially, her cheeks shining with good health.
“Yes sweetie. We need to walk as fast as possible so that that man can’t catch us.”
“So why don’t we just run?” Emily suggested happily, her eyes gleaming with anticipation.
Lisa tried not to roll her eyes. Emily had only one speed; run! But on occasion, running was just what the doctor ordered. She bent a little at the waist as they walked and leaned down towards the little girl.
“Okay listen Emily, when I say ‘run’ I need you to run and hide okay? You remember where Coby hid the last time we were all here and no one could find him?” Emily nodded, her pigtails bouncing. “Okay sweetie. Run!” Lisa whispered to Emily and the little girl took off like a light.
Lisa also began to run, risking a quick glance over her shoulder. The man had also begun to run after her, his gaze trained on her. It wasn’t Emily he wanted then, she thought with relief as she picked up her pace, running in an almost opposite direction to lead him away from the little girl.
The man was closing in on her now. In fact he was so close his rank smell hit her nostrils almost choking her.
Just as the stranger was about to grab her from behind, someone dived at him and tackled him to the ground. Lisa slowed, unable to believe her eyes as the new man punched her pursuer right in the face, then flipped him effortlessly and tied his hands behind him with a trip of wire. She had never seen anyone move so fast in her entire life.
The cops showed up almost immediately and carted the man away. As he left, he spat contemptuously in Lisa’s direction, hatred burning in his eyes.
Lisa drew back, alarmed. What had she ever done to the man? She was certain she didn’t know him.
“Ex-boyfriend?” someone asked casually from behind her. She whirled; it was the man who had saved her. He stood about six feet away, his hands in his pockets as he stared after the police car.
He had to be thirty if he was a day, with chestnut brown hair with flecks of gold in it, a long aristocratic nose, thick-set eyebrows that gave his face character, a firm jaw and a wide, mobile mouth. He stared straight at her, with grey eyes that seemed strangely familiar; she felt an insanely magnetic pull.
She looked away immediately, her eyes scanning the park for Emily. She spotted the girl peeping from behind a hedge and beckoned at her. Emily came out from behind her hiding place and raced towards Lisa.
The man stood at an impressive height of six-one. His strange grey eyes trained on her face. He seemed vaguely familiar too.
He was insanely handsome, she realized with every step that brought him closer to her. A faint blush stained her cheeks and she looked away, placing a protective hand across Emily’s shoulders as the girl reached her.
“Hello,” he said in a decidedly masculine voice.
He didn’t have any particular accent she noted but his features hinted at some exotic heritage like Greek or Italian.
“Hi. Thank you so much for saving us.”
“My pleasure,” he said with a shrug.
Lisa nodded. Now that he was even closer, she could see that he had the most beautiful pair of grey eyes she had ever seen, flecked with little bits of gold color. They seemed familiar but she was willing to bet she had never seen anybody with such beautiful eyes that made one want to stare into them forever.
A strange sensation niggled through her. An unbearable sense of familiarity.
“Should I know you?” she asked unthinkingly, cocking her head to the side.
“Excuse me?” he asked, tensing.
“I don’t mean to embarrass you or something but your eyes… Have we met?”
His eyes roved over her face as though memorizing every feature, then he seemed to collect himself, “I’m sure I would have remembered.”
His eyes trailed to Emily and he nodded towards her, “She yours?”
“Not in a biological sense,” she said.
“Oh?” his eyes held hers.
“I run an NGO.”
“Really? With a special focus on kids?”
“I really can’t say much else,” she said, inclining her head slightly towards Emily.
She saw his grey eyes flicker over her riotous mane of vibrant red hair, her slightly rounded cheeks, her puckered red lips, her breasts which were so large she sometimes felt embarrassed, her broad, generous hips. She had always been a buxom woman. To her mortification, Lisa felt her nipples bead into hard points beneath her shirt.
Something passed in his eyes and he stepped back imperceptibly as he said, “Of course. Have a good evening Miss…?”
“Fuller. Lisa Fuller.”
“Of course ma’am. I hope you won’t have any more trouble,” he said and turned and strode away without offering his name.
“Thank you,” she yelled after him again. He responded with a slight wave over his shoulder, but he didn’t turn around again.
“What did the strange man want Lisa?” Emily piped up.
“I’m not entirely sure honey,” Lisa replied as she shepherded the girl back to the orphanage.
What had made that man chase after her? He had seemed to hate her even though she was fairly certain she had never met him in her entire life. And the other man had seemed so familiar and he had also seemed to know who she was.
She flushed as she remembered how incredibly hot he was. She fanned herself with her hand as she blushed some more.
Really Lisa, stop blushing over a man you would probably never see again, her subconscious chided.