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Escaping

Paranormal romance

By Julienne HolmesPublished 3 years ago 22 min read
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Escaping
Photo by Laura Chouette on Unsplash

Joanna had never planned on leaving, she hadn't imagined that one day she would return home to find her husband had left her; having stolen their joint possessions and money. Even their house had been put on the market and sold. Most women would have been angry and vengeful, but all Joanna felt was a strange sense of whiplash as she tried to figure out what to do next. The only action she could take, after seeing that all her worldly possessions had been sold right out from under her, was get in her car and start driving. As she drove away from what supposedly wasn't hers, she couldn't help looking back at her house; this home, which had been more a prison than anything else...

The problem with having no real destination, was that Joanna didn't have any idea how long her journey would be. Since leaving Los Angeles, there had been nothing but miles upon miles of deserted highway. She hadn't seen any signs of houses, and the last car she had past had been hours ago. What made her even more nervous, was that she couldn't help feeling this strange sense of daja vu; she had been on this road before. Yet, she was almost positive, that this was the first time she had driven in this direction.

As much as she tried to dismiss it, that familiar feeling of knowing where she was and where she was headed was still very apparent. In some stretches, she had looked over at the ocean, getting this strange identifiable sensation that she'd seen the exact same ocean before. When she tried to come to some reasonable explanation on why everything seemed so familiar and, yet, so different, she found that she couldn't. Nor could she shake how conspicuous she felt while driving on this long stretch of lonesome highway.

As the hours ticked by and all the countryside blended together into a common blob, Joanna was becoming even more disturbed by how recognizable her surroundings were; she knew, for instance, that the nearest town was within miles from her. As nerve racking as it seemed, though, it didn't take a genius to figure out that it had been reckless for her to drive out this far at night. All commonsense had told her that she should have stopped in the last town that she was in, the problem was, she was too shaken up by how strangely acquainted the gas attendant had been toward her; he had said that she looked better than the last time he saw her, which had stunned her into an awkward silence.

What made her even more apprehensive towards the strange young man was that a part of her seemed to recognize him, yet she couldn't put her finger on where she might have seen or met him before that day. Keeping her distance from him and, making sure not to look too conspicuous, she had finished up with gassing up her car. Once safety back behind the wheel and, before speeding off down the road, Joanna had sneaked a quick glance in her rear-view mirror to reassure herself that he wasn't pursuing her.

Once Joanna had gotten back on the infinite highway, she had lost all sense of time and her surroundings had, again, taken on a never ending blur. Letting her thoughts wander, she immediately became lost in this maze of seemingly painful memories that she couldn't make out. As she sat forward in her seat, she tried desperately to make out the distorted images of a man's face. For some reason, she wanted to know who this man was and why his blurry features seemed so unbelievably familiar. Yet, no matter how hard she tried to concentrate on his face she couldn't seem to focus in on him and, so preoccupied were her thoughts, that she ended up veering into another lane.

What brought her back to reality was the terrifying sounds of another car's horn as it bear down upon her. The frightening sound and sight of another automobile, which had seemed to appear out of nowhere, had surprised her so much, that she had felt this damp perspiration work it's way down her back as she swerved precariously back into her own lane. Once she had successfully gotten her car under-control, she had looked back at the vehicle she had almost hit, and saw, with relief, that the driver hadn't had some horrible accident on account of her reckless driving; whoever it was, had kept his cool and was most likely saying a few curse words that were aimed directly at her.

After breathing a sigh of relief, she pulled her frayed eyes back toward the road in front of her, and that's when she saw him; a man walking on the right side of the road. Even though he was practically off the road, she still had to swerve hard to the left to miss him. She intended to correct by whipping into her lane again after pasting him, but before she could; her tire blew out as she pulled back into her lane. She instantly felt the car jerk and the thought of losing control had her panicking over her carelessness. As the car slid sideways down the road, her heart was beating so hard, that it felt like it would palpitate out of her chest.

Once she had brought her vehicle to a complete stop and she was able to get some hold on her frazzle nerves, she glanced in her rear-view mirror to see where the man had gone to. She prayed that she hadn't accidentally hit him and, after checking her side mirrors, she let out this unsteady breathe that she had been holding, when she saw absolutely no sign of him lying in the road. As relieved as she might have been at that moment, the relief soon dissipated when she realized that once she got out of her car and started changing her flat, that her near miss might come upon her. Waiting a few minutes in the safety of her car, she finally came to the stern realization that if she didn't fix her damaged tire; that she wasn't going anywhere.

Turning around in her seat, she looked out her back window and could make out certain shadows and shapes as the moonlight cut through the darkness. She could see a lot of empty space, but no sign of her near miss; sighing she looked down at her watch, and saw that it was ten minutes till nine. She had ten hours until morning, and any rational person would have probably waited until it was light out, yet, Joanna had already come to the conclusion that if she had good commonsense she would have stopped in the last town that she was at.

The instant she opened her door, the cool night air met her hot damp skin; it was actually somewhat of a welcome surprise. Her car had been so suffocating and constrictive, that the outside seemed more calm and relaxed. Yet, because of her preoccupied mind and the fear inside her that was threatening to encompass every inch of her, she didn't have much time to enjoy the cool breeze on her skin. She might have stood there for hours just breathing in the night air, which wrapped itself around her like a cool blanket, if it wasn't for that unpleasant feeling of someone or something being out in the darkness; stalking her every movement.

Shrugging off the unsettling feeling, she stared down at her flat; what ever she had run over had tore a hole right through it. Frustratingly, rubbing her face, she looked around, again, and, when she didn't see any sign of a dark foreboding stranger standing at the side of the road, she hurriedly went over to her trunk to retrieve her spare. When he came upon her, it was his deep Cajun voice that she heard first before seeing him. So surprised by his sensual voice, which perforated the night, like an erotic knife to her senses, that she didn't know how to react towards him. Not only had he startled her, but he, at the same time, frightened her by the silent way that he had materialized; he had used the cover of darkness to cloak himself so that he could just as easily walk inconspicuously into her life. As she gazed up at him, she felt this uncomfortable silence eclipse itself around them, it was the jingle of her keys, as she dropped them on the ground, that finally broke the foreboding silence between them.

“Looks like de have a flat.” he stepped up next to her trunk, rubbing his chin, while he waited for her to respond. When she continued to stare at him, with this doe caught in the headlights expression on her pretty heart-shape face, he said, “I'll need der spare to fix it.”

The panic that had threaten to come out, just as quickly dwindled away as Joanna got a much better look at her near miss. He wasn't actually her definition of handsome, but there was something overwhelmingly alluring about him. Not just that, but she had this strange sense that she must have met him somewhere before – sometime, someplace – but how could that be possible, she was positive that she had never laid eyes upon him; until that night.

As she struggled with that perception, just a hint beyond her memories, she let her gaze skim over his rugged appearance; she took in his long raven black hair, his nine o'clock shadow, and those very alluring forest green eyes. She knew she never would have forgotten such a face or, for that matter, his hard muscular physique. As the moonlight struck him, Joanna noticed that there was this powerful feline grace that emanated off of him, which, surprisingly, had her feeling this sudden rush of trust for him.

She had all but forgotten about her keys, it was him leaning down to picked them up that drew her back to the slight predicament in front of her. After retrieving the keys, he then brushed past her, which startled her enough to move a few inches away from him. While he unlocked her trunk to get at her spare, she watched him as he pulled the tire out of it's compartment. Even though this was such a simple, innocent, action, she immediately felt fear and remembrance when she saw the empty space it left behind. She wasn't sure it was a flash back, but something about that empty space and what it symbolized was bring back a lot of strange recognizably uncomfortable feelings.

It was the sound of the tire iron as it swung back and forth that pulled her out of her wandering thoughts. As Joanna watched her alluring stranger, she found herself intrigued by how effortlessly he was able to remove her damaged tire; it was actually quite enticing.

Once he had successfully put the flat back in the trunk and went to work on putting on the spare, that's when he noticed her intense gaze on him. Locking his unusual green eyes with hers, she couldn't help having this crazy desire of wanting to feel her mysterious stranger's full lips all over her naked flesh; it was an intriguing and, at the same time, frightening sensation. When he abruptly stood up, she was instantly surprised by his movements. What caused her to take a step back, was when he suddenly headed toward her; right away her gaze went to the tire iron that he still held in his strong hands, and that desire that had been building up inside her immediately disappeared and was replaced with this overwhelming terror at seeing him with such a threatening weapon.

If her nerves weren't already on edge, it was the shock of him brushing up against her, to deposit the tire iron back into the trunk of her car, that sent them over. As he stood within inches from her, she looked up into his dark heated eyes, and instantly noticed this utterly lustful look that lacked no malicious intent toward her. Joanna realized that even though he felt the same desire for her that she felt toward him, that his main objective had been only to put the tire iron back in the trunk.

After breathing a sigh of relief, Joanna felt this overwhelming sense of alleviation wash over her. She was comforted by the fact that her mysterious stranger hadn't tried to hurt her and that the damaged tire had been changed without incident. He did surprise her, though, when he suddenly reached out to smooth a strand of her hair back from her face; instantly her reflexes kicked in to move away from him, but before she could, she stared up into those hypnotic green eyes of his.

“Don't be afraid...I won't hurt de, Joanna.” the smoothness of his voice and the tender way he looked at her, was what caused her to relax. As he encircled her waist with his right arm, he pulled her close to him, immediately she felt comforted and very much aroused by his strong masculine physique's close proximity to her. Joanna was very much surprised by her response towards him. For one, she was feeling all these familiar emotions that only would have been justified if she knew him, which she didn't; she couldn't really explain why she felt so safe and secure in his arms.

Once her mysterious stranger had walked her over to her car and safety deposited her behind the wheel, she sat there, staring off into space. It was just a matter of minutes of letting her mind wander, that it finally dawned on her that he had said her name. She was quite sure that she had not introduced herself to him, though; so, how could he possibly know her? Glancing suspiciously in her rear-view mirror at him and noticing, then, how utterly handsome he looked as the moonlight touched him, she realized that, because of her attraction towards him, that it really didn't matter. Yet, she still had this unsettling feeling about him.

Shrugging off her unease, she exited her car, again, and headed over to where he was standing within inches of her trunk. “Where are you headed?”, she inquired, in a throaty whisper, that right away had her surprisingly flushing over how strained and needy her voice was.

Smiling slyly at her, his intense gaze raked over her. “Where are de headed?”, he asked.

As she looked first in one direction and then the other, she noticed how utterly dark and foreboding the road was in both directions. Finally looking back over at her car, she immediately felt this uncomfortable shiver run down her spine at the idea of traveling this gloomy deserted highway alone.

As she stood there shivering, her eyes instantly darted back over to her mysterious stranger, where he was leaning against her car, with his arms folded across his chest. For some reason, he looked at home in the pitch blackness of the night.

“Um...I don't know...I guess where ever I end up.” she laughed nervously.

When he didn't say anything, she anxiously swallowed.

Finally after an uncomfortable silence of his dark stoic gaze slowly raking over her frazzled appearance, he asked, “Are de wanting me to go with de, Joanna?”

Licking her lips, nervously, she replied, “Yes, I would like that.”

After rubbing his face, and smiling coyly at her, he strolled back over to the side of the road, to retrieved his bag from the shadows. Once he had grabbed the large duffel, he turned around, and letting his eyes skim over her body, he asked, “De think that is a good idea?” his eyes became more intense, when he saw how tense she got from his dark appreciative stare.

“Why not?” she asked.

He frowned at her. “Well, for one, I'm quite sure I'll want to make love to de. Are de ready fer that?”

Joanna couldn't help the blush that encompassed not just her face, but worked it's way down the nape of her neck. The idea of sleeping with him had crossed her mind. Yet, the part of her that wanted distance from her mysterious stranger, was just too proud to admit that she wanted him in that way.

When she finally did respond, she almost didn't recognize her voice, “Yes.” there was a huskiness to it that made her flush.

Taking a step closer to her, he breathy whispered, “Maybe I will come with de...it seems der charm has enticed me.”

After her mysterious stranger had ease-fully slid his muscular physique into the passenger side seat, Joanna got back on the road. The whole time, she drove, she couldn't help sneaking glances over at him. Her thoughts had been enough of a distraction, but now she had a very new one sitting right beside her; the erotic thoughts that she had toward him, were driving her practically insane and making it nearly impossible to concentrate on the road.

When she finally did see the lights of a small town, she had almost lost all hope of relieving that over consuming ache that was driving her insane with need. After they had checked into the only hotel, that had a vacancy, it was already going on midnight. As it was, the only room the manager had had available was a suite, which had a Queen size bed. If it hadn't been destiny for Joanna to sleep with her alluring stranger then there would have been other rooms available, with two twin beds in them to pick from.

Once in the room, Joanna glanced over at the enormous comfortable bed and instantly blushed from the giddiness that was overwhelming every inch of her body. The realization that this was actually going to happen, had her imagining how wonderful it would feel to have her handsome stranger making love to her.

When she turned to look at him, she found his steadily gaze on her. “De want me to sleep on the couch?” looking over to where the couch was, she immediately noticed that it wasn't just that, but a pull out bed. Feeling her heart sink down to the bit of her stomach, she painfully realized that maybe this wasn't destiny after all.

“No!” Joanna answered vehemently, surprising herself by her intense reply. When she looked back over at him, she saw that he was also somewhat startled by her persistence

Very much embarrassed by her response, and how he was now grinning sheepishly at her, she felt this deep crimson working it's way down her face and neck. After quickly grabbing her bag off the bed, she hurried into the bathroom and shutting the door behind her, she leaned back against it; taking a deep breathe, she realized how much she was anticipating his being there when she got out.

Before she undressed and got into the shower, she stared at herself in the mirror and felt even more embarrassed at how deeply red her cheeks were. Shrugging, she finally went over to the shower and, turning the facets on full blast, she discarded her clothes. As she showered, she thought about him doing the same. It would be so utterly delicious to touch him, sliding the soap over his muscular tan arms, down his back, smoothing her hands over his muscles. The thought of sliding the washcloth over every inch of him, had her so aroused that she had a hard time composing herself and finishing her shower. When she finally was done, she could feel a feverish excitement overtaking her every senses.

Once out of the shower, she put on her light cotton nightie and opening the bathroom door, she stepped out into the coolness that emanated from the bedroom, which immediately cooled down her body's over excitement. As she stood next to the bed, she let her gaze sweep around the dark room, and for a brief, panicky moment, she thought that her handsome stranger had left. Yet, as her eyes adjusted to the dimly lit room, she could barely make out him sitting over next to the window; staring out into the darkness. “It's so beautiful.” his voice was so soft that she barely heard it.

“What is?” Joanna asked as she hung her clothes up.

“The night.” coming over to her, he stood mere inches away, gazing down at her, as she nervously played with the hem of her nightie.

Reaching out, he smoothed her hair, and twisting a strand of it around his finger, he said, “Ask me to make love to de, my sweet Joanna.” his voice was huskily, which caused her to become even more enticed by him.

“Make love to me.” the strange lust-fulness of her voice had him instantly drawing her into his arms. When he gently caressed her face, she felt like a moth to a flame; making her all so desperate for his searching fingers to touch other parts of her body.

Joanna really didn't know how it happened so fast, how she fell into bed with him so quickly, how their clothes were shed and strewn across the floor; she did briefly wonder why her mystery stranger felt more familiar than her deceitful ex-husband. As he kissed inside her thighs, massaging her dark curls, she felt her body screaming with lustful passion from the way his mouth inflicted such painful desire. After hours of his torturous tongue delving into her hot chamber, he finally did thrust into her damp flesh. As he brought her to a climax over and over again, she relished his touch and how he moved inside of her. While he stroked every inch of her, inside and out, her fingernails ran up and down his bronze skin. She slid her hands all over him, and still she could not get enough of him; grasping him hard she forcefully pulled him into a final orgasm.

He chuckled at the desire fill anticipation that was very apparent in her eyes, and thrusting into her harder, he panted, with pleasurable relief, as they both climaxed together. Laying there, in each others' arms, Joanna felt herself coming down from that wonderful euphoric high that they both were in. When she finally felt her heart returning to normal, she stared up into his dark eyes and couldn't help feeling warmly comfortable in his embrace; so much so, that she was regretful over moving away from him, but she supposed that was the protocol after having amazing meaningless sex. Sighing, she leaned over to nip at his shoulder, not ready to let him go and wanting his arms to be around her as long as possible. As she felt herself riding on a cloud of happiness, she noticed then that her name was tattooed there on his shoulder. Startled by this, she instantly pulled away from him, and, with some trepidation, she asked, “Who are you?”

“Don't de remember me, gal?” before she could pull away from him, he pulled her back into the security of his arms. Kissing her, he ran his fingers through her hair, and, as he held her tightly, the memories came flooding back. How could she have forgotten? She had been kidnapped from him, her werepanther mate. Painful tests had been done on her, needles were stuck so many places rendering a drug induced sleep that seemed eternal. When she finally awoke, she had escaped, but the horrors of being tortured along with the drugs she had been given, had made her mind black-out the nightmarish experience.

When she felt the sting of tears in her eyes, she couldn't help the sob that escaped her lips. As he pulled her closer to him, he whispered soothingly to her, “It's all right my love, de are safe now; de are with me. No one is ever going to take de away or separate us again.”

“Almonester, I'm so sorry. I tried to get back to you, but when I escaped, I couldn't remember

anything. I couldn’t remember you...” she whispered, very much ashamed by her admission. “except sometimes in my fuzzy memories and dreams.” she touched his face as tears streaked down from his eyes.

Sitting up in bed, Almonester kissed her passionately. “Ma petite, it's not der fault. De are my mate, my darling, Joanna; a panther is supposed to always protect his mate. Aye, I failed de, my darlin’ gal. Please forgive me.”

Tracing the smooth outlines of his face, she kissed him and whispering against his mouth she said, “Oh Almonester, it was never your fault.” she clung to him as he kissed her, desperately trying to make up for the years that had been stolen from them.

“Please don't leave me ever; I need you so!” her plead for him to stay with her, tugged at his heart.

Letting his fingers travel over every inch of her face, he finally kissed the top of her head, and pulling her into the safety of his strong masculine arms, he said, “I will never leave de! I'll never let anyone take de away from me, Joanna! Never again will anyone come between us.”

For the rest of the night, Almonester held and made love to Joanna. As he thrust deep inside her, he vowed, to himself, that his little mate would never leave his side. The climaxes that he brought to her wonderful sweet body was a promise of how he would always be there for her; he would love and protect her no matter what. After both of them had achieved a blissful release, they laid in each others arms; utterly elated to finally be reunited.

fantasy
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About the Creator

Julienne Holmes

I'm a writer, but I haven't had many successful books or stories published. I'm also a photographer, and have submitted a few pictures to photo stock companies; such as adobe stock and Shuttershock.

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