Elemental Awakening Book Bundle Read online

  Elemental Awakening Book Bundle

  Elemental Awakening Books 1-3

  Nicola Claire

  Copyright © 2014, Nicola Claire

  All Rights Reserved

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organisations is entirely coincidental.

  All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author.

  © Cover Art by Cora Graphics

  © Depositphotos.com/ValuaVitaly

  ISBN: 978-1-310-39129-3

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  About the Author

  Free Download

  Also by Nicola Claire

  Definitions

  The Tempting Touch Of Fire

  Description

  1. I Had A Sinking Feeling

  2. Singing A Lament On The Still Night Air

  3. It Was Completely Unfair

  4. Oh Dear God, A Mad Scientist's Lab Flashed Before My Eyes

  5. It Completely And Utterly Undid Me

  6. In A Storm Full Of Rage

  7. Leaving Me Panting For Breath

  8. One Muttered Greek Curse From His Lips And I Knew He Hadn't Missed It

  9. We Have A Gift For You

  10. And She Makes The Earth Dance To A Delicate Tune

  11. Time For Bed, Cinderella

  12. And The Butler Hadn't Batted An Eyelash

  13. Jumping Around The Clearing As Though I Was Dancing On Hot Coals

  14. This Was It

  15. But He Wasn't Done

  16. He Surpassed All Expectations For Me

  17. I Had Thought Becoming What I Was, Was The Roller-Coaster Ride From Hell

  18. As Though He Felt My Dread And Pain And Fear Along With Me

  19. It Was The End Of The World As I Knew It

  20. It Started With Me And It Would End With Me

  21. In A Delicate Dance Against My Skin

  22. But I Fought It, Just As I Fought My Tears

  23. And Now The Athanatos Was Coming For Me

  24. Sometimes You Just Knew

  25. No Matter What

  26. Eternally

  The Soothing Scent Of Earth

  Description

  Prologue

  1. And It Was Never Going To Be Enough

  2. In My Dark, Dank Cell

  3. And The Root Incinerated Before Our Eyes

  4. It Was The Flaming Rose Dream That Woke Me

  5. This Was Going To Take A Shit-Load Of Luck And Superb Timing

  6. Oh Dear God, Not Again

  7. And The Hits Just Kept Coming, Didn't They?

  8. So Much Said In One Simple Word

  9. This Man Confounded Me At Times

  10. Had This Been An Enormous Mistake?

  11. Anywhere But Here

  12. Maybe This Will Be Fun After All

  13. Even If The Earth Cried Silent Tears Inside My Head

  14. The Earth Made A Sound Of Sadness And Frustration On My Behalf

  15. She Is Ours To Protect!

  16. Leaving Me Alone With A Very Turned On, Very Determined, Very Experienced Pyrkagia Prince

  17. Would It Consume Me?

  18. But I Loved More, That He Loved Them Too

  19. We've Been Looking For You

  20. Out Of The Frying Pan And Into The Fire

  21. That Pit Of Despair Opened Up Before Me

  22. So, This Is Aether?

  23. I Needed To Remember That

  24. I Was So Hoping You'd Say That

  25. It Was A Completely Selfish Act

  26. Holy Freaking Hell

  27. Et Tu, Brute?

  The Chilling Change Of Air

  Description

  Prologue

  1. The Earth Cried

  2. Could This Get Any Worse?

  3. A Lot Has Happened, Miss Eden

  4. Here I Am

  5. Shhh

  6. I Couldn't Stay

  7. And All Hell Broke Loose

  8. I Wasn't Fooled

  9. If The Butler Was Hitting The Booze, I Was In Deep Freaking Trouble

  10. And Then I Knew True Fear

  11. Make Me Remember

  12. Can You Hear Me?

  13. Haven't You Heard A Freaking Word I've Said?

  14. You Are Fire Itself

  15. Let... Me... In

  16. So, What You're Saying Is... What Exactly?

  17. I Don't Suppose You Can Pretend We're On A Desert Island And It's Just The Two Of Us, Could You?

  18. And In The End None Of It Mattered

  19. How Did I Combat This?

  20. They're All Gone

  21. It's Not Your Fault

  22. What's So Funny?

  23. There Was No Freaking Way I Wanted To Argue With That

  24. Take Me, Oraia

  25. Come Dance, Aether

  26. It's All My Fault

  27. Dance With Me

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  About the Author

  Nicola Claire lives in beautiful Taupo, New Zealand with her husband and two young boys.

  She's tried her hand at being a paramedic, bank teller and medical sales representative, (not all necessarily in that order), but her love of writing keeps calling her back.

  She has a passion for all things suspenseful, spiced up with a good dollop of romance, as long as they include strong characters - alpha males and capable females - and worlds which although make-believe are really quite believable in the end.

  There's nothing better than getting caught up in a compelling, intriguing and romantic book.

  When she's not writing or reading, she's out on her family boat at Lake Taupo, teaching her young boys to fish, showing them the beauty that surrounds them in nature and catching some delicious trout for dinner.

  Creating rich worlds with dynamic characters and unexpected twists that shock and awe has been pure bliss for this author. And just as well, because there's a lot more story yet to tell...

  For more information:

  www.nicolaclairebooks.com

  [email protected]

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  Three free books to get you started!

  Starter Library

  Also by Nicola Claire

  Kindred Series

  Kindred

  Blood Life Seeker

  Forbidden Drink

  Giver of Light

  Dancing Dragon

  Shadow's Light

  Entwined With The Dark

  Kiss Of The Dragon

  Dreaming Of A Blood Red Christmas (Novella)

  Mixed Blessing Mystery Series

  Mixed Blessing

  Dark Shadow (Coming Soon)

  Sweet Seduction Series

  Sweet Seduction Sacrifice

  Sweet Seduction Serenade

  Sweet Seduction Shadow

  Sweet Seduction Surrender

  Sweet Seduction Shield

  Sweet Seduction Sabotage

  Sweet Seduction Stripped

  Sweet Seduction Secrets

  Sweet Seduction Sayonara

  Elemental Awakening Series

  The Tempting Touch Of Fire

  The Soothing Scent Of Earth

  The Chilling Change Of Air
r />   The Tantalising Taste Of Water

  The Eternal Edge Of Aether (Novella)

  H.E.A.T. Series

  A Flare Of Heat

  A Touch Of Heat

  A Twist Of Heat (Novella)

  A Lick Of Heat (Coming Soon)

  Citizen Saga

  Elite

  Cardinal

  Citizen

  Masked (Novella)

  Wiped

  Scarlet Suffragette Series

  Fearless

  Breathless

  Heartless (Coming Soon)

  Blood Enchanted Series

  Blood Enchanted

  Blood Entwined

  Blood Enthralled (Coming Soon)

  44 South Series

  Southern Sunset

  Southern Storm

  Southern Strike (Coming Soon)

  Lost Time Series

  Losing Time

  Making Time (Coming Soon)

  Definitions

  Aeras - Air; one of five elements

  Aether - Quintessence; one of five elements

  Anaisthetikos - Anaesthetise; a Gi ability to channel the essence of a plant, in order to remove a person's sentience

  Athanatos - Immortal; or near immortal

  Basilissa - Queen

  Ekmetalleftis - Elemental; can control one of five elements

  Gi - Earth; one of five elements

  Hederin - Hallucinogen; a Gi ability to channel the essence of a plant, in order to manipulate what a person sees/experiences

  Nero - Water; one of five elements

  Oraia - Lovely; term of endearment

  Pateras - Father

  Pyrgos - Castle

  Pyrkagia - Fire; one of five elements

  Rigas - King

  Stoicheio - Element; five power-filled elements exist

  Strychnos Toxifera - Paralytic; a Gi ability to channel the essence of a plant, (Curare), in order to immobilise a person

  Thisavros - Treasure; someone precious, an Elemental mate

  For:

  My good friend Janette,

  who has read all my books,

  loved all my books,

  and deserves a little more

  romance in her life...

  starting between these pages.

  And…

  For:

  Romantics at heart.... Never stop loving.

  And…

  For:

  Romantics at heart... Never stop craving.

  Description

  Oh, this was sweet torture. To be this close to nirvana and walk away because I am coy. I closed my eyes tightly and swallowed down my fears. Theo wanted me. Like this. He craved me, in any way he could get me. Even if I wasn’t his, even if this all was torn asunder tomorrow, how could I not take the chance to feel this, to share this, with him? Even if just for a moment.'

  For the past year Casey Eden has nurtured a crush on handsome, confident and slightly arrogant Theo Peters. For the first time in her life she's actually been able to flirt with a man. She even believed he was about to take their delicious flirtations to the next step.

  But then things changed.

  A pit full of dirt.

  A preternatural world she never new existed.

  And a fire of passion ignited deep inside her heart.

  Now, they are sworn enemies, their attraction to each other a bitter-sweet temptation that will only lead to heartache in the end. But there is more for Casey to be worried about than forbidden love. Her world has been turned upside down and inside out, and now she has to find out who and what she has become. To do that, she must walk a dangerous tightrope between desire and reality. But reality for Casey includes a calling to the Earth and a longing for Fire, not to mention those who become aware of her will do anything to get what they want. And she soon begins to realise nothing will ever be the same again.

  Chapter One

  I Had A Sinking Feeling

  My heart thundered in my chest. I could feel every... single... beat. I thought I was dying.

  Hazy images of a horror movie memory skittered across my mind, trying valiantly to hide from me. Something had happened. And it was very bad. I tried to roll onto my side, but my movements were hindered. For a frozen moment in time, I feared my attacker was still here, pinning me to the ground. A whimper rose up from the depths of my chest, a sob broke free from my mouth.

  As soon as my lips parted dirt poured in. Suffocating, tasteless, gritty. It surrounded me, filled me, consumed me.

  And I knew I was dying.

  I struggled against the sensations of asphyxiation and entrapment. I dug my fingers into the dirt at my sides as though they were claws. I firmly kept my lips compressed in a thin line and took only shallow breaths through my nose, but the damage was done. I was surrounded with, buried in, entombed by... dirt.

  I frantically tried to remember where I was, how I got here. Not that those memories would probably get me out of this predicament, but it was a survival instinct that came from deep within. I couldn't run, I couldn't fight, so I tried to out-think my captor. Knowledge was power, and the knowledge of escape lay in remembering how and why I was here.

  I'd been out for an early morning run, before the store opened. I always ran through the Rose Gardens between my house and lower downtown. Then out along Tamaki Drive, taking in the sea and the gulls that swooped along the foreshore. The path for pedestrians along the winding drive is dotted with Pohutukawa Trees. I often brushed my hands across their gnarled and rough bark trunks as I jogged past.

  But I didn't have a memory of touching the bark, or of seeing the gulls in the sky. I hadn't made it to Tamaki Drive, so was I still in the Rose Gardens?

  I attempted another struggle against the binds that held me tight. I felt a responding tug against my limbs, then the shock of something pricking my skin, tearing at the flesh, scraping against my legs and wrists and sides. It wasn't enough that my mugger had buried me alive in the ground, he'd also securely tied me up with thorny rose bushes and vines.

  Differing emotions of bristling anger and heart-stopping panic warred inside me at that realisation.

  But I hadn't seen my attacker. I don't think I heard a thing at all. I simply woke to this nightmare, covered in dirt, unable to call for help. Unable to move without getting cut to shreds on thorns.

  What the hell did I do now?

  Relax, came a soft whisper, a rustling of leaves that somehow formed words.

  What the...?

  Let us in, said a similar voice, but this one held a different tone than the other. Not so much the rustling of leaves, as the creaking of branches overhead.

  Oh God, I was hallucinating. There was nothing else for it. I was about to pass out from lack of oxygen and thought the rose bushes were talking to me now. What a way to go. I always enjoyed nature, but right now I'd take the concrete jungle of Queen Street over lush green lawns, that was for sure.

  I waited for the next onslaught, but the roses had settled down. Instead I could hear something scratching, something stirring off to the side of my face in the dirt. I couldn't turn towards it, I couldn't turn away. The vines held me securely and any movement meant a thorn through my skin. A whimper sounded in the back of my throat. I hate insects. Creepy crawlies are the only animal life I cannot abide. Give me a rabid dog over the quivering legs of a soil dwelling insect any day.

  I couldn't help it, it came from deep down inside. I struggled away from that sound with all of my might, feeling every prick of blood and tear of my skin. Every scratch and tug and pull against me. I struggled for mere minutes, growing weaker by the second. Pain radiating from every scratch, every puncture wound in my flesh. I ached from straining, and stung from the harsh scratch of thorns. I'd never been one to shy away from getting dirty, but this was character changing.

  I didn't think I could enjoy nature ever again. I'd avoid parks and shun animals, and spend the rest of my life walking paved streets and living in tall buildings, far from the scent of soil.
>
  It must have been that thought that did it, because suddenly I could smell so much. The earthy loam of dirt, the pungent smell of a budding rose, the clean scent of newly mown grass, the crisp tang of salty air, the ugly stench of diesel, the acidic bite of bile. I realised that last one was coming from me and it wasn't the taste I was responding to, but the smell. How bizarre.