The Tempting Touch Of Fire (Elemental Awakening, Book 1) Read Online Free Page A
Author: Nicola Claire
sense.
More questions than answers, that's what I had. And now it was close to one in the morning, I was simply exhausted, faintly ill, and totally confused and at a loss. What did I do now? Forget it all happened?
Impossible, I was thinking, but getting out of here was a good place to start.
Sonya dropped me off at my apartment and after a five minute conversation where I finally convinced her I'd be OK, I watched her drive off down Gladstone Road. As I turned from the road and started up my drive I smelled him. I hadn't realised that Theo had smelt like early morning sunshine and rosebuds in Spring. Underlying that scent was all man; spicy, alluring, sending a jolt of awareness straight to my core.
I spun around and tried to spot him, but only shadows and the odd creak of a tree branch could be seen and heard. I knew I wasn't mistaken. Not that I had ever identified Theo by smell before. But something inside me told me I was right. Theo was sunshine and rosebuds mixed with the scent of Mediterranean spice.
I slowed and stood very still, knowing instinctively that I was safe even though his appearance, suddenly like this, made my heart race and my mind scramble. But despite Theo's presence on my property making my head spin with fearful thoughts, my body continued to insist that the driveway was not a dangerous place to be; I was safe as it was bordered by gnarled old Rimu Trees and thick bushes with thorny stems.
I shook my head in bewilderment at those thoughts, a soft sound of bemusement seeping out between my lips. Bloody hell, I was turning into a freak. But freak or not, I was never one to back down from a direct challenge. I might be incredibly shy when it comes to flirtations with the opposite sex, by my gut told me Theo was not here to flirt, so my confidence was rock solid - something I was sure he would not expect.
"You might as well come out," I said loudly into the still night air. "I know you're there."
There was a pause of several seconds, filled only by a sudden gentle wind brushing the feathery branches in the Rimu Trees. I could have sworn they said he was standing beneath them, but I dismissed the notion as soon as it entered my head.
"Why not strike me where I stand?" came his familiar, deep, sexy voice.
Just what the hell was he playing at?
"I'm tired of your games, Theo. I've had a hell of a day."
His sharp bark of laughter rang out in the air. I don't think he was actually amused, just acting a part. A part designed to scare me. My hackles rose up my back.
"This is ridiculous. What has got in to you?" I demanded.
"I could say the same of you," he drawled, then added, "but I do not suspect this is a sudden change. Merely a slip in the mask you have so successfully worn until today."
He stepped forward out of the shadows, his body only a darker outline from the inky blackness cast by the Rimu Tree overhead. I couldn't see his face, but I could see his hand reach up and gently brush a few of the needle-like leaves on the tree. They made a tinkling sound, that was quite unnatural, as they floated to the ground at his feet.
"What are your intentions in our city?" he asked, not taking his eyes from the still delicately floating leaves at his side. He seemed fascinated, if not a little wary.
"What do you mean?" I asked, frowning into the gloom that surrounded him, knowing he could see me clearly, but I could not see him that well at all.
"Now, now, Casey." My eyes closed briefly at the fact he was using my given name and none of his nicknames for me. "I am giving you the benefit of the doubt. Why? I'm not sure, maybe nostalgia for all those luscious feedings you provided me."
I blinked at his strange phrasing. Feedings? Did he mean the deli sandwiches he purchased from my shop?
"You paid fair and square for those," I replied, unsure what else to say.
A flash of gold was all I saw from the shadows and then he was in front of my face, his hand wrapped around my throat. Although it was not
More questions than answers, that's what I had. And now it was close to one in the morning, I was simply exhausted, faintly ill, and totally confused and at a loss. What did I do now? Forget it all happened?
Impossible, I was thinking, but getting out of here was a good place to start.
Sonya dropped me off at my apartment and after a five minute conversation where I finally convinced her I'd be OK, I watched her drive off down Gladstone Road. As I turned from the road and started up my drive I smelled him. I hadn't realised that Theo had smelt like early morning sunshine and rosebuds in Spring. Underlying that scent was all man; spicy, alluring, sending a jolt of awareness straight to my core.
I spun around and tried to spot him, but only shadows and the odd creak of a tree branch could be seen and heard. I knew I wasn't mistaken. Not that I had ever identified Theo by smell before. But something inside me told me I was right. Theo was sunshine and rosebuds mixed with the scent of Mediterranean spice.
I slowed and stood very still, knowing instinctively that I was safe even though his appearance, suddenly like this, made my heart race and my mind scramble. But despite Theo's presence on my property making my head spin with fearful thoughts, my body continued to insist that the driveway was not a dangerous place to be; I was safe as it was bordered by gnarled old Rimu Trees and thick bushes with thorny stems.
I shook my head in bewilderment at those thoughts, a soft sound of bemusement seeping out between my lips. Bloody hell, I was turning into a freak. But freak or not, I was never one to back down from a direct challenge. I might be incredibly shy when it comes to flirtations with the opposite sex, by my gut told me Theo was not here to flirt, so my confidence was rock solid - something I was sure he would not expect.
"You might as well come out," I said loudly into the still night air. "I know you're there."
There was a pause of several seconds, filled only by a sudden gentle wind brushing the feathery branches in the Rimu Trees. I could have sworn they said he was standing beneath them, but I dismissed the notion as soon as it entered my head.
"Why not strike me where I stand?" came his familiar, deep, sexy voice.
Just what the hell was he playing at?
"I'm tired of your games, Theo. I've had a hell of a day."
His sharp bark of laughter rang out in the air. I don't think he was actually amused, just acting a part. A part designed to scare me. My hackles rose up my back.
"This is ridiculous. What has got in to you?" I demanded.
"I could say the same of you," he drawled, then added, "but I do not suspect this is a sudden change. Merely a slip in the mask you have so successfully worn until today."
He stepped forward out of the shadows, his body only a darker outline from the inky blackness cast by the Rimu Tree overhead. I couldn't see his face, but I could see his hand reach up and gently brush a few of the needle-like leaves on the tree. They made a tinkling sound, that was quite unnatural, as they floated to the ground at his feet.
"What are your intentions in our city?" he asked, not taking his eyes from the still delicately floating leaves at his side. He seemed fascinated, if not a little wary.
"What do you mean?" I asked, frowning into the gloom that surrounded him, knowing he could see me clearly, but I could not see him that well at all.
"Now, now, Casey." My eyes closed briefly at the fact he was using my given name and none of his nicknames for me. "I am giving you the benefit of the doubt. Why? I'm not sure, maybe nostalgia for all those luscious feedings you provided me."
I blinked at his strange phrasing. Feedings? Did he mean the deli sandwiches he purchased from my shop?
"You paid fair and square for those," I replied, unsure what else to say.
A flash of gold was all I saw from the shadows and then he was in front of my face, his hand wrapped around my throat. Although it was not
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