Uncovered Treasures: Challenge of the Deep (The Fifth Elemental) Pirate Fantasy Adventure Romance by Gina Manis ➱ Book Tour with Giveaway

 

 

Uncovered Treasures: Challenge of the Deep

The Fifth Elemental Book 1

by Gina Manis

Genre: Pirate Fantasy Adventure Romance 

A new element is on the horizon.

Five years ago, Brier left everyone behind, including the woman he loved, Celine. The sea has now become his home, and the waters are not as calm as they once were.

A storm blows in and wrecks his vessel on a deserted island. At least, that is what he thinks until the mage from his past shows up. Alice isn’t the sweet nun he remembers. She pushes him away, but there are dangers on this island, and he can’t leave her alone.

Alice can’t believe her sister mages have sacrificed her to do the bidding of the Elemental Fire. He wants to make Brier the Fifth Element by giving him peace and love, only to strip it away and turn him into an Elemental God.

Loving Brier is not an option. It doesn’t matter he makes her feel things she never has before. To let him in, she will give her heart over to be broken.

The temptations of love will only bring death sooner.

This is a pirate fantasy adventure romance built in an Elemental World and will be a total of three books. It is told in an exciting new twist from mostly a man's point of view. See personally the thoughts that run through a man's head when he comes up against his greatest challenge. The love of a woman.

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SNEAK PEEK! #1

I turn, moving out of the water, looking down the shore in both directions but still see nothing. When I find out where I am, I will make plans to go to the convent. I can send word to Celine of where I am so she will know I am safe. Whether I tell her what Sara has done or that it includes Brier is undecided. I know she still has feelings for him, even after all these years. He cared for her also, or else he would never have agreed to become the Fifth Element.

Having my mind made up in the plan, I jump over the waves as they rush around my legs and, once able, sprint from the water. I nearly jump out of my skin when I see a man sitting by my bag and clothes.

The ground trembles beneath my feet causing me to stumble as I stop. My arms come up to cover my naked breasts from his view. His eyes roam down my body that is only clad in that tiny underwear. Oh God, he sees me as no man has ever looked at me before.

He is a pirate! His hair is short but braided, and there is a long scar that runs down the side of his face. He leans back on my bag, his legs wide in dark blue pants with a white shirt. I see the sword strapped at his waist, hanging over and into the sand.

“Did you enjoy your swim?” His voice. There is something oddly familiar about it, but I can’t place it. I look down at my shirt lying right beside him, but there is no way I am getting closer to him to retrieve it. “Do you speak, Goddess?”

Should I run? What are you supposed to do when you are standing naked in front of a man? I am so frightened I can’t even move.

Sneak Peek! #2

“Enough!” I shout at them both. “If it comes to her needing a protector, it will be me and me alone. Do I make myself clear?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see a movement from above and glance up, seeing Alice trying to move out of the small pool while keeping herself covered with some white cloth. It slips, giving me a glance at her nice, round backside and the beautiful slim curvatures of her back and legs. 

I groan as she disappears behind the rock, knowing I shouldn’t have looked up. I have been doing well to curb my arousal this last week, but I am back to where I started with one glance of her flesh. 

Charlie gives off a quick whistle as he stares up at the area, and I see Garrett also. I am sure both of them were graced with the same view, and I feel a ping of jealousy, but I can’t blame them as I say, “We are all going to Davy Jones’ locker for looking at a nun as she baths.”

“I’m already heading there, so I might as well,” Garrett says as he lowers his gaze with a smile. 

“I…I’m heading back.” Charlie says, standing up and reaching for one barrel. 

“Why not wait for us?” I call to him as he turns away.

Charlie gives me a stomped look. “She will come down any minute and there is no way I can look at her when all I can think of is her ass.”

“I’ll go with you,” Garrett says, standing up also.

“Not you too.” I can’t believe Garrett is going to leave also just because he saw her. He has three wives, for crying out loud.

“You’ve claimed her all for yourself, bucko.” Garrett takes one barrel as well and turns back to me, smiling. “I think it is about time you spent some time alone with your woman. Innocent wenches usually take more work to warm up.”

“Not in my experiences,” Charlie chuckles right past Garrett, and I send him a scowl. “For me anyway. You, on the other hand…”

“Off with the both of you.” I throw my hands up at them, not letting Charlie finish. Nothing will happen with Alice and me and I don’t like them putting such ideas in my head. Pirates too long without a woman under them are like young pups with their first bone and they are not helping the one I feel in my own pants.

“You should at least warn her, Brier,” Garrett says as Charlie moves on. “No telling when a ship might show up.”

He moves on, leaving me to wait for Alice alone. I hope for Alice’s and my sake that the ship that does come is a friendly. I must claim her if it comes to the point; things will get complicated in ways I don’t even know. 

It is crazy as she most likely will be the death of me. That is something I don’t tell the others. What is to come with me becoming the Fifth I accepted a long time ago. It has always been after me, but I hate it is someone as innocent as Alice. She doesn’t deserve this burden to carry for the rest of her life.

“Where did the others go?” Alice interrupts my thoughts as she approaches. I look up and my mouth drops open as my dick jumps in my pants. Instead of the crumbled dirty pants and shirt she has been wearing, the cloth I saw slip from her above is wrapped around her body, from her breasts to knees. It is slightly damp in a few places, clinging to her delicious curves and the sheer white of it wet, shows patches of skin. 

Her hair hangs around her damp as she approaches and sits down near to me. I clench my hands not to reach out and touch her. Those bare arms look so smooth and the fine structure of her shoulders and neck beg for kisses. 

“They headed back,” I tell her and have to clear my throat before speaking again. “We can catch up to them if we hurry.”

She sits there, lacing up her shoes, and nods at my answer. Even at a distance, I can smell the manly soap that clings in the air around us and know it is from her. Never in my life have I been turned on by the smell of men’s soap as I am now. 

“I’m sorry I took so long,” she says as she laces her shoes. “It was so refreshing I found myself washing twice.”

I try not to stare at her long, wet hair loose as it wets the back of her dress, showing a peak of skin underneath. She always braids it in a single rope down her back, and it touches the ass my eyes just feasted on. The idea of her hands running over her skin twice is making sitting uncomfortable and I stand up and look anywhere but at her. Being alone with her brings everything I have been feeling back to the surface, and I don’t need that. I should not have come today, but I wanted to spend some time with her to talk. Everything I wanted to say has flown from my head now.

SNEAK PEEK! #3

“I ran away from my grandmother to the convent because I knew her magic wouldn’t work there. If I left, she could control me again and so I stayed and made a new life. I feared my own magic for so long, but when the time came that I lost it... The loss ripped at my soul."

“What you did for Celine and her family was remarkable,” I breathe. “No one would have been so giving as you for what was needed. It is okay to feel pain and loss for what you gave up. You are so brave to have done so.”

“I’m not brave, Brier.” She turns away from me as if she is ashamed and I catch her arm, bring her back around to face me once more.

“You are. I can see it.”

She shakes her head, trying to pull away from me, “No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are!” I raise my voice, not letting her go. “Listen to me, Alice. I am a hard man and I have lived an even harder life. There is no way they would have sent you to me if you were weak. If you were not the one.”

“They sent me to you because I am broken.” She exclaims, and her words hit me hard in the chest. “We are both broken, Brier.”

Her tears fall, and I can’t help myself as I pull her into my arms. She comes willingly and cries into my chest, and I never want to let her go. She speaks the truth and somehow; I feel closer to her than I have to anybody in my life.

She may be broken as I am, but I need her. I need her help, her sweet, gentle heart and soul, to see me through this. Whatever is to come, I will gladly face it with her beside me.

“I need you, Alice,” I whisper in her hair, kissing it lightly. “I need you.”

She leans back in my arms and looks up at me. I am surprised when her hand comes up between us, and she touches my face along my scar. Never have I let anyone touch it, but it feels so right that she does.

Her gaze holds mine as she says, “I fear I will fail you.”

“I will take the chance,” I whisper to her, bringing my hand up to her face and running my fingers along her jaw. Her tears only make her more beautiful, as I know they are for me more than her. “Because you are my goddess.”

My hand cups the back of her neck as I gaze into her eyes, and the urge to kiss her hits me. It would be so easy to pull her face to mine. To taste her as I have craved since seeing her again.

She tenses in my arms, and I release her before I act on my impulses. The emotional connection I feel with her is more than just passion and desire. As I listen to her share her past of heartache and pain, the urge to be honest with my own feelings arises. The need to cherish her overcomes me and spills over to my physical response. One that she doesn’t have for me.

The brave man she thinks she sees can’t even look at her right now. “Head back to the party, Alice.”

“Brier…”

I don’t wait for her to finish. The ground trembles under my feet as I walk away. The emotional connection I feel with her is something I have always run from. I gave myself over to it with Celine; she broke me from ever wanting to care again. It has taken me years to find my peace with it or what little I have.

Of all the mages they could send me, they sent me one virtuous and innocent in every way. The Elemental Gods are cruel to tempt me with her, but I will not destroy Alice with my dark soul. Never.

SNEAK PEEK! #4

“Aww. Carpenter get it out, it hurts!” I hear Alice’s cry as I come back from my hunt with a jag over my shoulder. It wasn’t a large one but will be enough meat for at least two days.

“It is in there tight,” he tells her, and she gasps. 

Where the hell are they? Looking around camp I see no one, but I hear their voices. 

“You said you would be gentle,” Alice says, and I follow her voice to the area where Carpenter has his bed just on the edge of the jungle. He has built himself a covering for it. 

“This is gentle, doll. You shouldn’t be playing with my wood.”

What the hell? Why is she in his bed? 

Alice gasp saying, “Ow, you’re pushing it in deeper!”

I stomp over to his mat as he says, “Keep your ass still, woman! You asked for this.”

I pull the damn leaf wall away and Alice looks up as Carpenter turns to me in shock. Alice is sitting on Carpenter’s bed, and he is hunched over in front of her. “What the hell, Brier!”

“What the hell are you two doing?” I shout at them, relieve to see that he and Alice are not having sex.

“I’m pulling a splinter out of Alice’s hand. What does it look like we are doin’?” he shouts back. I look over and see he has his little kit out that he uses on himself. 

Carpenter rises and shoves the little knife he was using at me. “Here you do it. And when you’re done, you can fix my shelter back.”

He grins and leans into me then and whispers, “Take your time. If need be, I’ll use your bedroll tonight.”

He hits me on the back and leaves me alone with Alice still sitting on his bed, in her white sheet dress, her hair down, sparkling gold where the sun hits it. Her face and bare shoulders tan from the sun for as long as we have been here, giving her blush a darker hue. I love that blush.

I fall to my knees before her as she stares at me. Holding out my hand, she hesitates for a moment before she places hers in it. The ground trembles slightly around us before I push it down and focus on her hand.

“I believe I should thank you for saving me from Carpenter,” she says. “I felt I was about to lose a finger.”

I can’t help but grin and glance up into her face, seeing her shy smile. “You are lucky I came along, or you might have.”

I focus on her finger, seeing the splinter, and squeeze her finger as I pull it out and hold it up so she can see.

“There.”

“I am impressed. It didn’t even hurt.” She looks up at me and I am lost in her blue eyes. I’ve missed talking with her and just being close. I can see the longing in her eyes to be with me as I need it to. I’m just not sure if I can control myself with her anymore.

Realizing I am still holding her hand, I stand and pull her to her feet with me. “I should, fix Carpenter's sleeping area.”

“Oh, yes,” she says hurrying to get out of my way. “Would you… like some help?”

“I can handle it,” I breathe, and our eyes lock again. I can’t stand being apart from her any longer. She is always here but just out of grasp. “But um… maybe we could take a walk later? If you want to… with me.”

“Yes,” she blushes as she glances down. 

“Good. I’ll find you when I am finished,” I tell her, and she nods as she turns away. I watch her move away, and my heart skips when she looks back once with a shy smile. 

Fuck, what am I doing? I feel as if I am courting my first girl again. I swore I would stay away from her and here I am asking her to take walks on a beach. 

Just keep your hands to yourself this time. Don’t even think about kissing her or all will be lost.

Gina Manis grew up in South Alabama, where country living is a way of life. She has a small farm with lots of animals, and she is proud to live a simple life with her family.

Growing up, she had problems with reading until a friend had her open up a romance book one day, and the lights came on. She started to write poetry and short stories, and though she liked it, she didn't feel she was good enough to become a writer.

She worked hard in her career as a manager to businesses until she started her own online, where she was successful for eleven yrs.

As her family grew with a husband and four children, a mother and lots of animals, she gave it up to live a more leisure life and started writing in her free time again.

Now she is looking to publish all the books she has written finally. Romance books have always been a passion of hers, and that is what she writes. She loves fantasy, suspense, mystery, and giving birth to characters that go in them.

Her first book to publish, The Water Princess, will be just that, the first. There will be many more to come in the future.

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