Hidden Currents
Page 1
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Teaser chapter
"Christine Feehan has brought paranormal romance to a new high."
--A Romance Review
Praise for the Drake Sisters novels
TURBULENT SEA
"Book after book, the suspense has been building . . . Feehan's gift for compelling characterization is spot-on and makes the relationship between this combustible duo aces!"
--Romantic Times
"A terrific entry that the audience has been waiting for . . . The story line is action packed . . . gripping."
--Midwest Book Review
SAFE HARBOR
"Everything her fans have come to expect: action, gunplay, danger, bad guys, good guys, gorgeous women and magic."
--Publishers Weekly
"All I can say is--WOW! . . . A highly emotional love story, but also one packed with more action and suspense than any previous Drake series tale . . . I can promise you will be thrilled by the time you reach the end. Don't even think of missing this one. It's absolutely terrific and quite deserving of a Perfect 10!"--Romance Reviews Today
"Action-packed . . . Christine Feehan provides a bewitching Drake thriller starring the pair fans have waited for."
--Midwest Book Review
DANGEROUS TIDES
"An excellent Drake Sisters tale."--The Best Reviews
"Enchanting. Smart, suspenseful, incredibly erotic."
--Romance Reviews Today
"A tempting blend of paranormal romance and mystery."
--Booklist
"Resonate[s] with passion . . . rich with enchantment and spiced with danger. Pure magic!" --Romantic Times
OCEANS OF FIRE
"Christine Feehan boldly goes where no writer has ever gone . . . Erotic, exotic, suspenseful."
--Fallen Angel Reviews
"Brimming with exhilarating action sequences and sultry love scenes."--Publishers Weekly
"Fascinating and mysterious . . . enjoy a little bit of magic, a dash of intrigue and all the romance to be found in Oceans of Fire."--Romance Reviews Today
"The Drake series is a complex blend of fantasy and suspense." Booklist
Further praise for the novels of
"THE REIGNING QUEEN OF PARANORMAL ROMANCE"*
MIND GAME
"Swift-moving and sexually-charged . . . electrifying."
--*Publishers Weekly
"[A] compelling and spectacular series. The amazingly prolific author's ability to create captivating and adrenaline-raising worlds is unsurpassed."--Romantic Times
"Explosive . . . An exciting, thrilling read . . . A phenomenal plot. Ms. Feehan has really outdone herself . . . a definite page-turner."--Fallen Angel Reviews
SHADOW GAME
"[A] swift, sensational offering . . . sultry, spine-tingling kind of read that [Feehan's] fans will adore."--Publishers Weekly
"Intense, sensual and mesmerizing . . . Feehan is a rising star in paranormal romance."--Library Journal
"Never slows down until the final confrontation. The story line is fast-paced and loaded with action."
--Midwest Book Review
"Sizzling sex scenes both physical and telepathic pave the road to true love . . . Action, suspense and smart characters make this erotically charged romance an entertaining read."
--Booklist
"Feehan packs such a punch with this story it will leave one gasping for breath . . . Guaranteed not to disappoint, and will leave one begging for more. A must-read book, only cementing Ms. Feehan's position as a genre favorite for yet another round."--The Best Reviews
WILD RAIN
"Readers . . . will be seduced by this erotic adventure."
--Publishers Weekly
"Ms. Feehan is unsurpassed in romantic fantasy; her imagination knows no bounds in creating unique and fresh tales that abound in steamy sensuality, fantastical imagery and lyrical prose."--Rendezvous
"A powerful tale that pumps up the adrenaline . . . A fabulous jungle love story."--Midwest Book Review
"Beautiful imagery, edge-of-your-seat suspense and passionate romance . . . The sex is spicy enough to singe your eyebrows." --Romance Reviews Today
"[A] terrific new series . . . Fascinating." --Romantic Times
Titles by Christine Feehan
MURDER GAME
PREDATORY GAME
DEADLY GAME
CONSPIRACY GAME
NIGHT GAME
MIND GAME
SHADOW GAME
HIDDEN CURRENTS
TURBULENT SEA
SAFE HARBOR
DANGEROUS TIDES
OCEANS OF FIRE
BURNING WILD
WILD RAIN
DARK CURSE
DARK HUNGER
DARK POSSESSION
DARK CELEBRATION
DARK DEMON
DARK SECRET
DARK DESTINY
DARK MELODY
DARK SYMPHONY
DARK GUARDIAN
DARK LEGEND
DARK FIRE
DARK CHALLENGE
DARK MAGIC
DARK GOLD
DARK DESIRE
DARK PRINCE
Anthologies
LOVER BEWARE
(with Fiona Brand, Katherine Sutcliffe, and Eileen Wilks)
FANTASY
(with Emma Holly, Sabrina Jeffries, and Elda Minger)
FEVER
(includes The Awakening and Wild Rain)
THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
HIDDEN CURRENTS
A Jove Book / published by arrangement with the author
PRINTING HISTORY
Jove mass-market edition
/ July 2009
Copyright (c) 2009 by Christine Feehan.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author's rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
eISBN : 978-1-10106134-3
JOVE(r)
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a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
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JOVE(r) is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
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https://us.penguingroup.com
For Nicole Powell,
my wonderful niece,
who knows what the meaning of family is
FOR MY READERS
Be sure to go to https://www.christinefeehan.com/members/ to sign up for my PRIVATE book announcement list and download the FREE ebook of Dark Desserts, a very yummy book of recipes sent in by my readers. Please feel free to e-mail me at Christine@christinefeehan.com. I would love to hear from you.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many people helped with their expertise and I give them my heartfelt thanks. Any mistakes are solely mine.
Sheena MacKenzie participated in an auction for autism research. She won the auction to have her name as a character in my book. Much more research in autism is needed, and I appreciate her support!
Thanks to Morey Sparks, Brian Feehan, and Jack and Lisset for providing help with the various rescue scenes. Your help was invaluable.
Thanks to Lisset for her patience when I asked her a thousand questions about protection dogs.
Thanks to Morey for all the weapons and bomb advice. I know more than I ever thought I'd know about men who like to blow things up!
Mike Carpenter, a twenty-five-year veteran urchin diver, gave me incredible information on the local tides, rip currents, diving, sea life and hypothermia, as well as on boats and just about everything else to do with this coastline. He's a fountain of information and I could listen to and learn from him for hours.
Domini and Kathie, thanks for your hours of hard work in research and editing.
And thanks, of course, to Dr. Christopher Tong, my own personal brainiac who can do anything, and I mean anything. You always come through for me, no matter the deadline.
1
"HAVING fun, Sheena?" Stavros Gratsos rubbed his palms up and down Elle Drake's bare arms to warm her as he stood behind her at the railing of his large yacht.
All around them the sound of laughter and snatches of conversation drifted past her out to the shimmering Mediterranean Sea.
Sheena MacKenzie, Elle's undercover name--and her alter ego. Sheena could sit at any dinner table and rule, her polish and sophistication and air of mystery guaranteeing she'd get attention. Devoid of makeup, with her hair in a ponytail, Elle Drake could slide into the shadows and disappear. They made a nearly unbeatable combination, and Sheena had done exactly what Elle needed her to do--she'd lured Stavros and kept him interested long enough for Elle to poke into his glamorous life and see what she could turn up--which, so far, was . . . nothing.
Elle couldn't read Stavros's thoughts and emotions the way she did others when they touched her, and that amazed her. Her psychic ability to read thoughts was disturbing most of the time, but there were a very few who seemed to have natural barriers and she had to purposely "invade" if she wanted to see what they were thinking. Elle rarely ever intruded, even when she was undercover, but she would have made an exception in Stavros's case. She had been investigating him for months and had found nothing to either clear him--or to point toward his guilt.
She glanced over her shoulder at Stavros. "It's been wonderful. Amazing. But I think everything you do is like this and you know it." Stavros always put on the best parties and his yacht was bigger than most people's homes. He served the best food, had the best music and surrounded himself with intelligent people, fun people.
In all the months she'd been watching him, she had yet to discover even a hint of criminal activity. Stavros had been kind and generous, giving millions to charities, supporting the arts and working out deals with his employees in a hands-on discussion that avoided laying off an entire group of workers. She had come to respect the man in spite of earlier suspicions, and she was ready to go back to Dane Phelps, her boss, and write a very strongly worded report that the rumors concerning Stavros were wrong--except that his aura indicated danger and a strong penchant for violence. Of course, some of the men her sisters had chosen as their mates had that same vivid color swirling around them.
"I held this party in your honor, Sheena," Stavros admitted. "My elusive butterfly." He tugged on her arm to turn her around so that her back was against the rail and she was caged in by his body. "I want you to come to my island with me, to see my private home."
Her heart jumped. According to rumor, Stavros never took any woman to his island. He had homes all over the world, but the island was his private retreat. Most undercover operatives would have relished the opportunity to enter Stavros's private sanctum, but her boss had been adamant that she not go, even if the opportunity presented itself. There was no way to communicate from that island.
Stavros took her hand and carried her knuckles to his mouth. "Come with me, Sheena."
She tried not to wince. Sheena. She was such a fraud. This was the man she should fall in love with, not the worm--he-who-could-never-be-named--who had broken her heart. Here was Stavros, handsome, intelligent, wealthy, a man who solved problems and seemed to care for many of the same causes she did. Why couldn't he be the man she fell madly in love with?
"I can't," she said gently. "Really, Stavros. I want to, but I can't."
His eyes darkened, became stormy. Stavros liked his way and was definitely used to getting it. "You mean you won't."
"I mean I can't. You want things from me I can't give you. I told you from the beginning we could be friends--not lovers."
"You're not married."
"You know I'm not." But she should have been. She should have been settled in her family home with the man destiny had intended for her, but he had rejected her. Her stomach churned at the thought. She'd put an ocean between them and still he tried to reach her, his voice a faint buzz in her head, trying to persuade her to return--to what? A man who didn't want children or a legacy of magic. He refused to understand that was who she was--what she was. In rejecting her legacy, he rejected her. And she needed a man who would help her. Who would understand how difficult it was for her to face her future. She needed someone to lean on, not someone she had to coax or take care of.
"Come home with me," he repeated.
Elle shook her head. "I can't, Stavros. You know what would happen if I did and we can't go there."
His white teeth flashed at her. "So at least you've thought about it."
Elle tipped her head back and looked up at him. "You know how charming you are. What woman wouldn't be tempted by you?" And she was. It would be so easy. He was so sweet to her, always attentive, wanting to give her the world. She reached up and touched his face regretfully. "You're a good man, Stavros."
She was ashamed she'd suspected him of the heinous things she had--human trafficking among the worst. Yes, he'd started out smuggling guns in his freighters, years earlier when he had nothing. But he seemed to have more than made up for all of his mistakes, and as far as she could ascertain, he was truly legitimate. At least she could clear his name with Interpol and the other agencies around the world where his name kept cropping up. That would make her feel better about spending these past months working to befriend him and earn his trust.
"I'm hearing a 'but' in there, Sheena," Stavros said.
Elle spread her arms wide, taking in the yacht and the shimmering sea. "All this. This is your world and I can step into it occasionally, but I could never live in it comfortably. I've looked at your track record, Stavros, and you don't believe in permanency. And no, I'm not holding out for marriage with you. I just know myself. I get attached to people and breaking up is terribly painful."
"Who says we have to break up?" Stavros said. "Come home with me." His voice was soft, persuasive, and for a moment she wanted to give in, wanted to take what he was offering. He made her feel like a beautiful, desirable woman, when no one else had--but in the end, she wasn't glamorous, sophisticated Sheena. She was Elle Drake and she carried her baggage with her everywhere she went.
"I can't tell you how much I want to go with you, Stavros," she said sincerely, "but I really can't."
Swift impatience crossed his handsome face and he blinked, his dark eyes growing a little frosty. "The boats are beginning to take some of our guests back to shore. I need to speak with a few of them. Stay here and wait for me."
Elle nodded. Where was the harm in that? After tonight, Sheena MacKenzie was going to disappear and Stavros would never see her again. Maybe he already knew she was saying good-bye. She couldn't blame him for being upset. She'd tried to stay within boundaries, not lead him on, yet gain his trust enough to get into his inner circle. She'd attended his charities and his parties, and never once had she heard the whisper of illegal activity. If he was the criminal her boss suspected, he was amazingly adept at hiding it, and she no longer believed it was possible.
So why couldn't she fall in love with him? What was wrong with her? Certainly the worm--he-who-could-never-be-named--was not worth holding out hope for. Was she stupid enough to do that? Hope that he would come after her? That would never happen. He didn't want her. He didn't want her legacy--or her name--or her house--and he certainly didn't want the seven daughters that would come along with her.