Hidden
Altered Destinies 3

Professional Reviews

4 STARS: "HIDDEN is the continuation of a fascinating series that continues to intrigue me as much as it titillates. Alana has been handcuffed to a bed for three days not knowing where she is or how she got there. After being held captive in a secret facility for the last six years, this is hardly a step up. As her hope for escape dwindles, she senses two people approaching her cabin, but she has no idea just how significantly her life is about to change. Gabe and Rafe are twins and agents with The Agency. They have been dispatched to rescue Alana, but they aren't expecting her to be such a hellcat. She fights them the best way she knows how, but Gabe and Rafe sense the vulnerability underneath the tough exterior. Their protective instincts go into overdrive as well as their libidos. Alana is more than willing to share their body with them, but Gabe and Rafe want more than that. They want her heart. HIDDEN is the third book in the Altered Destinies series by Abby Blake, and it picks up right where the last one left off. It can be read as a standalone easily, but I have enjoyed reading the series in sequence. This story dealt more with the emotional trauma that these "lost children" have suffered due to the experimentation that has been performed on them in a secret facility. I really appreciated the emotional component more. Of course, the sex was hot. That's a given at this point in my opinion. But this wasn't scene after scene of different sexual positions. Gabe and Rafe really wanted Alana to be with them because she wanted to, not because she felt gratitude for them rescuing and taking care of her. Overall though, HIDDEN was a great story with a suspenseful plot and steamy eroticism that I have come to expect from this series. There is so much more to discover with this series, and I am anxiously awaiting the next installment." -- Rho, The Romance Reviews

Excerpt

STORY EXCERPT

Alana pulled at the handcuff for the thousandth time, only managing to damage her wrist further. The black-purple swelling just made the metal bite deeper into her sensitive flesh. She’d been through some weird situations in the last few years, but this one took the cake. For some reason she was handcuffed to a bed in a cabin in the middle of nowhere, left to fend for herself, with only a cooler of food and a bucket. She assumed the bucket was so she could relieve herself. Gee thanks,she thought sarcastically.

She looked around the room, frustration filling every muscle. She’d been here for about three days and nights, and so far, she’d been unable to even loosen the handcuff. She hadn’t even been able to damage the bed enough to release the other end, the solid oak frame holding fast against her assault.

Her head seemed clearer than it had in years, and she wondered just how long they’d kept her drugged at the facility. She’d spent the first day here with a blinding headache, barely able to move. Each day things got a little clearer, and today she’d been able to concentrate more easily. She’d realized this morning she could use her telekinesis for the first time in a really long time. It worked erratically, and took a lot more effort than she remembered, but at least she had some defense against anyone, or anything, that may find its way through the cabin’s only door.

It was almost nightfall again, and she dreaded the pitch black that came with sunset in an area so remote. There had always been light at the facility, even in the middle of the night, so she found the complete lack of illumination very unnerving. She was also getting very sick of being alone. At least back in her cell she’d known there were other people around her. Here the only signs of life she could sense were the wild animals. And the bugs.

Fear threatened to overwhelm her as the light faded. She hated weakness of any kind, so she let her anger grow again. When she got out of here, she was going to do some serious damage to the ones who’d held her imprisoned for so long, and then she would track down her father and get some answers. Eighteen years he’d been a loving, caring, protective parent, and then on her birthday he’d opened the door to two men and stood back and watched as they hauled her away, never once seeming to care she was being taken against her will. Yep, when she found a way out of here, daddy dearest had a lot of explaining to do.

She’d worked herself into such a righteous fit of temper she almost missed the approach of two humans. Male, she surmised by their arrogant mind-set. For a moment, she considered trying to hide, the weak woman in her terrified at what might come next. But a moment later she stiffened her spine. Here was her chance for a little payback.

* * * *

Rafe and Gabe approached the cabin on stealthy feet, their senses on high alert, scanning the area for hidden dangers and locating their target in the cabin.

Rafe smiled, a low whistle escaping him.

“Wow that is one pissed off woman,” he sent to Gabe telepathically.

He could just make out Gabe’s broad smile in the gathering darkness.

“If she is one of Dana’s sisters, this could be a lot of fun,” Gabe replied. “No doubt she knows we’re here now.” He chuckled again.“Can you feel her determination? Maybe we should pull back and let her rescue herself.”

Shaking his head as he grinned at his brother, Rafe moved up to the cabin, trying to peer through the dirty window. He managed to duck just as something smashed against the inside of the pane, cracking the glass.

“You get the fuck away from me,” the woman screamed angrily. “Come any closer and you will regret the day you were fucking born.”

“Oh, she is so related to Dana.” Rafe chuckled. “Alana,” he called in a friendly singsong voice. “Baby, we’re the good guys. Come to rescue you.”

She used a mouthful of expletives that had a very strange way of turning him on. If she was this wild when angry, how amazing would she be in the throes of orgasm? Rafe shook his head as his cock stirred. Hell, he was here to rescue her, not fantasize about her. Get a grip, he told himself savagely.

He glanced over to see Gabe watching him thoughtfully as another item hit the window, this time smashing through the glass. Rafe leapt out of the way, barely sidestepping the bigger shards as they flew outward. He felt a sharp sting across his right cheek, realizing almost instantly that a small sliver had nicked him just below his cheekbone.

“Okay, baby,” he called to Alana. “Now I’m pissed.”

He checked his dart gun. It would take only a few moments for the sedative to work as long as he could hit his target. He used hand signals to let his brother know his intentions. Quickly, he popped his head over the window frame to confirm her position, then rose again and loosed his dart at her chest. He had a moment to appreciate her attempt to get out of the dart’s line of fire before he flattened himself against the wall on the opposite side of the window.

He smiled as he again heard her unladylike string of curses.

The woman was wild.

Damn, he loved that.

ADULT EXCERPT

Four days! Four rotten, stinking, wonderful, irritating days! She was so frustrated.

For the last four nights, they’d held her in their arms, comforting her and keeping her safe, never pushing for anything other than a sweet kiss. Every time she’d tried to seduce them herself, one or both of them held her tight and kissed her thoroughly and then told her to go to sleep. Too many more nights like the last four and someone was going to get hurt.

She would’ve laughed at the irony. When she’d been seventeen her father had encouraged her into the arms of several different men around her own age. Flattered by their attentions, she’d happily given them her heart—and her body.

At least she’d been knowledgeable enough to insist they use condoms, but after a couple broke accidentally, she’d managed to get other contraception via a doctor’s appointment set up by the school nurse. Even then, she’d been questioning her upbringing. She just hadn’t realized it at the time. It wasn’t until those same young men had turned out to be guards at the facility where she’d been held captive that she realized how naïve she’d really been.

Despite her experience she’d never really enjoyed sex, but now she had two men she longed to make love to and they both insisted she wait. They wanted her to meet her mother and sisters and make plans for her life before she gave her body to anyone else.

At first, she’d loved them all the more for their sincerity and honesty, but now, four days later, her frustration level was beyond her capacity to control, and quite frankly, she was beginning to lose it. Even her telekinetic ability was making itself known again. Everything in the room vibrated as she got more and more irritated at their kindness.

God, I really am a loon, she thought self-deprecatingly as she tried to relax. She’d stripped down to her T-shirt and underwear and was trying very hard to shield her thoughts the way Rafe and Gabe had taught her over the last few days. Much to her chagrin, they’d explained to her that very few people could shield their emotions. So, even though she seemed to be shielding her thoughts adequately, she was positive her intense frustration shone very clearly to them and probably to the agents several rooms over as well.

“Baby,” Rafe crooned as he lay down beside her. “Roll onto your stomach so we can give you a massage. Maybe help you release some of that tension.”

Willing to try just about anything to soothe her overwrought emotions, she rolled onto her stomach, lifted her arms onto the pillow, and lay her head down.

She felt the mattress dip as Gabe moved onto the bed beside her and Rafe moved to the end, grasping her foot in his hands. He rubbed gently at first and then gradually increased the pressure with his thumbs. Gabe began at her shoulders, soothing the aching muscles with his firm touch. Moving lower, he pushed his hands under her shirt as he increased the pressure.

Rafe worked the muscles in her calves and thighs, managing not to tickle the sensitive skin behind her knees. She groaned at the sensual pleasure coursing through her, sinking deeper into the mattress but at the same time feeling more energized than ever.

They both reached for her ass cheeks at the same time, kneading one each, lifting and molding the round globes. She sighed, as relaxation pulsed through her tired muscles.

“Turn over,” Gabe instructed in a gruff voice.

She turned over with their help, pleasantly surprised when Gabe lifted her shirt over her arms and Rafe pulled her panties down her legs and off her feet.

“We’re going to show you what it’s like to be made love to by men who care about you. Is that okay, baby?” Rafe asked, uncertainty written on his face.

She nodded, managing a breathy little “yes” as Rafe leaned over to kiss her gently. His mouth rubbed softly against hers, his tongue darting out to run along her lower lip and then pressing into her mouth, exploring the dark recess.

She sighed again as he deepened the kiss, aware that Gabe’s hands were still massaging her lower legs, tickling her knees and urging her thighs apart. Rafe lifted his head, closely watching the expression on her face as he lowered his hand to her breast, circled the nipple with his finger, and then plucked at the beaded little nub.

Gabe leaned over her, tilting her face for a kiss, his tongue plunging into her mouth.

“So beautiful,” he said with a soft groan, as he moved his hand to pluck at the tightly coiled nipple of her other breast. Alana lifted off the bed, pushing harder into their hands, silently begging for their possession. She felt Rafe move down the bed as Gabe lowered his head and sucked a nipple into his mouth, flicking the sensitized bud with his tongue.

She groaned again, more loudly this time, liquid heat flooding through her veins as she felt Rafe spread her legs wider, his hands traveling up the inside of her thighs to stroke the sensitive flesh where her leg joined her body.

She tilted her hips, expecting him to thrust his hard cock deep into her body. What she got instead had her lifting off the bed in ecstasy. Rafe’s tongue laved her pussy lips, gently sucking them into his mouth, spreading her cream and setting off a delicious tingling in her womb. His tongue moved higher, finding her clit and flicking it gently as he pushed a single finger deep into her core.

Alana’s body seemed to move of its own accord, undulating against the mattress as Rafe’s tongue wound her desire tighter. Panting with the intense sensations, she pulled Gabe up to her mouth and kissed him almost violently, dragging her arms around him as her body seemed to fly apart, heat rippling through her muscles as her orgasm neared.

She gasped, arching her spine, her legs shaking, her pussy throbbing as Rafe thrust his finger into her harder, faster, deeper. Everything tingled, pins and needles of sensation prickling her skin a moment before her orgasm exploded through her.

Gabe swallowed her scream, soothing her with his hands as he gentled the kiss, and finally pulled back to look into her eyes. She smiled at him, amazed at how they’d managed to give her more pleasure in just a few moments than any other man she’d ever known. Replete and exhausted, she smiled happily at Rafe as he watched her from his position between her legs.

Gabe lowered his mouth to her ear. “My turn,” he whispered, then slid lower on the bed.