Free Servicing the Undead by Isabelle Drake Page A

to get to? Hayden tapped the ring with his fingers and
lifted his chin. “Maybe I don’t care.”
    Matthew ran his palms down the wood slats. “You care.”
    “So if I care so much why don’t you go ahead and tell me.”
    Matthew reached between the wood slats and grabbed the ring,
yanked Hayden forward. He felt the other man’s lifeless breath when he
whispered. “She used to tie hers down with rope because she thought it was
nicer, but the last one grabbed a log from the fire and set the bed on fire. We
figured he was trying to burn the rope. You know, to get away. But maybe he was
actually trying to kill himself because he hated Mattie so much.”
    Mattie had moved over to stand beside Matthew. “It wasn’t
the last one who set the fire. It was the one before him.”
    “That’s right,” Matthew replied, still holding Hayden,
staring at him with harsh curiosity. “Right. Andre is still with us. Sort of.”
    Hayden inched closer to the bars to release some of the
tension of Matthew’s grip. “I could still burn the bed,” he said.
    “Yes. But the metal ring she locks the chain to is bolted to
a pipe that runs through the headboard and into the ground. So, yes, you could
burn the bed, but it wouldn’t give you a chance of getting away.”
    Rachelle rubbed against Hayden. She’d taken the cloak off
and was naked except for a thong. “What are you guys talking about? You’re
boring me.” She wrapped her arms around Hayden’s waist and tugged him backward.
    Matthew grinned, tightening his grip on the ring and pulling
upward. The sharp ridge cut into Hayden’s neck, cutting into his skin, a
reminder of his possession.
    Matthew leaned forward. “Make all the little comments you
want, Hayden.” He jerked the ring. “Mattie has some special interest in you.
That means I have a special interest in you.” He let go of the ring and
Hayden fell back, tumbling across Rachelle as they both fell onto the bed of
straw. “Now be a good boy and fuck your girlfriend for me.”
    Rachelle writhed beneath him, spreading her legs as she
arched her back, the musky scent of her aroused body drifted up, mingling with
the straw and smoky night air. The weight of Matthew’s stare, the tension
radiating from Mattie’s body, these things surrounded Hayden. He rolled over
and wrapped his arms around Rachelle and lifted her upright into a sitting
position. Kneeling in front of her, he brushed her tangled hair from her face.
Even though her eyes were glazed and her muscles slack, there was an intensity
simmering around her.
    But was that simmering something coming from deep within
her? Or was it an illusion, the effects of the tea?
    Beyond the cage, Matthew had settled himself back into the
gold velvet chair. His legs splayed, his erect cock in his hands. The man’s
brows were dipped, his eyes assessing, watching. Hayden knew that look and
understood the threat behind it. But there was a difference in the man’s eyes,
a fine gleam that hinted at a cruel and unavoidable edge.
    Rachelle didn’t see it. She wasn’t seeing a lot of things.
Had she ever seen the discouraging side of life? Who exactly was this woman
he’d been thinking of his girlfriend?
    Mattie, leaning on the wall and squared up directly across
from the cage door, couldn’t see Matthew’s face but Hayden knew she would
understand his expression because she herself knew of the darker side of life.
Her knowing was woven into the pores of her skin, the strands of her hair, and
slight pull of her mouth.
    In that moment, he understood the creature, knew her, better
than the other woman. The realization should have terrified him, but fear was
second to the undeniable need to fuck.
    Hayden caressed Rachelle. He felt the fullness of her
breasts and the slow seduction of her breathing. The warmth of her body. The
thrum of the blood coursing through her veins. How different she was from
Mattie. The creature wasn’t dead just as she wasn’t alive. She—and the rest