Free The Shadow Zone 2: Winning Madeline by Isabella Jordan Page A

long lashes. Sitting there next to her on the edge of the bed, he didn’t seem real. He was too handsome, too beautiful, to be real. The night before with him had been surreal given what he’d told her and she still hadn’t completely squared with the idea that her new client was a vampire. But he’d allowed her to do what she wanted at her own pace and he responded like her other clients. He’d seemed quite pleased by her efforts, satisfied with just a blow job.
    She hated that her hand trembled as she brought it up to his face and all the while she wondered if it was a good idea to touch him at all like that. Touching a man’s body - anywhere -- was generally not a problem. More intimate things like a kiss or a caress to his face were often not welcome gestures for her clients.
    Her heart skipped a beat when her palm touched his cheek and he leaned into her touch. Again tonight his flesh was warm like a man’s. But it was so hard. She slid her hand up into his hair, let her fingers glide through the silky pale blond strands. His hair felt normal. It felt nice. And his eyes slid closed as she played with his hair, as if he were really enjoying her attentions.
    “Maddox?” she whispered.
    “Yes?” He didn’t open his eyes but a small smile formed on his gorgeous lips.
    “You’re really a…”
    “Vampire? Yes.”
    “Can you… prove it?”
    His sigh was a long whisper. “I could but I don’t want to scare you, Madeline. I don’t want you to fear me.”
    She needed to see it. “Does it have to be so scary?”
    Now his eyes opened and the enjoyment faded from his expression. Slowly he opened his mouth wide. As she watched in silent fascination, she watched his teeth change. Two upper teeth and two lower teeth slowly elongated into sharp, deadly fangs. Madeline could imagine how they’d rip through the skin and a shudder passed through her.
    “See?” In a movement so quick she barely saw it, his mouth closed and she thought his teeth were perfectly normal again. “I knew it would scare you.”
    “I’m not scared,” she said automatically, wanting him to relax and not worry about her. Her job was to relax him, turn him on, and keep him happy.
    “She says as her heart pounds furiously…”
    And it was true. Her heart was racing. “Maybe it’s desire.” She tried to sound sultry but didn’t quite hit that note.
    “I wish.” Maddox’s smile widened. “But you can’t easily fool me, Madeline. I can hear your heart beat. I can sense your fear. It makes me a better hunter. Not that I’m hunting you. It’s just part of what I am.”
    “It’s not my job to fool you,” Madeline said in an unsteady voice. “It’s my job to please you.” She slid her hands down to his shoulders, to the buttons of his shirt. He seemed perfectly content to let her work the buttons with shaky fingers until they were all undone and she’d pulled the shirt free of him.
    His upper body was revealed and she had to do a double take. His flesh was white, too white, but flawless. He was all lean, powerful muscle and her mouth felt dry. “What do you like?” Madeline asked, anxiety blending with something else to quicken her heart and send tiny sparks of anticipation running all through her.
    Maddox, gorgeous as he was, seemed unable to decide what to say. That made her think. “You’ve had sex with human women before?” Madeline kept her tone sincere.
    He nodded. “But it wasn’t the same. That was either to feed, sorry, or boredom. I probably didn’t put as much care into it as I could have, though I never killed a human woman having sex with her.”
    “You’re not bored or…” She couldn’t bring herself to say hungry. She didn’t want to think about it.
    “No.” His smile was back. “What you think, how you feel, matters to me. I know you’re not used to that and I’m not going to explain it, but that’s the best answer I can give you.”
    “Oh.”
    “What would I like right now?”
    Madeline