Read Online The Shadow Zone 2: Winning Madeline by Isabella Jordan - Free Book Online Page A

Encouragement? It had her heart squeezing in her chest.
    * * *
    “Mrs. Kilmer tells me it won’t take her long to create some things for you to wear. She’s an excellent seamstress.” Maddox thought he’d start a conversation with Madeline when he returned to the room. It wasn’t easy. His mind was on anything but her clothes right now. “I hope you’ll enjoy having some nicer garments.”
    Madeline sat on the edge of the bed, a gold-trimmed plate of dark grapes resting on her lap. Wariness lingered in her violet eyes, but he sensed a lot less tension in her tonight. It gave him hope. Perhaps one day she’d come to trust him.
    Just one look at her sleek little body had him staring at her, hard. Though he loved her wearing his robe the night before, the blue robe was sleek and revealed her shape. Her breasts were full and beautiful, the curve of her hip and thigh a temptation.
    She only nodded in response to his words. And what was she going to say really? That she expected new clothes when she was accustomed to wearing rags? He knew she was beyond her element right now. Nervous as a young man courting his lady love, his mind scrambled to come up with something else to talk about. It was ridiculous. Yet he couldn’t do a damned thing about it.
    “Did you enjoy your visit with your friends?”
    A small smile formed on her lips. It would have stopped his heart had he been mortal.
    “I did. Thank you.”
    The visit had been wonderful for him as well. Watching her play with the child, hearing her laughter. He didn’t even feel threatened by the child’s father, knowing he’d been a rare client of hers. He didn’t sense anything between the man and his Madeline now. The man’s fear of him did come through clearly, however.
    Madeline had been happy to see them and that he could do every single day. And would, he decided. He’d just feel better once they didn’t have the Elders and their old friend Vincent to worry about any longer. “You’re welcome. We can see them any time,” he said easily.
    “No, I meant thank you for their situation. Ivy looked so…”
    On the way to being well fed? Clean? Adorable in the small dress Mrs. Kilmer had insisted on making before anything else? “Rick treats his servants well, Madeline,” Maddox assured her.
    “They are his servants now?”
    It was a clever question. Maddox thought carefully before he spoke. “I’m sure Rick would have no problem with my taking them when we leave this place. But I think much would depend on what’s best for them at the time. A man with a small daughter. Perhaps they should have some say in where they go.”
    Her brow knitted. “But they are servants,” she pointed out.
    “I didn’t dispute that.”
    “Servants don’t have choices.”
    Maddox smiled. “Here they do.”
    “And with you?” she asked in a lower voice.
    “I don’t think of you as my servant, Madeline.” No, he thought of her as so much more. If only he could tell her…
    “I’m your…”
    “Employee?” he offered. Lover? Dream? Mistress of my frozen heart ?
    “Since that is the case, may I ask you something?” She was speaking so carefully, it tore at him just how precarious she thought her situation was.
    “Anything,” he promised, daring to move closer and sit on the edge of the bed with her.
    “You weren’t angry that I wandered out?”
    “No.”
    “I can… leave this room whenever I like?”
    “Yes. I just ask that you stay close to the manor. Stay where you can be seen. For your safety.”
    “Your friend said I wouldn’t be harmed…”
    “And he meant that,” Maddox assured her, not sure where she was headed with her line of conversation.
    “I’ve seen servants here who are… human. Like me.”
    Maddox fought a smile. Madeline wasn’t stupid. “He does have servants here who are human. The rest are vampires. But they live together relatively well. Though I won’t lie to you, there is a social hierarchy. The vampire servants clearly