Hot Demon Nights by Elle James Page A

again.
    “Detective Danske, are you still interested in returning to the
Fifth Precinct as a street cop?” Detective Thomas cornered me in the corridor on
my way out the door.
    “Why?” I asked.
    The older man sighed. “I threw you into a case without giving
you sufficient training. I realize it wasn’t fair. Maybe I want to make it up to
you by letting you have your choice.”
    “How generous.” I chewed on my bottom lip.
    “Would you like to let the situation ride as it is and see if
you like it any better in a week?” Detective Thomas face remained poker
straight, no emotion giving me a clue as to whether he really wanted me to stay
or go.
    “It hasn’t been so bad,” I admitted reluctantly. “I’ll give it
another week.”
    Thomas nodded. “I have a different partner in mind for your
next assignment.”
    My hand rose in protest. “No. If I stay, I don’t want to break
in a new partner. Blaise Michaels was hard enough on me, I don’t relish training
another.”
    The detective’s lips twitched, but to his credit, he didn’t
laugh out loud. And a good thing. I might have had to punch my new boss, and
that wouldn’t have looked good on my record, should I ask to return to the Fifth
Precinct.
    “Okay, then, get some rest and report in early tomorrow
morning. I have another mission for you two.”
    I left the station and headed back to my apartment, still too
hyped up on adrenaline to even think of sleep. And where the hell was
Blaise?
    As I stepped through my apartment door, I sensed another
presence.
    The demon who’d been on my mind since I’d left Detective
Thomas. I flung my jacket on the couch and called out, “I don’t know what you
did to piss off Detective Thomas, but he’s given us another assignment and I’m
stuck with you as my partner, again.”
    “I’ve ordered out Chinese,” he said from inside my bedroom.
    I leaned against the doorway, my heart skipping several beats
as I stared at his naked body sprawled out on my comforter, a carton of Kung Pao
chicken open beside him.
    “Sure of yourself much?” I queried, my hands drifting to the
buttons on my shirt, flicking them open one at a time.
    “Figured you’d have to come home sometime.”
    “As long as you understand.” The last button flicked open.
    “What’s that?”
    Holding the edges of my shirt closed, I gave Blaise a narrow
stare. “I don’t do commitment well.”
    Blaise shrugged. “You didn’t kill zombies well, either—before
this week. You’ll learn. Besides, we were meant to be together.”
    “I don’t know about that.”
    “You and I both feel it every time we touch.” He skimmed a
finger along my arm, sending a frenzy of shocks across my nerve endings. “And we
haven’t resolved the issue of your father.” Blaise pressed a kiss to my
forehead, the touch burning all the way to my core.
    I fought off the buzz-kill of the mention of the man who’d
deserted my family. “Leave him out of this,” I warned.
    Blaise nodded. “For now…but we will talk, eventually.” His
fingers found their way beneath my shirt to curl around my waist.
    I wanted to argue the point—but I had to admit, I wanted
everything in that bed a whole lot more.
    I slid the shirt over my shoulders, unhooked my bra and dropped
it to the floor. The boots and jeans were next. When I climbed onto the bed,
naked, I knew I’d gone a step farther than I’d made it before. But I didn’t stop
to analyze feelings or try to figure out why I was attracted to a demon, I just
accepted a bite of the chicken. Then I slid my body over his, mounting him with
every intention of riding off the passion that had built throughout the case. I
figured it might take all night, the way he made me feel.
    I could work with that. In fact, there was
nowhere I’d rather be.
    * * * * *

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