What a Demon Wants by Kathy Love

the side alley. No one was around to see him. He started toward the street, walking as if he was doing nothing more than taking an evening stroll.
    Patience. He had to remain patient. So now there was another factor. He’d figure out a way around it. The guy couldn’t stay near her forever.
    He turned right out of the alley, heading toward a small bar a block or so away.
    Nothing would stop his plan.
    Ellina Kostova would be dead. And soon.

    “So how did you learn to cook?”
    Jude didn’t look at Ellina as he rinsed out a pan.
    “I like to eat. And I tend to have a large appetite. So it made sense to learn to cook.”
    “Well, you are good at it. If you ever decide to give up your current line of work, you could probably make a great living as a chef.”
    She shot him a teasing smile, but he didn’t manage one in return.
    If he ever got out of his current line of work…She had no idea how close her comment came to his hopes.
    “How did you get into this business anyway? You know, protecting paranormals from paranormals?”
    He scrubbed at some cooked on chicken. “I just sort of fell into it.”
    She nodded, accepting his explanation readily enough.
    “Because of what you are? Being vampire and werewolf must make you very strong.
    And you must have amazing—senses.”
    “Yes.” That’s why he’d become what he was. To be the strongest, the most wily.
    Invincible.

    Ellina finished drying the plate she held, then turned away from him. Jude slipped a look at her as she stretched up to place the dish in the cupboard. Her T-shirt pulled away from her jeans, giving him a glimpse of her slender back. And the jeans tugged against her perfectly rounded ass as if some invisible hands were molding to her. He’d known he’d been right about that ass. Perfect.
    He imagined his hands there, shaping to her, moving slowly up to slide under her top.
    The pan slipped from his hands, clattering against the stainless-steel sink.
    Ellina smiled over her shoulder. “Soapy fingers?”
    His eyes snapped up to meet hers.
    “Yeah,” he managed, although his voice sounded low and rough with hunger. Even to his own ears. He certainly wasn’t feeling invincible at the moment.
    But she was oblivious to his reaction. She turned back to the dish drainer and began wiping the flatware, placing it in a drawer beside the sink. That task brought her closer to him.
    He could feel her energy snapping toward him, so strong that he was surprised the air didn’t crack with static electricity. And while shocking, the vibe he was receiving wasn’t uncomfortable like an electric jolt.
    Well, only a little bit uncomfortable, he corrected, shifting slightly to accommodate the erection that pressed like a lightning rod against the unforgiving material of his jeans.
    “So what are your notes about?”
    “What?” He was so lost in his body’s reaction to a mere glimpse of skin that he didn’t follow her new direction in conversation.
    “Your notes? What are you researching? Me?”
    At the moment, more than she knew.
    “Yeah. No. Sort of.” How could he be so damned muddled? “I’ve been researching your—family.”
    Ellina made a noise that indicated she wasn’t too pleased with that information, even if she wasn’t surprised. She moved slightly, reaching for another recently washed spoon.
    Her shoulder brushed again his. His cock leapt as if it took the unintentional touch as a green light.
    “And what are you thinking about them?”

    He cleared his throat, trying to gather his thoughts into something remotely comprehensible. He placed the pan he’d been washing in the drainer, then leaned a hip against the counter, giving himself a little room away from her.
    This was good. Focus on your reason for being here.
    He watched her as she sorted the forks and spoons in the proper compartments.
    Control, buddy. Control.
    When he didn’t answer, she paused, looking at him questioningly.
    “You have an interesting family,” he said.
    She