What a Demon Wants by Kathy Love Page B

and my mother, which did not turn out well.”
    Jude considered that. If that were the case, it didn’t seem likely her father would want her dead for being a little too candid about his romances.
    “Maybe that is all it is. Or maybe it’s more. And we have to assume it is something more.”
    “My father wouldn’t hurt me,” she said, her tone adamant, even though her expression was less resolute.
    “But I think you really need to start taking the breakins and the other incidents seriously.”
    Her gaze was distant and he wasn’t sure if she was even listening to him. He knew she didn’t want to hear any of this, but he had to discuss the possibilities with her. She had to start being cautious.
    “I know you don’t want to hear this,” he said, wishing he didn’t have to upset her so.
    She came back from wherever her thoughts had been and met his gaze. “Did Maksim suggest all these possibilities?”
    “Yes.”
    “Even the human risk?”
    “He mentioned it. And I think we should consider it. You do have lots and lots of fans. And fans can be fanatical. Although I realize that a fanatical human doesn’t explain how you ended up in a cat.”

    She nodded, looking distracted again.
    Did she know something she wasn’t telling?
    “Ellina—”
    Her eyes met his, but her gaze looked stricken, almost haunted.
    “I need to get back to work.”
    She tossed the damp dishcloth she still held limply in her hand onto the counter, and moved around him, twisting her body to avoid contact as she passed.
    She was doing it again. Jude had, even in this short time, learned one thing. Ellina ran away. When things got too much, she made a break for it and hid in her work. In a world of her own creation.
    He understood that. Wasn’t that all he wanted? To run and hide?
    He caught her wrist.
    “Ellina, wait. I know it’s a lot to comprehend. And it’s scary. But I’m here to help you.”
    Ellina’s gaze locked on Jude’s long fingers wrapped around her narrow wrist, his grasp gentle, his skin callused. Her breath caught at the intoxicating contrast, and her desperate, distraught thoughts faded.
    His thumb brushed over the sensitive space on the inside of her wrist, just below her palm. She shivered.
    Jude frowned, mistaking her tremble for more fear.
    “We’ll figure out what’s going on here,” he assured her, his voice low and husky.
    Velvety and rough. Another delicious paradox.
    His thumb still stroked her, and the tiny caress seemed to reach deep inside her.
    Desire swelled and pooled, drifting lower and lower.
    Desperation of a different kind filled her.
    She tugged her arm away, panic making the action abrupt, anxious. She backed away from him.
    “I-I know everything will be okay,” Ellina said, the words rapid and tumbling over each other. “You know—um—I think maybe I’ll just—just go to bed. It’s been a long day.”

    He regarded her with that unreadable expression that managed to unnerve her further.
    She said, “Make yourself at home, and feel free to move your stuff into the guest bedroom. The sheets are clean, and there are towels in the cabinet in the bath—”
    A sudden wave of irritation washed over her as she realized how silly and manic she sounded, so she finished her ramble with, “Well, I’m sure you know where everything is, since you’ve investigated the whole place.”
    Okay, that sounded almost petulant. Not that it mattered at this moment. She just had to get away from him.
    Her gaze dropped to the hand that had touched her. Long tapered fingers, a broad palm, with traces of scars, pale and white, on his knuckles. Masculine hands.
    Hands that would feel so good touching her.
    She felt her body reacting and backed away, bumping into the door frame in her hurry to escape.
    “Okay. Good night,” she said, keeping her eyes averted from him.
    She didn’t wait for him to reply. She simply turned and rushed toward her bedroom.
    Once inside her “pretty in pink” bedroom, she