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Tempting the Demon
Elle James


Dead demons keep turning up across the city. And it's up to Katya Danske, member of the NYPD's Paranormal Investigation Team, to stop whoever–or whatever–is behind the killing. But long, hot nights with her personal demon, sexy Blaise Michaels, are leaving her little energy to concentrate on her job.Blaise understands Katya's need for space, but now that he's claimed her, he refuses to let his mate out of his sight. Not when a soul-sucking succubus and a massive storm threathen to throw the city into chaos. Besides, she needs his help to harness her own newly discovered powers. But can he convince her that the passion that binds them makes them stronger together than they are apart?







Dead demons keep turning up across the city. And it’s up to Katya Danske, member of the NYPD’s Paranormal Investigation Team, to stop whoever—or whatever—is behind the killing. But long, hot nights with her personal demon, sexy Blaise Michaels, are leaving her little energy to concentrate on her job.

Blaise understands Katya’s need for space, but now that he’s claimed her, he refuses to let his mate out of his sight. Not when a soul-sucking succubus and a massive storm threathen to throw the city into chaos. Besides, she needs his help to harness her own newly discovered powers. But can he convince her that the passion that binds them makes them stronger together than they are apart?


Tempting the Demon

Elle James






www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)


Dear Reader,

I love writing stories based in New York City. It’s a captivating place full of light and shadows. From the neon bright lights and signs of Times Square to the tall buildings and dark alleys, it’s a great setting for paranormal stories. What better place for the not-so-human to mix and mingle in its cauldron of humanity? Next time you’re walking along Fifth Avenue in New York City, be sure to look into the faces of passersby. Are you sure they are human and not a demon, a werewolf or witch? Embrace the magic of the city!

Happy reading!

Elle James


Dedication

This book is dedicated to the residents of New York and New Jersey who suffered so much during Hurricane Sandy. I’m always amazed at the resilience, determination and outpouring of love and assistance demonstrated during such terrible disasters.

Elle James


Contents

Chapter One (#u970ec810-5015-5965-80c6-f460dcc8df2f)

Chapter Two (#ua36d53aa-7e22-5106-bf2c-e94ab3c3fbb7)

Chapter Three (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)


Chapter One

Heat built low in my body, firing synapses and sending electric currents from where his hand touched my hip all the way to my core. The fog of sleep slipped away as my demon’s fingers glided across my abdomen and down to the apex of my thighs.

I shifted, spreading my legs to allow his finger to slip between my folds and stroke that sensory-packed nubbin of pleasure. From dead sleep to heated passion, I awoke. “Hurry,” I whispered.

Blaise Michaels knew how to build the sensations, to guide my body to a fevered pitch. I want you to come with me.

“I want to sleep more before my alarm goes off.”

He withdrew his hand. Sleep, my sweet.

“Really? You stop now and I’ll kill you.” I grabbed his hand and returned it to that spot that was screaming for more attention, more strokes, more...more...more...

His low chuckle warmed my neck, adding to the heat of his palm cupping my sex, his finger dipping into my channel, swirling around in the slippery liquid coating my entrance. I wanted him, wanted the finger to travel back up to the special place he’d stroked to life, nudging me from sleep to full awareness.

He dragged his thick, wet finger up to my clit and stroked it once.

A shot of extreme pleasure ripped through me. I jerked my knees back, dug my heels into the mattress and arched my back, moaning.

Do you like that?

“Yes!”

He stroked me again and I closed my eyes, concentrating on prolonging the sensations, not catapulting over the top, extending the ecstasy of the moment as long as I could.

He stroked me again and I thought I’d come apart.

Blaise knew exactly what it took to make me scream. The demon exercised his control over my body every chance he could get. We’d made love until midnight and now.... I glanced at the clock on the nightstand. Damn, it was nearly four o’clock in the morning. My alarm was set for five. But I couldn’t just turn off what Blaise had turned on. I had to see it through, ride the wave of hot, molten passion to the end.

My demon rolled over on top of me. My knees dropped to the side. I was ready to take him, to welcome his full thickness into my body.

For a moment, his cock nudged my entrance.

Before I could raise my feet to wrap around his waist and urge him in, he slipped downward, pressing kisses to my breast, sucking my nipple in his mouth, pulling hard. Again I arched my back, pressing the breast deeper.

He rolled the nipple between his teeth, biting gently. I wanted him to hurry, to fill me, to slide his member deep inside me.

Letting go of the nipple, he moved lower, his lips searing a path along my ribs to my belly and below.

“Yes, there. Use that tongue.”

Patience, my dear.

“Fuck patience!” I dug my fingers into his thick black hair and urged him lower.

His tongue took me, lapping at that nubbin of sizzling nerve endings, flicking, teasing and setting me on fire. I felt the tingling begin at my core and quickly spread throughout my body. I shot into the stratosphere, all thoughts of getting up on time wiped from my mind as I rode the tsunami of pure, fiery desire.

Blaise climbed up my body, pressed his cock to my entrance and thrust deep and hard, filling me, driving inside until he was completely sheathed. Then he moved, sliding in and out, slowly at first, then faster and faster, the friction prolonging my orgasm until his final thrust.

Buried all the way inside me, he held me, his member throbbing, pulsing, hot and thick.

When I returned to earth, to the sweat-dampened sheets of my bed, I lay there drained, satiated and amazed at how often we had sex, and how still I couldn’t seem to get enough of this demon.

As the passion cooled, I lay staring at the ceiling, wondering what I’d do with this man who wasn’t a man at all. I worried I might become too dependent on him.

I like taking care of you. Would that be such a bad thing?

“Yes,” I replied. “I do my own thing. I don’t want to answer to anyone.”

“You don’t have to answer to me. All I ask is that you include me in your life.”

“What if I asked you to quit following me around?”

No.

“What if I told you that you’re crowding me?”

“We work well as a team,” he pointed out.

“I’d really like to have some time apart.”

No.

“You don’t control me.”

“You are your own demon.” His hand drifted down my arm and across my breast, setting off a barrage of tingles, zinging from my skin to my core.

“Damn you,” I muttered, sleep slipping further from my grasp.

“I can smell your passion.”

“Why do you do this to me?”

“I do nothing you do not wish for. I only want to protect you from harm. It isn’t often a demon finds his perfect mate.” His gaze captured mine, holding me in the power of those brown-black eyes. He cupped my chin and leaned in to brush his lips across mine. “Your strength, your spirit and your heart enchant me. I would rather die than lose you.”

Though I wanted to fling his words back in his face, warmth stole over me. Sometimes I caught myself enjoying being taken care of and it shook me to the core. Having grown up fending for myself, I had difficulty allowing someone else to take on that responsibility. Especially when that someone was a demon. A very sexy and dangerous demon. “Smooth words. I swear you’re manipulating me,” I grumbled.

He grinned and tweaked my nipple between his thumb and forefinger, setting off a renewed aching desire in my center. “Is it working?”

“Damn you.” I rolled over and straddled him, lowering myself onto his hard length, taking him fully inside me. “What do you think?”

* * *

“Hey, Danske, lookin’ tired today.” A hard wad of paper hit the back of my head, knocking me out of my sleep-deprived doze.

I turned, shooting Rudy a kiss-my-lily-white-butt glance. “Shut up, Cardelli. Can’t you see I’m trying to listen?” I threw the paper wad into the nearby trash bin, eliminating his chances of launching it again.

The man obviously didn’t have a brain. He chuckled. “How’s that partnership with the demon thing goin’? Keeping ya up at night? You two seem joined at the hip. Or should I say joined at the dick?”

Anger spiked inside me, along with adrenalin and something else. Hell yeah, my partner was keeping me up at night. Blood surged low in my belly. Much as I liked my sleep, I couldn’t resist the demon. He was an addiction I couldn’t kick. I wanted to tell Cardelli to mind his own damned business and opened my mouth to do just that.

Let it go. The thought insinuated itself into my head, shooting down the words I would have thrown back at Cardelli before they left my lips. Blaise stood just inside the door of the briefing room, his dark gaze pinning mine, a slow smile curling his oh-so-freakin’ sexy lips. My insides hummed all over again, dispelling my exhaustion with just one look from his deep, dark eyes. I didn’t need my insides turning to mush and liquid fire, or images of his naked body rioting in my head. Not when I was at work in a room full of my male peers.

Don’t worry. They can’t hear our thoughts. They don’t know that you’re thinking of me naked.

Don’t do that! And get the hell out of my head.

Blaise chuckled softly.

The infuriating demon knew what pushed my buttons of anger as well as desire. And it made me nuts when Blaise slipped his thoughts into my mind. I forced myself to focus on Lieutenant Thomas, my boss, the detective in charge of this ragtag group of miscreants we called the Paranormal Investigative Team. Each of us had been hand-selected to handle the strange and unusual calls that came into the Fifth Precinct in Manhattan.

“As I was saying.” Thomas pointed at the computer-generated precinct map on the big white projection screen beside him. “We’ve had three deaths on the Lower East Side in the past few nights. No entry or exit wounds and no fractured skulls. The medical examiner says no poison was used. Nothing but dead bodies that appear to have had the life literally sucked out of them, and all in some state of undress.”

“Why not let homicide handle them?” I asked.

“Right that you should ask.” Thomas nodded in my direction. “Because they weren’t human deaths.” His gaze shifted to the demon leaning against the wall. “They were demons.”

Blaise didn’t blink, but the muscles in his jaw twitched, the only indication of a reaction to the news. “Anyone I might know?”

Thomas wrote the names on the whiteboard beside the screen, filling in dates and locations where their bodies were discovered. When he finished, he pointed at the names with his marker. “Antone Petrova, CJ Monahan and James Lorne. Did you know them?”

Our resident demon’s eyes narrowed. “There are a number of demons in Manhattan, but not so many that I wouldn’t know most.”

Thomas turned, dry-erase marker in his hand. “And?”

“Yes, I knew them.”

“Were they good demons or bad demons?” I asked. I would have considered it a service to the city if someone had offed several bad demons. “Someone save us some work?”

Blaise captured my gaze, his look intense. “I’ve had drinks with Antone and CJ. They weren’t a danger to humans, per se.”

“Define per se,” I prompted.

“They didn’t prey on humans.” Blaise’s lips tightened. “As for James, he was a player with human women, but no killer.”

“Nice. A little demon persuasion to get a woman in his bed.” I snorted. He’s not the only demon pushing thoughts.

Careful, my sweet. Blaise’s mouth twitched at the corners. Seems to me you were the one who initiated our last round.

I pressed my lips together to keep from arguing in front of my boss.

“The point is,” Thomas interrupted, “we have a duty to the city to protect its citizens. Human or paranorm.”

“I thought the only good paranorm was a dead paranorm.” Rudy grinned. “No offense, Michaels.”

“None taken.” Blaise crossed his legs at the ankle. “Remind me of that comment when you need backup.”

I opened my mouth to give Rudy a piece of my mind.

Ignore him. He’s an ass.

Knowing that didn’t make it any easier to clamp down hard on my lip. Paranorms were people too, I knew. Although I hadn’t revealed it to the rest of my team, I was a halfling demon, and still unsure of the extent of my powers. Until I got a better handle on them, I wasn’t ready to go public. Blaise was the only one who knew.

It’s our little secret. The smile on Blaise’s face calmed me at the same time as it sparked fire in my veins. The demon had enough sex appeal to charm a virgin out of her panties, and he cared enough about the people of NYC, both human and paranorm, to want to make a difference. Which made him even more deliciously attractive.

I squirmed in the hard plastic seat in the briefing room, my core warmed by his mere presence. Even in a full room of fellow police officers, I couldn’t deny the rising lust, the raw desire spiking inside when he quirked his lips and winked at me. Surely I had more control. Hell, we had sex just about every moment we were alone—I should have been getting tired of it. Shouldn’t I?

Hell, no. And I haven’t tired of you, either. Want to go for round three after the meeting?

My pussy tensed, my body sizzling. I sat on my hands to keep from clapping them over my mouth and glared daggers at the mind-stealing demon. Get out of my head!

I’m only there because you let me.

For a moment, I closed my eyes and thought of a six-inch steel vault. I pushed my thoughts into the vault and slammed the door shut.

Blaise’s lips tilted. That’s better. You give too much of yourself away. But you’re learning.

Patronizing prig.

You have sexy legs and your eyes flash when you’re mad or when you’re in the deep throes of passion.

Again an image of a naked Michaels lying against my sheets sent shivers across my skin and made my panties damp. Damned demon.

“Danske, you and Michaels get out in the area of the attacks and ask the street people if they saw anything near the alley where they found the first demon.”

Rudy snorted behind me. “Like I said, joined at the dick.”

I slammed my hand on the tabletop. “Lieutenant, since Cardelli’s partner is out sick, I’d like to be assigned as his partner today.” I turned to face the man who’d been harassing me from the get-go, raising my brows in defiance.

Rudy’s eyes narrowed. “Wouldn’t want to break up a love match between Agent Danske and her own personal demon.”

My fist itched with the urge to slam into Rudy’s face. I calmed myself with the thought that I’d get my chance later, if Thomas gave me the go-ahead.

“We need Michaels out there. These are his people being targeted. He’ll know better what questions to ask.”

“I’m sure Michaels has better things to do than to play cop with the precinct.” I threw my challenge at Blaise. He wasn’t on the payroll, preferring instead to call himself a consultant to the force. Still, Thomas counted him as my partner. I wondered if Blaise had put that thought in the lieutenant’s head or if he’d come up with it on his own.

Blaise smiled. “I wouldn’t dream of going off on my own when the city and my fellow demons need me. However, Cardelli is more than welcome to join our party. We could cover more territory.”

“Good.” Thomas assigned other teams to visit the residences of the dead demons and to talk to neighbors. “It’s nearing sunset. Get out there before it gets too late to knock on doors. And be careful.” His gaze rested on Blaise. “Can’t afford to lose any agents, on the payroll or off it. We’re short-staffed as it is.”

As I stood, Thomas raised his hand. “One more thing. The weatherman’s calling for a helluva storm in the next forty-eight hours. They’re predicting heavy rain and flooding. If it gets bad, the mayor might button down Manhattan. You know, the usual subway shutdown threat and mass exodus of the hordes.”

A collective groan rose from the gathering.

“Thought that might brighten your day.” Thomas’s mouth twisted. “Gonna get messy out there, so be prepared.”

I slung my leather jacket over my shoulder, automatically checked that my weapon was on safe, and then headed out the door. “Meet me at the motor pool, Cardelli,” I called over my shoulder. If I couldn’t get Cardelli to quit being a pig while working with me, I’d put the hurt on him, like I’d done to the street cop who’d dared touch my ass. A face-plant on the concrete had done the trick that time.

“Testy today?” Blaise fell in step beside me.

“Not in the mood.” Stay back.

“You were in the mood, what? Twice this morning?”

“Exactly. I have barely enough energy to do my job, let alone enough to be civil.”

“Gotcha.” He held the door for me, knowing that also pissed me off.

Damned demon.

He chuckled. That’s not what you were saying earlier.

Images of our naked bodies sliding together flashed in my head. I’d said, Faster, harder, deeper. “Out!” I pointed at the open door, the double meaning not lost on him.

Blaise shrugged and exited the precinct first into the motor pool.

I stood for a long moment, letting the door close between us. We had to talk. I couldn’t function coherently on two hours of sleep each night, and the ribbing from team members wasn’t good. I wanted to be known for my work as a cop, not for my sleeping arrangements with a team member. With my decision firmly in mind, I pushed through the door.

Blaise held up his hands. “Now, don’t do something we’ll both regret.”

I strode to one of the nondescript four-door sedans the department allotted the PIT and hit the unlock button on the key fob. “Stop reading my mind.”

“I know you’ve worked too long to establish yourself as a hard-ass,” Blaise continued. “I understand your need to keep the fear of Danske in the thoughts of every male on the force, but you don’t have to with me. I know who you are, here.” He touched my chest. “You can be yourself with me.”

I wanted to believe him, but old habits die hard. I couldn’t let anyone but me run my life. With my hand on the door handle, I drew in a deep breath and faced Blaise. “You’re crowding me. I need space.”

Instead of backing away, Blaise stepped closer and ran a finger along my cheek, down my neck to the V in the plain white blouse I wore beneath my black leather jacket. Everywhere he touched me, my skin burned. “Are you sure about that?”

My core heated like the fires of hell, my pussy ached, and I swallowed a moan. I wanted him more than ever, but he was undermining my ability to do my job and to command the respect of the other men on the team. I grabbed his hand and held it away, ignoring the sizzling jolts of electricity singing through my veins at so simple a connection. “I need you to back off.”

His lips tilted downward. “Meaning?”

“We’re partners on the job. Let’s leave it on the job. Only.”

Just as Blaise opened his mouth to argue the point, Rudy blew through the door. “Oh, good. I thought you’d leave without me.”

“I would have, had you been a minute later.” I jerked my head toward the front seat. “Get in. And if you say one word about my driving, I’ll shoot you.”

Rudy laughed, although he looked to Blaise questioningly, as if he wasn’t sure if I was joking or not. “I got no problem with female drivers.” He started to climb into the backseat.

“No,” I said. “In the front.”

Rudy stared from me to Blaise. “I don’t mind sitting in back.”

“Get the fuck in.” I slid behind the steering wheel and started the engine.

Blaise and Rudy hadn’t even closed their doors before I backed out of the parking space. I made the tires squeal as I pulled out of the garage.

Fifteen minutes and two near-death collisions later, we arrived at the address where they’d found the first dead demon. I pulled into the alley, parked the car and got out. Darkness settled in around the buildings. A block away, music blared from a hoity-toity nightclub, and scantily clad socialites drifted in and out, climbing into limousines that whisked them away.

I couldn’t imagine what would drive a woman to wear so little clothing, and such high heels, on purpose. As if they were whores displaying their wares, for sale to the highest bidder. Marry wealthy was written all over them. What happened to being proud of your own ability to land a job and support yourself?

I’d always known I would be a cop. Even when I’d worked summers and nights in high school, bagging groceries in the ghetto suburbs of Chicago, sucking up to tired mothers who were dragging screaming children through the store. I knew then I wasn’t going to do that all my life.

The streetlights and neon signs gave a false sense of security. As soon as I stepped into the alley the shadows thickened, almost as if they’d come alive and wanted to lure me into them. I sniffed—one of my demon talents. Some demons had the ability to throw fire, but all I could do was smell stuff, like dead people, werewolves and zombies. Big whoop. Unfortunately tonight I smelled decomposing trash, smoke from a cigarette butt tossed recently. And death.

No matter how often death hit my nostrils, it didn’t get any easier to handle. I stiffened. “The demon died three days ago?”

“According to Thomas,” Blaise responded.

To my right, something moved in the dark.

My heart leaped and my hand went to the gun in the holster beneath my jacket. My senses identified the creature at the same time as a scrawny black cat eased out from behind a giant trash container, headed straight for me. I hate cats. And of course, for some bizarre reason, they love me.

All slinky, independent and mysterious, they give me the creeps. Long ago I’d decided not to make war with them. If they truly had nine lives, that gave them nine chances to get back at me. I wasn’t risking it. As the feline weaved its body around my legs, I braced myself and pretended it didn’t matter.

Blaise bent and scratched the creature beneath its chin, his body warm next to mine. “Hey, kitty, I bet you have stories to tell, huh, fella?”

Rudy strode past us into the alley. “So this is where they found the stiff?”

Trust Rudy to be crass. Blaise said, “That stiff might have been someone’s father, son or husband.”

The agent feigned shock. “You mean demons have parents and children? I thought they hatched, like lizards or snakes.”

“Can I hit him now?” I asked.

Blaise straightened. “Not worth the scraped knuckles. Besides, he’s goading us. Are you going to rise to his remarks?”

“That’s why I brought him along.”

“I can hear what you’re saying, you know,” Rudy said from halfway down the gloomy alley. “Nothing here, by the way.” He bent to lift a discarded cardboard box and peered beneath it.

“Three days and I can still smell death.” I tipped my chin up and inhaled. “But it’s not coming from this alley.” Like a beagle on the trail, I followed my nose past a closed appliance store, a liquor store with a neon Open sign flashing in the window, and a grocery whose doors had probably closed at sunset, the steel cage rolled down over the windows and locked securely. The scent grew stronger the closer I got to the next alley entrance.

Blaise and the cat kept pace.

As I turned into the next alley, someone groaned. No, it was more of a last breath being released. The acrid smell of death hit me hard and I staggered backward.

That’s when I saw it.

Like a wraith swathed in a long black cape, the figure rose from the ground and raced to the opposite end of the alley.

“Stop!” On instinct, I ripped my nine-millimeter Glock from my holster and aimed at the fleeing person. “Or I’ll shoot!”

The shadowy figure never slowed, dodging right around the far end of the building and disappearing from sight.

“Take the next block!” I shouted to Blaise as I ran after the figure.

I tripped over a big lump of rags stretched across the ground, mostly concealed in the gloom of the building, and landed hard on a pale blob. My hands pressed against the blob, realizing it was a body with arms and legs. Death wafted up and wrapped around me, its cloying scent gagging me as I struggled to get off of the body.

The whitewashed features, the blank stare and the horrific stench led me to the instant conclusion that he was dead, and nothing I could do would fix that. I pulled myself up and ran on, determined to stop the killer before he took another life, human or demon.

As I skidded around the corner at the end of the building, gun drawn, another figure came to a halt at the opposite corner. I aimed and would have pulled the trigger if he hadn’t spoken immediately.

“It got away,” Blaise called out.

“Damn.”

Blaise closed the distance between us and we walked back to the body.

“Is he human or demon?” I asked.

“You tell me.” Blaise waited.

I’d smelled dead human more times than I could count. This wasn’t the same. He had a grittier, more pungent scent. “Not human.”

With a nod, Blaise crouched down beside the dead demon. “This man looks like he’s been dead for while, but at the same time it appears to be a fresh kill.”

“Look at his face.” I knelt beside him, trying not to let the stench choke me. “He’s smiling.” His lips were turned up at the corners.

“And he’s still got a hard-on.” Blaise pointed to the man’s genitals, exposed to the night air.

“You think a hooker is offing these demons?”

A shot rang out, echoing off the brick walls.

I leaped to my feet. “Where’s Rudy?”


Chapter Two

Blaise and I ran toward the sound. Before we reached the unmarked sedan, I picked up the metallic scent of fresh blood.

Rudy lay crumpled against the side of a building. His weapon hung off the end of his finger, and his breathing was shallow, his face pale. “I thought you’d never get here.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know.” He dragged in a deep breath as if every word was pure agony. “One minute I’m standing by the car, the next, I’m lying against a wall and I don’t know how I got here.”

“Did you see who hit you?” I asked.

He shook his head, his eyelids drooping. “Got a helluva headache though. And I’m as dizzy as a blonde.” He blinked up at me. “No offense, Blondie.”

I blew off his sexist remark and yanked the radio from my utility belt. “Got an officer down. Send an ambulance.”

While I gave the address, Blaise bent closer to Rudy. “You sure you didn’t see anything? Maybe a dark figure?”

“Nothing. Didn’t want to say anything in front of Danske....”

I could hear every word Rudy was saying, but I didn’t bother telling him that.

“But funny thing is, I got a boner that won’t quit.” Cardelli glanced at the ridge of his fly pressing upward, like a miniature tent. “You know how it is...a boner without an orgasm...” he groaned and plucked at his jeans. “Hurts like hell.”

Blaise straightened, his gaze capturing mine.

I hooked my radio on my belt. “What? You know something?”

“The man in the alley was a demon. Cardelli’s human, but they both were...aroused.”

Just the word aroused from Blaise’s lips had the effect of making my body burn. I really had to put some distance between us or he’d consume me. I wondered if my halfling demon status had anything to do with the way my body reacted to his. I had so many questions regarding demons that remained unanswered, and until we solved this case, they would stay that way.

The ambulance arrived along with a couple of street cop cruisers. Blaise and I answered questions and stayed long enough for them to load Cardelli and bag the dead demon. The wind had been picking up and a few drops of cold rain slapped against my face. Great. I hadn’t packed my waterproof jacket.

My cell phone rang and I dug it out of my pocket, the caller ID indicating that it was my boss. “Danske.” I cupped my hand around the phone to reduce the feedback from the wind.

“Got a call from a hotel in your vicinity. Seems one of their customers is stinkin’ up the place. You two check it out. I’ll go by the hospital and check in on Cardelli.”

“Roger.” I stuck my phone back in my pocket. Down one agent—and a little disappointed that I hadn’t been the one to take him down—I strode past Blaise. “Let’s go.”

Located four blocks away, the hotel was one of those old establishments that had been recently refurbished. Marble floors gleamed along with a polished mahogany reception desk. My feet sank into updated plush carpeting in the lounge area, where leather couches invited guests to relax and converse around modern artwork and hothouse plants.

“Blaise, darling.” A tall, svelte brunette with brown-gold eyes smiled at Blaise and rounded the reception desk to greet him personally. She held out her hand, her long, slender fingers curling around his like a caress.

I stiffened as I sniffed the air around her. Beneath the cloying scent of Chanel No. 5 I caught a whiff of something else. Something similar to the way Blaise smelled at the most basic level.

Demon.

Very good. Blaise winked at me, then lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “Ah, Giselle, so good to see you.”

Seriously? With the body of a model and a name like Giselle, she had it all going on. I stood a foot shorter, busty and blonde, and felt about as attractive as a stumpy bulldog.

“Where have you been? I haven’t seen you around in while.” She leaned close and kissed his cheek. “I’ve missed you.”

Steam rose around my collar. “We’re here on business,” I said, my tone hard and flat.

Giselle’s brows arched beautifully. “Who’s your little friend?”

If you so much as twitch a smile—

“Giselle,” Blaise cut into my thought. “Meet Agent Katya Danske of Manhattan’s Fifth Precinct.”

I noted he hadn’t prefaced my intro with my partner, as he normally did, which was fine by me. I’d asked for distance.

The woman’s gaze swept over me from head to foot and dismissed me as she returned her attention to Blaise. “Are you here about the dead demon in twelve-thirteen? Such a dreadful ordeal.”

“We hate to keep you from your work,” I said, unable to erase all the sarcasm. “If you could give us the key, we’ll check it out.”

Still directing her attention to Blaise, she rested a hand on his arm. “I’d be delighted to show you to the room.”

“That’s not necessary. We can manage without you. If I could have the key.” I held out my hand.

Giselle pouted at Blaise. “I insist. How often do I get to see my favorite demon?” She turned to the reception desk and asked for the key, and then walked with Blaise toward the bank of elevators, completely ignoring me.

I told myself that I didn’t give a crap if she ignored me, but her arm through Blaise’s was making me want to jump on her back and rip her beautiful long brown hair out of her head.




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