What a Demon Wants (16 page)

So he would just get her alone quite straightforwardly. That shouldn’t be too hard.

After all, she already trusted him.

Chapter 17

Ellina had never been so happy to be home in her life. She’d always loved her home.

But now…

She released a sigh of relief as soon as she stepped through the door.

They’d had to wait quite a while to talk to the police, and she’d made the whole event sound like a random act of violence. Given this was New Orleans, and crime was almost as common as Mardi Gras beads, the police hadn’t doubted her story or questioned why she was the target.

She agreed with Jude’s assessment that the police wouldn’t be of any help, especially if the attacker was supernatural, so she’d been as vague as she could. It was best to give them as little as possible.

In truth that hadn’t been that difficult. The whole thing had happened so quickly and been so disturbing, the details were hazy at best.

She’d told Jude more on the ride home. But not much more. Just that the attacker seemed to have some sort of plan, but she wasn’t sure what it was, or why she even thought that.

In truth, there just wasn’t much she could tell.

Then, rather than going to see Maksim, who already had enough to worry about, she’d just called him and said she was not feeling well.

Fortunately, Jo had woken up and seemed to be feeling better, which made coming home easier for Ellina.

“I think I will go take a shower,” she said to Jude.

She’d wanted one since the assault happened. It was strange—she’d heard that rape victims’ first instinct was to go shower after the attack was finished, to wash away the violence, the brutality.

She understood why now. Her attack hadn’t been that invasive, or even that brutal, but she still wanted to wash the whole thing away.

Jude, who, since the hospital, had been watching her as if she might break, nodded.

“I’ll see what I can find for dinner.”

She gave him a forced smile, leaving him in the living room. She didn’t have the heart to tell him she couldn’t even imagine putting anything in her stomach. She was too tense to think about food.

But cooking seemed to be therapeutic to him, and he looked like he needed some calming too. She could tell he felt guilty that he hadn’t been there. She supposed that made sense. Her safety was his job.

But she didn’t think anyone could have predicted that attack. And she’d been the one avoiding him.

As she wandered down the hallway to her room, some of her peace at being home faded. She glanced into her office, realizing that man had been here. He’d walked her floors. He’d searched through her stuff.

She shivered. Now that made her feel even more violated.

She walked into her bedroom, flipping on the light as soon as she walked in. The room wasn’t dark; it was early evening, but even the shadows seemed to unnerve her at the moment.

She pulled some flannel pajama bottoms and a sweatshirt from her bureau. That seemed to be another side effect of the attack. She couldn’t get warm.

Once in the bathroom, she turned the hot water on full blast in the tub. Then she fished a tiny manila envelope from her pocket, and dumped the contents into the palm of her hand. Two Valium.

The doctor had given them to her, and she hadn’t thought she’d use them. But after thinking about that monster being in her house…

She popped one in her mouth, then moved to the sink and used her hand as a makeshift drinking cup.

As she straightened, she caught her reflection in the mirror. A bruise marred her left cheek and a pretty nasty goose egg bulged out from her forehead. Her nose had swelled as if it didn’t quite fit proportionately between her eyes.

And here she’d been lamenting her demon looks. Now her human appearance wasn’t much better. Most of the damage would be gone by tomorrow. That was one demon trait she had—one that she could actually be happy about too—especially now. She healed fast.

She stripped off her jeans and shirt, letting them fall to the floor in a pile. She examined the rest of herself. She had some bruising around her rib cage. And another big bruise on the outer thigh of her right leg, where she must have hit the toilet when he’d pushed her aside to make his escape.

She grimaced at how sore she felt as she crouched down to look under the sink. She had some lavender and mint shower gel that she’d purchased with the intent of using it to help minimize her stress over her writing and deadlines. Suddenly today’s events seemed like a much more important use of aromatherapy.

As she searched she happened to glance at her clothes lying next to her. Then she did a double-take.

Frowning, she touched her shirt. The black material was speckled with something white. Picking it up, she held the garment out by the shoulders. The whole back was peppered with white, powdery specks.

Was that from her attacker? She lifted the shirt to her nose and sniffed. She instantly recognized the scent as the one she’d smelled on him, the one that seemed oddly familiar, yet not.

She stood and tugged on her sweatshirt, hurrying out to find Jude.

“Look,” she said, finding him sitting in the living room, working on his computer.

She waved the shirt at him.

“This was on my attacker.”

Jude frowned as she waved something at him again, more insistently. Then he realized it was the T-shirt she’d been wearing today. He reached for it, holding the garment closer to the light. White spots dotted the material like someone had sprinkled baby powder down her back.

“Smell it,” she said.

He did. It had a musty, earthy scent.

“I noticed that smell when he was restraining me. I remember thinking it was somehow familiar, but I couldn’t place it. I still can’t. But that’s definitely what I smelled.”

Jude examined it further, trying to figure out what it could be. It was chalky. More gray than white, really.

“I think we should save this,” he said, rising. He went to the guest room and placed the garment in one of the empty bureau drawers. “We can take it somewhere and have the powder tested. I’ll look for a lab online.”

“Do you think that could lead to anything? Help us figure out who this guy is?”

“I don’t know, but it can’t hurt to try.”

She nodded, leaning heavily against the door frame as if the excitement of the discovery had suddenly drained her last vestiges of strength.

Exhaustion made her so pale her skin looked almost translucent.

“Why don’t you go shower,” he said. “I’ve ordered a pizza and opened a bottle of wine. Did you take those pills the doctor gave you?”

She smiled and nodded, but even that seemed to test her limits.

“Just one. So it probably wouldn’t hurt me to have one glass of wine, right?”

She looked so wistful, he laughed.

“I’m not a doctor, but I don’t think one glass would hurt you.”

“Could I take it with me now? Drinking in the shower isn’t a sign of a bigger problem, is it?”

A surprised chuckle escaped him. He hadn’t expected her to have the energy to joke.

“After today, I think that’s fine. But just one.” He waited for her to turn and head toward the kitchen.

She did, and he followed behind, trying not to let his gaze slide downward. And failing miserably. Her long legs bare beneath her oversized sweatshirt were simply too much of a temptation. Even exhausted, frazzled, and mussed, she was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

“Oh good. Red,” she said when she entered the kitchen.

Guiltily his gaze snapped up to her face. He struggled to comprehend what she was saying.

“Oh yeah,” he finally said, realizing she was talking about the wine. “I figured that was the best pizza wine.”

She spun the bottle to face her. “Shiraz. Good call.”

He again tried not to watch as she stood on her tiptoes to reach into the cupboard for a glass. The sweatshirt rose up, promising a hint of panties.

Then she was flat-footed again, holding out a glass to him.

He took it. He definitely needed a drink. Badly.

She filled her glass.

“Okay, the shower is calling.” She walked past him, and this time he managed not to look. He even breathed out a sigh of relief when he heard the bathroom door shut, closing her away from him.

He filled his own glass, then decided to take the whole bottle with him as he headed back to the living room. He set his glass and the bottle on the coffee table, then told himself to focus on something else.

The powder on her shirt. He went back to his room and opened the drawer. He pulled it out again.

He couldn’t place the scent. He put it back, deciding to do an Internet search for a lab right now.

Then he heard Ellina pushing the shower curtain open. Against his better judgment, Jude approached the bathroom door. He listened to the sound of the water. The change in the resonance as she moved under it.

He imagined the water sluicing over her bare skin. Her hands moving over herself as she washed. Soap bubbles sliding from the tips of her nipples, clinging to the curls between her thighs.

He groaned, resting his forehead against the door.

He had to stop this.

Then his thoughts shifted to the old man from the hospital. Cliff. And his Eloisa.

He could have that with Ellina. He wanted that, he realized. He’d known she was different from the moment he walked into the house. There was no explanation why he felt this strongly, this quickly. But he did.

But look at how she reacted to your kiss, buddy.

He forced himself to leave the doorway.

Search. For. A. Lab.

He’d do some research, wait for the pizza, and not focus whatsoever on his desire for the woman in the bathroom.

He sat down on the sofa and started typing word combinations into his computer’s search engine. Then, after a few moments, he pushed the computer aside.

Okay, maybe he’d wait for the pizza, drink his libido numb, and then not focus whatsoever on Ellina.

He took several gulps of the red liquid, then topped off his glass again.

When Ellina returned to the living room the next time, she was covered from neck to ankle in fleece and flannel. Her wet hair was wrapped in a towel. Despite the much more demure look, it did nothing to temper Jude’s attraction to her.

Neither did the half a bottle of wine he’d drunk.

She smiled as she noticed the bottle, then lifted her now empty glass that she’d taken to the shower with her.

“And I thought I was going to be ahead of you.”

“Well, you had the sedative,” he pointed out. He held out a hand to take her glass. It was wet from the shower, and he pictured her under the spray, drinking it.

He gritted his teeth. He was making himself crazy.

She settled on the other end of the sofa, curling her legs underneath her.

“Mmm, what a day,” she said. Ellina sighed and leaned her head against the back of the couch, closing her eyes. She lifted her head again and tugged off the towel. Her wet hair fell in curls around her face. Her…red hair?

“What did you do to your hair?” he asked, stunned.

She frowned, touching the damp locks. “What? You don’t like it?”

She looked hurt.

He studied her for a moment. “That’s not it. I’m just surprised.”

She smiled sleepily. “I’m a bit of a chronic hair dyer. I do it when I’m feeling stressed or bored or upset.”

He considered that—it was an interesting trait.

“I think it’s a control thing.”

He could see that.

“Or a way of re-creating yourself.” He wished he’d kept that thought to himself, but she simply nodded.

“Could be.”

Her acceptance of his theory surprised him, then he noted how tired she looked, her eyes barely open. But the shower had helped her coloring. Her cheeks were pink and actually looked quite lovely against her new red hair.

Jude turned his attention to the pizza, flipping open one of the boxes.

“Want a slice?” he asked.

She shook her head, her eyes now closed.

“I’m good.” Then she opened one eye and said, “I would take another glass of wine, though.”

“I don’t think so,” he said. He was serious about her not drinking any more. Plus she looked pretty relaxed already.

She sighed again, looking at him from beneath heavy lids.

He ate quietly, listening to her low, even breathing. She was probably out for the night, which was good. She’d had enough excitement for the day.

“Why would anyone want to hurt me?” she asked suddenly, surprising him.

He shook his head. He wished he had an answer for her. It would make things easier all the way around.

“I’m not sure.”

She nodded as if that was a good answer. It wasn’t.

She fell silent again. He ate another piece of pizza and was reaching for more, when Ellina chuckled.

He half-suspected that she was just giggling in her sleep, but then she opened one eye and smirked at him.

“You know, I was planning today to tell you that you should go, but now that doesn’t seem like such a wise idea.”

She giggled again, then made a face. She closed her eyes.

“Wow, that was a dumb thing to say, wasn’t it?”

“No,” Jude said, “it wasn’t. I suspected you were feeling that way after the kiss.”

She sighed. “The kiss. I liked the kiss.”

Jude blinked. Did she even know what she was saying? Or were the drugs and wine and stress of the day speaking?

But still, he said, “I liked the kiss too. A lot.”

She smiled, her eyes closed. “It was fun, wasn’t it?”

He nodded even though she couldn’t see it.

“Until I got all horny.” She giggled.

He gaped at her, then chuckled. Oh hell, she didn’t have a clue what she was saying.

Then to his surprise, she opened her eyes, leaned over, and kissed him. She tasted like red wine and smelled like lavender. His penis hardened instantly.

The kiss was short, but utterly sweet. She leaned back and bit her lip, the action coy and sexy as hell.

Then she giggled again. “You do make me horny.”

She giggled once more, and he smiled, amused by her silliness.

“Horny,” she repeated, laughing harder. Then she actually put her fingers up to her head, pointing her index fingers upward in the impression of horns.