The Witch's Desire. Elle James

Merlot chilling in the galley.” He looked up, his forehead pinched into an apologetic frown. “This isn’t strictly a vacation.”

      She stepped out of his arms and grabbed her suitcase handle. “Talk fast or I’m turning around and heading back to my apartment.”

      “The first part of it isn’t a vacation. All we have to do is deliver a package to the Fifth Precinct in Manhattan, then the next three days are all ours.”

      Demi sighed. “Is that all? I should have figured the chief wouldn’t let us get away without some form of payment. So where’s this package?” Demi glanced around.

      Cal looked at his watch. “The chief was supposed to meet us here for the handoff about now.”

      “Must be something important for him to deliver it himself.” Demi thought about it a moment. “Manhattan? Gina says there’s a big storm brewing out that way.”

      Cal nodded. “I checked the weather. The reports predict a pretty heavy thunderstorm, but they think it’ll turn north before it hits and New York City will only get rain.”

      “Weather reporters are the only people who can be wrong ninety-nine percent of the time and still keep their jobs.”

      “We can only hope others believe their prediction and steer clear of the city. If so, we’ll find some good deals on hotels.” He winked.

      She inhaled and let it out. “So we’re going to deliver this package and hunker down in a hotel before the weather gets bad, right?”

      “That was my plan.”

      “Then let’s do it. I want my three days of peace and quiet.”

      Cal pulled her back into his arms and kissed her again. “And sex.”

      “That goes without saying.” She leaned into him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “At least we’ll get a free plane trip out of this deal.”

      “Yeah, beats driving all that way. I can’t wait to get my hands beneath this sweater.” And he didn’t wait, sliding his fingers underneath, his hands brushing the skin of her belly.

      Demi trembled in anticipation.

      “Do you two mind?” Chief Warner’s voice jerked her out of the lusty fantasies she’d been thinking of. “As far as the Chicago PD is concerned, you’re still on duty.”

      Demi pushed Cal back and smoothed her hair and shirt. “Yes, sir.”

      Chief Warner approached them from his unmarked police car. The paranormal extraction van pulled to a stop on the tarmac.

      “Where’s the package?” Demi asked.

      “Coming.” He turned to the van and nodded at the two men moving toward the rear door. They opened it and stood back. A beautiful blonde stepped down. She wore a white diaphanous dress that hugged her body and swirled out like feathers in the wind around her long, lithe legs.

      “I don’t understand. Does she have the package?” Demi asked.

      The chief smiled at the woman and held out his hand. “No. She is the package.”

      Demi groaned. “I knew it was too good to be true.”

      “Why didn’t you tell us we’d be transporting a person?” Cal asked.

      “The fewer people who knew about her movements the better. Apparently, she’s the witness to a big Paranormal Council meeting taking place tomorrow in New York City.”

      “And?”

      Warner shrugged. “And that’s all I got. She has to get there on time and safely. Her testimony in a trial is key to putting away one of the most dangerous paranorms of this and other centuries.”

      His words sent a chill across Demi’s nerves. “What do you mean other centuries?”

      “They finally caught Alexei Zhurov, one of the most infamous and elusive vampires in the world. Supposedly, he’s over three hundred years old and has been causing problems for all three hundred years of that time.”

      “Why now? Why hasn’t the Council dealt with him before?”

      “From what I’ve been told by the Regional Council here in Chicago, they never could pin the crimes against humanity and other paranorms on him. He has a gift of manipulating others to do his dirty work. Until recently. He had a member of the high council killed. They’re finally ready to put him out of their misery.”