Touch Me Read Free Page A

face went tight. “I just know if it’s there, I absorb it. And it feels really, really good.”
    Oh my God. They could tell what she was feeling? When she was pissed off? Aroused? By sniffing? Sniffing the air? Bailey put her hands to her own burning cheeks.
    “We try not to be invasive about it,” Sasha said with a shrug. “It just… is.”
    Jack rubbed his neck. Bailey was pretty sure he was counting to ten. “So, tonight’s show,” he finally gritted out. “The club holds nearly a thousand people. No humans tonight, other than you and me. Weres, vamps, hundreds of incubi and succubi in an enclosed space, drinking, dancing, having fun. And where there’s fun, there’s pleasure, and where there’s pleasure, there are pheromones. Now, factor a siren into the equation—a siren who interprets and amplifies emotion with her song.”
    If Bailey understood Jack correctly, Scarlett’s voice would ratchet the pheromone level sky-high.
    “Yes,” Sasha said, her voice dripping with anticipation as she confirmed Bailey’s suspicion. “It’ll be Bacchanalia.”
    Lukas abruptly stood. “Can you take it from here, Jack? I have some work to do.” He stalked to the door without waiting for an answer.
    “ Um, good-bye!” Sasha called to her brother’s back. She stood up to follow him. “He can be such an asshole.”
    “ So can you,” Jack snapped. “You know how hard this is for him. Andi’s assailant shoved some nasty second-hand shit down his throat not twelve hours ago, he’s had no sleep, and Scarlett’s show is the last place he wants or needs to be. But he’s doing it. He’s sucking it up and doing it. So back the hell off.”
    The silence hummed.
    “Bite me,” Sasha finally muttered. But it was said without heat.
    “ You wish.”
    Sasha’s eyes wandered over Jack—all over Jack. Bailey felt a tug between her thighs as their eyes locked in battle. She barely stopped herself from writhing against the leather seat, and she was just sitting on the sidelines.
    Sasha smirked. “Don’t forget to take your meds,” she said airily as she followed her brother. “Catch you later, Bailey.” The door slammed behind her.
    “ Meds?” Bailey finally said.
    “ There’s a drug that humans can take to make them less susceptible to the pheromones.”
    “ Hmm, handy. Something that Sebastiani Labs conjured up?” At his affirmative nod, she sat silently for a moment. “Is Lukas okay?”
    Jack reached across the table and turned off the overhead projector. “He’s under a lot of stress right now, but he’ll deal with it.” He looked to the door, and sighed in relief. “It’ll be easier to explain this now that they’re gone. I swear she picks on him for entertainment. I hope Lukas can catch a nap.”
    She could use one herself. In the last hour, she’d found out humans weren’t alone in the universe—hell, weren’t even alone on Earth. She’d learned her boss was an incubus, and his sister a succubus. She’d learned her best friend was a member of a Council governing Earth’s non-human species. “So, this is what all the secrecy is about.”
    Jack raised his eyebrows in question.
    “The rooms at SebSec that I can’t badge into. The servers and files I can’t access.” She looked away from him for a moment. “I thought you didn’t trust me.”
    “ I trust you implicitly. But Lukas and the Council were a little more challenging to convince, and it wasn’t my secret to share.” Jack rose and sat in the chair Sasha had just vacated. He looked her in the eye. “I’m so glad you backed away from that firewall when you did.”
    “ Yeah, well, it was close,” she muttered, “and we both know that at one time I probably wouldn’t have.” They sat in silence, let it wrap them comfortably. “Wow,” Bailey finally said.
    “ Yeah, it’s a lot to think about,” Jack agreed. “There are aspects of their world that I’m still trying to learn about, to absorb. But tonight, all that has