Phantom Warriors: Linx

Chapter
One

The
music throbbed out a steady beat, rattling his chest. Linx watched as the woman
on the brightly lit stage leapt onto a gold pole, hooking one flawlessly long
leg around it. She slowly circled the pole, coming to rest on the floor with
her thighs spread wide. Only a thin scrap of material kept him from seeing what
the human males called heaven. The woman onstage was almost as perfect as the
one currently giving him a lap dance.

Linx
was pretty sure that’s what she’d called it. Whatever kind of dance the
striking brunette was doing felt good, really good. His body approved.

The
brunette swiveled her hips above his lap, brushing her mouthwatering ass over
his growing erection. The blonde onstage frowned and slowly slithered toward
him on her hands and knees, her pert breasts defying gravity.

Linx
smiled, imagining what they’d taste like when he rolled his tongue across her
peach-colored nipples.

The
topless brunette on his lap scowled at the interloper.

“Don’t
worry, pet. I’ll make sure that neither of you leave unsatisfied.” He stroked
the side of her face with his fingertips. “I’m famished for feminine company
and I always have a ravenous appetite.”

Which
was
the truth, but not the whole truth. Linx had done
very well for himself since he’d arrived on the planet yesterday. He still had
a few days left and he intended to enjoy every last minute before he got down
to the business of seeking a mate. He didn’t think it would take long once he
set his sights on a woman.

The
real question was how had Bacchus,
Kegar
, Talon, and
Arctos managed to choose just one?

Linx
glanced at the clock on the wall. It was early, not even sundown.
Still plenty of time to sample a dozen more.

A
man, whose face had encountered a fist or two, sat in the corner with his back
against the wall, pretending to watch the show. From that tactical position the
man could see the whole club, including all the comings and goings, though he
seemed more interested in what Linx was doing than anything else.

Under
different circumstances, Linx would’ve chosen the same spot, but he wasn’t here
to fight, he was here to fuck. And he wasn’t at all concerned with human males
being any kind of threat to him or his current mission.

Linx
had noticed the man when he stepped into the club. It had been hard to miss the
lithe auburn-haired woman draped on his arm or the sharp smell of gun oil
clinging to his pale skin. Like every other human male Linx had encountered in
this place, the man was armed.

A
waitress rushed over with a drink on her tray. She hadn’t bothered to ask the
man what he wanted. She’d simply handed the beverage to him and scurried off.

On
this world, Linx had no doubt that the man keeping a careful eye on him and the
rest of the club might be dangerous, but in the galaxy he would be considered
nothing more than a nuisance. So that’s how Linx chose to view him.

The
blonde, who’d been onstage, plopped down beside Linx, taking his attention away
from the man in the booth. She began to massage his arms, using
over-exaggerated movements that somehow emphasized her bountiful breasts. “Why
don’t you come with me, lover. I’ll show you what it’s like to get a lap dance
from a pro.” Her accent rolled off her tongue, making each letter vibrate in
her mouth, before a word formed.

The
sound was in no way displeasing. It reminded Linx of a soft continuous purr. He
felt a sense of smugness as the two women continued to argue over him.

“Shove
off, Nadia. I saw him first.” The brunette ground her sex into Linx’s erection.

“Yeah,
well, if you hadn’t noticed, Eva, he’s only had eyes for me for the last twenty
minutes,” Nadia said.

“If
you mean that in between watching my act, he’s glanced at you, then you’re
right.” The blonde winked. “Shouldn’t you be going home now that your shift has
ended?”

“I
could say the same to you,” Eva said.

Linx’s
lips twitched. He still couldn’t get over the abundance of women on this
planet. Even in this
small
settlement
of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania there seemed to be thousands of them. Earth was
like a virtual buffet and he intended to gorge himself before he was forced to
return to the ship.

He
glanced at each woman. Both were beautiful. Stunning in fact. Their breasts
were high, firm, and
identical
. Odd
that, but he wasn’t about to complain. Linx inhaled, catching the musk of their
arousal. Why should he choose, when they were both so willing to fall into his
bed? He leaned forward and whispered into the brunette’s ear.

Eva
grinned wickedly. “You are naughty.”

“That’s
why you like me.” He skimmed her hips with his nails, taking care not to break
her fragile skin.

She
glanced down at his burgeoning erection,
then
raised a
brow. “That’s not the only reason, sugar.”

Nadia
opened her mouth to protest, but before she could say a word, Linx pulled her
into his arms and kissed her. She practically purred as he ran his rough hand
down her bare spine.

“You’re
coming, too.” He gently moved Eva aside and stood, offering his hands to both
women.

They
clasped them and rose to their feet like they were royalty.

“Shall
we?” Linx started toward the front door.

“Not
that way,” Nadia said. “There are rooms out the back.”

Linx
shrugged.
The closer the better.

*
* * * *

Tabby
pulled her hat down low on her face and adjusted her sunglasses. She took a
deep breath and rubbed her sweaty palms on her pants. The moustache she’d
applied tickled. She scratched her nose,
then
double-checked to make sure the lip hair stayed in place.

“You
can do this,” she murmured under her breath.

She
pulled her suit jacket down and loosened the knot on her tie. It was now or
never. She straightened her padded shoulders and stepped inside the dingy strip
club. Smoke assaulted her nose and threatened to trigger her allergies. She
choked, but managed to ward off a sneeze.

Like
always, Boris Chernov stood at the door, guarding the entrance like a pit-bull promised
of a nice, juicy bone. Two other enforcers, Viktor
Galdin
and Alexei
Vazov
sat at the bar, sipping vodka,
looking for all intents and purposes like regular customers, their bored
expressions broken only by their sharp-eyed gazes.

One
snap of a finger and they’d jump to do Sergei’s bidding. To Tabby’s horror,
she’d found out a month ago that Viktor and Alexei were known in law
enforcement circles for their love of wet work. Given their cold, shark-like
intensity, it wasn’t hard to imagine them covered in blood.

Boris
held his hand out to stop her from
proceeding
any
farther. Tabby’s heart jumped into her throat, making it hard to swallow,
impossible to breathe.

He
looked her up and down slowly. “That will be twenty dollars,” he said in a
thick Russian accent that seemed oddly out of place in this part of
Philadelphia.

Tabby
pulled out a wallet she’d gotten from a secondhand store and grabbed two tens.
Her hands trembled as she waited for him to take the money.

“Have
fun, son.” He slapped her on the back. The force sent her forward a few steps.

A
bark of laughter came out of the darkness. Tabby’s head shot up. She’d
recognize that ‘snort’ anywhere. Taylor was here. She took a hurried step in
the direction of the laugh, but was stopped short by a heavy hand on her
shoulder.

“One
moment.” Boris tipped her chin up and his eyes narrowed. He reached out and
snatched the moustache off.

“Ouch!”

“You
should not be here,” he said.

*
* * * *

Linx
and the two dancers were halfway across the room, when a commotion started at
the front entrance. He ignored it and kept walking, tugging the women along
with him. In his mind, Linx was already undressing them and laying them on a
bed. He couldn’t wait to bury himself in their welcoming sheaths.

The
man seated against the wall slowly rose to his feet. His gaze hardened as he
stared across the room.

“Sergei,
please don’t.” The woman at his side grabbed his arm.

Sergei
didn’t look at her. He simply shrugged her off as he faced down the new threat.

Something
made Linx want to see what had captured the human male’s attention. It must be
a formidable threat if he was willing to discard his lovely companion so
easily. Linx turned to see what was happening.

 
“You’re not allowed.” The beefy bouncer
working the door crossed his arms over his wall of a chest. His frame blocked
out the person he was talking to. “We warned you that there would be trouble if
you came around again.” A heated argument ensued, drowning out the thumping
beat.

The
bouncer moved, revealing a small man wearing sensible shoes and an oversized suit.
Linx frowned. This was the threat?

The
man had sunglasses on and a hat pulled down so low over his face that Linx
could barely make out his features. His hair had been tucked beneath the brim.
If it weren’t for the lone dark red wisp that had fallen out, Linx would have
thought the man was hairless.

“Let
me see my sister and I’ll leave,” he shrieked, high and shrill.

Linx
cringed as the horrific sound grated his sensitive ears. What kind of man
sounded like that?

The
bouncer stood over him, his broken nose nearly touching the man’s upturned one.
“You know that’s not going to happen. Taylor doesn’t want to talk to you.” He
pointed to the door. “Now get out of here while you still can.”

“Sergei
can go to hell.” The man grabbed onto the bar. “I’m not leaving until I see my twin.”

The
bouncer sighed. “Have it your way.” He pried the man’s fingers off the bar and
lifted him into the air as if he weighed nothing.

Linx
frowned. The man yelped as his hat fell off, revealing strikingly beautiful burgundy
hair. Not a man…a
woman
. The long tresses
easily hung past her waist. As a cat-shifter, Linx had always had a thing for
nice hair.

The
woman struck the bouncer in the back. “Boris, put me down!”

“Stop
hitting me, Tabitha and I’ll think about it,” the bouncer said.

She
struggled in his arms. The man’s grip tightened and his massive biceps flexed.

“You’re
hurting me.” She gasped. “I can’t breathe.”

“Maybe
I teach you lesson,” he said in a thick guttural accent. “That way next time
you listen.”

Linx
released the women he’d been escorting and moved across the room. He was standing
at the front door before he realized what he’d done. “Put her down,” he said,
his voice low and exceedingly calm.

Boris
squinted at him. “You should stay out of this, friend.” He glanced over Linx’s
head at the strippers waiting by the exit. “Get back to your
dates
. This doesn’t concern you.”