Jordan Summers

by Phantom Warriors: Linx

  Boris came tearing out of the back office, his eyes wide and sweat pouring off his face. He wheezed, then took a gasping breath.

  Sergei sat up straighter. "What's the matter?"

  "The tape." He heaved another breath. "You're never going to believe what's on the tape."

  Sergei surged to his feet, Taylor already forgotten. He followed Boris into the back office and sat, rolling his chair over to the video screen.

  "Watch this." Boris hit play. “You won’t believe it. I still don’t trust my eyes.”

  A man appeared on the screen, who seemed to blend with the shadows. He stood in the darkness next to someone else, then he dropped down off the stage and took a seat. A woman came forward a minute later and touched the pole. "Is that..?"

  "Just keep watching," Boris said.

  The woman started to sway seductively, doing a striptease to rival the pros. But that wasn't what surprised Sergei the most. No, it was what the woman did next that had his eyebrows disappearing beneath his hairline.

  "She's fucking him," Boris said.

  "I can see that!" Ms. Prim, neat, and proper was really a hellcat underneath. Sergei should've known. It was always the righteous ones who had something to hide. "Can you get the image cleaned up? I want a clear shot of her face."

  "Da, boss."

  "Horohsho!” Good. Sergei sat back and grinned as the woman rode the man. “I want the cleaned up copy of the video back here by three. Send the boys to pick up Tabitha Shelley. She has some explaining to do."

  Boris left.

  Sergei continued to watch the video. He was just about to turn it off, when the man looked up at the camera. His eyes glowed red like twin coals stoked in a fire. Cold washed over Sergei. It had to be a trick of the low lighting or the recording equipment. Human eyes didn't glow like that. Only predators and evil glowed like that. He thought about Boris's earlier rants about the man being inhuman. He'd dismissed it as superstition, but something had spooked his bodyguard.

  As Sergei stared at the screen, he finally understood why.

  * * * * *

  Tabby finished up her shift at the library. Fortunately, it had been a busy day thanks to a rush of students in to study for their midterms. She'd been grateful for the chaos. It kept her mind off what had occurred last night. Between breaking into the club and becoming an exhibitionist, she'd sunk to a new low.

  She still couldn't believe that she'd stripped for a total stranger and then had sex with said stranger. At the time, it had felt so natural, like Linx wasn’t a stranger at all, but in the cold light of day, the situation seemed like something else entirely.

  Tabby wasn't a reckless person. She didn't do reckless things. She knew she was damn lucky that Linx was disease free. He’d been affronted when she’d asked…until he saw how much the answer meant to her. Maybe digging Taylor out of so many binds had finally caused her to snap. That might explain some of her behavior last night, but not all.

  The sun blinded her as she walked to her car. She'd left Linx sleeping in his hotel room this morning and went to work. He’d insisted that she stay last night and she’d obliged, not wanting to go home to her broken front door.

  Tabby knew she was a coward for sneaking out, but she just couldn't bring herself to face him. She was too embarrassed. She was still trying to come to grips with how she felt about Linx and this new unexpected side of herself, when Tabby ran into Alexei Vazov and Viktor Galdin. This time there was no getting away.

  * * * * *

  Linx awoke to a cold bed. Tabby was gone. He'd known it before he opened his eyes. Her sweet scent was already fading, which meant she'd been gone for a while. He rolled over and groaned, throwing his arm over his eyes to ward off the sunlight.

  Last night had been...unexpected. He hadn't really been looking for anything other than a distraction. Tabby had certainly provided that and more. Even now he wanted her—and not just for sex. Though he wanted that, too. His little Tabby cat had somehow sunk her claws into his skin and there was no getting her out.

  His lips twitched at the irony of finding a woman who didn’t really want anything to do with him. Linx closed his eyes. If he concentrated, he could still see Tabby prancing across the stage and swinging around the pole. When she'd crawled toward him on her knees, it had been his undoing. It had taken every fiber of his being to not lunge for her.

  She'd surprised him again, when she'd straddled his thighs and demanded his cock. When a woman does that, a sane man doesn’t say no. Linx was Phantom enough to give her what she wanted. He just hadn't expected to get caught in the process.

  Linx was honest enough with himself to know that he hadn't really tried to get away. He smiled and reached for her pillow. He pulled it to his face and inhaled. Her scent was still there, lingering like a pleasant dream.

  He wondered what she was doing. Where had she gone? Was she thinking about him, too?

  His stomach growled. Linx was hungry. Once he devoured Tabby again, they could decide where to go eat.

  * * * * *

  Alexei and Viktor drove Tabby to the club and parked around back. Alexei pulled out a cellphone and made a quick call. A minute later the back door opened. Boris gave her an odd look, then stepped aside so they could enter.

  They escorted her to the same office she and Linx had searched. Tabby's stomach dropped and it became difficult to breathe, when she saw Sergei sitting behind his desk grinning like a boa in a mouse nest.

  "Tabitha, Tabitha, Tabitha, you are a woman filled with surprises," Sergei said.

  Someone whimpered. Tabby turned to see her sister, Taylor sitting in the corner. Her makeup was running down her face and there were signs of a bruise starting to form on her cheek. She rushed forward, only to be stopped short by Viktor.

  Tabby straightened and faced Sergei. "What did you do to her?"

  He didn't answer. Instead, he kept his attention on a video screen. "You know, when I came into work today my men told me that someone had tried to break into the club. I didn't think much of it, until I saw the video."

  Tabby felt the blood drain from her face. "What video?"

  He hit play. Tabby saw herself walk out onto the stage and within minutes begin to dance. Linx sat in the front row of seats, watching.

  Sergei glanced her way, before his gaze slid back to the screen. "I had no idea that you were so talented. I suppose it runs in the family, right?"

  Taylor sniffled. "You should've left it alone, Tab."

  "With moves like these, it makes me think I picked the wrong sister to work at my establishment," Sergei said. "Had I known you wanted to dance so badly, I would've given you an audition.” He pointed at the screen. “Maybe I can have him watch again. He really brings it out of you.”

  Tabby watched the recording with growing horror. The dance had ended and now she found herself performing a different kind of dance. It was like watching a stranger bob up and down on Linx. There was no doubt what they were doing. What they had done.

  At one point in the video, Linx looked right at the camera and stared for what felt like an eternity. Almost like he 'knew' it was there. Her face flushed and bile rose in her throat. Tabby swallowed repeatedly to keep from throwing up. Had the whole thing been a set up? Had Linx betrayed her? She’d thought for sure there was something developing between them. She’d felt it or at least Tabby had thought she’d felt something special. Had she imagined everything?

  You’re a fool, she told herself.

  When the recording stopped, Sergei began to clap. The slow methodical sound made her flinch. "That was quite a performance," he said. "Definitely an 'A' for effort. My only advice is that you might want to lose the underwear. White isn’t very attractive onstage unless it has sequins."

  Tabby’s body flashed from hot to cold. The one time she’d chosen to shed her inhibitions and just let go had come back to destroy her. "What do you want?"

  Sergei’s hard gaze made Tabby tremble. "You know what I want."

  "I'm not g
oing to dance for you," Tabby said. She wouldn’t do it. No matter what he threatened to do to her.

  Sergei snorted. "Not that.” He tsked. “Though I admit it would bring me a level of satisfaction. No, I want what I've always wanted. I want you to stop causing trouble for my business."

  "What about Taylor?" Tabby asked.

  "What about her?" Sergei countered. "She's happy with me. Aren't you, dumpling?"

  Fresh tears filled her twin's eyes and spilled down her cheeks. "Yes.” She sniffed. “I want to stay."

  It was a lie and they both knew it. Did Taylor finally understand why Tabby had been trying so desperately to get her away from Sergei? If she did, then the loss of Tabby’s livelihood would be worth it.

  "So what happens now? Are you going to call the police?" Numbness engulfed Tabby until she couldn't feel anything at all. He had her where he’d always wanted her—at his mercy.

  Sergei tilted his head and took a deep breath. "I've never cared for the police. I prefer to handle my own business."

  Tabby wished he'd just get to the point. They both knew he could do whatever he wanted and there was nothing she could do about it, as long as the video existed. "What now?"

  Sergei grinned again. "I'm so glad that you asked. You are going to walk out my club and never come back. If you even think about interfering with my business again, I am going to send this recording to your work and of course post it all over the Internet." He turned to Boris. "How much do you think we could make if we sold this tape?"

  Boris scratched his head, giving the question serious thought. "I don't know, boss. At least ten thousand, if we shopped it to the Internet porn sites. Possibly more, if we can clean it up and bring out the details." He glanced at Tabby's small breasts.

  If that recording hit the Internet, life as Tabby knew it would be over. There was no doubt the library would fire her. She'd be hard pressed to ever work in a library again. Most of her co-workers would stop speaking to her and she'd lose what few friends that she had.

  "I'm sorry, Tab," Taylor said.

  Sergei scowled at her. "You did nothing wrong. Your sister is the criminal."

  "Can I go now?" Tabby asked, unable to meet Taylor's gaze.

  "Da," Sergei said. "You may leave, but remember, one more wrong move and the world gets to see your little dance." He threw his head back and laughed, a big barking sound that sent shards of pain through her.

  Tabby’s body shook with barely suppressed anger as she forced herself to leave. What was she going to do now? She'd blown her one chance at getting Sergei and all because she couldn't keep her pants on.

  She phoned a taxi to come pick her up. The driver dropped her off at her car and she drove home, seething. She thought of Linx. How he'd encouraged her to dance. How he'd pulled her onto his lap. How he'd stared right at the camera, all but grinning, as she lay splayed beneath him as he drove himself inside of her.

  Oh god, how the betrayal hurt. Taylor was right. There was sex and there was ruin. And thanks to last night, Tabby had done a bang-up job of ruining her life.

  How many times had she lectured Taylor about dating men that were bad for her? How many times had she told her that she was behaving out of character? That she deserved better? And what does she do the first chance she gets?

  Tabby strips and fucks a total stranger. Some example she turned out to be. No wonder Taylor could barely look her in the eye. It wasn’t just fear of Sergei. It was disappointment. But her twin’s disappointment was nothing compared to the disappointment Tabby felt in herself. How could she have been so wrong about Linx?

  The thought that he was somehow involved or connected with Sergei ate at her all the way home. Tabby couldn't let it go. She had to find out the truth.

  She arrived home and looked around her small house. It had taken years to furnish it and fix it so it was exactly what she wanted. And now with the click of a button, it would all disappear. Tabby wasn't naive enough to believe that Sergei wouldn't send the video out.

  He was only toying with her. Making her believe that she was 'safe'. Soon he'd tire of the game and put the video up on the Internet and life, as she knew it, would be over. It was already over. Only the mirage of her old life remained. She scanned the room, not really seeing it anymore.

  Tabby wasn't surprised by the knock on the front door. She knew who it was and she was ready to face him. She walked over and looked through the peephole, though she needn’t have bothered, since the door was only hanging by one hinge. Linx stood on her porch with a wide smile on his face.

  For a second Tabby's heart stuttered and she forgot all about being angry. But the second passed quickly and the anger returned once more. She opened the door.

  Linx brightened when he saw her, then his smile slowly faded. "What's wrong?" he asked.

  She stared at him. For the life of her, Tabby couldn't see through the facade. From all outward appearances, he looked concerned. The man deserved accolades for his acting ability. "Come in," she said, not answering him yet. Tabby didn't trust herself to speak.

  Linx stepped through the door and grabbed her arm.

  "Don't touch me." She jerked away and shut the door behind him.

  Linx's sharp blue eyes narrowed, but he didn't try to touch her again. "What happened? I thought that we had a good time last night."

  Tabby snorted. Good time was an understatement. Last night had been the best night of her life. She should've known something was up for that reason alone, but she'd been too busy enjoying herself.

  "Why did you do it?" Her voice remained strong, without a quaver of emotion to betray her true feelings. “Was it for money? Did you owe a lot and this was how you decided to pay up?”

  Linx's brow lowered over his eyes. "I don’t know what you’re talking about."

  Unable to contain her fury any longer, Tabby turned on him. "You knew! Last night, you knew that we were being taped and you still let me get on stage and make a fool of myself."

  Linx's eyes widened.

  Bitterness welled within her. Tabby was angry. Angry at him. Angry at herself. Angry that she'd allowed herself to care for this man. "How much did Sergei pay you?"

  "Pay?" His jaw clamped shut and a muscle flexed as he ground his teeth.

  “Pay you to sleep with me,” she grit out.

  His nostrils flared and white lines bracketed his mouth as his lips thinned over his teeth. "We exchanged no money. I do not charge for sex."

  “So you screwed me for free. Oh that makes it all better.” Tabby curled her hands into fists and glared at him. "How could you? You looked right at the camera. You all but winked at it, when you were..."

  "When I was what?" His voice dropped in warning.

  Tabby knew she was treading on thin ice, but she didn't care. She wanted someone else to hurt as much as she was hurting. It only seemed fitting that it be the man who’d helped ruin her life. "You know what."

  * * * * *

  Linx felt the beast inside of him rise. It took every fiber of his being not to shift as Tabby's accusations flayed him. She’d all but accused him of being dishonorable. "Are you implying that I somehow coerced you into laying beneath me?"

  That was a charge the Phantom people and the Atlanteans took very seriously. A man found guilty of coercing or forcing a woman to have sex was executed.

  He saw the temptation in her eyes to lie. Linx also saw the second she decided to go with the truth.

  "No, you didn't force me." She shook her head, sending her long wine-colored hair into her face. "I was the idiot who convinced herself that last night was different. Somehow special."

  Linx reached for her again, but she dodged away. "It was different." At first, he'd tried to convince himself that last night was just sex. Amazing sex. But still just sex. By the afternoon, Linx had almost believed it, but seeing Tabby again brought the truth crushing down. He was no longer in denial.

  Tabby laughed painfully. “I'm such an idiot. I should've known. The night was too perfect t
o be real."

  This time when Linx reached out, he didn't allow Tabby to escape. She struggled in his arms, until he guided her over to the wall and pinned her back against it. She attempted to squirm away, until he pressed his body into hers. The second hard met soft, Linx felt the tension in her fade. "Tell me what has happened."

  Wetness hit his chest and Linx stilled, afraid to move, to breathe. Tabby’s shoulders began to shake and the moisture increased. Oh goddess, he could handle anything, but tears. Linx wasn't sure what to do. Tabby let out a loud sob and something inside of him crumbled.

  "How could you?" She sniffed. “I trusted you…with everything.”

  "What is it that you think that I've done?" Linx asked. He needed to know so that he could fix whatever it was.

  She heaved a shuddering breath. "You let him tape me. Tape us."

  "Let who?" Linx rubbed her arms, his thumbs gently caressing her bare skin.

  She sobbed again. "Sergei."

  "He taped us?" Linx wasn't sure what taping meant, but he knew from the context that it wasn't anything good. "What was taped?"

  "Us," Tabby cried. "Me! Everything..." She indicated to her body.

  Linx rocked her as his mind raced. He needed to find out exactly what Sergei had done so that he could take away her tears. "He knows about us breaking in last night?"

  She looked at him with watery eyes. "He knows about everything. He's seen everything. Sergei plans to release it onto the Internet."

  Linx knew that the Internet was used for the spread of information. "How do you know this?" This time when Tabby pulled away, he reluctantly released her.

  "He showed me the tape. You looked right at the camera. I saw you," she said. The accusation in her voice was still there, but had lost some of its ferocity.