Wicked Wonderland (13 page)

And really, what man wouldn’t “adore” a woman who’d play sex games like this with him and a friend,
cautioned a cynical voice inside her head.

But her heart replied,
Then why do they look at me the way they do?

Zenia stormed across the deck of her ship, and her slaves scuttled out of her way.

Today had been hideous. She’d seen her father, Orane, over at the Dark Court, and he hadn’t even looked at her. Hadn’t so much as acknowledged her presence. She wasn’t sure why, exactly, but she could only suspect.

Her father ignored her both because she wasn’t a male fae and because he’d come to hate her mother. That was the thrust of things.

Fury boiled like lava in her gut. She hated herself for feeling love for a man who could care less about her. But she couldn’t help it. Admiring her cold-as-ice sylph father for all his power was her
only
weakness. The cold bastard should applaud her for the dark power she’d acquired through years of sheer hard work. But he never did. He
never
did.

Zenia cursed and hurled her dinner plate at the servant who’d come to fetch it. The plate narrowly missed him and smashed against the wall. Shards of red and orange spilled across the floorboards. The birdman gave a little whimper of fear before cowering in fright. She frowned and chewed her lip. Hell! Even the birdman’s meekness and awe didn’t cheer her up.

How fucking
stupid
was she for caring this much about her nasty, cold-ass father?

She was not like him, though. Zenia the Secret One was not a cold-headed, cold-hearted air sprite. She was far more like her passionate fire elemental mother, Zenobia, the woman Orane hated so much.

And having a mother who was a fire elemental gave her one distinct advantage over air fae. She could scry in flame, and she was quite good at it. She was best at divining the present, and she always used fire. Either she lit one in her silver bowl, or she used the hearth.

So today she built a fire in the fireplace below the decks of
Morrigan’s Revenge
. The light flickered before her eyes, red, orange and yellow. She didn’t really enjoy chanting like a mere mortal wizard in order to get what she wanted, but some forms of magic like scrying required it.

Zenia splayed her hands out before the fire and whispered the chant she’d come across in an old grimoire.

“Blazing fire as you dance,

Give me now life’s second glance.

Call upon my second sight,

Blazing fire shining bright.

Make me psychic with your light,

Bring their mysteries now to light.”

Her eyelids grew heavy, and the strength of her desire to know her half sister’s current whereabouts brought the image swiftly with the first bright flames, but the vision that rose up before her was not at all what she had expected. Never had she expected to see these three reunited.

The first thing she saw was gorgeous Kris. She hated Nick with a passion. He’d embarrassed her in front of others in her college dorm, calling her a witch for making fun of Lilly. But Kris. Oh, Kris was perfect. So damn sexy with his curling blond hair, golden tan and submissive ways. She’d never before experienced the kind of gentleness Kris had shown her on their first date.

But she’d had only one night with him, damn him. He’d not asked her out again, and she’d had too much pride to go after him when there were plenty of other mortals and magic creatures interested in all she had to offer. But now here he was, naked before her in her scrying fire! Those tender hands she remembered caressing her now gently stroked her half sister’s red hair.

Zenia’s fist clenched, and she struck it against the side of her thigh.

Unfair, unfair!

Lilly, the little whore, had her face buried between Kris’s legs and was licking just next to the small mole Kris had on his dick.

Zenia watched with growing longing as Lilly turned her attention to a vein that ran underneath Kris’s perfect shaft. Zenia couldn’t hear any sounds they made; such was the nature of scrying. But she could tell from the shape of Kris’s mouth, from the way his eyes rolled back in his head, that he made sweet moaning noises.

As much as she feared the three half fae having any kind of true romantic union, she couldn’t deny the shivers of excitement that raced through her body. Soon, despite herself, she was stroking the fingers of one hand up and down the outside of her skirt, over her panties.

She watched in fascination as the sexy, hard-assed bastard, Nick, positioned himself behind Lilly. At Zenia’s mental urgings, the image in the flames pivoted sideways so she saw Lilly’s ass positioned in the air as she sucked Kris’s cock. Lilly’s mound peeked below her ass cheeks. Her pinkish red pussy glimmered with moisture, ready for Nick to take her from behind.

Zenia gasped at the sight of Nick’s cock, which was even larger than Kris’s. Jealousy burned within her as the dark and dominant Nick gripped Lilly’s hips and the bastard sank the tip in. She almost laughed as Lilly nearly lost her balance and fell on Kris, but Nick pulled her back into place just in time. Once he firmly embedded his cock inside her, his fingers dove for Lilly’s clit, and Zenia groaned as she watched him finger the lucky cunt. He pumped the little slut while she sucked on Kris’s dick, and Zenia could only imagine her moans of joy.

The pleasure between her own legs was almost painful in its intensity. Every muscle was heavy as her heart pounded in her ears from both fear of the potential power of the union she saw before her and the sheer erotic joy of it. Her own body became desperate for relief. She moved her fingers frantically over her panties, breathing heavily. Pleasure rippled swiftly through her. She brought herself to climax without even taking her panties off. As the haze of orgasm lifted, her fury and fear returned.

She cried out for Rurik, and in a moment or two, the trembling birdman stood before her. With an angry wave of her hand, some humming and a quick, nasty chant, she sent three brooms flying out of a cupboard to the task of beating her least-favored slave, taking an additional broom in her hands and smacking him with it to further release her fury.

When at last her temper had cooled, she left Rurik whining on the floor, and determined to put a plan into action. She mustn’t panic. She needed to think clearly and calmly, use the air-elemental side of her mind.

One way or another, I have to take full control of Lilly and ensure the silly little half-breed never ruins my plan for the throne.

Zenia crossed the room to sit in her red velvet easy chair in front of the fireplace, running her fingers along the soft fabric of the arms. If she was clever and quick enough, she could quite possibly siphon off some of her half sister’s unused power.

She hadn’t wanted the trouble of keeping her half sister as a pet in the past, hadn’t believed she needed the complication. But that had been a grave error. Everything she’d set in place to keep Lilly separated from Nick and Kris had obviously fallen apart, and as much as that enraged her, she didn’t have time to waste trying to work out the “how”; she just needed to stop the union, any way she could.

Zenia took a deep breath. What really needed to be done now was an old-fashioned kidnapping. She needed to capture and imprison Lilly, starve her and feed off her fear and terror, drawing extra power in and shutting Nick and Kris out of Lilly’s life forever before the three of them threatened Zenia’s claiming of the fae crown.

Chapter Seven

Hours later, the three of them lay on the feather-down mattress that Kris had conjured, on the roof of an apartment building. Lilly and Kris finished a small plate of crepes with lemon and sugar that Kris had magicked, and Nick was taking what he felt was a well-earned break from going down chimneys.

Lilly set her plate down and lay down behind Nick, her nails caressing exquisite, lazy circles across his shoulders and back.

“Mmm, harder, please.”

She laughed. He enjoyed the way light came into her eyes whenever she laughed. Even now, as she sat behind him, he pictured her laughing face in his mind.

The circles on his back became bigger and the scratch of her nails rougher. “I love touching the muscles in your shoulders and back.”

He loved how relaxed her voice sounded after orgasm. Nick wanted her to sound that relaxed
all
the time. The anxiety he sensed in her at other times made his heart ache for her, made him determined to soothe and pleasure her until the pain and tension within her faded away.

Lilly’s nails continued to rake down his back, making him shiver; then she smoothed away the scratches with her palms. She slid her hand lazily down his arm. He reached over to cover it and turned to face her. “If we didn’t have so many deliveries to do, you know we’d love to come and listen to you play in the orchestra for the ballet.”

Her full lips formed a gentle smile. “Thanks. It’s Tchaikovsky,
The Nutcracker Suite.
” She checked her watch. “I really don’t have to be home for a few hours yet.” She rubbed her finger over the contours of muscle in Nick’s biceps. “You know it’s going to be really strange going back to my real life after this. I mean, I’m looking forward to playing in the orchestra, but I’m not looking forward to a lot of other things.”

He raised one eyebrow. “Such as?”

She chewed her bottom lip. “It’s especially going to be rough to step back in the door of Vegas Girls.” She held up a hand before he could say anything. “And don’t even start with me, because I really have no choice. I have to make a hell of a lot of money if I want to save Mom’s townhouse from foreclosure. Hell, I wish playing the flute could make me some amazing money. I… What?” She stared at him wide-eyed. “What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?”

Nick shook with rage and emotion. The memory of what Lilly had been doing to make money still weighed like lead in his gut. And to make matters worse, she wasn’t even doing it for herself; she was doing it for her selfish mother.

He remembered that when Lilly was in college, her mother was always at the casino. Now Marion was obviously gambling again and letting her adopted daughter bail her out of trouble as usual. He’d held his tongue before, but if she was really planning on going back to that dreadful place, then he had to speak his mind.

“I’m sure you could find something better to do than strip. You’re far too good to be dancing in front of all those sleazy, disgusting, creepy assholes.” His fingers bunched in a fist. “You don’t belong there!”

Lilly rolled her eyes. “You’re going to start up with this again? Now? After what just happened between the three of us? You really think this is an appropriate time to give me shit about how I live my life? Okay. Just what I always admired about you—you’re such a sensitive New Age man.” She clucked her tongue in disgust. “Tell me, Nick, just why you think I’m ‘too good’ to strip? Don’t fairy women ever strip?”

He knew his controlling nature was the reason she’d broken off their relationship in the past, knew he was blowing it, but his frustration was too great; he couldn’t stop himself. He opened his mouth to speak.

Kris held up a hand and waved it in his face. Nick grabbed Kris’s arm and pushed it away.

Fuck off, Kris!

He didn’t need Kris trying to placate him. He was one hundred percent in the right here. He whirled on his lover.

Nick wanted to push Kris aside, leap on Lilly and throw her down on the mattress, pin her arms above her head and let her know he was in control and that she would never, ever go back to the strip club.

Instead, he finally managed to rein himself in and watched silently, sulkily, as Kris put one of his large, gentle hands on Lilly’s shoulder.

“Sure, sugar,” Kris said, answering her earlier question. “Fae women strip for fun sometimes. Full-blooded sylphs or air sprites are adventurous and pretty much into a lot of sex with very little emotion. But I think sex means more to you than that. I know that much about you. I understand where Nick is coming from here.”

Lilly clenched her jaw. “I have to do what’s best for my mother. I have to raise money to cover her gambling debts. Do you think I enjoy stripping?” The fierce spark Nick loved had crept back into her eyes. “Every time I go onstage, my gut clenches, and I feel like I’m going to be sick. But I’ve only worked there six days. I’ll get used to it. I have five dancing shifts booked there next week.”

Since he knew he’d lost her once by trying to control her, Nick kept his hands to himself. But he still tried to pin her in place with the force of his gaze. “You are
not
going back to Venus Girls. Not after those women attacked you. Not next week. Not ever! Aren’t you worried about it harming your career as a musician?”

“I sure as hell
am
going back. I won’t let my mother lose the home she’s lived in for the last twenty-five years, and this is the only way I could possibly make money fast enough.”

“Lilly, I remember at college, you were working at Starbucks, but none of the money you made there ever went toward your student loan or your social life. You were paying off your mother’s gambling debts way back then.” Nick knew his surly tone wasn’t helping, but damn, she was stubborn.

Lilly’s pretty lips hardened into a thin line. “I really didn’t have much of a student loan. My parents saved up for me to go to college, and when they divorced, Dad kept up that account, which I inherited when he died. Unlike so many orphans, my adoptive parents helped me get a university education I could use to make a living. Do you know how many orphans are locked into a cycle of poverty because they were never adopted and they never had parents to provide them with the kind of things I had?”

“Right.” His gaze was steady on hers. “And what would have happened if your father hadn’t taken over the fund for your education after the divorce and willed it to you when he died?”

Her face fell, and she turned away from him.

“Look at me, Lilly. I said look at me.” With his hands firmly on her shoulders, he turned her around to face him. “Your mother would have spent it all. Just because your mother adopted you doesn’t mean you owe her this way. She’s a leech.”