Wicked Wonderland (3 page)

The icy December winds whipped around them, stinging Lilly’s face, but the night sky was clear and full of stars. The cold bit through her flimsy costume, and her teeth chattered audibly.

Sonya stopped by the trash cans, holding Lilly tightly around the waist from behind. Kandy grabbed hold of the chiffon on the front of her angel costume. Lilly shook and twisted violently to try to break their grasp, and part of her angel costume tore. “Let go of me, you assholes!”

She jabbed backward with her elbow, connecting with Sonya’s stomach, and heard the taller stripper gasp with momentary pain, but unfortunately, Sonya didn’t loosen her hold.

“Oooooh! Rudolph’ll pay double for that!” Kandy exclaimed.

Lilly didn’t know why she did it. Maybe it was a way of dissociating from a horrible situation, maybe it was because her heart always ached to make music when she was in pain, but she began to hum, the sound starting low in her throat. She closed her eyes and played a flute in her head, filling her mind with a rich and clear melody, which, for a moment, took her right out of her nasty situation. Then a vicious pinch froze the sound in her lungs.

Lilly twisted around enough to look up at Sonya. Something frightening happened to Sonya’s face. It became very still, and the stripper’s eyes narrowed into slits that showed too much amber and almost no pupil, like the eyes of a snake or some other reptile. A sharp chill ran up Lilly’s spine.

“Don’t fucking hum.” Sonya spat out the words.

“Who cares if she hums? She’s just a weirdo,” Bambi interrupted. “I don’t care what she does as long as she doesn’t take our money again.”

The words of the other stripper somehow returned everything to relative normality.

I must have been imaging the whole thing. Must have been the cold messing with my brain.

“You steal our tips, Rudolph, and I’ll give you a red nose, all right.” Sonya’s voice seemed inhuman in its rage. Fear swelled around Lilly like a choking fog.

The tall stripper swung Lilly around like a toy, then pulled her fist back. Before Lilly could react, the fist connected with her nose. Shooting pain accompanied a sickening crack. Blood ran down her throat, tasting like metal, and all she could see was an ocean of red.

“Enjoy, Dumpster Girl!” Sonya tipped her upside down and slammed her headfirst into an empty trash can.

Thank God it’s empty.

“Remember, Rudolph, you’ll never fit in anywhere. You’ll always be an outcast left out of all the reindeer games.”

The other strippers convulsed with laughter.

“Until we meet again, Trashwhore.”

Something else dropped on her before she heard the women run away, giggling. Putting her hands up to touch it, she realized with relief it was just her handbag. Thank God for that one small kindness. One of the strippers had thought to return it to her. She knew for sure it wouldn’t have been Sonya.

Blood poured upward, running into her eyes, and she wiped at it with her fist. She knew she needed to right herself,
but her head felt heavy, and her nose screamed with pain.

The shock of being called “Dumpster Girl” was almost worse than the pain. The thing was, she
knew
Sonya. Sonya had always made a habit of being spiteful and insulting to Lilly.

And I don’t even know why she hates me.

It was like her stalker. She had no idea why he hated her either, although he’d left many nasty messages. Lilly took a deep breath. She didn’t need to take it all in. Didn’t need to believe the words of her vicious stalker. She wasn’t a “loser” or a “stupid whore”; she was a flautist with the East Meadow Orchestra. She was a charity worker for TONTA, The Orphans’ National Trust of America. She was smart and strong.

But some Christmas this was turning out to be. She’d been insulted, accused of theft and literally dumped in the trash, on the twenty-second of December by a gang of strippers.

She had no boyfriend. Hadn’t had so much as a date in seven months. The only person she’d be spending Christmas with was her adoptive mom.

And Mom cries every damn day.

The metallic taste of blood coated her tongue. Lilly touched a careful hand to the side of her nose and winced.

I wish just for once Christmas wouldn’t suck. I wish just for once I could have a Christmas miracle.

Lilly closed her eyes for a moment as she made her wish, then opened them again. Gradually, her eyes began to adjust to the dark in the trash can, and the screaming pain in her nose began to ease a little. She held on to her handbag with a firm grasp, then, bracing her hands against the sides of the trash can, she wriggled, attempting to right herself. But before she could turn herself around, someone else lifted the lid, and moonlight flooded her eyes.

“What the hell’s going on here?” The familiar voice soaked through her, rich and dark like the taste of Colombian coffee, so sexy it turned her bones to liquid in a heartbeat.

I know that voice.

Strong hands grasped her and pulled her out of the Dumpster, setting her on her feet.

“Oh my God, Lilly! Who did this to you?”

Lilly blinked. She rubbed more blood out of her eyes. She was seeing double. Two men of unearthly beauty, dressed in matching Santa suits, stood before her. They were exactly the same height, with the same broad shoulders and powerful torsos.

When she opened her eyes again, one of them was taking off his red coat, exposing his muscular arms. With the blood out of her eyes, she realized they weren’t identical twin Santas after all. The one who had taken off his coat was fair-haired with a glowing suntan like a surfer. How he could have a golden tan in this weather baffled her. The other wore his dark brown hair tied back in a ponytail. His chiseled features and raw, rough beauty stole her breath.

Oh God, it’s Nick Frost and Kris Noelle!

They were even more heavily muscled now than they’d been ten years ago, but it was them, all right.

As if I haven’t had enough humiliation for one day.

She knew she must look dreadful, her face streaked with tears, mascara probably running, and worse, blood pouring from her nose.

But before she could even cover her face with her hands in embarrassment, Kris bent down and gently wrapped her in his red Santa coat. It felt like heaven to have the upper half of her body warm, even though her legs were still freezing in her sheer stockings. He used a handkerchief to wipe the blood from her eyes, then held the cloth to her nose.

Kris’s eyes widened with shock. “Oh my God, sweetheart, who did this to you? One of the patrons in there?”

“No, no, it wasn’t a guy. It was the other strippers. They have it in their heads I’m the one stealing tips from the lockers in the dressing room, but I’m innocent. It’s some other girl doing it.” Great, she was babbling. Way to make a good impression on the two gorgeous guys she could never forget.

“Shush, baby. Don’t talk anymore. You’re still bleeding. Place your thumb and index finger on the lower half of your nose and squeeze. Keep your head back. It’ll stop the blood.” Nick’s rich, sexy baritone slid over her like a caress. Lilly’s heart did a somersault. It was a voice she remembered well. She did as he said, and after a few minutes, the blood stopped flowing. She wiped her eyes, which were wet again—from blood or tears, she wasn’t sure.

She looked up at the two of them, now that she could see more clearly. Nick held her bracelet. Without a word, he took her arm and gently placed it around her wrist, doing up the tricky hinge catch with ease. He touched her for only a second, but the heat of his hand shot up her arm and made her insides flip. In spite of the terrible pain from Sonya’s right hook, Nick’s proximity aroused her and sent her heart into frenzied palpitations.

A thrill of anticipation ran through her and settled between her legs.

Idiot. They’re a couple, remember? Your time with either of them is long over.

Nick’s hand lightly brushed the bridge of her nose. He murmured words she couldn’t make out and hummed a strange, almost familiar tune. Then he held his hand palm upward, and, for a moment, she thought she saw a tiny spark of pale blue light waft up from his hand. A cascade of sky-blue flower petals fell on the snow. She shook her head. The blow to her face had her imagining crazy things. For a moment, a wave of nausea swept through her, and then it was gone.

The pale blue light appeared again, stronger this time. It engulfed her until she closed her eyes against its brightness. She felt a slight sting, and then a blissful warmth began to creep across her skin. All the pain in her nose and face receded; the taste of blood faded. She touched her nose, cheeks, her eyes. The pain was gone. The sudden change in sensation made her dizzy, and she reached out and grabbed Nick’s arm to steady herself. A moment ago, she’d had trouble breathing through her nose. Now she took a deep breath of much-needed air and inhaled his rich, male, woodsy scent.

She hadn’t eaten in hours.

It must be lack of food making me imagine things.

Either that or I’m going mad.

But it was difficult to think or even worry with Nick so close. He still held the same mysterious attraction he always had.

Kris’s blue eyes moved under his golden-brown lashes, and she thought of all those times in the long-ago past when looking into his eyes had made her feel safe and secure. Being around him had always felt like taking a deep, satisfying breath. Kris had been her best friend. After she’d broken up with Nick, they’d dated briefly, and she’d fallen hard for him. Although maybe she should have realized there was something a little surprising about his interest in her favorite reality TV shows and dramas, in fashion and shopping. She’d never even considered he was bi, though.

“How does your nose feel now? Any pain?” Kris’s voice interrupted her train of thought, startling her for a second. But it was as kind and soft a voice as she remembered—a match for Nick’s deep tones.

Lilly shook her head and touched her nose with her finger. “No. None at all.”

What the hell?

It really didn’t make sense for the pain to just disappear like that.

Kris leaned over and gently tucked stray hair behind her ear. “Well, I’ll tell you one thing. That thug who insulted you in the strip club is probably calling for a tow truck by now.” His breathtaking smile held just a hint of wickedness.

A grin spread across Nick’s face. “What did you do, Kris?”

“I gave him a little reward for being so disgustingly rude.”

Lilly tensed at his words, unsure what to think. “Are we talking about the guy who called me a beached whale?”

Kris nodded. “He has four flat tires on that big ol’ Range Rover of his.”

“He punctured his tires somehow?” she asked.

Kris shook his head, still grinning.

Lilly’s eyes widened. “
You
punctured his tires?”

Kris held up his hands. “I plead the fifth.”

Her throat seized with emotion. She couldn’t imagine honest, straightforward Kris sneaking around, puncturing someone’s tires, even if it was the SUV of some bastard who’d completely humiliated her in front of a huge crowd of people.

But his actions touched her. It showed how different he was from her ex-boyfriend, Cody, who had been such a bastard he’d actually managed to dump her after she caught him cheating, before she had the chance to dump him! If she hadn’t had her best girlfriend, the talented cellist Alice Andrews, and her own adoptive mother to turn to during those times, she didn’t know how she would have gotten by. She was through with boyfriends.

But she had to admit, Kris had proven himself one hell of a good friend. She gave him the biggest smile she could muster. “I don’t know what to say. Thanks, Kris. Thanks for caring about what that guy said about me.”

“Hell, Lilly,” Nick said. “We both cared. I would have punched the bastard’s face in, if I’d gotten the chance. He was a dickwad, and you’re gorgeous.”

Kris laughed. “Nick didn’t even recognize you up there on the stage, you know.”

Nick crossed his arms over his chest. “I just never would have picked Lilly as the type of girl to get a nose job.”

That comment made her bristle. “I didn’t choose to get a nose job. This isn’t the first time my nose has been bashed in.”

The smile left Kris’s eyes. “Oh…right. We heard rumors you’d had an accident after graduation. We would have visited you in hospital, but…”

“It was no accident. Someone pushed me down the stairs in the dorm.”

Nick and Kris looked at each other. “Who pushed you, sweetie?” Kris asked.

Lilly shrugged. “Never found out.” She looked up at them again and gritted her teeth. Mortification made heat rush to her cheeks. “This is perfect, isn’t it, you two finding ‘Dumpster Girl’ in the trash?”

“Lilly, don’t. Don’t call yourself that,” Nick said. “We never called you that. We weren’t even sure if those rumors were true. I always thought that girl in your dorm, Sonya Sanford, I think that was her name… I thought she made those rumors up.” He turned to Kris. “You know the girl who was in your History of Music class with you? Really tall? She seemed to have some grudge against Lilly for something. Insulted her a few times when I was around, and I told her what I thought of her.”

Kris looked at his feet.

Lilly made her voice as icy as the ground beneath her. “Didn’t you date Sonya Sanford at one time, Kris?”

He blushed. “Once. It was one date. I had no clue she was your…enemy…when she asked me out.”

He looked up again and into her eyes, and any feelings of resentment evaporated. A person could never stay angry with Kris. He had the kindest, sunniest personality of anyone she’d ever known. Not to mention a face like a fallen angel, a gorgeous golden tan, and pretty, fair hair. Lilly shook her head, wishing she wasn’t so damn attracted to both of them. It made her vulnerable and embarrassed.

Nick turned back to her, his hazel eyes full of sincerity. From a distance, his eyes had always looked dark brown to her, but up close, they had flecks of green and gold. “Kris wouldn’t have dated Sonya if he’d known she was spreading stupid gossip about you.”