Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
Ballroom, Omega Hotel
It’s Monday night. The evening of the big Christmas performance.
I yank nervously on my green elf hat, which is trimmed with white fur. The bell on the end jingles.
I am standing nervously waiting for my turn to perform on stage in the shadowy concrete corridor to the side of the ballroom stage, which stinks of greasepaint and stressed Omega. At least it’s one of the rare corners of the hotel that isn’t under constant camera surveillance.
I wrinkle my nose, glancing down at the rest of my costume.
My dress is startlingly green and is only just long enough to skirt my ass. A wide belt cinches it tightly in at the middle. The only thing covering my legs are thigh high candy cane striped suspenders.
Maya has outdone herself this year. Both the reindeer and elf costumes are so tight and sexy for the titillation of the guests that we look more like we’re making a porno.
Elves in Heat, Santa Claus is Cumming to Town, or Rudolf the Horny Reindeer.
Or maybe simply The Nutcracker.
I smirk.
“What wicked thoughts are you having?” Icarus says from where he is leaning against the corridor wall outside the ballroom. He sounds harried. I don’t blame him. He has worked for weeks to make sure that tonight runs smoothly. “You look like you’re plotting to rob or fuck someone.”
I turn to look at Icarus. “You.”
“Fantasize away then. Never let it be said that I get in the way of my staffs’ dreams.”
I snort, running my gaze up and down his costume.
Yep, it’s definitely Santa Claus is Cumming to Town.
Icarus isn’t dressed as a jolly 1920s Santa with a large red suit and long white beard.
Instead, he is more like a stripper in a velvet crimson, white fur-lined waistcoat that falls open to reveal his muscled chest, a tight pair of satin shorts that show off his ass, and a hat that falls over his eyes.
Paired with his dominant expression, he looks like the least likely Santa I have ever seen, and also the most awkwardly adorable, as if he’d be more likely to complain about the state of your chimney than laugh heartily.
Or possibly, most likely to rut you over the Christmas tree.
I can’t help giggling.
Icarus narrows his eyes, attempting and failing to pull his top shut over his chest like he’s still wearing his managerial suit. “Laugh it up, Sweet Sin. I haven’t forgotten who was the one that encouraged me to—”
“Support the rest of the staff?”
He sighs. “I’ll never live this down. I can’t dance.”
“You’ll be with me. You only need to sweep onto the stage and then wiggle your ass around a bit. Then I’ll do the rest.”
“You’re the star,” Icarus praises, and it does something funny to me that I’m not expecting to hear him say that. “You’ll shine so brightly out there that nobody will even be looking at me anyway.”
I doubt that, although somehow it makes Icarus even more beautiful to me that he can never see how desirable he is.
Nerves grip me, however, and I peer through the archway onto the stage.
The jaunty “Santa Claus Blues” washes over me.
A band of Beta staff on piano, banjo, cornet, saxophone, and trombone are playing at the base of the stage.
Bird, dressed in the sexy elf version of my costume (skin-tight green top and shorts, with candy cane knee high stockings), is singing the 1920’s jazz song.
He is bathed in a spotlight, as other Omega elves and Betas in reindeer onesies with adorable antlers on their heads back him up.
His voice is rich and soulful, and when I glance out at the sea of guests in the rest of the ballroom, they are entranced.
Bird is an amazing singer, but then, Maya insisted that we both had vocal coaches. She didn’t want any of her Omegas to show her up, when we put on performances after dinner.
The hotel guests are dressed in glamorous evening suits and designer ballgowns that glitter with diamonds. Beta servers weave between them with silver trays of champagne and canapes.
The opulent ballroom with marble columns and arched windows glitter with lights and Christmas garlands around a giant fir tree, as if the entire room is the inside of a bauble.
“You’ve out done yourself with the decorations,” I say. “Maya won’t be able to complain about tonight. It looks beautiful. The band are incredible. The staff are putting on an amazing performance.”
“You know your stepmom. She can complain about anything. She’ll probably claim that it was too perfect,” Icarus mutters.
“She won’t be able to claim that Santa doesn’t look hot enough. Mrs Claus should be careful. There are a lot of elves around here who are after your knot.”
He leans close enough for his lips to ghost across mine. “There is no Mrs Claus…yet.”
I shiver. “Must be lonely in the South Pole.”
“I live in the North Pole.”
“And that’s why you’re single. Santa is a pedant.”
“And the Omega elf is missing her boots.” Icarus bends down to pick up my green boots with bells on the toes.
When he shakes them, they obnoxiously jingle.
I grimace. “I was hoping to get away without putting those on.”
“Sorry, an elf without their boots is like a broken pencil.”
“Pointless,” I singsong the punchline. “When are you going to stop telling dad jokes?”
He shrugs. “When are you going to be a good Omega and put on your boots?”
I hold up one foot, feeling daring. “I’m ready.”
Icarus stares at me in amazement. His cheek twitches.
Then he grabs me by the shoulders, pushing me against the wall.
My heart thrills, at the same time as my pulse speeds up. His scent is blocked by the ventilators, but I am still held still by the dominance of his piercing stare.
My leg is raised, and my thigh rubs against his crotch.
His cock is hard in his tight shorts.
“The Omega elf,” Icarus says slowly, kissing me on each word, “is meant to work for Alpha Santa. But tonight, you are the star.”
To my shock, he drops to his knees, glancing up at me through his eyelashes.
Instantly, slick gushes from my pussy.
I never imagined Icarus like this.
He is so tall that he is still close to my height, even kneeling on one knee. He doesn’t seem submissive but is still in control, even kneeling.
He takes my foot like it’s the most precious thing in the world, before drawing on my boot slowly.
I didn’t know that I had so many nerve endings in my foot. I’m abuzz.
Fucking panting.
I lean back against the wall to steady myself and stop my knees from buckling.
How long has it been since someone has cared for me like this?
“Other foot,” Icarus orders.
When I raise my foot, he draws on the second boot with the same level of care, before deliberately flicking the bell to make it jingle.
I smile. “Jingling my bells, huh?”
“I try my best.” He stands elegantly, caging me against the wall.
It’s risky being this close, but at least someone would think that we were talking about our upcoming performance.
“Tomorrow, we need to talk about this new accountant Alpha that you met in the staff gardens.” He is suddenly serious, and it catches me off-guard.
“Did you wish on a shooting star for a gorgeous male omega and Alpha? Or did you put a new pack on your list to Santa this year? I guess that I should know. I thought that the Idol Beta, Immortal, was top of your list. He’s been on mine too for years. ”
“What was top of yours? A stapler.”
“I like to think big. A filing cabinet.”
There is something off about the way that he eases back from me, however, avoiding my eye.
I reach out to touch Icarus’ cheek. “Are you okay? About them being my soulmate and scent match? It doesn’t mean that what we have means any less. You’d be the Chief Alpha in any pack.”
He crosses his arms. “Of course I would. Grace, you deserve only the best things in this world. You deserve everything that I wish I could give you but can’t.
This other Omega and Alpha being soulmate and scent match are the best Christmas present for you that I can imagine.
Your happiness is all that I’ve ever craved.
Also, if they’re as cute and fuckable as you say, then they’re just as much a gift for me. I can’t wait to court them.”
He gives a sharp grin that makes me realize that mafia background or not, Lionzio had better watch out. He is not going to be the dominant Alpha when Icarus is in the room.
And I can vouch that he will love every second of it.
“We need to be careful, however,” Icarus adds.
“They’re new to this hotel. We’ve grown up in Haven and understand how it works here, but they don’t.
They won’t understand the risks or how careful we will need to be about hiding our involvement.
We can’t trust them with our secrets. Look, we’ve been best friends for years.
We know what the stakes are. So, let’s court these new men together, but at the same time, protect the rest of the Sinner pack. ”
I nod. “The heist comes first.”
It hurts to say that.
But the heist means escape. Safety. Freedom.
I can’t put my own search for love and pack bonds before justice for everyone in the hotel.
Yet can I find a way to have both?
Icarus twists to lean next to me on the hard concrete. “Funny, for all these years, you only needed me. Now, suddenly within a few days like you really did have a Christmas wish answered, you have two new men to unwrap as gifts. And it’s not even Christmas Day yet.”
I turn to study him. “You are jealous.”
He sighs, pushing his hat out of his eyes.
“It’s not that. It’s just that deep down I always knew that I wouldn’t be good enough for you.
What have I got to offer? I’m poor. The money that I earn goes on supporting my brother and Zoe.
I’m trapped here. I have a pack of one hundred.
And I don’t care about that Rej bracelet around your wrist, you’re really this educated, elite. A Frost. I’m not your scent match.”
Furious, I spin and pin him against the wall.
Icarus’ eyes widen in surprise.