Escaping Wonderland Page 14

  When she’d taken nearly all of him into her body, Shadow tightened his grip on her hips and yanked her down the rest of the way, burying himself in her to the hilt.

  Alice gasped and clung to him, pressing her face against his neck as she breathed raggedly. His scent—oakmoss and amber—filled her senses. Shadow’s palms smoothed over her sides and back, soothing her, as he brushed his nose in her hair. He didn’t move otherwise. She felt him, all of him, inside her, felt every pulse, every twitch. Her core tightened in response. The faint sting of her being stretched faded, and was replaced by that urgent need for more, by the need to move.

  She rose on her knees, causing her sex to slide up along his shaft, and lowered herself again. A shiver ran through her.

  “Alice,” Shadow hissed, his hands swiftly returning to her hips.

  She moved again, lifting herself higher. This time they both moaned when she eased back down.

  Tilting her head back, Alice met Shadow’s eyes. Desire burned in their depths, but it was paired with a lucidity that she hadn’t quite seen before. It was as though Shadow—all of Shadow—was there with her, like in these precious moments he was both the unstable, unpredictable being he showed this world and the broken man she’d glimpsed beneath the surface.

  Like he was whole.

  That was the Shadow who took control.

  And she surrendered to him.

  * * *

  The feel of Alice’s tight, desire-slickened heat around Shadow’s cock was euphoric, divine, and intense—it was almost too much for him to bear. Yet despite the overwhelming pleasure, he craved more, needed more.

  Alice offered it freely.

  Keeping firm hold of her hips, he set a quick pace, lifting her up and slamming her down again, bucking his hips to meet her with increasing strength and speed. She moved sensually upon him, her body flowing easily, her skin radiant with passion. He held her gaze as he moved, fighting the building sensations threatening to force his eyes shut. He needed to stare into her eyes, to see his pleasure mirrored in her expression. He needed to know, without a doubt, that they were linked to one another in these moments.

  Her blunt little nails dug into the backs of his shoulders. She further quickened their pace as soft pants and moans escaped her parted lips. A crease appeared between her brows, and her eyelids fluttered as though they would close.

  His chest vibrated with his deep purring, which gave his voice a gravely undertone when he said, “Keep your eyes open, Alice. Look at me. See me.”

  She brought a hand to his face and cupped his jaw. “I see you. I—ah!” Her chin tilted up and she shuddered as her sex clenched around his shaft.

  She was so beautiful—more so than ever before, with passion burning in her eyes and her cheeks flushed with pleasure.

  Shadow raised a hand to cradle the back of her head, tangling his claws in her golden locks. “See and know that you are mine.”

  The convulsions of her inner walls intensified, and whatever control Shadow had maintained up until that point shattered. He pounded into her frantically, using the springiness of the bed beneath him to increase the force of his thrusts. His conscious thoughts were swept away by a gale of pleasure that blasted outward from his center.

  Alice pressed her forehead to his as she cried out, her breathy moans escalating in volume with every thrust. Her body went rigid, and she trembled, but her eyes remained locked with his.

  His fingers flexed as the pressure within him reached a breaking point. He forced his hips and hands to keep moving as he exploded inside her; his movements were made stiff and erratic by the tension his climax produced in his muscles. Though his eyes strained, he would not allow them to close, would not allow himself to look away from her—not while the same intensity, the same intimacy, he felt in himself was blazing in Alice’s gaze.

  His cock pulsed in his release, and her sex coaxed more and more out of him until there was nothing left to give. Shadow threw his head back, his body shuddering in the aftermath of his climax. Alice sagged forward, leaning against him, and he eased his back onto the bed, wrapping his arms around her.

  They lay like that for a long while, their breath ragged, his fur damp and her skin slick with sweat, as they slowly descended from the heights to which they’d climbed.

  Alice drew in a deep breath and released it in a contented sigh as she snuggled against him, rubbing her cheek on his chest. It was followed by a yawn. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt so…sleepy before.”

  “I don’t believe that’s quite the feeling I was aiming for,” he said, smiling softly as he idly traced the pads of his fingers up and down her back, “but I suppose it will do.”

  She chuckled; it made her body shake gently, but that was enough to send another flare of pleasure through him. There was a soft moan—Shadow wasn’t sure if it had come from him, from Alice, or from both of them at once.

  “Whether this world is real or not, dear Alice, I will never forget this.”

  “I won’t either,” she murmured. Her body went slack a few seconds later, and her slow, even breathing suggested she was asleep.

  He remained in place for some time, continuing the slow slide of his fingers from her shoulders down to her hips and back again. He couldn’t deny his reluctance to withdraw from her body—she was warm and soft, and even as she slept, the faint movements of her inner walls sent tingles of pleasure through his cock. There was nowhere else he would rather have been.

  Part of him also recognized that, somehow, she was the only thing keeping his mind from being consumed with worry. To withdraw from her would mean an end to the sensations currently distracting him. It would mean facing their current situation head-on.

  Shadow sighed softly, lifted his head, and placed a kiss atop Alice’s hair. “Nothing is the same since you came.”

  Moving as carefully as he could, he slowly rolled Alice off him, withdrawing his still erect cock from her heat with a pang of regret. She stirred as he settled her onto her back but did not wake. His heart thumped when he caught sight of the faint smile on her lips. He reached forward and delicately brushed away a strand of hair from her face with the back of a claw.

  Propped up on an elbow and with his tail lazily flicking beside him, Shadow happily took time to admire her body—their joining had offered unfortunately little opportunity to do so.

  Her skin was as fair on the rest of her body as it was on her face, its pure white broken only by a pair of moles on her inner right thigh and a light pink birthmark on her hip. Even now, he couldn’t keep his hands off her. She was so soft, so smooth, so warm. He traced her collarbone with the pad of a finger before running that finger between her breasts, which were round and pert, each a perfect fit for his palm. He followed the progress of his hand with his eyes as it trekked steadily lower.

  Alice’s flaring hips curved in such a way that they also seemed designed to fit precisely in his hands. He ran his finger around her belly button before continuing down. His hand halted at the uppermost edge of the little patch of hair on her pelvis. The hair was neat and short—though he could tell, despite its length, that it tended to curl—and was a shade darker than the blond hair on her head. Shadow was covered in fur, and thus wasn’t sure why Alice’s hair fascinated him so much, but he couldn’t deny that it did.

  He dipped his eyes lower still, and barely contained a lustful groan. Alice’s legs were parted, granting him full view of the drying nectar on her thighs and the pink petals of her glistening sex. The air was perfumed with the lingering scent of her arousal.

  His cock throbbed, and he wrapped his fingers around it, squeezing it with the hope of alleviating some of the sudden ache.

  Despite what they’d just shared, Shadow yearned for more. Had she not looked so exhausted when they’d come down from their climaxes, he would’ve woken her now—perhaps with the tip of his tail brushing over her folds, or by spearing her with his tongue again. But his Alice needed rest. Even if he could not understand the st
resses and fears she’d endured in Wonderland—because this place had never affected him like it affected her—he did understand that it was all taking a toll on her.

  Yet his gaze lingered on her sex a little longer. Something seemed wrong, seemed off, but he couldn’t immediately place it. It wasn’t Alice or her body, wasn’t her sex…but something was missing.

  His mind stilled when he realized what it was—none of his seed had seeped out of her.

  With brow furrowed, Shadow sat up. He raised his hand from his shaft and sniffed his fingers. All he could smell was Alice’s scent, as thrilling and intoxicating as ever but not enough to pierce his sudden unease.

  He’d felt himself come, had felt heat pouring out of him, and her body had demanded more.

  So where was the evidence of it? Where was his seed, which should’ve been trickling down her pale skin or seeping from the slit at the end of his cock? Where was its scent?

  Shadow lifted his gaze to her face. Her features were serene in her slumber, unburdened by worry—for now, her quest to escape Wonderland was forgotten. For now, she’d accepted him, had accepted this place, and had found some peace in that acceptance.

  But what if…

  What if she’d been right all along? What if Wonderland wasn’t real?

  What if I’m not real?

  He leapt off the bed and paced at its foot, the fur of his tail standing on end as it lashed restlessly behind him. He shoved the fingers of one hand into his hair, tugging the strands back, glancing at Alice’s peaceful form each time he passed her. His chest felt tight, like his organs were constricting.

  Everything she’d said flitted through his head, colliding with Jor’calla’s nonsense—much of which didn’t seem quite so nonsensical right now. Even the Red King’s words supported Alice’s claims, if only from a certain perspective.

  “No, no,” he muttered under his breath, “the rules can’t just change. This is all…all…”

  Not real? I don’t seem to follow any of the rules, myself. That can’t be how reality works, can it?

  Shadow lifted his other arm to clench two fistfuls of his hair—as though the sting on his scalp could somehow end this bout of madness.

  It’s true death, Shadow!

  No. The only true death in Wonderland was the kind where people came back a little while later.

  He halted abruptly and fixed his gaze on Alice. Sweet, sweet Alice—so beautiful, so small, so vulnerable. Could he risk disbelieving all this talk about true death? Could he risk the chance of losing her forever?

  He hurried to the bed and knelt beside it, sliding his arms beneath her. With all possible gentleness—and while holding his breath—he lifted her off the bed and cradled her against his chest. Her only reaction was to curl trustingly against him.

  “I’ll keep you safe, Alice,” he whispered. “No one will harm you. You’re mine.”

  Using a combination of one foot and his tail, he peeled the bedding back. He settled her on the mattress. Lying on her side, she nuzzled her cheek into the pillow and let out a contented sigh.

  Shadow wanted nothing more than to lie down beside her and hold her in his arms through the night, but he covered her up without joining her. These questions of reality were too loud inside his head; he needed a distraction until he calmed down, until he came to his senses and could see past all this madness.

  He turned away from the bed. He would occupy himself by washing their soiled clothes—the mess he’d undoubtedly make of Miraxis’s home in the process would be satisfying, and Shadow and Alice would appreciate clean clothes to put on in the morning.

  Why speculate about reality? Wonderland was reality. There was nothing else.

  The visions struck him so quickly, so powerfully, that his stride faltered, assailing his senses in an onslaught against which he could not defend. Sight, hearing, smell, feel, and taste were hijacked; all that remained of reality was his own thundering heart.

  He was at the controls of a strange vehicle, struggling with the sticks that operated it. The wide window in front of him was dominated by orange fire, and the tang of burning metal stung his nostrils. Everything around him was rattling so hard and fast that it all seemed on the verge of breaking apart. Countless voices chattered in his ear, and people nearby where shouting in panicked tones.

  Shadow shook himself out of the jarring vision, but another swept in on its heels.

  He lay on his back atop some sort of bed in a dimly lit corridor. Strong, cruel hands were clamped on his arms and legs as the bed was wheeled into a room, and Shadow couldn’t move, couldn’t shake the nauseating odor of chemicals.

  “Welcome,” someone said as Shadow was lifted and lowered into another, narrower bed with high walls. They said more, but he couldn’t hear the words because sharp objects were piercing his skin, and he still couldn’t move, still couldn’t get away.

  Then the lid closed, because he wasn’t in a bed—he was in a box, in a tomb. In his coffin.

  When he snapped back to reality, Shadow was on one knee, leaning against one of the corners of the foot of the bed. His heart was pounding, his breath ragged, his limbs trembling. He was in Miraxis’s bedroom, not in a strange, fiery vehicle or a cramped coffin.

  He glanced over his shoulder. Fortunately, Alice was sleeping soundly, undisturbed by his…episode.

  What was that?

  He’d never experienced those things, had never seen those places. Just like everyone else, he’d come into being in Wonderland, and he remembered everything from his awakening.

  Those weren’t memories. Couldn’t be.

  It was my imagination. A…temporary lapse of sanity.

  Shadow pushed up to his feet and, on shaky legs, made his way to the bathroom to collect Alice’s clothing, pausing only to gather his own along the way.

  “Not real,” he whispered to himself. The words echoed in his head.

  Not real.

  Chapter 13

  Alice woke from another dreamless sleep; were dreams unnecessary in Wonderland because she was already dreaming? She was lying on her side, and Shadow’s body was tucked against her back. Her head was resting on one of his arms, and his other arm was curled around her, holding her securely in his embrace, wrapping her in warmth. His breath stirred her hair and tickled her scalp.

  Waking up with someone holding her was strange, but it was a good feeling. She’d had sex once, after her so-called friends had plied her with alcohol and loosened her up enough to convince her to try it, but the act had been followed swiftly by regret—especially when the guy had tossed her wadded-up clothes to her and pointed at the door.

  She couldn’t have left fast enough.

  At that moment, it hadn’t been fear of what her father would think—or fear of what would happen if her indiscretion were discovered and made public—that had driven her away. She’d felt so unsatisfied, so dirty, so used that she’d been overwhelmed by shame and regret. That man had wanted nothing but a place to put his cock. That’s all she’d been to him. After that, she’d concluded that one-night stands weren’t for her. Alice needed an emotional connection, she needed something meaningful. There were so many other ways to find pleasure without the needless complications of sex that it just wasn’t worth it without something deeper.

  But lying here with Shadow, she didn’t feel even a sliver of regret. She felt…cherished.

  A slow smile spread across her lips as she took a deep breath and turned in Shadow’s arms to face him. His fur was soft against her skin. She found his eyes open and alert, and his smile—so soft and tender compared to his usual grin—made her chest ache.

  “Good morning, sweet Alice,” he purred.

  A blush warmed her cheeks. His deep, rumbling voice went straight to her core. How could someone’s voice sound so sexy upon waking?

  Alice brushed her fingers through the short fur on his chest, tracing the toned muscles beneath. “Good morning.”

  “I don’t think I could possibly have woken
to a more beautiful sight.” He settled the pad of a finger on her cheek and slid it down along her jaw, stopping it on her chin.

  She trailed her own finger down the center of his abdomen—toward his pelvis. “Are you sure of that?”

  His smile widened slightly, enhancing the glow of his vibrant eyes. “I was, a moment ago…”

  Emboldened, she moved her hand lower and wrapped it around his already erect cock, which twitched in her grasp. Shadow groaned, eyelids fluttering shut.

  “You seem to be a new woman today, Alice.”

  She stroked her hand up and down, relishing his response and the feel of him—warm velvet over steel—against her palm. An empty, needy ache, a craving for what was in her hand, grew between her legs.

  And the look on Shadow’s face said he’d give her exactly what she wanted without resistance. That made her feel…powerful. Confident. Desired.

  “What do you mean?” she asked, tightening her fingers infinitesimally.

  Shadow’s lips parted with a soft hiss. His eyes opened halfway and met hers. “Until this morning, I was the one seducing you.”

  Alice grinned and placed her other hand on his shoulder, pushing gently until he rolled onto his back. Without ceasing the motion of her hand around his cock, she swung her leg over him and straddled his thighs. Her hair fell around her shoulders and brushed over her nipples, which were already tight and achy. As Shadow’s gaze roamed over her, Alice’s desire only increased, flooding her with heat. He settled his warm palms on her hips and curled his fingers around her possessively. The soft fur of his tail ran down her spine, toward the cleft of her ass.

  Lifting herself up on her knees, she shifted forward and positioned the head of his cock at her entrance. “I decided to let go and take what I wanted. And I want y—”