My eyes followed the rings of smoke that I’d made in the room. The opaque circles grew so large they could engulf the giant luminescent mushrooms that shot up from the floor. The mosaic tile had been cut to go around the fungus because they’d sprout back up almost instantly if taken down.
“Alice,” I sighed, smoke drifting from my mouth. My tongue looped in my mouth so that the smoke formed each letter of her name. A. L. I. C. E. The letters drifted above my head as I traced my bottom lip.
The devotion in her eyes, the determination to prove herself, and the way she whimpered when my lower half pressed between her legs was intoxicating.
There was an addiction inside me for her worship. It made me feel like a different person. Powerful and desperate instead of my normal apathy and detachment.
Cheshire padded into the room on four paws. His clever eyes were unsettling in this animal form—too intelligent and conniving. Not many people were aware Cheshire was more than just a cat. However, I was one of the few in Wonderland who knew.
I waited for Alice to trail into the room after him but no one else parted my curtain. I was disappointed but didn’t show it. She likely needed her rest.
I wasn’t sure what Cheshire was up to with this plan of his. My hope was that Cheshire was gifting me Alice. That would be quite the gift. Perhaps my favourite ever. I deserved such a wonderful gift though. After all, it was my pheromones that were helping run this place.
“You always know what I want. Though, I’m unsure if this is a good idea,” I said before sipping the cloudy absinthe and settling more comfortably against my pillows.
“That I do, Shaheen. However, don’t bother worrying if this is good or bad,” Cheshire purred, his smile growing slightly. The sparkle in his eyes was nefarious. He always looked that way, as if he was one moment away from a devious act. It was unnerving and I’d never grown used to it. No one did.
“I have to admit, I’m surprised you did this for me,” I commented before the hookah bubbled and I blew more smoke. I wasn’t actually surprised. Cheshire provided me with things, keeping me pacified whenever I began to show a bit of discomfort.
“You did good, Shaheen,” Cheshire said from four legs on the floor, a smiling cat.
“Don’t act like I was part of this plan,” I huffed in mild amusement. I didn’t agree with his tactics. Catching and capturing Alice in his den felt a bit cruel—morally wrong. Not that I had any say. Alice was no doubt confused and lost. I swallowed thickly as I looked at the cat. I didn’t trust him.
There was something bothering me about this entire thing. I couldn’t pinpoint what though—a vague feeling malformed on the fringes of my mind. I kept pushing it off. It was best to do that when Cheshire was involved. If you ever got too bogged down in his decayed morality or complicated plots you’d never be able to live in the Den without losing your mind.
I kept my face smoothed out into indifference as one of my arms reached for the absinthe glass again. A drink would help deal with the troubling emotions Cheshire inspired.
“But youwerepart of it. This plan,” he purred. I felt the press of his fur against my leg.
“Not knowingly,” I responded before taking a sip. The taste of anise coated my tongue for a moment before I swallowed.
Cheshire leapt up in my lap and stared at my face. The press of his paws dug into my flesh as he hummed. I turned away slightly so I wouldn’t smell his magic. It was powerful and peculiar—like most things in Wonderland.
“It’s no use acting coy, Shaheen. You care deeply for Alice.” I straightened my shoulders and glared at him in distaste. I didn’t like him being aware of that. It was a double-edged sword with Cheshire knowing my desires.
On one hand, he let me have them. On the other hand, he used that against me. If I cared too much about something, it would become his weapon. I wasn’t a fool. I knew this situation between us wasn’t healthy and right. He’d crafted a cage made out of my desires and I’d let him. The fact we used to be equal partners in this business was a vague, distant memory.
Cheshire could make life so easy and that was a dangerous thing. He was a devil offering you the things you wanted, quietly chaining you to the ground for his ownership.
“You even mated her,” Cheshire said. I shot him an irritated look.
“I’d use that term loosely. It’s not as if the eggs were fertile,” I sighed. He was annoying me but I needed to calm down.
Cheshire’s green eyes watched me closely, he never missed anything. Perhaps being open with him was unavoidable.
“I don’t trust you,” I said. He smiled even wider.
“Of course you don’t, darling,” he purred. I started to imagine Alice living here though—Alice on her knees trying to please me every day, begging for me, her face flushed, her eyes dazed. I’d let Cheshire own me for a hundred years more if I could have that over and over again.
“Shaheen,” Cheshire said, bringing me from my daydreams. “Alice is mine now,” he said calmly. I looked down at him curiously, my eyebrows pinching together.
“What?” I asked. He began to laugh. A blue cloud of smoke formed until I felt the heavy press of a man on top of me instead of a cat. I leaned back and inhaled through my nose.
“Just like you are mine,” came his voice from the smoke. Two glowing green eyes floated in the smoke before a large, sharp-toothed smile appeared. Then the smoke dispersed and Cheshire was far too close.
“What are you saying?” I asked. The unease about this situation was growing, veining into my body like rampant vines. Cheshire’s clawed hand wrapped around my neck, warm and tight. I raised my chin, looking down at him as he squeezed gently. His smile grew wider and so did the curl of my lip.
Cheshire’s body was warm and heavy in my lap, his ass pressing against my closed sheath. The pressure was distracting but the sharp bite of his nails against my skin was even more so. My lower arms twitched to grab hold of his hips to keep him steady or maybe push him off but I didn’t dare. Clearly, he had something he needed to say to me and I feared his retribution if I didn’t let him.
