“We all are,” Cheshire responded, his smile widening frighteningly. I squirmed beneath him, still feeling him inside me.
“This isn’t right.” Shaheen’s eyes darted to me and he looked…panicked. What was he so scared of? Cheshire pulled out of me and the soreness in my body intensified, exhaustion rolled over my mind. My eyes started to close.
“No,” Cheshire growled, trying to keep me awake. “Where’s your home, Alice? Where’s the white rabbit?” It was too late. I fell asleep as if I’d been drugged, plummeting into a dark hole in the dirt, twisting with the roots until I fell to the ground and images surfaced.
“White Rabbit,” I heard Mad Hatter saying. I opened my eyes. She was crouched down at the edge of the woods, her head twisted so far sideways it was a marvel the hat stayed on her head. My nose twitched and I stared at her with narrowed eyes.
Her purple eyes began to sparkle. The sky roared and she looked above.
“There’s an unbirthday party,” she said, still looking at the clouds. Slowly, I shifted a little closer. She stood suddenly, startling me but before I got a chance to flee, then she turned and stomped away.
“It’s about time you joined the tea parties.” I didn’t understand what she meant. “About time” as if I’d been invited for ages, piles of paper invitations I’d walked pass each day, snubbing my nose at.
The birds began to scream. I hated when they did that and so I followed behind her. Plus, I was bored, and bored was the very worst thing to be.
“I like rabbits,” she said. “Hares, bunnies. You have such lovely long ears and such interesting legs.” Mad Hatter had an odd way about her compliments then again, she was talking to a rabbit so oddness was expected.
I hopped along behind her until a large table stretched in front of me. It was right outside under the sky and filled with all sorts of platters and tea cups. None of them matched and they all had cracks and chips. I stared at a large, humanoid hare as he lifted a teacup. The tea trailed out of cracks before he could get it to his mouth. He gave a frustrated hiss and then filled it again.
I glanced at the other guests. I saw him then…Caterpillar. A shudder rolled over me, my fur going on end. His many legs reminded me of the bugs that crawled over me at night in the woods. I liked the feel of them trailing across my fur and skin. Sometimes, when night was close, I sought out the places with the most little bugs so that their odd crawling sensation could keep me delighted all night.
This was different though. Caterpillar wasn’t just a bug…he was also a man. I didn’t think I’d ever seen a man that beautiful before—wearing golden jewellery and kohl around his eyes. I swallowed thickly, ideas forming in my head.
Suddenly, I realised someone was staring at me. My head slowly twisted towards the weight of someone’s gaze.
Wide, emerald eyes with thin pupils were aimed at me. Cheshire Cat was sitting on the table, his fur raising up on his back as he watched me approach. He was as still as could be, a predator hoping that by not moving, its prey wouldn’t notice it. It had been ages since I’d seen Cheshire and apparently, things were not the same between us anymore. Now, I was prey.
I gave a small noise of surprise, backpedalling swiftly. The creature’s smile widened terribly, breaking its unsettling paralysis to show a mouth of sharp teeth beneath its wide eyes.
“Alice, did you never find your way back out all those years ago?” He asked and then he leapt from the table with violence coiled in his four legs, giving chase to the prey.
I ran and ran. The memories blurred, different days all coming together in one scene of me running from him. With each leap, the day shifted—the time of day, the colour of the sky. Cheshire loved to chase me. Loved taunting me, playing with me, and trying his hardest to pounce on me.
And when I always managed to get away, hiding inside little burrows. He promised one day he’d capture me. One day I’d be his.
“My white rabbit,” he purred, his words filling my little burrow.
“Cheshire, I’m late,” I’d cry, some attempt for sanity. “I need to get home. I’m so late.”
The dream shifted from memories to something new. A giant cat reached into my burrow and pulled me out into the Den of Debauchery. A party was taking place. His claws pinned me to the ground as he grew larger and larger above me. My eyes traced his stripes as I kicked beneath him in fear.
“You are home,” he said and I woke up choking.
Chapter14
Alice
“Shh,” Shaheen hushed, velvet skin wrapping around my body as I woke up panicked. I felt his many legs grip me, holding me down. I stared at the red canopy of expensive fabrics above me and realised I was in his bed.
His tail was curled around me. I felt my heart rate even out and my breathing slow. The delightful sensation of his legs was really nothing like the bugs of the forest. They were far too strong. A simple bug could never force me still but he could.
“Alice?” He asked, his voice hesitant. I turned my head and saw him beside me, looking down with long eyelashes and dark eyes.
“We met before,” I said. “The first tea party. I was…a rabbit.” A long sigh left him, his body relaxing.
“Yes,” he said, settling his upper body on mine, fingers tracing where the rabbit ears attached to my head. A slow, sensual smile spread on his face, making me feel relaxed and in awe. The scent of roses and yuzu surrounded us as he caged me beneath him, his body wrapped around me, all his limbs gripping and rubbing—a wave of legs massaging me.
“Are you hungry, love?” He asked.Love…
