“You know he’s going to use this against you. Your… “ he waved one of his hands around “infatuation with me.” My cheeks burned.
“I know,” I mumbled. No point denying it.
“And still you came, knowing he would do that?” Caterpillar asked curiously.
“I had to,” I said shyly, looking over every part of him.
“Did you?” He asked before he pressed the mouthpiece to his lips. It was still slick from being pushed inside me. I swallowed.
“I did.”
“Hmm, and will you have to come again?” He asked after blowing a procession of smoke hearts. He ignored the shape, did he not notice he was doing it?
“I will,” I admitted. This obsession was going nowhere, only growing now that I knew the taste of him.
“Even more reason not to tell him that I planted eggs inside you. Wouldn’t want him to know the pull goes both ways,” Caterpillar said, I held my breath a moment, my heart pounding hard in my chest. Both ways, he’d said. I felt hot all over, my face burning.
He liked me. I pressed my hand to my stomach, uncomfortably full with the evidence of his feelings. I nodded and pushed my shoulders back, head high. I wouldn’t tell Cheshire anything about my Caterpillar. Making Shaheen's life more difficult was the opposite of what I wanted.
“Of course, Shaheen,” I said with determination. He smiled, raising an eyebrow in entertainment.
“See you soon, Alice. I imagine you won’t be able to go too long before needing to be stretched across a mushroom and fucked by a caterpillar.” My face burned. He was right. I bundled up my courage and walked over to him. He looked down at me curiously.
“Goodbye,” I said, then leaned forward, holding his face in my hands as I pressed a kiss to his mouth. He parted his lips immediately and I matched him, our tongues moving hungrily as our bodies were crushed together. When I pulled back even he looked flushed under his tan. I knew I certainly did.
“Until next time,” I said and he nodded, his fingers swiping over his lips. He looked in a daze and I was glad I put it there. His eyes tipped down to my belly, which I had a hand pressed to.
“Be careful on your way,” he said, then his eyes darted away and he pulled the hookah back up, taking on an air of haughtiness again.
“Of course, Caterpillar.”
Chapter3
Alice
Before I could even leave the room, an amused voice came from behind me.
“Hello, Alice.” A large smile appeared followed by two villainous green, glowing eyes. He shocked me bad enough that I jerked back and my hand went to my chest as I gasped. Once I composed myself, I was angry at being startled by Cheshire.
"I'm leaving," I huffed. Caterpillar looked greatly annoyed. One of his arms reached for the absinthe while another fiddled with the hookah bowl.
"Alice, Alice, Alice," Cheshire taunted. Something was off. I swallowed thickly, unsure what to say or do. A creeping dread was beginning to bloom like fast-growing mushrooms in my stomach.
"Playing peeping tomcat? How vile," I said, trying to sound angry instead of nervous.
“Vile? What a lovely adjective. I do more than peep though. I keep a record. Don’t you just love what you can do with cameras these days? Doesn’t take long at all to capture a couple in an embrace.” A photo appeared from the smoke above my head and fell to the ground quickly. I could see from where I stood what it was. Me on my knees for Caterpillar. It wasn’t the perfect picture but it said enough and everyone would want to believe the drama. It probably could have been a picture of two entirely different people but they’d want it to be me and would eat up the story.
It didn’t help how many people had seen me and the loose lips of Mad Hatter telling people about my interest in Caterpillar.
“Blackmailing all your clients can’t be good for business,” I said in anger as he brushed against my leg. If he could get pictures of me to England, at a brothel, I’d be disowned and cast out. A complete social pariah with no prospects, likely sent to the countryside, distant even from the door to Wonderland.
“Don’t be so humble, Alice. It's not just anyone I’d blackmail.” He looked up at me with a victorious smile on his face.
“You aren’t supposed to be in my room,” Caterpillar said, with an unfriendly glare. His comment made something unclench inside me. I wasn’t sure this was a regular thing and that he’d known the whole time. That I’d been betrayed when I thought we had something special. Clearly, that wasn’t the case though. He seemed even more upset than me.
“I’m tired of you thinking you have any say in how I do my business. You are my product, Shaheen, and need to swallow the bitter pill of subservience. Having Alice in my close care will help get you in line, won’t it?” Close care? What did that mean?
“She’s just another client to me,” Shaheen sighed, not looking at me.
