The Mad King (The Dark Kings #1)(98)
Alice’s eyes widened, trying to focus. “A month?”
Danika nodded. “A month. He’s so old now, time would catch up with him in seconds. He cannot exist beyond Wonderland.”
Alice’s nostrils flared; she was trying so hard to think it through. Danika could see her struggle, see her fight to hang on to reality. “Want me?”
“Yes.” Hope leaped into Danika’s throat. “The land accepts you. Wants you. So does he. Return to him, save him, save yourself. Oh Alice, come home with me.”
Alice frowned, her eyes looking out at the door. “How will... you. Take. Me?”
Danika touched the tip of her wand to Alice’s stomach. “With magic.”
Alice shook her head. “Body? Or”—she inhaled—“just soul?”
Danika’s eyes widened. “This is not heaven, child. I cannot divide your soul from your body. All of you. I would take all of you.”
Alice closed her eyes.
Danika’s heart stuttered as she waited for the girl to take a breath. She shook her hand. Not yet, please not yet.
Alice’s family would surely worry when they came back to find an empty bed, to always wonder. But it was the only way. Alice was dead to them anyway. It was over for them. But not for Alice.
Alice’s lashes fluttered.
Good enough. Danika tapped her with the wand, shrinking them both. With a final flick of her wand, she pointed to the bed. A white letter appeared on the empty pillows, the words I’m happy written on it.
That was the best she could do.
She gripped Alice’s hand and wouldn’t let go as they barreled through dimensions.
Chapter 14
Wrapped in shadow, Hatter stared out the blackened window. Words from poems fell in repetitive motion from his lips.
Alice’s heart swelled, aching in her chest. To go from being so close to death, to inhaling a breath free of pain. To seeing her lover. It was almost too much.
Would he think she’d returned only to be saved? She bit her lip.
“Hatter,” she whispered, afraid he might not hear her.
His shoulders stiffened, but he didn’t turn.
“I-I...” She was stuttering again; he always made her feel like a girl with her first school crush. She rubbed sweaty palms down the front of her cami and shorts, the same ones she’d worn the first time they’d met. The same ones he’d said he liked her in best. Her heart flipped. “Do you love me?”
Hatter shot to his feet, his eyes wild and his hair longer than she remembered.
“Alice?” he croaked, eyes glistening with a powerful emotion that tugged at her heart, gave her feet wings.
She flew into his outstretched arms, resting her ear against the firm beat of his heart.
His body trembled. “Love you,” he whispered, nuzzling her hair. His hands were frantic on her back, pushing her shirt up, touching her bare flesh. “Loveyouloveyouloveyou, always, always, my Alice, my love.”
She purred, needing to touch him, to feel the hard press of his body again.
“Clothes off,” he said, and they were naked. He picked her up, pressing her against the wall. He lifted her, forcing her to wrap her legs around his waist. The thickness of him rested against her aching opening.
So good. If this was a dream, death, she didn’t care. She never wanted to wake up.
“Hatter, I was sick.”
“Gods.” He sobbed and kissed her cheeks, her throat. “Gods, Alice.”
She gripped his face, forced him to pause and look at her. He needed to know. “I didn’t come back because of that. I almost died, but I came back for you. None of this matters if you don’t believe that.”
His eyes closed and he gently planted a kiss on her mouth, his tongue tracing the seam of her lips, and she knew he believed her. Alice’s heart thrilled.
There were no playful teases, no petting or sweet nothings whispered. This was primal need. He pushed into her liquid heat, and her body was so primed, so ready, the moment he slipped in fully she felt the quickening thrum of an orgasm. Her blood resonated; it moved through her like crystal song.
He was kissing her neck, his hands grasping her breasts.
“Love you so much,” he muttered, taking her tongue, dueling with it. “Don’t ever leave me. Sorry I’m such an ass. Sorry I didn’t tell you why. Sorry for so much.”
She shook her head, feeling dizzy and light-headed from the overwhelming sensation of him. He slid in and out; her legs tightened. She was close; her thighs started to shake.
“Never leave,” she mumbled. “Love you so much too.”
Then they were there, he tipped his head back and roared. His hot seed came in torrents, flooding her body. His touch, his soul, it was hers. All hers.
He was her Mad Hatter, and Alice was finally home.
*
Keep turning the page to read Hatter’s Treasure
It’s Alice’s birthday, and Hatter has a plan to show her his most valuable treasure...
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Hatter’s Treasure
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Hatter stared at his wall of clocks, all those ticktocking clocks that helped ease the confusing noise in his head. With one hand tucked behind his back, he ran his other one along the polished surface of one of his favorites. It was a wooden cuckoo clock of German origin. The wood was a rich umber, the tiny bird poking its head out so well fashioned that one might imagine it would take flight any moment. He treasured his timepieces, each one holding significance in his long, long life.