Underland, #1

by Rebecca Goodwin

  I ran forward, grasping her in an embrace. “Grams! You’re free. We’re all free.”

  “Because of you.” She hugged me. “None of us have been able to do what you did here today.”

  “Thank you,” Hadden bowed behind my grandmother, winking.

  I eased out of Grams’ arms and stepped up to Hadden. “You’re welcome, but pull that sorcerous crap on me again and I’ll make you prune the royal gardens for a month.”

  “My heart is yours to do with as you wish,” he pulled out his heart, and I moved back a step.

  I didn’t want to become another queen of hearts. Witnessing what had happened to the last queen who was full of wrath and hatred didn’t suit me. “No, it’s yours now.”

  His smile made my own heart flutter in response. “Rob and Chaz gave you a piece of their heart and took a splinter of yours. Do you refuse my call to be honored as part of your court because I can find out all your ticklish spots until you relent?”

  “Part?” I frowned. “What do you mean? They gave me their hearts.” And felt the fullness of them. The love.

  “No.” Hadden touched my cheek with his free hand, his thumb brushing into my hairline and sending delicious shivers through me. “The red queen became corrupt because the partial hearts freely given to her weren’t enough. She took more and more until the white queen tried to stop her but by then, it was too late. Her sister had become too powerful and had seized the watch that granted her immorality as long as it wasn’t restarted.”

  Chaz came up next to me, then rubbed a hand down my arm. “Which is why me and Rob were able to fight the queen’s control and why she wasn’t able to use us against you. Because you had a part of our heart but we had a part of yours.” He grinned. “Which if you were evil like her, it wouldn’t have been enough. But together we are stronger.”

  I glanced at Rob. He wasn’t healing. Even with his watch back, he was still so pale. Rob! I turned on my heel and ran to his side. His eyes were closed and his breathing shallow. Loss and panic swirled in my gut, cutting me so deep I couldn’t breathe. I’d won only to lose him. My heart shattering into a thousand pieces that cut me to my soul.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “Why isn’t Rob healing? He has the pocket watch,” my voice broke. I gathered his head in my lap, wiping his blond hair off his forehead. His skin felt cold and clammy at my touch, and a chill snapped through my bones.

  Hadden knelt beside me. “You have to claim us all as your formal, royal court.”

  I didn’t feel like a queen or even a princess. I was just a girl infatuated with them. Still, my heart yearned to do whatever I could to help Rob.

  “But I did that.” All three of them were mine, my life, my heart and soul. What more could I do?

  “You’ve been with Chaz so that bond is sealed.”

  My cheeks heated that Hadden knew I’d made love with Chaz. “The watch’s magic fixed your wound, why won’t it do the same for Rob?”

  “Because you have part of his heart. You’ll need to give him a piece of yours… and seal the bond.”

  “What about you? I haven’t had sex with you and you’re fine.”

  Hadden clasped my trembling hand in his. “The magic must be recharged since it did so much and already healed me and Chaz. Only way to do that in time is to share your heart and link with the white rabbit—Rob. Your heart will heal him and your lovemaking will restore the magic of the watch.”

  “But—I mean—I care for you deeply too. And Chaz, and Rob. How can I link with all three of you?” A miracle that I never expected. I wanted all three men to accept my affection and be willing to share me. The idea had me nearly swooning but I had to help Rob first. Whatever that meant.

  “And we linked with you too.” Chaz grinned. “Besides, I like watching if you’ll allow me and we are used to the queen having a lover, a mate, and a consort.”

  “I’m not a queen, I’m just a woman.”

  “You are that and more,” my grandmother said as she stepped forward. “After what happened to my great-grandmother in this place, the family swore to never tell anyone the truth about our heritage. But I became curious, thinking I could slip in and out of Underland and the human world with ease. I created the portal in the garden.”

  “Which I found.” And if she hadn’t gone missing, I’d never have come here. Never have met three gorgeous guys and was attracted to them. I couldn’t imagine my life without them.

  “Yes. But in doing so, several rifts in Underland broke through the human world. One in the forest and another on the edge of town. I came here to try and fix them but the queen caught me.”

  “Wait.” The creature in the woods that day that my friends Rose and Blanca had said was only a kite. “Near your house down the path to the pond?”

  She wrung her hands. “The same, why did something happen there?”

  “No. Not yet, but a creature or something scared me when I searched those woods for you. We have to get you back home. But in the meantime, show me how to heal Rob.”

  “Click the button on the watch, then give him part of your heart.” My grandmother looped her arm through Chaz’s then Hadden’s when he stood. “In the meantime, I’m going to grill these two and see if they are indeed as worthy as I think they are for my granddaughter.”

  Chaz gave me a superstar smile and Hadden winked, then they disappeared into the night with Grams. The queen’s guards drifted to the gravesite’s stone wall a hundred feet away and turned their backs on us to give us privacy. Surely they didn’t expect me to ah… right here in the open with all of them standing an earshot away.

  I turned back to Rob, my heart aching to see him whole and well. His breathing was raspy and twisted my insides with each inhale.

  “Rob?” I whispered. “Please come back to me. I need you. I care and want all three of you.” Tears burned the back of my eyes as I leaned over him and brushed my lips across his. The upside down kiss making my lips tingle. I leaned back, frantically searching his face for a sign of him coming around. Iron bars wrapped around my chest, filling my lungs with fresh cement. “I can’t do this without you. I need your kindness and patience and your love, please.”

  His eyes didn't flutter or open. He still looked as ashen. My heart clenched so hard it hurt to breathe. “Please, Rob, what do I do? Tell me,” I hiccupped. “I’ll do anything.”

  I kissed him again, this time pushing all the yearning and hope forward, slowing my kiss to a sensual one. Beneath my lips, he warmed slightly. Then he was kissing me back and the world fell away when he took me into his arms. Not breaking our mouths apart, he spun me around until we were laying chest to chest. My heart thumping in rhythm to his. His hands skimmed up and down my sides, and I quivered in excitement.

  “Are you healed?” I asked breathlessly. Damn, but he was making it really hard to concentrate on anything but the way he made me feel.

  “Not fully yet, but I will be.” He nibbled at the side of my neck and I swooned.

  Remembering his wounds and how pale he looked, I pushed back to peer into his blue eyes. They crinkled in the corners as he gave me a half-smile. “How do we make you better then?”

  His gaze dipped to my breasts then lower where my groin rested on his thigh. “I can think of a few things.”

  “But the guards?” All of them stood facing us but I didn’t want an audience able to eavesdrop. The thought of what Chaz had said about being able to watch had my desire hiking up another ten notches.

  “Allow me.” He clicked the watch and suddenly the guards vanished.

  I gasped, still not used to real magic. “What happened to them?”

  “Nothing. I just changed the time to twenty minutes from now after you told them to leave.”

  My mind whirled but I didn’t care, we were alone, and I wanted to be with Rob and show how much I cared for him, and Hadden, and Chaz more than anything in this world.

  He wheezed, bringing my attention back to him. “I don’t mind the ot
hers, but when you’re with me, I want it to only be you and me.” Crimson dotted his cheeks. “At least for the first few times. Later we can talk about how many interludes each of us can make you orgasm in a night.”

  Lust washed over me and I tore off my shirt. I placed Rob’s hand over my breast. I choked on a gasp as his fingers skimmed under the edge of my shirt, stealing my breath.

  I took off my shirt, then my bra, enjoying his eyes growing hooded as he stared at me. “Get naked,” I said, enjoying the power as he obeyed.

  After he removed his shirt, the wounds opened up on his chest and I hissed.

  “Keep going, they’re slowly healing.”

  “Okay,” I inhaled a shaky breath. His scent of musk, arousal, and fresh grass filled me.

  He removed his pants but left his underwear on. Impatient, I tugged his boxers down to free his erection. Slowly, I glided my hand up and down his length. His heartbeat underneath my other hand thumped faster.

  “I can’t wait to feel you inside me. I want you,” I leaned forward and feather kissed his lips, “right now.” His erection tensed in my hand. My sex moistening in response. “I want you inside me.”

  “Did I ever tell you I get off on dirty talk?” he asked in a husky voice that was like chocolate wrapped around a warm cherry center. His blond hair curled around the edges around his face giving him a boyish look.

  “Nope, but if you don’t stop your discourse and do what I ask, there’ll be a penalty.” I squeezed him, letting my hand on his chest drift down to cup his sack. In response, he thrust upward against my hold. Excitement charged through me. I so wanted him inside me now that my moves nearly frantic as I stroked him.

  His inhale of breath and low moan revved me up even more. If he didn’t plunge inside me, I was going to scream.

  As though reading my mind, he dipped his hand to my pants. “These are in the way.”

  With his help, I wiggled out of my clothes in a quick strip tease and delighted as his eyes darkened in lust. Naked. I shivered under his gaze.

  “Come here,” I said, my voice husky.

  He reached toward me, pulling me into a sitting position on top of him while he laid on his back. Slowly, he slipped a finger into me and I stifled a moan, still worried yet excited about making love in a graveyard.

  My juices coating his finger as he moved back and forth inside me. “More, god, more.”

  As if I weighed nothing, he moved me on top of him. He plunged into me. A scream of pleasure burst from me as I rolled my hips back and forth. Exhilaration shot through every part of me. Faster and faster I rode him. The buildup to our climax making us pant and move in unison. He pinched my nipples, and mewled with pleasure.

  He kept one hand on my breast, the other dove to my clit and stroked me until all my pleasure exploded. But before my climax waned, an ache spread between my legs. “Rob!” I breathed out.

  His strokes came in and out driving me to distraction. “Like this?”

  “No, faster. Harder.” I bent down and kissed him deeply until his pace sped up inside me. Another orgasm tingling through me. The waves crashed into me, making me shake. The thrill of him still pumping inside me drove me to the edge again.

  He snaked his hand behind my head and drew me down for a kiss. Never breaking his stride, I gasped to catch my breath as my sex throbbed and clenched him tighter. He lifted me up to reach my breast, suckling on one until my eyes rolled in the back of my head as I came.

  Then he moved to my other breast. I was so hot and wet. His arousal and our sex making me light-headed with desire and lust. I ground my hips harder against him, striving for my own release despite my legs shaking and sweat glistening across my flesh. I tweaked his nipple. His slaps of hitting me deep inside drove me to another climax.

  “Rob, yes!” I trembled as my orgasm released, leaving me putty.

  Beneath me, I felt him tense. He drove hard up into me, his orgasm coating my insides. My own sex clenching around his in delicious spasms.

  I sagged forward on my elbows, leaning over his chest.

  He stroked my hair. “Damn, Alicia, I think you killed me and took me to heaven.”

  I gently laid my hand on his chest. “I feel the same way. Rob, God, you were amazing.

  “If I said no, could we do that again?” he asked in a husky voice laced with promise.

  “As wonderful as you were and the fact I lost count as to how many orgasms I had, give me a minute to recover first.” I trailed kisses along his neck and across his collarbone. My legs were quivering from the aftershocks of lovemaking and I doubted I’d be able to walk without looking like I’d ridden on a horse all day.

  “We have all the time in the world, princess.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  “Princess?” I scoffed. I tucked myself against Rob’s side joy as relief danced in my heart.

  “You’ll need to get used to it.” He squeezed me tighter. The aroma of our lovemaking intoxicating. But exhaustion from fighting the queen of hearts and saving my men drained me. I needed food and sleep.

  The excitement of finding my grandmother and proving my folks and everyone wrong waned. Found her when everyone acted like I’d lost my mind and that she was dead. Deep inside, I knew the truth. I kissed Rob’s cheek, then his lips when he turned to me. I could spend the rest of the night snuggling with him. But I needed to talk over things with my grandmother. I’d no idea what day or time it was in our world. Was her funeral happening now? I frowned. How many people would freak out or faint when they saw her back from the dead so to speak?

  Rob nuzzled my neck, his lips were soft and sweet. “You’re thinking something,” he mumbled.

  “Yes. As much as I want to stay here with you, I’ve got to go.” Just saying the words clawed through me, shredding my heart. How was I going to do this when everything in me but responsibility was screaming the opposite?

  He let out a grumble. “Back to your world?”

  Really, I hadn’t thought about returning to my world past getting my grandmother. But how could I leave Rob, Chaz, or Hadden behind? We were linked and the bond between us was growing. Just thinking about leaving had my heart sinking into an ocean of despair. I swallowed down the painful boulder in my throat. They couldn’t come with me. Rob said he could only be a rabbit once he crossed the border. My gut told me that Chaz would be a cat of some kind, didn’t think a huge striped panther would be inconspicuous enough. Hadden though, he was a magician, not a shifter.

  “I’m not sure what I’m going to do. But I need to see my grandmother.”

  He pressed his forehead to mine. “I don’t ever want to let you go.”

  “Me neither.” I let out a shaky breath. How in the world was I going to move on with my life without them? I had college and my friends and family. Yet, I was hollow inside thinking about not seeing them again.

  “Guess we better go before they come looking for us,” he said in a tense voice full of sadness, pressing his forehead to mine.

  I stood and offered him my hand. Rising, he took it in his as we walked into the castle. I still couldn’t believe I’d defeated the queen.

  Inside the hallway, Grams stared at the tapestry of the dead queens. Rob squeezed my hand before releasing me and trailing off around the corner.

  “You’re a lot like I was at your age. Curious,” she said in a whimsical tone. “Not your mother. No matter how many times I sang songs about Underland or even snuck her in a few times, she wanted nothing to do with this world or the people in it. So I gave up trying. Lived my life raised her and her brother, then my grandchildren.”

  Knowing my mom and how she was prim and proper, I could understand how this wondrous yet upside-donnish world would upset her. “Not everyone’s the same.” I put my arm around her shoulder, taking in her familiar scent of powder and lilac. “Why did you come back here if you knew about the queen and how dangerous it was?”

  “Pride.” She sighed. “I told myself I was getting old and if I didn’t tr
y to regain our families’ crown now then no one would. The queen of hearts had been a bully for too long. And I thought I could take her since I’d read everything about this place but she still captured me and took my heart, controlling me.”

  I swallowed the lump in my throat thinking about this place versus our world. “Everyone back home thinks you're dead. They’ll totally flip out when they see you're alive.”

  “No they won’t, ’cause I’m not going back.”

  “Wait until Mom finds out where—wait, what? You have to. Mom is stricken with grief and-and your funeral is today or yesterday,” I threw up my hands, “sometime while we’ve been in this crazy world.”

  My grandmother crossed her arms and frowned at me. “And what do you think it would do to show up alive? Then in five or ten years or so when I really die, they’ll have to experience the sorrow all over again. I will have died twice in their eyes.”

  “But your family and friends, don’t they deserve to know the truth?” I asked turning away from the tapestry. Really didn’t want to ever see the queen of hearts or her likeness again.

  “What will I tell them? That I was here?” She chortled. “They’d lock me up and throw away the key.”

  “Well, just tell them you were kidnapped but escaped.”

  She arched an eyebrow at me. “Then the police and a detective would get involved. And I can’t say I had amnesia cause where have I been all this time then? Or that I was in a coma either. No, the best thing for me to do is stay here and help those who’ve only known hatred and control from a tyrant.”

  My heart stilled. How was I to explain my absence? I had no idea how long I’d been gone in our world compared to this one. Earlier, I was so sure that Grams would want to return with me that I hadn’t contemplated the fact she’d want to stay.

  “What about you? Will you return?” she asked.

  Her question felt like an arrow sinking into my chest. How could I decide? I loved this place but it was still new and unfamiliar. Then I’d bonded with three amazing men here. Back home I had my friends and family and they’d be so worried about me. My mom was probably freaking out about what had happened to me. My gut clenched at what my missing must be doing to her.