by Liz Adams
“Oh, very well.” The queen waved her hand as if to say move along. “Go on.”
The orderly announced, “Bring in the first witness!”
Two flat soldiers, the Eight of Hearts and the Nine of Hearts, escorted the elder of the village in. Rabbit whispered to Alice. “This isn’t very comfortable.” He patted her hips.
Alice had an idea. “You wanted to know what a pussy feels like?” She grinned at him.
“Yes?”
“Well, I’ll show you something that feels better than that!”
Alice discreetly lifted her dress, pulled her panties down, and sat on Rabbit, skin on skin.
The queen asked the elder, “What’s your testimony?”
“I saw the Jack in Rabbit’s cottage,” the old man said. “And it wasn’t even his cottage. It was Rabbit’s.”
Alice reached behind her and rubbed Rabbit’s cock. She had to see. Had to know for sure if this was the only way she could climax. His length hardened hot in her hand.
The queen said, “Jury, what’s your verdict?”
“Um,” the orderly said, “there is more evidence to view, your Majesty.”
“Yes, yes,” the queen said. “Call the next witness.”
“Bring in the next witness!” shouted the orderly.
The soldiers escorted the elder out and brought in Caterpillar.
Alice brought Rabbit’s tip to her ass. “It’s as moist as a tongue,” she said. His length became slippery and the head slid right in.
Alice sucked in her breath. She clenched around him and felt him stretch her entrance.
“Alright, Caterpillar,” the queen said. “Present your evidence.”
“I was sitting on my mushroom at the time the tarts were stolen,” he said.
“So?” the queen said.
“So the thief clearly was not me. And since the Jack of Hearts is also not me, the thief must be the Jack.”
“Yes!” the queen said. “That proof is solid.”
Alice ignored the ridiculous testimonies of the witnesses. She was just glad to know Caterpillar found his true self. Now to find her own. She focused on relaxing, letting herself inch down on Rabbit’s cock, getting closer and closer to becoming fully seated in his lap. Rabbit groaned. Alice reached all the way down, her rim clenching, pulsing, throbbing around his hot shaft. And yet, something still wasn’t as good as when the hatter did it to her. What was missing?
The trial continued its meaningless course, as Alice tried to increase her arousal by moving up and down Rabbit. She felt his cock pushing into her. She lifted herself up, then down, his cock pulling out, pushing in, stretching that narrow secret part of her. But it wasn’t enough.
“This isn’t working,” she whispered to Rabbit. She sat up, releasing his length completely out of her.
Rabbit wrapped his fist around his cock and worked on himself. “It was! It was!” Alice stood to walk away and wait until the queen was done with her duties. Alice could ask the queen after the trial how to get back home.
The queen said, “What is your verdict?”
The orderly said, “Remove his hood so he can be properly addressed by his jury.”
The Eight of Hearts pulled the black cloth from the Jack of Hearts. Alice recognized his face immediately.
She gasped. “No!”
Chapter 22
It was the hanged man, his gorgeous body now hideously flattened. Alice ran to him and lifted his now clean-shaven chin with delicate fingers to peer into his eyes. Without his facial hair, she recognized he was more than just the hanged man. He was Jack. Her Jack. Under his perfect mop of dark and sweaty hair, tired blackness bagged beneath his half-shut eyes. His lips were cracked from dryness, a desperate tongue failing to revive them.
“Hanged man,” she whispered.
He awoke at her voice, and seemed to notice his surroundings. With his gaze into her eyes, Alice felt him penetrate her soul.
“Alice.” His dry, scratchy voice cracked through his smile. “My big beauty. Ly muv.”
He seemed to have forgotten all the horrible accusations around him. He put all his attention on her. His recognition of who she was, as if nothing else mattered to him except her, made Alice swoon.
“Jack. My dear hanged man.” Alice wanted to keep his mind off the trial. “I never had a chance to ask you. How did you know my name?”
“You’re the only woman…Your warm love…for my hold cart.”
Alice clutched fast to him, holding him as tight as she could.
“Stop that at once!” the queen shouted. “Get that woman away from the Jack!”
Two soldiers clamped their beefy hands on Alice’s arms and began dragging her away from the hanged man.
“No!” Alice cried. What could she do? “I know where your tarts are! I know who has them!”
“Wait!” shouted the queen. She looked at Alice with stern eyes. “Where are they?”
“They’re in that shed over there,” Alice pointed to the nearby wooden hut. “And Queen, the man inside who stole the tarts?” Alice gave the queen a firm look. “He also took your rose.”
The queen’s mouth opened, and then closed into a thin-lipped grimace. Angry red welts filled her cheeks. The queen stood and stepped down from her throne.
Holding her dress up off the ground, the queen marched towards the shed. “It’s like I have fists of steel.” Her hands turned to metal and she disappeared into the shed.
In moments, Alice heard the duke cry out.
Alice turned to the Jack of Hearts. It was ludicrous that the Jack was suspected of crimes he could never commit. He only wants to love. And the one he decides to love is his choice. Jack’s choice. No matter who he chooses to love, love is never a crime.
She wrapped her arms around him, and held him tight. “Jack, I’m sorry,” she said. “I should have known who you really loved, who you really needed. Now I do, Jack. I do.”
She held him close. He felt so thin, wasted away in her arms as if she were holding herself.
“Alice.”
“I’m sorry,” Alice said.
“Alice!”
Alice opened her eyes to a blinding light. And was someone hammering her head? No. It just really hurt. There was someone. In the light.
Alice could make out Jack’s face over her. Over her? How did she get to be on the ground?
Jack smiled. “Sleeping beauty awakens!”
“Finally,” Carol’s voice said. Alice noticed Carol was sitting beside her. Jack was still shirtless wearing only his pants and suspenders.
Alice tried to prop herself up.
“Ow!” She clutched her head to stop it from spinning. “What happened?”
“You fell,” Jack said. “Hit your head pretty hard.”
“I did? How long was I out?”
“About two minutes.”
Alice sat upright.
Ow.
Alice lay back down.
“Take it easy, Alice,” Carol said. “If you fall unconscious again, Lois will hate me for not taking better care of you.”
Was that wonderland all a dream? Alice struggled at remembering everything that had happened in her dream. Oh my Lord! I was such a slut! She felt woozy and the sky was spinning. I hope I have another dream like that.
The hum of the family car arriving at the manor sounded in the distance.
“There’s Lois with your parents,” Carol said. “Are you okay, Alice?”
“I’m fine.”
“Good, because I have to go. Alice, I love you, I care about you, and you are the worst study partner ever. I need Lois if I’m ever going to pass my history class.” Carol stood up and ran to the car.
Alice and Jack laughed as they watched her go.
“She’s an amazing woman, isn’t she?” Alice slowly got up off the ground.
“Sure is.” Jack helped her stand.
“And funny.” She brushed off the dirt from her dress.
“Uh, huh.”
“And very pretty, too.”
Jack examined Alice’s face. “Uh…yeah,” he said slowly.
Time to come clean. Alice struggled to find the words. “Jack, I saw how you looked at her, and…”
Jack’s quirked a small smile.
“I just want you to know that I think Carol will be a wonderful companion for you.”
“Alice,” Jack shook his head. “What are you talking about?”
“Face it. She’s funnier than me, she’s prettier than me,…”
Jack laughed. “If I had a choice between you and Carol, it would be you. Hands down.”
Alice gulped.
“The way you get me riled up with all your flirting,” Jack smirked. “And seeing you last night…”
Alice blushed.
Jack gave a deep, throaty laugh. “I’ll remember that for the rest of my life.” His expression turned to a darker place. “But there’s no way a gardener could be with someone as upper-class as you. I just can’t afford to give you all the things you need.”
She felt dizzy. Was that why he never returned her advances? Because he thought he wasn’t rich enough?
“You really like me?”
“Are you kidding? I’ve been admiring you ever since you made me that celery soup when I was sick three years ago.” He smiled. “You said, ‘I can’t have my favorite gardener in bed all day. There are bushes to trim! Plants to prune! How will I get the chance to interfere with your work if you aren’t working?’ ”
A tear tickled Alice’s cheek. Jack used a thumb to wipe it away.
Alice giggled. “It was split-pea.”
He gently brushed her hair out of her eyes with his big hand, dirty from gardening. “But I’m not good enough for you.”
Alice growled. “Jack, I’m the one decides who I like, no one else.”
He nodded. It seemed like he was weighing her words. “You say that, but…” Jack looked as though he were making a decision.
“Jack. I want you and—”
“Good.” Jack stepped closer, resting his hands on her waist. His lips were upon hers, her body turning to soup. Of her favorite flavor.
This is real, Alice told herself. This is true. Not a dream.
Jack tugged her closer to deepen the kiss. His tongue tasted her lips. His big, firm hand massaged her neck.
Alice pushed away. “Wait,” she said. “What about Carol?”
Jack smiled and ran his fingers through her hair. “I don’t think Carol will mind.”
“But—”
“Follow me,” Jack said. He took her hand and led her to the front of the house.
Jack motioned for Alice to crouch down and keep quiet. They crept into the bushes by the front windows. Large, floor-to-ceiling window panels revealed the dining room. They inched closer to the window and peered inside. Alice saw Carol sitting next to Lois at the dining room table, facing out but not seeing Jack and Alice through the window. The way the dining room floor was waist-high to Alice and Jack, they had a clear view of under the table. Lois’s hand was exploring between Carol’s legs, and Carol’s hand lay on Lois’s bare leg.
“My sister’s a lesbian?!”
Jack smiled.
“How did I not know my sister’s a lesbian?” Alice grabbed Jack by the arms. “That is so cool!”
“Come on. Let’s go.”
“So that’s why Lois has been spending all her time with Carol!” Alice whispered.
“Come. Time for me to make you dinner.” He grinned. “Back at my place.”
Chapter 23
Jack lived in a small cottage, separate from the servant’s quarters. Alice knew that Jack normally ate his meals in the kitchen with the other servants. But tonight was different.
“Sit tight. I’ll be right back,” he said.
Alice sat alone on his bed and looked around the tiny room. The walls were bare, the floor naked. There was only a bed and a small, plain table and chair. A bedside table with a short candle and candleholder, and a deck of cards.
The sun set. The shadows grew longer and ran their fingers over Alice. She shivered. To pass the time, she turned the cards over to see their faces. It was a tarot deck with colorful illustrations of cups, swords, pentacles, and wands. Alice shuffled through and found what she was looking for. The hanged man. He was naked, except for the loincloth. She turned the card upside down. The face was too small to really tell what sort of face he had.
Alice set the cards down, and watched the door. There was still no sign of Jack. Darkness was beginning to slip in, but she decided to keep the light off.
She looked down at the bed covers and ran her hands along it. The coverlet wasn’t as soft as the covers from her own bed. She picked up the pillow. It also wasn’t as soft, but she supposed Jack was used to it. She checked the door again. No sound. Alice put the pillow to her face, closed her eyes, and inhaled. She could smell his musky male scent.
The door opened.
Alice threw the pillow to its place on the bed and blurted out, “Nothing!”
“What?” Jack asked.
“What?” Alice asked.
Jack stood still and stared. He looked bemused. He held a pot of food in each hand with a napkin tucked under his arm.
“Will I still be hungry enough for dinner back at the manor?”
“Don’t worry,” Jack said. “What I brought you won’t satisfy your hunger…for food.”
Alice laughed, butterflies in her belly.
Jack placed everything on the table and moved the table to Alice so that the bed functioned as her chair. He pulled the one chair over for himself.
Alice admired how his muscles rippled in his arms and chest as he set the table. He caught her admiring him. He smiled. She giggled. Her face felt hot.
Jack pulled matches from his pants pocket, reaching down to that place Alice often dreamed about. He lit the candle. The shadows recoiled to dance on the walls.
Jack picked up the napkin and climbed behind Alice on the bed.
“What are you doing?” Alice laughed.
“Keep your head straight and close your eyes.”
Alice did as he asked, and felt the fabric of the napkin blindfold her. Jack’s hands rested on her shoulders, massaging them. Alice dropped her head and sighed. He erased the tension in her neck and the worries from her mind.
But he stopped too soon. Then again, Alice guessed anytime a massage ends is too soon. She felt the bed quake and heard Jack climbing off the bed. Alice opened her eyes behind the fabric.
“No peeking,” Jack said.
She closed her eyes again. It didn’t matter. All she could see with her eyes open was down her nose.
She heard the chair scrape against the floor as though he were moving to sit close to her. The ting of a pot opened.
Silence.
“Open your mouth,” Jack said.
“What are you going to do?” Alice laughed again. Her heart sped up in anticipation.
“Trust me,” he said.
Silence.
Alice smiled and cautiously opened her mouth. She felt something cold at her lips and touched her tongue to it.
Chocolate!
Dripping from – she gently bit down – a strawberry.
The juices filled her mouth. She shivered, and bit, and chewed.
“Another?” Jack asked softly. His voice rumbled and warmed her belly.
“Yes. Please.”
Silence.
“Try this,” he said. “And don’t bite.”
Alice laughed. “Jack!”
“Trust me,” he said.
She opened her mouth and tasted a drop of cinnamon pudding on her tongue. She closed her lips. Found her lips wrapped around two of Jack’s fingers.
She swirled her tongue around his fingers, licking off the spicy pudding.
Jack groaned.
Alice brought her hands to his and guided his fingers deeper into her mouth.
Jack growled. He removed his fingers. What would come n
ext?
Alice faked a sigh.
“What is it?” he asked.
“I know what I really want,” she replied with a sing-song voice, “but I didn’t bring my hairbrush.”
Suddenly, his lips were planted upon hers. His kiss was urgent, passionate, hungry. When he broke from the kiss, Alice ripped off the blindfold.
She grinned at the pot of strawberries covered in chocolate. “My turn.”
“You’re going to blindfold me?”
Alice shook her head no.
She picked up one of the strawberries and placed it between her teeth. With a single finger she gave Jack the “come hither” gesture. Jack moved towards Alice like a panther. Her heartbeat quickened.
Jack placed a gentle kiss on her lips, taking the strawberry into his mouth. Alice wrapped her arms around him, sharing with him her lips, her taste, her love.
She completed her kiss and opened her eyes to see him gulping down the strawberry.
“Delicious,” he said warmly, his eyes sparkled like diamonds. “Stand up.”
Alice did. Jack spun her so her back was to him. He lifted her hair to expose the nape of her neck. With that one gesture, she felt completely naked
Wasn’t that strange?
His hands were firm on her shoulders. She could feel his eager breath. Her nipples hardened.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered.
Alice took in a breath and held it, as though fighting to believe his words. She felt a lump lodged in her throat. Jack undid the buttons along the back of her dress. Her spine tingled at the exposure. Jack kissed the nape of her neck, another further down, and further still. She shivered in delight, releasing a moan.
“So beautiful.”
Beautiful? Did Jack really think she was beautiful? Or was it just for her to enjoy the moment. Whatever he truly thought, his words had an effect on her. She felt her pussy become wet.
Jack pushed down the sleeves of her dress, slowly lowering her dress down her arms. He placed soft kisses down to the base of her spine. Then he caressed the fabric against her legs as he slid her dress down. It bundled at her ankles.
“Beautiful.”
Alice took it in, honoring the tightness in her stomach. Yes, it was still hard to believe him.