by ERIN BEDFORD
"What could ever be so wrong, dear Alice? You never drink my tea." I glanced up from my cup long enough to see Hatter's eyes. They had turned silver from the effects of the tea and narrowed over the edge of his cup.
"Nothing." Letting out a melancholy sigh, I leaned back in my seat. The only ones left were Hatter and me. The Hare, the Doormouse, and even Twinkle had long gone to bed. Well, when I say bed, I meant that they were passed out in various locations around the table. I was pretty sure the feet sticking out from beneath the blood red table cloth belonged to Twinkle, the cheerful little bat. No one left was cheerful.
Hatter sat his cup down. The sound of it clinking against its dish made Hare snort in his sleep, one ragged ear flopped over his face as he rolled over. I huffed a smile.
Letting out a dark chuckle, Hatter rolled his head around, getting the kinks out. "Now, that's a lot of nonsense if I ever heard any. Nothing? There's no such thing as nothing because there is always something. And if there's always something, then the thoughts twisting around in that pretty head of yours are hardly nothing."
His tidbit of nonsense actually made quite a lot of sense for once. However, it wasn't enough to make me spill my secrets to the gorgeous mad man. Not so easily.
"Have you ever been in love?" I asked, pouring myself another cup of tea. I’d learned quite quickly that Hatter was the only one allowed to pour the tea. The others almost bit my hand off when I had tried. However, now they were asleep, and Hatter seemed perfectly content to let me serve myself.
I lifted the cup to my lips, letting the warm, bitter yet fruity liquid fill me and settle in my stomach. Each sip made my head foggy, and those oh so troublesome thoughts floated away. I could see how they could become addicted.
Hatter smiled deviously. "Of course I have. One should fall in love often. No less than twice a week, at least that’s what I always say."
Frowning at him, I placed my elbow on the table and put my face on my palm. If my mother saw me, how she would have fainted out of pure embarrassment. However, she was not here, so her nagging at my manners were a moot point. Hatter, on the other hand, was and had brought up a very interesting question.
"Fall in love? Twice a week? What of marriage?"
Hatter ran his fingers through his long silky hair and winked lazily at me. "If one must, but I never seen the worry about a piece of paper. It's not a magic spell that keeps those we love from betraying us or leaving." He spoke as if he were an expert on the topic, and for all I knew, he might be.
I sniffed and shifted in my seat. "Quite right."
Hatter pushed back from the table, adjusting his red waist coat and blue jacket as he waltzed over to where I sat. His fingers trailed along the table top, his eyes locked onto me as he moved. Stopping at my side, he leaned a hip against the table. Curious eyes stared down at me, making me squirm.
Maybe it was the tea or maybe it was just Hatter himself, Fae tricks and all, but my mouth watered, and my blood pulsed between my thighs at the scent of him this close. It was a mixture of tobacco, tea leaves, and something that was completely him. Lewis never caused such a reaction in me, no matter how much he made me feel wanted before his slip up.
"What makes this Alice think of marriage? Have a manly caller waiting for your hand?" Hatter brushed a strand of my blonde hair back and behind my ear, his fingers tingling as they traced the edge of my face.
Ducking my head to hide my wanton expression, I fiddled with my tea cup. "I'm engaged, practically married already, to a man who I have just recently discovered has been using me for my tales of Wonderland" - my gaze jerked up to see Hatter's eyes burning with fury - "to write a bloody fucking book!"
Hatter did not reprimand me for speaking of my fiancé in such a manner or for cursing. I could blame the twins’ influence, but really, it was my own fault. My own anger billowed up and fell out of my mouth before I could think better of it.
Hatter didn’t seem to mind though, not as my family would have. However, Hatter’s actions were much worse. Reputation ruining, even. Well, not that those mattered here.
"No man in their right mind would use a woman for such a frivolous thing. If you were mine…" His hand cupped my chin, lifting it as his face lowered, his breath hot against my lips. I could smell the tea on his breath, and it only made me want him more.
“If you were mine,” he reiterated, “I'd splay you across my table while I ravished you. Nothing is sweeter and gives a greater high than what lies between those milky thighs." His eyes dipped down to my lap as if he could see through the very clothes I wore.
His gaze and his words burned me to the core, and my thighs slid against each other, viciously trying to subdue the wanton need there. Now, I knew the tea was beginning to work because I wasn't quite so outraged as I should be, could be, oh, there's the rhyming again, and I could only think of one thing to say in return to Hatter's salacious words.
"I wish you would."
Those silver eyes darkened, and his hand appeared in front of me. I didn’t even hesitate before my palm slid into his warm one. He hauled me to my feet and spun us around. My back hit the table, and then his hands were on my hips, lifting me up and onto the table. My breath came out quickly now having never done anything like this before. Carban had been my first kiss, for goodness’ sake.
“Breathe,” Hatter murmured, taking my face in between his hands. “Just breathe.” His face came closer to mine and my eyelashes fluttered closed, my lips parted in anticipation of his kiss.
That never came.
Hatter’s nose brushed along my cheek and nose, the barest of touches. One hand released my face and cupped the back of my neck, tilting my head back. His mouth dropped to my neck, where he placed hot, open mouth kiss against my pulse, sucking on the skin there.
My mouth dropped open, and I gasped at the sensation. My legs spread of their own accord allowing Hatter to move in closer to me. I didn’t care that we weren’t alone or that the twins could show up at any moment. The only thing that mattered was what Hatter offered.
I’d long since stopped believing that I cared anything for Lewis other than being a way out of my brother’s house and my family’s hair. Now that I knew he was nothing but a filthy liar, I didn’t care one inch about what he might think or feel. As far as I was concerned, the marriage wasn’t going to happen. Not now. Not ever.
“Stop thinking, dear Alice.” Hatter lifted his head from my neck, his eyes locking onto mine. “Let me take care of you as I always promised I would.”
This time when he leaned in, his mouth pressed to mine. My hands lifted off the table and tangled into his hair, much like how our tongues tangled together. Hatter tasted of tea and dark promises, ones I’d forgotten about until his mouth touched mine.
“Will you marry me, Mr. Hatter?” a child version of myself innocently asked to the older man, grinning behind her tea cup.
“Marriage? Why would you think of such a thing, little one?” Hatter grinned at me as his friends laughed. “And please, call me Mercury for the last time. Hatter is my profession, not my name.” He sniffed, adjusting his tie.
Giggling at his strange behavior, the younger me shook her head. “Everyone gets married. My mother said so. She said I’d have to get married when I was older and that I should forget all my make-believe nonsense, but you’re not make believe. You’re right here.”
“Quite right, I am.” Hatter inclined his head with a superior sniff. “And as for marriage, I never marry my betters. You will need to grow a few feet and sin a time or two before I could ever consider tying the knot.”
“Promise?”
“Have I ever lied?” Hatter arched a brow, and Hare made a disbelieving sound, sending a cup flying through the air. The memory ended with us laughing and spilling tea everywhere.
I pulled back from Hatter with a gasp. Hatter stared at me with curious eyes as I traced the lines of his face with my fingertips. “Have I sinned enough for you, Mercury? Or am I still your better?”
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br /> A pleased sort of expression crossed his face, and his hands slid underneath my skirt, wrapping around my thighs. He dragged me across the table, pressing his hard length against the apex of my thighs.
“Oh, Alice. You will always be the better of us, except now I have no reason to not keep my promise.”
My skirt bunched up at my hips as he kissed me once more, his fingers finding the undergarments the twins had given me. Releasing my lips, he dragged them down, and I lifted my hips allowing him to take them off. He brought them up to his face, breathing them in as he met my gaze.
“I’ll just put these somewhere safe.” He smirked and tucked them into the pocket of his jacket.
My hands dropped back down to the table, and I leaned back in anticipation. Warm calloused hands moved up the top of my thighs, thumbs pressing on the insides and urging me to open my legs further. Hatter suddenly shot forward and kissed me so deeply that I felt it in my toes, but then, just as quick as it happened, he released me.
With a wicked flash of his teeth, he dropped down before me. I watched him intently, unsure but exhilarated to find out what he was going to do. His breath teased long my skin, and he pressed a kissed to the inside of my thigh and then the same thing to the other one. My core pulsated for attention.
The first swipe of his tongue made my hips jump off the table, causing him to chuckle. The laugh reverberated through my heat, and I let out a needy moan. Not waiting for me to prepare, he kissed between my legs the same way he had kissed my mouth not a few moments ago. My eyelids squeezed shut, my mind completely going blank from the intense pleasure Hatter was inducing.
“Don’t mind us,” Coby snapped, my eyes flying open to see him and Carban standing a few feet away. “We’ve just been searching all over Tundrey Woods for you.”
I gasped as Hatter flicked his tongue against me, and I pulled on his hair, trying to get him to stop. “Hatter. Hatter. The twins. They’re… ah!” I cried out, my mouth falling open and a low moan ripping through me, the hand on his head no longer trying to stop him but push him closer. My body shuddered and relented to Hatter’s ministrations despite the twins watching us. “Oh, Lord. Oh, God. I’m… ah… Mercury!”
While I tried to recover, Hatter stood and drew my dress back down. He turned slightly, pulled a handkerchief from his jacket pocket, and wiped the sides of his lips. “Ah, my apologies. I didn’t know we had company. Please, have some tea.”
I let out a shuddering laugh and fell back on the table with a winced. “Ouch.” I reached behind my back and grabbed the thing that had stabbed me. Lifting it up, I gave the twins an ironic grin. “Fork.”
CARBAN STARED AT ME as if he were just seeing me for the first time, kind of like he did right after he had kissed me. It made me feel pleased and exposed all at the same time.
I shifted off the edge of the table and pulled my skirt down over my legs. "Where have you been?"
Coby snorted. "Like you care?" He gestured a hand between Hatter and me. "Here I've been, trying to get a lowly kiss, and Merc gets all the goods."
Mercury let out a pleased chuckle, wrapping his arm around my waist. "What can I say? You just don't have what it takes to satisfy my girl."
His hand caressed my face before I pushed him away with a scowl. "Stop gloating. I'm mad at you." When he only laughed, I smacked him on the arm. "It's not funny."
"My apologies, my love." Hatter captured my hand before I could hit him again, pressing it to his mouth. "You just taste so good. I couldn't stop."
I rolled my eyes, fixing my hair and moving toward the twins. "Please ignore him. He's had too much tea."
Carban nodded stiffly but Coby gave me a longing sigh. "I really was looking for you too. When the smoke covered us, I couldn't find you, and then, the next thing I know, I'm back in the woods and some little brown man named Mop is leading me here."
"Mop." Hatter supplied with a wink and a salacious slide of his tongue across his teeth. "The brownie."
My forehead scrunched down at the word but then shrugged. Better to know what he was then keep calling him the little man. "Anyway, I've been waiting for you here, but now that you're here, we can go."
"Are you sure you don't just want to stay here with Mercury?" Carban cocked his head to the side, a bit of a bite to his words. "You seemed more comfortable with him."
Oh, my. Was Carban jealous? It flattered me and confused me at the same time. Sure, we'd kissed, but I had thought it to be for the sake of the guards. Did he truly think it meant more?
Before I had a chance to ask him, Coby nudged his brother in the ribs. "Why are you complaining? At least you got to kiss her. I've gotten jack squat. Coby swaggered over to me, lacing his fingers with mine and bringing them up to his lips. "Though I'm a forgiving Fae after all."
Flushing and giggling at his teasing, I withdrew my hand from him and patted him on the cheek. "When you do something worth earning a kiss, then perhaps you will receive one."
Coby gaped and pointed at his brother. "He didn't do anything to deserve his kiss. What about him?"
I lifted a nonchalant shoulder. "That was different. Life or death situations are the exception."
Letting out a disgusted snort, Carban crossed his arms over his chest, giving a pointed look at Hatter. "You must have been in real turmoil then."
Pursing my lips, I placed my fists on my hips. "That was different as well. We've met before and..." I was going to blame it on the tea, but I knew very well what I had been doing and did it, anyway. "Mercury and I…"
"We're engaged," Hatter supplied, wrapping a happy arm around my shoulders.
"Again?" Coby gaffed. "Isn't one fiancé enough for you?"
I lifted a finger and shook my head. "Technically, Mercury and I were engaged before Lewis even knew I existed so that predates. It cannot be helped that I didn't remember it."
"Sure, keep telling yourself that," Coby teased and then pulled on his pants and shifted in place. "Well, engaged or not. I still would like that kiss." He wagged his brows at me, and I laughed.
Carban only scowled harder.
"Well, I certainly do not object, but that would be up to my dear Alice." Hatter’s arm wrapped around my shoulders, reached out, and cupped my face turning it up to him. He pressed his mouth mine, kissing me so deeply that my knees sagged beneath me. When he released me, we were both breathless. He traced the lines of my lips with a soft expression. "My heart has always been at her mercy, and any scrap of her love would be enough for me."
My face heated, and I swore it went down to my toes. No one had ever said such lovely words to me before. Lewis had definitely never expressed such love and devotion. I'd thought just having him listen to my ramblings was enough, but I'd been so very wrong.
"Enough about kissing and such things, or we'll never get out of here." Carban unfolded his arms and turned from the table, giving us his back. "Come or don't. I no longer care."
Discouraged by Carban's words, I glanced at Coby and Hatter before following after him. "I still have to help you with the wedding. I wanted to meet the princess and prince. Also, I..." My hand reached in my pocket where the key to the door leaving the Underground sat. "I need..."
"To get home." Hatter finished for me, a sad smile on his face. "I understand. It's not as if you could stay, anyway. Very well, I'll escort you. A fleeting love is better than none at all."
Before I could ask him what he meant, Hatter followed after Carban, leaving me and Coby. I turned my pleading gaze to him, begging him to understand or to explain. I wasn't sure which.
Coby shook his head, a forlorn emotion in his eyes. "You can't have it both ways, Ally." He patted me on the shoulder and then took my hand. "Keep close. This time, we may not be able to find you."
I clutched onto Coby's hand as if I might lose them at any moment. My mind and heart were at war with each other.
On one hand, I knew I needed to go home. I had people to answer to. Namely a wedding to cancel and a face to slap, that face be
ing Lewis. Then I would be able to come back here and be with Hatter and the Twins.
The Twins. Where did they fit into my heart? I'd only just met them, and while I did tease Coby some, I did like them quite a bit. I couldn't see myself never seeing them again. Whether I would allow them as close as Hatter was another matter.
In the human world, one man married one woman, and that was the end of it. Many had lovers of course, but they were very hush hush or, if the public found out, quite frowned upon. Not that I ever really cared what society thought. I'd already destroyed any chances I had to fit in a long time ago.
So, what did it matter now if I choose to give my heart to more than one man? If I stayed in the Underground, no one back home would even know. They wouldn't be able to tell me it was wrong or too scandalous for polite society. I could have everything and not ever have to worry about what they thought again.
Then again…
What of my family? While my mother did frustrate me at times, she was still my mother. I couldn't completely write her off, could I? The same went for my siblings. I didn't want to forget about them, especially not Rhoda. She and I were two peas in a pod. We'd always been there for one another. I couldn't leave her to the world's cruel clutches. Perhaps I could take her with me. Bring her back here? Or even visit!
I'd come and gone before. Why should now be any different? Why couldn't I come back and forth like before?
Tired of my own inner fight, I asked as much.
Hatter turned from where he was whispering with Carban. "Things have changed quite a bit in the Underground from when you were a child, dear Alice. We do not have the freedom we once had."
"Why not?" I glanced down at Coby's hand, then to Hatter and reached a hand out. My heart hitched when he instantly slowed and took it. I started to release Coby's hand, but he held tight, raising a brow at me to argue. Not bothered by it, I allowed them both to hold my hand as we moved in step, only Carban slightly ahead.
"The woods here, for example," Hatter explained, gestured around us. "When you were a child, you were able to travel through it safely to me any time you wish. But now..." He moved his head from side to side. "Now, I'm surprised you didn't come across something even worse in their depths before you came across Mop."