Chapter Eleven

 

 

It took another two weeks for Kyran to recover fully. During that time, I learned more about him and the other kings. Kyran, despite his rugged appearance (which was becoming more intimidating every day), was a romantic. I suppose he'd been born to be. Each of the men had taken to courting me in their own ways, regardless of the fact that our relationship was secured. We were still becoming familiar with each other.

Jaxon's idea of winning a woman was showing her his prowess. So, I sparred daily with him, training with the Vorpal sword and my magics. Our training sessions inevitably ended with us on the mat, sweaty and panting for other reasons than swordplay. I loved our time together; it was always an adventure with Jax, and he was the most inventive when it came to new positions.

Draven wined and dined me. I have no idea how he found such luxuries in Underland, but when we spent time together alone, he always had a lavish meal prepared and a gift waiting for me. I had a jewelry box full of treasure, and the man had only been wooing me for a few weeks. And always, after draping me in jewels and satisfying my hunger, he'd fulfill me in other, more erotic ways. Sometimes he wouldn't even wait until the meal was over... and he always had me leave the jewelry on.

Bevan was more subtle in his affections. Neither he nor Kyran showed any jealousy over my being with the other two kings first. In fact, Bevan was happy to have his chance at an intimate interlude between us. For our first date, he took me out of Underland and up to one of the lookout stations. It was a perch, high in a Wonderland oak, just big enough for us to stretch out on and look up at the stars. He had brought a jug of wine with him, and we drank it together and talked about what we wanted our lives to be.

“I want a child to share my knowledge with,” Bevan said to me. His hand crept into mine. “Do you want children?”

“I don't know,” I said honestly. “I wouldn't be against the idea, but I'm not sure how to raise a child. My uncle did a rather unusual job of it with me.”

“And you turned out brilliantly,” he noted. “There's no correct way to raise children. We all do what we feel is right. When we're children ourselves, we think that our parents know everything, that they have wisdom which others don't possess; the secret of guiding and protecting us. But, really, they're just following their hearts.”

“I think I can manage to follow my heart,” I purred.

Bevan's eyes were even darker in the moonlight, and his face seemed sweeter; a fairy prince with sleek, alien features that somehow remained masculine. He'd pulled his hair back into a low club; appropriate, I suppose. It made his face come into stark relief, and his beauty even more evident. Bevan rolled to his side and angled over me, laying a hand gently on my cheek. We stared at each other, and I will forever remember his shadowed face above me, half-lit by moonlight.

Bevan drew his hand slowly down my throat, then over my chest, skimming my breasts, all while holding my gaze. I watched his lips part, his breath coming faster, as his hand undid the bodice laces of my dress. He parted the material and finally looked down on me. Bevan's face went soft as he lightly trailed his palms over my skin, hardening my nipples with little rubs. Then he lifted his hand and made a grasping motion. A flowering bough flew into his grip. It was a thin branch, bending beneath the weight of little white flowers that had a sweetly delicate scent. He brushed the blooms across my flesh, around my breasts and up the column of my throat. I sighed in delight, the scent surrounding me as shivers raced over my skin.

Then he tossed the branch into the air, and it hovered above us, spinning. I watched it in surprise, and Bevan took the opportunity to slide between my legs, easing my skirts up around my waist. I looked down at him with a smile, and he returned it, holding my gaze again as he lowered his mouth to me. As he brought me to ecstasy in an agonizingly slow manner, petals drifted over us like falling stars.

Later, when I laid limp from fulfilled desire, Bevan eased up above me and finally brought us together with one swift plunge. I cried out, and he moaned into my throat. Then Bevan began to move with deliberate thrusts, driving to the hilt with each one. I wrapped my legs around his hips, and he smiled wickedly as he slipped his hands beneath my back and pulled. I held onto his sleek biceps as he lifted me up and sat us back so that I was spread over his lap. We embraced each other, kissing languidly as Bevan rocked me forward and back onto himself. The motion was just enough to drive him deeper and rub me right where I needed it. The pleasure built up steadily until we began to glow golden, and as our bond solidified into something unbreakable, we cried out in unison to the heavens.

That had been romantic, but Kyran was the King of Hearts, and he had romance in his blood. Romance and other things.

He sent me gifts, but Kyran's gifts were different than Draven's. Kyran went above ground to pick me flowers, and then he'd write me a poem about how my beauty outshone them. He'd run me a bath and leave a note with a glass of wine beside it, saying that he wanted nothing more than to take care of me. He'd leave me a book outside my door, and later tell me that the heroine had reminded him of me. He was good, damn good at the romantic stuff. So much so that I never even suspected the way he'd seduce me.

Since he was still recovering, I didn't think that Kyran could fully make love to me yet, but I still wanted to spend time with him. So, I accepted his invitation to visit him one evening, just to keep him company and talk privately with him. He answered the door in a velvet robe and a grin, and after he had shut the door behind me, he handed me a matching garment.

“Are we going to... ?” I looked him over.

Kyran's face was full and healthy, as handsome as I'd expected it to become. His body had begun to fill out too, but it seemed as if it had a bit to go before it was as robust as it should be. In short; he looked better, but not well enough for something as strenuous as sex.

“There is more to making love than a basic joining,” Kyran purred. “Go into the bathroom and put the robe on. I want to savor unwrapping you.”

“Unwrapping me?” I lifted a brow at him as I headed into the bathroom.

When I came out, clad only in the velvet, Kyran had a glass of wine ready for me and a blanket spread before the fireplace. A fire was a luxury in Underland, where ever chimney had to be carved up into a vent that led above ground, but Kyran was a king now, and he was entitled to the best. He helped me down onto the blanket and then sat beside me.

“Will you let me feed you?” He asked me.

I just nodded.

A plate of berries was set on a tray before the fire. There were some candles burning behind it, as well as a few bottles; one was definitely wine. Kyran picked up a berry and brought it to my mouth. I bit it in half, and he rubbed the other half over my lips, coating me with juice. Then he licked it off. Slowly.

“I love your lips,” he said. “Full and as ripe as this fruit. And your eyes, so expressive. I can almost feel your desire just by looking into your eyes.”

“I feel yours too.”

“Odd, isn't it?” He asked me. “We've only known each other a short time, and yet I've never felt closer to another person.”

“Yes, exactly,” I agreed. “I know you–I can feel the love you have for your kingdom, and the ache that your brother's death left. I know you're honorable and strong”–I trailed a hand over his sleeve–“when you're at your best. I know that you respect your magic and want nothing more than to heal Wonderland. But I don't know how you take your tea, or if you even drink it.”

“And I know that you have a deep well of passion inside you,” Kyran said. “I feel your love and gratitude for your uncle, but also the loneliness that you experienced throughout childhood. I sense that the return of your memories and the release of your magic has altered you, but in the best ways. You're stronger, more confident, and determined to right the injustice that has been done here. But I have no idea what your favorite color is, or if you prefer a sunrise to a sunset.”

“Those are all answers that time will bring us,” I whispered as I memorized the angles of his cheekbones and the burst of green spikes over his golden irises. “We can find pleasure in getting to know each other.”

“But for tonight, let us find pleasure in more physical ways,” Kyran said softly. “I can feel each turn of the card, each king laid out before you, and I know that we need this. Our magic needs this final piece to be placed so that your deck is truly complete.”

“So,” I leaned forward until my lips hovered just above his and kissed my words across his mouth, “you want my deck to be complete? That's all?”

Kyran closed his eyes and breathed my words in, then the tip of his tongue darted out and tasted my lips.

“There is so much that I want from you, Alice,” Kyran said. “I want to help you win back Wonderland, but I also want you for myself. I want to know what you taste like–your lips, your throat, your breasts”–his lips rubbed gently over mine as he spoke–“your thighs and the silken petals between. I want your smell on my skin and your hands on my body. I want to see you screaming above me and moaning beneath me. I want you to conquer me, and most of all”–he pushed me roughly back onto a pillow–“I want to conquer you.”

I stared up at him, my breath trembling in my throat, as he undid the belt of my robe. With a brisk movement, he yanked my hands behind my back and tied them with the velvet belt. I tried to move them, and he tightened the cord into a knot.

“Let me tell you how it's going to be between us, Alice,” he purred into my ear as he laid over me, holding me down with his body. “Out there, you will rule, but in here, with me, I am your king.”

“Is that what you think?” I smirked.

“It is what shall be.” Kyran wrapped my hair around his hand and pulled my head back. “You are mine from this moment on–mine to love and adore, to worship and bring to pleasure when I choose, but also mine to punish and discipline. When you come into my chambers, you will undress immediately and don whatever I wish for you to wear.”

“Kyran, this is going a little too–”

“Let go of your control!” Kyran snapped, grasping my face in both of his hands. “Give me your trust as well as your love, and I will take you to heights of ecstasy that you can only imagine.”

I gaped at him, and then I let go.

“Good, that's very good,” he said softly as I went limp beneath him. “For that, you deserve a reward, Queen Alice.”

He eased my body into a more comfortable position, and the slowly peeled open my robe, baring me completely. Kyran's gaze roamed over me as he sat back on his heels. I watched him avidly, waiting anxiously for what he'd do next. He opened his robe and cast it aside. I took in the thick muscles that stood out starkly on his healing body. Kyran was nearly as big as Jaxon, and this was half-starved. His shoulders were wide and gleamed golden in the firelight, his hands were large but elegant, and his eyes were hotter than the flames beside us. He lifted that intense stare to my face.

“So beautiful,” he whispered as he laid beside me. “Creamy skin, flushed like the sunset. I'm betting that it will flare pink with every strike.”

Kyran trailed a finger down the valley between my breasts. I sighed as he moved it lower and lower, then he abruptly turned it around and brought it back up. I frowned in disappointment, and he chuckled.

“Did you want more, my love?” Kyran took a nipple between his fingers and pinched it hard.

“God-damn it!” I hissed. “What the fuck, Kyran?”

“Shh.” He placed his fingers to my lips. “You have to feel a little pain to experience pleasure truly. Trust me; I won't really hurt you.”

I settled back but watched him warily. Keeping his stare on mine, he lowered his mouth to the same nipple and sucked it in. I moaned as he laved it with his tongue and then began to knead the flesh of my breast. Kyran's kisses ranged out, around the mound, and then he rubbed his cheek against me. My hips were writhing, and my eyes were shut in ecstasy by the time he made it to the other breast. So I didn't see him reach for the candle.

Warm wax dripped over my belly, and my eyes shot open in surprise. It didn't burn, in fact, it felt wonderful, I just hadn't expected it. Kyran was watching me carefully, his hand holding the candle high above my body. When he was certain I had enjoyed it, he moved the candle lower, dripping wax as he went. Splash, a drop on my hip. Splash, one on my thigh. His hands parted my legs and pushed them apart.

“No,” I whispered.

“Oh, yes.” Kyran moved between my legs and lifted the candle higher. “Trust me.”

He turned the candle over, and wax dripped onto my most intimate flesh. Rapture zinged up my body, and I cried out. Kyran blew out the candle and rubbed the wick down into the hot wax. My eyes widened as he lowered the taper to me and eased it across my womanhood. He lifted a brow, but I didn't protest, so he lowered himself onto his elbow and laid his cheek on my thigh. My legs fell further apart as he settled around me, continuing to rub the candle over my flesh.

I could feel the hardened drops of wax falling off me, and I was just starting to relax into the pleasure of the warm candle against me when Kyran plunged it into me. I gasped as he immediately set his mouth to me as well, pushing the candle in while he flicked his tongue furiously. I screamed in ecstasy, my body arching up all on its own.

But then he pulled back before I could crest, and I shivered in need. Kyran smiled and picked up a bottle from the tray. He pulled the stopper and poured a thick liquid into his palm. After he had replaced the bottle, he began to rub his hands over me. Oil, he was rubbing oil into my skin. I sighed as he kneaded my muscles into relaxation. Then his hands went up my belly, pushing off any remaining wax, and covered my breasts. His pelvis pushed into mine, and I felt him hard above my womanhood, but the candle was still inside me. He eased forward and pushed it in deeper with his thigh as he worked his hands up to my nipples.

I cried out as he massaged his hands down me again and drew away, allowing the candle to slide out. Both of his hands went to my wet, intimate flesh, and one began to rub my clit with slow but intense pressure while the other began working the candle again. I screamed so loud that the sound echoed throughout the room.

When the tremors finally died down, Kyran laid down beside me and removed the candle. He tossed it aside and started casually rubbing me with his thumb. My legs couldn't move, they just flopped open as he worked me expertly. Then he kissed his way up to my face and slid his hand around my neck.

“Do I have your trust now?”

“Yes,” I whispered.

Kyran kissed me passionately, his hand pulling me tight to him as his fingers kept rubbing me below. He hooked a finger into me and angled it forward into a new sensitive spot. I cried out again, into his mouth, and he drank down my pleasure. Then he slid his hands gently behind my back and undid the cord. As I brought my arms forward, he pushed the robe off me completely and then laid back in the pillows.

“Now, Alice,” Kyran said, “I regret that I haven't the strength to love you as fully as I should. Instead, you will learn how to love me. Come here.”

I started to ease over to him.

“No!” He held up a hand. “Crawl.”

Something shivered through me, an immediate desire to protest, and he saw it. He sat up abruptly, grabbed me around my waist, and spread me face-down over his lap. His manhood was pressed hard into my belly as his palm came down firmly on my ass.

“Are you seriously spanking me?” I gaped up at him.

“I told you that you were mine to punish,” Kyran said calmly. “Obey me, or this is what you'll get.”

Another slap, this one even more stinging than the last.

“Kyran!”

“How do you approach me?” Kyran smacked his hand down on me even harder.

“You son of a bitch,” I started to push myself up, but he was surprisingly strong for a guy who was still recuperating.

“Do not make me strain myself, Alice,” he warned, “or it will go even worse for you later.”

“Later?”

“When I have access to my toys,” he purred as lengths of cord floated out of the shadows and wrapped around my ankles. My legs were yanked apart, and when Kyran's palm came down again, he hit me even more intimately. “I have to make do with what's at hand, but when Wonderland is restored, I'll show you all of the lovely things I've had made for us. I've spent hours dreaming of ways to pleasure you, and ways for you to pleasure me.” His palm smacked against my ass again, leaving a warming sting, but then his fingers trailed down and began rubbing furiously. “Now, how do you approach me, Alice?”

“I crawl,” I moaned.

“Very good.” Kyran pushed me away from him as the cords released my ankles. “Try it again.”

I got up on my hands and knees and crawled to the King of Hearts. Kyran inhaled deeply, appreciatively, and it made me suddenly feel as if I were the one in control. He spread his legs and gestured me forward. I crawled between them, and he eased my head down until my mouth hovered over his tip.

“Take me into your mouth,” Kyran commanded. “Take me in all the way.”

I slipped my lips over him and eased him inside me until my mouth was pressed to his pelvis. Kyran groaned, his hands pressing me down firmly. He ground his hips up into me, shoving himself even deeper, and cutting off my air. I made a panicked sound, but Kyran looked down at me and shook his head. So, I relaxed and trusted him. He smiled and eased back enough for me to breathe.

“Very good, Alice,” Kyran purred. “Now, suck me as greedily as I licked you.”

I moaned over his flesh, sucking at him and moving over him rapidly.

“That's it.” Kyran groaned.

He moved his hand out and gestured. I heard someone come up behind me, and I froze.

“Don't turn around,” he ordered. “Keep worshiping me and trust me to take care of you.” I saw Kyran look at whoever was behind me and nod.

A pair of hands grabbed my thighs and pushed them apart. I felt a pressure at my entrance, and then I was being filled again, this time by flesh. I cried out around Kyran, and he pushed my head down on himself.

“Use your hands, Alice,” Kyran said. “And angle your hips so that you can be more accommodating to our guest.”

I moaned and did as he ordered, working him and angling myself up so that the man behind me could slip in deeper.

“Fuck her hard,” Kyran said to the other man. “Push her onto me.”

The man obeyed, thrusting into me so firmly that I was rocked onto Kyran's cock. I moaned, scared and delighted all at once. I tried to glance behind me, and Kyran grabbed my hair and yanked my face forward. He thrust himself deeper down my throat.

“Fuck her harder, and spank her for her disobedience.”

The stranger slammed into me, making me choke on Kyran as his hand slapped my ass. I moaned, and Kyran held me to him tight. The stings of the slaps seemed to magnify my pleasure, and I shivered on the cusp of coming. Kyran was already there; a golden glow flashing over his skin as he came in my mouth, continuing to hold me down until he was spent and I had swallowed everything. Then he eased out of me but continued to hold my face so that I couldn't look behind me as the stranger finished. I came as I stared into Kyran's eyes, the glow spreading from Kyran to me. Then the stranger pulled out and came across my back. Kyran finally let go of me with a satisfied smile.

Shame washed over me as the magnitude of what we'd done sank in.

“Damn you,” I whispered. “How could you seduce me into being untrue to the others? You fucking bastard.”

Kyran chuckled and said, “Turn around, Alice. I would never betray you or the other Card Kings.”

I finally looked behind me and saw Bevan, sitting back on his heels with a dopey grin on his face.

“Your Majesty,” Bevan purred, “please tell me that we'll be doing that again.”