Falling

Rating: NC-17 for later chapters

Pairing: Hatter/Alice but mentions of others

Author: Meredydd

Alice flung the black, lacy, beribboned camisole back into the drawer with the fury born of a thousand frustrations. It joined it's silky sorority-a pale blue bra and panties set that had sheer insets, leaving nothing to the imagination; fire engine red vinyl dress that laced up the sides and stopped just past her bum, the novelty g-string that came with it relegated to the trash when it offended Alice's sensibilities by chafing in a most unbecoming manner; frilly white lace numbers, touched by blush satin and pale pink edging and even plain cotton panties and servicible bras. Nothing, she reflected, seemed to work. She jerked the ties of her robe closed and flopped back on herb bed, cheeks still pink from embarrassment and self-doubt, Hatter's sudden departure ringing in her ears. "Early day, my ass," she muttered, rolling onto her stomach and punching her pillow into submission. It had started out so well...

i"So," she asked, leaning back against the couch cushions, "did you want to stay a bit longer?"

He hesitated, his hand hovering over the tea cup's handle as he carefully avoided her gaze. "Yeah," he finally replied. "I'd like that."

Alice's heart leapt into gear, her mouth suddenly dry as Hatter took a sip of tea. She couldn't help it-she liked to watch his throat, the way it worked as he swallowed. She liked to imagine nipping and laving it, leaving tiny marks, claiming him, letting him claim her... She curled her toes into the thick carpet and thought, somewhat abstractedly, that it would be more marks of her giving herself to him, not conquering him... She wanted to let him do whatever he wanted. So long as it was soon. She had been dropping hints, wearing sexy lingerie, doing everything short of throwing him down and ravishing him herself, but so far he had only kissed her, touched her briefly, fled when he realized what she was hinting at. "Really?"

He blinked, looking startled, and she realized that he was nervous. "Really," he said, his smile tight and hands shaking just enough to make the cup rattle as he replaced it upon the saucer. "Um, care for some pizza then? I finally figured out how to order on this phone thingy. Clever thing, those phones. Much easier than the tubes in Wonderland and-"

Alice silenced him with a kiss and, for several long moments, it was perfect. He responded enthusiastically, his fingers tangling in her hair and pulling her closer. She sighed into the embrace, sliding her hands under the edge of his shirt, her nails barely trailing his stomach, up to his chest. He shivered and uttered a sound somewhere between a groan and a laugh as she shifted, breaking the kiss for just a moment as she moved atop him, her knees on either side of his hips as she pressed close. "Hatter, we have the apartment to ourselves for the entire weekend. My mother's out of town on business." He tensed. She could feel it in every centimeter of his body where it touched hers. His gaze skittered away from her own and his fingers worked themselves out of her hair. "What's the matter?"

"I...um, I left the kettle on," he blurted, gently but firmly pushing her aside and scrambling to his feet. "Probably boiled dry by now. Ruined another one. Silly Hatter." He laughed, a shrill and almost maniacal sound as he grabbed his hat. "Um, I'll...I'll call you when I get home and...I love you!" /i

He was gone so fast, Alice barely had time to work up a "Hatter! Wait!" She rolled onto her back and threw the pillow aside. "Swear to god," she muttered. "It's like he's scared of me or something. If I didn't know better, I'd think he was a..." She paused, realization clicking into place. "Oh my god," she whispered, as if someone might overhear and discover Hatter's secret. "Hatter's a virgin!"

A/N Next up, Hatter's chapter! And no worries, there WILL be smut soon. Lovely NC17 smut. :)