SIX – Queen

Alice held her hands up, letting him scrabble away from her. "Hatter, what's going on?" The concern in her voice was like a punch in the gut.

"I couldn't bear to know, you know? I mean, I knew what I knew, and I didn't know what you knew."

"What?"

Hatter was babbling – speech returned but unfortunately thought hadn't come with it, and words spilled from his mouth. "I mean, I wanted to know but I was afraid because what if – I mean, I didn't want to know if the answer was no, I thought I was better off not knowing." She shook her head a little, distress in her eyes as she tried to follow his convoluted logic. "But.. but… Not knowing turned out to be worse, much much worse. I learned to do it for you, Alice. For you! But I'd never taken tea, so I didn't know how powerful this was. My sweet Alice – I love you. I love you more than my life." He had no control anymore, tears in his eyes. "And when you're close, it's like pure tea being pumped into me, I can breathe you in and feel what you feel, on top of what I feel, and it's overwhelming me, my love. I… I had no control! Because I was lost, like a bloody tea-head on an overdose." He shook his head when she reached for him, sorrow on her face. "I would have taken everything, my sweet Alice, my lovely Oyster with the shiniest pearl heart ever. I might not have stopped."

Alice was smiling sadly now, but she wasn't rejecting him. Instead, she inched closer to him, slowly, gently. She was controlling her breathing, slow and steady, and he could feel her – she was deliberately projecting Calm to him. When his ramble wore down, she reached out with one hand, and very gently laid it against his cheek. When he didn't flinch or recoil, she stroked her fingers tenderly down his face. He shuddered, but managed to control himself.

"But you did stop, Hatter. Even though you feel… what I feel?" Alice asked softly.

Still trembling, but able to resist touching her, Hatter nodded.

"And people from Wonderland don't have feelings of their own?"

"We have to learn to feel strongly… that's why the tea was so popular, didn't have to learn, could just feel. Feel anything you wanted, whenever you wanted, only the good stuff. But here, on this side … Jack could love you here, but since he didn't love you there first…." Hatter saw dawning comprehension in her eyes.

"But you – you stood by me, took care of me, helped me, saved me, and…."

Hatter couldn't look away from the glow in her eyes. "And I came to love you, Alice. So much."

She leaned forward then, and he held his breath as she pressed her lips to his, a soft slow warm kiss. It made him shiver, because it was a combination of the joyous kisses and the passionate kisses, with promise and seduction and he had to let her control their speed because he had no control at all when it came to Alice.

The kiss ended, but she didn't move away. He was sprawled backwards on the floor, on his elbows, and she was kneeling over him, her hands on his face and neck, and her breath warm against his face. Her eyes filled his vision, luminous blue with the curtain of her dark hair cutting off the rest of this strange and terrible world.

"I love you too, Hatter."

He whimpered, and sat up fast enough to capture her face in his hands and kiss her hard. She was clinging to him again, but this time they both were trying to stay in control. She slowly got to her feet, drawing him with her.

"Come with me," she commanded him like a queen, and he followed, of course he followed, because he always followed Alice anywhere she wanted to go. She led him down the hall to the bedroom, and stood with him beside the bed. "We'll take this slow," she announced, her eyes still warm and tantalizing, her hands touching him. "There will be time for crazy later."

He nodded, content to follow her lead as always. He concentrated on her reactions as he ran his hands under the edge of her top, caressing her silky skin. His own shirt had apparently surrendered completely, the buttons seeming to disintegrate from her touch. She pushed his shirt off his shoulders, leaning forward to kiss his neck and collarbone. He could feel her approval as her hands ran over his chest and body, getting to know him. Her palms left trails of heat on his skin as she explored. He lifted the edges of her shirt, sliding it up, and she willingly raised her arms to let him pull the garment away.

His breathing grew ragged again as she let him touch her, and she leaned into his touch, her eyes fluttering closed as he kissed her, drawing her lip between his, using his tongue to tease and caress.

Her fingers worked at the waist of his pants, and she let out a breathless giggle as she loosened the button and zipper to slide her hands down his hips and backside. "Commando, Hatter?" she laughed softly.

"What?"

"Nevermind," she smiled, and tilting her head, she combined a squeeze to his backside with a bite to his earlobe that made him whine deep in his throat. His grip tightened on her waist.

"Alice," he groaned, and she laughed again.

"Lie down," she told him, and he obeyed, in this as in all things. Whatever Alice wanted. He toed off his shoes and got onto the bed. She grinned and pulled his pants off him, so that he lay there naked before her.

Whatever she saw seemed to please her, because he caught such a wave of lust he hardly could credit it came from Alice. But she simply slipped out of her marvelously fitted blue pants, not breaking her gaze. It was the sexiest thing he'd ever seen, seeing his Alice peal her clothing off. There was a scrap of silky lavender fabric clinging to her hips, and Hatter had to touch it.

He sat up, his hands reaching for her hips. At first, he just brushed the silky fabric with his fingertips, as her hands came to rest on his shoulders. But then he leaned forwards to kiss her stomach as he ran his fingers under the edge of the silly little thing, the last barrier between them. Gently, carefully, he drew it downwards, and she stepped out of it without protest.

She folded one lean leg and then the other, straddling his lap as he sat on the edge of the bed. He wrapped his arms around her waist, supporting her as she bent down and kissed him hard. She was a burning brand in his arms, the heat and the passion scorching him, and he was overjoyed to be consumed.

With a wicked smirk Alice pushed him backwards, and they both edged their way fully onto the bed. She stretched out mostly on top of him, letting her breasts press against his chest, her elbows over his shoulders, her fingers playing idly with his hair as she kissed him thoroughly, deliberately slowing their pace again. His hands stroked up and down her, swirling over the small of her back, caressing her backside and thigh, memorizing her shape in his head. It was a lull, a moment of pure enjoyment for them both, a pause to savor the knowledge that they were here, together, no barriers, no cares, and no pretenses or ulterior motives.

It was the deep breath before the plunge.

TBC