Another chapter in the Outlands. Asking in advance, I've never done a scene like this for Alice in Wonderland so please review so I can get some idea of whether it's any good.

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Lewis Carroll, Tim Burton and the Disney Corporation.

Mirana was watching Stayne anxiously as he slowly regained consciousness. She had dragged him away from the corpse of the demon before other wildlife came for the easy pickings. That task had been easier said than done, turns out muscle does weigh more than fat. Anyway she found a safe enough area and had tried and failed to build a fire the way Stayne had over the past fortnight. So it was very dark, she could see next to no stars in the sky making her jump at every shadow.

She'd looked Stayne over with her healing expertise and knew he would be fine soon enough. The creature had probably whacked him over the back of the head with those club-like paws. She had pulled off his armour and shirt to check he didn't have any chest wounds, his clothes had had bloodstains on them from the moment they met in the Outlands so she hadn't been able to judge if he was injured underneath. He hadn't been wounded but he did have a good few old scars which made her wonder how many battles he'd faced in that mysterious life of his. And she couldn't not notice he had a really good chest, it was a shame he hid those muscles with his clothes. She hadn't quite gathered the will to redress him yet.

Eventually his eyes flickered open and he blinked several times until his gaze locked with hers.

"Hey there sleepy head," she smiled through chattering teeth.

"W-what happened," he said sitting up slightly dazed and looked down at his bare chest.

"Oh, I had to check you didn't have chest wounds," she said quickly feeling herself blush. "But I think you just took a blow to the head."

He put a hand there rubbing it. "I don't remember anything."

Mirana gave a brief recap and wasn't sure whether to be pleased or insulted at the look of absolute disbelief on his face when she described herself wielding a sword. When she described the Cheshire Cat's unexpected appearance he blanched. "Chess was here? How did Chess get here?"

"Oh that," she said and then went back to explain when she'd first met him during her tantrum over her father's gruesome murder which now seemed like a silly thing to argue over. She unwound the material around her arm to show what Chess had done. "I didn't know he could do it but he healed me."

Stayne stared. "He didn't leave any scars..."

He ran his hand over her arm with surprising gentleness sending shivers through her that had nothing to do with the night chill. "You're freezing."

"Building a fire with next to nothing isn't quite as easy as you make it look," she admitted. She suddenly felt a bit guilty for not putting his shirt back on, he must feel even colder than she was.

He smiled downwards then sighed looking at her. "I'm sorry."

She frowned. "What for?"

"I failed you. I promised I'd keep you safe."

She felt the urge to laugh. He sounded like her palace soldiers. "Stayne, just because I'm the Queen doesn't mean I can't do anything. Look at me, I'm fine."

His eyebrows came together and he took her hand. "I didn't fail 'the Queen' I failed you." He gave her fingers a squeeze looking at her closely. "I've never seen you rule since you don't have to be a Queen out here, you don't need to be any kind of high position for me. Just be yourself."

Her heart ached. "I don't think I even know who that is anymore."

He smiled in a way she didn't know he could smile. "Let me show you." He pulled her into a kiss and she left all the acts of the day behind. She leaned forwards and his arms crushed her to his chest as she shut her eyes blinding herself to the rest of the world. She gripped him tightly as wave after wave of pleasure rushed over her.

He leant her sideways until her back was near the floor one hand on her back the other on the sensitive nape of her neck. She gasped when they broke apart and she stared up at him, her heart crying out inside her chest. "I could enjoy being this person," she breathed.

His eyes were as dark as the night sky but the depths of them glittered beautifully at her words. "Yeah?"

Her reply was lost under the fury of the next kiss. She ran her hand up his chest. The muscles were as real and hard as she'd imagined under her fingers. A stunning body, a body made to win wars. She knew he was strong, so very strong, he held her as if she weighed nothing and it made her feel feminine to the core.

He started kissing down her neck. Hot. Sinful. Her body arched upwards. "Oh Stayne," she moaned clinging to his neck as her body started feeling all kinds of new sensations and she suddenly knew she wanted to do a lot more than just kiss him. She'd never felt that way for any man before.

She lifted her legs up and wrapped them around his midsection pulling herself as close as she could, not wanting an inch between them. She could feel his arousal pressing on her through her dress and it was sending currents of voracious need rocketing through her.

He pulled back slightly and she was going to protest as her back rested on the ground but her words were cut short when he trailed one long fingered hand down her neck and across her dress over chest. He slowly pulled what remained of the arms of the dress down so it stopped at her waist. She'd discarded her corset days ago – she'd had no choice, such garments were not built for such long treks and the air out here was so thin she may well have suffocated with it on – and currently couldn't think of a single decent reason she'd put the damn thing on in the first place.

His lips curved with a very male appraisal looking down at her bare-chested beneath him. She felt her breasts flush and harden as he trailed his fingers across them almost carelessly, tauntingly. Her head fell back on the ground and she groaned loudly at his touch dragging her fingers along the ground as it started blowing her circuits.

If she'd known she'd been missing out on this her whole life...oh, she felt alive with a hunger and a passion she'd never even known existed within her.

When she gathered enough of her thoughts she rose slightly thereby pressing into his hands and sliding one of her own southernwards with the intention of making him lose those accursed trousers so she could see if he really was built like a man. However, before she could reach intended destination he grabbed her hand in his own the suddenness of the action making her heart skip a beat.

"You don't want to do this just yet," he said shaking his head.

"I really really do," she insisted pulling herself up so they were almost face to face.

One of her vows back in Underland had been one of chastity until she was married to some rich, respectable gentleman, that was one vow she was now borderline desperate to break and knew she would never retake. She didn't want honour and courtesy, now she just wanted Stayne, all of him, right here right now.

"You've never done this before have you?" he asked brushing her lips against hers.

"First time for everything," she replied trailing her tongue slowly over his pulse which she was pleased to feel was beating fast and hard.

He released her hand placing it high on his shoulder. "You're not ready for that. I can tell."

"I am too," she said then realised how childish she sounded. "I mean, I am an adult and I am more than ready." The wet heat burning between her thighs was proof enough for her.

"That's what they all say," he said, a smile in his voice as he gently bit the shell of her ear. "But you're not. I know you're not."

"That's not fair," she complained moving her hand from his shoulder to his scarred yet stunning warrior chest.

He gave a short laugh then shook his head. "These things never are. Though trust me I want this as much as you do."

She doubted that, even though she could see still see the strain on him through his trousers. She got an unexpected feeling of satisfaction and pride holding the knowledge she could make someone and wild and untameable as Stayne react in such a way.

As she looked into those dark eyes she saw him clearer than ever. Emotion and realisation collided within her as all the feelings that she had but had been unable to understand came together in perfect sense, it had been so hard for her to accept and comprehend but now, it was so simple, so obvious.

"Mirana?" he breathed at her expression, his voice caressing her in the most intimate way.

"Stayne...I..." she broke off her feelings almost too unlikely to put into words. Words she had begun to think she'd never speak to any man, least of all to someone like him.

"What?"

She raised one hand to lightly brush his cheek, looking past his face and right into him. "Stayne...I think I'm falling in love with you."

That's when a loud clap of thunder echoed throughout the Outlands. They both looked straight up as the heavens opened above them and a hail of rain drops fell, shining like a thousand tiny jewels as lightning lit up the sky. It was beautiful.

Stayne laughed upwards as he held out his hands collecting the rain in his palms, she turned her gaze back to him, hands still stroking his chest taking in the life, the strength and the sheer beauty of him as rain ran through his hair, down his neck tumbling down till they met where their bodies touched.

They kissed each other for a very long time, until they were both soaked to the skin, holding each other so tightly it felt like they would never break apart. She never wanted to. But, reluctantly, she pulled her dress sleeves back up onto her shoulders and they ran hand in hand to shelter as the rain got fiercer and finally giving Mirana an understanding of how the Outlands could once have been beautiful.

It was that night she absolutely knew for certain she'd never be the Mirana she had been when she first came to the Outlands and now she was thankful. She wanted to be as free as she felt now for the rest of her life, even if that meant only living a few more flickering days on this earth. And she wanted to be in Stayne's arms while she was living them.