Chapter four. Please enjoy. This chapter contains some sexual themes, but nothing to graphic. As always, I own nothing.

Alice woke up a few hours before dawn, warm and mostly comfortable. The only mar in her comfort was the unfamiliar bed she was in. She stretched a little and felt something vaguely familiar in front of her. Puzzled, she explored the object in front of her with her hands, not yet ready to open her eyes to the pale light of the last hours before dawn. It felt strangely recognizable, as if she had felt it before. It was warm and soft and well muscled. When Alice realized the last, her eyes flew open. Once again she was face to face with Tarrant. And he wasn't wearing a shirt. Once again his arms were wrapped around her tightly, allowing minimal movement.

'Please, not again,' she begged silently. "Tarrant?" she said, making his eyelids flutter open momentarily. "Tarrant!" she said a little louder. This time his eyes opened halfway and stayed open. "Alice?" he mumbled sleepily. "Alice!" he yelped, pulling away from her quickly. The sudden loss of contact made Alice shiver.

Tarrants eyes were wide. 'Why didn't I think this through?' he demanded from himself. 'I'm an idiot and now she's going to murder me.' He gulped and looked at her bright blue eyes.

"What happened?" she asked calmly.

"Nothing," he said quickly, his voice trembling slightly. "Nothing at all!"

"Where is your shirt?"

"I don't usually wear one when I sleep, and I figured if I was going to get slapped, I may as well be comfortable," he answered nervously.

"Why would you get slapped?"

"Well I thought if you woke up in the same bed as me again that you'd freak out and imprint your hand on my face."

"Tarrant," she said gently "we are going to have a child together. That changes things. If I wake up next to you, I'm not going to panic, I'm not going to be mad, and I'm certainly not going to hit you!"

He looked relieved. "Are you sure? Positively certain? Totally convinced?" he asked hopefully.

Alice answered him with a kiss. It was long and slow and it answered Tarrants questions completely. Alice wrapped her arms around his neck as her wound his around her waist. He tentatively prodded her lips with his tongue and was pleasantly surprised when she opened her mouth. His tongue slipped into her mouth and rubbed against hers. Tarrant felt Alice shiver in his arms and he took it as encouragement. He gently flicked the tip of his tongue over the underside of hers, making her groan quietly into him mouth. She shivered again and suddenly, Tarrant had a problem. He had to break the kiss before he did something to chase her away, but he couldn't make himself do it. He continued to kiss her, his problem growing larger and more insistent. Before long, he knew she'd be able to feel it if he couldn't get himself under control. But it was too late. His firm grip on her held her too close for his problem to go unnoticed. He tensed and waited for a reprimand that would never come. Instead she stunned him by releasing one arm from around his neck and sliding it down his chest and stomach to squeeze the bulge in the front of his pants, which didn't help his self-control or his problem. Now it was his turn to moan. He couldn't help it, it felt too good.

"Care to give me something I can remember?" she whispered against his mouth.

Tarrant shuddered. Did she really want this, or was it the heat of the moment? "Are you sure?" he asked.

Once again, Alice answered with actions instead of words. She squeezed his bulge again, causing him to groan again.

"You're going to be the death of me," he growled.

"Then enjoy it while it lasts," she murmured.

"As you wish," he whispered. Tarrant gently pushed her onto her back and crawled on top of her. He pressed his body down against hers, making it nigh on impossible for her to move away. He kissed her hard, his tongue dueling with hers. Alice, not to be outdone, gripped his manhood once again.

"As much as I enjoy that, if you want anything you can remember, you might want to stop doing that love," he rumbled quietly.

Alice chuckled and moved her hand back up to his neck, caressing softly. Tarrant shivered and his pants became even tighter. He kissed her harder and moved his hands down to the hem of her skirt. He looked at her, seeking permission. She gave him a look that was undoubtedly approval, so he gently lifted her dress up and pushed it up to her waist. She raised her arms up and allowed him to slip it from her body, leaving Alice in naught but her undergarments. The moment the dress left her body, Alice looked embarrassed. She looked away and refused to meet his eyes.

Tarrant grasped her chin gently and turned her head. He kissed her softly, his lips barely ghosting against hers. "Never be ashamed of your body," he whispered. "Not in front of me." Alice lowered her eyes again and wouldn't speak. "Love, what's wrong?"

"I…" she started. "This is wrong."

Tarrant was confused. "What do you mean?"

"We aren't married," she mumbled. "I don't know how things like this work in Underland, but where I'm from, people don't just go around…" she trailed off.

"Alice," he whispered "if you want to stop, just say so."

She looked fearfully into his eyes. "I want you, but I can't shake the feeling that this is wrong."

He gently stroked her cheek. "I love you Alice," he told her. "If you aren't ready, then I'll wait until you are. I'll wait forever if I have to. If you want to get married then we will." He paused. "But you might have to explain that one to me; I have no idea what it is."

Despite herself, Alice giggled. He could always make her laugh even when she wanted to crawl under a rock and hide. Tarrant grinned and kissed her softly. He started to move off of her, but stopped when Alice wrapped her legs around his waist. He looked at her face, confusion written clearly across his pale face. "Just because something is wrong, doesn't mean I don't want to do it anyway," she whispered.

Tarrant grinned. "My, my, you are quite mischievous, aren't you love?"

Alice grinned back and kissed him again. She hesitantly moved her hands to the clasp of his pants and started fumbling with it. She managed to undo it and pushed the fabric from his hips, leaving him in only his underwear.

Tarrant felt his swollen manhood get even harder as his pants hit the floor, if that was possible. 'I want her so badly,' he thought as he pulled her chemise off, baring her breasts. He caressed her perfect mounds softly, making her shiver in delight. She arched into his touch, her eyelids fluttering. Determined not to be the only one bared, Alice pushed his underwear down, leaving him completely naked above her. Alice felt her gaze slip down to his manhood. As her eyes settled on it, she couldn't help but gasp. The first time she had seen it, it had been limp, but now it was long, hard, and so big. She snapped her stare back up to his eyes and saw the same traces of embarrassment in his face as the first time she had seen him unclothed.

"Never be ashamed of your body," she whispered. "Not in front of me."

He looked into her eyes and slowly pushed her underwear off her hips. He kissed her softly, savoring her taste. "I love you," he murmured.

"I love you too."

He kissed her once more and plunged into her.

~Dawn~

Alice had never known that such pleasure even existed, let alone that Tarrant could give it to her. She was breathing hard and covered in sweat. She was lying next to Tarrant in his bed and he was still buried inside her. Neither of them could bear the loss of contact right now, so he remained inside her while they were tangled in each other's arms. Alice was lying on top of him, her head over his head which was still beating erratically. She knew hers was as well and she also knew that he could feel it against his chest.

"I love you," she panted.

"I love you too," he breathed.

"I feel like I could stay here forever," Alice mumbled.

Tarrant squeezed her tightly. "That's all I could ever ask for love."

"I love it when you call me that."

"Well love, that's good to hear, because I love calling you that."

Alice smiled and leaned down with the honest intention of kissing him lightly, but her kiss quickly morphed into him on top of her and them kissing passionately. She could feel him getting hard inside her again. Alice grudgingly broke the kiss, but Tarrant was undeterred. He simply moved to her neck, growing harder the entire time.

"Tarrant, stop," she gasped. He immediately stopped and lifted his head away from her neck.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"We need to get up," she said. "It's already dawn."

Despite his disappointment, Tarrant gently slid out of her, causing her to hiss at the loss of contact. He wasn't going to pressure her into anything she didn't want, no matter how much he wanted to. He had already gotten her pregnant, so he was going to respect her when it came to everything else.

'I wonder if she even wants this child,' he thought suddenly as he rolled onto his back. What if she didn't? What would he do? What would she do?

"Alice?" he asked.

"Hmm?" she hummed, laying her head on his chest.

"Do you want this child?"

She looked up at him, a stunned look on her face. "Do you?" she asked.

"Of course I do!" he yelped. "Do you?" he asked again.

"I've never wanted anything more in my life," she mumbled, looking down and fiddling with the sparse hairs on his chest.

Tarrant tipped her chin up. "I'm glad. I would never be able to forgive myself if I had done this to you and you didn't want it."

"Hatter, you've got to stop blaming yourself for this," Alice rebuked. "It's no one's fault, and if it was, blame would belong to both of us."

Tarrant looked at her oddly. "That is the first time in a while you've called me Hatter."

"Is that a problem?" she asked, propping herself up on his bare chest.

"Of course not love, I just wasn't expecting it." He grinned slyly. "After hearing you scream my name so much, I must say, hearing you call me Hatter is a bit odd."

Alice blushed furiously and smacked his chest playfully. "Not funny," she grumbled.

"Did I say it was?" he asked flippantly.

"I guess not," she groused.

Tarrant chuckled. "No need to be embarrassed love," he told her.

"If we keep this pace up, we'll never get out of bed," Alice said.

"I can live with that," he teased.

Alice swatted his chest again and slipped out of his bed. She could feel his eyes on her as she picked up her dress. Quickly she pulled it on and turned to him. "Do you plan on getting up today?"

Tarrant grinned at her and climbed out of his bed. He stretched luxuriously, causing Alice to flush once again. He chuckled and pulled on his underwear and pants, leaving only his chest bare. "Better?" he asked lightheartedly.

"You were fine," she mumbled.

"How is it," he asked, tilting her chin up with his fingers "that you can be bold enough to ask me to make love to you, but the moment you see my naked, you look like all the blood in your body has taken up residence in your cheeks? You will touch me without a problem, but seeing me makes you blush."

"I don't know," she muttered.

He kissed her quickly. "That is just weird," he informed her. "But it doesn't matter. I still love you."

"I love you too."

"Come let us go to breakfast," he said, reaching for her hand. She took it happily and they strode out of the room, hand in hand. "It's nice to be able to hold your hand without being ashamed," he said softly. "Or afraid," he added in an even softer tone.

"Afraid? Why would you be afraid?"

"I was always so afraid that if I tried, you would leave and I would never see you again," he murmured in an undertone.

"Tarrant, you truly are the most oblivious creature I've ever met," Alice said dryly.

"I am?" he asked. "How so?"

"I tried my hardest to show that I liked you as more than a friend, but you never once noticed my attempts."

"Alice, I did notice," he told her. "But I was afraid that I was imagining it, so I never said anything. I didn't want to lose you."

"Hatter, you wouldn't have lost me, even if I didn't care for you as more than a friend. I wouldn't leave simply because you had feelings for me."

"Alice, if you knew the full extent of my feelings for you, you would leave. You would flee back to Overland." He spat the last word out as if it were a bad taste in his mouth.

"I will never leave you," she vowed. "Not until Death claims me as his."

Tarrant stopped walking. He looked her strait in the eye. "Do you know what the Nexus Vitae is?" he asked. When she shook her head, he explained. "It is an Outlandish term that cannot be translated into this tongue, but I will do my best to explain." He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. "When two people know for sure that they will spend the rest of eternity together, they will go through a complex ceremony that will bind the two together until the end of time, even through death. If one is close to death, they will be able to draw upon the others strength to keep them alive, no matter the distance between them. They will always be able to find one another, even if one is in Overland and the other is in Underland. There will always be an inexplicable bond between the two people that will never fade. If it were up to me, I would go through this ceremony with you."

Alice was silent for a long time. She studied his face, for what, Tarrant did not know. After a while, she seemed to find what she was looking for. "Would you like to do it?" she asked.

Tarrants brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Would you like to perform this Nexus Vitae?" she clarified.

His eyes widened. "Alice, think about this. Once it is done, it can never be undone. The Nexus Vitae is something you would have to live with for eternity."

"Eternity is just long enough," she said seriously.

"Alice, I'm not saying no, I just want you to be sure this is what you want."

"It is," she said firmly. "I want to be bonded with you in every possible way."

"Then shall we discuss the Nexus Vitae in detail over breakfast?" he asked. "I want you to know what you're getting into."

"Lead the way Mr. Hightopp," she said.

He complied and quickly led her through the twisting hallways to the kitchen. They swiftly gathered up their breakfast and went too Alice's room. When the door was safely closed and locked they sat down and started talking.

"So what all do I need to know about this Nexus Vitae?" Alice asked.

"What I've already told you covered most of what you need to know, but there is more," he told her. "If one of us is in pain, physical or emotional, the other will feel it. Any strong emotion will be shared. If I were to think of you, you would be able to sense it, and vice versa. If you were in danger, I would be able to tell. Everything goes both ways, so you would be able to tell as well. And there are the physical marks that show up on your body after the Nexus Vitae was performed. Yes, there will be a pattern that shows up on your skin, the place and pattern will be different for every pair, so I cannot tell you what it'll look like," he said when he saw her confused expression. "The Nexus Vitae shows the deepest amount of love between two people possible in Underland. Are you sure you want it?"

"What do I have to say to show you that I do?" Alice asked. "I want to be bonded to you in all possible ways."

"If you are sure, then I will find someone to perform the ceremony," Tarrant said solemly.

Alice smiled faintly. "When?" she asked.

"As soon as breakfast is over," he promised.

Alice grinned and leaned over to kiss him. He kissed her back while tangling his hands in her hair, gently holding her to him. He felt her wind her arms around his neck and pull herself closer to him. Making a snap decision, Tarrant pulled Alice into his lap. She squeaked in surprise, but remained seated in his lap. Tarrant grinned and kissed her sweetly.

"I love you," he whispered against her lips.

"I love you too," she murmured. She pulled away from his kiss and nestled her head into his shoulder.

"At this rate, breakfast will never end," Tarrant said laughingly.

"Normally I'd say 'I can live with that', but at the moment, I don't think I can," she murmured against his skin. "Maybe I should move."

"I don't think so," he growled, snaring an arm around her slender waist. "You should right where you are."

"If you say so," she chuckled, leaning back on his chest. "But I think you're right. This meal will never end at this rate."

"Love, all great things must come to an end at one point or another," Tarrant said sadly.

Sorry about the delay. I got dreadfully sick, and I don't think anyone needs details. But anyway, I'm better now and committed to getting this chapter posted! I hope you enjoyed yourselves! And by the way, I think you guys should review…just a suggestion though! One I highly advise you take! Haha I'm kidding! But seriously, please review!