When the were-tiger lifts his head, I have enough presence of mind to pull back—-
That's when I realize he's standing close enough that I'm sharing his spotlight, literally. I'm finally out of the dark, and that's when I finally see it.
"What the—-?"
Color me distracted earlier, but it's only now that I finally realize what I'm wearing, and it's not the Bobby Hundreds shirt and jeans I changed into this morning.
Instead, it's something a lot worse, and no, I'm not talking about Alice's traditional full skirted-dress with a pinafore.
I mean, okay, this outfit I've been magically squeezed into is still blue and white, but...come on!
Puffed-sleeved-blouse with an incredibly low heart-cut neckline, skimpy skirt, quintessential frilly apron...you see where this is going, right?
I only need a duster in my hand, and voila!
Say hello to French bloody maid Alice!
I turn to Mr. Snow Tiger, so incredulous and horrified that I end up half-yelling. "Why am I wearing this?"
But the too-beautiful jerk only smirks. "I don't see anything wrong with it. Au contraire..."
His gaze starts traveling down my body, and I feel so horribly exposed that I end up panicking and flailing my arms helplessly. Do I cover my breasts first, since they feel like they're about to pop out any second? Or is it better if I cross my hands over my itsy-bitsy skirt, since it's doing such a terrible job at hiding my panties from view?
Honestly, my only consolation right now is how the bottom half of my outfit could've been so much worse. Striped stockings and Mary Janes may still be kinky, but at least it isn't fish net and stilettos. Then again, with the way the shifter's currently eye-fucking me...
"Will you please stop staring?"
"Can't seem to help it. You look sensational in that dress—-"
"There's not enough of it to be a dress," I growl. "It's more like a swimsuit with a skirt than—-what are you doing?"
His fingers are suddenly tracing a line down from my collarbone to the exposed valley between my breasts—-
Oh...shit.
That's when I realize how much of an idiot I was earlier, to feel relieved at seeing him shift from snow tiger to man. I thought his transformation meant I'm saved from being eaten, but with the way he's now looking at me—-
The way he's touching me and making me feel—-
Idiot.
I'm such an idiot not to realize...
If there's more than one way to skin a cat, there's also more than one way to eat a girl.?? Patience, Cheshire. ??THAT'S WHAT I THINK I hear Mr. Snow Tiger mutter to himself before abruptly turning away, and I nearly gasp for breath, feeling as if I've just escaped the worst possible fate by the skin of my teeth. The part of my body that his finger has come into contact is still crazy-hot and acutely sensitive, and while I hate to admit this, I just know...
This guy has me in the palm of his hands.
Because he was right earlier, and he still is.
I want him.
Whether I'm dead, dreaming or mad—-
I want him.
But even so—-
First things first, Addie.
First things first, always.
In worst-case scenarios, people who waste too much time asking about the hows and whys were usually the first ones to die. So if Mr. Snow Tiger says we're in Wonderland then...
When the shifter turns to face me again, I don't let another second go to waste and ask him outright. "Are you really the Cheshire Cat?"
"Do you think I'm lying?"
I wrinkle my nose at this. Since the man can't even give me a straight answer to a question that simple, that pretty much confirms it. And if he is the bloody cat, then...
"What about me?" I ask. "Am I supposed to be Alice here?"
"I can't see you being anyone else."
"But?" Because his tone indicates there's one, and so I have to ask.
"But we always know of the comings and goings of the other Alices—-"
"Hold on." Because I'm more than a little baffled here. "What do you mean by other Alices?" What kind of messed-up version is this Wonderland that it has more than one Alice falling through rabbit holes?
I wait impatiently for his answer, but it's as if he doesn't even hear me.
"I wouldn't have taken a nap here if I thought someone would be using it..."
It's almost as if he's talking to himself now, and it's making me feel nervous.
"It was supposed to be a Rabbit—-"
I gasp, and the shifter's gaze snaps back to me. "What is it?"
"But there was a Rabbit," I tell him excitedly. "I mean, the girl in school, they call her Rabbit, and—-" I'm unable to say anything else, with how everything around us is suddenly shaking.
'You really are the one,' I think I heard Mr. Snow Tiger say rather grimly, but I can't be absolutely certain about this. I'm a bit preoccupied (and petrified) at the moment, just trying to keep myself from falling as the ground underneath our feet rumbled and shuddered like a monster about to wake.