"Adalheidis," I say reluctantly, seeing no point in lying.
"I like that better," he comments readily, and it almost has me smiling. I should've expected that, I suppose. This is Wunderland, after all, and so it just follows that weird names like mine would sound appealing.
"And what about my name, little Addie?"
"I know it." I say the words airily, but the way the shifter's lips twitch tells me he knows I'm just cutting my nose to spite my face. I'm dying to say his name out loud, to be honest...but I can't. There's too much intimacy in saying a guy's name, and if there's just him, I can probably risk it, but...nope.
Stick to the game plan, Addie.
Stick to the bloody game plan.
And so I clear my throat and say once again, "I'd really like to leave please, so if you can just show the way—-"
"Actually, darling..." I see his glance flick towards the still-open chest of cookies on the glass table. "You're the one who gets to decide that." A pause, and he looks at me as if he's debating something.
"If you're thinking of lying to me," I warn, "don't bother. My mom used to read both Alice books to my sisters and me every night. I know every little thing Alice did and didn't do—-"
"Is that so?"
The sudden purr in his tone puts my guard up for some reason, and I can't help frowning as I watch him start checking the cookies left inside the chest.
"Mm..."
That 'mm' doesn't sound good at all, and my suspicions grow. The way I saw it earlier, going straight for the Eat Me cookie would fast track my "adventure", and I can just shoot up like a beanstalk the way Alice did, maybe even climb my way back into my world or something.
But since I'm still stuck at three inches over five feet...maybe I got something wrong?
I look back at the were-tiger, and my heart sinks when I see the slyness in his gaze. "I ate the wrong cookie," I say flatly. "Didn't I?"
"Actually..." A smirk forms over his lips. "There is no wrong cookie, but..."
I knew there was a but, I think sourly.
"I believe you've misunderstood what 'eat me' meant."
My forehead creases. "I'm not sure how else I'm supposed to—-" My words end in a gasp as his large, strong hands claim my waist, and I'm suddenly lifted off my feet. "What are you—-" I end up gasping again as the shifter places me on the glass table while moving forward to stand between my legs. "Wait—-" But he's already yanking me close, and the next thing I know, I'm on my back, legs dangling over the rounded edge of the table.
Bloody, bloody, bloody...
I frantically push myself up on my elbows, but he gently pushes me back.
"Are you crazy—-"
I try rising again, but he's too strong, and I'm flat on my back once more.
"Will you please—-"
A hand suddenly covers my mouth, and I don't even think about it. I start struggling wildly, kicking and thrashing, but it doesn't even dislodge his hold by the slightest.
When our gazes meet, I scowl at him with all the anger I can channel, but this only has the were-tiger clicking his tongue. "You asked for this, darling."
I asked for this?
I see red at the words, and I renew my struggles with even greater force.
"To leave Wunderland is to enter it first," he says solemnly, "and to enter it for the first time, you'll need a key—-"
His words finally penetrate my brain, and my struggles start to weaken.
"A key that you get to choose—-"
I'm completely unmoving now, my attention focused desperately on his words. I have a feeling that whatever he has to say—-
"And your choice was for me..."
It's going to be really shitty—-
"Eat you."
And it is.?? Eat me, says the cookie. ??AND IDIOT THAT I AM, I do eat it, not knowing that the cookie is also me.
When the were-tiger lifts his hand, I don't even have the strength to fight. I can only look at him in disbelief, waiting and hoping for him to say it's a bloody prank.
But when the shifter only raises a brow—-
"You can't be serious," I finally manage to say.
"I'm afraid it's not up to me," he says with a shrug.
"But—-"
"You can always stay here, of course," he offers.
"Ha!"
"Then..." His gaze slowly dips down, and I'm torn between snarling and whimpering, unable to figure out if I should let my conscience win over my hormones.
He takes hold of my knees, but even as I cry out, he doesn't let go. Instead I feel his grip tighten, his hands pushing my legs to open wide—-
Shit!
I muster enough sense to grab hold of his hands to stop them from moving, but when his gaze locks with mine, and I see the sexual heat blazing flagrantly in his moss-jade eyes...