Page 59 of Escaping Wonderland

He wrapped her in his arms and drew her against his chest, lowering his face to her hair. She embraced him, holding him tight as she ran a hand down the back of his head. Despite the stench of blood, despite the chill of their soaked clothing and the thundering of Shadow’s heart, her presence soothed him. Her scent, her warmth, and her touch enveloped him, carrying his mind far away from all that had just happened.

But one thought refused to be silenced, one voice continued to whisper in the back of his mind—I almost lost her.

The truth of it was undeniable, and its implications staggering, terrifying,soul-crushing. He could not shake it. His nascent calm was swallowed up in a flare of desperation—but that desperation was not purely driven by despair. A familiar fire rekindled low in his belly.

He needed Alice. Needed to be as close to her as possible, needed to feel her body, warm andalive, against his. He needed to feel as though he were one with her.

Shadow drew his head back, buried the fingers of one hand in her hair, and slammed his mouth down on hers. After her initialshock, she returned his kiss, matching his fire and desperation. Her fingers curled over his shoulders, and the press of her little nails, even through his clothing, was divine in the wake of all they’d just experienced.

Holding her tightly against him, Shadow shifted to get his feet beneath him. Once he was standing, he guided her legs up and around his waist, supporting her weight with one hand on her ass. He didn’t want to pull his lips away, didn’t want to break this physical contact with her, but he also couldn’t have herhere, like this, amidst the aftermath of the attack.

He forced his eyes open and broke the kiss. Blood—Sithix’s blood, primarily—was smeared on her face, dress, and arms. He wouldn’t have that. Wouldn’t have her tainted by this. Wouldn’t have Alice, his sweet, determined female, mired in the trappings of death.

She opened her eyes, brow creased in concern and confusion. “Shadow?”

And still, he couldn’t help but look at her lips and long to kiss her again, right now. “Hold your breath, dear Alice.”

She searched his face for a moment before offering him a small nod. She drew in a deep breath and pressed her lips together tightly.

Shadow phased into the middle of the stream. The cold water was a jolt, but the discomfort was worth it for the way Alice clung to him. The rushing water washed away the blood that had clung to their clothing and skin within a few seconds. He phased again, much farther this time; they rematerialized hundreds of feet upstream, on an embankment overlooking the water.

Alice’s lips parted as she gasped for air. Within the next instant, Shadow reclaimed her mouth in a hungry, desperate kiss. Her hands clutched at him, and her thighs tightened around his waist. Though he could still smell a hint of blood,it was Alice’s scent—warm honey and creamy vanilla—that engulfed him.

He moved forward blindly. Water weighed them both down, pouring from their bodies and clothes, but he clasped Alice to him, refusing to let go, and stopped only when her back was against the trunk of a tree. He kissed her in reckless abandon, making full use of lips, tongue, and teeth, and she returned the kiss just as eagerly, her breath raw and ragged. Fire blazed through his veins.

“Now,” Alice rasped against his mouth, dropping her legs from around his waist. “I need you now, Shadow.”

Whatever conscious thoughts remained in Shadow’s mind were swept away, replaced by a driving, consuming need. In a flurry of motion, he moved his hands under her skirt, hooked his fingers under the waistband of her pants, and shoved them down. The scent of her arousal struck him immediately, and he groaned. His palms brushed over the smooth skin of her legs until her pants were at her ankles. She kicked the garment aside while he removed his own pants, nearly tearing the fabric in his rush to have them off, in his desperation to feel her bare skin against his.

His erect cock sprang free, throbbing and hungry. He looped his arms behind her knees, lifted her high, pinning her against the tree, and thrust into her eager sex with a guttural growl. Alice gasped, head thrown back, and grasped his shoulders. A powerful shudder coursed through his body as her tight, hot, slick walls clamped around his shaft. He released a shaky breath.

Thiswas what he’d needed.Thiswas where he wanted to be. Where hebelonged.

In her arms.

The pain of Shadow’s entrance into Alice’s body was a flicker compared to the all-consuming need raging within her. Her mind and body were swept up in a maelstrom of desire that left room only forhim. His cock, thick and hard, throbbed inside her, spearing her with its heat, and his body caged her against the tree, leaving no room for escape.

But she didn’t want to escape. She was exactly where she wanted to be. With Shadow.

Limbs trembling, Alice lowered her face, opened her eyes, and met his gaze. His eyes blazed with unspoken words—they were filled with so much passion that there couldn’t possiblybethe right words, in this world or any other, to adequately convey it.

Shadow rolled his hips back, sliding his shaft almost entirely out of her, and slammed forward again. Alice’s breath hitched as pleasure unfurled inside her. He did it again, and again, each of his movements measured and deliberate but at once savage in their intensity. Breathy moans escaped her lips, and her fingers tightened on his shoulders. Her breasts bounced with his every powerful pump.

His rhythm faltered as he released another low, rumbling growl. He shifted a hand to her ass, squeezing her flesh, and slapped the other against the tree trunk. She heard wood splintering near her head and glanced toward his hand to see his claws buried deep in the bark.

Alice brushed her forehead against his arm, eyelids fluttering as the sensation within her continued to build, coalescing within her core. Every stroke of his ribbed cock sent an electric shock through her body.

Lifting her legs, she wrapped them around his waist and turned her face back toward him. His eyes—burning with teal fire—fixated upon hers; she felt like he was looking straight intoher, like he’d opened something within himself so she could look back into him.

No one had ever looked at her that way. She’d never thought it possible to see so deeply into a person, had never imagined that simple eye contact could carry so much weight.

But she knew he was holding back—and she knew it was because he feared doing her harm.

Alice trusted Shadow. His dangerous hands, with those lethal claws that could tear flesh to shreds, had always touched her only with gentleness, reverence, and care.

Sliding her hands over his shoulders and up his neck, Alice slipped her fingers into his hair and rasped, “Let go, Shadow. Give me everything. All of you.”

His eyes flared, and the heat in them intensified. He slipped his tongue out and ran it over his upper lip, which peeled back to reveal his fangs. This wasn’t his mischievous grin—this was a ravenous expression, and it ignited an inferno in her core.

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