Page 6 of Cheshire's Smile
I didn’t know what they were talking about. Nothing and no one were going to make me take on the responsibility of being High Queen. The only thing missing from my life was Hatter, which was beginning to be a lost cause.
My heart ached. There were few things in my life that made me feel complete, and Hatter was one of them, though for some reason, Cheshire was beginning to feel like mine as well.
Everything in me wanted to sink down onto the ground and sleep. Everything was all so... tiring.
The Bandersnatch watched me with a mixture of expressions. Curiosity, disgust, fear, and surprising patience.
The older male’s voice went low. “You are incomplete. The shadows.” The heads shuddered at the words. “They took morefrom you than you think. You must get them back. Once you are complete, you will see your path for what it is.”
I tugged on my gloves and shifted my weight. “So you keep saying. I just want to find Hatter. If you don’t know where he is, then it’s pointless for me to be here. So just point me in the way of the exit, and I’ll get out of your... hairs? Hair? However that works.”
The rumble of their laughter shook the ground. Space. Void. Whatever it was.
“Only the Reaper knows where Hatter has gone.” Before I could ask them to elaborate, the Bandersnatch faded into the blackness. My eyes squinted. My hand came up to cover my eyes. A long vertical strip of light appeared where they had once been.
I sighed. At least, they gave me a way out.
Chapter 3
I stumbled out of the Bandersnatch and right into a set of warm strong arms. Breathing in the earthy but spicy scent, I buried my face in Cheshire’s chest. Something about his scent made everything that happened in the Bandersnatch not so atrocious.
Cheshire’s clawed fingers stroked through my hair, his arms holding me tighter. A rumble vibrated against me. He was purring. My lips ticked up at the edges.
“Just like a cat,” I mumbled, rubbing my face against his bare chest. His nipple brushed my cheek. I had the sudden urge to lick it.
“Mmm, love,” Cheshire murmured into my hair. “I could hold you all day.” He squeezed me tighter before releasing me to look down at me.
“However, we shouldn’t tarry here in the queen’s bedroom. Unless...” He let out a low growl, his hands gripping my hips before cupping my backside. “You wish to defile the queen’s bedchambers?”
Heat licked between my thighs, and the temptation to take him up on his offer was almost too good to pass up. I wanted Cheshire. My mind didn’t remember him the way my body seemed to. Something inside of me was still incomplete.
That very word snapped me out of my lust-filled stupor.
I pushed out of his arms with a shake of my head. “No. We have to find Hatter.”
Cheshire let out a disgruntled sound before stroking a hand over my shoulder, brushing my hair out of my face. “Did you not find him in the Bandersnatch?”
A part of me told me to brush his touches away and yet I leaned into it. Ignoring my confusing feelings, I shook my head.
“Unfortunately, they were as helpful as faeries in a pool.”
I mulled over the conversation I had with the Bandersnatch. There wasn’t much, if anything, to go on. They hadn’t even plainly stated that Hatter had been there. In fact, they were more interested in me than Hatter.
I wasn’t about to tell Cheshire that. The less people who got the idea of me being High Queen in their heads, the better.
“They didn’t say anything helpful?” Cheshire’s nose stroked along the side of my neck, his claws wrapping around the back of my neck.
I moaned and angled my head for him. That felt so good. “They didn’t say anything. In fact when I asked them they said, ‘Reaper knows where Hatter was.’”
Cheshire paused, my eyes flickered open. I turned my head, locking our gazes.
“What? What is it?”
Cheshire smirked, then dipped his head, his tongue licking a path up the line of my neck.
A shudder of desire rippled through me. I pressed my thighs together. Cheshire’s hand splayed low on my hip, fingers teasing the arch of my skirt. I had to force myself not to push myself into his hands further.
“Would you stop that?” I clasped my hand over his warm one.
