Page 22 of Alec in Wonderland (Rainbow Tales #1)
Alec knew it was too soon. He knew he should stop Baxenvir. Just get up and walk out. But he didn't. He couldn't. Not when the Knave of Hearts touched him so gently, with hands and lips and so much more. Alec couldn't turn away from him. Even knowing that taking this step wasn't just bad for the mission. It was bad for Alec. It proved how little control he had with Bax. But when Bax lay down beside Alec on his big bed, Alec didn't care about any of that. Bax was all that mattered.
Only moonlight illuminated the room, turning Bax's hair silver, and his eyes dark. Alec reached up and touched the Knave's cheek. He saw emotions churning in those shadowed eyes that mimicked those boiling inside him. They barreled through the last of Alec's resistance, sending shrapnel shooting through Alec's chest. It should have hurt. Wounded him. Instead, it freed him. Alec pulled Bax down to him with a cry that felt soul-deep.
Their lips met as Bax rolled over Alec, pulling at his clothing. Hands clutched and nimble fingers did their work. It felt natural to Alec. As if he'd gotten undressed with Bax a thousand times before. This wasn't a target or his enemy. Baxenvir was just a man. A man caught in a web of intrigue and war. Neither of them wanted to be a soldier. Alec certainly didn't want the mantle of monster-killer. But here they were, and it felt like fate.
Why hadn't that damn caterpillar psychic seen this? Alec thought as he memorized the muscles of Bax's back. He should have foretold this affair. It was more important than that damn beast. Alec knew it in his bones. This was why he was in Wonderland. Bax was the reason he'd fallen into this world.
Alec had the sudden desire to take Bax out of Wonderland. Confess who he was and tell Bax that he was that human boy in the garden. He was the one who fascinated Bax. The one who played croquet with the Queen, laughed at the flamingos, and dyed the roses red. How could this not be destiny? That they would meet back then and get thrust together once more was too much of a coincidence. Their attraction too passionate. Too wild to be mere lust.
“Bax,” Alec whispered. The words were on the tip of his tongue—the truth right there. He offered it to Bax in a kiss. “Bax.”
“I know,” Bax whispered back. “We should stop. I don't want to ruin this either. But I can't seem to let you go. Stop me. Please, Mal. You have to do it. If you tell me to stop, I will.”
Mal. The name drove the breath out of Alec. Just as he had gone breathless when Bax mentioned their first meeting. The Queen's Champion had remembered him for all these years. And Alec had remembered Bax. How could he forget the pink-haired boy who had thought Alec was the strange one? The boy who'd been fascinated with the way he spoke and where he was from. He'd had so many questions about the human world, but then he heard the Queen coming and hid in the bushes. Alec still remembered the way Bax's hair camouflaged him, merging with the flowers. And those green eyes mimicked the leaves. Alec hadn't lost sight of Bax. Not while he played croquet or when the Queen got riled and ordered a man's execution. He kept watching that boy until the boy had given up on waiting for the Queen to leave and ran off.
Alec had felt bereft when Bax left and didn't understand why. Now, he knew. His heart had recognized its future master.
“You're right,” Alec said. “It's too soon. But I don't care. I see you, Bax. I feel as if you've been a part of me for a long time. Call me a fool, but I refuse to give up a single night with you. I've lost too many already.”
Bax had been lying on his side, facing Alec. With those words, he moved above Alec and braced himself on his forearms. As he stared down at Alec, his gaze went liquid. So liquid that a tear slid down his cheek.
“Bax.” Alec brushed the tear away. “Tell me you feel it too. Tell me I'm not alone. That tonight is a beginning, not an end.”
“It's the start of our life together,” Bax vowed. “The beginning of everything.”
And then they were kissing again, and Bax laid his huge, sleek body over Alec's. Limbs sliding together, they kept kissing and kissing. Not that they didn't want more. They wanted it. The proof clashed in swollen glory between them. But they wanted this more—this connection. This confirmation that they both felt something powerful building between them. Building a bond.
It felt like forever that they kissed. Nevertheless, it ended too soon. But the way Baxenvir moved down Alec's throat eased the disappointment. Lips brushing his chest, then his nipple. Yes, that was good too. Alec arched into Bax's kisses and pulled him closer, clutching fistfuls of pink hair.
“Bax.” Alec lifted his hips, driving their shafts together. “Please.”
“Not yet. A little more, Mal. Give me a little more time to explore. I've been wanting this forever too. I've felt the lack of you all my life.”
Fists opened and Alec speared his fingers through Bax's hair, sighing. It was perfect. Everything about their lovemaking. Everything except the fact that Bax kept using the wrong name. Again and again, Alec opened his mouth to tell Bax the truth. But he couldn't speak the words. Instead, sweet moans and gasps left his lips. Cries for more.
“Mal, I want to be inside you.” Bax kissed his way down Alec's belly. “Will you accept me?”
“Will I accept you?” Alec screeched in need. “I demand that you get inside me now!”
Bax chuckled, the warmth of his breath hitting Alec's cock. “Will you always be so impatient?”
“I've been very patient. I've let you kiss me for hours and lick me everywhere except for the place I want to be licked.”
“Is that right?” Bax licked the length of Alec's cock. “Would that be the place?”
“Oh, fuck!” Alec arched off the bed. “Bax.”
Alec had enough. His body couldn't take anymore. Bucking, he knocked the Knave of Hearts onto his back and straddled him. Gaping up at Alec, Bax sprawled in the middle of the bed, blankets bunched around him. There was a sprinkling of dusky pink hair at the top of Bax's chest. That captured Alec's attention for a moment. But he was more interested in the nest of pink curls lower down.
“I'm done waiting,” Alec growled, then dove.
“Mal!” Bax roared when Alec consumed his flesh with one gulp. He stared down his body at Alec, eyes glowing in the darkness, and stroked the hair back from Alec's face. “Yes. Just like that. Get me ready to take you. Get me hard and wet. I don't keep runi oil in here, so we'll have to make do.”
Alec moaned around Bax's cock, then tightened his lips to move up and down it. Just having Bax inside him in this way made Alec soar so close to completion that it forced him to think about creepy crawlies again. He didn't want to come before he rode his knight.
Once Bax's thick shaft—a beautiful piece of male flesh that was the perfect size for Alec—was wet, Alec rose and straddled the Knave again. They hadn't discussed who would top who. They didn't need to. Somehow, they'd known that their desires would match. Even if they hadn't, Bax's declaration of need would have made it clear. So it was with eager breaths that Alec mounted Bax, and the Knave gripped Alec's hips.
“I'm usually on top,” Bax said.
“Do you care?” Alec held Bax's cock and positioned himself over it.
“No. Do what you will with me.”
Grinning, Alec did what he willed.
The first penetration was slow, a steady working in and out. And then Alec's passage eased enough for him to let go of Bax and lower fully upon him. They cried out in unison, hands clutching at each other. Sparks burst behind Alec's closed eyes, the pleasure igniting fireworks in his mind. And then Alec moved, his body taking over, no instruction needed from his mind.
With palms pressed onto the Knave's belly, Alec rode faster and faster. Bax watched him, hardly blinking and never looking away. His powerful hands, used to wielding a sword, held Alec's waist and pulled him down. They both needed more. More and more. They reached for that pinnacle together, hands clawing. Bodies straining.
And then . . .
“Malecvar!” Bax locked up, hips arched up into Alec.
The eruption inside him sent Alec spinning into his own release even as that name, that terrible lie of a name, crushed a piece of his heart. At least Alec could shout the truth.
“Baxenvir!” he cried out.
Together, they rode out their pleasure and then fell into the blessed relief that followed.