Taken by Passion: King of Hearts (Wonderland Book 1) (18 page)

He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand. “In my world, everyone ages differently from your people.”

A furrow formed between her brows. “Do you even remember being a child?” He laughed and this time her expression was one of surprise. “I’ve never heard you laugh before.”

“Odder happenings have occurred.” He squeezed her hand as they continued their walk through the jungle he had grown up in. “I remember everything that has happened in my lifetime. I forget nothing.”

She studied him with a thoughtful look on her beautiful features. “Doesn’t your brain get too full of stuff?”

He led her through a maze of hanging flower vines. “All memories are stored until they are needed.”

“That’s cool.” Alice ducked around the vines and tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Please tell me about your childhood.”

Jarronn couldn’t help a grin as he thought of fond memories of his youth. “My twin, Darronn, and I were quite mischievous.”

“What kinds of things did you do?” Her face was so sweet as she watched him, ready for him to tell her his stories.

Jarronn thought about one he was certain would amuse Alice. “Darronn and I used magic adhesive to glue all of the cooking spoons and pots to the preparation tables in the kitchen.” He shook his head. “We were punished and forced to prepare a meal for every one of the almost one hundred residents of the castle, including servants and kitchen staff.
Without
using magic.”

She giggled as he told her the story. “Did everyone go hungry?” she said in a teasing voice.

He liked the way she teased him, as if they were equals. It would be enjoyable talking with her as his queen when they spent time together alone. “Our parents made us start cooking and baking early in the day. Still, when we finally finished it was well into the evening and those we served were very hungry by that time.”

Talking with Alice brought back fond memories of his youth, and she laughed out loud when he shared with her the more humorous examples.

“Our mischief and wont for adventure led to more serious instances.” Jarronn wondered at the stupidity of some of their actions. “One such time my three brothers and I snuck out of the castle in the middle of the night and went into the jungle to play. We were just cubs, in our tiger forms. We stumbled across the path of a full-grown jaguar and barely escaped with our lives.”

Jarronn winced at the memory. “As we ran from the jaguar, the beast raked its claws across Karn’s chest, and he still bears the scars. Being the eldest brother, I have always felt responsible for his injury. From that point forward I have done all I can to protect those I love.”

“That’s awful.” Alice frowned. “Karn must be the brother with chest scars and the diamond tattoo on the back of his right shoulder.”

Jarronn nodded. “That is so.”

“Alexi and I got into some scrapes that could have had bad consequences.” Alice’s frown deepened. “Like you, we once left the house late when we were supposed to be sleeping. We were all of about ten years old. We grew up in San Francisco and knew it well from a young age. We had always felt comfortable walking around in the day.”

Alice blew out her breath before she continued. “That night, though, we came across a group of homeless men. Usually they don’t bother anyone, but we happened to bump into some not so nice individuals who grabbed us. If Alexi hadn’t known some good self-defense moves, who knows what would have happened to us. That’s when Alexi really started watching out for me. She acts like she’s years older than me even though she’s my twin.”

The thought that his Alice could have been hurt or worse by those men made the hair stand up on the back of Jarronn’s neck and anger burn beneath his skin.

Alice brushed a flower out of her face as they ducked beneath a low-hanging branch full of the red blooms. “Is everyone in the land of Tarok a weretiger?”

“Not everyone.” How to explain generations of crossbreeding in a mere fraction of time? “We are weretigers, but unfortunately few of us remain.” He clenched his teeth and then forced the words out: “For almost twenty Tarok years, no weretiger cub has been born.” He didn’t endeavor to explain why…that would come later.

“Weretiger.” Alice didn’t look dismayed or frightened as she tried out the word. “Everything here is just so different and so overwhelming.” Her expression changed as all of what he said appeared to register. “No weretiger cubs for
twenty
Tarok years?”

He shook his head. “Until our women can once again conceive, there are no children in Tarok.”

“That’s horrible.” Her eyes had widened and she looked sad for him and his people. “Why can’t they have children? Or would it be cubs instead of children?”

“Another time.” He squeezed her hand. “Now is not the moment.”

She grew quiet, clearly dwelling on what he’d said. “If you can’t talk about that, can you tell me about your parents?”

“Yes.” His memories of his parents were fond, but he missed them, even after all this time. “Our mother and father passed on to the Golden Lands over two Tarok decades ago. They contracted an illness and died within hours of each other.”

It was Alice who brought them to a stop in front of a boulder. He hoisted her on top of it before settling beside her. She took his other hand as she faced him so that their knees were touching. “I’m so sorry.” She clearly felt for him. “It must have been so hard for you.”

“It was not easy.” He blew out his breath. “I was nearly 220 years old. It would have been much harder to lose them at a young age as you and your sister lost your parents. Yours may not have died as our mother and father did, but it was still a great loss for you both. It was before you were adults, which would make it far more difficult.”

Alice looked down at their hands. “I don’t think there’s any easy way or time to lose anyone you love.”

“Indeed.” Jarronn’s mind turned to their sister who had been lost to them since their parents passed.

“There’s something you’re not telling me.” Alice frowned. “You lost someone else, too.”

He looked at her, surprised at her intuition. “Our younger sister.”

“I’m so sorry.” The empathy that Alice felt washed over him, soothing his anger at the mention of his sister. “I can’t imagine how that must feel. When did it happen?”

It would do no good to brush away Alice’s desire to know more.

“Her name was Mikaela.” Jarronn shook his head. “We lost her long ago.” His throat worked. “When our parents died.” And that was the truth. She had left not long after learning she had been left with nothing. She had been lost to them all.

Alice’s eyes seemed to flare with surprise. It must have been because he had told her his sister was lost to them when they lost their parents.

He jumped off the boulder. “Come. You can ask me other questions.” He helped her off the boulder and settled her on her feet.

While they continued walking through the jungle, he shared things about his brothers. To his surprise, Jarronn even expressed a bit of his concern for Darronn. He had always pushed himself to succeed, always competing against Jarronn, who was but hours older and had inherited all that came with being a first-born son.

Alice glanced up at him as they walked. “Alexi is my twin, but I guess in some ways I’ve been competitive against her, even jealous of her looks.” Alice bit her lower lip as if holding back something.

Jarronn gripped her hand as he helped her step over a large fallen tree. “Are you angry with her for being who she is?”

“No.” Alice shook her head as she made it over the log and then frowned. “Well, I guess I have been, in the past. A lot. I love my sister, but she’s always had the greatest share of attention. All I heard growing up was that Alexi is so beautiful and that I should diet until I’m as thin as Alexi, that I should have made better grades like Alexi, or that I should have been a lawyer like Alexi, instead of an administrative assistant.” She shrugged and looked up at Jarronn. “Yeah, I love her, but sometimes it downright sucked being her sister.”

“How do you feel now?” Jarronn asked softly.

“Honestly,” her expression was one of seriousness yet happiness and confusion all at once, “at this moment I wouldn’t change who I am for anything in your world or mine.”

A surge of triumph rose up within Jarronn. He stopped beneath a large cluster of orchids and pressed Alice up against the glossy trunk of a
ch’tok
tree. She gasped as she looked up into his eyes and she surely read the hunger and need in his gaze.

He grasped her waist and settled his hands at her hips. “Hold on to me.”

She slipped her arms around his neck, her lips parted, expectant and waiting.

Jarronn’s mouth met Alice’s in a possessive yet gentle kiss. Without words he told her what his heart was already saying. No matter that he had known her a short time, his soul had known her forever. He loved her so deeply. That in itself was pain mixed with pleasure. A fierce ache in his heart that could only be fulfilled by Alice.

He wouldn’t tell her of his love until after her training, when he was ready to make her his queen.

A purr rose up within his chest as he thrust his tongue into Alice’s mouth. The scent of their sex mingled was one of the most intoxicating smells he’d ever experienced.

She clung to him as their mouths devoured each other, feeding their needs in ways that only two soul mates could fulfill.

Jarronn grabbed her thighs and raised them up, and she wrapped her legs around his hips. Without breaking the kiss, he guided himself into her waiting core and thrust home into her slick heat. It felt like he’d entered the Golden Lands and he never wanted to come back.

With slow, deliberate thrusts, Jarronn took Alice, drawing his pleasure from her body while giving her all that he could. She moaned inside his mouth, and the sound made him even harder. He forced himself to keep the pace slow, drawing out this moment for as long as he possibly could.

Alice tore her mouth from his, her eyes wild and her body shaking. “May I come, Milord?”

“Yes.” He thrust harder now. “Give me your orgasm, Alice. Come for me.”

When she started to cry out with her release, Jarronn locked his mouth to hers, drawing her sounds of completion into his soul. Her core contracted around him in pulse after pulse. By the skies he wanted to remain like this, deep inside her and taking her over and over again.

His own climax tore through him and he threw his head back and roared. His body rocked, thunder in his mind, a hurricane of sensations ravaging his body.

It took time for the storm to pass, time before he could return to the here and now. Time to return to the woman in his arms.

*

As Jarronn and Alice headed back to the castle, the feelings inside her were at such a high that she didn’t think anything would or could bring her down again. A smile stayed on her lips as they walked through the gardens and into the candlelit recesses of the massive castle.

He escorted her to the room where she had woken the very first day she landed in his kingdom—where he had bound her to the bed with silk scarves.

When they were in the room, Jarronn caressed her cheek with his knuckles. “I must go now and you will remain here for the night.”

A little of Alice’s euphoria waned. “You have to leave?”

“I have business to attend to.” Jarronn pulled her to him when her expression gave away her disappointment. “Dinner will be served in your quarters, and a servant shall attend to your needs. I will come for you tomorrow.”

He gave her a fierce kiss that caused her to moan with need for him. As many times as he’d used her body for their mutual pleasure today and as sore as she was from head to toe, how could she want him again and again?

“Remember the rules.” He released her and stepped back. His voice sounded harder. “Do not break them or you will suffer the consequences.”

She bit her lower lip at the change in his tone and his demeanor. He had been so wonderful while they had talked and shared so many things about their lives. Now it was as if he had become a different person, the one she had met when she had first come to Tarok. A king who expected to be obeyed.

He strode toward the open doorway and came to a stop, one hand resting on the doorframe. He looked back at her. “As always, remember your promise to me, my beautiful Alice.”

She gasped as he shape-shifted into a gorgeous white tiger—a
weretiger.
It was simply breathtaking to watch his features change, his body elongate, and all that glorious white-and-black-striped fur slowly cover his skin. She would have thought it painful to change shapes like he did, but perhaps it had something to do with the magic of the kingdom.

In the same motion that brought his front paws to the floor he turned and bounded into the darkened hallway.

Alice continued to stare at the doorway, her mind swimming.
Good lord. I just spent the day being taken by a weretiger.

It felt as if a part of her left with him, yet at the same time she felt a little relieved at having time away from his intense presence. After they’d had sex the first time, before they ate, she hadn’t even been able to relieve herself without him nearby. She’d had to go in the jungle for cripes sake. He’d said something about losing all her inhibitions and understanding that what came naturally to her body should never embarrass her.

Yeah, well, she’d still like to pee in peace. Although she hadn’t said it to him exactly like that. She wasn’t sure what kind of punishment he might come up with if she acted in a way that he would disapprove of.

While Jarronn had walked her back to the castle, Alice had felt like she was skipping across the Tarok blue-green clouds. She’d never felt so sated, so
loved,
in all her life. Yes, her sister, aunt, cousin, and friends loved her, but this was
different.

Although love… That was a word she hadn’t intended to use with any man again. Not after Steve and Jon, the assholes. And how could she love a man she barely knew? How could he possibly love her?

Surprisingly, her experiences with Steve and Jon seemed so long ago, almost as if memories of them were slowly being erased from her mind. Even her father’s abandonment, and her boss’s sexual advances and subsequent firing, seemed to have faded.