Free Taken by Passion: King of Hearts (Wonderland Book 1) by Jaymie Holland, Cheyenne McCray Page B

like her. But then she’d seen slender women outside the window, near the cottages and in the gardens, and Kalina was absolutely gorgeous. Why would he want Alice?
    With a sigh, she pushed herself off of the bed and paced the cool floor. She hadn’t been allowed to leave the room, not even once. A chamber pot was there to use when necessary. It was magically clean each time Alice had to use it. This place was unbelievably full of magic. Kalina served Alice food three times a day, and Alice always set something aside for a snack if she was hungry between meals.
    She walked to the window and stared out at the lengthening shadows. Eventually it would be dark. She sat on the windowsill, facing the door, and swung her legs onto the sill, knees bent and her arms wrapped around them. While she hugged her knees, she looked out at the scenery she’d become well accustomed to. Out of habit, she put her hand in front of her and felt the same cushioned air that she encountered every time she went to one of the windows.
    Alice had begun to believe that all of this was real. She did believe it was real, the magic and everything else. Why not? She’d always thought that other life forms had to be in their galaxy or any one of the 100 to 200 billions of galaxies that scientists said were out there. How could there not be other humanoid life forms?
    She missed her own world, though, and all its technology. She missed her phone with all of its apps, missed her laptop, and missed keeping in touch with friends via social media and e-mail.
    Yet she didn’t miss all of the horrible things in the news media. She followed news organizations’ pages she’d “Liked” in her Facebook feed and had followed news outlets in her Twitter account. Sometimes she’d wanted to turn them all off just so she wouldn’t read about the constant negativity around them. What about the good things that happened? The media seemed to ignore anything positive.
    She lowered her hand from the window and wrapped her arms around her legs again and rested her chin on her knees.
    Did they have things like computers and other technology in Tarok? What about cell phones? Somehow, she didn’t think so, but since she hadn’t been allowed to leave the room, she didn’t know for sure. This place seemed more like a throwback to another time and place in her world’s own history. The Medieval period perhaps? No, this was far too beautiful from what she’d seen, and she guessed more civilized than those times in earth’s history . At least she hoped, but truth was, she didn’t know.
    And they had magic here. Real, honest-to-goodness magic.
    A creak told her the door was opening and Alice glanced up from her knees to see if it was Jarronn in case she needed to hurry to her feet and assume the position. She’d been punished many times for disobedience, and she wasn’t in the mood for any of his punishments today.
    To be honest, they were never bad. They were erotic. Sometimes a little painful, but he never marked her, never caused her severe pain. Yet she didn’t want to deal with it right now.
    She might not be in the mood for any reprimands, however, he’d told her he still owed her punishments from her first day in this world, among others. Sooner or later he’d deal those out.
    Kalina walked through the doorway and shut the door behind her. Alice wasn’t sure if she was glad or disappointed that it wasn’t Jarronn.
    “I want out of this prison.” Alice continued to sit on the sill as Kalina reached her.
    “This is not a prison.” Kalina shook her head. “Our prisons are not as comfortable, of that you can be certain.”
    “What difference does it make?” Alice glared toward the door through which Jarronn had come to visit her daily. “I’m not allowed to leave. I have to do what my warden demands of me.”
    Even as she spoke, she thought of Jarronn’s visits. At first she had rebelled over and over again, but after a while she remembered what the