Wings of the Walker - CoraLee June Page 0,287

surprised to see that none of my guys were there to greet me when we got back to the brothel. Slowly, I made my way upstairs and to my room, gasping when I opened the door.

Flowers. Dozens of flowers covered the floor. Candles were lit and scattered around every available ledge, and the bed was made with crisp satin sheets. "Hello?" I called. From what I could see, there was no one here.

"Hey," Huxley's gruff voice said to my left. He was wearing nothing but boxers, and his hair was wet. Moisture clung to his skin as he shut the steamy bathroom door. "I was taking a shower. Didn't expect you back so early."

I was stunned speechless. I'd never been one to get the twins confused. To me, their smiles held all the secrets to their differences. Huxley was hardened by his life and always seemed unhappy. Differentiating him from Patrick had never been an issue. However, tonight? He looked happy. There was an anxious glow pouring from his lips as they quirked at the ends. His shoulders didn't seem to crack under the weight of his burdens. Huxley didn't look angry or even sad. He looked like a man on the edge of something beautiful, and I couldn't help but wonder if that something beautiful was me.

"What's all of this?" I asked while motioning through the room. Huxley rubbed the back of his neck, looking bashful and sexy as hell as he noticed what I was talking about. "I...I wanted to do something special for this...I know it's not ideal, but with everything..."

Was Huxley...nervous? He made his way closer to the bed then whirled around as if he'd forgotten something. In the process, Hux knocked over a candle and flames erupted around us. "Shit, son of a bitch!" he yelled before barreling towards the bathroom and emerging with a sopping wet towel to throw over the fire.

The door slammed open, and a stream of curses flew. "What the fuck is going on?" Turning around, Patrick, Kemper, and Jacob fought to get through the door and make sure we were alright.

"It's these fucking candles!" Huxley roared. "I told you I don't do that sort of shit. One fell over, and it started a fire."

Patrick let out a laugh, and I merely stood there speechless. "When you said things were 'heating up' tonight, you weren't kidding," he snorted. Huxley spun to look at his brother and raised his fist. It wasn't until then that I realized I should probably speak up.

"Stop!"

Jacob's mindspeak started going crazy. "I knew I should have gone next. This is a disaster."

Huxley huffed, the sound more like a growl than an exhale, but I couldn't help but smile. "Okay, that's it. Out. All of you."

Kemper, Patrick, and Jacob begrudgingly left, but I kept my eyes on Huxley. I soaked in how nervous and embarrassed he was. This was so unlike the man I'd come to know that I wanted to take a moment to appreciate his flustered and unsure movements. He began blowing out candles, and a heavy cloud of smoke filled the room, but I didn't care. One by one, each flame went out, and I was left with nothing but a dark room and Huxley's firm body. I was almost happy to be stripped of the ambiance. It was like that with Huxley and me. I preferred his gritty realism.

"You okay?" I finally asked once he was sure every candle was taken care of.

He took a moment to respond, wiping his hand on the back of his neck before saying, "Not really. This isn't me. Kemper's the one that does the candles and flowers shit. I wanted to do something special for our first...well, for you. But now I'm questioning everything."

"What would you have done, Hux?" I asked while walking closer. I trailed a finger down his torso and smiled when he shivered at my touch. "Show me how you'd make sure this was special. Not your brother, or Kemper, or anyone else that has ideas about what's special. What’s your version of it?"

My voice was low and sultry, the smoke in the room gave everything a hazy feel that had me aching to be closer. Huxley licked his bottom lip in a slow movement, and I wondered what he tasted like. Spinning me around, Huxley wrapped his arm around my middle then pulled my head to the side, exposing my neck.

"I would have come up behind you as you got ready for bed," he