Wings of the Walker - CoraLee June Page 0,411

penetrating, daring anyone to question their authority or bother me. After making sure no one else would try anything funny, Nikketa approached.

"What’s wrong?" she asked in a low voice, keeping her eyes on everyone else.

"Tallis needs me."

Nikketa nodded and lifted her loud object in the air again. I saw some of the older citizens flinch in fear, like she was holding a deadly weapon.

"Citizens of Dormas, you are now under Martial Law. I’m your temporary leader. Everyone get back into their homes until we can sort this out. I don't want any funny business!"

Nikketa stepped near Lois Caverly who held her mouth open in shock. Her cheeks stormed with red fury as they stared one another down. Just as Lois was about to speak, Nikketa made a barking noise, causing the nosy woman to flinch.

With a nod towards Nikketa, I straightened my shoulders and made my way through the parted crowd towards Black Manor.

I didn’t consider the consequences of stealing Cyler’s precious motorcycle. I filled it up with what gasoline he had and prayed it was enough to get me to the safe house, while thanking God for those driving lessons as a kid.

Normally, traveling alone across rocky terrain on an ancient mode of transportation would cause me to break out into a fit of anxiety, but my mind was driven by one singular purpose:

Get to Tallis.

The rumble of the motorcycle was loud, and I zoomed past a few infected Walkers and abandoned cities. Transports headed to the Capital looked on in amusement as a trouser-wearing member of the elite passed by on a rudimentary mode of transportation. I didn’t have time to care, nor time to worry about my reputation. I rode. I didn’t stop until I arrived at an abandoned building in a town seventy-miles outside of Dasos. My teeth chattered from the prolonged vibrations of the bike long after I dismounted.

When I walked through the battered front door with chipped paint and rusty hinges, I screamed his name. I looked around the abandoned house with sharp attention. I took in the dust on the covered furniture. The mice scurrying across the floor. The light shining in through the fractured window.

“Tallis?!” I yelled once more, praying that he was here, that he was safe, that we would somehow figure this out. When he turned the corner and waltzed into the entryway, I lost all composure and threw myself at him. Our lips crashed onto one another. Our teeth colliding painfully, but the passion dulled the ache.

“I’m here,” he reassured through muffled and preoccupied lips. My hands reached for his shirt and I pulled it over his head before roaming my eager fingers across his chest. Across his back.

“You stupid ass, you scared me!” I exclaimed before snaking my hands through his hair and grabbing him. Hard. He opened his mouth to me, our tongues dancing together in a delicious reunion. With a slight jump, I wrapped my legs around his waist and my breathing became heavy and burdensome. I couldn’t get enough air. My thoughts were dizzy and drunk. My blood pulsing with lust.

He pushed me against the unsteady wall and dust billowed around us. I clenched my thighs tighter around him and arched my back, wordlessly demanding that he press against me harder. His hands roamed the curve of my butt as I tore my shirt from my body. The feel of his scarred skin on mine made me shudder with pleasure.

Everything slipped away. I wasn’t of the Elite class. He wasn’t a Scavenger. I wasn’t an accumulation of my faults and failures. We just were.

He slid the straps of my lace bra down, the soft material tickled my arms, and I shivered when his hot breath swarmed my exposed skin. As we kissed, his large hands roamed over me, exploring each curve, each nerve. He abandoned my lips to suck a deliriously sensitive spot on my neck and I gasped at the pleasure of it. The flick of his wet tongue against me made me squirm. He put my feet on the ground and lowered to his knees. “Tallis,” I moaned out as his sharp teeth lightly nipped my hip bone, the sting quickly soothed by his skilled tongue and lips.

We moved towards a couch covered with linen, and the lights flickered overhead. I didn’t care that we were in danger or in a dirty home. I didn’t care that the world was hanging by a thread, he was my salvation.

“What are you doing, beautiful girl?”