Wings of the Walker - CoraLee June Page 0,9

my hands, and he made his way towards me.

“Your hands are bright-red. What are you even doing down here?” He grabbed a towel off the counter and collected ice from the freezer. After placing a handful in the cloth, he walked over to me and carefully put my hands on the ice. At first, I relished in his comfort, but eventually I jerked my hands back. I didn’t need Josiah to be nice.

“Please go tend to your guests,” I pleaded. He growled and pushed me against the counter.

“You think I want to be tending to my guests?” he asked while running a hand through his messy locks. “If I had my way, I’d leave here with you and never look back. But if I want to provide a life for you, it has to be like this. The only way I can keep you is as a Walker." His eyes pleaded with me, but I refused to allow his words to penetrate my emotional armor. "If you think for one second I’m okay with any of this, then you don’t know me at all.” Josiah leaned in closer to me while pressing his hips against me in a way that made my knees tremble. My chest brushed against him, causing his eyes to blaze with want.

“Would you still keep me if you knew it hurt me, Josiah?” My whispered voice sounded pathetic. “Would you allow me to suffer every day?”

Josiah then responded, “Am I selfish if I say yes?”

The kitchen door opened, causing Josiah to remove himself from against me immediately. The sudden vacancy he left made me feel cold and empty. I looked over to see our intruder and found Cyler Black looking at us with a smug expression that made me nervous. He was an intelligent, smart leader. It wouldn’t take much for him to become aware of my feelings for Josiah.

“Oh, don’t mind me,” he said. “I didn’t mean to interrupt. I was just hoping that Ashleigh had some more of that delicious cake she made earlier.”

“Oh yes. Please have a seat in the dining room, and I’ll happily bring you a slice and some evening tea. Do you have any preferences?” I noted that my voice sounded wired and overly chipper. Could he sense how anxious I felt?

Instead of answering me or making his way to the dining room, he pulled up a stool on the island counter and plopped his large body down. I noticed how his grey shirt clung tightly to his muscles. I stared for what must have been longer than polite because both Josiah and Cyler cleared their throats. A blush crept across my cheeks.

“No need to make any tea, Ash. I’ll just enjoy a glass of water. I’d hate to trouble you any more than I already have,” he said with a sigh. Josiah scowled openly at him but quickly masked his disdain when he caught me eyeing him.

I prepared Cyler’s slice and even topped it with a fresh strawberry I got from the market earlier that week. Fruits were a rare luxury in the Galla province. I hadn’t eaten one since Josiah snuck me a bite when I was just a little girl, and I distinctly remembered the tart flavor. Josiah pulled up a stool and roughly requested another slice, too. A part of me doubted that he wanted to indulge in extra dessert; more likely he just wanted to keep an eye on Cyler Black.

“Here you are, Master Black and Master Stonewell,” I said while placing their plates in front of them. I then bowed and took a step back, feeling unsure of what to do next. Except for Josiah’s morning visits in the kitchen before work, it was rare that I had distinguished company while completing my chores.

“Oh, babe, this is delicious.” Cyler said while smacking his lips. “And in the future, I’d greatly appreciate it if you called me by my name, Cyler. Master Black was my father,” he said with a wink.

Josiah dropped his fork, and a loud clang reverberated off the walls of the kitchen. Calling someone by their first name was an incredibly intimate gesture in Galla. Calling a high-ranking person anything other than ‘Master’ or ‘Mistress’ showed that there was more than polite and formal familiarity between parties. However, going against his request would be a sign of serious disrespect. After such brief, personal banter, I ultimately decided to abide his request.

“Thank you . . . uh . . . Cyler. Please enjoy