No Strings Attached
Chapter 1
It was one little thing that made me notice her. Made me start thinking about her in that way. Wasn't her tits. Or her ass. Those were nice enough. Ok, those I'd noticed right off the bat. I'd be lyin' if I said they weren't pretty fuckin' sweet. It was her mouth. Her lips, particularly. They weren't huge like some of those chicks you see in the movies that have had all that crap stuck in 'em what makes 'me look big and gross, like they could eat your whole face. Nope. It was just the way they looked. The color. The way they told on her, said whatever she was thinking. They way they always looked all soft, smooth, like silk. I just wanted to feel them on me, ta' know what it was like ta' feel them on my skin.
Merle was a boob man. Jesus, he loved titties. Tha' bigger tha' better. Some a' tha' crap he drug home, n' I'm talking porn, not tha' actual thing, I swear I don't see how those women could stand upright. It was gross. They were gross. HE was gross. Now, don't get me wrong, I've never subscribed ta' tha' notion that anything more'n a hand-full was a waste, but there was a limit. But that was Merle. He was always testing limits. I fuckin' miss that.
Personally, I always thought a' myself as an ass-man. Nice, round, peachy asses. Curvy. Don't care for flat ones. I like a girl ta' have some meat on her, 'specially back there. Nice for grabbin' and squeezin'. Something to move just right in a tight pair a' jeans. I don't want a lot of junk in tha' trunk. Just a weekend's-worth, not a whole two-week vacation.
So the first thing I did when she climbed down from that balcony, after I made sure she pointed that damn AR-15 away from me, was ta' check her out. I had to, fuck, she was tha' only girl in tha' group a' five. I saw Shane, T-Dog 'n Glenn doin' tha' same thing. She had on jeans n' hiking boots, a grey one-pocket t-shirt that was 'bout two sizes too big, n' her dark hair was stuffed up under a nasty Chicago White Sox baseball cap. She looked like a little kid. Well, no, she didn't. Merle woulda' been pleased, let's just say, but I noticed her mouth right off tha' bat. Small. Pouty. Lower lip fuller than tha' top one. Pinky-purple-y, perfect. What color would they call that? Oh, yeah, mauve. Maaaauuuve. Mmmmmm-mauve.
When they were making introductions, I noticed that she sucked up the corner a' her lower lip a tiny bit when she got nervous. When they introduced her around 'n I nodded at her, she blinked slowly 'n didn't say a word. A minute later, I looked at her 'n saw her watching me outta' tha' corner a'f her eye. She was biting half a' her lower lip. Apparently I make her real nervous.
I watched her around camp. She was quiet. Shy-acting. She didn't talk none hardly at all, kept ta' herself. Tha' only people she really did talk much wi' was Carol Peletier 'nthe Grimes' kid, Carl. I think she 'n Carol got a lot in common, maybe. I know Carol got beat a lot by her old man, maybe this one did too. Maybe that's why she stays away from the guys, even the ones she was with before. Hate ta' think they'd done anything bad ta' her.
Carl seemed ta' be tha' only one I ever saw get her ta' laugh. She had a giggle ta' her laugh. Not a great big loud laugh, but a quiet one, no big surprise there. She was quiet about most everything. She 'n Carl would sit playing cards for an hour atta' time, talking quietly. Giggling, their heads bowed together. When Carl was wearing Rick's big-ass sheriff's hat, sometimes all you'd see a' him was that damn hat bobbin'. Rick 'n Lori just shook their heads 'n let them have at it. Guess it was good ta' have Carl laugh again. He'd taken Sophia bein' a walker hard as tha' rest 'a us, maybe harder.
We been holed up in a old motel for a couple months now. It was one a' those 1940's types wi' little cabins all around a circular drive wi' a little playground out front, not that we had kids anymore. Carl sure weren't no kid anymore, tha' kind of things he'd seen. Wasn't much 'n wasn't pretty but we were safe enough for now 'n we were so far off tha' beaten path that there weren't hardly any walkers, once we'd taken out a couple a' tha' former residents. We were pretty lucky bein's there was a grocery supply warehouse up tha' road aways, about ten miles. We loaded up a couple trucks wi' canned goods 'n dry food, much as we could, 'n filled one a' tha' cabins so we didn't have ta' go back so often.
We'd settled into a routine pretty quickly. There was a huge woods behind tha' cabins, lotsa' deer 'n other stuff. We ate good for tha' most part, people got comfortable, everybody started ta' relax. Too much. People started settlin' in.
I handed her my lighter and she took it slow, cautious, like she didn't quite trust me. Good thing if she knew what I was thinkin' half the time. I'd followed her out here on purpose. She lit her cigarette 'n took a deep breath, handing tha' lighter back ta' me. She nodded a thank you 'n took another big drag, blowing th' smoke out her nose.
"Think things are going ok?" she asked quietly.
" S'pose so." I said, takin' a couple steps towards her. She leaned tha' rifle against a tree and crossed her arms. "You?"
"Think things are going too good." she said. "We're getting too comfy. Starting to loosen up too much."
"Yup." I nodded my head.
"Not good. I'm more worried about other people than I am about walkers."
"Hear ya'." I said.
"I think we need to find someplace more secure. Fenced. Easy to defend."
I nodded my head again.
"On the other hand, it's nice just to sit and chill a bit." she smiled slightly, bowing her head and looking up at me from under her cap.
"Yeah." I watched her lick her lower lip unconsciously 'nI took another step towards her. "People startin' ta' settle down, play house."
"Exactly. Stupid. Can't get attached nowadays." she said, grindin' tha' cigarette butt out wi' tha' toe a' her boot.
"What 'bout you?"
"What about me?" she said, lookin' at me, her lower lip almost disappearin'.
"You attached ta' anybody?" I said quietly.
"No. That's definitely not gonna' happen." she said firmly. I took another step closer to her. The breeze was movin' little wisps a' hair from her hat 'round her face. I reached up 'n pulled tha' cap off, letting her hair fall down. She was biting her lip 'n looking down at her feet, her hands stuffed in her back pocket. "You?" She looked up at me with those big, round, pale green eyes 'n I swear there were god-damned butterflies in my belly.
"Ain't 'tattched to nobody." I shook my head. I leaned my head in close, taking a deep breath. Jesus, she smelled good. Clean, like soap. We were so close I could feel tha' warmth of her skin. I leaned in a little further 'n brushed my lips against hers. I almost lost all control of myself right then 'n there. Those perfect lips. Soft and warm.
"What are you doing?" she said quietly.
"Not gettin' attached." I said, kissing her again. Her hands moved to my stomach and chest, pressin' lightly. This time she kissed me back hard. Long.
"No strings." she said, out of breath. "It is what it is, ok?"
"No strings." I panted. By this time, I'd backed her up against a tree pretty rough but it didn't seem ta' faze her none. In fact, I think she kinda' liked it. I sure as fuck did. I dropped the Horton 'n put my hands on her arms, leanin' in ta' kiss her again. I ran my tongue along her bottom lip 'n she moaned a little into my mouth. I started workin' on her belt, pullin' her shirt outta' her jeans 'n tryin' to at least get 'em down. We both knew where this was headin' and judgin' from the way she was kissin' me, she wanted it as bad as me.
I think I said "Fuck!" when I couldn't get the damn belt undone, so I just started on her shirt, pulled it up 'n over her head 'n let her do tha' belt herself. She popped tha' buckle without even stoppin' kissin' me 'n I pulled her jeans down 'n she stepped outta' 'em. I looked down 'n saw she was wearing a nice little pair a'white panties 'n I could feel me startin' to really get a hard-on. She was runnin' her fingers along tha' insides a' tha' top a' my pants while I was busy leavin' a nice-size bite-mark at tha' base a' her neck under her ear.
"Jesus Christ." I whispered in her ear when I was done with her neck. That's about tha' time that I looked down 'n snapped tha' front clasp on tha' white brassiere she was wearin' 'n it fell open, revealin' those perfect tits. I know I was prob'ly starin' but I didn't care. They were incredible. Soft, smooth, creamy white skin, dark pink nipples hard as walnuts. I put my mouth around one 'n she damn near slid down the tree.
All the while I was playin' with her tits, she had been workin' on my belt 'n had it undone 'n my pants unzipped, her hand running inside my boxers now, soft 'n warm against me. Her hand went lower 'n I felt her wrap it around me, causin' me ta' twitch 'n lean against her harder.
I had one hand on her 'n the other arm 'round her back ta' keep her standing up 'n I realized, shitfire, I didn't have nothing on me. Not that I usually carry something, but, you know. I closed my eyes 'n my head sank back. "Fuck me." I hissed, loud enough ta' make her jump.
"What? What's wrong?"
"Do you got a..."
"No, I figured you would have."
"I don't."
"Shit, we can't. We can't do this." she shook her head. "I'm not gonna' pull a Lori." she frowned. "Do you have any at all?"
"Couple. I think." I tried to remember if there were any left in any a' Merle's bags, not that he was a fan of condoms in the least, but he always managed to have a few on hand for those times when well, lets just say it was a good idea to have protection...for both parties involved.
"Damn it." she sighed. "So much for that." She smiled and glanced down. What a waste." She snapped her bra closed 'n bent down to pull up her jeans.
"So now what's the plan?" I said, tryin' to forget about the achin' and throbbin' going on.
"No plan. It'll happen when it happens." she shrugged. "No strings, no expectations." she said. "It is what it is, remember."
"Right." I nodded, trying ta' hide my disappointment. I leaned in 'n kissed her once more. "I'll catch ya' later." I said, zippin' my pants 'n tuckin' my shirt back in. I turned 'n walked off, picking up tha' crossbow a few steps from tha' tree.
"Hey Dixon." she called after me 'n I turned towards her. She had a crooked little smirk 'n her eyes were twinklin' even from this distance. "Later for sure." she said.
I turned and continued to walk 'n raised my hand in a wave beside my head. I made a bee-line for camp 'n my cabin...'n Merle's faded blue canvas back-pack wit' all his personals in it. Later can't come soon enough.