Disclaimer: Not my world, I'm just playing with it.

Chapter 1

The Bath

"What on earth ya doin', Greene?" Daryl asked entering the vast kitchen of the Fayetteville mansion where the group had taken up residence. Beth was standing in front of the restaurant sized 6-burner stove, each burner alight with a huge pot of water atop it.

Beth turned around and looked at Daryl.

"Have you seen the size of the tub in the master bathroom of this place?" She said in response.

"Don't got much reason to go into Maggie and Glenn's room to be honest." Daryl replied.

Beth walked over to Daryl and grabbed his hand, then led him through the enormous living and entertaining area into the master bedroom. The adjoining bathroom was large enough to fit his old man's entire house, and the focal point was an enormous bathtub. There were candles lit all around it and Daryl saw that it was about half filled with water.

"I'm not passing up the opportunity for a hot bubble bath in this thing before we hit the road again." Beth said, smiling at Daryl.

The pots of water on the stove now made sense. They were lucky that the mansion where they were staying had running water. It was on it's own well and, somehow, was on a pump that apparently did not run on electricity. It was a nice surprise when they first turned on the spigots and found water flowing freely. It was cold, but it was fresh and each of the group had embraced the chance to take a real shower, no matter how icy the water. But, leave it to Beth to take it to the next level, rekindle a luxury from the old world that was lost to most of them now. A hot bath… bubbles and all. Daryl couldn't help but smile.

They were alone in that spacious house today save for Sasha and Tyrese who were watching baby Judith in one of the many upstairs rooms. The others were out on a run. They would be leaving soon. With D.C. being a bust, the group had decided to head south for the remainder of the Georgia winter. They ended up in town called Fayetteville, a former wealthy area in Southern Georgia with plenty of large houses for them to scavenge and wait out the cold. They'd been staying in an 11 bedroom mansion for the past few weeks, but winter was starting to wain, and there was talk of making another go North, especially now that Beth and Carol were well enough to travel. Carol, in fact, had demanded on going on the run with Rick today – her first since they had left Grady hospital. Beth had decided to stay back to "do some housekeeping" she'd said. And, as was so often the case now days, Daryl had opted to stay with her, "just in case anything happens." That was Daryl's reason every time he chose to forgo an outing. It was bullshit though and everyone knew it. Truth was he didn't want to leave Beth. He'd lost her once, almost lost her again when that bitch cop, Dawn, fired a shot so close to Beth's head it grazed her temple and left an angry scar from the corner of her eye to her hairline. No way in hell Daryl was gonna risk losing her again- especially not now.

Daryl and Beth had pretty much become the new Glenn and Maggie by now, just not so extroverted about it. Everyone knew what was going on between them, though. They noticed the stolen kisses, the surreptitious touches, the fact that they came out of the same bedroom some mornings, both looking unnecessarily tired, disheveled and oddly cheerful. No one said anything about it. "Ain't nobody's business anyway," Daryl had said to Beth one morning when Rick had come to find Daryl to help with some random walkers that were roaming about the property and had instead found Daryl and Beth asleep, wrapped up in each other's arms under the covers of the large four poster bed. Rick didn't say anything about it after he'd awaken Daryl. He just looked at the two of them, a surprised but amused expression on his face, and left the room so they could extricate themselves from each other in peace. The only other mention of his relationship with Beth came a few days later when he was out setting snares with Maggie.

"You hurt her and you'll be answering to me," was all she said on the matter. It was all that needed saying. Daryl nodded in understanding and that was the end of it. He knew Maggie had to say something. As Beth's older sister, it was her right and her duty. It didn't need to be said though. Daryl had no intention of hurting Beth or letting anyone else hurt her in any way, shape or form. She was his now - his to watch over, his to protect even if she didn't think she needed to be protected, even though she teased him constantly about how she didn't need him. He needed her though. Needed her like air, like a thirsty man needs water, and he'd be damned if he was gonna screw it up.

It was hard for him sometimes. Daryl didn't know how to love someone – never had before. Beth made it so Goddamned easy, though. She forgave his missteps, his accidental rudeness, the way he sometimes withheld himself from her – afraid to open up, to let her see his scars both physical and emotional. Then she'd remind him that the past was the past, that he was no longer who he was, that she truly thought he was a good person. And when she caressed him in the night, ran her fingers tenderly over the healed wounds on his back, it was like she was healing the wounds in his heart as well.

"Could you help me with the water?" Beth asked, bringing Daryl back to himself.

It took twelve boiled pots of water to fill the tub the remainder of the way. Beth had poured in some sweet smelling bubble bath and the room now smelled of lavender and soap and… her.

"Want to join me, Mr. Dixon?" Beth said coyly, unbuttoning the blue blouse he loved because it brought out the color of her cornflower eyes. Daryl scoffed.

"Nah, ya don't want me muddying up that nice clean water." He said. Truth be told, he'd never had a bubble bath in his life – not even as a kid. He could practically hear Merle's voice in the back of head at the thought of joining Beth in that vast tub filled with bubbles and flowery smelling potions.

"Go ahead Darlina, jump in that girly bath. Maybe you can braid each other's hair while you're at it…"

As if reading his thoughts (which she seemed to have an uncanny ability to do), Beth took a step toward Daryl and wrapped her arms around his neck. Daryl wrapped his arms around her waist. She placed her lips to his tenderly, warmly, the way she did when she was trying to reassure him.

"Please?" She asked softly.

She wasn't playing fair, asking him like this, topless except for a creamy white bra, her body warm and soft and inviting. She could have asked him to build her the goddamned Taj Mahal right then and he would have done it. So he wasn't surprised when he found himself unbuttoning his shirt, removing his jeans, stepping into the bath. He lowered himself into the hot, sweet smelling water and watched as Beth stepped in after him. She inched down and placed herself between his legs, her back against his chest, her head resting on his pectoral muscle.

He couldn't deny it – this felt great. The warm water heating him from the outside in; Beth's body pressed against his, soft and silky and beautiful.

Beth sighed and closed her eyes.

"Feel good, Mr. Dixon?" She said drowsily, raising her hand out of the water and caressing his cheek above her.

Daryl grunted throatily in response. Hell yeah this felt good, but he couldn't say that out loud. Merle was still too loud in his mind.

Beth opened her eyes and tilted her head back so she could look at him. Goddamn it, she was beautiful. The scars left on her by her time at the hospital only made her more gorgeous. They were proof of how strong she was, how resilient, how tough yet somehow still so sweet and tender.

"God, I love ya." Daryl said passionately.

Beth smiled softly.

"I love you too." She said.

Daryl lowered his lips to hers and kissed her. His hands glided down her arms and entwined her fingers with his under the water. He wanted to stay like that forever. He felt so warm and safe and loved like this. Merle's taunting voice was gone now, replaced with Beth's soft sighs of contentedness.

A little while later, the water starting to cool slightly, Beth untangled her hands from Daryl's and placed them on his thighs. Daryl opened his eyes and looked at Beth who was looking up at him slyly. She squeezed his legs gently, then slowly began sliding her hands up his thighs toward his groin.

"Whatcha doin', Greene?" Daryl asked with a smile, his manhood hardening against Beth's buttocks.

"Making sure you enjoy your bath." She said finding his erection and wrapping her hand around it firmly. She squeezed softly and slowly began caressing him.

Daryl closed his eyes again and lay his head back against the edge of the tub, lost in the feel of Beth's soft hands on him.

"Feel good, Mr. Dixon?" She asked again, this time slyly.

"Yeah." Daryl breathed, his voice a strangled whisper of pleasure. Beth released him then and Daryl opened his eyes to see Beth turning in his arms. Straddling him in the huge tub, she lowered herself onto him, the warm lips between her legs capturing his hard shaft.

Daryl wrapped his arms around Beth as she slowly moved up and down on him, the warm water splashing in little waves around them. God, she felt good, her body hot and wet and her skin like silk under his fingers. He knew he wouldn't last long with her, not with the way she was moving with him, the added sensation of the warm bath caressing them. Daryl suddenly gripped Beth tightly around the waist and stood up, lifting her with him. She giggled and encircled him with her legs. Daryl stepped out of the tub, his lips on hers, and collapsed onto the carpeted floor next to the bath, Beth under him. There, he began moving into her hard, his pace increasing in time to Beth's small pants, her moans of pleasure until she cried out his name, her nails digging into his flesh as she shook beneath him until he fell apart too. After, they lay together on the floor, both breathing fast. A few minutes later, Beth giggled again.

"So, Mr. Dixon, did you enjoy your bath?" She asked, raising her head, a coy smile on her face.

Daryl smiled and pulled her down to his lips in response. She tasted like lavender and honey.

"It wasn't so bad." Daryl smiled. Beth laughed and kissed him again. Then they got up and dressed.

The scent of the bubble bath lingered on his skin for the rest of the day, but Daryl found he didn't mind. Smelling like a girl for a day was a small price to pay for the pleasure of taking a hot bath with Beth Greene.