A few hours later when Rick awoke, he was once again covered in Daryl's weight, the other man's soft snore echoing in his ear. With Daryl's face crammed between Rick and the pillow, Rick wondered how Daryl could even breathe.
Rick was sweaty, stiff, and uncomfortable as hell, but he still grinned. He wished he could hug Daryl, and then flip that gorgeous body over and kiss every inch of Daryl's scarred and tattooed skin, but he restrained himself. How could the man be so distrusting while awake, and so amazingly loving in his sleep? Rick took it for what it was, trust. Daryl trusted him. And obviously didn't want Rick to go anywhere.
His smile soon dampened as he thought of their conversation the night before. He'd known Daryl was abused as a child, and that the abuse had been horrendous, a grown man with that amount of scar tissue across his back, well, it said a lot about the misery of his childhood... but sexual abuse was a whole other story, and one Rick didn't know how to deal with. The pain trapped inside Daryl was something Rick couldn't even imagine. He had no idea how to help Daryl.
No more pressure, he told himself, I'll let him do what he wants and not ask for anything more. Nothing more. I'll simply love him exactly as he is.
"Daryl?"
His head immediately popped up and Rick saw that now familiar panic flash through Daryl's eyes before he glared down at Rick.
"What you wailing on about?"
Happy that Daryl hadn't immediately lunged away, Rick smiled at him, "Good morning to you too."
The glare softened slightly, and then flicked down to Rick's lips.
"Yes," Rick encouraged, "kiss me."
"Got morning breath," the other man said, but his gaze remained on Rick's mouth.
"You think I give a shit? Kiss me anyway. Kiss me good morning."
Daryl's eyes softened and when he leaned down for the gentle press that Rick had grown to love, Rick simply followed him. No pressure, ever again.
Then Daryl did something Rick was not expecting. He rocked his pelvis against Rick's. The movement was slow and almost imperceptible, but he was definitely moving his hips.
Rick's good intentions disappeared and he deepened the kiss, licking at Daryl's mouth until his lips opened. He didn't thrust back against Daryl, not how he wanted to, but he did start to follow the flow of the other man's body. Through the thin material of his boxers, Rick could feel the hard press of Daryl's dick rubbing along side his.
The slow languid pace of Daryl's rocking hips put a spell on Rick, he'd never felt such drowsy arousal, and the pleasure radiating out from him was in almost-drunken waves. He was light-headed, and as Daryl's tongue took on the same rhythm of his hips, Rick felt the pleasure build and build, and few minutes later, his orgasm didn't just hit him with the normal burst of pleasure. Instead this orgasm rolled through his entire body in a seemingly endless pulses. He repeatedly gasped into Daryl's mouth as wave after wave of bliss saturated his senses. He'd never experienced anything like that, and collapsed limp, boneless.
Daryl kissed the tears Rick didn't even realize he'd shed from Rick's face, and then his mouth gently, "I think you liked that."
The self-satisfied tone made Rick laugh, and it was tortuous not to hug Daryl like he wanted to.
"God yes, that was amazing," Rick told him, and Daryl grinned, and finally rolled off of Rick. Daryl had slept fully dressed, and Rick could see Daryl hadn't gotten any relief. Daryl followed Rick's eyes down to the front of his pants, and turned his back. Rick sighed.
"We need a new mattress," Rick told him, "or you're going to accidentally smother me in my sleep. Move your stuff in here. You're staying with me from here on out."
Daryl just grunted.
...
Rick discovered he did have some power in their relationship, after all, and it was quite by accident.
Carol was loading wood into the men's arms for them to deliver to the bed rooms. She had just finished loading medium-sized logs into Rick's arms when Daryl scoffed, "Give me the heaviest ones."
"We can't all lift like we live at the gym, Daryl," Rick told him and was delighted at the blush that quickly spread across Daryl's cheeks. Rick paused at the door to the house, turning back to find Daryl's hot eyes following him.
Later that day, Abraham was showing Rick a map on which Abraham had mapped out potential paths to DC. Daryl came over to look, accidentally blocking the light from the window behind him.
"Scoot over, Daryl," Rick told him, "Your shoulders are blocking the sun."
That blush again stained Daryl's cheeks, and Rick grew thoughtful. He'd seen women attempt to flirt with Daryl, especially the Woodbury women back at the prison, but Daryl never seemed to notice. In general, he'd grunted at them and gone on about his business. At the time, Rick thought Daryl either didn't understand or just didn't care.
But with Rick's unintentional flirting, Daryl got it instantly, and it was obvious that the other man was affected by Rick's words.
That afternoon Rick followed Daryl down to a little pond some distance from the house. Daryl was hoping to find it stocked with fish. Small hills rolled out before them, and even with the colder weather, the sea of still-green grasses was a sight to behold.
Daryl threw out his arm, "This view, huh?"
When he turned to Rick, Rick let his eyes trail slowly up Daryl's body, "Oh, I'm enjoying the view all right. Gorgeous."
That blush yet again, "Stop it, Rick."
"Can't help it, Daryl."
Daryl tucked his head and tackled Rick, and as they rolled to the ground, Rick threw an arm around Daryl's waist and grabbed Daryl's bicep with his other hand. Rick quickly released his waist, but as Daryl landed on top of him, he trailed his fingers across that heavily muscled arm.
"Stop it," Daryl growled into Rick's face, but Rick just looked up at him and grinned, "You're so sexy, Daryl, do you have any idea what these muscles do to me?"
Removing his hand, Rick gasped when Daryl ground his hips into Rick's, "Yeah, you're all hard again."
"It's you, Daryl, watching you and remembering this morning."
Daryl looked at the sky, and Rick leaned up and licked his throat. For once, Daryl didn't shove him away, so Rick took advantage, using his lips and tongue to kiss and suck one of the cords of muscles, but then Daryl's mouth was there and the kiss made Rick moan.
Suddenly Daryl was standing up, and holding down his hand, "Anyone can see us out here."
Rick let Daryl pull him to his feet, but Rick didn't release his hand. Daryl tugged for few seconds before that slight smile came, "You're a stubborn bastard."
"Think of it as you touching me instead of the other way around."
Daryl peered through his lashes, "Huh. Maybe."
So they held hands for a minute, when they walked, but both found it incredibly awkward and let go with a laugh.
The pond was jumping with fish, "Tomorrow we should bring Carl," Daryl said, "and maybe Beth. Let 'em do some fishing."
Rick nodded, and after a moment turned to leave, but Daryl didnt move, he just stood at the pond's edge and chewed at the tip of his thumb.
"I've never felt anything like this before," Daryl whispered.
"I know," Rick told him, and when Daryl turned to face him, "Neither have I."
That evening Beth let them exchange her harder mattress for their softer one. Later, when Rick came to kiss Judy goodnight, Beth put a hand on his arm, "I want you to know that I'm glad you and Daryl found each other. He needs you, Rick, more than you know."
"I need him, too," he told her, kissing her forehead and then Judy's.
When Rick entered their bedroom, Daryl was in the shower. The fire was burning low, so Rick stoked it and added a large log, thinking of earlier that day, and the heat in Daryl's eyes.
He stripped down to his boxers, and headed into the bathroom, "It's just me," he said and started brushing his teeth.
The shower curtain ripped back and Rick swallowed his toothpaste. A wet, fully naked Daryl stood in front of him, "Hand me a towel."
But Rick was frozen. Before Daryl, he'd only really ever paid attention to women. Shane had a great body, and Rick had known it, had even admired Shane's physique, but he'd never wanted to touch Shane.
Rick's palms itched. It was so torturous to see all that flesh and not touch.
"Hello?" Daryl said, and that amusement was back in his voice.
"I think you're trying to kill me," Rick whispered.
"Just hand me a damn towel," Daryl's voice was gruff, but color sparked his cheeks, and he was looking pretty damned pleased with himself.
It was heady to Rick that this was the first time in Daryl's life he'd felt comfortable enough or confident enough to try his hand at flirting. Rick grabbed a towel and tossed it to Daryl, then he leaned against the sink to watch Daryl dry off.
His cheeks stayed red, and Daryl was brisk about it, still unsure about how to play the flirting game, but he let Rick admire the view.
Baby steps, Rick reminded himself, one day soon.
Author's note: I've gotten almost no feedback for this story. I have other idea. And unless I get some interest in Rickyl, I probably won't continue. :(
