Beth heard his breath stop - felt her own follow suit. She had meant what she'd in that moment. Wanted all of him. His arms, his legs. Wanted his mouth, and the sinful things she was sure it could do to her. She pressed her hand against his chest, just over his heart, and nodded once, showing she meant it. Letting him know she meant it.
"C'mere, girl," Daryl said in a voice Beth hardly recognized; it was saturated with desire, dark, maybe even a little forbidden - everything her romance novels had talked about. "I'm gonna kiss ya."
She felt his hands tangle in her hair. Daryl's touch was rough, but did not hurt. Beth felt his lips on hers, hot and needy. When he bit her bottom lip softly, she moaned, letting his tongue slip inside her without protest. It moved against her own in a song she could not remember, because it was completely new. Nothin' like the hurt, and nothin' like the sweet. Daryl Dixon, silk and cigarette smoke, dragging her under until she couldn't remember the past, let alone her own name.
Her body lit up and moved of its own accord. Beth touched him. His arms. His neck. Moved closer to feel his unbelievable heat. When her chest hit his, Daryl slowed the kiss down, softening in pressure, teasing until there was almost nothing. Every inch of her mouth was sensitive - almost ticklish - from the attention. He pulled away from her.
"Damn," he said, dragging a thumb across the spit shined, swollen top of her lip, "would you look at that."
Beth blinked her blue eyes at him, unable to form words. She wondered what he saw when he looked at her. She bit the pad of his thumb playfully, unable to bring herself to ask. Slid her tongue out slowly, licked the salty skin. Beth felt Daryl's groan down the soles of her feet.
"What're we doin', girl?" Daryl asked, more to himself than her.
"Bein' close," Beth said, resting her forehead against his.
"Y'okay?" he asked
Beth nodded and shivered when she felt his finger trace the shell of her ear. She couldn't help but blush at his cocky smirk, feeling goosebumps break out on her skin. Beth nuzzled into his touch, wanting closer, wanting more, wanting - just plain' wanting.
His lips moved across the bare expanse of her neck, nipping at her collarbone, sucking just under her ear. Still, Daryl's hands didn't travel. One was underneath her head, tangled in her blond locks, the other on her hip, thumb having snuck under the fabric of her shirt, drawing small, rough circles.
Beth didn't expect it when he brought their hips together. Her breath caught in her throat at his hardness, straining against his jeans. The first pang of fear shot through her, dampening her fire, making her go cold. Beth pushed him back with her hands, scrambling slightly.
"Beth?" Daryl asked, voice uncertain.
Beth tried to answer, but her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. Her heart seemed to be racing too fast - unimaginably fast - Is this a heart attack? Am I having a heart attack? Beth splayed her hand just under her ribcage and shook her head.
She lost time, lost sense, lost reason. Could not remember where she was. All that she knew was that she couldn't breathe. She wasn't breathing. And Beth didn't want to die this way, gasping like a fish out of water. She couldn't get any air. I'm gonna die.
Suddenly, she was gathered in strong arms. Beth tried to back out but the person held her close. She was struggling to breathe - struggling to keep from crying - did not have the air or energy for it. A minute passed, then another, before she heard a low voice, whispering just over her head.
"Y'hear that?" he asked. "That's my heartbeat, girl. Y'gotta be used to that sound by now. Sleep with your head against it most nights, right? Y'recognize it yet?"
Beth didn't nod, but listened. Just under the sound of his breathing, she could hear the steady thump of his heart. Daryl was right. It was familiar. Her own heart began to slow to match its pace. Beth breathed a little easier.
"And y'gotta know how I smell by now," Daryl said with a small laugh, "fer better or worse. Smoke. Dirt. BO. What was it y'said again?"
"M-motorcycle o-oil," Beth stuttered out, feeling the panic leave her body. "And wind."
The silence settled between them. Daryl waited for her breathing to even out, and then left her alone to her thoughts for a few more. Beth was exhausted from the intensity of it all, feeling her bones sag with tiredness. She burrowed into his chest, sniffling slightly.
"You're safe, Beth," Daryl said, running his hand over her hair, "I'm sorry, girl."
"No," Beth said. "D-don't ruin it by apologizing. I wanted ya, Daryl. Hell, I want ya. I just..."
"It's okay," he said. "I get it."
"Wish ya didn't have to," she muttered, letting her frustration leak into her voice. "Wish I could just be normal. I want to give ya everything, Daryl. Everything ya want."
"You do," he said. "I want to touch ya, and kiss ya, when ya want to be touched and kissed. Any little bit of ya is more than every piece of someone else. Just sleepin' next to ya in the night - y'fill me up, girl."
Beth, feeling tears build behind her eyes at his sweetness, simply slipped out of his embrace to kiss him. Their mouths met again, more tender and emotional than she had ever though possible. Her heart was heavy, aching, but with something she had never felt before - at least, not before Daryl - love.
"Don't ever go," Beth said seriously, her hands on either side of his face, looking into his blue eyes. "I lo - just, don't ever go, okay?"
Daryl nodded and then pressed a quiet You neither to the soft skin of her jaw as he nuzzled against her.
"I won't," she promised him. She knotted her hand in his hair to make Daryl look up at her. "I won't ever leave ya, Daryl Dixon."
"Y'know I'd chase y'down anyhow," Daryl said with a smirk. "Free country, right?"
Beth laughed so suddenly she snorted, the sound getting caught in her throat. Immediately Daryl followed her lead, chuckling, and guffawing louder than she had ever heard him. And they stayed like that for a long while - one stopping, just to catch their breath, before the other set them off again. And in between, because they just couldn't help it, they pressed their laughter into one another's mouth with their lips and teeth and tongue.
