When Daryl woke the next morning Carol was already up and he could hear the shower running. He was usually a very light sleeper but somehow she had snuck out of bed without him even noticing. Daryl stretched and the second he moved he realized that he had to pee, really badly.
When he got out of bed and stood up things only got worse. "Holy fuck," he hissed, trying to figure out what to do. Daryl walked to the door of the bathroom and knocked. "Any chance you're almost done?" He called out. "I really gotta piss."
"Um, I just got in," Carol yelled back. "But the glass is all steamed up so you can just come in I guess."
"I'll wait," he called back, even though he had to pee so bad it hurt.
"It's fine, just come in," Carol insisted.
Daryl clicked open the door. I'll head straight to the toilet, take a leak and right back out, he thought. Look straight ahead, Daryl told himself. He made it to the toilet, lifted the seat and whipped out his dick. He aimed the stream into the bowl and tried not to sigh with relief. He also said a silent thank you to The Lord that he didn't have morning wood. It was damn near impossible to hit the toilet then, without some seriously fancy maneuvers.
Daryl was just doing his final shake when he heard Carol speak. "Oh shit," she muttered. "Hey, before you leave can you pass in that pink bottle on the counter?" She asked, sliding the glass enough to peek her head out. Daryl grabbed it and closed his eyes, turning back towards the shower and attempting to hand it to her. He let go too early and the bottle dropped to the floor. He had to open his eyes to find it, but Carol was reaching for it too and suddenly he was staring at her naked body.
His eyes were locked on the tits that had been in his hand the night before. They were every bit as perfect as he'd imagined they would be. Daryl knew he should turn away but Carol was frozen in place, not making any effort to cover herself, and he couldn't help but let his eyes wander down her wet body. She had amazing curves for a woman who looked so thin in her clothes. He looked down past her navel, incredibly surprised to find she was completely bare down below. Daryl must have looked shocked because when he finally tore his eyes away to look back up to her face Carol was blushing. He got the impression this may have been something new for her. He also got the urge to pull her out of the shower, take her to bed and burry his face between her legs and explore with his tongue. That urge told him he needed to get the fuck out of there or her plan of taking things a bit slower was completely out the window.
"Uh, here you go," Daryl said, handing her the bottle he'd picked up.
"Thanks," Carol replied. The blush was gone and he saw something different, something playful on her face. She turned around, but didn't shut the door, giving Daryl a full on view of her ass.
He couldn't supress the groan and Daryl knew she heard it when Carol shot him a sexy grin over her shoulder and shut the glass door. With nothing left to see other than steamy glass and shadows Daryl turned and left, then spent the next 15 minutes thinking about what he'd just witnessed until she finally emerged, fully clothed. "All yours," she said, smiling sweetly. Daryl couldn't even look at her as he gathered up his shit and made his way to the bathroom.
Daryl turned the cold water on full with just a touch of hot. The cold shower was about the only thing that would quickly take care of his budding erection. He was pretty sure his poor dick had never been through this much trauma, ever. Carol was making him crazy. His body wanted one thing and his mind wanted something else. While his hormones were saying to just fuck her, his head was saying not to rush it – just let it happen. Daryl knew it would happen. He knew she wanted it just as much as he did and that was comforting. What he was nervous about was how exactly it was going to go. Daryl knew how to fuck a woman. He understood the mechanics of the act and he knew how to do things to please a woman. But he rarely gave a shit about anything other than getting off himself so he hadn't really put many of those actions into practice in a long time.
The only thing Daryl knew for sure was that when they finally took that step he had to taste her. He would stay down there as long as she needed to take her over the edge, and he would enjoy every second of it. Daryl forced himself to quit thinking about how good her pussy was going to taste and focus on getting showered as quickly as possible.
When he was done Daryl turned off the taps, slid open the door and stepped out. "What the fuck?" he squeaked, when he realized Carol was standing there holding a towel to hand him.
"Just evening the score," she replied.
Daryl knew she was checking out his package. "The shower was cold," he mumbled, looking down at his slightly shrivelled cock.
"Hmm…" was all she said, before tossing him the towel and leaving the room.
Hmm, what the fuck does hmm mean? Daryl wondered as he toweled himself off. Did she think he was too small? He was pretty sure he was above average. But what if her ex-husband was a behemoth or something and she was comparing him to that? Daryl's heart was racing with panic as he got dressed. Once he'd brushed his teeth, combed his hair and decided he looked presentable, Daryl took a calming breath and exited the bathroom.
"Hmm was a good thing," Carol said as soon as she saw his face. For fuck sakes, Daryl though. How does she do that every damn time? The panic eased with her comment though and he relaxed a bit. "I'm sorry, by the way," Carol added. "I shouldn't have done that."
Daryl shook his head, "It's okay. I didn't have to look… but I did." He felt his cheeks burning again. He hated that he was such a pussy sometimes, embarrassed about everything. But this was one time it really felt like there was a lot at stake. He wanted to make a good impression. He actually cared about what Carol thought of him. A lot.
"Did you… oh never mind," Carol said, looking away.
"Did I what?" Daryl found himself smiling once again. "Did I like what I saw?" She looked at him and nodded slightly. Daryl somehow found the balls to close the gap between them and slip an arm around her body, drawing Carol closer. "More than I would ever admit," he whispered in her ear. "Whoops," Daryl added, before kissing her neck. Daryl didn't have the willpower to stop if he allowed things to get too far, so he moved to her lips and kissed her gently. No tongue, nothing passionate, just a sweet lingering kiss on the lips to let her know he thought she was beautiful, but was still respecting the whole taking it slow thing for as long as it would last.
"So I think we should check in with security first thing," Daryl said, after releasing her. "See if they have any updates… caught him… anything like that."
"Sounds good," Carol agreed and they left the confines of the tiny room.
After speaking with security Daryl left angry. "How the fuck can they not find a man with a messed up face?" he grumbled. "He can't have stayed locked in his room all this time. He has to fucking eat at some point." The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. "I bet they aren't even looking," he fumed. "Well that's fine, if they aren't going to find that asshole then I will."
"Hey," Carol said, putting a hand on his forearm and stopping him. "We only have another 2 nights together on this boat," she said gently. "Don't let him ruin it. Don't let him waste what time we have left. He's already hurt me enough." Carol slid her hand down his arm and placed her hand in his. "Focus on us, okay? Okay?" she pressed a little harder after he didn't respond the first time.
Daryl sighed. He knew she was right, but the more he cared about her the more he wanted vindication for what happened. The idiot that attacked her deserved to be detained for the rest of the trip and he deserved to land his ass in jail as soon as they were home. Carol squeezed his hand. "Okay," he replied, agreeing to let it go. But he would be watching and if he spotted the jerk there was no way he could be stopped from chasing him down and marching him straight to security.
The day was fairly relaxing. True to her word Carol allowed Daryl to decide what they were going to do. And true to his character Daryl completely avoided all organized activity. They wandered the ship, exploring areas they had never been to before. It was the closest thing Daryl could find to wandering around the woods, hunting. Carol must have had an inkling that Daryl was still looking for her attacker, but as long as he remained calm and mostly focussed on what they were doing she left him alone to search.
So they wandered and they talked. Daryl learned more about her family and her childhood – the good stuff. Carol told him more about Sophia – the day she was born, what she was like, how much she meant to her and how it was essentially her love for Sophia that finally got her away from Ed. Daryl told her about Merle – the good stuff. There wasn't much else good in his life to talk about. His mom died when he was young. He didn't really know any other family members. His dad was an asshole. For years Merle was all he had. Daryl would never admit it, but he actually had a tiny ache in his heart for his big brother. He'd only been away a few days and he actually missed Merle. If it wasn't for the beautiful distraction by his side it likely would have been worse. But Carol captivated 99.9% of his attention, 99.9% of the time.
As evening approached the various night clubs and bars were livening up. They wandered past one and a slow song was playing. Daryl watched as Carol wistfully looked at the couples on the dance floor swaying to the music. She wanted to dance, even he could see that. Daryl wasn't ready for another moment on the dance floor surrounded by strangers yet. But he did have an idea.
"Come on," he said, motioning for Carol to follow him.
"Where are we going?" she asked, following.
"You know," Daryl said, looked back at her with a smile. Of course they were going to the same spot they had planned to spend the last three evenings, even though one of them was horribly interrupted. But Daryl had a surprise planned and for once he was confident she would like it. When they arrived Carol started to climb up to where they always sit. "Wait," Daryl said, stopping her. He pulled his phone out of his pocket. Merle had put a bunch of music on it before he'd left. He told Daryl he put the sissy shit on there in case he needed to romance a lady or two or three. For once Daryl was thankful for something Merle had done. He scrolled through the songs and found one that would work. It wasn't until much later as he listened to the lyrics that Daryl realized the song might have hit far closer to home than he ever could have imagined.
Daryl turned up the volume and set the phone in a secure spot, then held out his hand to Carol as the music started to play. She looked shocked at first. "You wanted to dance back there, didn't you?" he asked softly.
Carol nodded and took his hand. "See you're getting better at reading people already," she said, allowing Daryl to pull her into his arms.
"I'm getting better at reading you," he whispered into her ear as Carol tucked her face close to his. They quit talking and Daryl listened to the lyrics of the song he'd picked: Close your eyes, give me your hand, darlin'. Do you feel my heart beating? Do you understand? Do you feel the same? Am I only dreaming? Is this burning an eternal flame?
All the very questions he could have easily been wondering were playing from his phone while he held the most incredible woman he'd ever met in his arms. She felt so good, moving with him to the music. Daryl had never been much of a dancer, but he could fake his way through a slow dance if he needed to. With Carol it was natural. She fit perfectly in his embrace, moved perfectly with his lead, and Daryl was pretty sure her heart was beating right along with his, very quickly.
The next few lines of the song struck Daryl, leaving him feeling weak: Say my name. Sun shines through the rain. A whole life so lonely. And then come and ease the pain. I don't want to lose this feeling.
Carol must have been listening and thinking the same thing because she drew back and looked at him. He didn't realize exactly how lonely his life had been until that moment when Daryl knew he wasn't lonely with her. He didn't realize how much pain he'd felt until she eased it. And he sure as hell didn't want to lose the feelings she had brought out in him, or any feelings she would bring out in the future.
The dance halted at that point and a long, deep kiss took over. Daryl needed her so badly it hurt. The kiss was absolutely amazing but it wasn't enough, he needed more. When they parted, breathless, he knew Carol needed more too. The aroused look on her face was undoing him completely. "I want you Daryl," she whispered. Hearing her say his name, her voice so filled with lust, was almost too much to bear. "Before we do though…" Carol started, her face changing to something different, a little nervous maybe, a little sad, a little embarrassed. "I have to tell you something." Daryl took a deep breath, calming his own nerves, and waited for her to speak…
