Persephone Chapter 11
I've been binge watching the first season of Outlander, AGAIN, and I really liked the tension between Claire and Jamie. A strong female character usually does have a lot of conflict with a strong male character, so I wanted to write some more of that tension into my story.
Lucy had showered and changed when she got home, and before dressing she could see the bruising had already started on her shoulders where Daryl had gripped her. She grimaced as she gazed in the mirror. She had always been high tempered as her grandmother had said, stubborn too. And she had never met her match in any man in either trait until she'd met Daryl. Richard had been the passive-aggressive type-nitpicking and whining about something until she did what he wanted. He had an infuriating habit of getting her wound up about something and then walking away-it was if he took pleasure in upsetting her. Daryl seemed more the type to blow up on whoever he was angry with and left no doubt how he felt about something. She had noted he wasn't one for talking about his feelings -he was a person who valued actions above talk and that made her feel that he was a more honest person than most she had dealt with previously.
She sighed ruefully and slipped on a tank top and shorts and went downstairs to get something to drink. As she rummaged in her fridge for some bottled water, she heard a knock at the door. She walked over and opened the door to see Daryl holding the painting she had forgotten all about. He had made an effort at cleaning himself up and she could see he was nervous as he fidgeted on the porch. As he looked up at her, his eyes caught sight of the bruising on her shoulders and he bit his lip roughly. She saw his face flush with shame and embarrassment, and that alone meant more to her than any words of apology would have. She pulled the door open wider and motioned for him to come in. She smiled encouragingly at him as he stood by the living room door. "You brought my painting to me," she said softly. "That was so thoughtful of you, I had forgotten all about it." She reached for the painting and her hand grazed his softly. He looked up uncertainly at her. He had been sure she would still be angry with him, and seeing the bruises he'd left on her shoulders he wouldn't have been surprised if she'd never spoken to him again. She carried the painting into the living room and leaned it against the fireplace. Turning to face him, she smiled again.
Frowning, he bit his thumb and hummed. Lucy waited quietly, sensing he wanted to say something to her. "I'm sorry I hurt ya like that," he began, and she nodded. "I didn't need to be so rough with ya, it's just that ya scared me." She nodded again. "From now on, I'll try to be more careful around ya and not grab ya when I'm that mad." Lucy smiled. Daryl hesitated and then looked her fully in the eyes. She saw the look of anxiety on his face-he'd probably never apologized to anyone for anything really in his life, and certainly not like this. She recognized the effort he was making for her-it might be a small thing to anyone else, but for a man like Daryl an apology like this left no doubt to Lucy of the value he placed on her. "Will ya forgive me?" Daryl finished softly, holding his breath for her rejection or ridicule. Lucy nodded and stood closer to him and slowly placed her hands in his at his sides.
"I already have. And I'm sorry too-I should've listened to you, you were right about that. From now on if I go on a run, I'll listen to you or whoever is in the lead." Daryl nodded and smiled slightly, relieved she had accepted his apology. "Will you forgive me as well?" she whispered softly. She moved her lips to his and kissed him softly. Daryl leaned in and pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her tightly and kissed her deeply. Lucy raised her hands to his face and caressed his cheek as she looked silently into his eyes. He ran his hands up and down her back gently, tentatively as if still unsure about her reaction to his touch.
Lucy kissed Daryl again and dropped one hand to his shoulders, rubbing his back lightly. She noted his slight flinching, and raised her eyebrow at him, questioning him. "What is it?" she asked huskily. Daryl wouldn't meet her eyes, and shrugged the question away. Lucy could only guess there was a story there, and not a good one. She decided not to press the question-it was enough that they had finally kissed. Everything else could come at his pace and she for once could keep her impatience in check.
They continued to kiss softly, slowly exploring each other's scent and taste and touch. Lucy leaned her face into his neck and breathed deeply of his scent-cigarette smoke, leather, grass, a very light scent of whatever soap or shampoo he had used underlying those. "Mmmmmmm," she murmured.
"Glad I took a shower," Daryl mumbled, her warm breath tickling his neck. Lucy laughed softly. Daryl pushed his nose into her neck and hair and inhaled deeply. Her soap and shampoo usually smelled of some type of berries or of something reminiscent of tanning lotion-coconut. He had gotten used to the smells of fruit drifting from her whenever the wind lifted her hair and the breeze was in his direction. Underneath the fruity smell was the very faint scent of Lucy herself-a faint, sweet scent. Daryl kissed her neck softly and nuzzled her neck again.
"Guess we've been around the dogs too long-we're acting like them our own selves," Lucy teased softly. "Just don't go to sniffing my butt." Daryl swatted her lightly on her butt.
"Don't be telling me what ta do," he mumbled against her neck. She shivered at the feel of his breath on her neck. The hell with this, standing here in the living room. She had a big bed upstairs.
"Do you want to go upstairs?" she murmured against his lips as she kissed him again. She felt him get instantly tense. "We don't have to," she said quickly. He raised his hands to her face and cupping her face he looked at her quietly. She gazed back at him silently, wondering what he was thinking.
"I've never been serious with anyone," he said softly. "Don't have no experience in it, never thought I'd be in a place where I would have that choice." He paused and she waited patiently for him to order his thoughts. "I want to be with you. But I ain't good at this shit. You need to know that. Being with me won't be easy-I've got a temper. Got a lot of things I don't like to talk about from my past-things that made me who I am-I don't trust easy, I expect you to be honest with me because I will be with you. If ya want to be with me, you'll have to be patient while I figure this out. And I'll understand if ya change your mind, like I said I ain't easy to deal with." He paused again and looked at her carefully, searching her face for rejection or impatience. Seeing none, he nodded slightly. "If we are together, I want this to be more than a one nighter. I've had enough of those-I'd rather do without than have another one of those with someone who doesn't care about me and I don't care about her. When we go to bed, I want us to be sure of each other, no secrets between us. I want you to see all of me, I'm tired of hiding…" and here he hesitated, "I'm tired of being ashamed of myself and hiding things from people. I don't want to hide anything from you." Lucy nodded quietly. She was impressed with his effort to be honest and open with her. That alone made her heart turn over and leave her breathless. He was offering her his heart and soul if she would just be patient and wait for him to be ready.
Lucy kissed him softly on his mouth. "I can wait. You're worth waiting for Daryl." He looked at her quietly and saw she was being honest. He nodded.
"Okay, I'm gonna leave now. I want to stay-I want to spend all night with you and wake up with you, but I'm gonna leave so you can think about it," and he kissed her again quickly and walked to the door, Lucy trailing behind him. At the door he turned and drank in her image as if he wanted to memorize her. Lucy leaned against the wall and watched him as he walked out the door and shut it quietly behind him. She blew out a breath. She decided she needed to go for a run, she had too much energy wound up in her right now. She didn't care what time it was, she needed to get rid of some of this energy or else she'd never get any sleep.