Chapter 11

The wedding went off with several hitches. First the storm. Then the groom was missing when the show was ready to go on. But he was found hanging his head over the side of the yacht. The choppy sea water and the champagne had finally gotten to him. But, some of the guys had gotten him presentable, and they'd finally said their vows. Despite the chaos, it was a lovely ceremony, and afterward, a mix of romantic songs fluttered about the yacht, while couples coupled off and singles went out to look for other singles.

After spending an appropriate amount of friend time with Michonne and Rick, Carol had ventured off to get some champagne, scanning the crowd with every intention of finding Daryl and slipping off for a few quiet moments together.

They'd spend the stormy afternoon exploring one another, touching each other in ways they'd only ever dreamed about. He'd been gentle with her until she'd begged him not to, until he had her screaming his name and biting out her cries against his shoulder.

"Hey, you coming to the party up on deck? I hear there are jello shots," Tara offered, walking hand-in-hand with Rosita.

"No, I don't think so," Carol chuckled. She scanned the crowd again.

"I just saw him duck into the bathroom. Hey, just so you know, I didn't tell anybody about…anything. Ok, except Rosita."

"Thank you," Carol said softly. "This is Michonne's day. I don't want anything to overshadow that for her." Carol had flipped her engagement ring upside down, keeping the diamond hidden, though anybody observant would obviously notice what particular finger she was wearing that ring on.

"But this is huge," Tara insisted. "I mean, it's you guys."

"Yeah, it's huge," Carol replied with a blush, "but it feels right. It feels like everything has finally fallen into place. I'm going to marry my best friend."

"That's so romantic," Rosita said with a smile. "Congratulations."

"Thank you," Carol smiled. "And thank you, Tara, for not saying anything."

"Well, you know I get loose lips when I'm drinking, so…"

"I'll keep those lips occupied," Rosita promised, giving Tara a peck on the lips. Tara grinned then, and Carol felt a hand grab hers. She gasped softly but turned to look right into Daryl's blue eyes.

"I, uh, gotta go, ladies," Carol called, as Daryl led her across the floor and out into the hall.

"Where are we going?" she laughed, hurrying along behind him.

"My room. We pretty much trashed yours."

"Your room? And what will we be doing there?" Daryl turned to glance at her briefly before pulling her around a corner and pressing her against the wall, sliding one hand up along her neck and the other around her waist, leaning into kiss her breathless, tugging her bottom lip between his teeth. When he pulled back, Carol's eyes fluttered open, and she smiled, bringing her hand up to cup his cheek. "I like the way you think."

"Good," he smirked, brushing his thumb along the pulse on her neck. His nostrils flared, and his gaze locked on hers, and she felt a shiver run up her spine. She was achy and sore, but she still craved him, craved the things he could do to her with a kiss or a touch. While she was thrilled they'd finally taken that step, she couldn't help but want to kick herself for not doing this sooner with him. They fit so well together, moved like a well-oiled machine. As cliché as it sounded, they fit together like two pieces of a one-of-a-kind puzzle. There was nothing quite like it, and for the first time in her life, she felt she was very close to feeling the way the pretty lead in a romantic comedy feels when she meets the man of her dreams and falls head over heels in love.

The thing was, Carol had been in love with him for so long now that the idea of it ever happening had left her mind years ago. And now, here they were, barely able to keep their hands off one another long enough to get back to his cabin. To say they were making up for lost time was the understatement of the century.

When they finally got back to Daryl's cabin, he brought her hand up to his lips before noticing she'd flipped her ring around. When he looked at her, she blushed.

"I didn't want anybody to make a fuss. It was Michonne's day."

"She kinda already knows," Daryl pointed out. "She was texting me right up until the wedding. When we were…"

"Oh," Carol laughed. "So that's why she was smiling so big."

"Couldn't have been Rick," Daryl snorted.

"Nope," Carol laughed. "I'm happy for them."

"Yeah," Daryl murmured, shutting the door and pulling her into his arms. "I'm happier for us, though." She smiled against his kiss, giggling when he moved to kiss her neck and nibble her ear.

"We should have been doing this years ago. I was much more limber back then."

"You're pretty limber now," he offered.

"Things aren't as perky and firm as they used to be."

"Think I care about that?" he asked, tugging the zipper of her dress down her back for the second time that day. "You're perfect." She gently brushed her thumb over his bottom lip before leaning in to kiss him softly.

"Look at you," she chuckled. "You've barely got a grey hair on your head. Funny how people can age so differently."

"Trust me, I got grey hair in other places."

"I noticed," she teased, tugging his tie over his head. His cheeks reddened, and she kicked off her heels and slipped out of her dress. "Don't worry, Pookie. I'm definitely not complaining." He shrugged off his jacket and quickly unbuttoned his shirt, tugging it out of his pants as she shimmied out of her panties and unclasped her bra.

"How does somebody who takes a half hour to get ready manage to get naked in thirty seconds?" he snorted.

"Enthusiasm," she said with a grin before reaching out to unbuckle his belt. She stopped, mid-unbuckle and looked at him.

"We have a lot to talk about."

"We gotta do it now?"

"No," she laughed. "Not right now, but soon." Daryl wasted no time getting naked, and instead of leading him to the bed, Carol led him to his tiny wash room where a tiny shower stood in the corner. There was barely enough room for two people to move around comfortably, but how the hell was he going to say no when she was looking at him the way she was.

"Tight squeeze in there."

"Yeah, you might have to soap me up," she teased.

"Christ," he murmured, feeling his dick harden.

Carol took a good, long look at him and watched him curl his hand around the base of his dick, giving it a couple of good pumps. When she met his gaze again, he gave her a smirk that made her twinge down below. The man was so sexy without even trying, and now that she really knew what she'd been missing, she wanted more all of the time.

She chewed her bottom lip for a moment, pondering her choices before she slipped out of the bathroom, grabbed his hand and led him back out to his bed.

"Thought you wanted a shower."

"Shower can wait," she murmured, pushing him back against the mattress and climbing on top of him. "You ok with that?"

"Hell yeah," he chuckled, before he tugged her hips down and reached for her to bring her into a hungry kiss.

...

"It's always the quiet ones," she laughed, strumming her fingertips against his chest.

"What?"

"You. That thing you do with your tongue."

"Oh," he blushed. "Ain't nothin'."

"Oh, sure," she snorted. "Three orgasms is nothing?" She pressed wet kisses to his chest, tasting him, teasing him with her tongue. "Where'd you learn that?" She frowned. "Nope. Nevermind. I don't wanna know." Daryl snorted and brushed his hand over the back of her head, kissing her forehead. "You know, it's a good thing we figured all of this out. I could have been dating some stranger from the Internet."

"What?" Daryl asked.

"Oh yeah. Michonne tried to get me to create a profile on the same website she met Rick on. It worked out for her. After all the failed dating attempts, I was considering it."

"Hell, ya shoulda come to me. As yer best friend, I coulda filled in for ya."

"Oh, like a friends with benefits kind of thing? Gee, why didn't you think of that before? Could have saved all that money on a ring."

"Stop," Daryl snorted. She giggled then and kissed him. "You're happy?"

"Very," she promised. "Are you?"

"This," he said quietly. "It's all I ever wanted." She smiled when he kissed her again. "Love you."

"I love you, too," she whispered softly, burying her face against his neck and breathing him in. "Always have."

Always will.

The End