Sorry for the delay! Smut warning for this one...

Chapter Twelve

When they pulled back up at the motel there were a few more cars than there had been earlier but not many. Daryl's palms were sweating and he had to rub them against his legs before he opened the van door. She was already out, making her way towards the stairs. She wasn't in as good a mood as she had been in when they had left out. Talking about the future had dampened that for her and he understood why. He was feeling a little depressed himself.

They didn't say a word as he unlocked the door, opening it so she could go in first. The sober mood prevailed as she sat down at the foot of the bed and clicked on the TV. She glanced up. "Are you tired?"

He shook his head and toed off his boots before he flounced onto his back. "Holy shit," he groaned, stretching. "This is pretty nice."

She glanced over her shoulder, a small smile in place. "I thought the same thing when I laid on it earlier."

"You okay?" he asked suddenly, poking her in the back with his sock clad foot.

She nodded but she didn't look okay at all. She turned her head quickly, staring at the television again even though it was only an infomercial so he knew she wasn't overly interested in it. She didn't look like she wanted to talk about it and he didn't know the first thing about talking to a girl about emotional shit so he just laid there for a second, letting his eyes roam over her back. That wasn't a very good idea so he averted his eyes and stood up.

"Do you want to go to sleep?" She asked, not looking his way.

He turned off the light. "Not really. You?"

She shook her head and leaned back on her elbows. "No. I don't want to sleep the whole night away. Not when I'm not sure how many more we're going to get. You've grown on me. I'm really going to miss you a lot and I hate even thinking about it."

He shrugged. "Then don't think about it."

She turned her eyes on him then and his heart sank because they looked wet and a little puffy. "I can't not think about it."

"You know, it ain't like you got an appointment to keep. We ain't gotta put in eight hours of driving a day."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, hell. If you wanted we could even hole up here a few days. We can afford it and it'd give us a chance to sleep in a real bed a few days before we hit the road." He was making this all up as he went but he was actually starting to get his hopes up. He understood what she was feeling because he was feeling the same thing.

She stood up and wiped wetness from under her eyes. "You'd do that?"

He nodded. "If you wanted me too."

Her face fell. "I don't want you to do it because you know that's what I want. I want you to want to do it because you know you'll miss me just as much once this is all over."

He ran a hand through his hair. "Fine. I don't wanna drop you off in California any time soon alright?"

She took a few cautious steps towards him. "You can't just say it because you know that I want you to say it."

He groaned and rolled his eyes. "What am I suppose to say?"

"Do you really want to spend more time with me?"

He nodded. "Yeah. You're the only other person I ever met that I can actually stand."

She eyed him and then she frowned. "Do you only want to spend more time with me because you think that I'm going to... do what I did last night?"

He huffed. "When are you gonna stop talking about that? No, it don't have anything to do with that."

She nodded. "Okay. Then I think we should stay here a few days and then when we leave here we can just pick a spot on the map and go."

"Sounds like a plan then," he muttered, flopping back down in the same spot that he had occupied earlier.

"I want a picture," she said suddenly.

"You've got enough damn pictures," he muttered, closing his eyes so she would think he was going to sleep and wouldn't argue with him about it.

"I want one of the two of us."

He cracked one eye open. "You want me to go get that girl to come up here and snap a few?"

She scowled. "That was mean."

He closed his eye and ignored her. He heard her moving around but he didn't see any flashes and the room was dark other than the light from the infomercial so he wasn't worried she was snapping any while he wasn't looking.

He felt the bed dip as she sat down but his eyes remained closed. That was, until he felt the bed dip on the other side of him as well. His eyes snapped open and then widened when he realized she was straddling his waist. She didn't have a camera in her hands so he didn't know what the hell she was up to. "Carol, what the hell are you doin'?"

She smiled. "Wait for it."

"Wait for wha-" The snap of the flash had him looking over towards the dresser, which was where the flash had come from. He almost expected someone to be there, snapping away, but the camera was sitting on the dresser, a red light flashing on it.

"Timer. See, I can get pictures without inviting that bimbo up here."

"Why the hell did you have to crawl on top of me to do that?" He asked, raising up on his elbows. The camera flashed again and he glared at her. "That's enough with the damn pictures."

She shook her head and he made a move to push her off of him, grabbing her hips roughly and sitting the rest of the way up. It was so much like the position they had started out in last night that he paused. Another flash. "Because I figured I would have to hold you down," she grinned outright.

He wasn't thinking about the camera anymore. He was thinking about the night before. The taste of her skin and the feel of her body pressed against his. She met his eyes and the smile faded from her lips. Another flash.

He dropped back down onto his back but he didn't move his hands from her hips. The tension was thick and his palms felt sweaty again and he could see it in her face that she realized that this may not have been the best idea.

"I don't think I thought this through very well," she said, not making a move to get off of him.

"No, you didn't," he said in a husky voice that he barely recognized. The camera flashed again.

"Do you want me to move?" She asked, searching his face.

He swallowed hard, his eyes roaming over her before settling back on hers and then he slowly shook his head. Why the fuck lie? What would be the point of acting like he didn't want her? He gripped the back of her neck and pulled her face towards his. Flash.

He initiated it this time because he pretty much knew what he was doing. He kissed her like it was the most normal thing in the world. Like he'd spent most of his life doing just that and she responded instantly. Eagerly. She melted against him and he deepened the kiss, a growl rumbling low in his chest. Behind his closed eyelids another flash barely registered in his mind as her tongue danced wickedly with his own. Her jeans, regardless of how good she looked in them, were pissing him off. There was too much separating them.

He felt out of control and for once in his life he didn't care. His whole life he had always felt slightly out of place. He had always felt like something about his life just wasn't right, something about him wasn't right. But there was a rightness about this that had him reeling. It had him forgetting the person he was and focusing solely on who he could be. Who he needed to be. Who she thought he was. He ran his hands up her back, to the simple knot she had tied there and quickly untied it. His heart was pounding hard and his hands shook slightly but this time it wasn't from fear. It was from anticipation. From the liberating feeling that he was worthy of good things. He sat up and instantly her hands ran up his shirt, leaving a trail of flames in their wake. He let her push it up. He even helped her tug it over his head before his hands went back to her skin, his lips working their way down her throat.

Her nails bit into his shoulders when he went to work on the knot at the back of her neck and when it was finally free he let her shirt fall away, taking a moment to catch his breath and take her in. He was sure that no artist in the world could create a body as perfect as hers but when his eyes finally slid up to meet hers she almost looked embarrassed. He couldn't comprehend why, since he thought he was making it pretty damn obvious that he more than liked what he was seeing. He ran his hands along her rib cage and let his thumbs barely graze across the bottom swell of her breasts. She took in a sharp breath, her eyes darkening. His mouth was watering and finally he gave in and traced one hardened nipple with the tip of his tongue before he caught it gently between his teeth.

Her breath exploded from her lungs and her fingers threaded through his hair, anchoring him to her. She whispered his name and it felt like a caress up his spine. He rolled, pinning her beneath him. It was strange. It was like the room had become a bubble where the heat, the pain, the uncertainty was locked outside, pressing against the window, the door, the walls but unable to touch them. There was nothing in existence but the two of them and this moment that felt like it was stretching on for eternity. No anxiety, no insecurity, just him and her in some kind of strange infinite space where sensation reigned, the world outside of them had imploded and primal need seemed to override everything else.

He raised up on his knees and he could see her face, even in the inconsistent light from the muted television. She was staring, wide eyed, chest heaving with every breath and a look on her face that told him that she trusted him completely. He quickly unbottoned her pants, hooking his fingers and slid them down her thighs until she was completely naked, legs splayed out before him like some erotic feast.

And he was a starving man with every intention to satiate that hunger.

Another flash from the camera didn't even give him pause.

He lifted one of her legs, draped it over his shoulder and then ran his nose along her inner thigh, breathing deeply, biting the soft flesh before descending further. He didn't hesitate once he finally made it to the juncture of her thighs.

Flash

He tasted her fully, one long languid swipe of the flat of his tongue. Her back arched, her hips pushing up into him further. Savoring the distinct flavor of need he plunged his tongue into her, needing more like it was the very essence of life and without it he would cease to exist. She cried out his name and gripped the back of his head, fisting his hair in her hands as he ran his tongue over her again, finding that perfect spot and sucking deeply.

Flash

He pushed his finger into her, using those same motions he had used the night before, only this time he quickened the motions.

Her breaths became shallow and broken sounds emanated from her mouth. A gasp, a sob a few Oh my God's later and her whole body tensed. She sat up, leaning back on her arms. His eyes snapped up and he watched her face while she fell apart. Her eyes were closed but then it was like she could feel him watching her because they snapped open, locking onto his. She tried to compose herself under his scrutiny but it was no use. Her head tipped back and she rocked her hips into him. He could actually watch the muscles in her stomach flex and flutter with every wave of pleasure that ripped through her. Her thighs trembled uncontrollably and he was lost in his own mind, just watching her like he was on some kind a high, like an orgasm in itself.

And still the camera flashed.