Ch. 14
Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! I'm sorry I didn't get to answer your reviews for yesterday's chapter. My husband and I finished Christmas shopping for our girls and didn't get home until late. I did read every single one though! I might have walked around Target smiling like a total goof because of them, too.
The first weeks at the armory were good.
Daryl would head out early and set some snares or hunt then they'd both go out in the evenings to check them for food. Sometimes, Daryl went by himself so he could try and hunt for bigger game while Beth stayed back, taking care of things inside the walls.
Since their trip to the store, Beth had been keeping track of the days, and they hadn't seen one walker or living person in seven weeks. The relief that coursed through his body every morning that he woke up inside the safety of their home was amazing.
He could sense the changes in himself and knew Beth saw them, too. He would smile more, pick at her, tell dirty jokes that got her to blush. Daryl was more open with touching her and affection, and he didn't even hesitate anymore if he wanted her. He'd pick her up and carry her back to their little bed.
At the moment, though, he was sitting in a chair in the kitchen, watching her stir rice over the fire.
The door had to be propped open, but the grill did the job with wood, so at least she wasn't hunched over the ground outside. He was glad it all worked out, especially since it was starting to get colder.
Despite the weather, Beth was only wearing one of his long sleeved flannels that ended mid thigh, and every time she moved, he swore he could see her ass.
He was absently playing with the scruff on his chin, wondering if she'd be that dirty, to just walk around bare. He let himself imagine walking over to her, bending her over counter.
Daryl shifted in his seat and adjusted himself with his other hand, squeezing a little as he kept watch.
As she went to sit the spoon on the counter behind her, she missed, causing it to clatter to the floor and under the edge of the cabinets.
"Shit," she muttered and turned toward the spoon.
Daryl traced his bottom lip with his tongue as he watched her put a hand on the counter and bend over, shirt riding all the way up to show off exactly what she wasn't even bothering to hide.
He wanted to fuck her hard against the counter, but at the same time, he wanted her straddling his lap. Each option sounded like a dream to him.
When she went back to stirring the rice and putting on the lid, he undid his jeans and pushed them past his hips, releasing his dick and stroking it a time or two before he choked out, "C'mere."
She turned immediately and stared at him for less than a second before she was crossing the room.
As if she read his mind, she straddled his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck, tangling her hands into his hair. "Ya need somethin'?" She asked breathlessly and replaced his hand with her own.
He got the hint and slipped his hand between them to trace over her pussy. She was already wet, and he smirked. "Ya planned this."
Beth smiled but didn't answer. Instead, she leaned down and sucked his bottom lip into her mouth before pushing her tongue to slide along his.
Daryl's hands moved to her hips, and he picked her up over his cock and let her line them up before pulling her down on him. They both groaned into the kiss as Beth started taking little measure strokes, barely moving up at all.
Daryl whined and thrust up into her. "Harder."
"I'm afraid we're gonna break the chair," she laughed as she hooked her feet on the bottom rung and used her arms to help her move over him.
"Fuck the chair," he mumbled against her neck.
"Thought ya wanted me to fuck you."
"Ya got a dirty mouth." He sucked on the skin below her ear, and she shivered.
The chair started creaking with every down stroke, and both of them laughed when the back leg started to buckle.
Daryl grabbed her ass, holding them together and stood up, then shuffled them to the counter. He sat her on the edge and traced his lips over her jaw and to her ear as he began moving inside her again.
Neither one last much longer, especially when she reached down between their bodies and started fingering her clit.
When she came, she threw her head back, knocking it against a cabinet door. Daryl reached up and put his hand behind her head, rubbing it gently as he slammed into her a handful of times then stilled, spilling inside her.
He dropped his head to the center of her chest and tried to control his breathing.
"Ummm," Beth sighed. "That was every bit as good as I thought it'd be."
"It's always good," he responded and slowly pulled out. "Sorry 'bout makin' a mess."
Beth slid off the counter and a stood on her tippy toes to kiss him again. "Don't be sorry. I loved it."
He smiled a little then pulled up his pants. "Ya make me lose all sense."
"That just lets me know I'm doin' things right." She smiled and went to the rice. "This is done. Can ya move it to the stove while I go clean up?"
"Sure thang, darlin'."
He moved the rice and pulled out some of the leftover grilled rabbit and sat everything on the table.
For a moment, he let himself wonder about the others. How they were faring up in Virginia, but he tried not to dwell on it too much. They were strong and smart. If anyone could survive, it'd be them.
Daryl looked around the kitchen that Beth had somehow turned into a home and knew they'd never leave this place.
And he didn't mind that at all.
That first winter was a hard one, and while they were prepared when it came to food. They weren't when it came to clothes, blankets, or firewood.
The worst was when Beth got sick, and he didn't have anyway to keep her warm. She shivered under the comforter and blankets, and he put his long sleeved flannel over her t-shirt.
After he did that, he tried to chop down more wood but the only axe he found broke after the first few swings. Without a second thought, he went to their bedroom, where she was sleeping, and woke her up. "Darlin', I'ma be right back. Gonna go get ya somethin' warm, okay?"
She swallowed and cringed. "Okay." Her voice was hoarse, and she closed her eyes against the soreness. Then she fell back asleep before he had even left the room.
That day, Daryl went out on a solo run for the first time in a long time. He found a new axe, a fire pit from someone's backyard, and more blankets than he knew what to do with. Finally, he went through every house along the nearest street and gathered up all the coats and winter clothes and gloves he could find for both of them.
Once he was back, he busted out the high window to their room and taped up some screening then moved in the fire pit.
It'd be smokey as hell but it'd be warm.
He started a small fired with the kindling for the grill then added the single log they had left before he went off into the woods and started chopping.
It took him the rest of the day to get enough to last the week, plus he had drug up three little trees he needed to strip and cut up later. His hands were cold and stiff by the time he went back into the armory, but it had been worth it.
With the warmth and the food, Beth got better quickly, and soon, she helped cut wood and stacked it along one wall of the armory, too. She had to sneak out early, so she could beat Daryl to it, though. When he bitched at her for doing too much, she told him that he need to rest instead of trying to do it all on his own.
They agreed to disagree on that subject.
Over the winter, if they ever got bored, they would go look for silly things that they didn't really need but wanted, so by the time spring rolled around, they had added a small couch to the kitchen/dining area and some end tables. Books were on that list, too, and after a raid on the nearest library, they had enough to last a good long while.
Not just novels either. Books on gardening, canning, survivalist books, books on plants in the woods.
Once the weather got real nice, they spent days clearing the yard then tilling it so they could plant their garden. While Beth laid rows and rows of seeds, Daryl hung up wire from two poles to create a laundry line for her then went out hunting.
That night, they say at the table in the kitchen, eating and flirting. Once they were done, he checked the locks the doors and went to their bedroom where he found Beth sitting up on the bed wearing nothing but a smile.
In less than a year, they had built their lives up from having nothing but the clothes on their backs to having an honest to God home, and Daryl was so fucking proud every time he looked around it. But mostly, he was so in awe of her.