I've been crazy busy, traveling, and have also been distracted by all the other fantastic fanfics I've been reading lately – so many, and all so good! Things should settle down a bit this week, so I hope to get back to updating more regularly.
Thanks to An Amber Pen, Jeanf (I hadn't realized that I'd used Daryl's line to Judith, and had to go back to check – oops!), Rasha007, Celia Azul, thefifthmarauder47, Akari Wolf Princess and Dixon . Daryl for the lovely comments. It means a lot when people take time to comment, and I love hearing what you like, or don't like, and your observations/thoughts on what I've written. They give me a real impetus to keep writing, and do better, and each one puts a big smile on my face - so thank you!
Thank you to anyone who followed or favorited too.
I have no idea if anyone other than the people who reviewed read the last chapter have read this story, thanks to the buggered up traffic stats. I've emailed FanFiction a couple of times and asked for an update, but…. silence so far.
And now, on with the show. As ever, I don't own Merle or Daryl.
Thank you for reading!
*.*
The pinks and lilacs of a Georgia sunrise came creeping slowly into the calm of the dark bedroom on Saturday morning. Aisling smiled to herself when she woke wrapped up in Daryl's strong arms, the heat from his body enveloping her. His breath was warm against her neck as their heads lay together, sharing a pillow. The scruff on his chin scratched her shoulder lightly as he shifted slightly in his sleep, gripping her tighter, rubbing his lips across her skin.
She nestled against him, luxuriating in his warmth, feeling safe, content and happy in his protective grip. The memory of last night caused a blush of pleasure to tinge her cheeks, and she pulled his arms around her even closer, kissing his bicep as she did so.
The sleepy grunt that vibrated against the nape of her neck signaled that Daryl was stirring. His hand sought the warm softness of her breast, and squeezed gently, his thumb softly rubbing her nipple to attention.
"Mornin', sweetheart," his voice was low, graveled and thick with sleep and years of cigarettes "ya sleep okay?"
"Mmmm" she smiled, stretching her lithe body along his. "I think you wore me out last night."
Daryl's low chuckle against her neck was followed by a soft kiss and the gentle nip of his teeth on the creamy skin there. He smoothed her sleep and sex tousled hair away to allow his lips to continue their slow meanderings. Waking up with her naked body in his arms, he had briefly thought that he was still dreaming. When his fingers registered her skin beneath them, the warmth of her ass pressed into his groin, one of her silky smooth legs entwined around his… he pressed his face into her hair and smiled. This wasn't a dream. This was gloriously, wonderfully real.
"I have to go pee, Daryl," Aisling whispered, trying to gently free herself from his arms to go to the bathroom. "Nuh-uhh," his grip on her body tightened, as his nose buried into the skin where her neck met her shoulder, inhaling her scent deeply.
"Please," she giggled, "I really need to go. I'll be right back." Her lips kissed the heart tattoo on his hand when he begrudgingly released her breast, and she hopped up off the bed leaving Daryl to grumble into the pillow.
The sheet where she had lain was warm beneath his fingers as he ran his hand across the space she had occupied a few seconds earlier. He scrubbed at his eyes with the heels of his hands, then stretched out lazily and rested back with his hands behind his head. "Can't ya piss any quicker?" he called out towards the bathroom door that linked to the bedroom. Aisling quickly finished freshening up between her legs. "Shut up!" her voice was muffled by the sound of the tap running, and he heard the jingle of the towel rail against the tile wall as she dried her hands.
Daryl looked up towards the door as it opened, and swallowed hard at the sight that met his eyes.
"Like whatcha see, sweetheart?" Aisling mimicked his accent as she posed naked in the doorway, her left arm stretched high above her body against the door frame, her right hand resting on the curve of her hip. His eyes roamed her body hungrily, before settling on her full, round alabaster-white breasts, which sloped gently upwards, capped with those delicious pink nipples which he knew he would never get enough of.
Could spend all day lookin' at those titties.
"Most beautiful thing I ever saw in my life," Daryl's voice was quiet and low. He held out his hand to her and pulled her, more forcefully than he meant to, back into bed.
A tiny, delighted giggle slipped from Aisling's lips as Daryl manhandled her to sit astride his slim hips, and held her face in his large, rough hands so that he could pull her down to kiss her. She loved when he took control, lifting and pulling her body effortlessly to where he needed it to be.
When he had finished plundering her mouth with his tongue, his lips moved down her throat, to place open mouthed kisses on her collarbones before he cupped her breasts in his hands and began greedily feasting on the puckered flesh of one hard nipple, then the other.
Aisling's nipples had always been particularly sensitive, but nobody had ever lavished quite so much dedicated attention on them as Daryl. He's definitely a boob man. She arched her back as his tongue flicked across her stiff peaks, and released a quiet moan of pleasure.
Unable to deny his aching cock any longer, Daryl put one arm around her shoulders, holding her in place. The other hand grabbed a handful of the soft flesh of her perfect, milky-white ass, and held her steady, while he angled himself at her entrance. He groaned as she slid down the length of him, enveloping him.
So fucking hot, so damn tight.
Her breasts bounced as she moved above him, hypnotizing him. His lips were parted as he panted loudly, his face and torso damp with a thin layer of sweat. Aisling reached out to push his hair from his face, then leaned down to reconnect her mouth with his. In this position, his thick cock hit against the right places and it wasn't long before Aisling felt a rising pleasure begin to soar through her body. Daryl's hips bucked up into her, his own orgasm approaching rapidly.
"Fuck… Ya feel so good, Ash" His breath was hot against her swollen lips as he grunted his pleasure into their kiss.
"Oh, Daryl… fuuuck, Daryl..." Aisling whimpered. She clasped his head in her hands, gripping his hair, holding his face to hers. That was it. Daryl was gone. His hips jerked with a desperate, ragged motion as together they thrust, ground and bucked their way through the climactic wave of pleasure which swept over them.
"Good lord!" Daryl gasped as he buried his face into Aisling's neck, pulling her body flush with his, wrapping his arms tightly around her as though he could pull her into his chest, and make her part of him. His dick was still twitching inside her, milked by the pulses of her walls as they contracted around him. Curling the fingers of one hand in her hair he pulled her head to his and kissed hot, quick, breathless kisses to her eyelids, her nose, her forehead, cheeks, mouth… anywhere he could get his lips in contact with her face.
Wouldn't believe how much I love ya, Ash.
The warm, full sensation in his chest that grew every time he looked at her, and made those words bubble up in his throat until he pushed them down again.
*.*
Later, as Daryl lay on his side preoccupied by the difference between the dark pink, swollen nipple he had been sucking on, and it's comparatively unattended neighbor, Aisling's stomach growled loudly.
"Sorry," she groaned, twisting the dark strands of his hair between her fingers, "my inner pig has awoken."
"S'ok, he mumbled around her other nipple, trying to even them up, "I'm hungry too."
Reluctantly, he let the fleshy peak slip from his mouth with a wet, sucking sound, and pulled himself up to sit on the bed, looking around for his underwear. His boxer shorts were underneath the chair at the side of the room, where Aisling had tossed them the night before, so he got up and went to retrieve them.
Aisling took the opportunity to enjoy the sight of his tight, white butt as he pulled them on, and grinned as he turned and caught her looking at him.
"Yeah, I'm perving. How can I not look at that gorgeous ass," she giggled, and Daryl blushed.
"Stop." He wasn't entirely comfortable with Aisling's compliments about his body, but he did appreciate them. Still caught between a lifetime of shame, and a newly found pride in her approval, it was difficult for Daryl to marry the two at times.
"Don't think mine's the gorgeous ass here." Leaning over, his hand slapped one of her buttocks lightly, causing her to gasp and laugh at the same time.
This beautiful woman, lying naked on the bed before him, thought he had a gorgeous ass?
He bit on the skin by his thumbnail as he watched her stretch her long legs off the bed and stand up. She pulled a large white t-shirt from a drawer and pulled it over her head, then put her hand on his shoulder and gently pushed him towards the bedroom door. "Come on, Mr Sexy Bum, let's go make some breakfast."
*.*
"I'm a terrible hostess," Aisling grumbled from the fridge.
"Huh?" Daryl stood beside her at the fridge and peered inside, trying to see what was annoying her so much "Whatcha mean?"
"I have no food in at all. You arranged such a lovely day for us yesterday, and I can't even get organized enough to have something in for breakfast." Daryl snorted at the unhappy little pout on her lips and bumped his hip against hers, "Yeah, fuckin' awful hostess. Gonna leave right now."
Aisling stuck out her lower lip, and Daryl laughed. She loved the sound, and wished he'd do it more.
"You make the coffee, and I'll see what I can find." Daryl nodded and padded across the kitchen on his bare feet to set up the coffee machine while Aisling opened cupboards, searching for something they could eat. She had meant to go grocery shopping on Friday morning before Daryl was due to pick her up, but was so exhausted that she'd slept through her alarm and had only woken half an hour before he arrived.
"Toast!" she exclaimed, brandishing a bag of bread she'd found in the freezer, "it's better than nothing."
They ate outside at the table on the rear porch, and Aisling introduced Daryl to marmalade, a jar of which a friend had sent her from home. "What the hell's that?" he asked as she smeared the sticky jelly, studded with thick chunks of orange peel, across her buttered toast.
"Try it," she held the slice up for him to take a bite.
He did, and chewed thoughtfully for a moment before he raised his eyebrows and nodded appreciatively "S'good!" Daryl took the jar and spread a thick layer of marmalade onto his own toast, reading the label as he did. "Made in County Clare, Ireland," he mused "...don't think I ever ate anythin' made in Ireland before."
Aisling raised an eyebrow suggestively, "Well, that's not strictly true, is it?"
It took a few seconds for Daryl to realize what she meant, and when he did a blush flooded right up to the tips of his ears. Shaking his head slightly as he marveled at the filthy mind that lay in that pretty head of hers, he gently kicked her foot with his underneath the table.
"Everythin' made in Ireland taste so good?"
It was Aisling's turn to blush, but Daryl just cocked an eyebrow and smirked as he continued eating his toast.
"So," she asked, clearing her throat, "Have you got any plans for today?"
"No, was gonna see what ya wanted to do. Want me to go?" He wondered if perhaps he had overstayed his welcome.
"No!" Aisling protested, quickly "Unless… do you want to go?"
"Naw… happy here." He smiled at her from behind the hair that fell in his eyes, then went back to eating his toast. "You got plans?" he asked, licking away a glob of marmalade that had fallen onto the back of his hand.
Aisling wasn't sure how to phrase what she wanted to say. She didn't want to frighten him away by coming on too strong, but at the same time she didn't want to let the little time they had slip away because she'd been too cautious to seize it. "I wondered if, maybe…em, if you'd nothing else to do, you might… em..."
Well done, Aisling. Really smooth. You've got quite a way with words.
Daryl waited, curious to see what it was that she was trying to spit out.
Aisling took a breath, and tried again, her eyes fixed on Daryl's "Would you like to stay for the rest of the weekend?"
"Ya want me to?"
"Yes, Daryl, I want you to, but if you don't it's fine. Just tell me, okay! I won't break, or cry or anything." As the words left her mouth, Aisling immediately wished that she could reel them back in and keep them unsaid. Her frustration at Daryl's apparent inability to make a decision without her first having to massage his feelings was a knee-jerk reaction. This was his first relationship, so of course he was feeling a little out of his depth and probably in need of a little more reassurance than other men she'd been with.
His eyes were a little wider than they had been, and he chewed at his lips as he processed what she had said. He hadn't meant to piss her off. It looked like, in his eagerness to make sure that she was happy and to avoid annoying her, he had managed to make her unhappy and annoyed her.
Before he had a chance to say anything, she reached out and grabbed his large hand in hers. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped," she smiled apologetically, "I don't play games, Daryl. If I ask if you want to stay, it's because I want you to stay. You just need to tell me what you want."
He nodded, and swallowed "Wanna stay."
Aisling leaned over and kissed him softly. He tasted of oranges, melted butter and the cigarette he'd just lit. "Good," she whispered against his lips, before she pulled back and stole a cigarette for herself from his pack.
"I'm going to cook you lunch tomorrow" she declared, exhaling a long stream of smoke out into the sunny morning.
"What with? Y'aint got no food, remember?"
Aisling told Daryl about a farmers market outside Palmetto, where several of her colleagues leased properties. Stuart, the camera operator, was as enthusiastic about food as he was about film, and spent many tea breaks and lunch hours telling Aisling about the wonderful produce he and his wife had bought at the market on the village green. Interest - and stomach – piqued, Aisling decided that this sunny, bare-cupboarded morning would be an ideal time to explore and shop.
Daryl wasn't entirely sure what a farmers market entailed, but he guessed that it involved lots of overpriced produce and smug, middle-class couples, but if Aisling wanted to go he would go too. If she'd suggested they go somewhere to watch paint dry he'd have gone there too, if it meant spending more time with her.
*.*
Daryl drove them to the market in his truck, his hair still damp from the shower they had taken together. He'd gone into her bedroom to get his clothes, but when she had called to him from the bathroom, and he'd seen the soap suds slide down her slick body, he was naked and in there with her before he could fully process what it was that he was doing.
A smile played across his lips as he remembered the feel of her wet skin, slipping against his as he'd hooked his arms under her knees and lifted her up against the tile wall. He'd gripped her hips and thighs tightly as he thrust into her, deep and hard.
Glancing across at Aisling in the passenger seat, he smirked when he saw the dreamy smile on her face as she stared into space, twirling a strand of her long, dark hair around in her fingers.
He'd experienced so many 'firsts' since he'd met Aisling, a lot of which had happened in the past twenty four hours. They were all great firsts – mindblowing, in fact – but the biggest first for Daryl was the one which had crept up on him over the weeks. Love.
*.*
The Farmers Market was much as Daryl had expected it to be, but Aisling loved it. She 'ooh'd and 'aah'd her way around, offering him samples of cheeses, chocolate, and bread to try, as well as a sip of some disgusting tea that was supposedly good for your gut. "Tastes like ass" he spat, and wiped at his tongue with his fingers as Aisling giggled and the tea vendor lady frowned.
Initially, Daryl had felt out of place at the market, but each time Aisling took his hand, or held another another sample of food to his mouth, he felt more at ease. Being with Aisling made Daryl feel less of an outsider. Sure, he knew that he didn't look like the average market attendee, but with her at his side he felt like they were a little unit.
His attention was caught by a stand selling hand-crafted herbal soaps at $10 a bar, and he snorted. The soap he bought for him and Merle cost $2.99 for three bars. He turned to catch up with Aisling, but stopped when he noticed her talking to a middle-aged couple just ahead.
"I can't believe we came all the way from Kidderminster and saw you here!" the British lady exclaimed as she held her phone out to take a picture of Aisling with her husband.
"We love Wild Geese. Every Sunday evening, without fail, we settle down on the sofa to watch."
He hung back and listened as Aisling told the lady that they had filmed some scenes on a canal near the English midlands town a few years ago.
"Is Aiden with you?" the woman asked, looking around "My daughter is a huge fan of his."
"No, I'm here with my boyfriend, but Andy's filming out near Senoia today. If you go there you might spot him."
Daryl's chest swelled with pride to hear her call him her boyfriend, and as he walked towards her another group of four women he'd noticed hovering nearby approached her.
"We're such big fans, honey! Our book group was all a-buzzin' when we found out y'all were filmin' near here."
He leaned against the supporting pole of a stall beside them and watched as the women all ambushed her with questions about the show, asking her what happened next. She was diplomatic as she answered them, not giving anything away but remaining polite. He could tell that Aisling was a little uncomfortable with the attention, but she was still gracious with her time, making sure that she had signed everything they thrust into her hands.
"Would you take a picture, young man?" Daryl was shaken out of his observations as one of the women held a camera out towards him. He nodded, and took the heavy camera from her. The woman, in her 60s he guessed, with thin wrists weighed down with expensive looking jewelry, showed him how to take the picture and pointed out that she'd set it on automatic so all he had to do was point and click.
"Are you sure you'll get that back, Martha?" a smaller, chubbier woman in a pink polo shirt said quietly to her friend "he doesn't look entirely trust worthy."
Aisling watched as Daryl bristled, his acute hearing easily picking up her whispered words. He raised his eyebrows, but didn't say anything as he held the camera up and took the picture.
"I can assure you that my boyfriend won't steal your belongings, ladies. Now, if you'll excuse us we really must be going." Aisling's voice was clipped, verging on the brusque.
"Really, Hettie, did you have to be so rude?" Martha admonished her friend as Aisling took Daryl's hand in hers and squeezed it. "Silly cow" she muttered, and led him over to a truck selling empanadas.
*.*
"That happen much?" Daryl asked as he loaded her bags of fruit, vegetables, bread, cheeses, and meat into his truck. Aisling got into the passenger seat, carefully laying the bunch of sunflowers she'd got for Corinne on her lap.
"What, people asking for pictures?" she asked as he climbed in the drivers side. "Sometimes, back in London. Andy always got more of it than I did though."
When he didn't answer she looked across and saw him staring out his window at a tall dark-haired man standing about fifty feet away. He was wearing long, baggy shorts and a t-shirt, and had a large camera in his hand. "You see that guy?" he grunted, nodding his head towards the man who was now pointing the camera towards them.
"Yeah… looks like a pap. Ignore him."
Daryl huffed, flipped the guy off, then steered the truck out into the street and drove a giggling Aisling home.
*.*
"Merle, you home?" Daryl called as he opened his front door. A grunt and a muttered "No" from Merle's bedroom told him that his brother was indeed in.
After dropping Aisling off at her house, Daryl had gone home to change his clothes, pick up his toothbrush, clean socks and underwear for tomorrow, and dig out some better clothes for their dinner at Shaun's house that night. He didn't have much to chose from, but selected a black shirt that he'd worn to Stevie's christening and put it into his gray backpack.
"Daryl! C'mere, gotta talk to ya!" Merle yelled from his bed. Daryl finished gathering a few things, then went to Merle's room.
"What?" He sniffed the air a second, then gagged slightly "Good Lord, Merle! What the hell ya eat last night?" He pulled the blind aside to open the window and let the choking fug of Merle's digestive grumblings out.
Merle chuckled as he pulled himself up to sit up in bed with his back against the wall.
"Where were you last night, baby brother?" he grinned, and raised his eyebrows when Daryl told him that he'd stayed at Aisling's. "You two finally smash pissers then?"
"S'none of your damn business," Daryl's face went pink and Merle laughed loudly, slapping his thigh. "Well, shit, ain't you just adorable!"
"Stop bein' such a fuckin' jackass, Merle," he growled "What did ya wanna talk about?"
Merle's face grew serious, and he patted the edge of his bed for his brother to sit down. "Had a visitor yesterday. Goes by the name Larry Morgan, here..." he picked a business card from his nightstand and tossed it over to Daryl "he left that in the mailbox".
LONDON DAILY POST - LARRY MORGAN – SENIOR REPORTER
On the left was an address in England, on the right a list of telephone numbers, most of them international, with an Atlanta number written in pen underneath.
"What did he want?" Daryl asked, turning the card over in his hands. He had an increasingly bad feeling about this, deep in his stomach.
Merle shrugged "Told him to fuck off. Said I'd shoot his ass if he didn't get off my property."
Daryl filled Merle in on what he'd heard from Shaun, about this guy visiting his work, asking questions about him, Aisling and Andy. When he said that Cassie had met him at the Goat Tavern, Merle nodded slowly.
"I gotta do a bit of diggin' round 'fore I'm sure, but I gotta feelin' that ol' Andy and Cassie have been spendin' a little quality time together."
"Cassie and Andy?" Daryl had never seen Andy outside the plantation apart from at the diner, and he'd certainly never seen him with Cassie.
"Yeah..." Merle rubbed his chin, deep in thought "I don't know what that lil' bitch's up to, but I intend on findin' out."