Chapter 25

They had walked the rest of that day, no one really saying anything. It was so silent with everyone lost in their own thoughts. Even lil Ass Kicker was quiet. It was almost as if the little girl sensed that it was time to grieve. Beth thought how different the tone of the group was now compared to earlier this morning. They had been joking around about superheroes one minute and in the next, Liam was dead. It was a stark and cold reminder of just what their world had come to. You never knew from one second to the next if you were going to live. It sometimes scared Beth to realize that everything they had fought for could, in an instant, be taken away from them. It seemed pointless at times, but she knew she had to keep trying. Especially since she and Daryl had found one another. She loved every single minute they had together. She knew she could witness a million sunrises and it wouldn't feel as warm and wondrous as her love for Daryl. She really wanted to say the words but for now "Everything" was enough.

They had been incredibly lucky to find an old abandoned lodge. Daryl, Rick, Maggie, Beth and Jenna had been busy the rest of the late afternoon and early evening clearing the place of walkers and clearing a few rooms for everyone to stay in for the night. Hell, thought Daryl, maybe they could just hole up here for a couple of days. After Liam dying that morning, Daryl thought it might be a nice break. He would have to ask Rick and Glenn about it. It was a silent agreement that the three of them would make the decisions for their small group, getting input from the others when needed. It felt so much to Daryl like when they had been on the road before the prison.

The lodge looked like some previous campground of some sort. It had definitely seen better days and it appeared as if whatever had happened to the place had happened way before the turn. But it would definitely be better than sleeping in a cave or on top of some rocks or worse yet, on the cold hard ground. It was starting to get cold out, he noted as he had stop to warm up his hands several times in clearing out walkers and boarding the place up.

Rick placed the last nail in the window he had been working on. The place had two floors and most would stay on the upper floor with one person posted to keep watch for the night downstairs. They were all skittish since the herd that morning and it was better to be safe than sorry. They all ate some dinner and thankfully there was an outdoor shower with a rainwater spout. It was a bit cold but no one minded. They were just thankful to rid themselves of the travel grit that seemed to always be present no matter how much they tried to avoid it. Everyone felt better after getting cleaned up and people were claiming their spaces for the night. There were plenty of rooms but since their group was small they decided to stay relatively close to one another.

Judith had grown so used to Maggie and Glenn that it was decided that she would stay with them. She tended to sleep better snuggled close to Maggie. It would also work well because Rick was taking the first shift of watch.

Beth carried hers and Daryl's packs up the stairs. He had is bow; god he never went far without it. Beth was convinced that if he could, he'd take it to bed with them. She smiled at the thought. Daryl was coming back from the showers, his bow in his hand. And then that really got her laughing.

"What's so funny, Princess?" he asked, placing his bow inside the door of the room they had claimed. She was a sight for sore eyes, standing there with her hair still damp from the shower trailing down her back. It had left a couple of damp spots on the back of her shirt, he noted. He kicked their door shut and stood against the wall, watching as she readied their bed for sleeping and put their things on the dresser. She looked so damn sexy standing by the bed, working the comb through the tangles in her hair.

Beth turned to the door to see what Daryl was doing. She smiled when she saw him standing there just looking at her. Something happened inside her at that moment, him watching her comb her hair fresh from the shower. It seemed somehow infinitely more intimate than making love. He looked so hot leaning against the wall, watching her, his hair still damp from the shower, but standing there in a plain white t-shirt and dark blue jeans and no shoes. She felt an ache deep within her. In the context of what happened earlier today, she felt a sudden need to be near him, on him, with him and with that that, she put the comb down and walked over to him, reaching her arms around his neck and pulling him in for a kiss.

His lips were on hers in an instant. He met her sudden need with a thundering hunger deep within him. Daryl pulled her flush against him and felt him go instantly hard. God, what this woman did to him. "Beth" he breathed into her hair. He needed for her to be naked before him. He pulled up on her shirt, pulling it over her head and reached for the waistband of her pants and pulling them over her hips, taking her panties with them. She fumbled with his pants, unbuttoning and unzipping them in a seamless transition. Daryl moved his hands to his hips to help her undress him. He reached down and scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bed, lying down on her and reaching between them to delve one finger into her to make sure she was wet enough.

Beth opened her legs for him. She thrust her hips up to meet him and gasped as he put his finger inside her and moved it around and pulling it back out and thrusting himself inside her in one fluid movement. She cried out and gripped her legs around his hips. It was a fast threshing of body against body as Daryl pounded out a furious rhythm and it was the most glorious thing Beth had ever felt. This hot fast, furious, need that threatened to consume them both. He was panting hard as he drove himself into her.

She felt her orgasm coming, the heat radiating outward and downward, spiraling until every nerve in her body vibrated on edge until she felt the explosion of pleasure that quivered every muscle in her body.

Daryl felt when Beth came, he could feel her spasming around him. His own release came in one continuous ripple of pleasure, undulating over every nerve and muscle in his body until he gave himself over to it and cried out her name. "Beth" before coming to a stop. He kissed her forehead and her cheek and her shoulder before rolling off her and lying back.

They were both out of breath. "Whatever that was, it was fantastic" she remarked, breathlessly.

Daryl laughed at her. "You ain't got enough yet, girl?" he said.

"Of you?" Beth said as she looked at him. "Never."

Daryl leaned over and kissed her tenderly on the lips. "I love you Beth," he said looking deep into her bright crystal blue eyes. And he did. God help him, he loved her with everything that was in him. He didn't know how he had lived before without her. Whatever life had brought his way, all the hard shit he had to go through; well if he had been meant to go through all that just to get to her, well that was fine with him. She had been worth the wait.

Beth felt tears coming. He had said it first. She laughed and wiped away her tears. "I love you too Daryl Dixon". Beth knew exactly what it had taken for him to say those words to someone and he said them to her. It had taken the world ending, everything that had happened to them, losing her dad, losing the prison, their family, facing his demons; that is all just part of what it had taken for Daryl Dixon to open himself up to love.

Rick had taken the first watch because he hadn't felt tired at all before he offered. But now that he was outside on the front porch, it was getting harder and harder to stay away. He knew everyone had gone to sleep. He hadn't heard a single sound in at least the last half hour.

He heard a creak on the porch behind him and reached for his pistol at his side.

"Easy there, Sheriff" said Jenna. "I ain't gonna bite." Jenna looked at Rick sitting on the porch glider and thought he looked like sex on a stick. His curly brown locks were in small tousled curls from his earlier shower. When he had walked out of the shower earlier while Jenna had been waiting her turn, her jaw had dropped. He came out with his shirt off and she was shocked at how muscular he was. That man was hiding a six pack under all those flannel shirts he always wore. Her gaze had traveled lower to the way his narrow hips tapered down and she had let her eyes linger a bit before meeting his gaze. He had definitely been watching her as well. His bright blue eyes had flashed at her for just an instant. It was almost so fast that she thought she imagined it but then after he had greeted her with a tip of his head and "Hey Jenna", and walked by, she had watched him walk away. He had turned back once she supposed to watch her walk away. He looked like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He was actually checking her out and Jenna hadn't been expecting that. But he was a warm blooded male and although Jenna was not conceited, she knew she was attractive, maybe even hot.

Rick raised his eyebrows at her statement about biting. "You sure about that?" he asked her with a wink.

Was she coming on to him, he wondered, and remembered their exchange at the showers that afternoon. He could swear that she had been looking at his crotch earlier. He had chalked it up to his imagination until now with that biting remark and the saucy look on her face. Oh no, there was no doubt about it. She was definitely coming on to him. It had been a really long time for him. After they had reached the prison, he and Lori had never made love again. That part of their relationship had long been over. Hell their marriage had been over. And all that seemed worlds away now, a lifetime ago. And in a way, it was. Rick decided he would see where this was going to go.

"Well I won't bite much" she said sitting down beside him and setting her scythe down beside the glider.

He looked at her raising both eyebrows and laughed outright. "I've never met anybody like you Jenna" he said.

"Is that a good thing, Sheriff?" Jenna asked prettily.

"Oh yeah, it's definitely a good thing" Rick openly flirted with her now. He had forgotten how good this felt.

Jenna thought she had underestimated Rick. She saw that sexy gleam in his eyes and she couldn't miss the way his eyes traveled down over her body as he spoke to her. She beamed him a smile, completely satisfied with herself. She was going to enjoy every single minute of this.

Rick decided the direct approach would probably be best. "Jenna, I haven't been with anyone since my wife died. I ain't still hung up on her or anythin' like that" he explained, "but I ain't sure I'm ready for anything right now".

Jenna liked him, she thought. He wasn't one to beat around the bush and she could respect that. Besides the fact that she was definitely ready to assure him she didn't want a relationship right now. "Would you be ready for sex?" she asked him.

He laughed and shook his head in surprise. "You're honest, I'll give you that." There was something extremely sexy about a woman who knew exactly what she wanted and wasn't afraid to ask for it. "Yeah, that I'm ready for". In admitting that to her, he felt himself go hard.

And that was all the invitation that Jenna needed. She got up from where she was sitting beside him and straddled him, one knee positioned on each side of his hips. She leaned down over him and pressed her lips to his, feeling his mouth open and exploring tentatively at first with his tongue. Then it became deeper and urgent. He slanted his mouth over hers, possessing it with each gentle thrust of his tongue against hers.

Jenna gently bit his lower lip and Rick gasped sharply. He reached down and unbuttoned her blouse and unfastened her bra in the back, running his fingers up between them so he could massage her breasts as they sprung free from her shirt. He looked down at her breasts and his hands roaming over them as she tipped her head back in pleasure. He brought his head to one nipple and flicked his tongue over it and licked around the edges, feeling her grinding her hips into him. He pushed his hips up into hers. He felt like he was going to explode, his erection pushing hard against his pants. He shifted uncomfortably further inviting her hips to rotate against his hardness. As if sensing the urgent need, Jenna stood up to slip her yoga pants to the ground. She had definitely not been wearing any panties, which he had noticed earlier when he had been checking out her ass. He looked up at her with hooded eyes, no longer able to hide his attraction to her. He stood up and removed his pants and boxers and watched as she waited for him to finish and gently pushing him with her hands back to sit on the glider, as she positioned herself over him as he reached up between them and touched her.

Jenna gasped as Rick moved his fingers lower and lower until he delved one finger into her and she cried out. The assault that he unleashed upon her clit with his thumb had her quivering with need. She felt her release come quickly, which was rare for her. It usually took much longer but it had been a hell of a long time for her too. As the waves of pleasure washed over her she moved herself over him and felt him meet her hips and he entered her with one thrust. He could still feel that she was coming and she was riding it out by pumping herself up and down over his cock. It felt exquisite, her walls clamped around him and gently massaging. "I ain't gonna last Jenna" he breathed.

Jenna rode him even harder. Feeling him inside her was incredibly. He was much larger than she had imagined, but it was as if they fit together perfectly. She felt another orgasm coming as the waves rode her higher and higher. Rick kissed the side of her neck and was sucking gently. That pushed her right over the edge and she cried out. "Fuck".

He could feel Jenna coming again and this time Rick couldn't hold himself back any longer, his own release coming seconds later, their bodies rocking together, riding out the pleasure until they were both spent. She collapsed against him, both of them breathless. She rolled off him and moved to get her pants off the floor, pulling them back on and sitting back watching Rick refasten his jeans. He moved to his jacket pocket and got out his pack of cigarettes, shaking out two. He then put them to his mouth and lit them both and handed her one. She looked at him in surprise as he inhaled.

Rick breathed in greedily the heady smoke of tobacco, sweat and the scent of sex that hovered in the air between them. "What?" he asked her, pretending that his smoking was the most natural thing in the world. The scary thing was, it felt too natural. It was as if he had never stopped at all. He had been quit for how many years now and one night in the sack with this woman and he was back to smoking. She made him feel reckless, dangerous. She made him feel alive again. Which sounded absurd and ironic; going back to smoking to feel alive, but it also strangely made sense. Sex and smoking. Two very basic vices. There was something about killing walkers and losing people in this haunted world that just made you want to live. He wasn't delusional. He hadn't just found his long lost love. He never only been with Lori. This was just pure basic human need. One person pleasing another. And that was fine with Rick.

"I thought you quit" Jenna asked, rebuttoning her shirt, holding the cigarette between her lips.

"I did," and Rick laughed.

Jenna laughed and shook her head at him, taking a long drag on her cigarette. This night couldn't get any better, she thought. "Quick and dirty sex and a cigarette after. Yeah that's about as good as it gets." She remarked.

And he laughed as he pulled his shirt back on. He loved how she said exactly what she was thinking. "No ma'am, you're right, it definitely doesn't get any better than that".

The front door opened and Daryl walked out. He had heard them laughing when he hit the steps to the downstairs. He didn't think he had ever heard Jenna laugh. He was surprised to find the two of them on the porch smoking like it was just the most normal thing in the world. He looked back and forth between them knowingly and met Rick's gaze. Rick just grinned at him goofily. Oh yeah, he definitely had that "I just got laid" look about him. Daryl laughed and reached his hand out for the pack of smokes. Rick handed it to him wordlessly. Until Jenna had asked for that cigarette the other day, as far as he knew, Daryl was the only person who knew he carried a pack with him at all times. Hell, Daryl had had to replace that pack many times.

He inhaled deeply thinking about how Beth had looked when he left her upstairs. She had smiled at him sleepily offering to come take watch with him. He had shook his head and kissed her softly. "Nah, Princess you sleep" he had told her, gently swatting her behind as he replaced the covers over her. She was sleeping on her stomach and had her hair fanned out above her head. He could have stood there watching her sleep all night but night duty called.

"Been quiet?" he asked Rick.

"Yeah, not a peep. No walkers at all. None since the ones we cleared here earlier." Rick had to wonder about that. But maybe they should count their blessings.

Daryl nodded. "Well you better go get some rest, both of ya" he looked at Jenna who had just put out her cigarette and pocketed the butt. He used to do that himself back when he smoked all the time. Now it was just an occasional one here and there. He knew Beth didn't like it. How his life had changed since he had met her he thought to himself. Yeah they were fighting for their lives every day, but Daryl knew he had never felt more alive than when he was with Beth and he intended to hold onto that feeling no matter what.

Okay guys this chapter was longer than I anticipated. Whew! And yes it is shameless Bethyl fluff! I needed to write this after writing the last couple of chapters and they were so serious and all. And then I added a bonus: Jenna and Rick! What did you guys think about their dynamic? Let me know how I did. Love the reviews. Seriously it's like Christmas every day when I open my inbox. Hahaha Until next time. Xoxoxoxo