A/N – Comfort III is written by request for several readers who wanted a continuation of Comfort and Comfort II.


Carol rarely gets outside the prison. She is now between Daryl and Rick and they're walking steadily. She looks around as they do so. She feels like an elephant between them. If she couldn't see Daryl in front of her she'd think there was no one there and she can barely hear Rick behind her. Daryl has taught him well over the years.

She is aroused, she can't deny it. The thought of what they're going to do tonight when they stop has her soaking wet and nearly as giddy as a schoolgirl. She wants both men, is beginning to need both men. But whether both men need her is another matter. Carol knows full well what she looks like and she knows that many other women that they've taken in over the years have tried and failed to get either or both Daryl and Rick.

Daryl was faithful and while they had gotten together out of need, they'd stayed together because that need had grown into something more. Rick, Rick was not necessarily an unknown quantity but he was a new variable. Yes, a new variable. One Carol would be happy to continually juggle, provided Daryl was too. Because he was the mainstay, he was her glue and she was now realising he was Rick's glue as well. If they were to continue together somehow it would be Daryl calling the shots. And Rick had been made fully aware of that situation two nights ago when they'd had sex on Daryl's bed.

Feeling herself moisten even further at the thought of how he'd fucked her and she'd sucked Daryl, Carol sighs lightly. Tonight cannot come soon enough. She is hoping the men will take it further with each other now too.

##########

Rick walks behind Carol watching her arse as her hips sway slightly from side to side. For some reason today he's missing Lori, he thinks its because he's reminded of how they'd liked to hike together. He'd always liked walking behind her and watching her move, she'd been so damn lean and leggy. He had a real thing for that. And with a grimace Rick finally admits to himself that both people in front of him are lean and leggy. He scrubs his hands over his face tiredly. He'd slept fitfully last night thinking about tonight.

Looking out at the woods Rick wants nothing more than to get lost in them and never find his way home. But he can't. He has responsibilities, he's always had responsibilities. Looking past Carol he finally does what he's been wanting to do all day. He looks at Daryl. Rick had thought he knew Daryl, but over the past few weeks it's become patently obvious he knows only the bare bones. He wonders if Carol knows very much more but he doubts it.

He was sexy, controlling and fucking confident with it. He controlled Carol and she was more than happy to take his orders which told Rick he was fucking good at giving them and still keeping her satisfied. Closing his eyes for a second he wonders briefly what it would be like to be told what to do, even more than Daryl had ordered him the other night.

Feeling his cock rise in his jeans Rick shakes his head and forces his mind to focus on his surroundings, not the two very desirable bodies in front of him.

##########

Daryl can feel both Carol and Rick looking at him periodically throughout the day. They almost made his skin crawl he was so unused to being looked at for any length of time. But he brushes it off, they're mostly looking at his arse anyway. Though Rick, he thinks has a thing for his legs. Figured with Lori being so tall and skinny, man definitely had a type.

Shrugging off their eyes Daryl focuses on getting them to the cabin. The sooner they're there the better. He's been debating what to do tonight. He'd really enjoyed watching Rick and Carol together. He'd also enjoyed taking part. And that first time they were together when he'd felt Rick through Carol. Well that had been something else entirely. Daryl had never thought of another man in a sexual capacity before. But he was thinking of Rick in one now. Had been since that night he'd seen him in the shower. Long body, wet, pale skin, curly hair. Daryl had a weakness for a long lanky body as well. Carol certainly fit that description, but so did Rick.

He'd been trying to quash these thoughts in himself since that night in the shower. He had so far been unsuccessful. So he'd thought taking part but keeping control was the answer but now he wasn't sure of that either. He knew Carol wanted to see he and Rick together but he didn't know if he was capable of even getting it up with just Rick and it seemed weird to think of someone else, someone he wasn't actually with to do so.

So Daryl was going to see if he could wing tonight, let things happen naturally. When they get to the cabin they settle in. Daryl checks the meat he'd stored hasn't spoiled. The cabin is near a small pond so they all trek to it. It's a peaceful spot.

Rick lays down flat on the dock, it's still steady, hasn't deteriorated. Spreading his hands out he closes his eyes. "God, that feels good." He murmurs and Daryl swears he sees all his muscles relax, one by one. Guy was a looker for sure. Shaking his head he puts down his crossbow. Looks over at Carol raising an eyebrow and jerking his head at the water.

She looks around, checking for walkers, then nods. "Sounds lovely." Rick opens an eye not having seen their non-verbal conversation. Both eyes open wide when he sees both Daryl and Carol disrobing quietly.

"Gonna swim." Daryl looks down at him looking up at them. "Welcome to join, we'd see anyone coming fairly quick, place isn't grown in." Rick glances around. He's right. The place is still reasonably clear.

"Must've been occupied for a few years after." He muses. Daryl nods.

"Was still occupied when I found it." Rick nods knowing he meant occupied by walkers. He leans up on a support post that once used to have a boat tied to it and watched both of them get undressed. Daryl unlaces and toes off his boots and then pulls his shirt over his head not bothering with buttons. Then he unbuckles his pants and pushes them and his underwear down.

"Can I have a look at your tattoos? I've never really seen them." Rick asks something he's wanted to for years. He'd always wanted a tattoo but never had the nerve to get one. Not even when Shane had. Daryl looks over his shoulder at Rick.

"All of 'em?" He asks. Rick frowns.

"Yeah, why?" Daryl shrugs and steps back over his discarded clothes and kneels down. Rick sits up looking at the tattoos on Daryl's back. They're works of art he realises immediately. Finely drawn and detailed. Looking at them he feels like he'd feel feathers and scales if he touched them. "Can I touch?" He asks softly, his fingers are raised, hovering over the tattoos. But they don't touch, they wait for Daryl's permission. Daryl looks over his shoulder at Rick again, their eyes catch. And Daryl nods. Rick's hand drops. His fingers are warm on Daryl's skin, he's smooth, the tattoos so old, the inked skin is completely flat.

Rick's fingers are rough on Daryl's shoulder-blade. His thumb brushes across the head of the top tattoo and out of nowhere Daryl feels his left hand brace on one of his scars. Though his skin twitches Daryl doesn't move. Rick means no harm he knows. He isn't to know Daryl doesn't like them being touched. Carol has learned her lesson, she has figured out ways to touch him and avoid them.

But for some reason he doesn't move Rick's hand away. Doesn't tell him not to touch his scars. The dock shifts gently as Rick moves. On his knees he moves around to Daryl's front. He raises Daryl's right arm, looks closely at the devil tattooed on his inner bicep, touches it too. Then his fingers ghost over the etching on his inner forearm but he doesn't linger there. His eyes are caught by another one. A snake. High on Daryl's left thigh.

He realises this is why Daryl had questioned him about 'all' of his tattoos. He can't believe he's never seen it over all the years they've been in each other's company. He looks up at Daryl again and their eyes catch. This time they hold. Rick's right hand slowly reaches out, his palm lays softly over the snake, he presses down slightly but makes no other movement. They continue to look at each other.

Carol is frozen as she watches them. She is breathing so shallowly she feels light-headed. They are beautiful together. Long legs, hard bodies, tan lines, shaggy hair, rough skin, beards. She had never seen anything so beautiful in her life apart from her daughter. Her heart hurts as she looks at them. Because she realises this is a moment that is too intimate for her to be here, she is an intruder.

Carol realises it even if they don't. And she is sure they don't. This moment is a defining moment, a turning point for them. Whatever they do, from here on out, they'll still have this moment to look back on and say 'this is where it changed, where we changed,' her heart is overflowing with love for the two men on their knees in front of her.

Rick looks down at his palm covering Daryl's snake tattoo. His skin is warm and surprisingly soft under his palm. He sees Daryl's cock stirring as he keeps looking down. It mirrors his own as it slowly fills and rises in his jeans. Rick spreads his knees to give himself room. He refuses to feel ashamed that he is getting aroused by a man. By Daryl. Daryl is beautiful regardless of what he thinks of himself. Rick looks back up at him. His blue eyes are still staring down at him.

Realising he wants to kiss Daryl Rick's breath catches. His eyes drop to Daryl's mouth, his lips are chapped, the skin flaking but he wants to kiss him anyway. He feels a hand on his waist, not pushing him away, not pulling him forward. But it is guiding him closer to Daryl, to move between his spread knees. Rick inches forward slowly, taking his time, wincing when his knee scraps a nail on the dock. He looks down to avoid it when he moves again and gets caught by Daryl's erection, he's nearly fully hard now.

Turning his eyes up again Rick watches Daryl leans forward slowly, giving Rick all the time in the world to lean back, turn away. But he doesn't. He leans up, offering himself to Daryl instead, head tilted back, lips slightly parted, eyes just watching Daryl's as he leans in. And then he feels the softest touch whisper across his lips.

He's kissing a man, kissing a man for the first time in his life. Rick's mind is fracturing in a thousand different directions, but he is undone by the surprising softness of Daryl's lips. Chapped and peeling yes, but soft. So very very soft. Before he realises what he's done Rick tilts his head and opens his lips, inviting Daryl in.

Tilting his head, following Rick, Daryl moves his tongue forward slowly, brushing the tip of it across Rick's lips, not moving forward, not fully accepting Rick's invitation in case he backs out. So far this is something they can write off, but once Daryl's tongue is inside Rick's mouth they can't go back. Can't pretend it didn't happen. And so Daryl waits for Rick to respond, hoping to a God he doesn't believe in that he will. And then he feels it, the barest brush of Rick's tongue against his.

And his restraint breaks. Lifting a hand he clasps the back of Rick's neck, fingers twisting through his ragged curls before he exerts pressure, pulling Rick's mouth to his more firmly. He doesn't go overboard, he has no idea yet if Rick or even he will suddenly bolt. In the back of his mind Daryl knows Carol is standing and watching them. For her as well he doesn't want to scare Rick off.

For himself however he needs Rick to stay. He's the first person that Daryl has felt one hundred percent comfort in his touch. No winces, no flinches, just comfort. And suddenly Daryl needs to feel that again. His tongue slides forward into Rick's mouth slowly. Just kind of questing as if he's looking for something. And he is, he's looking for a response that mirrors what he is feeling. Comfort, desire and underneath all of that a simmering need to take and be taken by the man kneeling in front of him.

Carol's breath is gasping quietly now. They're kissing, they are using their tongues. She can tell from the way their jaws are moving. It's the most erotic thing she has ever seen. And that she has kissed both men herself, makes it even more so. A tiny seed in the back of her mind wonders if now they're doing this whether they'll forget about her. With her next gasp Carol knows that won't happen. Yes Daryl and Rick might be with each other without her now, but they'll still be with her too. They're a unit, three sides of an equal-sided triangle. They fit. Together as they fit with no one else.

Rick slides his hand up Daryl's leg, from the tattoo to his hip and around until he is palming a butt cheek. Then he squeezes gently as he feels Daryl's tongue press a little firmer into his mouth, he pushes his own out to meet it even as his hand moves around to the front of Daryl's body. The both pause as his knuckles brush lightly against Daryl's pubic hair, Rick's fingers are curled in toward his own palm. Daryl pulls away slightly. They stay close, eyes still locked. Then Daryl nods slightly and Rick's hand slides down even as they both continue to look at each other.

He strokes the back of his hand down and then up the length of Daryl's cock and it throbs under his touch. His own throbs in response and he wishes suddenly he was naked too. Then taking a breath and holding it Rick turns his hand and clasps Daryl's cock, again it throbs and jerks under his touch and his own does the same. Rick can't help the small groan that he releases and he almost winces as he sees Daryl's eyebrow raise in query. His other hand palms his own erection as he tries to get more comfortable.

Suddenly there are hands coming from behind him, reaching around and undoing his belt buckle, opening his jeans and pulling his cock out. They're soft but sure and certain in their touch. Carol. Once Rick sighs in relief as his cock is released she pushes gently on his hips causing him to rise up on his knees and she pulls his pants and underwear down, then she pushes him slightly so he can raise a knee at a time and she slips everything down to below his knees. Then she manages to wriggle his boots and socks off with his jeans and briefs following. Her hands come around again and unbutton his shirt but Rick won't remove the hand from Daryl's cock so she can't remove it.

Daryl kneels up, naked, his cock taken in hand by Rick and Rick is naked but for his opened shirt, dangling off one shoulder, it frames his chest and groin, focusing Daryl's eyes on everything he wants to lick and touch on Rick's body. He's surprisingly hairy, his chest is completely covered in hair though its not thick and from his navel it arrows down getting thicker until it reaches his pubic hair where it becomes a thick curly mess from which his hard cock rises proudly.

Daryl's other hand moves from his own thigh over to Rick's where he mimics the move Rick had made before, sliding up his thigh, around to palm a butt cheek and then back to his cock though he doesn't tease, his hand immediately grasps Rick's cock. He watches with pleasure as Rick's head falls back on his neck, his Adam's apple bobs as he swallows loudly. Daryl smiles at Rick's obvious pleasure. It mimics his without a doubt. He looks over Rick's shoulder. Carol has stepped back, he can see from her pebbled nipples she is aroused. She simply nods at him and Daryl knows she's okay with what they're doing, more than okay from the way her hands cups herself.

And then Daryl's thoughts are gone like smoke on the wind as Rick's hand moves on his cock, jerking him off slowly. He looks back at Rick to see him watching what he's doing, eyes down, lashes laying on his cheeks as he watches his hand on Daryl's cock. Moving his hand on the back of Rick's neck, Daryl pulls him closer, when he looks up into Daryl's eyes, Daryl grins and kisses those luscious lips.

Groaning into Daryl's mouth Rick feels Daryl's rough palm start to jerk him off in return. When they come up for air Rick sees Carol has moved closer to them though she is not touching them. She is sitting on the dock, close enough to have a bird's eye view of their hands fondling each other. She grins as Rick catches her eye and then licks her lips. Rick smiles at her unasked question.

"Think someone wants to suck us." He says to Daryl as Daryl's eyes open slowly. Rick's cock jerks without any movement from Daryl's hand when he sees Daryl's dilated pupils. He imagines his are the same, everything seems brighter suddenly.

"Yeah?" Daryl turns to Carol who nods at him. "Who you wanna suck then woman?" Carol grins.

"Both of you." She doesn't wait for an answer, moving to her hands and knees and crawling forward, her hands reach for their opposite hips and she turns Rick and Daryl to face her, then she angles them so their cocks are close together and she opens her mouth and takes them inside her hot mouth together. Just the heads, but she suckles on them as if they were teats and Rick can't help the whore-like sound that flows out of his mouth. He both feels and hears Daryl's amused chuckle.

"Fuck off." He says mildly as he feels Carol let go of him. "Bet you couldn't make me moan like that." He says without thinking and Daryl looks over at him.

"You darin' me to suck your cock?" Rick frowns at him as Carol's mouth returns, he can't remember what he'd said.

"What?" He asks as he feels his eyes roll in his head and that same sound exits his mouth again. Then there is a mouth on his. Chapped, peeling and still somehow soft lips slide over him and a tongue pushes forward playfully looking for his. Rick pushes to meet it. He moans a little into Daryl's mouth as Carol's mouth leaves him again and then he feels Daryl moan into his mouth in return and he knows that Carol is now sucking him.

Pushing himself forward Rick kisses Daryl even as his cock searches for Carol's hot mouth again When she sucks him, he feels Daryl's cock there beside him and they groan together this time. Then she is gone and Rick moans in protest. Daryl pulls away and they watch Carol lying back on the dock. When she sees them watching she crooks her fingers at them, motioning for them to move to her, to kneel on either side of her which they do. Then she leans up and takes their cocks in her mouth again, this angle allows her to take more of them at the same time which they both appreciate and they can also look at each other and kiss, which they do lazily.

"Gonna come all over you woman." Daryl mutters between kisses. "Gonna come all over her too?" He asks Rick. Rick looks down at Carol making sure she's okay with it, Lori had never liked anything like that at all. Carol simply nods at him around their cocks.

"Yeah, yeah okay. Let's do it." He kisses Daryl again then pulls back. "Let's jerk each other off for her." Carol pulls away from their mouths.

"God, please yes." She says breathlessly as she leans back, lying down, one of her hands palms a breast, tugging on a nipple and the other moves down her body, fingers slipping inside herself to flick at her clit.

Daryl looks down at Carol then back up at Rick. He leans in, taking Rick's mouth again, he wasn't gonna get enough of it anytime soon and his hand moves to Rick's cock and he starts to jerk him off, Rick's hand moves to his cock and Daryl pushes into his hand needfully. He did need Rick, more than he'd realised until today. Eyes fluttering Daryl pulls away from Rick's mouth and lets his head fall down to rest on Rick's sturdy shoulder. He pushes his other hand up again clasping the back of Rick's neck, fingers fisting in the curls there and he feels Rick's other hand do the same.

Breathing heavily Daryl feels his balls draw up, he is close to coming, his brain is frying from the heat of the orgasm Rick is slowly inducing, he wants nothing more than to fuck him hard and fast until they both come but he has no idea when or if they'll ever get there. What they're doing now defies all logic, reason and belief.

And he doesn't fucking care. All he cares about is that the hand on his cock doesn't stop until he comes, that the hand in his hair pulls a bit harder, makes him feel it. Pulling away from Rick's hand Daryl moans more at the burn but then protests at Rick let's go thinking that was what he'd wanted.

"No, pull it." He can't say anymore, his orgasm is approaching, but he can show what he wants. And so he gives a sharp jerk on Rick's hair that he's holding and Rick gasps and looks up at him, eyes rolling in pleasure. "Oh, you like that Rick? Like having your hair pulled like a fucking girl do you?" Daryl asks, his voice is just above a whisper, he has no other breath to speak louder. He wonders hazily if Rick will reciprocate. He'd never been able to get Carol to give him word sex.

"Yeah, just like you fucking like it you pussy." And Rick's hand is back in his hair. But he doesn't tug it, He clenches his fist in Daryl's ragged hair and he just pulls, exactly as his other hand clenches on Daryl's cock and he pulls as well. "Gonna come for me you fucking hair pulling sissy, gonna come all of your woman and my fucking hand? Gonna lick yourself off for me, or you gonna pussy out and let your woman clean us both up huh?" Daryl feels his eyes rolling as he spits at Rick and Rick's face jerks back before he leans in and reciprocates.

Feeling the spit slides down his face Daryl's balls erupt and he comes, his come boiling up out of his cock and splashing on Rick's stomach with some force before it falls back down to land on Carol. Even as he is coming he is still jerking off Rick's cock, hard and fast now.

"Yeah, I'm gonna come asshole, bet you won't even be able to finish off, fuck like a pansy, all timid and shit, you need to fucking man up and fuck like it, jerk me off like a fucking lady. Ain't no lady gonna be able to make a Dixon come, only a fucking woman or another redneck has the balls to make a Dixon come proper. And you ain't neither that I know of." Daryl continues to speak, deriding Rick. "Call that jerking off, bet you can't even jerk yourself off, guess I should watch you do that and check your technique." He's lying of course he's already come, but his scornful words are making Rick harder.

"Fuck!" Rick exclaims as his balls draw up suddenly and Daryl's grips him, his hand like a vice, his come boils from his cock, dribbling straight down on Carol, unlike Daryl he's not a shooter. After the first couple of jerks, his come oozes from him, all over Daryl's hand and then down onto Carol's stomach. He continues thrusting into Daryl's hand as long as Daryl keeps jerking him off. And then he deliberately pulls on Daryl's hold in his hair, leaning forward, resting his head on Daryl's shoulder as Daryl had done before. "Fuck." He says again, softer this time.

Carol's fingers are a blur on her clit, she watches Daryl's come push out of his cock and hit Rick's stomach and drop down on her and then Rick's just kind of fall down on her. She moves her hand from her breasts down her stomach and smears it around, swirling patterns and rubbing it into her stomach as her other hand continues to flick her clit. Just as Rick and Daryl both stop jerking each other off and let their heads rest on each other's shoulders she comes, closing her eyes to everything but her own orgasm shooting through her.

When she comes too she sees both men still resting on her and holding each other but looking at her. "What?" She says innocently as she brings her fingers from her pussy up to suck them clean. Then she brings her other hand up and cleans it of their combined sperm. "You know, I think you should both clean me up." Carol says as she puts her hands behind her head and looks at them both.

She sees Daryl's eyebrow raise and Rick's fleeting grin. Then they look at each other.

"Why the fuck not?" Daryl says to Rick.

Rick shrugs. "I will if you will." They nod, speaking without words and bend down. Carol watches them curiously. They both hesitate and then they lick. Daryl taking a long strip of come into his mouth, lifting his head and tasting it like a freaking wine before he swallowed it. Rick slurped Carol making her stomach jerk and she giggled as he wiggled his eyebrows at her and slurped some more, swallowing as he went. Then he focused and licked more as Daryl bent down to do the same.

When they'd cleaned themselves off Carol's stomach Rick shrugged out of his shirt and looked out at the water as he stood up.

"Guess I'm joinin' you in a swim after all." He says laconically as he looks down at Carol and then back up at Daryl.

"Guess you'll be joinin' us for more than that from now on too." Daryl answers.

They both roll their eyes at Carol's whispered 'yes'. Ignoring her Cheshire cat grin they both head to the ladder and climb down it, letting themselves into the warm water of the pond.

Carol laughs as she hears Rick ask Daryl "So I made you com, am I officially a lady or a redneck?"

"Guess you'd made either grade, kinda' think you're a redneck though." Rick laughs at Daryl's words.

Carol grins uncontrollably. She wants to run and scream and shout from the treetops, but in this world where an unexpected noise could draw one of the herds that still roamed the country she can't but she can do something else.

"You swum in her before?" She asks Daryl as she stands at the edge of the dock.

"Yeah, it's clean and deep, you're good if you wanna dive in." Close but no cigar. Carol takes several steps back and then runs silently forward, jumping and curling herself into a ball she cannonballs into the water as she hasn't done since she was a child.

She laughs as she feels the commotion in the water around her from Daryl and Rick and is grinning ear to ear as she rises to the surface.

"Sorry boys, it was the quietest way I could think of to celebrate." Rick is laughing quietly at her but Daryl is frowning and Carol can see she'd gotten to him the most with her cannonball as his hair was half in his face and straggling down his neck. He pushes her under before she can even see he has moved.

She rises to the surface spluttering and laughing to see Rick laughing and Daryl having sunk beneath the surface and come back up treading water with a bared face smiling at her as well.

"My men." She says simply.

"Our woman." The both answer at the same time.


A/N – Next up we have Shane/Beth for OddMar.