Chapter 54
Disclaimer: I own nothing! any resemblance to existing stories is unintended.
Charlotte's eye fluttered open slowly. She felt so warm so … safe … andfor a moment, she completely forgot the hellish nightmare of a world she lived in, a pair of strong, arms enveloped her "this is too good to be true, I have to be dreaming." She said as the person holding her stirred.
"if this is a dream, please don't wake me up." She said as she slammed her eye shut. A deep chuckle rumbled against her ear. "If it is … then I don't want to wake up either." Suddenly, a knock on their cabin made them both jump. "Guys, breakfast! Come on! You know how Rick gets when people are late." Glen's voice filtered through. Charlotte sighed raggedly. "I knew it couldn't last forever."
Everyone greeted them warmly as they sat down to a hodgepodge breakfast complied of leftovers from the last few days but in times like this, everyone was thankful to not have to eat dog food anymore.
"Look." Rick spoke up. "We don't have to make any errand runs today, I say for once, we all just take it easy." "Sounds good to me, I don't know about anyone else but I could use a break." Glenn said between mouthfuls.
"How are we on meat?" Daryl asked Rick abruptly, Charlotte knew he was never one for sitting around doing nothing and to be honest, neither was she. "We should be fine for the next few days, Daryl. It's ok, take a day off for a change, even you need some time to recharge after all the luck we've been having." Rick said.
"I'll tell you what you can do, I've been meaning to ask you to teach me about the different herbs and such around here." Charlotte said to Daryl, who looked to Rick for conformation. Rick sighed heavily. "As long as ya'll don't go too far, then I cont see any harm." He said.
"I'm surprised your friend Eddie didn't teach you this shit." He said, Charlotte couldn't help but chuckle about how he spit out the word friend, as though it tasted bitter to him. She knew Daryl couldn't help it, he was just the jealous type, she shrugged.
"Oh, he did … about the ones that grow in the New Mexico area where he is from, but I guess he never got around to the ones around here, its all good though because I'd rather learn from you anyway." She said as she flashed him a cutesy grin, which, to her pleasure caused him to blush deeply.
"Just concentrate and pay attention to what I tell ya." He grunted, the effect she had on him always irritated him and the more time he spent with her, the worse it got. But what choice did he have? It wasn't like he could live without her anymore, this was the first time he could remember feeling this way about anyone.
Usually he didn't let people get this close, but with her, he couldn't help it and before he knew what was happening, she had dug her way under his skin so far that it was now impossible to dig her out… not that he wanted to anyway.
"Hey!" a voice startled him from his thoughts. "Who's the one not paying attention now?" She said with a smirk, he scowled at her. "What'r you so smug about, it's your fault I can't concentrate." He said, she snorted as she made to turn her back to him. "And just why is that?"
In the blink of an eye, he was so close that their noses were almost touching. He leaned close and nuzzled the nape of her neck, breathing in her unique scent. "I think you know why." He hissed into her ear, causing shivers to run down her spine and bolts of electricity to race through her body.
Through the fog of her arousal, a voice in Charlotte's head told her she should keep a look out, that they were exposed out here, vulnerable. She knew she should stop him as he undressed her, but his mouth on her exposed skin had control now.
She was powerless to his advances, and he knew it. His touch was filled with such unbridled passion that she had never felt from a man before, he didn't hold back, he was so … raw. She didn't care who might see, or what was under her at this point as she lay back against the earth, pulling him with her as the last of their clothes came off.
She knew this was going to be hard and fast, like all their encounters had been. But she didn't want that, not this time. "Stop." She said firmly as she sat up. "What the hell?!" He said indignantly as she pulled away from him. "Oh, no, not this time. This time … we're going slow and I am in charge." She said as she pointed above their heads to a deer blind, left by a hunter before the dead began to walk.
Charlotte didn't even bother to get dressed, she just gathered her clothes up and started climbing the latter. "I don't want to get interrupted by no fucking geeks." He didn't need to be told twice, his arousal throbbed painfully against his pants as he watched her climb the latter, naked with her clothes slung over her shoulder.
"Don't even think about it, you're leaving them on." She said as he made to undo his pants once they had made their accent, he gave a exasperated sigh as he complied with her request. "You're killin' me, woman." He said as she drew close. "That's good." She hissed into his ear, making him shiver with desire.
She took it slow as she laid him back against the floor of the blind and straddled him, she could feel his hardness throbbing against her through the fabric of his pants and she actually felt kind of sorry for him, she decided not to torture him as long as she originally planned.
She slowly unbuttoned his pants and slipped them off as he kissed every inch of her skin he could reach, they both gasped as he slipped easily inside her wetness. The realization of her being as aroused as he was made him crazy, and he finally lost what little control he had been maintaining over the course of this endeavor.
In an instant he pushed her back so that he was on top, she sat up as he thrust into her, wanting to be as close as possible. Thanks to their mutual buildup, orgasm came quick and strong for them both. They both gripped each other tight as they came strong and fast.
They stayed connected for what seemed like a fortnight, neither wanting this moment to end. "No worries, we can always do it again later." She hissed into his ear. They dressed and emerged to find that it was nearly dark, the last of the winter sun was quickly relinquishing its control to the long, cold, dark night.
"Oh, shit, we'll never make it back to the camp before dark, best stay here. I'm sure we can manage to keep plenty warm." She said with a suggestive wink.
As night fell, Hershel limped to join Rick on the hill overlooking the woods. "They aren't back yet." Rick said, more to himself then Hershel. "I'm sure they're fine, she's with Daryl, no one better to be held up in the woods with." Rick nodded, though his face remained concerned.
Suddenly, his radio crackled to life. "You'd better get down here' Rick, someone's coming." Glenn's voice came over the frequency. Rick climbed the latter of the observation tower and Glenn handed him the binoculars, sure enough, a lone car was making its way down the long drive up to the gates to the camp. "get ready to fire if you have to." Rick said as he hurried down the latter.
As he made it to the bottom, the person got out of their car and walked toward the gate, Rick watched, surprised as Shadow the dog bounded up to the gate, wagging his tail furiously and whining with excitement.
Rick drew his 357 and approached cautiously. "Who are you?" he commanded as he pointed his weapon and flashlight at the stranger. It was impossible to tell who it was behind the waist length hair and a beard that hung to the stranger's navel.
"Oh … sorry, vato. I should have known you wouldn't recognize me, I was clean shaven when we met, unfortunately, personal grooming hasn't been on my list of priorities lately." He said, his yellow eyes flashing in the light of the flashlight. Rick breathed a sigh of relief as he recognized the voice behind all the hair.
"It's good to see you again, Eddie. You must be tired, why don't you come in and stay for a spell, you can bunk with Carl and me. I'm sure he would be glad to see you." Rick said as he heaved the gate open.
"How do you think that Daryl's going to feel about this?" Glenn said as they watched Eddie's car slowly pull toward the cabins, Rick shrugged helplessly. "I couldn't turn him away, Glenn." He said with a sigh. "Let's hope they can put their disagreements behind them, because we could really use another person who knows how to hunt and treat injuries." He added as he started up the hill to introduce their new guest.
I'm sorry it took so long to update this ... I have been super busy and haven't been home as much as I thought I would have. thank you all for being so patient.
