AN: Here we are, another chapter here.
I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!
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"This ain't like a dog or—somethin' I can go pick you up from the store to make you happy, Sugar," Merle said. "You're askin' me to get you a damn person. An Outlaw's Old Lady, no less."
"Merle it's not like I want to house train her and let her sleep in the bed with us," Andrea said. "I'm asking you about providing her with a place to stay. A roof over her head, Merle. And a paycheck that's going to cover her necessities."
"Just keep her up," Merle said with a laugh.
"She'll earn it," Andrea protested. "She's not afraid to work and she's got skills we could really use. She's been working at their place for years. She knows how to book the whores, Merle. Keep 'em organized. She knows how to do the books for the hotel and keep things going. We could use some competent help, Merle. Everyone's enthusiastic, but an ounce of experience is worth more than a bucket of enthusiasm some days."
"She's an Outlaw's Old Lady, Andrea," Merle said.
"She doesn't have ties to the club, Merle," Andrea said. "He's dead. Offed himself."
"Because of her? Because we might want to know that before we go dragging somebody into our midst that's bad enough he killed himself to get away from her," Merle said.
He could tell, from Andrea's expression, that he'd overstepped at least a little.
"You that damn in love with her already?" Merle asked. "You sure you ain't askin' for her to sleep in the bed?"
"Fuck you, Merle," Andrea said. Merle almost wished there was more venom behind the words. They would have hurt less if he'd felt like she was throwing them at him like daggers.
"I'm sorry," he said sincerely. "Come here—no—I really am. Come here." Andrea was trying to crawl away from him in the bed, but she was not as nimble as she had once been. Merle caught her and pulled her close to him. "Talk to me, Sugar."
"It isn't her fault he killed himself, Merle," Andrea said. "Hell—I talked to her a couple of hours. Carol and I talked to her a couple of hours. She didn't say much about it, but you could just tell. Do you know how damn much you'd beat yourself up for that shit, Merle? How much you'd blame yourself? And that's not to mention everyone else blaming you. Treating you like you're some kind of pariah. They pushed her out, Merle."
"They're taking care of her," Merle said. "She's under Outlaw protection until she leaves."
"They call her the Black Widow," Andrea said. "They treat her like shit. She could start over here. Have a whole new life. New chances."
"You want me to take her out from under the protection of their club and put her here, but…we don't even know yet who the hell has a grudge against us," Merle said.
"She knows about the whole thing," Andrea said. "And she's willing to take her chances, Merle. Her shit's packed. She'll leave tonight if you tell me to text her and tell her to hit the damn road."
"She's really that damn itchy to be cut loose?" Merle asked.
"She's got nothing, Merle," Andrea said. "No family that'll claim her. The club treats her like shit. They don't want her. Nobody wants to be where they aren't wanted."
"You really think Negan's gonna want that tainted pussy?" Merle asked.
"Don't do that. Don't call her tainted, Merle. And, even if he doesn't," Andrea said, "she's more than a pussy, Merle, isn't she? Or is that all the hell you think any of us are?"
"You know that ain't so," Merle said. "Don't go gettin' twisted up."
"Then—even if he doesn't want to fuck her, doesn't she deserve some kinda family, Merle? I thought that's—what we do."
Merle set his jaw. He reached his hand out and rubbed Andrea's belly. Their baby was asleep or playing possum. Possibly it was pissed off at him because it could sense that he'd done something to hurt Andrea's feelings. The doctor told them they had another four or five weeks before the thing probably came, but Merle was pretty sure that Andrea might pop before that amount of time passed. It seemed, sometimes, that her body had given all that it could give—and she was doing all that to make their family as complete as it possibly could be.
Merle sighed.
"She's gonna have to earn her keep," Merle said.
"Baby's coming soon," Andrea said. "And Carol could use the help when I'm out of commission. Especially since—she's got a baby of her own coming."
"She's gonna have to have a tail same as everybody else," Merle said. "And if she disagrees with that, then I don't want shit to do with her."
"She won't disagree with that," Andrea said. "And—she won't have trouble with the brothers because she's been around clubs, Merle. She knows what she's dealing with. We don't even have to show her the ropes like we did with Carol."
"Teeter's old place is about the only place we got open at the moment," Merle said. "And—I don't know what the hell condition it's in."
"We'll look at it," Andrea said. "Worst comes to worst, we put her up in the hotel until Negan's inviting her to share his bed at the trailer—and that's just until we convince him to buy a house in Liberty and move back here to officially start up the first Liberty chapter of the Saviors. Maybe he'll want Teeter's place. Maybe he'll fix it up."
Merle laughed to himself.
"Don't go gettin' ahead of yourself," Merle warned. "Just because you bait the hook don't mean Negan's gonna swallow that shit."
Andrea shrugged her shoulders, but a playful smile flickered across her lips.
"I guess we'll just have to let nature take it's course, Merle," she said.
Merle sighed again.
"You really got your heart set on haulin' this one out here? Makin' her—somethin' that's somewhat our fuckin' problem?"
"I can't stand to see anybody kept outside like that, Merle," Andrea said. "You know I can't. It breaks my heart. And—if I'm upset?" Andrea dramatically rubbed her hand over the swell of her belly. She was giving Merle the puppy dog eyes that he couldn't stand. She knew he couldn't stand them. She knew that they got her just about any damn thing she wanted that was within his power to give. She'd been doing it to him since she was sixteen. "Merle—it's no good for the baby if I'm upset."
Merle laughed to himself.
"Text your fuckin' friend," Merle said. "Tell her—tell her to leave when she feels ready to leave. Tell her—come here if it's dark. Hotel if it's daylight. I don't want her no damn where alone until we get her a tail—not from the moment she crosses into Liberty."
Andrea smiled sincerely and reached her arms toward Merle. In her current position, it was easier for him to come to her, so he did. He accepted her hug and her very, very sincere kiss.
"Thank you, Merle," Andrea said. "The baby thanks you, too. She says—you make us both very happy."
Merle laughed to himself and pulled away.
"Stop callin' my boy a she," Merle said.
"It's gonna be a girl, Merle," Andrea said, raising her eyebrow at him. "But—if it makes you feel better to say it's a boy…I'll let you have it."
"As a reward for bein' a good damn boy an' lettin' you have your lil'…what the hell's her name?"
"Maddie," Andrea said. "And—I think you deserve a reward for being a good person all around."
"Then if it's all the same to you, I'd rather pick that shit myself," Merle said.
Andrea smiled at him. It was sincere, and it was the kind that—after all these damn years—could still make an involuntary shiver run through Merle's whole damn body. The smile, alone, could make Merle's dick hard with the promise of what he knew was coming.
"I think that's fair," Andrea said, in the tone of voice that could make that shiver repeat itself. "You name it, Merle. Whatever you want? I'm gonna give it to you."
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"What do you want for Christmas?" Carol asked.
She was lying on her back beside Daryl, waiting for him to recover and, if it wasn't too late and she wasn't too tired, make love to her again. Daryl licked his lips at her. Even as she lay there, recovering, herself, as much as she ever had to recover from sex, Daryl was lazily running his hand over her. He liked rubbing it over her belly—small swell that it was, though she insisted that she was enormous and that, one of these days, he'd realize how disgusting she looked—and he liked running it down between her legs. He'd already wiped her clean from what he'd left behind with a warm rag, but her pussy was still wet. The more he rubbed it, the wetter it got—so he kept rubbing it.
Every now and again, she bit her lip or closed her eyes with a slightly drunken expression on her face. That made it even more entertaining, to Daryl, to keep his hands busy by rubbing her pussy.
Sometimes, he trailed up to her nipples and rubbed them. Sometimes he leaned his head and lazily sucked one or teased it with his tongue.
Teasing Carol was one of his favorite things to do, and his reward was knowing that it turned her on. She could fake sounds. She could fake praise. She could fake a lot of things, but she couldn't fake the wetness of her pussy.
"You," Daryl said.
He leaned and bumped her face with his. He nuzzled against her and breathed in her scent. He loved these moments of afterglow. He felt like he could get drunk on Carol, and he was happy that she let him. She turned her face and kissed him, biting his lip as the kiss broke. He panted in response to the jolt of desire that her roughness sent surging through him.
"Ready?" She asked.
"Not quite," Daryl said. "Sorry."
She smiled at him.
"We have time," she said.
"You're wet," Daryl said.
"You're making me that way," Carol said with a laugh. Daryl smiled at her.
"I know," he said. "I'ma keep doin' it, too." To illustrate his point, he ran his hand between her legs again and, this time, he harassed her until she moved her hips to ride his hand, her eyes closed. Sensing her hunger, he kept going, working her until she'd found what she wanted. The orgasm wasn't as strong this time as it had been before, but she collapsed back into her pillow with satisfaction when it was done, and Daryl nuzzled close to her again, happy to take her panting kisses when she offered them.
"You never said what you want for Christmas," Carol said.
"You," Daryl said with a laugh. "You. That's all the hell I want. You. This. Hell—our house. It'll be ready not long after Christmas. You. Sophia. The baby. I want my life, Carol. Just the damn way it is."
"You have that," Carol said. "You always will—as long as you want it."
"Then there ain't no chance of me ever bein' disappointed."
"I'm serious, Daryl," Carol said. "I want to get you something."
"What am I gettin' you?"
"You already gave me a baby—a ring. A house. I don't need anything, Daryl."
"What the hell do I need?" Daryl asked.
Carol frowned at him. He laughed to himself and pinched her nipple. It was harder than he'd intended and harder than she liked. She yelped, possibly without meaning to, and he saw tears well up in her eyes almost instantly. It was impossible to tell if they were from pain or from some kind of disappointment that he'd hurt her.
They hadn't talked about it, and he knew that someday they would have to, but Daryl knew that she was dealing with a lot of feelings that she couldn't help, and she couldn't swallow entirely. After all, her pregnancy was advancing, her hormones were freely flowing, and she had to be remembering that the last time she'd done this, she'd done it with a man who had left scars that, even now, Daryl was tracing with his fingertips.
Daryl turned her face toward him. He kissed her, gently.
"Swear I didn't mean it," he said. "Just playin'. Got carried away."
"I know," Carol said softly. "It's OK. I'm not hurt."
"Don't you lie to me to save my feelings," Daryl said. "If you're hurt, you tell me you're hurt."
"I'm OK," Carol said. Her eyes were still damp, but her smile was sincere. "Better now. But—if you'd tell me what you want for Christmas, I'd feel even better."
Daryl laughed to himself.
"OK—I want ink."
"What?"
"New ink," Daryl said. "A new tattoo. That's what I want for Christmas. Except—I don't wanna wait. I want my present early."
"You won't have anything to open on Christmas morning except—like basic things," Carol said.
"You'll let me eat your pussy," Daryl said. "And that'll be the best box I could ever open up." He winked at Carol when she snorted at him.
"Fine," she said.
"And—we get Soph that puppy," Daryl said.
"Daryl…" Carol said.
"It'll be for all of us."
"I'm not going to be the one taking care of it," Carol said. "Not by myself."
"We'll all take care of it," Daryl said with a smile. He rubbed his hand across her belly. One day, he knew, he'd feel their little one there. He couldn't wait for that moment. For now, it was enough to simply know that, somewhere in there, their baby slept. "Now—what do you want for Christmas?" He asked.
"I've got everything I want," Carol said.
Daryl laughed to himself.
"Fine—I'll give you time to think," he said. "But—whatta you say I give you a little present now, hmmm? Somethin' else to make sure you have some sweet dreams."
Carol smiled at him.
"Fine," she said. "But…" She hesitated.
"What?" Daryl pressed.
"My nipples are kind of sensitive…"
"I won't touch 'em," Daryl said.
"That wasn't what I was going to say."
"Go ahead."
"Could you—maybe don't pinch them quite so hard. But—could we try…maybe just hard enough for it to hurt a little? Maybe—you could fuck me hard enough for…it to hurt just a little?"
"That what you want?" Daryl asked. Carol nodded her head. "I don't wanna hurt you."
"You won't really hurt me," Carol said. "Just—a little bit. Just—as much as feels good."
"I know enough about this shit from Merle to know—we're gonna need a word. Some shit that won't never come up otherwise so you can say enough is enough."
Carol thought on it a moment.
"Pistachio," Carol said.
"Where the hell did that come from?" Daryl asked with a laugh.
"I had a craving for them earlier," Carol admitted.
"Fine," Daryl said. "Pistachio it is. Just—promise me you ain't gonna be scared to use it. Because, if you're gonna be scared to use it because you don't wanna hurt my feelings, then I ain't gonna play. So, promise me you ain't gonna be scared to use it."
Carol grinned at him.
"Just promise me you won't be scared to really play your best," she countered, reaching toward him to invite him to get the game started.
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AN: Please forgive my complete inability to keep up with timelines. I'm certain they're not perfect. I do greatly apologize, and I beg your suspension of disbelief. I beg that you just go with it and forgive me my imperfections—things just happen when they happen around here. LOL
I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please don't forget to let me know what you think!