The Wolf You Feed

Chapter Two

The sun was dipping low in the sky, turning the sky above them into a kaleidoscope of different colors. A firey half circle was dipping behind the tree line. Orange streaked out across the blue of the sky, turning the fluffy white clouds into dark shadows in the sky.

Since they were camping near the water, the soft song of bullfrogs filled the air. Tank and Morgan had slopped up the leftover turkey meat and were each enjoying knawing the last bits of meat off the turkey legs. Rowan listened carefully to the two dogs, ready to take the bones away before they had a chance to crack them apart and make themselves sick swallowing the pieces.

The horses had been given plenty of time to graze earlier. Once they had their fill of grass Enid and Rowan had taken time brushing them and checking them over to make sure they weren't getting saddle sore or overworked. Comet slept standing up with his knees locked, while Molly often laid down at night. At the moment, she was curled up like a dog, near Comet's feet. Daryl had never seen a horse do that before, but he was used to the sight by now.

Hearing a very distinct crunching noise, Rowan bolted up out of Daryl's lap and grabbed for Morgan. She snatched the turkey bones away from him before he could run off with them. Tank dropped his when she told him to drop his bone, his ears back as a little puppy whine rose in his throat. She patted him on the head, but she still took the bone away. To make sure Morgan didn't go digging them out of whatever bush she threw them in, Rowan walked a little further away and tossed them over the edge of the drop off.

She walked back, calling the dogs to her by patting her hand against the skin of her thigh. They both moved quickly to follow her, and she led them over near the horses. Kneelind down, she stroked them until they looked sleepy and relaxed. The hope was that they might be warm and comfy sleeping near the horses and not try to crowd into the small tent she shared with Daryl. It was a long shot, but she figured there was a chance it might work.

Rowan didn't mind sleeping with the dogs. Before she wound up in Alexandria, she had been alone on the road with Enid for months. The girls had slept every night cuddled in between Lily and Tank, trusting the dogs to wake them if they needed to run. But Daryl did not like the dogs sleeping in their tent. He said they stunk, especially Morgan. And the tent wasn't big enough. Plus he wanted them outside, listening and keeping watch over the campsite. Not snoring dog breath in his face.

Rowan walked back towards the dying fire, the leather bottoms of her slippers scuffing against the grass and dirt. Carl and Enid had already retired to their tent for the night, and as Rowan walked by, she could hear murmurs and the quiet shuffling noises of clothes being removed. She reminded herself again to keep a look out for the herbs she needed to make morning tea for the girl. The tea to help prevent pregnancy. The bright yellow flowers were easy to spot if you were looking out for them. They still had about two weeks worth stored away in a little pouch, but it wouldn't hurt to find some more while they were on the road. Most of the places around Alexandria had been picked pretty clean of anything useful or edible.

Daryl was leaning back against one of the leather packs, his legs stretched out towards the fire. His hair was hanging in his face again. As Rowan got closer, she could tell he was peeking up at her through his bangs, chewing on the corner of his thumb.

"Keep eating your hands and you won't be hungry for anything else," she teased, leaning down to flip a lock of his hair into his face. His hand snaked out, catching her by one slim wrist. She yanked against his grasp with a very half hearted effort, making it clear that she really had no interest in getting away. Instead of pulling her back down into his lap, Daryl used his other hand to push off and let her pull him up to his feet.

Rowan was still wearing the ribbed white tank she had pulled on after their wash in the river. She had not bothered to change, and just tied her beat up fringed shawl around her waist to cover up the rest of her body. Her nipples were slightly darker in color now, another side effect of having a baby growing inside her. She knew the outline of each one was clearly visible through the fabric of her shirt, especially since the rest of her skin was so pale. Rowan hadn't thought much of it, until she noticed that Daryl's eyes were fixated on her chest. She was fairly sure he had not even looked at his food once during their meal. Of course once she knew he was looking, her nipples got rock hard and she could feel herself blushing red hot under her freckles. She had pulled her hair forward after that, using it like a blanket to hide under.

As soon as he was steady on his feet, Daryl slid one arm around her waist. He pulled her close and slid his other hand up under her shirt, reaching right for the parts of her that he had been thinking about touching all day. His palm ghosted over her ribs, careful not to tickle. As his fingers grazed the underside of her breasts, he felt her hand clamp down over his wrist. Not pushing him away, just holding his hand still.

"Remember they're tender," she whispered. A low groan escaped from between his lips. He didn't mind being gentle with her, in fact he preferred it now that she was pregnant. But sometimes he felt like a starving man that was about to sit down to a meal and only be able to smell it. He followed up the groan with a whiny puppy noise. Rowan giggled a little in response. "I can't help it," she reminded him.

Releasing her grip on his wrist, she put her hand over his and guided it up and over her breast. He reminded himself again not to squeeze and gently cupped the soft globe in his hand instead. Her hands slid under the back of his shirt, and she traced up the line of one long scar with the tip of her finger. By now she knew his Daryl's body as well as she knew her own, maybe even better now that hers felt like it was constantly changing.

The scars on his back were like a map that she could see even when her eyes were closed. The most prominent one started down near the right side of his hip and led all the way up between his shoulder blades. That was the one she was tracing with her finger tip, her other hand sliding lower, down into the waistband of his pants where she could grab a handful of his backside.

This time he was the one that caught her by the wrist, pulling her hand back out of his pants and suggesting they take their activities inside the tent. Rowan nodded and followed him, climbing inside the small green tent first since he was holding the zippered flap open for her. She walked awkwardly, since the tent was too low to stand up in. Sitting down on their sleeping bag, Rowan fumbled around for the small battery powered lantern she hoped Daryl had gotten out and put next to the bags while he was unpacking. The light was fading fast and it was even darker inside the tent. Her hand finally bumped into something hard and plastic feeling. The lantern. She grabbed it up and turned it on, adjusting the light so it was on the lowest setting.

Daryl climbed in and turned to zip the door of the tent up behind him. The stupid zipper got caught up and he had to fumble with it. But the time he got the door secure and turned around, Rowan was lying back on their sleeping bag wearing nothing but the skin she was born in. Her hair was down, covering one of her breasts completely. The dark pink tip of the other one was peeking out between her dark tresses.

Only when she was like this, completely naked, could he see the change in her body. Her stomach wasn't round as much as it just didn't look as flat. He knew if he ran his hand over the lower part, right about the dark patch of hair between her legs, he would be able to feel it there. Just a tiny hard lump that seemed much too small to have a human being growing inside.

He crawled across the floor of the tent, bending over her to press his lips against the center of the bump. Rowan grasped his shirt, yanking him up so he could put his lips on hers instead of on her stomach. Their hands fumbled, both getting in each other's way as Daryl tried to take his own clothes off and Rowan tried to help him. In her haste, she popped one of the buttons on his shirt off. She giggled, feeling around for the button and placing it carefully next to the lantern so she could sew it back on for him later.

"Sorry," she said. This was pretty much Daryl's last good shirt, so she had been trying her best to behave and not ruin it. He only smiled and tossed the balled up shirt into the corner of the tent. The last thing he had on his mind was some stupid shirt. He could always get another shirt. Daryl lay down next to her and raised his hips up so he could push his pants down. Then he kicked them the rest of the way off.

Seizing the opportunity of having Daryl on his back, Rowan rolled on top of him. She brought her knees up, straddling his waist and sitting directly on his erection. Then she was lifting up, her hands between her legs to guide his hard length inside her. When she sunk all the way down she arched her back and a low moan drifted out from between her lips. She leaned forward, resting her hands on the hard muscles of his chest. Daryl's hands came to rest on her hips, holding on and gently guiding her movements.

Just when they were really starting to move, Daryl heard the whining start up outside the tent. Tank. The biggest cockblock in the history of mankind. The noise had no effect on Rowan, who continued rocking her hips as she bit down on her lower lip. But Daryl knew that shortly after the whining started, the damn dog would start scratching at the thin material of the tent. He was going to rip the damn tent wide open one of these days. Daryl grabbed for the rolled up sleeping bag he was using for a pillow and hurled it towards the door flaps of the tent.

"KNOCK IT OFF TANK," he hollered.

"Should have... just let... him in first," Rowan said, her voice coming out in panting breaths between her soft moans.

"I don't like him watching us," Daryl complained. Rowan rocked her hips forward, then he felt the flood of warmth as the muscles inside her fluttered and closed in around him. She was giggling again. Giggling as her orgasm washed over her. She had to admit, Tank did have a staring problem. But he was just a dog, its not like he knew what he was looking at. Daryl cracked her up.

She collapsed on Daryl's chest, holding on and shifting her hips to help him as he rolled over and got on top of her. Feeling the pressure of his hand on the underside of her thigh, she raised her legs up and wrapped them around his waist. He lowered his head, sucking one of her nipples into his mouth. She moaned, her hand twisting into his hair. He pulled back, her nipple sliding out from between his lips with a pop as the suction broke. Then he used his hands to take his weight off her body as he started pushing into her. He moved hard and fast. Rowan just held onto his shoulders and let his body move against hers, watching the aura around his head change colors. Right before he came it she knew it would splinter with little red lightning bolts. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

He came inside her with a growl in his throat, flopping down on top of her. Daryl quickly rolled off, still scared to put too much weight on her. She assured him many times that if it didn't hurt the baby it wouldn't hurt her, but he still felt like he might squash the little critter.

"She's not a critter," Rowan mumbled through a sleepy yawn as she reached over him to grab at the other sleeping bag they were using as a pillow. Daryl cocked his head, trying to remember if he had made the critter comment out loud. He didn't think he had. Since the night they took that peyote. That's when it started. It wasn't something either if them could control or do on command. But sometimes he just found Rowan's thoughts bumping around inside his head. Daryl figured the same thing must happen to her, because she often answered his questions before he asked them. It seemed to happen the most when they were both relaxed.

Just as he was thinking he might be able to lie down and have a dog free night of sleep, the whining started up outside the tent. Daryl leaned over and unzipped the flaps, leaving them hanging open. Tank charged in, leaning over Daryl so he could lick Rowan's face. Once he started trying to sniff lower than that, Daryl shoved the dog off and told him to lie down.

Tank turned his body around a few times and then settled down to sleep. Daryl expected Morgan to come charging in behind the other dog, but he never came. The thought of going to check on him briefly crossed Daryl's mind. Then he decided the fewer dogs in his tent the better. Bedsides, Morgan was probably just happy sleeping with the horses.

** I went back and forth on this chapter, because I felt like it was too early in the story to have a love scene. It's hard to make it a slow burn when the characters are already married, lol. Welcome to all followers both new and old and I hope you all enjoy the story. **