"Uh Carol? You ready to start? Or were you planning on drinking the entire bottle of wine first?" Daryl asked, as she stared at the bottle contemplating a third glass.
"Well, if I drink until I pass out... We could avoid this awkward situation entirely, now couldn't we?" she said, reaching for the wine.
"Oh no you don't," Daryl snatched the bottle before she could grab it. "We're doing this. You already agreed it was a good idea. I let you get enough of a buzz to loosen up. Now its time, so suck it up princess."
"You just want to get all gropey McGropey pants with me. Admit it," she challenged.
Daryl grinned, "I won't deny that I'm going to enjoy the job perks. Very much. But I'm doing this for you." He actually looked and sounded quite sincere. "Be honest, don't you think it will go better if you've actually had a few complete run-throughs?"
"Yes, you're probably right," Carol admitted begrudgingly. "But... It's you... We're not supposed to kiss and ugh... Grind... And thrust..." her cheeks felt like they were on fire. The wine was sucking at its job. "Where's that AMC no thrusting policy when you need it," she muttered, referring to an inside joke about the network Daryl worked for.
"Do I have to remind you, yet again, that we aren't grinding and thrusting, Angela and Davis are," Daryl stated.
"Yeah, well something tells me Davis will need a cold shower after this," Carol replied.
"Hmm, you might be right," he nodded, with that stupid grin back on his face. Dammit, she thought, this is gonna get all steamy and he's gonna end up with a big boner again and I'm gonna be rubbing up against it and... Well fuck, it's gonna be bad. Good bad. Good? But bad.
"Do you have a robe?" he asked, interrupting her mental freak out. "Or do you want me to get you one?" He started to pull off his shirt.
"What are you doing?" she hissed.
Daryl paused, "Um, I believe this scene starts with you showing up at the door in a robe and not much else. And me answering the door in my underwear."
"Well yeah, but we're not actually getting undressed to... Practice... It... Are we?" The look on his face told her the answer before she finished.
"Carol, the whole point is to make you feel comfortable before you have to do this on set. I'm assuming the nudity is a big part of what you're nervous about?" he paused for confirmation and she nodded. "So, we practice it. And you get used to it."
Carol was pretty sure she was gonna throw up. But she hated the fact that there was something, job related, that was terrifying her so much. I have to get over this, she thought. She took a deep breath. "Fine, but the underwear stay on, no fucking sock, got it?" If this was happening she had to have some terms. "And, Uh, I'm gonna need that robe," she added, with a little sigh.
Daryl went to his room and returned with a silky robe. It was way too big for her, but it would do. He started to remove his clothes and she turned her back to do the same.
"Really?" he chuckled. "We're both gonna see everything in about 2 minutes anyway."
Carol ignored him and finished changing. "It will be better for you, well for Davis, to see Angela in the moment," she said haughtily. Daryl rolled his eyes and she stuck out her tongue at him. Childish gestures on both parts, but very 'them.' "Don't you need the script?" she asked.
"Pfft, I have like 2 lines. I had them memorized the first read through," he scoffed arrogantly. "And believe me, I have this scene burned in my brain."
"Of course you do," Carol said, shaking her head. "Let's just get this over with. Are we using the whole house as the set? Or just sticking to the living room?" She knew there was no point in her deciding or he would just change everything anyway. He was in full on 'teacher' mode.
"Might as well use the whole place. We can end up in my bedroom," he added. "It'll work better for that one part where Davis is supposed to be grasping the headboard," Daryl grinned at her.
Carol sucked in a breath and tried to get herself into the mindset of her character. You're an actor now act, she told herself. She moved into the foyer by the front door and knocked on the wall. On set there would probably be a doorbell, but whatever. "I'm coming, I'm coming. What the hell," Daryl muttered. He got close and opened a fake door. "Jesus, Angie, it's fucking 3am. What are you doing here?"
"There's no 'fucking' in the script," Carol whispered.
"I know, I improvised. It sounds better," he whispered back.
Angela really didn't have much dialogue at all in this scene. It was all pure, lusty, seductive smut. Carol took a deep breath and untied the robe. She let it slip off her shoulders and fall to a puddle on the floor. She bit her lip and gave Daryl a sexy demure look. "You know why I'm here," she said, taking a step towards him. She tried to forget about the fact that she was walking towards Daryl in her bra and underwear, but she couldn't help but look for signs of him, and how he was reacting, as opposed to the character he was playing. But he was holding his own. Whether parts were him or not, he seemed to stay completely in character as she moved towards him.
Carol put a hand on his cheek and looked into his eyes, "What's it gonna be Davis? Do you want me… to stay?"
Daryl stared back at her, his eyes filled with lust and desire. She couldn't help but wonder if he was really that good or if… it was more. She licked her lips a split second before he grabbed her arm and brought his lips crashing down on hers. He was kissing her. Daryl was kissing her. It was scripted, he was playing the part perfectly… but it… was… Daryl. Carol put her hands on his chest and shoved back. "I can't…" she muttered. "I can't…"
"Hey… it's okay," Daryl said soothingly. "You did great up until then. I swear, you were perfect."
She pouted, "It was like 10 seconds. There's a lot more than 10 seconds to go." She felt like a failure and allowed herself a moment of self pity before she found her inner strength and that little bit of fire she'd discovered earlier. "Again," she said, picking up the robe to start over.
The beginning was just fine the second time though and this time when they got to the kiss Carol went with it. She had to remember she was Angela and Angela was there to fuck Davis. Angela wanted the kiss so bad she was knocking on her neighbors door at 3am. Angela was turned on. Angela craved him. So Carol kissed Daryl back like she wanted to take him to bed. He'd been drinking whiskey while she'd had wine and she could taste it when he slipped his tongue into her mouth. It was going well. The kiss was just like it should have been. But when Daryl's hand moved down her bare back and grabbed her ass, just like it was scripted, she froze. It felt good. It felt too good.
"Dammit," she hissed, pulling back.
"Relax," he said. "Small steps are fine. We'll get through it." She must have looked panicked because he looked rather concerned.
"I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine," she insisted. Was she convincing him? Or herself? "Let's just go from there," Carol said, regaining her focus again. Any other scene… any… other… scene and she would have nailed it. She moved back into his embrace and Daryl put his hand back on her ass.
"Before we start, the carrying part is coming up," he started. She realized she must have blocked that part out, or somehow forgot about it while worrying about all the thrusting that was to come. "It's scripted that you have your legs around my waist, you okay with that?"
Carol sighed, "Makes it pretty difficult for you to burry your face in my cleavage if we don't." He nodded and moved back to her mouth to resume the kiss and pick up the scene. As he groped her ass and pushed his tongue back into her mouth she tried to remember all the little bits and pieces from the script that she was supposed to be doing. The moans and gasps, the way she was supposed to be the one to start towards the bedroom, the little whimpers…
It didn't take long before Daryl stopped her. "You're focussing too much on the script," he announced. "I can tell. I used to do the same thing, until I had an amazing director that helped me." Carol wasn't offended by him wanting to give her advice or help. That's what they were there for and he had a lot more experience with this kind of scene than she did. "Let's try again and I want you to just forget what the script says you're supposed to do."
"But…" she started to interrupt.
"Trust me," Daryl insisted. "Just be Angela. The script is a great guideline, but don't force it. Just be."
Carol nodded and they started kissing again. She did exactly what he suggested. She threw it all away and just went with the kiss. Instead of moaning when the script told her to she moaned when it felt right. When he made that first squeeze of her ass Carol groaned into his mouth. When he pulled back slightly, catching her bottom lip with his teeth she allowed herself to tremble. And when it was time for her to take charge for a moment she just knew and started to move him backwards while they kissed.
Halfway down the hall Daryl pinned her against the wall and the shift brought her back to reality for a moment. He was kissing her, passionately, and pushing his body flush against her. His groin was right against hers and she couldn't help but wonder if he was starting to get hard. She suspected it was much different in the studio, with so many people watching and directing them, doing the take over and over again. But it had to happen once in awhile. It was one time she was incredibly thankful to be a woman. Definitely no penis envy at that thought.
Carol forced herself to focus. She really wanted to run through the scene one full time in hopes that if they tried certain parts a few more times they would just get easier. She ran her hands over the waistband of his underwear. It was the point where they were supposed to come off, but obviously they were skipping that part so she faked it as if she were pushing them down. Now it was her turn to grab his ass. She was thankful it wasn't bare because it was bad enough running her hands over his muscular butt as it was. Hell, it wasn't bad at all. It was really quite magnificent.
Carol sighed and turned her head as he found her neck and sucked lightly. She couldn't stop the physical reaction it created though. Her neck had always been a weak spot and there was suddenly a throb between her legs that was way too damn distracting. It didn't help that when Daryl shifted something hard brushed her, confirming her worst fears. He was turned on. She couldn't blame him, they'd been making out for a good 10 minutes by that point, from the first take they tried. But it was making her very squirmy and she had to fight the desire to touch him. If it was her, if this was Carol… she would have taken him in her hands and rubbed him through the thin material. She might have even dropped to her knees, pulled the underwear down and took him into her mouth.
She was so distracted that finally Daryl stopped again. "What's up?" he asked, taking a second to adjust himself. "Sorry," he said, giving her a smile. He knew there was no use attempting to hide something so obvious. "You were likely right about that shower," he said with a shrug.
The little break was all she needed to get the determination back again. "I'm okay, let's try to get through the rest without stopping. I need to get it all in."
"Okay," he nodded. "That was much better," he added, giving her his best 'I told you so' look.
"Might as well start with the carrying part," she suggested, sucking in a breath and getting ready. Daryl moved closer and she wrapped her arms around his neck. He reached for the backs of her legs, his hands warm on her skin, and she tried to help, though he didn't need it at all. In one swift motion he swept her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist. "Let's do this," Carol said, holding on tight as he started to walk with her, blindly, because his face was in her boobs, with her hands tangled in his hair. She could feel his tongue and realized that the licking wasn't scripted, but it was fairly harmless compared to the nipping and sucking that was supposed to be happening anyway.
Daryl moved quickly to the bedroom and smoothly set her down in the middle of the bed. They were close to the end of the scene, but they had also made it to the most intense part. He climbed onto the bed and moved between her legs. Once again she had a split second of panic before she got back into the role. Davis… not Daryl. He was gripping the headboard and making thrusting motions. He was simulating sex, but if they were on screen it was real.
Carol was supposed to make sexual noises. She was supposed to cry out and beg for more. She was supposed to tell him how good it felt. And she wanted to… but all she could focus on was the fact that Daryl's dick was rubbing her. This was a bad idea, she screamed in her head. It was a bad idea because… she was so turned on. This wouldn't happen on set. She was sure of it. This was because it was him. But she couldn't grasp if that made the way she was feeling better or worse.
Carol suddenly realized that if he didn't stop… if he didn't stop she was going to come. No, no, no, her mind was freaking out, but it felt good. She needed it… she wanted it… If it happened would he know? Would he know it was real? Or would he just think she'd faked it amazingly well. Did she want to find out?
She felt the build and she knew she didn't want to stop. Suddenly it wasn't about the script. It wasn't even about the fact it was Daryl. None of it mattered. She wanted to get off. It was wrong. It was so wrong. But she couldn't bring herself to stop something that felt so good. Did he know he was grinding his cock right against her clit? Over and over… pushing her closer and closer to the edge. He must have known he was close. Maybe he was doing it on purpose. But it didn't fucking matter. She was getting what she wanted. She was using him.
In a brief moment of guilt she tried to turn it back around and convince herself that she was still playing a role. She tried to make it about Angela. But it wasn't. Jesus, she was so close. The sounds she was making, the begging, asking for more, pleading with him not to stop… it was real. And that moment when she finally hit her peak… Daryl was supposed to be playing along. Davis was supposed to come too in that perfect romance novel moment where it happens at the same time - when in reality it's rarely that way at all. But she had no idea if Daryl got it right because she was lost in something real.
When her eyes fluttered open he was looking at her and she had to start playing a new role. "That was mortifying," she muttered. "How am I going to do that on set?" she whined.
Daryl wasn't listening to a word she was saying. "Wow, that was really good. Holy shit Carol," he said climbing off of her. "Why the fuck are women so good at faking it?" he teased.
She sat up and tried to ignore the weakness in her body and the way her legs were quivering. He thought she faked it. She fucking got away with it. Carol smiled, "Guess it's just a talent we ladies have to keep from wounding male pride."
She had a secret. A dirty little secret that she was never going to tell him… ever.
