A/N: Thanks to everyone who is following, favorites, and or reviews. Here it is, I hope I do it justice. I have taken certain liberties with this story, but feel I need to state the obvious. The pull out method doesn't work. Stay safe, and always, always use a condom!

Enjoy!

"Let the world leave us behind.

Let your heart be next to mine.

Before the flame goes out tonight,

we can live before we die."

-Phillip Phillips (Raging fire)

Beth wants to be sexy for him, but she knows it to be a tall order. Her pulse is already beating too quick as she stands in the dim light of the candle. She can feel the nerve endings that tingle under the surface of her skin screaming out for his touch; And the throbbing heat that is beginning to pool just below her belly button and between her thighs, has her head swimming with a thousand incoherent thoughts that work hard to break her focus.

She takes a shaky breath and moves one trembling leg in front of the other, adding a gentle sway to her hips in an attempt to be alluring. Carefully she watches to see his reaction to it, and is surprised to find that the hunter's eyes never fail to leave her own. They are mesmerizing.

It is within these rich pools that the shy and honest nature of Daryl's gaze, draws Beth's body to him like a moth to the flame. Deep blue wells in which his words are scribed. Written on the small flecks of light that bubble up through his hooded gaze, shattering his walls and spreading open before her every hurt that still plagues him, every childhood dream never realized. It is there in his eyes she finds she is more than enough. That Daryl loves her in spite of her flaws and imperfections. No that isn't right, he loves her because of them. It's right then and there she knows she is caught.

"I'll look at this later," Beth says in a throaty voice, quirking her brow as she takes the picture from his hand.

She tries to be coy, sultry even as she grabs hold of the leather with fumbled confidence, praying that her knees will not buckle beneath her as she uses the leverage of his angel winged vest to arch her small frame up to his level, urgently pulling his mouth to hers. It's been so long since they were alone like this, and not since that day in the Christmas store can Beth remember being so bold with him.

Beth smiles to herself as she will always think upon that little shop with fondness. It is what catapulted them onto their collision course. It was the catalyst for it, the spark that ignited inside them both, ever changing the way they viewed each other.

Beth remembers the look of delight that on Daryl's face when he flipped the switch to that beat up old generator and it came to life. She remembers the tears she shed beneath the sparkling tree topper. That single glowing star that flooded her mind with holiday memories of a world long since devoured. It wrapped around her like a fuzzy blanket on a cold day. It was a miracle. She remembers...

"Was that ok?"

She would never know what made her to do it. Maybe it was the happy prospect of sleeping indoors, or maybe it was a desperate need to feel something... anything good. Or maybe... Just maybe it was the sudden change in Daryl's posture as he quietly watched her from the shadows. Physically he was worn, beaten down and frustrated by the reality of their circumstance, yet when he gazed upon her it was with a curious wonder and a cautious hope. For the first time since the governor's attack, Daryl looked on her as though she truly mattered to him. He looked happy.

"Yah, it's ok," he whispered back.

The kiss that followed, shifted their course in a way Beth could never have imagined. No longer did Daryl act quite so surly. Bit by bit he began to open up and consider her ideas as though they were a team, and really... that's what they were. Beth joked around with him more often, and a couple of times he almost laughed. The hunter still looked at her with an indescribable intensity, but the tiny blonde had a better understanding that it was not meant to be negative.

He insisted she learn to fight and focused his attentions on her offensive skills, or lack there of; Then it was basic survival. Daryl taught her how to fight dirty, and how to win, and he never went easy on her either. For the hunter knew the evils that were out there, and Beth knew it scared the crap out of him to think of what some men would to do to a pretty young woman like herself. Daryl couldn't relax until they trained, and Beth could not live with a grumpy Daryl Dixon, so she practiced every day. Then he'd take her hunting.

Beth remembers the look of pride Daryl had on his face after she cleaned and cooked her first squirrel. His approval made her happy, if not a teensy bit cocky.

"Pretty soon I won't need you at all," She joked.

"Yah, yah," he replied, waving a dismissive hand in her direction. "Better see how it tastes first."

She crinkled her nose at him in jest, and that's when he said it.

"You're cute as hell, yah know that."

Beth won't soon forget the faint blush that crept up Daryl's jaw-line the second the words rolled off his tongue, and she thinks how it must have mirrored the pink her own cheeks then.

As the days wore on and their bond grew stronger, Daryl couldn't seem to keep his hands to himself, not that Beth minded. Each one of his touches sent a shockwave running through her. When Daryl's arm would brush against hers, she became immediately aware of the gooseflesh that bumped up on her skin. When he took her hand in his, it was uncanny how quickly her heart started thumping. But it was only when the hunter moved his hand to the small of her back to gently guide her in the direction he wanted her to go, did her body suddenly tingle and zap. After the days were done and the earth went black, they would talk and kiss and eventually touch under that glittering star. That place lasted a week. The best of her life.

Thinking back on it now, Beth wonders if Daryl felt love for her then.

Not that it matters much. Life moves in a heartbeat, constantly shifting on it axis, and forcing them to shift with it or be swallowed whole. Everything that's happened has lead her here to this moment in time, entwined in Daryl's strong embrace, and she will not waste it. Not when the world has already shown her of how fast it can all be taken away.

Beth can tell that Daryl feels it too.

It's in the way he immediately slows the kiss, gently nibbling and sucking on her bottom lip before drawing her tongue into his mouth. It's in the tentative and careful way he skips rough hands down her shoulders, then arms, in feather-light touches that tickle her skin and make her electric.

Beth can't help the way she clutches her fists into the fabric of Daryl's shirt as he moves his focus from her mouth to her ear, sucking at the sensitive skin there, before trailing wet lingering kisses down her neck, her throat. It leaves her floating, flying, spinning erratically out of control.

She feels him hard against her thigh while he gently pulls the thin strap of her top so as to nibble along the base of her shoulder, and Beth's body cries out for relief. Slowly she tilts her hips into his, seeking some pressure to ease the throbbing ache between her legs, and as she does Daryl lets out a growl. Low and guttural, it emerges from the very depths of his throat, sounding positively feral. Feeling as though she is about to be devoured, a shiver courses through her, zapping away any thoughts that still linger in her foggy brain. She notices the hint of blue that lines the edges of Daryl's dilated eyes, and can't help but revel in the reaction her body has on this man. Rhythmically she begins to grind her hips against his leg and lets go a soft groan of her own.

"Damn it woman, you tryin' to end it before it gets started."

Beth looks up with flushed cheeks and heated eyes. "Can't help it," she pants out through nervous giggles. "You're too good at this."

Daryl moves his hand to the scuff at his jaw, scratching his beard as he eyes her up and down. Beth knows he doesn't take compliments well, but he will just have to accept this one. It is the truth after all and she wants him to know it. He has left her practically vibrating. Daryl's mouth suddenly crashes down upon hers with renewed intensity.

All at once their appendages fly, twist and scuttle about in a flurry of crazy passion. Beth balls her fists roughly into Daryl's hair as he skims his hand along her cheek and dives deeper into her mouth. She squeezes his forearms, gliding open palms over his chest, then back, as he boldly dances fingertips down her golden tresses, along her jutted clavicle, then begins tracing lines over the curve of her breasts, and the contour of her hips. Overcome with excitement, Daryl smacks Beth's ass hard without thinking, and the squeal she makes excites him all the more. Beth plays her fingers through the belt loops at his hips, teasing, tantalizing, and tormenting the hunter. He grunts his response, then grabs hold of her outer thighs, hoisting her body up as though it weighs nothing. Beth squeals again and tangles her limbs around his middle in a vice grip, never once releasing her mouth from his.

Mewing, sighing, and panting breaths flood the room. Caught up in a foggy haze, Beth somehow manages to push off Daryl's vest, exposing his broad shoulders as she fumbles with the buttons of his flannel. His woodsy smell and salty taste override her other senses, and Beth suddenly finds she needs more. More of his smell, his taste, his roaming hands on her... More, more, more of this man she loves so much. She hunches her body lower in his arms, kissing any and all of the hunter's exposed flesh, as he effortlessly carries her to the bed and plops her down.

Daryl pauses, for a moment while he gazes into Beth's ocean blue depths, momentarily hypnotized by her doe like orbs that light him up and see only the beautiful in a world full of death. He is utterly enchanted by the trust she places in him.

"Beth." Her name rolls off his tongue like it's the only language he knows.

Cautiously and with purpose the hunter straddles her small frame on the bed, moving up her body on all fours as Beth coyly scoots her bum back toward the headboard, enticing him, drawing him further up her delicate form. Daryl Growls into her stomach, bringing her crinkled top with him, followed closely behind by his tongue. Up passed her navel... She bits her lip as his facial hair brushes her skin. Up passed her ribs... she arches her body up to his as he blows cool air on her wet flesh. Up over her tits... She growls and a prideful smirk appears on his face, causing a blush on hers.

Daryl places butterfly kisses to her lids, her cheeks, her nose, her chin, before dipping his head between the soft mounds of flesh at her chest. He swirls his tongue around her nipple and gently sucks, groping her other breast with his free hand as Beth writhes on the bed beneath him. "Daryl," she pleads.

She shifts her body under his weight and grabs hold of his belt buckle with fierce intent, releasing the hunter's cock from its prison and into her waiting hand.

Jumping back at the contact, Daryl bites his lip hard, then sighs, suddenly feeling silly.

"What?" Beth asks, staring up at him with not so innocent eyes. Tentatively she reaches for him again, leisurely moving her fingers up and down his thick shaft while awaiting his answer.

Daryl wants so badly to make it good for her, but he doesn't think he will to be able to hold out much longer. His dick is already pulsing like a fucking teenager the first time out of the gates. "I just want it to be good for yah, is... all..." he stammers, his eyes rolling back in his head as she strokes him.

Beth's heart is pounding in her chest, grasshoppers jump in her belly and butterflies flap their wings in ever mounting frustration. "It's just... I need you so badly."

Daryl stills Beth's hand, then takes a long look at the beauty before him. He takes note of her glistening skin, her shaking legs, fluttering lids and hooded eyes. He blinks in disbelief, as though there's no possible way he can be the cause of this reaction in her, but he is, and it's awesome, and so Daryl methodically begins to remove her panties. Beth fists the pillow beneath her head, barely able to tolerate the wait as the pads of Daryl's fingers scorch a trail down the outside of her legs at a torturously slow pace. Nervous giggles escape her lips when his scruffy beard tickles her soft skin. Ever so slowly the hunter runs his tongue up her shin and over her knee... "Oh God." Along the inside of her thigh, pausing but a moment to place a chaste kiss on the scar there before continuing a path up to her already pulsing center. Lord help her, she needs him now. Feeling as though she will soon explode, Beth bucks her hips towards his salivating tongue. "Jesus girl, your soaked."

Daryl's eyes roll with pleasure as he inhales Beth's sweet fragrance, greedily lapping up her juices before languidly drawing increasingly small circles around her clit with his tongue. Beth gasps for air and digs her nails deep into his muscled shoulders, breaking his skin and drawing blood. Daryl doesn't seem to notice, and Beth doesn't hear the sounds of her own voice cry out his name as she loses herself to the explosive tingling sensations. Wave after wave crashes down upon her until she is nothing but a puddle of sated flesh laid out before him.

Satisfied with his efforts, Daryl lowers himself into her, savouring each moment, each second. She is so fucking tight. He kisses Beth's mouth again, wanting her to taste herself as he slowly begins to move inside her. Beth shifts her hips so they are pressed tightly to his, meeting Daryl's every thrust as to encourage him on. Harder and harder he pounds into her while the headboard bangs against the paper thin walls of the room. As Daryl feels the gathering build of his own orgasm near, Beth holds hard to his hair, and he burrows his head into the crook of her neck. She thrusts up harder as he thrusts down deeper, until finally he can go no longer. At the very last second Daryl pulls out and lets go a shudder as he cums on the soft and subtle curve of her belly.

"Holy hell!"

Daryl pants for breath as he leans over the mattress to grab his shirt so as to clean Beth up, then collapses, flushed and glistening on the bed beside her. Beth nudges in closer, bringing the blankets with her as she drapes her limp body over his. Never has she ever felt safer or more loved than in this moment. Dripping with sweat, Daryl draws just enough strength to place one last kiss to the top of Beth's head, before collapsing back on the bed once more. Still panting, he turns to look at the blonde. "Good God girl! I think you're tryin' to kill me just then!"

Beth out-right laughs as she brushes some hair that sticks to his forehead away from his eyes. Her body's still tingling, her eyes so bright. "Yah, but it didn't work. You're still here. Guess I'll have to try again later."

"Fuckin' right, you will Greene!..."

Huff, huff, huff, huff

"Beth."

"Yah?"

"I love yah. Always will."

With Daryl's loving words, tears instantly form in Beth's eyes and softly she replies, "What did I ever do in this world that was so great as to deserve you?"

\

Maggie wakes up from a dead sleep to the loud banging of the headboard against the wall. She turns to Glen who is sleeping soundly beside her. "Glen, wake up, wake up."

"Huh..." he answers in a groggy state.

"Listen..." Maggie places her hands palm flat with her ear up against the wall.

"Thump, thump, thump... groan, growl, thump, thump, thump... Ah, Ohhh... Wow! Thump, thump, thump..."

"What is that?"

"Thump, thump, thump... Da..ry..l..."

Maggie's eyes fly open and she quickly covers her mouth, much to Glen's amusement when they hear Beth's voice cry out his name.

"See there Maggs', I told you Daryl would take care of it. No need to worry at all." he jests.

"Glen, Gross!" Maggie says, playfully batting him on the shoulder. "That's my sister having sex in there. And she's doing it with DARYL DIXON!"

A/N: Well there it is... the first twenty chapters. Rest assured I'm not done with this, not by a long shot, but my postings will slow to a more reasonable pace as I finish this thing. Thank-you to all of you who followed along the first time round, and then put up with my crap as I rebooted it and started over. I am sorry, but it needed to be done. My life changed and then so did my story. To those of you who were reading this for the first time, I hope you have enjoyed and continue to enjoy this story:)

I need to say a few short thank-yous to my girl brady66 who continues to be there making me laugh through one of the most difficult periods of my life. You can do no wrong in my world. bledirishangel you speak to my heart. I swear if words could heal, yours most certainly would. You make me a better writer. MamaDCB thank you for always expressing your thoughts honestly and correcting my spelling, as you all know I am the worst speller on the planet! Your words of encouragement mean more than you know, and I love hearing from you. tattdkiki thank you for your kind words. I love your story and am patiently waiting for your next chapter;) alliesmiley I hope I made you smile with this one and you continue to enjoy this story. Finally the ever allusive DarylDixon'sLover I really, really want a triple x on this one. Hope I get it:) seriously though thank you. I appreciate you supporting this story, your honesty, and the fact that I never know from chapter to chapter what you will say about it. Scared and excited all at the same time. You are the judge that never judges if that makes any sense. I try harder for you.

Moving forward this story is about to shift gears pretty quickly. Will Beth and Daryl be able to stay together when the world closes in on them? How will they deal, and can love truly heal? You are about to find out.

-TWDwithdrawl

-mel