I know I haven't done a double chapter in a while but I kinda left the last one of a cliffhanger and I didn't want to leave it on that cliffhanger overnight, so here ya go, the next chapter until tomorrow. It is shorter than the last one too but after the near 6,000 words of the last chapter, I figured I'd let ya guys have a break with a short, smut-filled chapter ;)
As I stated previously, there is a rather . . . raunchy lemon in this chapter. However, speaking I haven't gotten a dislike about the love scenes yet, I'm assuming that you guys are fine with them lol.
Remember, reviews are freaking amazing!
- Nagiana
Favorite Line(s):
"And what if your stitches had come during open, huh? What would we have told Hershel then?" She asked, a stern tone to her voice, and Daryl simply grinned.
"Oh come on, don' tell me your regrettin' it! You weren' exactly complaining during and besides, I'd just tell him that I was gettin' somethin that he hasn't in years!"
"Oh my God – oh my God, Rick, is he alright? For the love of God, Rick – is he dead?!"
They met halfway across the pasture, Andrea, Dale and Ethan skidding to a stop behind her seconds later. Tessa had seemed to reach them in record time and seemed to be close to hysterical whereas the others were doubling over, breathless. Daryl was being supported between Rick and Shane, his feet dragging behind them while Glenn walked alongside them carrying his crossbow. Her eyes continued to widen in horror as she took in Daryl's dirty, bloody and disheveled appearance, the two bloody gashes on his head and the beyond bloody wound at his side. Tears appeared in her eyes as Rick nodded at her.
"He's fine, Tess, it just grazed him!" He assured her before he pinned an angry look on Andrea standing behind her, a worried look on her face. "He's just unconscious." Daryl's head lolled onto Rick's shoulder then and Tessa nodded tearfully, her hand flying to the two pendants hanging around her neck. Hershel and the others were running to them too as they continued on.
"But look at him! What the Hell happened? For God's sake, he's wearing ears!" Rick took one look at Hershel standing beside the gate leading to the pasture before he hastily grasped the ears and yanked them off from around Daryl's neck. He shoved them down his shirt as they kept going.
"Yes, well, let's keep that to ourselves, okay?" He asked and everyone nodded in agreement as T-Dog called them back. His eyes were wide with shock as he held up the doll that Daryl had found by the creek.
"Guys, isn't this Sophia's?"
Everyone, including Tessa, turned a wide-eyed look onto the doll held aloft in T-Dog's hand and for a moment, they all shared the unanimous thought of what the Hell Daryl had gone through in the woods.
"I found it washed up on tha creek bed right there," Daryl told them as he lay on his side on one of Hershel's numerous guest beds, holding a bloody ice pack to his stitched head as the older man stitched up the wound in his side. He pointed to a place on the map stretched out between him and Rick as he spoke. Rick was kneeling by the bed's other side, his eyes scanning the map. Tessa stood at the foot of the bed, nervously chewing on a thumbnail as they talked. Rick turned back to look at Shane.
"It cuts the grid almost in half!" He spoke in halfway disbelief and Shane nodded as Daryl glanced at him.
"Yeah, ya welcome!" He shot back gruffly as he watched Hershel finish stitching up his side.
"How's he looking?" Tessa couldn't help but ask him, her voice small and ineffectual and Daryl turned his eyes onto her – the one woman that had given him the strength to get back aside from Merle's trash-talking and realized that he never wanted her to look so pale with worry again.
"Well, I had no idea we'd be going through the antibiotics so quickly," He answered her, his voice terse, not even answering her question and Tessa's lips pursed slightly as he directed his next question to Daryl. "You have any idea what happened to my horse?" He asked as he moved away to wash his hands in the nearby washbasin and Tessa took the opportunity to fly to Daryl's side, her eyes scanning the stitches on his side and his head as man replied to Hershel. Rick rolled up the map as Daryl spoke.
"Ya mean tha one who almost killed me? If it's smart, it left tha damn country!"
"We call that one Nelly, as in Nervous Nelly," Hershel replied in turn. Daryl was on his back, his eyes closing in bliss as Tessa cupped his face and held him close for a moment. Tears leaked out from underneath her closed eyelids. "I could have told you she'd throw you if you'd bothered to ask," He moved over to Rick then. "It's a wonder you people have survived this long," He turned his attention onto a tearful Tessa then. "He'll want to get that wound clean, lest it festers. There's a shower through there that he can use. He can also stay here for the night – I'll want to check him in the morning." Tessa nodded as he shot one last, lingering look on Daryl before leaving, Shane following close on his heels. Daryl grunted and with Tessa's help, managed to get to his feet.
"Yeah, I think I'm gonna go take tha' shower right now . . ." He told her and she nodded as he moved slowly to the bathroom door, every joint in his weary body creaking like an old man's. Rick hung back a little ways, the both of them letting out barely contained sighs of relief when they heard the shower cut on seconds later.
"I cannot even begin to fathom how relieved you are to have him back!" He told her and she nodded, her fingers flying to the two pendants hanging around her neck again. Tears remained in her eyes as she glanced at him.
"You do have no idea, Rick! For that split second that I saw him fly backwards, I thought I had lost him and . . . and for a moment . . ." She trailed off then, almost unable to hold back her tears. "For a moment, I think I almost felt my heart explode!" She shook her head, suddenly weary as she placed a hand to her head. "I should have made him take Ethan with him . . ." She muttered and Rick shook his head.
"You couldn't have known that things would work out like they did, Tess!" He told her as he took a few steps toward her, his hands moving to gently grasp her upper arms. "Who's to say that they both wouldn't have gone tumbling down that cliff? You might have lost Ethan or . . . or . . ." He trailed off then, seeing that his words weren't exactly being helpful and let out a small smile instead. "We have a nice big dinner downstairs. Why don't you come down and eat with us? It might make ya feel better."
Tessa smiled a small, thankful smile and shook her head. "Thank you Rick, but I think I'll pass for now. I want to stay with him for a while – make sure he's okay. Will you or Lori make sure Ethan gets back to his tent alright?" Rick smiled and nodded in understanding as he hugged her close for a moment.
"I'll send someone up with food later, okay? And we will, don't worry." Tessa nodded in thanks as he released her and then left, closing the door quietly behind him. Daryl returned from the bathroom a few moments later, wearing fresh clothes and let out a contented moan as he fell back on the bed. He was exhausted and all he wanted to do was sleep, although with one look at Tessa standing by the window, gazing pensively out the clear surface to the darkness beyond, all thoughts of sleep fled from his mind. Smiling, he gestured her over to him.
"Come here; I got to hold ya for a minute . . ." He told her and her eyes softened as she did as she was told. She crawled on the bed and fell on her side beside him, her head moving to lie on his chest.
"I'm so happy your back!" She murmured as wrapped an arm around him and pulled him close. He nodded in agreement as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close as well, and she wasted no time in burying her face in his neck.
"Ya were tha only thing tha' kept me going," He replied, letting out a sigh of contentment as his nose was immediately flooded with the smell of gardenias that clung to every strand of her blue-black hair. He conveniently and smartly left out the apparition of Merle, knowing it would only make her worry even more. He was sure he had imagined him anyway thanks to the concussion Hershel said he most probably had. He felt like he could lay there forever, in that comfortable bed with Tessa lying in his arms, the smell of gardenias fogging his mind into a blissful unawareness.
They lay there for a moment, just relishing being in each other's presence for a moment, before Daryl grinned and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Ya still wearin' ma shirt . . ." He trailed off and Tessa grinned and nodded.
"You're right, I am . . ."
"Still think tha's gonna stop me from tearing it offa ya?" He asked and Tessa grinned and laughed as she sat up and gazed down at him.
"Daryl, baby, you just fell off a fucking cliff and impaled yourself in the side with your own arrow! I don't want to hurt you any further than you already are!" She told him firmly, and Daryl shrugged.
"Ya well, ya are pretty resourceful Tess – I'm pretty sure ya could think of something . . ." He trailed off and cocked an eyebrow in amusement. Getting the hint, she grinned and upon biting down on her lower lip, reached over, where she pulled the sheet away from him before moving closer to him. She sat up on her knees and crawled over to him, where she could better remove his gray jeans. "See, I told ya . . ." Daryl told her in a breathy voice as she slid his jeans and his boxers off and let them tumble off the bed to the floor. They landed in a pile by the foot-board and he let out a hiss as her warm hand wrapped around his silken length.
Daryl had just begun moaning quietly in bliss, his hips thrusting slightly when a small knock came on the door. The doorknob then rattled slightly and turned, signaling that someone was about to enter the room. The both of them almost jumped out of their skins at the sudden sound, grins of an almost adolescent level as Tessa's hand withdrew from his cock with the speed of lightening before collapsing onto her side beside him on the bed. The sudden missing warmth caused Daryl to let out a groan of irritation, one that Tessa couldn't help but giggle at. He had just had enough time to flip over onto his side to better hide his erection from whoever chose that time to disturb them, as Carol entered the room, a tray of food in her hands. Both of their eyes adopted looks of slight confusion, however, they cleared up when they saw the tray of food. Carol's eyes darted to Tessa lying on her side next to him and for a moment, she adopted a look on her fact that neither one of them could rightly decipher, although Tessa could bet that it was either jealousy or shock that she was there, lying in the same bed with him as wounded as he was.
"How are you feeling?" Carol asked him, her voice the same quiet, slightly cautious tone it always was, and Daryl nodded as he pulled up the sheet unnecessarily far up to his chin. Tessa fought the instinct to grin and laugh at the sight as she chewed on the corner of her thumbnail. He turned one of his impassive gazes up onto the woman.
"'Bout as good as I look, I suppose . . ." He spoke, his voice quiet and slightly gruff, and Carol nodded as she set the tray of food down on the nightstand beside the big bed, being careful not to let the tall glass of lemonade spill. Tessa saw one of his hands disappear underneath the sheet and his eyes connected mischievously with hers for the briefest of moments.
"I brought you some dinner. Figured that you must be starving . . ." He looked over his shoulder at the tray and indeed, the food did look good, although he wasn't exactly in the mood for food or sleep at that moment.
All his movements froze, however, when Carol bent down and placed a chaste kiss on his temple. He glanced up at her, the same look of stunned shock echoing in his eyes. "Watch out, I got stitches . . ." He murmured dumbly and Carol pursed her lips as Tessa fought to hold back her laughter.
"There's something you should know: you've done more for Sophia than her father did for her, her entire life." She told him and Daryl nodded and murmured:
"I didn' do anythin' tha' Rick or Shane wouldn' have done, so . . . don' mention it, I guess . . .?" Carol smiled at the both of them as she moved to leave, a look of slight jealousy filling her eyes when she turned her eyes onto Tessa. Tessa smiled a small, kind smile, one that made the look of jealousy disappear in favor a much softer, almost apologetic one, as she left the room. It was then that Tessa allowed a grin to spread across her features.
"I think she has a crush on you Daryl . . ."
"Really . . .? I never noticed . . ." Daryl replied non-committedly as he moved back onto his back. She saw his hand moving almost imperceptibly from underneath the sheet and grinned as she swept the golden colored cloth aside. A look of playfulness appeared in her eyes.
"You bad boy - isn't that my job?"
Daryl couldn't help but grin. "Well, it was ya job until we were rudely interrupted!" Tessa grinned as she moved closer to him, Daryl's hand immediately leaving himself to move behind his head. He winced when his fingers connected too harshly with his cut on his head but the stinging pain did little to quiet the hardness between his legs.
"I should probably get back to work then, shouldn't I?" She asked as her hand wrapped around his length and he immediately sucked in a harsh breath, his eyes darkening.
"Yeah . . . yeah, ya totally should . . ." He breathed out as Tessa looked up to him, her eyes connecting with his. She gave him a grin before lowering her head and running her tongue slowly over the tip of him before taking more of him into her mouth.
He sucked in a sharp hiss and immediately bit down on his bottom lip. He let out another moan seconds later as he allowed his head to fall back against the pillows and his eyes to close. Daryl wanted her so much at that moment and her lips around his swollen member didn't help much! Then there was the fact that everyone else was in a perfect position to hear them downstairs in the dining room and that alone made what they were doing all that much headier. The only thing he was pissed at was the fact that he was so hurt that sex itself was out of the question.
And oh God did he get the sudden urge to see her riding the same cock her lips were wrapped around at that very moment!
He had almost died. He had almost lost her out in the woods and he had almost died in the woods. Damn right he wasn't in the mood for food or sleep!
Ignoring Daryl's growls of protest, Tessa continued to tease him with her tongue, swirling it around the sensitive head before finally encircling him with her lips and taking him fully into her mouth again, her tongue delving into the tiny, weeping slit at the tip, tasting he saltiness of him. He let out a sharp hiss, his hands moving to grasp the wooden headboard behind him until his knuckles turned white. She moved her head up and down slowly, running her tongue along the underside of his erection, her mouth a ring of fire that shot bolts of liquid-hot pleasure all up and down his member.
Not that much later, he saw stars and a blinding whiteness that exploded behind his closed eyelids. He let out a throaty groan out as he came in her mouth. When he opened his eyes, he gestured her to him. She got the hint and crawled up to him, where he kissed her deeply, his tongue filling her mouth deliciously, and he tasted himself on his tongue. They broke apart and he grinned.
"Tha' was fuckin' amazin' Tess!" He breathed out and she nodded, a tad smugly.
"You damn well know it Dixon!" She replied as she moved to get off him. His hand wrapping firmly around her wrist kept her from going anywhere, though.
"Wait, where ya goin'?" He asked, genuinely confused, and she turned a confused look back onto him.
"I was going back downstairs with the others because you need to rest. Why?" A funny look appeared on his face then.
"Well, maybe 'cause I'd feel like an asshole knowin' tha' ya got me off but I didn't get ya off! After all, ya have been under as much stress as I have since I came back bruised and battered all to Hell!" She laughed and rolled her eyes.
"Daryl like I said, you just fell off a damn cliff and impaled yourself on your own arrow! I'm not gonna -!"
"Hurt me, yeah, I know!" A mischievous grin broke across his face then as he rolled his eyes. "But who says me eating ya out is gonna hurt me? In fact, it might just do tha opposite!"
Tessa felt a violent wave of desire race up her spine at his words, but managed to mask it. "Daryl, you can hardly shift positions without -"
"Are ya actually questionin' how I can go about doin' things, babydoll?" He interrupted her as one of his eyebrows rose in amusement. "Don' ya know me well enough to know tha' I put tha 'skin' into 'there's more than one way to skin a cat?'" His voice was full of disbelief and Tessa grinned.
"Well how then do you propose going about it, Kojak?" She asked as she placed her hands rather imperiously on her hips, and Daryl grinned mischievously and shrugged. He scooted himself down on the bed and placed his clasped hands on his stomach. Her eyes widened in shock. "You want me to . . . seriously?" Daryl shrugged, a look of amusement flashing across his eyes.
"Why tha fuck not? Now stop makin' excuses and hop up on here before I change ma damn mind!" Tessa's heart pounded in her chest as she slowly got undressed and moved to climb on the bed, where she kneeled above him. Daryl got more comfortable as Tessa's hands grabbed ahold of the wooden headboard behind him, her heart jumping into her throat. She felt his hands grasp her hips and she opened her mouth to speak, however, she was interrupted by him immediately burying his mouth in-between her legs. Immediately, her head fell back and her hips almost bucked out of his hands. She heard him chuckle huskily as she settled and relaxed once more, her breathing already tearing ragged from her chest. He watched her keenly as his callused fingers caressed her outer flesh and as his tongue flattened and lapped up her entire opening. It felt amazing - it felt as if all her nerve-endings were all in one place. Her body tensed and stiffened, only to relax at his next long lick, which both soothed and stimulated her. She had almost forgotten just how good Daryl Dixon was with his tongue!
Slowly - so slowly - Daryl licked her from top to bottom, again and again, varying the pressure and timing of his strokes, and Tessa felt the warmth of her arousal start to seep steadily from her. Each time he lapped it up greedily, growling in appreciation. Every so often he would stiffen his tongue and tease at her . . . her . . .
The thought never finished itself, for Daryl continued to use his lips and tongue to gently and slowly coax her body into an every-growing pressure that no longer eased. Instead, it built up more and more until she was aching all over and craving that release that he had promised her.
Daryl did not give her a release, however. He continued to slowly lick and tease her as he slid two fingers inside her slick, tight passage and fixated his mouth over her sensitive nub. He suckled it and when it was fully inside his mouth he firmly pressed his tongue down and flicked it rapidly back and forth. His fingers bent inside of her and he thrust them faster and harder.
Tessa's breathing was now so ragged and desperate that she was nearly choking. Her body was suddenly completely out of her control. Involuntarily, she struggled and writhed on top of him, however, Daryl had apparently been expecting it. He held her firmly on top of him as she thrashed more and more violently.
He stopped a hair's breadth before she hit her peak and with her pupils dilated in desire and her chest heaving, he pushed her gently back, shaking his head. "Baby, I don' care how hurt I am – I have got to see ya ride me!"
Nodding, she climbed on top of him moments later, her hands moving to rest on his well-built chest. His hands fell onto her thighs . . . she was poised so temptingly over him so that his head was brushing her entrance and he swallowed hard at the sight . . .
He tensed slightly underneath her palms, wanting so desperately to just thrust forward and bury himself inside her wet heat . . . he was straining and practically begging to do so, but he also knew from the look in her eyes that she wouldn't allow him to. This time, he was the one trapped, and he knew it.
Quickly, she lowered herself down onto him and stayed there for a moment, holding herself in place and panting, her body as flushed as his eyes were wild with want. Her hands slid along his chest as she angled herself just right on him - adjusting her position until she had him just where she wanted him. Her breasts just brushed his chest as she began moving again, extremely careful of the wound on his side.
It felt amazing! His breathing started to become faster and faster as she moved, his hands on her hips were setting the friction between their bodies to a deliciously heightened point. He felt a tightness gathering as he got closer and closer to the edge.
Without warning, he slid a hand between them, stroking her numb and that was all it took. Her groans entered into an immediate crescendo, culminating in a strangled cry of 'Daryl!' which, when combined with the tightening and clenching of her inner muscles around him was enough to push him over the edge as well.
Their bodies spasmed in a rhythm all their own against each other and, for just a moment, there was neither Daryl nor Tessa, but a screaming chorus of ecstasy.
He came inside of her, like he always did and held himself there so he could enjoy the moment as his hips quaked against hers. Eventually, she pulled herself off of him and collapsed onto the bed beside him, their chests heaving as their breathing tore ragged from their lungs. He grinned and laughed as his hand moved down to his stitched side. He let out a breath of relief when he felt that everything was fine – the stitches as clean as they were when Hershel first did them. Grinning, he turned to gaze at her.
"See, Tess, I'm fine! It'll take more than little ol' ya bouncin' on top of me to break me!" She rolled her eyes as she half-heartedly pulled the sheet over them.
"And what if your stitches had come during open, huh? What would we have told Hershel then?" She asked, a stern tone to her voice, and Daryl simply grinned.
"Oh come on, don' tell me ya regrettin' it! Ya weren' exactly complaining during and besides, I'd just tell him that I was gettin' somethin that he hasn't had in years?"
The slap across his head he earned was so worth the comeback.
