They're between two houses when Daryl pulls Beth to him and crashes their mouths together. She moans, feeling Daryl's hands on her body, hot and questing as her back flattens against the side of one of the houses. She can taste the wine on his tongue as it pushes past her lips and his large hand comes up to cup the back of her neck, tangling in her hair. His other hand clutches the small of her back, crushing her to him as he presses her up against the wall, removing any space between their bodies.

The way he's pawing at her now is different than how he touched her in the shower; hungry, desperate, a little clumsy. She thinks it might have something do with the wine he knocked back at dinner, but she doesn't mind it . She doesn't mind it at all. She knows it's not just the alcohol driving this, that it's been simmering there between them all along. That their coming together was as inevitable as the rainfall.

And when it rains it pours.

It's as though all the hesitation has been stripped away and he's doing what he wants without thinking, acting on instinct. As though all the tension that's been building in his body since those gates closed behind them has suddenly snapped and the caged animal has finally broken free.

His mouth is hot and insistent as it moves against hers and it's all she can do to moan into it and lean into him, every fibre of her being screaming yes, this, more. Her moan pulls a growl from the base of his throat and her head is spinning as her body is lifted off the ground and he kisses the life out of her.

When they part with a loud smack their breathing comes in ragged pants, dragging air from his lungs into hers and back again as they remain pressed together. She's seen this side of him before; when he fights walkers, beats them with his bare hands, this animal ferocity that's always raging just under the surface. She saw a flash of it come out back at the moonshine shack, pushing out through the pain and the alcohol.

It scared her then, just a little, but it doesn't scare her now. She thinks she'd like to get to know this side of Daryl; the wild part of him that takes, that wants. She's starting to feel a little wild herself. Heart pounding against the back of her ribs, her breath comes out in shallow pants that stream across his mouth. She finds herself staring in fascination at his lips, fallen open and kissed raw, glistening with what she thinks is her saliva.

His tongue runs across his bottom lip and rips a whine from her throat as her own want shakes her by the spine, her body suddenly flaring with heated need. In that moment she realises that she wants more of him than this, than his hot mouth and roaming hands in front of the trash cans and the twitching curtains of the Alexandria Safe Zone. She wants him naked, lain down on soft white bed linens so that she can do some exploring of her own.

Sucking in a deep breath she grips his shoulders to ground herself, to ground them, a little too tightly perhaps because she hears his laboured breath stutter.

"Come on," she whispers, pushing away from the wall and pushing Daryl back with the momentum of her body.

His eyes find hers, clouding over with uncertainty yet still threatening to burn her from the inside out with something primal. He looks wrecked; mouth hanging open, face flushed and eyes so dilated they're almost black as they bore into hers. Beth feels her heart beat faster knowing that she's the one who did that to him, that it's all for her.

Her hand reaches out and grabs his, wiping the uncertainty from his gaze as she tugs him in the direction of the house. She deliberately doesn't look at him as she quickens her step and feels him do the same. The air between them is buzzing when they clamber up the porch steps, an excited grin twitching on Beth's kissed pink lips as Daryl yanks the front door open with enough force to tear it from its hinges.

Instinct causes them to halt as soon as they've stepped over he threshold. Beth's eyes start scanning their surroundings before she catches herself, and finds the house exactly as they left it.

A giggle bubbles up and tumbles out into the silence. Here they are scanning an empty room for walkers and across the street their family are making small talk about pasta makers with the good folks of Alexandria. She doesn't know which is more ridiculous. That they've forgotten how to be normal or that they're acting like all of this still is normal.

She glances over at Daryl as another giggle escapes and finds him watching her with so much warmth her face splits with a huge smile. He narrows his eyes as though he doesn't trust the grin she's wearing and he shouldn't because there's a beat and then she's running through the house and up the stairs.

He's hot on her heels, his boots uncharacteristically loud on the stairs as he gives chase. She's halfway across the bedroom when she feels his arm grab her around the waist, pulling her flush against his chest. She doesn't struggle, just leans her head back against his shoulder and laughs breathlessly.

"Gotcha."

Beth feels Daryl's hot breath tickle her ear and his chest vibrate against her back with each clipped syllable. She inhales deeply, her chest pushing out against the forearm caging her in as heat drips down her spine and settles in her pelvis.

Turning her head, she covers his lips with hers. He sighs, mouth opening and his whole body melting under her touch. She takes the opportunity to wriggle out of his grasp and step away from him. Arousal cracks through her like a whip when Daryl growls low in the back of his throat when she takes another step back, the corners of her mouth pulling up in a teasing smile.

Beth's heart is pounding in her chest as she crosses her arms in front of herself and grabs the hem of her skirt then pulls them up and over her head in one quick motion. The sundress slithers to the ground, echoing in the silence between them.

Daryl's eyes grow huge in his flushed face and the wildness from between the houses is gone as he scrambles backwards. The back of his legs connect with the edge of the bed and he falls into a seated position with an uncharacteristic clumsiness.

Beth's fingers twitch at her sides as she watches him pushing back against the bed like he's trying to phase through it. His knuckles are white as he clutches the mattress like he's hanging onto the edge of a cliff. All the colour has drained from his face and there's a look in his eye that she never wanted to see let alone be the cause of. The heat coursing through her veins suddenly turns to ice.

He looks scared.

She moves without thinking. Closing the distance between them in a heart beat, she climbs onto his lap. Daryl freezes, he's so still beneath her that she thinks his heart actually stops beating. Taking his face in her hands she rests their foreheads together so Daryl has no choice but to meet Beth's eyes. All of his breath leaves him in a rush, his hands coming up to grip her forearms, not to push them away but just for something to hold on to.

"It's ok," she whispers against his mouth, and she's surprised at how gentle her voice sounds, "We don't have to do anything you don't want to do."

"I don't want... I don't know..." He trails off.

She feels the words against the hollow of her throat as he buries his face there, feels his brow furrow against her neck.

"Then we won't do anything," Beth says softly.

"What about what you want?" Daryl whispers, his head bowed as though pushed down by the fear of disappointing her. She can't stop herself from smiling. He could never disappoint her. Not ever.

"I already have you," she says, her lips curling against his temple.

"Beth..."

Her name blows out of him like a gunshot. He looks up at her like she's his entire world before closing the distance between them and kissing her. The wild heat from between the houses is gone, but it's been replaced with a different kind of want, this one just as desperate. Daryl's hands slide up Beth's bare legs, drawing a moan from her as she turns her head and gives him unfettered access to her mouth.

She shivers as his fingers trail up her sides, cupping her back to draw her closer. He moans too when Beth slides a hand into his hair, dragging her fingertips across his scalp. With each soft moan he pulls from her body Beth feels his fear twist into excitement as his hands roam her body. He maps her skin in soft strokes and even though at times his touch is barely there each one sends a shiver rolling down her spine as if he was tracing his fingertips over her aching cunt.

She fists the ends of his hair as his mouth follows the line of her throat down to her jutting collar bones and keeps going, drawing a rasp from her throat as he takes her peaked nipple into his mouth. He moans then, almost a sob, as he gingerly circles his tongue over her hard nub. The hunger is gone now and he's touching her reverently as though she were a Goddess with the power to grant him salvation and her body a holy shrine.

Her head rolls back on her shoulders as he sucks her nipple into his mouth, her eyelids fluttering like they want to close but she forces them to stay open. She can't tear her eyes away as Daryl pulls back, releasing her nipple with a wet pop. He rests his forehead against her sternum and she feels his hot exhale against her chest as she brings her chin down to rest on top of his head.

His arms tighten then, holding her to him, tightly like he did in the car after he saved her from being taken, in that moment that bound them. She knows what he's saying in this moment as he said it then. I won't ever leave you. As their breaths fall into a rhythm she feels this moment binding them tighter still until she doesn't know where he ends and she begins.

Slowly, she lifts her head and then crawls off his lap, feels his sharp eyes follow her as she scoots up the bed and rests her head on the pillow.

His eyes lift to hers for moment, dark and flickering, before they drop like a stone. She watches as his cheeks and the tips of his ears turn pink but he doesn't shy away, he lets himself look. He lets his gaze trace her body lain atop the soft white linens, bare except for her panties. His face is swimming in admiration, perhaps a little lingering trepidation too but he looks happy. He looks grateful.

Beth grins. "You gonna join me?"

And Daryl smiles, his eyes catching hers and lingering for a moment. Then he does look away, exhaling in a huff before he reaches down and starts unlacing his boots. Beth feels a small thrill in her chest that they're going to share a bed together; sliding her legs under the duvet and pulling it up to her shoulders as she feels him get up off the bed.

The mattress sinks as he crawls in behind her. Beth smiles wider still, nuzzling into the pillow with a sigh, and waits. There's a moment of stillness, and then Beth feels the mattress shift and the ghost of Daryl's breath against her

neck. He snakes his arm around her waist and she shivers as his hot palm presses against the bare skin of her soft belly.

"Girl, I ain't gon' get much sleep with you like this," he murmurs into her hair.

Beth laughs, closing her eyes as she presses back into the rumble of his chest. She feels the scratch of his shirt against her naked shoulders and the warm weight of his hard cock blasting through his jeans as he curls around her. Beth doesn't think she's ever felt safer, and it has nothing to do with the walls that surround them and everything to do with the strong arms that hold her as she falls asleep.