Daryl pulled into Beth's driveway, driving a little faster than he knew he should have been, and brought the truck to a sudden stop. Beth was beside him in the truck, breathless and softly moaning eagerly, as he ran his right hand all over the inside of her left thigh. He'd been teasing her for at least half of the way home and it seemed that the closer they got to her house, the more anxious Beth became. And he'd been teasing himself too, if he was honest, not letting himself reach past that last barrier, the hemline of those tiny white shorts that he'd so desperately wanted to run his hand under. But he'd been driving and he knew that the few drinks he'd had tonight made driving enough of a risk, so he'd been "good", wanting to wait until they'd gotten to Beth's to take things further with her.
During the drive, Daryl's mind swirled around what was happening, and everything that he was feeling. He wasn't drunk, far from it actually, he thought. The drinks he'd had over the course of the evening had only served to slightly lower his inhibitions about Beth. He realized now that he'd been fooling himself all week – he wanted her and there was no denying it now. Yes, it would have been smart to just be friends, like they'd both agreed. He had really believed that he was being smart, by keeping Beth at a safe distance. He was recovering from his breakup with Andrea and he had been so hurt at first, so lost. At this time last week, wasn't he sitting out on the beach, just staring out blankly into the darkness of the ocean, mourning the loss of his relationship, feeling like the rug had been pulled out from under him once again?
But then Beth had come along. And she'd pulled him out of the darkness, quickly chiseling away at his hurt and his insecurities. She'd been there for him the way that no one else in his life ever had. And in less than a week's time, Beth had weaseled her way into a special place in his life, getting under his skin and into his heart. His heart, he asked himself? He wasn't sure how deep those types of feelings went, but he knew that his feelings for Beth went far beyond his physical attraction to her. And if he hadn't realized it before he realized it tonight.
When he'd seen Andrea that evening he'd been beyond surprised. But his surprise hadn't been for the obvious reasons. He didn't like seeing her, and it was an uncomfortable situation, that was for sure, especially when it became apparent that she'd lied to all her little bitch girlfriends about the circumstances surrounding their breakup. That had really pissed Daryl off – that she had been the one running around on him, but yet she'd blamed him for walking out on her and their relationship. He honestly wasn't surprised to see her there, Daryl thought in retrospect, since he'd actually been there with her a couple of times. It hadn't occurred to him on the way there that he might see her – but, hadn't he been so consumed with his evening out with Beth to think much about anything else? What he was surprised the most about, though, was that it didn't hurt him to see her. In fact, he'd actually felt relieved. Somehow in a week's time he'd grown, and he recognized now that he never wanted to be with someone like Andrea again. And while he'd really thought that he loved her, he almost felt like that was a lifetime ago. It seemed so distant in his mind, and he couldn't understand how it was only a week ago that they'd broken up.
Beth's attention towards him that night had been unbelievable – and while he thought at first that she was just trying to play mind games with Andrea on his behalf, he didn't care. But as the night wore on he'd forgotten all about Andrea, all about her girlfriends and their prying eyes, and all he could think about was the tiny blonde that was hanging onto him, dancing with him, touching him, and kissing him tenderly. He was happy, so genuinely happy, and he didn't want that feeling to end. Which is why, when they'd headed towards his truck at the end of the night, he'd tried to clue Beth in to how he was feeling, that he hadn't been pretending, not for a single second.
He couldn't help but think about the difference that Beth had made in his life – she'd been the one that had pried him off that beach and made him open up. She'd made him realize how wrong Andrea had been for him all along, even when he would have never realized it himself. She'd gone above and beyond what a normal friend would do for someone in his situation. And hadn't that been what she'd said she'd wanted, to just be friends? Her emotional outbursts on Monday had contradicted that, but as the week wore on he'd believed more and more that really what she wanted from him, a real friendship, and he'd convinced himself that it was for the best for both of them.
But they'd blown past that now, hadn't they? He wasn't sure now if there could be any going back to that – not after what had already happened tonight between them. And for the life of him, he wasn't sure he wanted to go back to that. Just forward, he thought, to explore things with Beth. She sure didn't seem to mind what was happening now either, that seemed clear.
As he put his truck in park he quickly opened his door and jumped out, moving hurriedly around the back to Beth's door. He wanted to get her out, wanted to get her into the house – his patience was running too thin for all this waiting. As soon as he opened her door, she was grabbing him, pulling him by the back of the neck towards her, kissing him wildly. She was still sitting on the seat of the truck, although she had moved to the edge and she wrapped her long beautiful legs around Daryl's waist. He could tell that she was craving contact from him and that was all he wanted too, to be as close to Beth as he could be. She quickly moved her lips away from his and then Daryl felt her kissing her way around his face, onto his neck, and finally up to his ear. A moment passed and then he heard her whisper his name.
"Daryl…." She said breathlessly. And he was lost.
He pulled her as close to him as he physically could, his head resting above her shoulder and his hands gripping her – one in the back of her head and one at the very bottom of her back, near her hip. He knew they should move out of the driveway, away from the truck where she was still anchored, but he didn't want to break this contact. He loved it too much. He was putty in her hands now, and all he wanted was to make her happy, to touch her and kiss her and make her feel as good as he possibly could. And he was planning on spending the next few hours doing just that.
"Tell me what you want, baby girl" he whispered, his lips brushing gently against her ear. He wanted her to tell him what she wanted – he wanted to hear her say it. And he would do whatever it was, anything, just to please her. He was so unbelievably aroused in that moment, feeling Beth against him, her kisses still on his neck and ear, but he wasn't worried about himself or his own pleasure. No, he wanted to please her, pleasure her, worship her body, that body that was so perfect to him that he couldn't imagine ever wanting to even look at another woman's body again.
"Touch me" she whispered. And Daryl's breath caught in his throat – he was hoping that's what she would say. He couldn't deny her of that, even if he'd wanted to. But he definitely didn't want to.
She pulled back a little, just enough to meet his eyes. Her teeth were gripping her bottom lip and Daryl couldn't help but think it was the sexiest thing he'd ever seen. He must have waited too long for Beth's liking, maybe because he was lost in thought or in total shock over what was happening, because Beth spoke again. This time, though, she was begging.
"Daryl… Please…" she said, her eyes pleading with him now, her eyebrows raised. And in that moment, his hands couldn't move fast enough. He moved his right hand, which had been holding her head against his, and brushed his fingers across her cheek and then his thumb across her bottom lip where she'd been biting.
"Tell me where, Beth…. Where do you want me to touch you?" Daryl asked. He already knew. But he wanted to Beth to say it.
He wasn't sure if the pink in her face was a blush or if it was a result of the heat of the situation. But he couldn't help but feel like Beth was a tad bit shy in that moment. She let her eyes drift down, avoiding Daryl's; but he quickly nudged her chin upwards, making her look at him again.
"Tell me, baby" he asked her again sweetly. He was pleading now – but not demanding.
"Like before…" she started to say. "Like on the way home. Except, more…farther". Beth said meekly.
Daryl didn't have to be asked twice. He slowly, torturously ran his hand from her knee all the way up the inside of her leg to the bottom hem of her shorts. And after a small affirmative nod from Beth, he ran his hand underneath her shorts, curving his fingers slightly to the left, to the spot that he was searching for. He was glad that Beth's shorts seemed to stretch a bit – they were so incredibly small and fitted to her body that he hadn't been sure his hand would even fit inside. When he felt her panties under his fingers, he thought he might lose it right there – she hadn't even touched him but he felt like he was 14 again, with very little control of his own body.
His fingers hardly moved at first and he was trying to catch his mind up with what his body was doing. And he needed to make sure this was really what Beth wanted – needed her to tell him.
"Here?" Daryl asked her, starting to move his thumb lightly over Beth's panties, right where her hair ended and her womanhood began. "You're so wet, baby. Your panties are soaked." He couldn't help it – he groaned a bit, feeling her wetness and thinking about his fingers being the cause.
Beth just nodded her head, encouraging Daryl on. She had a small smile playing at the corners of her mouth and her eyes were hooded with desire as she looked into Daryl's eyes, still biting a bit on her bottom lip. Daryl wanted to go slow. He didn't have any reason to rush – and he wanted Beth's pleasure to last. But she had other ideas. She was already starting to move her hips a little against his hand, working herself into an increasing frenzy. Daryl leaned forward a bit, putting his forehead against hers and trying to calm her a bit, slow her down. But she didn't want that.
"Touch me, Daryl. Really touch me." she said.
And it didn't take long for Daryl to slide his index finger under the edge of those wet panties and touch her skin. Beth gasped at the contact that she'd been so desperate for and she her head fell back involuntarily at the sensation that Daryl's fingers caused.
"Is that good, Beth? You like me touching you like this?" Daryl asked, almost in a whisper. He didn't need any more affirmation now, but for some reason, he felt the urge to talk to her like this. He'd never been much of a vocal lover, but in this moment he couldn't remain silent.
"Yeeees…" Beth responded. "Daryl… mmmmmmm."
All of a sudden he became self-conscious of their position. They were still outside, out in the driveway. And while the trees around the property, as well as their proximity to his truck, probably kept them out of the line of sight of anyone passing by or looking out the window of a neighboring house, he felt exposed. And as Beth's moaning increased, he knew he needed to get her inside. If she was already this vocal, he could only imagine that she'd be screaming his name later on. And he planned to make her do it – and he would love every last second of it.
"Let's go inside. You're gonna draw an audience with all that moaning, girl" Daryl said into Beth's ear.
"No… Daryl… Don't stop. Please… Don't let… go" Beth pleaded. It was obvious that any of her inhibitions about their location had long been abandoned as she focused on Daryl's fingers caressing her wetness.
"I won't stop. Come on…. You've gotta hold on, baby" Daryl said. Beth's legs were already around his waist, so he knew it would be easy to simply carry her inside. And so, he hoisted her up, momentarily placing both hands on her backside to make sure she was secure. She whimpered a bit at the loss of Daryl's contact with her, but he quickly slid his hand back around and under her shorts and panties again, returning the touches that she seemed to so desperately want and need. He used his hip to close the door of the truck and moved as quickly as he could up the front steps of the house towards the door.
"You got your key?" he asked Beth once they were at the door.
"Uh… Shit… "Beth replied. "It's in my purse… still in the truck". She was busy placing kisses all over Daryl's face, around his jaw line, on his nose, and on his forehead and didn't seem concerned about the key. "There's one under that pot right there" she said and pointed quickly towards it. "Just use that".
Daryl couldn't help but chuckle a little – he was trying to get them inside but Beth seemed too preoccupied by him to care one way or the other. Even the truck seemed too far away for her to go back to for the key. She obviously wasn't going to let Daryl put her down, or stop touching her for more a moment or two. She wanted him, just as bad as he wanted her.
Beth helped Daryl unlock the door quickly and push it open, before she went back to kissing him. Somehow he had gotten them both from the truck, up the stairs on the porch, and into the house, all while he continued his careful ministrations between her legs. God, she thought, how can he make me feel this good with just the smallest amount of contact? He was driving her absolutely wild and she hoped he didn't plan to stop anytime soon. She wasn't exactly sure what he wanted, or what he had planned for the night, but the rock hard bulge in his pants told her how badly he wanted to be with her.
Beth had been with a few guys – three to be exact. And she'd been in a committed relationship with each of them when they'd slept together. And it had been good. But she wasn't the most experienced – she had always been hesitant about sex, especially trying new things. But this, she thought, this with Daryl was something on another level from what she'd experienced before. She had been caught totally off guard by all of the events of the night. His touch on their ride home had nearly sent her over the edge, even before he'd moved his hand under her shorts. And when he'd finally touched her through her panties, and then felt his skin on her bareness, it felt like electricity was pulsing from his fingers into her body and she couldn't get enough. She knew that she and Daryl were supposed to just be friends – but she was letting that go for tonight and letting herself be free to do and feel and explore.
Daryl carried her through the house and all the way upstairs to her bedroom. She wasn't sure why he'd chosen her room, when the guest room where he'd stayed the last few nights was so much closer. It didn't matter, though, she thought, as she lost herself in the magnetic feeling she got from looking into his eyes – it was like he had some incredible power over her, drawing her into him as they stared deeply at one another.
He placed her down onto her bed and then lay down beside her, pushing his hand back upwards, back to that place that had gotten her so heated in the driveway just a few moments before. He seemed a little freer now, his inhibitions lowered even further, and as he explored her with his fingertips, he kissed Beth like she'd never been kissed before. It was deep and wanting, passionate and wild, but also, somehow, loving and familiar. She loved kissing him like this, lying with him as he worked her body into a higher and higher level of excitement.
She could feel Daryl's own excitement growing and instinctively, reached down to run her hand over the incredibly hard bulge in his jeans. He moaned loudly against her mouth, but before she knew it, he was moving her hand away.
"I just wanna take care of you for a little while, okay?" Daryl explained, in between placing smaller kisses on her lips.
Beth just nodded. She didn't know why Daryl wouldn't want her to touch him then. She'd never been with someone that was a generous lover before and it seemed odd to her for a man to not be seeking out his own pleasure. Wasn't that what men did, she thought? Wasn't something hardwired into them to seek that out in these situations?
"You don't want to?" Beth asked, and she realized that her confusion in Daryl's actions was reflected in her voice.
"I do, baby… I do. Just… It ain't about me right now. I want it to be about you." Daryl responded back. He had separated himself a little bit from her in that moment and it made her feel very uncertain, all of a sudden. He was kneeling on the bed to her side, now, and she wasn't sure what was happening.
"Let's get these off…" Daryl said, looking down at her and reaching for the waistband of her shorts.
She knew this would happen, eventually at least. But in that moment, Daryl's statement made her breath catch. She was nervous and almost felt afraid. Was this really happening? Was she really doing this with Daryl?
She tried to push those fears and anxious feelings away – and after a few moments, she simply just nodded. And that seemed to be all the affirmation that Daryl needed. As he guided them off, he sat back again and just looked at Beth. It made her incredibly self-conscious – she was still wearing her top, but now only wore a tiny pair of nude thong panties that she imagined were visibly wet from her excitement.
But Daryl smiled at her, making her a little less apprehensive. At least for a moment.
"God, baby girl… Your panties are totally soaked. You're so sexy, baby" Daryl said, continuing to smile down on her and once again returning his hand to rub over the soaking wet fabric. And all of a sudden, he was pulling those down and off too, leaving Beth completely bare and feeling very exposed.
Instead of laying down next to her again, Daryl placed himself perpendicular to her, lying on his stomach. He was rubbing her lower legs now, seemingly enjoying the soft skin there, before moving upwards to her knees. He rubbed and kissed her knees, spending a few extra moments rubbing the folds on the back sides – he had rubbed his fingers across one of them back at the bar earlier and found that it was a sweet spot for Beth. He continued upward, rubbing gently and kissing, taking his time, seemingly wanting to caress and kiss every inch of her legs.
As he reached her upper thighs, Beth had an uneasy realization. Was he planning to...? Oh God, she thought. He can't, she thought – I've never done that.
"Daryl…?" she finally started to ask, with a bit of shakiness in her voice. He had just started rubbing his fingers along her wetness again and she was uncomfortable with the proximity of his face to her now – his face was too close, his eyes, his mouth, all of it.
"What is it, baby girl?" he asked. His voice was unconcerned and familiar, Beth thought. Maybe too familiar for her, all of a sudden.
"What… uh… What are you doing?" she asked timidly. She was afraid she already knew the answer. She was tensing up. She was on edge. His touch was no longer causing the same response as before because her mind was moving too quickly for her to pay much attention to what was happening to her body.
Daryl looked up at her, then, and moved himself closer to her, getting up on his knees and shifting his weight so that he could kiss her lips. And just as Beth felt like she might be able to relax again, just a little, she felt his breath on her ear as he whispered to her.
"You're so beautiful…. I can't wait to taste you, baby. I'm gonna make you scream".
Beth's eyes shot open as her heart leaped and her stomach lurched. But she remained silent. It would be okay, she thought. She wanted Daryl, didn't she? In that moment, the haze she'd been in seemed to wear off and those sex-crazed desires seemed to be replaced with one thing, shear terror.
Daryl was moving back down her body again, back to his previous location. His fingers were on her again and his kisses were getting closer and closer, edging up her thighs slowly but with a purpose that Beth now realized. Beth was trying to control her breathing. But she couldn't. She couldn't do this and she knew it.
Just as Daryl's tongue was about to touch her, she shot up straight. Daryl lifted his head up, looking up at her in concern and confusion.
"I can't, Daryl. I mean… I… I've never… No one's ever…." Beth tried to explain. But she was stumbling over her words and she was embarrassed. She was overwhelmed by the biggest mix of emotions she could ever remember and she didn't know how to handle them all at once.
"It's okay… I'll… I'll talk you through it, Beth. It's okay" Daryl started to say. He seemed a little more sober, all of a sudden, than he had just a moment ago. Maybe the reality of this situation was crashing down on him too, Beth thought. But he hadn't seemed to change his mind, not about any of it.
Beth couldn't take this. This had gone way too far. She had gotten caught up in the moment. And now Daryl was sitting here with her, wanting to take this to a place that she'd never been. And he was even being sweet about her admission, telling her it was okay and that he'd guide her. But she just couldn't. She wasn't ready for that – with him or with anyone right now.
"Daryl… I… I can't. I mean… Isn't that… like… so intimate?" Beth said shakily. She felt like that type of thing was really serious, something you only shared with someone that you were very serious about, very intimate with.
"Shit." Daryl responded. "I wasn't trying to push you". He seemed defensive and that wasn't at all Beth's intent. She just didn't want to start something that she knew she wasn't comfortable with. But now Daryl looked hurt and very frustrated and she didn't know where to go from here. Wasn't this always the danger in taking something too far with someone you were supposedly just friends with? How in the world do you just go back? "I thought you wanted to, Beth… Wanted to be together… tonight" Daryl spoke again. He seemed to need some kind of clarification, but Beth didn't have a lot of answers.
"Daryl, I did" Beth said, trying to console him. Daryl was sitting on the end of the bed now, with his back to Beth, elbows resting on his knees and his head hanging down. She placed a tentative hand on his back, trying to reassure him, only for him to shrug it off.
"You did?" Daryl asked. "So, you wanted to have sex with me, but you didn't want me to lick you? Is that what's you're saying? The sex would have been okay, but not the oral kind?" Daryl continued and he seemed to get more and more irritated with each question he asked. He stood up, turned around and looked at her then, his brow was furrowed and his eyes looked hurt, and maybe a little angry.
"I can't explain it… I… I just haven't ever…." Beth tried to explain. But Daryl just looked more frustrated. "I'm sorry, Daryl… This shouldn't have happened. It was a mistake."
A moment of silence passed between the two of them. It was incredibly uncomfortable and Beth realized that maybe she shouldn't have used the word "mistake". When it had slipped from her lips she'd seen the pain flashing in Daryl's eyes. It was too late though, as Daryl's face grew angry and he turned towards the door.
"Clearly" Daryl said and before she could say or do anything else, he was walking away. Beth struggled to throw her shorts back on, incredibly self-conscious of the lower part of her body that was still completely naked and exposed. She finally got them on, running out of her room, trying to catch up to Daryl.
When she got to the stairs, she heard the front door slam. She tried to move as quickly as she could without falling and she finally made it out the front door. She'd expected to see Daryl's tail lights as he quickly drove away, but he was walking back towards her now, her purse in his hands and an incredibly angry look on his face.
"Daryl… Please don't… Just… Let's talk about this" she said frantically. But she knew there was no use. He was too mad. She had hurt him and she couldn't take it back.
He walked right up to her and shoved her purse into her hands. He didn't say anything and Beth was at a loss for words then too. And he stalked away from her quickly, slamming the door to his truck loudly, and pulling quickly out of her driveway.
Beth stood in the driveway for a long time, glued to that same spot, clutching her purse, tears streaming slowly down her face.