Naomi
The car carrying Mia back to us glinted in the sun. I stood at the gates and watched it grow closer. There were a thousand other things I could've been doing - should have been doing - but I couldn't focus on any of them. It should have been a celebration that Sanctuary was safe enough for her to return to, but the memory of how we'd left things and how mad I still was that she and Carl had taken food out to Negan marred my excitement.
Daryl's shadow joined mine as he stepped up beside me. They stretched out in front as the sun set behind us, side by side like always. I didn't need to look over to know it was him. I'd recognize the shape of him and the feeling of his quiet, steady presence in any situation. "How long's she grounded for?"
"Until she's eighty."
"That all?".
"You think it should be longer?"
"Yeah. I think we can let her out for good behaviour on her hundredth birthday, maybe," he said. I laughed, but most of my relief came from hearing him say 'we' like he'd be standing by my side no matter what for another ninety years.
I looked over at him. "You feelin' okay?"
"Yeah. Better." He shrugged. I knew that was as detailed a response as I would get. "You alright? You look sicker than I do."
"Gee, thanks," I muttered. Daryl nudged me with his foot. I sighed. "I hate having to be mad at Mia. I hardly ever have to do it 'cause she's such a good kid, but I hate yelling at her, I hate when she's upset, and it's even more shit when I'm the one who has to make her upset."
"I'm sure she hates upsetting you, too. The girl in that car'll be feelin' worse than you; I can promise you that," he looked over at me. "Letting you down? Ain't no worse feeling."
"For you, maybe. But one of these days, Mia will realize she doesn't need to listen to me."
Daryl scrunched up his face like I was talking shit. "How'd you figure that?"
"'Big sister' don't really carry the same weight as 'Mom', does it?" I said. Ever since I'd taken custody of Mia, I'd feared the day she'd be angry enough to throw it in my face that I couldn't tell her what to do because I wasn't her parent. That day felt like it loomed closer than ever. "I ain't her Mom."
"You are."
"I'm not."
"You are," he said again. "Might not've given birth to her, but in the ways that count… you are."
I couldn't say anything. I just nudged him with my shoulder. He nudged me back and then draped an arm around me. I leaned against him as carefully as I could, wary of his bruised ribs, and he kissed the top of my head. The dread in my stomach eased up.
We stood that way until the car pulled up, and then he folded his arms across his chest. Mia exited the passenger side, refusing to look at me as she got her bag from the back seat. Rosita shot me a sympathetic look from behind the wheel. I was willing to bet the drive over had been fraught with nerves.
Mia finally looked up and faltered when she saw Daryl. "Are you okay?"
"I'm jus' fine," he said. "Looks worse than it is."
Mia nodded, but the concern didn't shift from her eyes.
Daryl was looking a damn sight better than he had a few days ago. He'd regained sight in both eyes, his cut had stopped bleeding, and he was no longer moving in the same stilted way he had. But the bruises were still there, even if they were yellowing around the edges. His broken hand was bandaged tight, and he was under strict orders not to overuse it.
The injuries wouldn't have worried me so much any more if he hadn't been so damn quiet for the last few days. Not his usual kind of quiet, where he was thinking about something. More evasive than that, like there was a conversation he didn't want to have.
Mia looked at me, "Hi."
"Hey." I wanted to hug her, but we remained in a stalemate. I looked over at Rosita as she got out of the car, "Thanks for bringing her."
"No problem," she said. "Things okay here now?"
"They're about to be," Daryl said, with a confidence I wasn't expecting and couldn't relate to. "We got it from here."
Before Rosita could reply, Eugene barreled down Sanctuary's steps to greet her. Mia shuffled her feet and started at the ground, unwilling to walk further from the car. Conflict was written all over her face. In Alexandria, she'd seemed eager to come back to see Daryl, but that was before we'd learned what she and Carl had done. Before she knew she was heading home with her tail between her legs.
"Come on, Mia," I said gently. "Time to get inside."
Her feet didn't move, but she did look up. "Is it my fault Daryl got hurt?"
Her voice was so quiet, and she looked so small that she shrank right down to the same five-year-old who'd cried when she'd dropped her stuffed octopus in a puddle because she was worried it would make him miss the sea.
"No." I was surprised to hear Daryl speak at the same time as me and with the same conviction.
"It's Negan's fault Daryl got hurt," I said. "And the men who acted on his orders. It's not because of what you and Carl did."
Mia nodded, but her bottom lip still trembled. "I'm sorry."
"I know you are," I sighed. "But I don't need you to be sorry. I need you to promise me you won't take any more risks like that. We might not always be here to protect you."
"You and Daryl? Yes, you will. You'll outlive all of us." Mia smiled, trying to lighten our mood.
"We might not," Daryl did not return her smile. "Ain't nothing promised these days, kid."
"And if anything happens to us, or if we all get separated again, I need to know I'm raising you to make good decisions," I said. "Ones that'll keep you alive even if we can't."
"I know," Mia hung her head sheepishly. "But I didn't think I was doing anything dangerous. Negan needed help. He needed people… like when we found Lucas. You were mad at me for trying to help him too, but now Lucas is -."
"Negan is different."
"Why?"
"Lucas was a stranger who needed our help. Negan's hurt too many people to be allowed back here without facing up to what he's done. That's why Rick wants to bring him in, peacefully, to stand trial," I said. "When you and Carl heard him out there, you should have come and told one of us."
"You wouldn't have listened," she muttered. "Or you'd have just gone and killed him anyway."
"Yeah? And?" Daryl said. Mia's eyes were red, and she was holding back tears. She was used to fighting with me, but being in trouble with Daryl? That was a whole new experience for her. "Ain't your call to make. Ain't Carl's call, either. You're kids. You might disagree, but everything I'm doin', everything your sister is doin' is because we want the world you and Carl grow up in to be safer than it is now."
Mia gulped.
"I know Negan took you in after Terminus, and your first meeting with him and the Saviors was real different to ours, but…" I stopped. Sometimes I could still hear the crack of Abraham's skill echoing in my head. "You gotta know it's not the same as when we took Lucas in. Or the same as when Daryl and Aaron go out looking for recruits for our communities. Daryl's injuries were on Negan's orders."
Mia looked at Daryl again. Her bottom lip started to shake, but reality was finally hitting her. "Did you find him?"
"Yes, I did," I said. Mia's eyes widened. "I gave him Lucille. Gave him some supplies for Winter, too."
At this, I felt Daryl tense. The supplies were (probably unwelcome) news to him.
"Why?"
"What you and Carl were trying to do was kind. I get it. I respect it. It's brave in a world like this one, and I guess I wanted to honor that, but you and Carl ain't ready to make those kinds of decisions," I said. "Those are the last things Negan will get from us or Sanctuary. He has his own territory now. He ain't allowed to set foot on ours, and we ain't gonna step foot in his either."
"If you hear him again, if you see him," Daryl said, "Don't engage with him. Get one of us. Do you understand?"
Neither of us mentioned the part about us shooting him on sight if he was seen here again. I didn't want her lying to us again.
"I understand," Mia said, and it sounded like she did. She looked at both of us. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay," I said. She'd been put through the wringer enough for one day.
"Love you, Naomi," Mia's tears finally spilled over.
"I love you too," I finally hugged her. "I don't want to be so hard on you, but this is life or death stuff. I can't lose you again." Mia nodded; regaining her composure, she let go and looked at Daryl.
"I'm sorry, Daryl."
"S'alright, Mia," he said.
Mia gave him a quick hug and a barely audible "Love you."
"Love you too, kid." Daryl couldn't hide the surprise on his face, which quickly melted into a smile before she let go and slipped off to her room to lick her wounds. Seeing the two of them like that made my heart ache.
I took a deep breath as we watched her go, "Thanks for that. It was nice to have backup."
"I got you, girl," Daryl's arm wrapped back around my shoulder. "You know that."
"I know, but…" I looked over at him, overwhelmed with gratitude. "It was nice all the same."
Being told you're not alone is very different to not feeling alone. He'd shown up for me. Backed me. Accepted my family as his. Daryl's gaze met mine, and I knew he got it. I knew it from his crooked smile, accepting another thank you I hadn't had to speak, and the unwavering warmth in his eyes.
"C'mon," he said. "Rick wants to see ya before he goes."
"Wait. Why? Am I in trouble?" My heart jumped. Rick had yet to say much about how I'd dealt with Negan. Had he been holding off until now? I felt like I was being called into my boss's office to be fired.
Daryl laughed, "No, dummy."
Despite Daryl's assurances, I was still a bundle of nerves walking in there. Felt like they were rattling around with every step I took. Rick was waiting in the canteen. Between meal times, it was empty and had become an ad-hoc meeting and strategy room. He smiled when we walked in, but Rick had one of those unreadable cop-smiles.
"Mia back safe?" he asked.
"Yup." I couldn't say anything else.
"Good," he nodded. The following pause was far too long to be comfortable. "It seems like things are pretty settled now. Are you happy that we've found anyone who might still be loyal to Negan?"
"Yes," I said. Daryl said nothing. He was hanging back. Was this about Justin? Daryl had always hated him, but I was certain he'd had nothing to do with the attempted uprising.
"Good," Rick said again, in the same calm tone. "Maggie will be taking the group of prisoners up to the Hilltop today. The rest of us are planning on heading back to our respective communities, too. You comfortable with that?"
So far, none of this was news.
"Yes," I said. Still, Daryl said nothing. Surely, as the one in charge, this was his call.
"Alright," Rick said. "We've been talking about it, and I want you to take over operations here."
I blinked at him, sure I'd misheard. "You mean until Daryl's fully recovered?"
"No. I mean I'm putting you in charge of Sanctuary as the permanent leader," he smiled, but adrenaline shot through me.
"That ain't fair."
"Not fair-? "
"What happened here wasn't Daryl's fault! He shouldn't be punished for something he had no control over." The anger was all-consuming. That he could look at Daryl, with the injuries he had, and act like he didn't deserve his place here? I was ready to start throwing hands. I looked at Daryl for help. I couldn't believe he was staying so calm.
"I'm not punishing him, we've–"
"You're taking him off this, after everything he went through to keep this place safe?!" I was aware I was yelling, but I didn't much care. "Are you fucking kidding me? That's not-"
Rick glanced at Daryl, "A little help here?"
"Naomi," Daryl stepped in front of me. From the smirk on his face, part of him was enjoying this. "This was my idea."
I stopped mid-rant. "It was?"
"Uh-huh," he nodded.
"… why?"
"You'll do it better," he shrugged.
"Bullshit."
"I hate the guy, but Negan was right about one thing," Daryl said. "You should be running this place."
"That's not true."
"It is," he said. "You care about this place and these people. I'm still too… mad about everything that went down here to do right by them."
That was my fault. I felt all twisted up inside over it. My presence here was a constant reminder of the ways I'd been hurt within these walls by some of the same people we now had to share them with. When I'd told him I was the one holding him back, I'd meant it.
"But…"
Daryl could see me spiralling and held up a hand to stop it. "I got other things I wanna focus on, so really you'd be doing me a favor."
"Oh yeah, like what?" I scrutinized him and watched the tips of his ears start to redden.
"Well, uh, our fuel supply is about to expire. Gas has been burning dirty for so long it's gotta be gumming up a lotta our vehicles," he said.
"Shit." I felt dumb for not knowing that was something we had to worry about.
"Honestly, it's a miracle our cars are still running," he said.
"Shit," I said again. I glanced at Rick, who was remarkably calm. Our communities would be so isolated without our cars, trucks, and bikes. Trips that took us a few hours now could turn into a full day of trekking through Walker-infested woods.
"Yeah. Shit." Daryl said. "But, we can take some of that corn from Hilltop, turn it into ethanol, and use that to run shit."
"That'll work?"
"Hell yeah that'll work," I could tell Daryl was getting a kick out of teaching me something. "Some of the vehicles might need a little modifying, but I can do that. Once it's all up and running, we can trade that fuel for other supplies. Make ourselves less of a charity case. Plus, it'll give folks something to do around here other than plan mutinies."
I felt damn near close to bursting with pride. "You can really do all that?"
"I mean, we're in a factory, right? Can't be that hard," he said with a modest little shrug. I wanted to run at him, throw my arms around him, kiss him all over his stupidly handsome face, and tell him how great he was. He knew it, could see it written all over me, and tried to get ahead of my bursting pride. "Don't."
"Daryl, that's-"
"Don't." His ears had gone from pink to red.
"You're a genius."
"It ain't that hard, really."
"No. You're brilliant, Daryl. You're so-"
"Stop." His face was heating up now, too.
"No. You're fucking amazing. That's so smart. You're -"
"Oh my God, Naomi," Daryl tried to hide his beet-red face. "Stop. Shut up."
"No. Never. This is the best thing I've ever heard. You're saving our asses before we even knew they needed saving. That's real shit, Daryl. That means something."
"It ain't a big deal," he groaned but he hadn't stopped smiling this whole time.
"It is! Ain't it, Rick?"
"Aw, hell," Daryl muttered.
Rick was struggling to hide his laughter behind his hand. He nodded and looked at Daryl. "It's real good, brother."
Daryl left the room.
Rick burst into laughter and I grinned at him. It was always nice to celebrate Daryl, but having someone else to celebrate him with me? There was no sweeter feeling in the world.
"So you accept?" Rick asked when he eventually stopped laughing.
"Yeah," I said. "I can babysit these assholes while Daryl gets the real shit done."
Daryl
I hid out in the workshop. I simultaneously wanted the ground to swallow me whole but also knew that if it opened up to do so, I would be flying too high to fall down. She was quite something, my girl. She was always the one cheering loudest for me, even if sometimes she was the only one.
People trickled out of Sanctuary all day. The sun dipped lower in the sky and then set. It was midnight, or near enough when Naomi came looking for me.
"Hey, you," she said. I couldn't look at her, but I could hear her big, dumb, proud-of-me smile in her voice. "Workin' late, huh?"
"Naomi I swear to god," I squeezed my eyes tightly shut. It was like her faith in me was this bright light I couldn't look directly at without it burning my damn cheeks off. I couldn't even feel worried I'd fail at this.
"C'mon, I barely said anything," she said, but her voice was all light and giddy and it made me feel giddy too.
"And you better not start," I tried to sound stern. It didn't work.
"Or what?" I felt her arms slip around my shoulders. I opened my eyes and took hold of her waist. She was still giving me that big, dopey smile. I couldn't answer, my mind blank of everything that wasn't her. She knew it, too, her smile widened. "C'mon… you can't let me be just a teenie little bit proud of my man?"
Fucking hell.
The thought of being her anything made my heart swell. I tried to keep my cool. Didn't. My damn cheeks were starting to hurt from smiling. "Ain't a teenie little bit though is it? You're yellin' it from the roof."
"Haven't done that yet, actually," she grinned when I cringed at the word 'yet'. "Good idea, though, thanks."
"You're a damn nightmare," I said, pulling her close so she was looking up at me with that big smile of hers. Never felt like it took much to make her proud of me, but every time she gave me that damn look, I felt like I could fly.
I kissed her, and I could feel her smiling through it. It was like I could taste her pride—sweet and warming to my core.
"You're really okay with me taking over everything else here?" she asked when we broke apart. "I know you wanna work on your biofuel - and it's damn brilliant, so you should - but…you haven't exactly been thrilled whenever I've done stuff around here before."
"Well… before I had to worry about this place and you. Had to keep an eye on every damn asshole around you who was looking at you wrong."
"Well, they've all gone now," she said. Maggie had taken everyone involved in the failed uprising back to Hilltop with her.
"I'll be the judge of that," I said. I wanted to gouge out the eyes of anyone who looked at her too long, even if they were appreciating her. Maybe, especially if they were appreciating her. "I'm still gonna worry about ya, but the way things were… I was holding you back."
"No, you weren't."
"You've always been..."
"Stop."
"Brilliant," I finished, and I understood why she'd gotten so much joy out of yelling nice things at me while I told her to shut up. "Back in the day, I could've sworn you were gonna wind up President. Hell, I still think you would've if the world hadn't ended."
"Yeah, I remember that," she laughed lightly. "Not sure that's the kind of job you 'wind up' in. Sounds like a lot of campaigning for something I didn't want."
"You're the kinda person who should've been doing it, though. You give a shit about the kind of people nobody else does and about making sure everyone gets what's fair," I said. "Plus, you got this way of seeing how things will play out. Like, with Negan… I would have killed him for sure. I wouldn't have been able to help myself. But, you? You put all that shit aside, gave him some supplies, and put some sanctions in place."
"That wasn't really my plan, that was -"
"No." I cut across her. "Rick's plan is to lock him up. You met Negan where he's at. That takes a crazy amount of understanding. But you ain't soft either; you can do the hard shit. Ain't afraid to get your hands dirty when you need to."
The smile faded from her lips. Her eyes drifted away from mine, but not before I recognized the self-loathing that had crept into them. Everything she'd had to do to claw this place back from Negan's grasp, everything she'd done to save me, was weighing on her. I got it. Knowing that you'd kill for someone is one thing, but actually doing it is a whole other.
"Hey," I put my hand under her chin to stop her from looking away. "It's a good thing. It's why you should be running the country, maybe the whole damn world. But in the meantime, I guess this place'll do. And I wanna be by your side while you do it."
"Daryl," she said my name all soft. I pushed some of the hair back from her face.
"I mean it, sweetheart," I said. "I want to give you everything, help you do anything you want. Even if I think it's crazy, even if I think these folks ain't worth your time. I was going about it all wrong before. Tryna stop you from doing anything around here, like keeping locked up in a golden cage was gonna protect you."
"I didn't feel caged," she protested.
"Maybe not," I shrugged. "But I dunno what I expected you to do when you came here with me. Stay out of everything that was going on? Just sit your ass while I'm workin'? That ain't you."
"No. It ain't." I didn't like how sad she sounded when she said it, like she was apologizing for something.
"And I love that about you. You weren't built for standing still. Me? I was fine dritin', but you always had a purpose. Has this drive and I…" I wasn't sure how to phrase it. Honestly, I hadn't expected to have this conversation now, but it seemed as good a time as any. "I respect the hell out of you. You know that, don't ya?"
She looked so taken aback by my question that for a heart-churning moment, I thought the answer might be 'no.' "Yeah, of course I do."
"Okay. Good." I wanted to say more but I didn't know how. "Because… I mean…when I…"
Naomi saw me floundering, "Daryl… what's eating ya?"
"Can we… talk a minute?"
Already off to a bad start, she immediately looked panicked. "Are you okay? Is it your hand? Do you need me to-"
"I need you to listen."
"Okay."
"I wanna say I'm sorry. For… the way I treated you the other night. The night I… well, you… we… y'know, with the bath," I could feel the heat in my cheeks. I thought asking her to listen would help me get it out, but I was yammering and stammering like a damn fool. "The way I treated you… it was too… I didn't… I treated you like…"
I couldn't even get the word out. Naomi let the silence sit until it became clear I'd frozen up. "Like what?"
"I dunno, like a…" I took a deep breath. "Slut or somethin'."
Saying it out loud made me want to cut my tongue off. Honestly, I expected her to slap me, but she just frowned and tilted her head. "Is…that what you thought of me?"
"Hell no. But I was…rough with you. I didn't…"
"I asked you not to hold back," she said. I hated that she was trying to let me off the hook, making excuses for me. "Sometimes, when we're together, it feels like you're holding something back, and I don't want that."
The way she said it was so… normal. There was no judgment, no accusations, just a fact. She was looking at the worst of me like it was nothing at all.
"That side of me… it's not… I'm not…"
"Did you like it?"
"Yes," a flash of guilt in my gut when I admitted it out loud. "But…"
"But nothin'. I liked it too," she said firmly. "I've never been with anyone I could trust like that."
It took me a moment to understand. " It was about trust for you?"
"Yeah," she nodded. "I've never been with someone that I felt I could just… give control over me like that."
I forgot, sometimes, that she didn't know how to be loved anymore than I did.
"I don't wanna control you," I said and was ashamed that I tasted the slightest hint of a lie.
"Maybe control ain't the right word for it," she said. "But I know I can… let go with you, give all of me to you. I ain't worried about anything when we're together. I feel safe."
"Really?"
"Yeah," she nodded rapidly. "Did I… do something to make you think otherwise?"
"I dunno. I thought maybe you didn't want to keep... going... because I'd made you feel bad. Or used. Or somethin'."
"No. You could never make me feel that way," she frowned. "And... I like making you feel good."
"Well, that you're damn good at," I said, and she smiled. "But I shouldn't have started anything at all that night. I should have realized that we shouldn't have done anything at all. That everything that had just happened would, y'know… bring back Terminus."
"Terminus?" she stared at me like I was growing an extra head right in front of her. "What the hell does this have to do with… oh. Shit."
It suddenly dawned on her. Her eyes widened.
"So, I'm sorry for that, at least. I should have realized you wouldn't be in the mood for anything. Not that you need a reason to say no, but y'know… I should've been more… well... I should've been a better boyfriend."
"Oh, no. That's not what happened or why I didn't want to keep going," she said, a blush creeping up her cheek. "I was, um… you know how once a month there's… y'know. I was on my period, and I just… I didn't wanna say anything and…"
It was her turn to go red and start babbling, which made a nice change, but I finally understood. Relieved that I hadn't done something wrong, I shut my eyes for a moment. "Naomi. Baby. I know what a period is. We learned about 'em in the same damn health class, remember?"
"Yeah but you learned about 'em once. I get a monthly reminder."
"So, you weren't feeling good? That it?"
"No, I felt fine, I just… y'know…I thought you wouldn't want to…"
"You think a bit of blood is gonna scare me off?"
"Not scare you off, no. More like… turn you off."
"Impossible."
"Okay, well," Naomi said, like she thought I was saying it to be nice. "It's not come up before, and we hadn't discussed it, so I didn't know how you feel about those sorts of things. Didn't want to spring it on ya."
My little overthinker.
"How I feel about those sorts of things?" I repeated.
"Some guys get a little…" she shrugged, shifting a little uncomfortably.
"I ain't some guy." It came out sharper than I meant it to. She blinked at me in surprise.
"Well, I know you ain't squeamish or anything, but it's not…"
I shut her up with a kiss. Deep and hungry. The taste of a fucking angel; she was sweetness and fire.
Her soft cheek cupped in my palm, my other hand pulling her hips closer to mine. How one person could feel like home and give me thrills all at once was beyond me. Her lips were so damn soft. The scent of her hair was more fucking intoxicating than any moonshine I'd ever cooked up back when I was fucking nothing and she was everything. She'd always been everything to me. That she'd even let me this close to her, let my tongue explore her delicate mouth, let me push her up against the workbench behind her until our bodies were pressed right up against each other, was a dream.
That she could ever think a bit of blood would put me off was a damn tragedy. I needed her to understand.
"Nobody's ever made me feel the way you do. Nobody," I told her as I lifted her onto the workbench. Her arms wrapped around my shoulders, and she looked up at me with nothing but a bright kind of love that I could never deserve but couldn't live to see her give to anyone else. She leaned forward for another hungry kiss. Her legs parted and fixed around my hips, using them to pull me in closer to her.
My hands skimmed her sides, feeling the curve from her hips to her waist. The way her body molded to mine, the softness of her breasts against my chest sent a bolt of desire right through me. Gently sucking her bottom lip into my mouth caused her to moan in a way that almost drove me to tear her damn clothes off right then. But there was more I had to say, more I had to make her understand.
Reluctantly, I pulled my lips from hers. "I wasn't sure I could feel this way…that I could ever… want someone this way. No amount of getting drunk and messing around with strangers, just tryna fit in with everyone else, ever made me feel a damn thing… but you, Naomi… All I had to do was think about you."
My lips were on her neck. She whimpered in response to her name. I grabbed her wrist and guided her hand to my crotch. "Ya feel that? Feel how hard I am for you without you takin' off a damn thing?"
She gulped so hard I could see it in her throat. She nodded. Bit her lip. Something in me threatened to go wild. I held it back. Even as her hands tugged eagerly at my straining pants, I held it back.
"Uh-uh," I shook my head and moved her hand away again. I saw the flicker of disappointment in her eyes. "I need you to understand this is all about you, darlin'."
"Me?" Naomi's eyes were a little hazy when she looked up at me. It was so damn cute.
I nodded. "Take your shirt off for me."
I didn't mean it to sound so demanding, but the way she responded didn't exactly make me regret it. Eyes locked on mine, she lifted her shirt over her head. Watching her undress for me sent another flash of heat through my core.
I took hold of her waist again. Warm, bare skin under my hands. Soft. So soft it always made me worry about how rough my hands were, but if they were, she never complained. The way she sighed and shivered, the way goosebumps broke out across her skin, suggested she liked it. Maybe even loved it.
I peppered her collarbone with kisses as my hands ran up her back to unclasp her bra. I threw it to the ground. Her nipples were hard in cool air. I rubbed one of them lightly with my thumb, watching the way her body trembled right in front of me.
There was a time in my life, not that long ago, when I didn't even see the appeal of sex. All sweaty bodies with a stranger? Pass.
But seeing Naomi underneath me, her face all lit up with pleasure? I didn't understand why I bothered doing anything else.
"Daryl…" I'd never tire of the way my name sounded when she whimpered like that. My cock throbbed in my pants.
"Take your pants off." She didn't need to be asked twice. Wriggling out of her jeans until they slipped down enough to get stuck around her ankles. I bent to pull them the rest of the way off her feet, which dangled over the workshop floor. "Them panties too, girl."
She pulled her panties down past her knees and I slipped them off her ankles. I took a second to look at her perfect, naked form on my workbench and knew I'd never be able to stand in this room again without thinking of her like this, without seeing the small, pale, circular scars dotted across her thighs like constellations. I traced every one of them with my lips and tongue, her thighs quivering in response. Heard her breathing change as I moved higher up her legs. I could smell her sweet scent, and the urge to lose myself between her thighs was almost overwhelming. For now, at least, I wanted to savor her. It took every ounce of my self-control for me to hold back and skip up to kiss her hips. I couldn't tell if the moan she let out was one of pleasure or frustration, but I loved it either way.
My lips moved up her body, back to the swell of her breasts. I took one of her nipples into my mouth, teased it with my tongue. One of my hands ran from her thigh, following the shape of her hips, her waist, and up to play with the other. She cried out. Not a coherent word or sentence, something between a gasp and a moan. My bandaged hand rested lightly on her back, holding her in place.
She tugged on my shirt, trying to get me to take it off. I pulled back a little.
"Uh-uh," I said again, a little firmer than before. "I told ya. I need you to understand this is about you. Not me."
I needed to make her see, needed to make her understand that nothing in this world could change the way I felt about her. Nothing. Certainly not no damn period. I needed to remind her that for all of the hard shit she'd had to do, she was all softness and curves too. Plus, there was something so fucking hot about having her all naked and worked up like this while I still had all my clothes on.
I finally moved my hand between her thighs and was surprised by how wet I found her, but I figured some of it might still be blood. "Are you still on…?"
"No," she shook her head. I loved how breathless she sounded. "Not anymore."
A thrill of satisfaction coursed through me as I started slowly stroking her wet slit. "Already that fucking wet for me, huh?"
Trembling at my touch, she nodded. I couldn't take my eyes off her pretty face as I circled her clit with a finger. Widened eyes, slightly parted lips. The sounds she was making… Goddamn.
I kissed her neck, slipped two fingers slowly in and out of her until I honed in on that sweet spot. The one that makes her eyes roll and her moans rise a couple of pitches. Her hand under my chin, she pulled my face back towards hers so she could kiss me. Her kisses were so damn needy, sloppy too. We were all tongue and teeth. I could hear her moaning through them as I played with her.
"Shit, Daryl, that's good…" she gasped as my mouth joined my hand between her thighs, my tongue lapping at her clit. Pride and arousal coursed through me all at once. Her hips lifted a little off the table as she ground down on me seeking the release I was deliberately holding her back from. Her hands were in my hair, holding my head in place. Her nails grazed my scalp, sending shivers down my spine.
"Fuck me, Daryl, please." The need in her voice drove me crazy. I looked up at her, resting on her elbows as she watched me.
Holy hell.
I hadn't been expecting that. I had been so in control until that moment. The heat that coursed through me now was white-hot; it took everything in me not to cave in. I straightened up again.
"You gotta learn," I told her, my lips real close to her ear. "There ain't nothin' in this world that's gonna turn me off you, ya hear me?"
"Please."
God I loved it when she begged for me.
"Understand?" I asked. She nodded. It wasn't enough. "Say it."
"Fuck, yes, I understand…Jesus Christ, Daryl." Her hips ground harder against my hand. I wondered how long I could keep her like that. On the edge of absolute bliss. But then she looked at me with those beautiful eyes, all hazy with pleasure and she whimpered, "Daryl, please."
"Alright," I smiled into her neck, putting a little extra pressure on that sweet spot inside her. Her response was an immediate gasp. "You can cum for me now."
Instantly, I felt the first flutters of it around my fingers.
"Fuck," she breathed. I pulled back a little so I could see her face. Eyes closed, head tilted back.
"Open your eyes," I told her.
"... fuck fuck fuck…" Her eyelids fluttered open. Those pretty eyes clouded with desire, unfocused gaze on the ceiling.
"That's it, baby, look at me."
When she turned her head to look at me, I realized it wasn't that I wanted to control her; I wanted to bring her a kind of pleasure she couldn't get from anyone else. The heat in her body, the hazy bliss in her eyes, the need for a release only I could give her. That, I liked being in control of.
Her gaze followed me as I moved down between her thighs again. Her slick, swollen clit against my tongue again as I sucked on it. I felt her body tense, felt her pulse around my fingers, and throb against my tongue.
"Daryl…." My name fell from her mouth as she came undone right in front of me. From between her legs, I watched her orgasm wash right over her. I kissed her between her quivering thighs a few more times before I straightened up and pulled my fingers out of her.
Naomi lay back, panting. She looked so damn beautiful.
I pulled my shirt over my head, watching Naomi catch her breath. Skin glowing with sweat. The smile on her face made my heart skip a beat.
"You done?" I asked, unfastening my belt because I already knew what her answer was going to be. "Or can you take a little more?"
She had that look in her eye, that glint like I'd challenged her to something. "I ain't done."
"Good girl," I nudged her thighs apart again. "'Cause I ain't done with you."
I took a condom out of my back pocket before I let my pants drop to the floor. Naomi smirked a little as I slipped it on. "Been carrying that around just in case, huh?"
I grabbed her hips and pulled her closer to the edge of the bench. By now, I was so damn hard it hurt, but I knew her body needed a second to recover. "Never know when I'll need to take care of my girl."
Her hands cupped my face as she leaned in to kiss me again. I could feel the heat radiating off her as her tongue explored my mouth. I teased her clit with the head of my cock, testing how ready she was. She moaned into my mouth again.
"Wait." Naomi slipped down from the bench. Our bodies almost touching, she turned around and bent over the work table in front of me.
"You sure about this?" My throat was dry, and the heat in my groin was unbearable. I wasn't sure how I felt about fucking her like this, but she looked so tempting bent over like that I'd already positioned myself behind her. "This is what you want?"
"Yes," she almost laughed. I hesitated, but then she looked back over her shoulder at me. Her curls fell over her naked back, and her eyes pleaded with me again. Her legs, her ass, her hips… she looked so fucking good from every angle. "Please, Daryl, I need to feel you inside me."
She placed her hands on the workbench to steady herself. I eased myself inside, and we both groaned. My good hand held onto her hip, my bandaged one resting on the small of her back, and I started slowly pushing in and out of her. She felt incredible like this, "You sure you like it like this, angel?"
"God, yes," she pressed back into me, rocking her hips to meet my thrusts. She looked back at me again, leaning on her elbows. "Now, will you quit being such a goddamn tease?"
I grinned at her, slowing my pace to deep, torturous strokes. I wanted her to feel every inch I had to give her. "What do you mean?"
"Fuck me harder," she pleaded, eyes shut tightly. "Please, Daryl."
"Needy little thing, ain't ya?"
"For you? Hell yes."
Fucking hell.
"Good girl." I sped up, pushing myself deeper inside her with every stroke until I reached a steady rhythm. Naomi bucked back against me, her hot little moans filling the workshop again. She'd ruined this place forever for me. I'd never be able to concentrate on a damn thing here again.
I bent over her, dragging my lips and teeth across her back. My hand moved up and gripped her shoulder tight, guiding her movements as well as mine. The tight control I'd managed to maintain over my own desires was quickly slipping. Naomi slipped, too. Her elbows slipped out from under her with the force I was thrusting into her. She gasped and said, "Yesss, Daryl. Fuck. That feels so good."
All hope I had of reigning myself in was gone. Head hazy with pleasure, I fucked her harder, slamming into her tight pussy in a way I couldn't ever remember having done before, but I was feeling too damn good to feel bad about it. My hand was gone from her shoulder, fisting in her hair now. Her back arched in response, allowing me to go even deeper.
Shit.
Am I hurting her?
I looked down at her face, turned to the side, cheek pressed against the hardwood of the worktop. She was smiling, she was fucking smiling.
"Fuck, Naomi…," I grunted. The feel of her, the smell of her, was jamming every goddamn thought in my head. "Fuck… you're gonna make me cum… goddamn it, angel."
Her smile widened; she liked hearing that, driving her hips back more frantically against me. I wasn't gonna last. I let go of her hair, and she held herself steady again as I reached down to touch her clit. Naomi's continuous moans got louder.
Thank God.
"That's it," I told her. "Cum for me again, angel. Come on."
It took seconds this time... as if my permission was all she needed. I managed to hold off for just long enough. But feeling her pulsing around my cock as her body shuddered with the force of her orgasm was enough to tip me over the edge. I groaned as I finally felt my release, blinding pleasure washing over me. I collapsed into her, my arms wrapping around her middle to steady myself.
When my head stopped spinning, I straightened up, pulling her warm, sweaty body against my chest as I did. It was nice to feel that she'd gone a little limp, too. I kissed her neck while we caught our breath. My spent cock slipped out of her, and I let go of her to roll the condom off quickly. She turned around to face me. I wrapped her up in my arms. Both of us, standing naked as the day we were born, holding each other in the dim light of a workshop that I would now forever associate with this night. Our clothes were strewn around the place, the smell of our sex in the air.
"Coming to bed?" she asked.
I nodded. "Round two?"
She grinned. "Maybe a midnight snack first. Y'know. To refuel."
That's my girl.
