Find Your Purpose, Before It's Too Late

Chapter 8

"Glad you're still up," Rick said sitting down on the couch. "The meds you guys brought back saved Carl, and I can't thank you enough for that. Now that I know he'll be alright, we gotta concentrate on food. The pantry is lower than I thought, and the garden is still weeks away from providing enough for everyone."

"Whatcha thinkin'?" Daryl asked stepping up next to you to talk to Rick.

"The warehouses. We shouldn't wait to get back there," Rick said. "Carl will be fine here with Denise and Carol. I think we should take a group out tomorrow and go. Don't want to give anyone else a chance to make it theirs."

"Alright," Daryl said, nodding. "Who's all going?"

"Michonne, Tara, Sasha, Y/N, the two of us," Rick said motioning between himself and Daryl. "And, I'm thinking one or two more."

"Could grab Glenn and," Daryl started to say and Rick waved him off.

"They've got their hands full now getting the garden set so we can get in a good-sized harvest before winter sets in. We'll see who's around in the morning and then set out in two, maybe three cars."

"We got the gas for that?" Daryl asked, looking back and forth between Rick and Michonne.

"We do, we're ok for now," Rick said as he stood up. "Try and get some sleep. We should try and head out as early as we can. If for some reason this doesn't work out, we don't want to waste too much time."

Rick said goodnight and headed up to his room followed by Michonne a minute later. Carol had wandered into the kitchen but was still within ear shot.

Turning to Daryl, you offered him a small, half smile that carried a lot of regret for the recent interruption. Everything in you wanted to get back to what you had been doing with this recently discovered attraction to Daryl. Your body was exhausted, and your need to shower felt overwhelming, but your heart and the fire simmering deep in you was aching to be rekindled.

"I should go shower and get to bed. Seems like we have a big day tomorrow," you threw a quick look over your shoulder to check on Carol's location. When satisfied she wasn't paying attention you reached up and kissed Daryl longing on the cheek. "I'll see ya in the morning."

It took all your will power to force your feet forward towards the steps. You wanted to look back at him, but was afraid that you'd be unable to get going again.

You managed to get upstairs and grab the shower while there was still some hot water left. You let your head hang down under the cascading warmth of the water and thought back to that moment in the kitchen, then the living room. You tried to remember if there had ever been this attraction before. Half the time you'd known him, Daryl had been short and inpatient with you. The other half of the time you thought he was a complete asshole. But the night before, when he put his arm around your shoulders, it was different. No rhyme or reason to it really. It just felt good. Now he and his touch lingered on your mind until the water finally went cold.

You turned off the shower and grabbed your towel. It was a short few steps across the hallway to your small room, but living in what you thought of as Grand Central Station, anyone could be anywhere at any time. Cinching your towel as tight as possible, you opened the bathroom, darted to your room and had the door closed in a matter of seconds.

Before you could dry off and get dressed, there was a soft knock. Standing behind the door to cover yourself as much as possible, you cracked it open to see Daryl standing there, his long, wild tendrils of hair half obscuring his face.

"I just, uh..." Daryl looked down and was visibly shook at seeing you fresh from the shower. Stammering a bit with his words, he finally could get out, "Um, I wanted to say goodnight."

You saw how he looked at you, and it pushed sleep far, far from your mind. Reaching out for his hand, you pulled him inside and gently closed the door behind him.

"Goodnight," you said and stood up on your toes to kiss him. Your gesture took him by surprise, but it only took a second for Daryl to return the kiss. It was sweet at first, but once you wrapped your arms up around his neck, your towel began to slip. The more his fingers found your skin, the harder he kissed you.

Being the kind of man that he is, right before your towel fell to the floor completely Daryl caught it and wrapped it tightly back around you before reluctantly pulling away from your embrace. He rested his forehead against yours again, and it filled you with a sense of excitement; the kind you never thought you'd feel again.

"You should get some sleep," his voice low and raspy. "Like you said, big day tomorrow."

"Do you really want to leave?" You asked, trying to hide how much you didn't want him too.

Daryl's eyes narrowed. He smirked and shook his head lightly.

"Then you should stay."

Daryl let his arms fall to his side as you started to unbutton his shirt. When you got to the last one, you helped him to slip it off and dropped it on the floor. You caught his eye as you started to unbuckle his belt. His hands were over yours before you could free him of them completely.

"You sure?" he asked with concern. "We can take it slow..."

"No, Daryl, you said it before, we've wasted enough time. I'm done with all that... carrying all that around with me," you nuzzled yourself into his chest, kissing him softly. "This is what I want, now. Who the fuck knows what happens tomorrow."

Daryl took his hands off yours and cupped your face, kissing you deeply. As his tongue found yours you went back to work removing his pants to the growing pile of clothes on the floor.

You let the towel drift to the floor, leaving you completely exposed to the archer. He stepped back to see you, letting his hands and fingers trace your form down both sides, leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake.

When Daryl's hand reached the lower part of your stomach, you felt a warm, wet excitement begin to erupt. The need to feel him inside you began to make your head swim. You pulled at his boxers trying to add them to the pile, allowing his full length to crash into you.

Daryl buried his face into your neck and wrapped you up in his arms. Your legs crossed behind him, the tip of cock finding the warmth of your folds. He growled with approval and gripped you tighter.

In one swift motion, Daryl was turning you around, laying you on your bed, and slipping himself into you.

"Oh fuck... Daryl," you cried softly in his ear. He thrust himself into you deeper with each groan of gratification. He had his muscular arms still wrapped around you in a bear hug, face buried deep in your neck.

Daryl let his tongue explore your neck, down into your collarbone. You entwined your fingers into his hair, and when he would leave biting kisses in that sweet spot right below your ear, you pulled him tighter into you.

Your first time together was quick, but explosive. Daryl's hips rose and fell into you, your nails leaving their mark along his arms and back. You felt his body start to shake and his large hands holding onto you for dear life.

Daryl growled your name over and over as his body and yours came to completion one right after the other. When your bodies finally relaxed to a place of exhausted satisfaction, Daryl laid besides you in the bed and pulled the sheet up to cover you.

"You're cold," he said, rubbing his hands all over you trying to warm you.

"I'm not cold," you said with a half grin and weariness thick in your voice. "I'm happy." You felt the warm of Daryl's body as he pulled you closer into him. The last thing you felt before drifting off to sleep, was the gentle kiss he left on your forehead.