It'd been ten days this time around. Ten. Fucking. Long. Ass. Days. Scouting. Looking for survivors. Every trail gone cold. The weather had turned on the fifth day. The rain, sticky and cruel, beating down so hard his skin ached. That was the final straw, nodding his head in the direction they'd came from, Daryl jumped onto the bike before Aaron could argue.

The rain had turned the roads into mini rivers. Every curve and dip, he took with exact precision. The manipulation of the throttle, carefully calculated. He wanted to get home in one piece. Needed to get home in one piece. She was waiting for him. Always waiting. Carol. His Carol. Always his.

As the months went by, the more comfortable they got. In Alexandria. Around each other. Letting their guard down ended in Carol talking about those two girls. Her haunting recount sent chills through his body. His heart ached for her. He ached for her. The way she looked at him in that moment. Daryl knew then, he knew he wanted nothing more than for her to never have to feel that way ever again. He'd make sure of it.

It started with a small caress of her cheek. Eyes locked. Blue on blue. A dip of his head. A tilt of Carol's. His lips brushed delicately over hers as if she might shatter into a million pieces. But this was Carol. Strong willed. Brave. So when she didn't back away, when she didn't break, Daryl kept their lips together and leaned further into her. One thing led to another and before they both knew what was really happening, they were nose to nose, breathing into one another's mouths. Heated skin slick with sweat. Coming down from the exhilarating highs of their orgasms.

That had been 10 days ago. And Daryl could still taste those sweet kisses. Could still feel her arms, her legs, wrapped around him. It was all he thought about away from Alexandria. He felt as if he had a fever. Inside his body burned, not from the exhaustion of being out on the road or the wild downpour. Inside, his body burned for Carol.

As they reached the walls of Alexandria, Daryl could feel his heart beat a little faster. He was sure his palms were sweaty, disguised under the dampness of the rain. The gates opened and he rode on through completely bypassing Aaron and Eric's house where he kept his bike and headed straight to her house. Their house now.

Pulling up, Daryl headed straight to the door. The house was dark but warm. The smell familiar. Freshly baked treats and recently cut flowers. It eased his anxiety. He was home. Carol was close again. He took the stairs two at time. Not waiting another minute, Daryl walked towards her bedroom door with a purpose and crept into her room. The moon at its fullest, broke through the gap in the curtains. The light it emitted illuminated Carol's face as she slept peacefully. Positioned on her back, her left hand burrowed under the pillow. A small smile played on her lips while her closed eyes fluttered rapidly.

She was dreaming. Was she dreaming of him, Daryl thought? Was she thinking about him this whole time they were apart the way he thought about her on those cold, dark nights?

Daryl moved closer. His clothes drenched, leaving tiny puddles on the oak floorboards. His hair, a soaked curtain obscuring his face. He clenched his cold hands into fists. He wanted to touch her so bad. To lean in and lick those delicious lips until Carol's dreamy eyes opened. He craved her attention. He craved her.

Fuck it.

Silently shrugging off his boots, the wet leather and denim into a messy pile, Daryl knelt onto the edge of the bed. Hovering over Carol's sleeping form, he leaned down. His face inches from hers.

"Daryl?" she questioned in a whisper.

"Yeah?" His cold nose brushed her own and it crinkled.

"What are you doing?" Carol's eyes still hadn't opened, but little droplets of rain from his hair dripped down off the tips onto her face making her face scrunch in that cute way.

"M'gonna make love to you...Is that alright?"

Once Carol opened those spectacular eyes all Daryl could hear, was the beating of their one heart. She reached her hands up to frame his face and nodded bringing him down the rest of the way as his lips crashed upon hers.

This kiss was passionate. His tongue slide across her soft lips before it began a delicate dance with her own. Carol's hands shifted from his cheeks, sliding up through his bangs, moving them out of his face. Using the dampness to slick it back, she gripped the ends pulling him further into her.

Daryl held the top half of his body gently above hers. It took all of his restraint not to press himself completely down on top of Carol. He did however rest his hips against her own. Grinding slowly against the quilt holding him at bay.

He pulled away from Carol's mouth and began a slow trail of kisses along the length of her jaw, moving meticulously down the centre of her throat. He nipped and sucked as he travelled down between her small pert breasts, pulling the thin material of her tank top down with his chin fully revealing them.

"Fuck, I missed you. You don' even know." Daryl breathed out and rubbed his nose over one of her hardened nipples before taking it into his mouth.

"I think I do." Carol gasped. Her hands still pulling at his hair. She felt his tongue swirl around her erect bud and she arched her back. She wanted more. So much more.

Daryl released the nipple with a juicy pop when he felt her hips buck up against him.

"Shit! I gotta feel you." He sat up on his knees and pulled the quilt away to find Carol wearing a small pair of panties and the smooth milky skin of her bare legs.

He ran his hands up the outside of Carol's legs, bringing her panties down on their way back, leaving them at her ankles She rid herself of them completely with one little flick of her foot. She opened her legs and Daryl moved in.

Daryl growled deep in his throat as he reached down and cupped her. She was already wet. He pressed his fingers into it eliciting a moan from her. He ran one finger along her slit, barely touching her, teasing her with the roughness of his skin. Carol's hips moved against him trying to press his fingers more firmly into her, but his touch remained frustratingly slow, depthless. Just as she was about to get speak Daryl slid two fingers up inside her.

"Yes" she moaned. He slowly slid his fingers out and then plunged them back in again.

"This what you've been dreamin' about?" he whispered in her ear, flicking his tongue against the shell and sucking it into his mouth. "You been waitin' for me to touch you like this?"

All Carol could do was nod as his fingers kept to an intense rhythm. Every few strokes he would slide his fingers out all the way and circle her clit with a wet fingertip before pushing them back in to stroke her again and again.

Carol cried out and threw her head back, clutching at his shoulders while he continued to bury his fingers deep inside her, curling them into the fleshy bundle of nerves hiding behind her pelvic bone. She groaned and ground against him, the palm of his hand roughly massaging her clit, leading her towards intense pleasure.

Daryl leaned back so he could watch as she came undone in his arms. Her eyes were tightly closed and her mouth open, she caught herself unable to breathe for an endless moment, her slippery wet pussy clenching and releasing his pumping fingers as she rode the waves of pleasure coursing through her. Finally she trembled all over and exhaled in contentment.

"Oh god," she gasped, her voice almost unrecognisable.

"You're so fuckin' hot when you do that," he said sounding almost as breathless as Carol. He slid his hand out of her opening, dragging it up her stomach and leaving a wet trail all the way up to where he rested it between her breasts.

Carol laughed and brought her hands to his cheeks, holding him still while she brushed his lips with hers. He moaned his approval as she kissed him, her tongue delving into his mouth this time. He let her explore, gently welcoming her tongue with is own while his hand made its own exploration. Pulling his hard length out of his boxers and giving it a few quick strokes, Carol felt a thrill of arousal course through her.

When Daryl positioned himself above her she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his hips, pulling his body down against hers. His skin was no longer cold and wet but hot to the touch and she could feel the hard length of him pressing along her soaked slit. Unashamedly Carol slid herself against him eliciting a low moan in response. She did it again and he muttered something unintelligible against her shoulder as he pressed his hips tight against her. She moved to look at him and what she saw was the intense look of hunger on his features.

Their eyes locked as he slowly drew his hips back, sliding down her sensitive folds and resting heavily just at her opening. Carol's eyelids fluttered but she didn't look away as he pressed into her, slowly filling her. She slid her hands from his shoulders down his sides and gripped his hips, pulling him down tight against her and drawing him into her body as much as it would physically allow. The top half of Daryl's body dropped against her and he pressed her into the bed, taking her mouth in a deep kiss as he pushed into her.

They swallowed each other's moans as he bottomed out inside her. His hands curled up around her shoulders and pulled her down to him as he thrust again and again, loving the way her little moans of pleasure increased each time.

The second their bodies joined, Carol was lost in a haze of intense sensations. She'd had no idea it could be like this. Ever.

This wasn't just about having an orgasm; every touch, every moan, every whisper of encouragement was beautiful in itself. Her brain switched off, giving complete control to her body which moved in a wordless dance with his, instinctively seeking out pleasure for him. By him. Both of them fully caught up in the intimacy of the moment while scrambling blindly toward the inevitable end.

When that end eventually hit it took Carol completely by surprise, an avalanche of ecstasy gripped her. She could hear Daryl's ragged breathing in her ear, his frantic moans, and knew he was caught up with her. Her pleasure peaked once again and she cried out his name, clinging to him tightly as if it was all just a dream.

Daryl's mouth found hers again and the fear disappeared , leaving the aftershocks and tremors of intense pleasure in its wake. Her hands shook as they came up to hold his face, her fingers twining themselves in his hair. The kiss gentle as they came floating back down to earth, eventually softening to light brushes of his lips against her mouth, cheeks, and eyelids.

Carol opened her eyes to see his blue ones fixed on her. She opened her mouth to say something, but the only thing that came out was a whimper.

"Was that alright?" he whispered, sweeping a thumb across her bottom lip.

She nodded, not trusting herself to speak, and gave him a one of those smiles that was only meant for him. Daryl shifted his weight so he was lying next to her and she curled into him, burying her head in his neck. His hand stroked her spine and she greedily inhaled his musky scent, trying to calm her racing mind. She desperately wanted him to stay now. Ten days was far too long. Right now, even one day was too many. She didn't want him going back out there.

"Carol?"

"Hmm mmm?"

"Couldn't spend another night out there..another night without you, just wanted you to know that."

She raised her head to meet his eyes.

"I missed you... I.. don't want you going out there anymore. I can't lose you Daryl. I can't."

Daryl's fingers stopped rubbing at her back but his eyes never left hers.

"Well, it just so happens that I ain't gonna be going out there no more for the exact same reason. And it just so happens that I'm gonna be spendin' the rest of the night making up for the last ten days. Makin' love to you. Is that alright?"

Carol grinned hearing him gasp as she moved her hand slowly towards his once again hardening member. Gripping it tightly in her fist.

"Oh, that's more than alright."