"You should have woken me up," Tamara sighed at Daryl as she pulled on her boots. He had let her sleep until the late afternoon and now she realised that all the other able-bodied people of their small family had been cleaning up the walker corpses and making sure the rest of the prison was running smoothly while she had been sleeping away the day.

Daryl leaned into her when she stood up, Emmy sitting in her cot beside them, playing with her teddy bear and three wooden blocks Daryl had whittled for her wit on them, "Yah needed ta sleep and I weren't about ta make yah get up and do work when ya were dog-tired," he gruffly told her.

Propping her fists on her hips, Tamara lifted an eyebrow and stared him down, "I'm not the only one that's dog-tired, Dixon. I shouldn't have special treatment just because yah think I should."

His gaze sparked with heat when she stood up to him and Tamara felt a jolt of need sear through her blood and settle low in her belly, "Yah were tired so yah slept, girl. Ain't nothin' more ta say about it."

Biting her bottom lip, Tamara reached out and slid one hand up his chest from his stomach to his shoulder and then around and up his neck so that her fingers twisted into the long hair at the nape of his neck. Lowering her voice she dropped her gaze to his lips, "If I don't get yah alone soon, Daryl, I won't be held responsible for my actions."

His quick grin and large hand palming her ass made her look up into his eyes as they darkened to navy while she watched, "Tonight, darlin'," he promised, "We'll go up ta our tower and spend the night."

"Promise?" she asked breathlessly.

He leaned in, his mouth a moment away from hers, "Promise, girl."

When their lips met it felt like they hadn't kissed in days and within a few seconds, Daryl's hand was sliding under her t-shirt as she moaned into his mouth and pressed hard against him.

The sound of Emmy talking baby-nonsense to herself in her cot had them pulling away slowly, their chests heaving to try and catch their breath as Tamara righted her shirt and turned to lift their daughter out of her cot and set her on her hip. "See yah out at our tower when it's dark, Dixon," she smiled before slipping past him and out of the cell before he could drag her back in for another heart-pounding kiss.

The rest of the day went quickly after that. Tamara helped feed those that were healthy enough to leave A Block and the others that were trying to clean up the yard and fix the fences after the breach by walkers the night before. Once that was finished she left Emmy with Nell and Max and took some hot porridge and jerky to those that were still healing from the sickness and couldn't leave A Block yet, Glenn being one of them.

"How's Glenn doing?" She asked Maggie who had come to the door of A Block to take the large pot full of steaming oats from Tamara, Lizzie taking the stack of bowls and spoons from Carl who had volunteered to help the small brunette carry the food to the sick.

The taller woman smiled quickly, "He's gettin' stronger an' stronger every day."

Breathing out a sigh, Tamara nodded, "That's so good, sweetheart."

Maggie looked her over, "Is everyone else okay?"

Nodding Tamara slid her hands into the pockets of her jeans, "Yeah, no one else has come down with the sickness 'nd Hershel said that now that yah all have the medication, the deaths have stopped all together."

Maggie looked tired but happy, "I better get back with this food," she motioned to the pot in her hands, "Give Emmy a kiss from me."

Tamara's smile widened into a happy grin, "I'll do that, take care of yerself and that husband of yours, darlin'."

With a nod, the younger woman turned and walked back into A Block, closing the door behind Lizzie and herself before moving away to hand out bowls of porridge and jerky strips.

As dusk fell on the prison, Tamara sighed, taking Emmy to her and Daryl's cell and settling the little girl to sleep before speaking softly to Beth, asking the blonde to check in on the little girl. When she agreed, Tamara readied a small bag with some food and water and grabbed a blanket. Slipping out of C Block she saw Daryl leaning against the side of their guard tower as she walked down the small incline toward him. The red cherry of a lit cigarette hanging between his lips shone in the gathering darkness and he had his crossbow leaning against the wall behind him, his large buck knife and a whet stone in his hands as he sharpened the blade. His left foot was braced flat against the wall at his back and in the dim light she could see that his eyes and a lot of his face was obscured by the tangle of his grown out hair. She bit her lip and admired the way his broad shoulders were emphasized by his grey-green shirt with its ripped out sleeves. He wasn't wearing his leather vest with its angel wings sewn into the back and he had lost a button at the bottom of the shirt, exposing a triangle of sun-kissed skin and part of the dark line of hair that ran from below his navel down past his belt and the waistband of his ripped work pants. Biting her lip she felt a tingle of heat race down her spine and it only strengthened when he looked up at the sound of her soft footsteps and slid his whet stone into his back pocket before he clipped his knife into its sheath at his hip.

"Yer early, Dixon," she murmured cheekily stopping within his reach, "Impatient?"

His eyes slid down her form, and the shiver of heat turned into a jolt of passion singing through her blood before he pushed off the wall and caught up his bow. Slinging the strap across his chest so that the weapon sat snuggly against his back, he dropped the butt of his cigarette to the cement and ground it out under his boot. She watched him step forward and he twisted his hand into her dark waves before jerking her against his hard chest and slanting his mouth over hers possessively. She eagerly tasted the smoke on his tongue.

When he pulled away he looked down at her like a man that had been starved for too long, "What do yah think, woman?"

Tamara moaned and pressed as close to him as she could, "Take me ta bed, Daryl."

He growled at her words and kissed her breathless again before he turned and wrapped a large calloused hand around her own and then led her into their tower. They made it up to the small room at the top of the tower before he pounced. Tamara barely had enough time to drop her backpack and then Daryl was pressing her against the rough plaster beside the huge windows lining every wall of the lookout tower.

"Someone's gonna see us, Daryl," she gasped out as his lips slipped to her neck and his work-hardened hands slid under the hem of her shirt and tank top.

He ignored her, marking her neck before he pulled her hard against his chest and growled, "This shirt's mine, girl. Take it off."

Breathless with need, Tamara reached up and unbuttoned the shirt she was wearing, sliding it off her shoulders and dropping it to the floor at their feet, the grey tank top she had on underneath joining it a moment later. Daryl's mouth claimed hers as soon as she dropped the garments and he turned them both, wrapped a muscle-hardened arm around her waist and walked her backward until her heels hit the edge of their mattress. They sunk down onto the soft pallet, still intertwined and Tamara moaned as his hand slid from her hip, over her waist and ribs, to cup her breast and kneed it eagerly.

He only broke away to grab the collar of his shirt with one hand and drag his shirt over his head. Heart pounding, Tamara reached for his belt, unbuckling it as he sucked and licked at the pulse point on the side of her neck and the sensitive flesh behind her ear.

The rest of their clothes were shed quickly and then there was nothing but the two of them and their love.

A few hours later, Tamara was curled into Daryl's side as he sat staring out the windows at the multitudes of stars strewn across the velvet black of the sky, "What are yah thinkin' about?" she asked softly, her fingers drawing random patterns into the warm skin of his chest and stomach as she marvelled at how much heat he always seemed to throw out.

He chewed at the inside of his lip for a moment and then laced his fingers through her hair when he answered, "Rick sent Carol away."

The abrupt way he said those words made Tamara's heart squeeze in worry. Sitting up she clasped the bed sheet to her chest and looked at him, "What? Why?"

He dropped his eyes to her, the darkness shadowing them so that she couldn't read his emotions, "She killed Karen and David to try and stop the sickness from spreading. Tyreese don't know so we gotta just leave it alone."

Tears started to build in Tamara's eyes and she felt panic well up inside her, "But she's gotta come back. She's all alone out there, Daryl. Do yah know what happens ta women when they ain't got a group?"

His face darkened and he sat up fully and wrapped his hands around her upper arms keeping her focus on him so he could keep her as calm as possible, "She's strong, girl. She's gonna be fine."

A tear slid down Tamara's cheeks and she closed her eyes as her breathing quickened, "We have to go get her back, Daryl. She's family."

Helplessly he pulled her into his arms and held her tight to him, "I'm sorry, darlin'," he muttered into her ear as she trembled against him on the verge of losing control completely and dissolving into sobs. Slowly she calmed down until she was just sniffling against his chest every so often and Daryl pulled back to look her in the eyes, his finger crooked under her chin, "She's gonna be fine, darlin'," he stared into her eyes intently so that she would believe him, "We're gonna see her again."

Tamara nodded silently and then moved forward to kiss him, needing the reassurance of his touch and the feel of him drawing her down to the mattress again to calm the nightmares and worry threatening to resurface and overwhelm her.

Early the next morning they redressed and made their way back to C Block never noticing the lone dark figure that stood at the treeline near the front gate watching and waiting.