So he crawled into bed with her, watching her closely for signals, a sign that he should either stop or proceed. Daryl didn't have to study her that hard- the sly grin on her face told her everything he needed to know. Still, he wanted to make sure he was doing the right thing.

"You ok?" he muttered as he pulled the cover up over his chest.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay."

Both of them waited with anticipation for the other to make the first move. But with Daryl's relative lack of experience with women and Carol's terrible history with men, it appeared as if they had come to a standstill. Carol looked at him eagerly, waiting to see what his next move would be.

He pulled her close to him, and held her for a few minutes. In a way, whatever happened next did not matter. He'd come to her, and she allowed him so close to her, so that any of their prior disagreements or hurts did not matter. They had the night, and for the moment, it was more than either of them had allowed themselves to expect or hope for.

They'd been together on several occasions before, but none like this. This wasn't hurt or comfort sex, although there was something to be said about that. It wasn't angry sex. It was two consenting adults, two willing participants who'd committed to share themselves with one another on that particular night.

He touched her hair, as if he could brush it away from her face. Of course, he couldn't , but that wasn't the point He wanted to know her, to show her how he felt. Words had always failed him- his brother Merle had always claimed that Daryl was the dummy of the family- but that didn't matter. Not tonight.

He observed her flinching, what she was afraid of he didn't know. But instead he pulled her even tighter to him and whispered in her ear. "It's okay. "

Somehow it appeared like she believed him. Obviously she did, for she kissed a trail of kisses along his neckline, his jaw, his forehead. It took awhile before their lips met, but once they did, there was no turning back. Not this time.

Gently but firmly rolling Carol over onto her back, his weight was now firmly pressed against her, and he touched her face, not as before, but as in a reassuring way. She was who she was and whether or not it was love, it meant something to him.

0000

Grabbing onto his shirt and then furiously trying to remove it, she finally succeeded and it seemed to him as if he were a bit self-conscious. She knew the feeling well. But if he had any hesitations, he didn't show them. He returned the favor, pulling her nightgown over her head and then he took in the sight of her. Before he'd always thought her kind of pretty, but tonight she looked absolutely beautiful.

With her encouragement, Daryl placed her hand over her chest, he knew that she was also a bit self-conscious. She didn't have a whole lot to work with, but that didn't bother Daryl. She was stunning in the moonlit night.

0000

Eagerly she tugged at his jeans, tossing them neatly nearby should they get caught, heaven forbid. But for right now she didn't care about that, she only wanted to be with him.

She slid her hand down the front of his underwear, caressing him slowly but surely, feeling his reaction and delighting in the fact that she was the cause of it. Sliding down slowly, she turned him onto his back and showed him without words just how much he'd come to mean to her. He returned the favor, and she savored the moment that she'd been daydreaming about all week.

Hungrily he climbed back on top of her, this time entering her and worked furiously to accomplish his mission. He hadn't really known Ed that well, but Daryl knew that he'd been an asshole, so he tried to make up for it by being as gentle and easy as he could be.

0000

Fuck that. She needed him then and there and under the force of his weight her rhythms quickly matched his, as it was apparently a contest to see who could make who come first. Daryl won, at least that night.

0000

Both eager and fast learners, they found themselves enjoying their evening so much that they didn't even hear the strange noise coming from outside. That was, not until it was nearly too late.

TBC