AN: Well, what have I done? The mojo came back…sorta…and so I figured I should actually do something to earn that M Rating. This one is dedicated to my best buddy Tam, aka RaizingKain2001 (I think that's right?) who had me giggling away most of tonight. Anyway, I am a terrible judge so would appreciate hearing what you might think of this. Keep it? Delete it? Let me know!

Epilogue

"I can't believe you let me off prison grounds. I thought I was serving hard time for my crimes." Carol buried her face into the back of Daryl's vest and breathed him in, a grin on her lips and her arms embracing his waist in a tight hug. The bike idled in front of a lonely store—the only sign of civilization for miles—as Daryl contemplated the risk of stopping and staying.

"Pffft. I ain't never been able to stop your ass from doin' whatever you want to do. You keep squeezin' me like that, though, an' I might have to lock you up when we get back."

"Promise?"

"Stop."

Carol chuckled and climbed out from behind him, immediately missing the thrum of the bike's motor as it vibrated between her legs. Daryl's warmth was a substantial loss, too, but she had plans to remedy that. Having had the decision on whether to stop made for him, he sighed before he shut off the bike and ambled along behind her. He plucked his bow off the back of his bike, checked that his knife was hanging at his hip, then aimed a serious and pointed look at Carol. She rolled her eyes and moved behind him, her hand resting on his hip, the little intimacy thrilling her completely. It wasn't routine, this hanging onto him, but Carol found it was so natural to her now that she couldn't stop reaching out to touch him, to connect with him whenever he was near. His presence was a compulsion that she just couldn't let go of. She loved him so deeply she almost sank into him every chance she got, and lately he'd been giving her lots of chances.

"What story did you tell Rick to let us leave?" she asked, listening carefully for any signs of moans or shuffling dead feet behind them.

"Like I need his permission," Daryl scoffed and Carol hid another smile. He paused, shoulders stiff, then suddenly they slumped and he lowered his head in defeat. "Told him we needed to go find shit for the kids."

"Ahhh, a run," she said knowingly, choking on the urge to laugh out loud. "Code for wanting to get out and screw around without a prison full of eyes watching on and taking notes."

Daryl's boots scraped against gravel as he dragged to a stop and Carol waited with baited breath. He spun on his heel, gave her a menacing look then abruptly hauled her in for a hard kiss. "You're an evil witch," he declared before kissing her again, leaving her breathless and with eyes full of dreams.

"Hmmm," she murmured, a giddy grin quirking her lips. "But I bet you love the spell I put on you."

Daryl rolled his eyes, contemplating her with a hungry look that made his baby blues burn with promised retribution. "Rick knows the score," he pointed out, a not-so-subtle pout on his lips for being caught out. "Man's just jealous he ain't got the balls to start goin' on runs with Michonne."

Carol did laugh then, knowing full well how Rick's eyes followed their resident Xena-Warrior Woman around like she was his own personal guide to the Holy Grail. She danced up close to him, a compulsive, happy smile lightening her face. "You wanna talk about who has balls now?"

"Woman, you outta know." He gently shoved her away with his elbow, smiling shyly as his ears turned pink right at the tips. She was utterly enthralled at how he still blushed like a little boy, despite being as physically and emotionally exposed to each other as they had been. He continued on to the store and Carol held back as he shook the door, then waited to see if anything came stumbling toward it. Everything stayed quiet for a tense couple of minutes and then Daryl struggled with the door a minute before it suddenly let loose and opened. The store was small, little more than a convenience out in the middle of nowhere, and while Carol covered the front for any signs of life—or death—he searched the inside.

"All clear," he called out finally and Carol entered, scanning quickly the shelves and finding none of top of the list essentials they were always on alert for but discovering plenty of things people often passed right over—colouring in books and coloured pencils, a few games to pass the time, and about three skipping ropes. She grinned happily, already seeing in her mind the children back at the prison doing something other than weapons training and garden maintenance. A little playtime was healthy for a child's development—as well as teaching them how to survive.

Daryl strutted up behind her, wrapping his arms around her middle and pulled her back into his chest, his lips nuzzling at her neck. "You need a reminder?"

"Here?" Of course here, she knew they hadn't really come all the way out there just to look for kids games, but it was far more fun to string him along and play the naïve girlfriend occasionally.

"Yeah, there's a room in back with a bed and everything," he growled in her ear and a shiver of desire wriggled its way down her spine.

"You need a bed now?" There was an incredulous edge to her mocking and she could feel his body shake against hers with silent laughter.

"Thought you were a lady," he accused, blowing warm air against the line of her neck he'd just been licking and nibbling. "Plenty o'trees outside. A bit of wildlife with their sex never hurt anyone."

"I beg to differ. I swear I still have splinters in my back from the last time," she teased cheekily.

"Yeah," he admitted, suddenly remorseful and sheepish. His forehead hit her shoulder and she could feel the heat from his body press against her. "You know I'm sorry 'bout that."

Carol twirled around, reaching up to wind her arms around his neck, and melted at the warm look in his eyes as he looked down on her through the shaggy hairstyle he seemed to now prefer. He'd come so far but still liked to hide when things pushed him too hard.

"You don't have to keep apologising."

"Yeah, I do. Shoulda known better. Shoulda been more careful with you." He was severely disappointed in himself for hurting her, Carol knew it, and she couldn't help but think it made him even more adorable.

"It wasn't like I didn't get anything out of it." Her hand wandered playfully down his chest, stroking his belt buckle suggestively. He swatted her away playfully before backing her toward the back room.

"Oh yeah? What? An appreciation for the outdoors?"

Her nose crinkled up and she grinned. "An abiding love of nature might be something we never share. I don't ever want to sleep in a tent again for as long as I live."

He looked disappointed and Carol threw her arms around him and hugged him hard, trying desperately to hide the laughter that was building from the depths of her belly. It was amazing to her how happy within this relationship she was. It was a happiness she'd never felt before with a man.

"What? You too good for that now? What if we have to leave the prison?"

Carol froze, the actual thought not too far from her mind lately. With so many people joining their fledgling community, more walkers seemed to be attracted to them, starting to pile up and threaten the stability of the fence. If a major herd descended on them at once, they didn't have a chance on getting everyone out, and even if they did, a wandering band of thirty to forty people were a walking target just asking to die. They'd be roughing it even worse than they had before.

She looked up, her expression intent and heartfelt. "If we do, I follow you. It doesn't matter what we have to do or where we have to go, as long as I'm with you, I'll be happy. With so many people, though…" Carol's thoughts scattered the second his lips pressed against hers, insistently forcing the words off her tongue as he tangled it up with his. She willingly surrendered the worrying thoughts, happily gave in to the smooth, slow way Daryl knew how to seduce her with his mouth.

When he drew back, breath ragged, Carol ran her fingers slowly from his brow, down over his cheek and ended up lingering at his lips. Her heart was thumping hard in her chest, telling her now was the time to forget about everything else but each other, to head to that back room and make use of the bed Daryl had found. Whatever her heart was telling her was too late, however, one beat behind as Daryl swept her off her feet and strode determinedly toward the bed. He didn't throw her on it like she'd expected he would. He carefully set her upright, moving so that he'd pressed his forehead against hers, the intimacy another link in the magic he'd created between them.

"Saw you talkin' to Maggie before we left. They okay?"

His concern squeezed at her heart. Carol cupped his face in both her hands and drew him in for a slow, sweet kiss.

"She's not pregnant." She kissed him again, loving the sigh he released into her mouth and the slow, tentative way he began to explore her taste, her softness with his tongue. He caressed her lips with his own, licked the inside of her bottom lip and sent rivers of desire bolting through her bloodstream.

"That what they wanted?" The words were husky, as if coming from a dry as dust throat, fighting through a haze of billowing lust.

"Yeah. Think so." Her top was suddenly whipped over her head and tossed to the floor as her staccato words seemed to filter through the fog and register in his head.

"How 'bout you?"

His shirt and vest slid off his broad shoulders without any trouble and she was working on his belt buckle when the question bossed its way through her preoccupation with getting him naked.

"Huh?"

His irises had darkened with desire and Carol felt lost in them, felt her senses zero out until she felt warm and fuzzy and brilliantly alive. Time seemed to ground out to a slow motion event that she barely could break through to touch him. Her hand fluttered against his chest, hovering over his heart and her breath hitched uncomfortably as her finger traced his collarbone and her lips found the pounding pulse at the base of his throat.

"You ever wonder…about us…" His rough hands swept up her sides and came together at her back, releasing the clasp on her bra. She loved how it felt when his thick, calloused fingers rubbed against her nipples, teasing them into sweet agony.

"I try not to think about it." Fire licked down the trail of his fingertips as he ran them up and down her sides, across her breasts, squeezing lightly before diverting back to her pants. The snap was released and they dropped to her ankles. She shuddered in his arms as he bit gently on her shoulder, working his mouth and tongue up her neck until his voice was a low, husky grumble in her ear.

"It ain't like we're bein' too careful."

He attacked her with a kiss before she could reply and as he sucked on her tongue, his hands all over her like the impatient hunter that he was, Carol tried to work out what exactly was his point.

"Hmmm, low risk. Why, you want a baby now, Pookie?"

He stopped what he was doing and stepped back so abruptly Carol nearly fell over, having relied so much on his strong body to keep her pliant, desire-soaked limbs upright. He was panting hard, his body showing all evidence that he wanted her, and wanted her now, and yet he was looking at her with a blush burning on his face where she could see through his overgrown whiskers and the usual dirt and bangs. He looked so adorable, standing there naked, pants around his boots, a scowl on his face.

"Pookie? Seriously? I ask you how you'd feel about possibly gettin' pregnant and you call me Pookie?"

"Would you prefer Boo?" He looked so insulted that Carol couldn't hold in the laugh, her hand quickly trying to cover her mouth before she could do much damage.

"I'm tryin' to be serious."

She threw herself into his arms, her own winding around his neck to hold herself securely against him and she rested her forehead against his heart. "I know. I'm sorry." Pulling back so she could look at him properly, Carol sighed and tried to reason out what she wanted to say. "Daryl, I'm not exactly young anymore. The chances of getting pregnant at all are pretty low, but if it happened, I'd deal with it. I don't want to think about it and start hoping and wishing, either way. If it happens, I'll be happy, I promise. If it doesn't, I'll still be happy. I just want to be happy with you. Is that okay?"

He answered with a kiss that almost burned her lips off, ravaging her mouth, tongue flickering and darting against her teeth, her lips, her tongue until she was so confused and frenzied to catch him up that she was almost whimpering with the fever of it.

By the time she thought she was catching up, he tore his mouth away, his wicked tongue discovering new paths down her neck and across her chest until he was consuming her breasts and he was pushing her back onto the bed. Her head hit the pillow the second his mouth latched hold of her nipple, sucking it deep into his mouth and flicking it with his tongue. Carol arched her back, hands searching for him so she could pull him down on top of her, needing to know flesh on flesh and the heat that always blistered between them.

A delighted cry escaped her when the busy fingers from one hand started to make sweet circles between her legs, gathering up a slick of moisture to dampen her clit, eliciting more so that he could tease her into senselessness. Sensation ramped up even further when his mouth abandoned her breasts and seemed to lick a path down her abdomen, swirling around her bellybutton before completing his objective to catch her swollen nub between his lips. Carol writhed beneath him, loving his tongue as it swept and licked at her trembling walls, nipping occasionally at the flesh of her inner thighs then seizing back to her clit until she was panting and writhing helplessly on the bed.

She exploded on his tongue, her body compulsively riding the thing that gave her so much pleasure and before the soaked, heavy feeling abated, he pulled back and pushed his rigid length deep inside her, Carol stretching accommodatingly around him.

"Daryl." His name was a prayer on her lips, a litany leading to an eruption of words steeped in kindness and love. He was kissing her deeply, pumping frenetically into her, his big hand grasping at her hip so he could manipulate her position, angle his thrusts better, and then suddenly he slowed, his hand relaxing and finding purchase at her thigh as it curled over his ass, his lips seeking some kind of solace from her that he'd never asked for before. She felt herself tightening around him, a shimmering euphoria breaking free and Carol cried out, tearing away from his mouth and laughing with pure delight as he buried his face against her neck and continued to pump into her. Her walls fluttered around his cock and she felt every single inch, reacted to every vibration with an arch in her back and a whimper on her lips. At last he popped, her physical reaction spurring him on until with an erotic vibration he came, splashing her cervix with his seed. He held himself still above her, his chest heaving from exertion, and he bestowed a loving kiss on her cheek before rubbing his lips softly against hers.

"Hmmmm, didja like that, Buttercup?" He smirked, tucking his face into his chest as his body gave in to the need for collapse, snuggling in to her for all he was worth.

Winding her arms around him and hugging him tight, Carol nibbled on his ear, blowing his wispy hair out of her face when it got stuck to her lips. "I've maybe had better," she teased. "That tree was hard to beat."

"Maybe I need to try again." He was already trekking his pointy finger up over her ribs and to her breast, his lust-filled eyes almost obliterating her senses.

Carol grinned, looking all dreamy. "Oh, Pookie, I was hoping you were going to say that."

The End

And I mean it this time! I hope I didn't ruin the original end for you by adding this.