BROKEN

Chapter 45 - Lauren

I had a quick dinner and chatted with the girls awhile after my fiasco in Radway. It was getting late, and I was ready to crash. I thanked Carol for the meal, and when I got up, I caught Daryl's eye. We said goodnight to everyone and headed upstairs. Once we got inside our bedroom, I just melted into his arms. I was exhausted, but I still needed him. We must have stayed that way for a minute or two. I could feel the beating of his heart through his shirt. I needed that comfort that I had always found in his embrace.

"I almost lost you tonight," Daryl said softly. He tightened his hold on me, it was like he wanted to make sure I was still there.

"But you didn't. We've all been in close scrapes before...this one was just a bit...closer than usual," I whispered back.

"I don't doubt your ability, but we can't know what could happen. Don't take those chances again...please." He wouldn't look at me but just kept holding onto me.

Daryl never said 'please.' I wasn't sure he even knew the word, but for him to say it now, I knew how upset he was. "I won't take any unnecessary chances again, and I will follow the rules we set up. Every day we go out is a chance...but I'll be more careful. I promise."

I finally lifted my head from his shoulder and looked up into his eyes. Daryl was never one to show much emotion, but tonight was different. He relaxed with my promise. I saw a softness that I had never seen before, a peacefulness about him that had never existed before now. The urge to kiss him overwhelmed me, so I lifted my lips to his, first gently then I responded to the hunger I felt coming from him.

My hands slipped his leather vest off his body, and it dropped to the floor, then I unbuttoned his shirt, and it followed making a soft thud. He pushed me back towards the bed and only when I felt it hit me behind my legs did we separate. He pulled my shirt up over my head tossing it aside, and my bra soon joined it on the floor.

Daryl kissed me again with an urgency that I could feel all the way to my toes. I was losing myself in his kiss, as I knew I would...as I always did. No other man had ever made me feel this way. I wanted him more than I ever thought was possible to want anyone.

We fumbled with our pants finally kicking them off in our haste. I lay down on the bed, and Daryl quickly climbed up and lay down next to me. He pressed his lips to mine tenderly sat first, then I deepened the kiss, and he eagerly joined me. I could not get enough of his hands. Each caress sent sparks throughout my body, and the room was filled with soft moans and passionate kisses. I could feel Daryl's hard erection pressing against me. His lips traveled all over my bare flesh, as my fingers intertwined in his hair. The temperature in the room rose dramatically.

I took the initiative and turned my body to face his. I hooked my leg around him so that when I turned onto my back, I pulled Daryl on top of me. I was desperate for him. I raised my knees allowing him access to my wet sensitive sex. Daryl smiled at me and my aggressiveness, and with one swift movement of his hips and he was inside me. I cried out in ecstasy, while Daryl groaned deeply. Together our joined bodies moved faster and faster until neither of us could take it anymore. First mine and then Daryl's body began to tremble as the waves of our climaxes took us over the edge. The boundaries of control were completely lost as we both fell into the abyss.

We laid together for a while our bodies stuck together with the sweat our loving making had brought. Daryl finally slid off of me and together we brought the bed covers over us. There was a slight chill in the night air. I lay in the crook of his arm until he turned on his side to face me. His rough fingers rested on my cheek. "I love you," he said simply and quietly. "I never knew what love was... until you."

My eyes filled with tears, those damn silly stupid happy tears that only came out when I was overwhelmed with joy. "I love you too. I've waited a long time to hear those words from you, and it was all worth it. Every time you growled at me or didn't talk to me or treated me like a kid sister was worth it because I know now you loved me then...you just didn't know it."

"You're right," he said wiping away my tears with his hand. "I was scared of what you made me feel, so I did what I always did... I fought back. I don't want to fight anymore."

"You don't have to Daryl. I'm here... I'm yours, and I'm not going anywhere." I hoped he believed in me...in us. He hadn't had an easy life before the turn coming from a loveless, abusive family. He was a better man now than before. He had become his own man, not a shadow of his crazy brother. Daryl had found the family and the trust he had never had before, and he had finally found love...with me.

His face suddenly became serious, a look I knew all too well. He intertwined his fingers on his right hand with mine. I was getting nervous until the corner of his mouth lifted into a small smile. "Marry me." He spoke the two words every woman in love waited to hear.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" I told him raining kissing all over his handsome face. He did believe.