Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or its characters.

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~ Authors Note ~

This is where my Bethyl Smut Week 2K18 prompt submissions will be posted.

Each chapter will be a stand-alone smutty one-shot.

They will be posted one a day until Saturday, and then Sunday we have the return of The Walking Dead!

I'm so excited, anyone else excited!?

Here we go, I would love some feedback and I hope you enjoy my little stories 😉

xoxo

Breathe

(After Beth has a close call with death, Daryl takes her back to the funeral home where they thoroughly remind each other how alive they truly are.)

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Daryl's heart raced as he dragged an unconscious Beth from the lake before dropping to his knees in the soggy grass next to her still form. He placed his ear over her parted lips not feeling a breath exhale from her lungs and when he looked at her chest it was still and silent. He pressed his shaking fingers to her throat but couldn't feel a pulse and after he took a breath to calm himself he pushed away the panic and despair that threatened to eat him alive at the idea of losing her.

He was glad he had paid attention to Sasha when she had thought their group CPR at the prison because he knew if he did this wrong he would do more harm than good. He placed the heel of his right hand on her chest and placed the other on top and started compressions to get her lungs working and her heart beating.

"Come on Beth, breathe," he pleaded as he continued his compressions for nearly a minute before stopping. Seeing she still wasn't breathing he shoved the clawing panic down and tilted her head back and lifted her chin before he pinched her nose and placed his lips on hers to breathe life from his lungs into hers. After a couple breaths he started the chest compressions again and he could feel tears pooling in his eyes before rolling down his cheeks when nothing seemed to help her.

"Fuck Beth come on, breathe!" he snarled as the panic clawed up his throat to escape his lips in a broken sob.

Again he pinched her nose and sealed her mouth with his and breathed air from his lungs into hers before pulling back to compress her chest repeatedly. He knew he'd do this all night if he had to, he just prayed that the walker that had pulled her under the water for so long hadn't gotten a bite out of her; then all this would be for nothing.

"Don't do this Beth, please. Ye can't leave me. Damn it!"

Just as he finished his last compression she coughed harshly as water spewed from her mouth and Daryl choked on his surprised breath and rolled her onto her side so she could empty her lungs of water. She gasped and spluttered as the water left her body and her hand grasped the wet grass beneath her. She heaved air into her burning lungs before falling onto her back and staring up at the murky grey sky.

She suddenly noticed Daryl next her with his hand tangled in her wet hair while the other gripped her hip as if anchoring her here with him.

"Beth, you alrigh'?" he gasped his eyes full of fear like she had never seen before.

She nodded afraid to speak through her aching throat as the helpless terrifying memory of drowning came back to her making her eyes mist. She sobbed suddenly and seeing this Daryl gathered her into his arms and held her tight against his beating heart.

"You're alrigh' sweetheart. I got ye, you're okay," he murmured into her ear reassuring himself as much as her as he held her while she sobbed. He knew she was in a state of shock just like him and he stroked her back in soothing circles to help calm her while she clung to him with her arms wrapped around him to clutch tight to the wings on the back of his leather vest. Soon she began to settle against him as her heaving cries ended in sniffles against his chest.

"Thank you," she gasped and he looked down at her to see gratitude shining in her eyes making him equal amounts uncomfortable and proud.

"You're welcome," he smirked at her making her smile. He began to return it but he remembered the walker and his smile faltered as he swallowed before asking, "The walker, did it…?"

"No it didn't bite me Daryl, I'm okay. I promise." She smiled softly at him and before he knew what he was doing her head was in his hands and his lips were parting hers as he kissed her roughly.

Beth returned it immediately, pleased he wasn't being so gentle with her like he had in the past. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself into his lap, needing to feel more of him against her. She sucked on his exploring tongue and bit his lip making him groan into her mouth and just as her hips rolled against his he pulled back with a gasp. She giggled as she watched him restrain himself from taking her in the open clearing that surrounded that damned lake.

"We should head back home, can't do this here it's too dangerous."

"I know," she huffed in annoyance. After coming so close to dying and leaving him alone in this hell she wanted to feel him inside her again, wanted her blood to heat the coldness she could feel spreading from her chest.

They stood and after Daryl removed his leather jacket to wrap her in its soothing warm embrace they made their way back to the funeral home they had been calling home for the past two months. It was slow going as they both had little energy after their exhausting adventure by the lake and they had just made it back when the sun was beginning to disappear behind the horizon giving the graveyard a warm orange glow as they passed through it. Willie their scruffy one-eyed dog which Beth had named after the skeleton in 'The Goonies' – to Daryl's annoyance – was sitting on the porch waiting there for them like a good guard dog refusing to leave his post until they returned.

"Damn dog," Daryl grumbled in exasperation when Willie went straight for him as they ascended the steps of the wide porch. Beth knew he had actually grown fond of the dog over the past few weeks and she could hear it by the amusement that coated his exasperated tone.

A couple hours later after a change of clothes and a warm meal of rabbit stew they retired to bed. Daryl hadn't left her side since they got back and he clung to her now as he wrapped his arms around her after getting under the warm covers of the bed. He held her to his chest and she could feel him press his lips to her hair before breathing her in and her heart swelled with love for him.

They hadn't reached the stage in their young relationship where they exchanged I love you's but Beth knew he loved her and she knew Daryl was aware she loved him in return. It was in their actions, their eyes and touches. She had felt his love for her radiate from his skin and eyes the first time they had made love. It had been her first time ever and he had been terrified of hurting her, he had been so delicate with her then and most times they made love since. Sometimes though, he would lose control and fuck her until she screamed and trembled but he seemed afraid to let himself go there again, until he'd lose that tight control once more.

They had been very slow in exploring one another because he had such a tight rein on himself at all times. She could admit to herself however that she did the same as him, she was afraid to let loose the primal part of her that just wanted to fuck him herself; to take him, but she was afraid she would scare him away, she had learned when they had first started this relationship that Daryl didn't do well with surprises.

She knew Daryl would never initiate sex especially after her scare today but she needed him. She never felt more alive and warm than when Daryl was thrusting his cock inside her. Luckily they had a few condoms left before they needed to restock and she planned on making good use of them over the next couple of hours.

She began by slowly hiking her leg across his and kissing the warm skin of his shoulder while she traced her fingers up into the hairs on his chest.

"Beth…" She lifted her head and kissed him before he could protest with some silly reason that he thought was for her benefit.

"I need you Daryl," she whispered against his lips and caught his eyes by the candle light glowing in the room. "I need you to remind me that I'm alive and here with you," she said and she felt his throat work beneath her fingers in answer. She trailed her fingers down his chest and stomach teasingly before cupping his hardening length through his boxers. She nibbled his lip before sucking it into her mouth to soothe while she sneaked her hand into his underwear to caress the hardening silky girth of his cock.

"Want this," she stated huskily and he groaned as she squeezed him with her fingers before sliding her hand up his shaft to massage his already leaking head. She gathered the wetness and dragged it down his shaft to his balls which she cupped and rolled in her hand, he plunged his tongue into her mouth and moaned his appreciation.

God, but she loved to drag those sounds from his throat, she wanted to make him lose control of himself.

He groaned when she removed her hand from his underwear and spit her saliva into her palm before spreading it along his shaft so her palm and fingers could easily glide up and down his thick length. She kicked the blanket off their heated skin needing to watch as she worked him up and after pushing his underwear further down his legs she rested her head on his stomach so she could watch her hand squeeze the reddening head of his twitching cock.

"Fuck Beth," he moaned before she felt him huff in amusement at her position. "You enjoyin' the view?" he asked the back of her head while he threaded his fingers into her loose locks and untangled any knots without thought as she pleasured him. She hummed her affirmation before suddenly taking him into her mouth making him jerk and her gag.

"Shit 'm sorry Beth."

"Don't be," she said with a wicked smile after she had removed his boxers completely and repositioned herself between his spread legs. "You don't always have to be so gentle with me Daryl, I won't break."

She took him into her mouth and worked her tongue against the sensitive underside of the head of his cock before fully sucking him into her throat and swallowing him. He growled and gripped her hair as her head bobbed as she repeatedly sucked him to the back of her throat. She loved doing this to him and he had often woken up to find her beneath the blanket learning how best to please him.

"Fuck stop Beth, I wanna taste ye," he growled as he pulled her off his twitching length. "Come on up, sit on my face," he said, and he grinned when her eyes widened in surprise and excitement.

He had gone down on her before, more times than she had on him – which he made sure of – but she had never done it in this position before and it made her a little nervous.

She stood from the bed and pulled her sleep shirt over her head leaving her in just her panties which she slowly removed while Daryl watched attentively making her smirk cheekily at him as she began crawling up his body with a nervous excitement dancing inside her. She bit her lip as she straddled his chest and his rough hands roamed up her thighs and hips as he looked up at her in anticipation.

"Come on girl," he patted her ass impatiently with a smirk, "gis a taste." She blushed and scowled playfully making him chuckle before she sighed as if this was a chore for her – which earned her a light slap on her ass – before she gripped the headboard and kneeled over his mouth.

She twitched when she felt his breath tickle her folds which was followed by his lips as he kissed her tenderly making her shiver. Beth looked down to see him open his eyes and look up at her before he parted her folds with his tongue and licked a long strip up to her twitching nub. She gasped as his wet tongue circled her clit before descending and penetrating her tight opening making her moan and grip the headboard as her hips moved on him in desire for more stimulation.

"Oh God, Daryl," Beth moaned.

He suddenly sucked her swollen clit into his mouth and flicked his tongue around it and her head fell back from the delicious pleasure it sparked along her nerves; setting them alight. Her hips rolled and he gripped them tightly to keep her steady and she would have tried to help keep still but his mouth was driving her wild as he licked, nipped and sucked her into a place where all she could think and feel was delectable toe-curling pleasure.

His scruff scratched and tickled the sensitive skin of her needy pussy as it throbbed against his wandering tongue and teeth. She quickly began to feel a welcomed pressure develop in her lower tummy heralding an oncoming orgasm which only made her hips cant more desperately.

"Fuck, don't stop. Please don't stop, that's it, right there," she cried, and he focused all his attention right where she needed it and her eyes rolled back in her head while he held her as still as he could before she ruptured into pure pleasure-firing nerves with a loud moaning cry to the ceiling before she gasped in a breath and shook above her lover who watched her enraptured by the vision she made spiraling above him.

She slumped against the headboard mindful not to smother Daryl who caressed any bit of her skin he could reach. "Fuck, should'a done that sooner," he professed huskily making her huff a laugh.

After a moment she moved down his chest to reposition herself above his hard leaking cock and after wiping his soaked mouth he said, "Wait," and reached over to the nightstand and plucked a condom from its box. He ripped the wrapper open with his teeth and rolled it onto his thick length with a hiss before locking dark eyes with her own. She leant forward to take his lips and plunge her tongue into his eager mouth, tasting herself, and she nipped his lips hungrily.

"Fuck Beth, nearly lost ye today," he whispered against her trembling lips, "Can't do this without ye, don't wanna," he declared in a strained timbre.

"I know me either. That scared me today too, I came so close…," Beth gasped in remembrance, she hated being reminded of their mortality in this world and she felt Daryl's safe protective arms wrap around her tightly making her eyes haze with tears at the reality of their lives. Neither knew when their time was going to be up and in this world it could be as early as the next hour; as they were brutally reminded that morning.

"We just got to live each moment and be prepared for what may happen," she said, although she was sure that out of the two of them it would be Daryl who survived the longest. "We just gotta keep going even if…," she trailed off not wanting to get too deep into such a serious discussion just when they were about to make love.

"I love you," she gasped suddenly, tired of being afraid to say the words she had felt for longer than she could remember. His eyes widened at her sudden proclamation but she didn't see an ounce of fear residing there, all she saw was awe and love brimming from within him.

"Love ye too Beth," he murmured and when she saw his eyes begin to tear up she gripped his cheeks and kissed him deeply. He returned her hungry kiss just as desperately before she sat up and grasped his cock in her hand and lined him up with her tight heat.

She gasped as she pushed down onto his thick girth slowly, watching his face contort in pleasure as she did so. When he finally bottomed out inside her she braced her hands on his hard chest before lifting her hips and then pushing back down onto him. She continued this rhythm, gradually increasing her bobbing strokes as Daryl thrusted his hips up into her in time with her hardening descents. Soon she could hear the sound of skin slapping skin as she rode him roughly, moaning her pleasure without taking her eyes from his.

"Fuck Daryl," she groaned as their hips began to pound into each other rhythmically, sending shockwaves of pleasure throughout her blazing nerves.

"That's it Beth, Jesus fuck," he growled and began slamming up into her and she dropped onto his chest so she could kiss him changing the pressure inside her. As her lips locked with his she felt him grab her hips and piston up into her throbbing pussy and she quickly found herself spiraling as she groaned into his mouth and jerked her hips before she shattered on top of him, gushing her arousal onto his pumping cock while her body shook and shivered in bliss against his.

When she recovered from her orgasm she found him grunting and growling into her ear as he continued to roughly thrust inside her. She sat up and braced herself again before grinding her hips against him and riding him hard and fast intending to make him cum hard. She watched his face as she gasped and cried her pleasure while he groaned.

"Fuck fuck fuck Beth, don't stop girl!" he yelled as he slammed his cock inside her before he roared his release while she continued to ride him and milk him of every last drop of his seed that she could.

"Yes Daryl, cum inside me," she groaned as his hips jerked against hers in orgasm.

She slowed her pace, bringing him back to her gently before she wilted against him releasing his spent cock from inside her. She rested against his side once more, her leg still thrown over his waist as they caught their breaths before trying to speak. She felt him remove the condom, groaning as he left the bed to dispose of it before returning and pulling her against him.

"You okay?" he asked softly as he caressed her flushed cheek with a calloused thumb. She knew his question wasn't like after their first time together when he wanted to know if he had hurt her, no, he was questioning her mental pain after the ordeal they went through today – the awful scare they'd had. They had scares before but not for a while and it had never been such a close call as this one had.

"Yeah, I just hate being reminded how dangerous this world is. I don't wanna leave when I'm happier than I've ever been. When I just got you," she murmured to him and his hand left her cheek to wrap around her waist and tuck her into his warm chest. She nuzzled into his neck and felt his chin rub against the top of her head before he kissed her hair lovingly.

"Ye ain't goin' nowhere Beth. You're staying right here with me, I'll make sure of it. Ain't gonna lose you to nothin' right when I found ye too. Ye hear?" he stated with a little shake to her.

"I hear," she replied with a soft smile before she kissed his neck. She had never felt safer than she did when wrapped in Daryl's strong embrace and she knew with certainty that if anyone could beat this world it would be him, and she intended to fight tooth and nail to stay by his side through the whole battle.

"Me and you against the world sweetheart, me n' you," Daryl declared with a resolute whisper.