Blood Bourbon

Day Break

It seemed as if the only time he ever found himself sleeping past dawn was when he spent the night with Ryker. The man had a propensity towards being awake most of the night and finding places with effective blackout blinds, leaving Daryl disoriented as he woke up to a still dark hotel room. Everything was so still, around him, that he was certain he was alone until he opened his eyes and rolled over onto his back, only to find Ryker there beside him. The other man was sitting up in bed, working on a small, dimly lit sort of computer, tapping on the keyboard and the screen.

"You let me sleep in." Daryl knew it was a day off but growing up on a farm and working a physically demanding job instilled the need to not be lazy and in bed all day.

Ryker grinned and glanced to him for a moment, before closing the device, which folded down to the size of a book. "I let you sleep. It's only ten."

"Ten?" Daryl was about to sit up, only to find Ryker's hand on his shoulder, followed by the man shifting to stretch out, half beside him, half over him. He rested his hands on Daryl's chest in order to prop up his chin and look down at him.

"We went to sleep around four. You are very demanding." Ryker teased, his voice an intimate sort of purr that made Daryl's heart do odd flips and stutters. Despite his natural abhorrence for being in bed so late in the morning, Daryl relaxed and merely slid his hands along Ryker's back.

"I'm pretty sure you kept up all on your own." In fact, Daryl distinctly remembered Ryker being nearly inexhaustible, though patient with Daryl in the spans of time between each bout of intimacy.

Daryl had never had a problem with endurance, but the human body could only do so much so often. They'd had all night, and every single time Daryl had begun to recover, Ryker had been perfectly capable of obliging and very generous in his encouragement to do so.

Ryker chuckled, his eyes lighting up for a moment before ducking his head to kiss Daryl's chest. "Trick is, to make sure I feed you, let you nap a little, and maybe provide a little caffeine if you're flagging. I've got it down pat. You're a machine."

"And you have a refractory period of an eighteen year-old." Daryl laughed and shook his head, letting out a low groan as Ryker nipped at his skin.

"That sounds far too clinical for the morning..." Ryker shook his head and shifted up onto one arm, looking down at him. "I... tried to be quiet. Do you need more sleep?"

Daryl watched him for a long moment, before shaking his head, "I can get out of your hair if you need to work, though."

"Your phone rang earlier. I put it on silent so it wouldn't wake you up, when I realized it wasn't your family." Ryker shook his head and kissed Daryl as he reached to the side to grab said device for him.

Daryl slid his arms back around the man and rolled over on top of him, deepening and lengthening the kiss. Ryker chuckled into his lips and dropped the phone onto the mattress beside them, wrapping his legs around Daryl's hips and pulling him in closer.

Daryl's head was swimming by the time he broke the kiss to gasp in a breath, laughing and shaking his head. "Why is it always me who has to break for air?"

"Practice." Ryker's eyes darkened for a moment, before he nipped Daryl's bottom lip, looking up at him, "but humans need to eat. Breakfast first. I can't have you starving to death."

Daryl chuckled and kissed him again, grinning against his lips before pulling back and moving to sit up. He was just sliding his feet to the floor when he felt Ryker shift off the bed, his body shuddering at the sudden distance between them. Odd though it was, he felt bereft of the man's presence, half tempted to turn and follow him, just to ensure he could remain in contact.

But Ryker was not exceptionally affectionate and Daryl had never been what someone would describe as clingy, so he swallowed that urge and stood up himself, raising a brow as he caught sight of random bruises and love bites scattered over his body.

"Did I hurt you?" Ryker was already across the room, having moved silently to where they had left the room service menu the night before.

"What? No. I just bruise like a peach I guess." Daryl laughed and rubbed his hand over his skin, reaching down to pick up his phone. " I, you?"

Ryker was free from any bruises whatsoever, despite Daryl's question. His skin unmarred, perfect, as it always was. He glanced down at himself and smirked, before shaking his head, "what do you want for breakfast?"

Daryl frowned down at the unfamiliar numbers listed in his missed calls, padding idly over to where Ryker was until he was stopped suddenly with a bang that left his whole leg shrieking. He let out a curse when he realized he had cracked his shin off the heavy wooden coffee table. "Son of a..."

He pointedly ignored the sound of Ryker's snicker, bending down to rub his offended shin, while fighting the urge to kick the damned table. Not because he wasn't extremely mad at the damned thing, but because he was pretty sure he'd break his foot if he tried. "I think we have left overs..."

"I remember you talking about how excited you were that they had french toast and real maple syrup." Ryker sounded amused, flipping open the menu and tapping the offending page, "and we have an hour before they stop serving breakfast. We can eat leftovers later."

Later. Daryl grinned and glanced away from his glaring contest with the damned table, watching the other man curiously, "alright. French toast, with bacon. And coffee."

"I'm going to have waffles." Ryker grinned and closed the menu, giving him a curious look, "who called?"

"Two people. I dunno. They left voicemails I guess." He put the phone down on the counter, shrugging and reaching for the land line that would connect them to the lobby. He blinked and frowned when Ryker pressed his phone into his hand instead, despite the fact that the man hadn't been that near moments before.

Why was Daryl just now noticing how quickly Ryker moved? Was his mind merely looking for shadows to jump at? Only, he didn't feel suspicious of it, or afraid. He felt comfortable, despite the oddness. Incredibly comfortable and secure where he was, right now.

"Listen to the voicemail, I'll order food."