The muffled sounds of sobbing roused Rick from his thoughts as he stood in the shower, the water beating down on his weary frame as he stared blankly at his feet, his mind adrift. He reached out and quickly turned the faucets dials, switching them off and listening carefully as the remnants of the water trickled down the drain.
His heart sank.
Michonne, he thought. My Michonne. She's crying again.
He drew back the shower curtain and stepped out onto the rug, grabbing his towel and trailing it over his skin. He left the bathroom and dried himself as quickly as he could, drawn to their bed to comfort her.
"'Chonne? Darlin'?" Rick cast the towel aside and eased his naked, aching body down onto the floor, crawling beneath the thin white blankets of their pallet and wrapping his arms around his love, his nose briefly buried in her sweet smelling locs. She turned into his embrace and began to cry harder, her fingers twisting and knotting in his curls as she pressed her wet face against his neck and broke down completely, her body trembling against him. "Shhh. Shhh," he soothed, kissing her softly wherever his lips could land, his hands slipping under her clothing and caressing her silken skin as they lay tangled together.
Michonne lifted her head and gazed up at him, her big brown eyes glimmering with bountiful tears that tumbled when she blinked. Her bottom lip quivered and she tried to speak, bursting into tears again when Rick raised his wounded hand and stroked her cheek with his thumb, catching a drop of her raw emotion on his fingertip. Another fell and he leaned forward, gently kissing the salty grief away. His touch made her sigh, her lips shaky with an exhaled breath.
"I had the worst dream," she sobbed. "I keep dreaming that- oh, I can't lose you, Rick." She turned her face into his hand and kissed his palm with wet, teary lips. "I can't. No matter how strong you think I am, Rick. I can't. Not you." Rick stared into her eyes, losing himself in her gaze the way he always did. "Don't say that ever again. Please don't say it."
You can lose me, he had told her. I can lose you...
But the thought of moving on without Michonne seemed utterly impossible.
Am I just lying to myself?, he pondered. Lying to her? Could I lose her and keep going? Could she lose me and do the same?
Nothing was going to keep him from fighting this fight, but oh, how he wished he knew, without a doubt in his mind that they would be alright in the end. "We're the ones who live, Rick, remember? Remember?" she whispered, her fingers stroking his scalp and pulling at his curls as she cried still, the tears never-ending. She pushed him down against the mattress and climbed on top of him, her behavior an obvious display of her craving and her need for affection.
"Yes," Rick murmured, swallowing hard and pulling her closer. She looked so unbelievably beautiful, so vulnerable laying there on top of him, her dark skin painted with the dry strokes of tears like star trails. He watched her lips part. Her delicate tank top strained against her breasts, her nipples knotted beneath the purple fabric and calling to him. His mouth watered.
He met her gaze again and watched more tears fall anew, transfixed by how gorgeous she was even when she cried, her full lips quivering and pouted. His attempt to retrieve her a deer had frightened her so immensely that she had dreamt nightmarish things since they had returned home from their last meeting with Jadis. Rick felt awful for his love. He bowed his head, stroking her skin and kissing her clavicles and squeezing her ass softly, aching to soothe her.
He would never tell her those dreadful words again. Not after all she had been through. When he thought of her past, of the stories she had whispered to him as they lay in the moonlight and afterglow of their lovemaking- of her fear of losing him now- his heart sank with weighty sorrow and twisted with pity for her. "Yes," he whispered back. "We're the ones who live." She offered a little smile, still trembling and weeping atop him.
Rick wanted nothing more than to see that smile again, to bring her even a few fleeting moments of bliss, another embrace of compassion until her fears retreated to the dark corners of her mind and she could drift off to sleep. He wrapped his arms around her, weaving his fingers into the fluffly, soft nape of her dreadlocks. "C'mere," he murmured gruffly, guiding her body to him. Their lips met hungrily and a growl escaped him, rumbling like thunder from the depths of his heaving chest.
His other hand wandered to cup her ass and her warm, plump flesh filled his palm. He moaned and gave her a firm squeeze, shifting them both again so that she lay beneath him, pressed between him and their pallet of thick linen blankets and down comforters on the floor. She gifted him with her tongue, licking his bottom lip with a long, slippery stroke and moaning against his mouth, setting his dick hard and making his skin flush rosy with arousal. He whimpered in anticipation.
He could taste the brine of her many tears on her plump lips as he sucked at them, kissing her until her eyes fluttered closed and at last, she relaxed against him. He trailed a hand up her sleek back to twist his fingers into her locs again and pull her even closer still, her breasts pressed against him, her nipples hard and beckoning.
Her frantic heartbeat fluttered in time with his own, the rhythm comforted him like nothing else. His chest swelled with feeling, overwhelmed by the effect she continued to have on him, in every way: each day, each moment, each time they made love; better than the last.
Rick blinked slowly, his lids heavy with lusts heady intoxicant and Michonne was only making him more tipsy with each passing second. She slipped her fingers into his hair again and offered him her warm tongue, moaning when he sucked on it like candy. Her saliva filled his mouth and the dulcet taste of her nearly made him drool, his dick jerking violently against her thigh. He knew he'd never be satisfied until he'd devoured every last drop of her. Making love to Michonne was like drinking a glass of the finest bourbon; her flavor distinct and her scent a solace. She made his belly warm with content, made him smile endlessly, made him close his eyes and take pleasure in every millisecond.
Suddenly, his eyes welled with tears and Michonne pulled back and blinked up at him, her thumbs stroking his bearded cheeks, her fingers woven in his spiraling tresses. She stared deeply at him for a long moment, neither of them blinking or speaking a word, blue and brown seeking out each others souls before they connected again and became one. They watched each other as she lowered her gorgeous mouth slowly to his in an all consuming kiss, covering his lips with her own and rolling them over so that she lay atop him.
His hands found her ass again and he slipped his fingers inside her panties greedily as Michonne grinded against him, her moans tickling his lips, her pussy rubbing against the head of his cock until his precum dampened and soaked through her silky panties. Tangled in each other, they kissed slowly and sloppily, making out like lovestarved teenagers until they were both lightheaded with longing and desperate for more of each other.
Unable to draw his lips away from hers, Rick turned them over again, positioning himself snuggly between her bare legs. He caressed her thigh with a feathery stroke of his thumb and her skin awakened beneath his touch. Goosebumps spread across the breathtaking canvas of her ebony flesh and she gasped against his mouth, swooning from his aggressive kisses and sinking her nails into his nape.
Her pretty, wide-eyed look of shock he'd elicited with his touch vanished with a flutter of lashes when he deepened their kiss and her eyes rolled shut, her surrender to him sooner and more beautiful each time it came to pass. Rick slipped his wounded hand up her thigh, ignoring the pain that resided deep in the tendons of his hand and yanking her panties down. When she squirmed anxiously beneath him and met his gaze with those big, ravishing brown eyes, he changed his mind abruptly, bunching the satiny fabric in his grip and ripping them off of her in one deft movement.
Her gasp and the sound of the fabric tearing thrilled him and made him tingle, a tremor rushing down his spine. He cast her panties aside and bent to kiss her again, forcing his tongue into her mouth and hooking her leg around his waist. Michonne's eyes opened and she gazed up at him lovingly, returning his kisses with equal fervor, pulling away reluctantly only to speak a few words.
"Riiick," she groaned. "My panties. I love those panties." Rick smiled crookedly down at her, curving his arm around her waist and cocking his head to the side. She wrapped her legs and arms around him and settled into his embrace, sighing at his strength and inhaling his fresh scent.
"I'll get you more. S'many as you like. The prettiest I can find," he drawled, his promise a whisper against her pulse before he closed his lips over that sweet spot on her neck that made her purr. Dragging his lips away, he lavished her body with kisses, pausing at the trim of her amethyst tank top. He gripped the fabric between his teeth and yanked it down, freeing her jiggling breasts from the entrapment of her tight clothing and admiring them hungrily. Her nipples hardened further beneath his observation gaze, her dark peaks rising and falling with each wobbly breath.
He lowered his mouth to her skin and teased her with the faintest brushes of his lips over her nipples, delighted in the way they pebbled against him, at the way she squirmed for him. With a languid tongue he licked at them, torturing her, maddened with lust by the deep, throaty moans he coaxed from her sweet plum lips. Sweeping his hand over her lithesome body, his fingers tickled past her ribs, writing love letters as he traced her every curve down to the paradise at the meeting of her enticing thighs.
Rick ran his tongue over her navel and whispered things to her that sent ripples of titillation down her spine as his fingers found her slick, sweet folds and swollen clit. His breath hitched and he groaned with satisfaction, licking his lips when the heady scent of her sex wafted into his nostrils. She was always so ready for him, so slippery and - in that moment, he prayed he had a chance, knowing the very minute her velvety pussy wrapped him up and swallowed him down, he'd have to grit his teeth and drive himself insane for as long as it took to please her without letting go.
Closing his full lips over her nipple, he sucked at it as though it was his sustenance, disregarding his necessity to breathe just to suckle a little longer, his mouth and tongue hot and wet against her now twinkling flesh. He eased his index finger inside her pussy slowly, growling when she involuntarily spread her legs wider to accommodate him, enticing him to add another. Obliging her, he slipped his middle finger deep inside her and Michonne tossed her head, her mouth falling open and her hips undulating to guide the thrusts of his hand. She purred with pleasure, her vise grip tightening on his curls.
She pulled his mouth to her other breast, clinging to him and creaming on his fingers as his tongue twirled about her nipple repeatedly, driving her to trembling madness. Rick glanced up at her through his lashes, watching her lose control, a whimper of fascination escaping him as he fucked her slowly with his fingers, letting her tight pussy adjust to his affections.
"Rick," she gasped, the tone of her honeyed voice like a lamented prayer. "Ohhh, God, yes." He watched her cocoa eyes roll back and his stomach flopped. Her moans grew louder and he raised his mouth to hers again, quieting her with messy kisses that made him ache, hoping they wouldn't wake their sleeping children.
"Shhh," he murmured, slipping his tongue into her mouth and capturing her lips with his again and again. And despite his instruction, she moaned loudly once more. It made him smile. He lingered for one last fervid kiss before he turned his attention to her nipples again, licking each one slowly, sucking and nibbling, increasing the pace of his fingers as he kneaded the slick walls of her pussy. He shifted his hand, spreading her nectar over her clit with his thumb and caressing it with just enough pressure to help her start that steady climb. Taking her by surprise, he clamped his teeth down on her right nipple and she cried out, shaking against him as her orgasm rippled through her unexpectedly.
She sank her nails deep into the sensitive flesh of his back, drenching his fingers in her cum, whimpering as she grinded against his hand. Her arched foot rubbed the aching, throbbing head of his cock as she begged for him to fuck her, her obscenities turning him on so viciously that he thought he might explode if she growled one more nasty thing.
He waited for her to descend from her high and with bated breath she did, opening her eyes to peer up at him seductively. She reached down to grasp him, her skin glimmering and catching the moonlight as she moved. She ran her tongue over her top lip, grazing her perfect white teeth and she smiled, still breathless as tried to slip her fingers around him. Rick caught her by the wrist and brought her hand to his curls, finding the other and guiding it the same. He rolled his hips, grinding his erection against her bare pussy, her creamy arousal soaking him. Dipping his head, he brought his lips to her ear, sucking her lobe and whispering to her, insisting that she keep her fingers twisted in his nape.
She obeyed him.
Rick held his weight on his wounded hand, reaching down with his left and grasping his swollen length in his hand. He pressed his hot tip against the opening of her silky folds, teasing her cruely until she was literally sobbing, her brown eyes filling with tears that cascaded down her cheeks and into her ears, her locs soaking up the remnants.
"Please," she whimpered and before the word even left her lips, he slid his cock inside her slowly, inch by throbbing inch, causing them both to groan loudly in unison and close their eyes, their lips meeting sloppily in the chaos of sensation to quiet each other. Rick swallowed every sound she made for him, his knees somehow already wobbly, his heart beating wildly. He began to drive his hips, his cock filling her to the hilt and then resting at her warm entrance before he plunged deep inside again, his balls slapping her ass as he found a steady, delicious rhythm.
"Fuck," he hissed, hooking her behind the knee and wrapping her leg about his waist. She was overwhelming his senses; the sight and sound and scent and sensation of her driving him positively wild with lust.
He'd never felt like this before Michonne; so enraptured, so utterly intoxicated by another person. His heart - even his loins - pined for her pleasure, her touch, merely her presence. How starved he was to please her... He sighed heavily at the feel of her mouth seeking his again and he turned into her, their lips locking fervidly, her kisses hot and thick and sweet like autumn apple cider. He dipped his tongue for a better taste, salivating from the flavor of her as she pressed into him, her tongue thrashing against his. Their kiss deepened rapidly, their faces mashed together so vigorously that his nose began to ache.
He could hardly breathe and still he kissed her, sucking at her mouth as though her lips and tongue were fruits submerged in sweet sangria and he was a desperate alcoholic, lapping at the winesoaked pulps and cherishing every last drop. Her fingers weaved deeper into the ringlets that flowed behind his ears and she massaged his scalp with trembling caresses, lost in his kiss and in the depth - the precision of his stroke. He had her right where he wanted her; right where she needed to be.
Reluctantly, he broke their soulshattering kiss and lifted his head, shifting to sit back on his heels between her legs and drag her forward with him, his throbbing length still buried inside her. She was fluttering around him, sugarcoating him in her warm, tempting cream. He stared in awe down at her, dizzy with desire as he watched her breasts rise and fall with every shaky little inhale and exhale.
She was covered in starlightlike beads of perspiration and they speckled her bosom like freckles, moonlight creeping through their window to rest only on her; to illuminate her beauty. Rick lowered his body to hers again, aching in the pits of his stirring belly for her, drawn to her like a weak moth to blazing, captivating flame. Lapping at a few shimmering droplets of sweat on the swells of her breasts, he slipped his hands beneath her shivering frame, tracing the notches of her spine down to the dip of it - that curve just before her plump and perfect ass - and she whimpered softly in anticipation. He lifted her and she arched her back, wrapping her arms around his neck and trusting her weight in the security of his arms. Rick effortlessly held her and, with his gaze locked on hers, he sank his stony length deep inside her again, finding his rhythm once more and his eyes rolled shut.
How he marveled at the way he fit her like a glove, as though he was made for her every snug ridge and decadent, petalsoft fold.
Her pussy was weeping, drenching him until the sound of him slipping in and out of her was almost vulgar. And it was absolute music to his ears. He nearly erupted that very moment, longing to spill his seed in her depths, and a loud, yearning grunt fled him despite him biting his bottom lip to keep silent. Michonne did the opposite entirely, moaning as loudly as she desired and Rick did not stop her, throwing caution to the wind and letting his love sing her silvery song of rapturous delight.
He watched her mouth form a curvaceous o and her sounds of ecstasy made him tingle from his swimming head to curling toes to the tip of his pulsing cock. And just as he anticipated, he could feel the telltale signs of her beautiful impending climax. He bowed his head almost reverently, his curls falling in front of his eyes as he lowered her back to the floor, pulling her closer and bringing his lips to her nipple. He kneaded it with his tongue, suckling until she melted into a puddle of cells made only for pleasure. His stroke never faltered, his hips rolling against hers, his thrusts so thorough and so deep that he hit every sweet spot.
"Ohh, Rick," she whimpered, and he peered up at her, answering her call with his eyes, her own sparkling with tears, her lips quivering with feeling. "Don't stop," she begged. "Please don't stop." And he actually smiled, fucking her harder just to let her know he'd never dream of doing such a thing.
With her knees inching back to rest upon her shoulders, she spread her silky legs wider, inviting him so deep that he felt his tip nudge her cervix. For a moment, knowing how delicate she was there, he thought he might have hurt her, studying her expression to ensure she was still immensely enjoying herself each time he sank inside her nestled warmth.
But by the look on her stunning face, he knew: he wasn't hurting her, not even in the slightest, and with one firm, clawing hand, Michonne cupped his ass and coaxed him deeper still, her large doe eyes rolling shut with satisfaction. Her face contorted into a frown and her full lips swelled into a pout. Her moans became indistinguishable words slurred by her state of joyous delirium and Rick continued to quicken his pace, his dick hitting that hypersensitive bundle of nerves deep inside her again and again and again until she gasped and fell into an abyss of numbing pleasure.
She crumbled like earth in his hands, damp and fertile and breathtaking, the lush paradise at the apex of her thighs gushing as she quaked, her surrender blossoming so ethereally that he couldn't help but to hold onto her and watch the splendor of her release, making love to her roughly all the while, her breasts bouncing, the floor shaking beneath them. She gripped his curls with fervent ferocity, trying her best not to cry out in delectation.
Rick captured her lips with his, devouring her succulent mouth and keeping her quiet for as long as he could. Reaching down, he sealed her doom with a few gentle caresses, his fingertips encircling her swollen little bud, his shaft already hitting the crux of her sex with each thrust. He prolonged her pleasure with bashful enthusiam, his skin flushing as his rhythm increased with need.
Michonne kept letting go violently, frenzied by the euphoria surging through her, the sounds once trapped between them at long last uttered: uncontrollable whimpers hummed in Rick's ear until the hair on the back of his neck stood at attention.
"Ooh, Rick," she cooed, sobbing his name repeatedly, her release washing over her in cleansing waves and flowing through him. A tear escaped and he kissed it away, kissing another when it followed. He swallowed hard, reluctantly pulling his gaze away to look down and admire their oneness; the way her body melted into his as she bore her soul and found his. At the sight of his veiny, marble length disappearing inside her dripping, brown and pink petals again and again, each time covered in even more of her milky, sweet cum, he lost it unexpectedly and entirely, grunting as he yielded control, clinging to her as his every muscle tensed and shuddered.
"Fuck... shit... Michonne," he somehow managed to groan through clenched teeth, her name a marveled murmur in her ear as he collapsed into her arms. His orgasm ripped through like a bolt of lightning, electrifying his every nerve until he was a bundle of melting cells. She felt so heavenly, he thought he might have died in her arms. He let go right along with his love, his mouth falling open with a gravelly cry of surrender, his dick jerking inside her, his balls tightening. He fumbled to pull out, shooting hot spurts of his seed like bullets and moaning with her at the feel of his cum trickling down her walls in thick streams before he slipped from her and came across her tummy, icing her gorgeous skin decoratively.
His knees buckled and her embrace welcomed him. They ignored the mess he'd made between them and tangled themselves up in each other, struggling to catch their breath as Rick seized her lips with his again and again. She held him close, running her fingers through his disheveled curls endlessly (and he was beginning to love that even more than she did). Rick planted kisses along her dampened skin, cradling her close and waiting, hoping.
He knew the fear never would never leave them.
The anxiety of the unknown future; the knowledge that this could be their last time together, that any fight could be their last. He felt one of her tears land on his cheek.
"Shhh," he soothed, his heart still aching for her. "We're okay. Everything's gonna be okay." But when he met her gaze, though her chocolate eyes were full of tears, she had a faint, an oh so beautiful smile on her full, sweet lips and his heart melted.
Just as he'd hoped, his love had healed a little of her suffering and he'd brought back that breathtaking smile.
"How do you know?" she asked once more, and he knew she needed to hear him say it again. "Tell me." Her whisper made his stomach flutter and he returned her smile, leaning closer, his lips brushing her glowing skin.
"Because you led me here, Michonne. We're the ones who live, remember? You said that... We're the ones... "
Her smile brightened and Rick pulled her to him and captured her mouth with his in another profound kiss that would not end for hours more and they lost themselves in each other again until the dawn cracked bright over Alexandria...