Set just after S3E9.

Brief RECAP of TWD storyline: Lori is dead, Mishonne has arrived but is still asleep so we dont know her story yet, Rick is chasing Lori phantoms, Tyrese's group was just kicked out of the prison by Rick, Daryl hasn't returned from Woodbury with everyone else-he struck out on his own with Merle, little Judith is still going by 'Lil Asskicker', and the group are all concerned with the impending retaliation from the Governor after Glenn and Maggie's rescue from Woodbury.

Fans NEW to Gwynne: Welcome. Read and enjoy!

Returning Gwynne Fans: Don't worry! I intend on returning to some of my older stories- I've already started editing the first chapters of 'A Slave to Your Heart'. 'Man vs beast' also has a special place in my heart.

Mature, DARK Themes. Age difference. Crazed Rick. (Semi) non-consensual.

**WARNING: READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED**

Reader's under 18 should consider another fanfic.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Beth checked the whining baby's diaper one more time before cooing gently and turning Asskicker in her arms so that she could offer her a bottle of formula. The newborn pulled on the bottle's nipple and fussed a bit more until she was comfortable in the teen's arms.

It was late, Beth could tell by how quiet the prison was and by how deep the shadows had become around her. All the others were most likely asleep except for whoever had volunteered for guard duty. She silently thanked the baby for being her 'cellmate' and giving her something else to focus on for these extra quiet nights besides the dead walking outside of the walls.

The baby ate a little bit more before tossing her head and telling Beth in no uncertain way that she could put the bottle down. Beth smiled in the darkness at the angry infant and burped her before sleepily getting to her feet so she could sway to the melody of her humming and hopefully soothe the grumbling little one. She was exhausted but she knew that if she quit swaying before the little one was sound asleep, then she would undoubtedly be crying loud enough to wake everyone in the prison whenever Beth went to put her back down in her bed made from a mail bin. Everyone needed as much sleep as she could help them get.

Minutes ticked by and by the time she had tucked Asskicker back in and climbed back into her own bed, Beth was already half asleep. She had babysat babies before but never a newborn...and never 24/7 like she had done since Asskicker was born and Lori had died... thank goodness Carol was around to help her and offer 'mom' guidance.

The soft scrape of a rubber shoe sole on the concrete nearby made Beth go still and hold her breath. Suddenly awake and alert, her eyes started to search the shadows for the sound's source. There…it had moved nearer to her cell door and her hand silently found the hilt of the knife she kept under the edge of her mattress for emergencies. Wait…wait…she told herself, ignoring the now familiar urge to panic and go into fight or flight mode.

The shadow moved forward again and she finally recognized the familiar profile and stance of Rick Grimes.

She breathed an immediate sigh of relief but the sight of him filling what amounted to be her bedroom doorway in the middle of the night did nothing to immediately slow her pounding heart. She hated to admit it but the man had always intrigued her as much as he intimidated her. Though, since he had started shouting at his unseen demons she tended more often to land on being intimidated by the imposing and wild man...

"Who knew that being a mother would come so naturally to you?" he whispered into the darkness at her as he stepped further into the cell until he could kneel down over the baby's makeshift crib. Even whispered, his deep voice seemed loud to her ears… still she couldn't help but to take a bit of comfort in the sound of that strong southern bass. As long as he was still Rick, their group still stood a chance of surviving this hell.

The hand Beth had watched shaking as he had lost control just earlier today and pointed his gun at innocent people wanting nothing more than to join them, now it was as strong and steady as steel as it reached into the bin and tucked the blankets in better around his newborn. That too gave her some reassurance.

Beth smiled meekly into the darkness and relaxed while watching Rick tenderly stroking the outer arm of his baby with the backs of his calloused hands.

"I've babysat before but never for this long. It's hard work but she's worth it," she said softly to Rick and got more comfortable on her bed. She thought she saw him smile in response and wished the room was just a bit better lit; she loved Rick's smile and the transformation it caused to his features, but it had become a rare thing ever since they had fled the farm in scattered chaos.

Rick stood from where he had been kneeling with a sigh and ran a hand through his unruly curls, "It's been a long damn day."

The seventeen-year-old felt her eyes start to sting from straining so hard to see Rick's face to decipher where he was going with this behavior, "Uh yeah, they are all kinda long nowadays..." She kept smiling but she was losing confidence in her ability to navigate a conversation with the semi-unhinged widower.

He nodded his agreement but didn't say anything else for a moment. Beth felt her eyes starting to slide shut, assuming he would show himself out when he was done looking over the baby.

The feeling of the bed shifting under his weight as he sat down next to her caused her eyes to shoot back open in alarm.

"Rick!" she whispered a bit louder than she had intended. "What are you doing? Has something happened?" The threat of accidentally touching him had had her plastering herself back against the wall in her flimsy night shirt and shorts.

Her first response was a dull thud of something hitting the floor. Her second was his mumbled, "Shhh, I'm just taking off these boots."

Beth couldn't get around him without making a scene crawling, since they were on the bottom bunk…all she could really do was gape at the black form beside her that was his board shoulders and torso. The second boot dropped and she waited, hoping he would leave so she could stop having a heart attack.

Rick's weight lifting off of the bed and the sound of the boots being moved were both things of beauty to her.

The dull grind of a zipper and soft thud of heavy cloth hitting the floor were two sounds that Beth had never imagined she would hear next. Her reprieve had been false... and her heart was beating triple-time to make up for its moment of rest while she watched his silhouette stretch an arm back and tug his shirt over his head in one graceful move.

"Rick! Stop! Get out of my room!" she whispered fiercely at him, her panic now nearing the point where it was threatening to result in waking up Asskicker.

"Your room? Honey, I'm the one that makes sure you got a bed to rest your cute little ass on," he teased quietly as he lifted the blankets she was hiding under and slid in.

Beth's mouth had never been so dry in her life and her brain was like a CD with a deep scratch in it; she kept trying to make sense of what was happening but her thoughts kept skipping back to Rick. The way his weight was making her mattress dip like it wanted to roll her into him. The way his body heat was already spreading to her under their shared blanket. That Rick was in her bed. That Rick had called her honey? His words had been harsh but his tone had been playful of all things...none of it made any sense!

His calloused hands found her arms and he easily pulled her body across the small space she had managed to create between them. Beth found herself holding her breath, waiting for their bodies to touch while praying they never would…

Beth felt the scalding heat of his hard dick pressed against her side immediately, and knew she had to speak up before things got any more out of hand. She did two things then that changed Rick completely. She pushed him away with her hands and she raised her voice to get his attention: "Rick stop, something is wrong. You can't-"she couldn't say more because their brave and caring leader had his big hand covering her mouth and half his body weight covering her petite body. Her blue eyes widened in alarm and she could hear the jagged breaths coming from her nose. And he…he…! Rick was pressing his lower half fully against her and his hardened dick felt intimidatingly large.

"Shhhh!" Rick hissed after her voice elevated to the point of a non-whisper and he glanced over at Asskicker's Mail bin. "You don't want to wake up Carl, do you?"

Beth's eyes widened in horror at the thought but they grew even bigger when it clicked that he was calling the baby girl beside them Carl. Rick thought she was Lori. He was hallucinating again or something! She went still with fear and he took it as her assent.

He moved his hand away from her mouth slowly and kissed her forehead approvingly when she didn't immediately start snapping at him again.

"Rick, I-" she started softly, to attempt to reason with him but the feeling of Rick's lips on hers obliterated her ability to finish the thought. The kiss was as tender and sincere as it was demanding. He shifted his weight until he was laying on top of her, between her spread legs, his dick pressing against her most vulnerable of places…prodding her shorts like a heated steel rod. Her hips rolled against him of their own volition, trying to ease a suddenly desperate ache that he had ignited.

His kiss deepened before he pulled away and pressed his lips against her ear affectionately. "That's it beautiful...don't wake the baby..." he said in that honeyed southern accent.

The words he whispered against her skin gave her goosebumps. Beth was having a hard time remembering why she wasn't supposed to want Rick on top of her…between her legs like a lover. Her mouth was open but no words of reproach were forthcoming.

One of Rick's strong hands found its way between her thighs, over the material of her shorts, and Beth sucked in a startled breath. She should slap his hand away but her legs spread open a fraction wider when prompted by those sure hands. When he slid the nimble digits under the material's hem and could rub his knuckles gently against her folds, she actually heard herself moan softly before she had even registered the urge to do so. Oh God, and her hips seemed to have a mind of their own; she struggled to keep them still and not press against his hand in encouragement.

Rick smiled against her skin, "I bet you had a long day too. Just lay back and let Daddy take care of you."

Daddy…? Dad… Hershel! Beth grabbed Rick's arm where it was bent down between her thighs so she could stop him. "No, Rick, please," she whispered quietly, suddenly aware that they could wake up a lot more 'someone's than just the baby next to them. She pulled on his arm but he held on with that overwhelming strength that she had found herself admiring in him so many times before this. She would never be able to strong arm Rick away from something he wanted.

"Hey, hey," he cooed at her, "Shhh...don't fight me, sugar. I need you right now… More than you can know."

Beth flinched when she heard the sharp pleading note of pain in his voice. This man deserved so much better than to have to beg for anyone's attention; he had saved her life and the lives of every person that she loved left on this earth, more than once. She numbly let go of her grip on his arm and waited for his hand to...

Even knowing his touch was coming it still felt like an electric shock to her very core.

She could do nothing but grab onto the man above her to anchor her to the planet as the sensations sent her soaring. He'd killed countless people with that hand but now he was putting his trigger finger to a very different use; crooking the finger as he held it inside her, bending it like he was beckoning her closer even though she could physically be no closer. Every breath she sucked in was ragged and in danger of being loud enough to be overheard but she was very close to not caring as Rick's finger quickened its delicious pace. She bit her lip to keep from making more noises and began to lose sight of everything besides Rick's touch penetrating her. When he pulled away she frowned at the sudden lack of stimulation but before she could even crack open an eye to check out what he was up to, he had added another finger inside of her. The beauty of what was happening hit her like a tidal wave and Beth had to cover her own mouth as she came hard into the hand of their groups savior.

Her toes curled up and locked. Then she went from being rigid with tension to having all of her muscles go limp… and she lay still, panting up at the bunk above hers. For a moment she forgot what was happening and she was just riding out the bliss.

Then he spoke.

"It's a good start," she could hear his smirk as he shifted his weight and then lined his straining cock up with her entrance.

Beth binked as she came back to Earth. Rick wasn't in his right mind; if he went through with this, now, he would never forgive himself later. She tried to speak, failed, had to clear her throat, and tried again. "Rick...Rick...no not that." She tried to think of a rational reason why they shouldn't, "We would end up waking the baby, please, let me um...return the favor."

Rick didn't care much for her argument, "I suggest you bite the pillow then." He whispered calmly directly into her ear, making her shiver. "Because if you wake up that baby, I'm going to fuck you the whole time you're trying to sing him back to sleep."

She had thought her skin had been burning and itching for him a moment ago!

Now she was completely aflame.

He must have sensed it because the next time he lined his cock up with her dripping entrance, he didn't hesitate for a second before pressing in further.

Beth threw back her head and gasped silently up into the darkness as their stoic leader grunted slowly above her and pressed still more of his length inside her. She focused all of her efforts on continuing to breathe as he filled her completely up and then stretched her a bit further until their bodies were pressed fully against each other where they were joined. She arched her back and gave herself over to the pleasure he was heaping upon her.

Rick smiled as he kissed her behind her ear and nuzzled her with his nose; he was giving her body a moment to relax around him. "It's been too long," he whispered huskily once he was fully rooted inside of his mate, "you squeeze me any tighter and I won't be worth your trouble..."

She didn't know how to respond but he saved her from struggling with it further by choosing that moment to slide a hand down to grip her hips… To hold her in place as he withdrew and then filled her back up in one slow but sure movement.

Beth couldn't help but laugh softly at the delicious insanity of it all. The things he was saying, the feeling of this man plunging his cock inside of her like she belonged to him; he was so much bigger than Jimmy had been and the way he moved should have been illegal. Rick Grimes was as good in bed as he was on the battlefield…and that was pretty fucking good.

"If you have energy to laugh, then I'm doing wrong by you," he informed her with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

Her mirth died as quickly as Rick started pounding into her. She tried to remember to keep breathing but he was overwhelming. The metal bed legs scraped against the concrete with the force of his movements, she dug her nails into the soft skin of his muscled shoulders but he was beyond reproach.

Rick rolled his hips against his lover, over and over until she started rewarding him with helpless moans which she had to stifle with her forearm in her mouth. Then he started to switch things up, teasing her with his slow gentle movements one moment and then fucking her down into the thin mattress with a fervor the next.

Beth could do little but try to ride out the beautiful storm that was Rick Grimes as quietly as possible so that she wouldn't wake any of their kin. Never had the stakes been higher and never had she been so blissfully inclined to throw caution to the wind and just scream.

Rick shifted his balance back onto his knees so that he could lift Lori's hips a bit and he could hit her from a deeper angle. The feeling of her legs starting to spasm and clench around his hips only made him sink each of his thrusts into her with more resolve.

Carol silently stepped back away from Beth's cell doorway, her hand over her mouth still because she had no idea if she could trust herself not to make a sound. If a herd of walkers had been here she would have been as still and silent as a combat-hardened soldier… but what she had just witnessed was something else altogether. The sight alone had been visceral enough that she felt moisture gathering between her own thighs.

It had been a cry from the baby that had awoken her, and thinking Beth might need a break, she had come straight to the source of the muffled whines. The older woman had rounded the corner and stepped right into the open cell doorway. Thankfully none of its occupants had noticed her appearance.

At first she thought that somehow a walker had gotten into Cell Block C and found Beth in her sleep. Carol had taken another step forward with her hand on her weapon before she registered that the form holding Beth down on her bed was none other than Rick! And that the noises that had brought Carol coming to soothe the baby had actually been Beth! For a split second she had been horrified to think that Rick was raping sweet Beth, but then she remembered that she herself had helped Beth find the best place to stash her emergency knife... So how long had the two been an item? Did anyone else know? Surely not… Hershel would be out for Rick's head. She'd need to talk to the girl about this as soon as she could get a moment with her alone…

She turned to leave but a masculine growl from the preoccupied Rick had something low in her gut tightening and send her edging back around the corner. She should leave the two to what little privacy they thought they had, she knew, but she couldn't seem to tear her eyes away. Beth cried out sharply in pleasure and Carol watched Rick's arm move like lightning to muffle any further sound from the young female. All the while his hips kept a punishing rhythm between the blonde's leg's, seemingly intent on wringing out more cries from her even though those cries could bring all kinds of shit down onto both their heads. Carol felt her own body tighten in remembrance of that feeling…the feeling of being fucked beyond comprehension by a strong man…Christ, she was lonely.

She felt a shiver run across her body and felt a wave of heat flush her cheeks when she realized what she was doing.

She quietly moved away from the cell holding the pair of lovers, but they probably wouldn't have noticed even if she had led a horse clip-clopping past the doorway.

Authors note: Thanks for the read! If you enjoyed it feel free to leave me a review to fuel further written debauchery. Love you! If you didnt enjoy, leave me a review and tell me why! But don't expect me to change anything. lol

Returning fans of this author: Don't worry! I intend on returning to some of my older stories- I've already started editing the first chapters of 'A Slave to Your Heart'. 'Man vs beast' also has a special place in my heart. Love you guys!