-Rick-
They brought her right to Hershel who upon looking her over and announced she was suffering from the exposure to the cold and that she needed to be cleaned up but should be fine otherwise. Eventually Beth was coaxed into telling them what happened as she sat there, still wrapped up in Daryl's poncho, Maggie holding her close. Someone, he wasn't sure who, had the forethought to put a blanket around her as well, while she suffered through being practically interrogated by her sister. Maggie may be overprotective and that wasn't necessarily a bad thing but she was pushing Beth past her breaking point with all the questions. Rick wanted to reach into the cell and pick her up again, keep her safe. She looked so small and vulnerable sitting there on Hershel's bunk. He cleared his mind of that thought and tried to focus on what she was telling everyone. She needed her family right now not him.
He sighed and went back to listening as she continued her story. She was leaving some parts out as she told them what happened to her. He knew that for a fact. Just like he knew that under that shirt she wasn't wearing anything. Dead or not Rick needed to know if Jeremy assaulted her. But right now was not the time to ask. There was no way Maggie would consider that something like that would happen to Beth much less let her answer that question. Twenty minutes and some tears later Hershel clapped his hands together declaring the stress to be too much and insisting that Beth be given some space and helped to clean up. Carol offered to take her down to shower and that was the last he heard because Judith began crying and Rick headed to take care of his daughter.
Rick wasn't taking any chances this time. Beth had been alone in the showers for 20 minutes now and even with guards posted at the doors to the tombs he didn't feel like she was completely safe. Carol came back alone saying that Beth asked for some private time to process what happened, promising that she would be okay. His patience ran out 10 minutes ago but he convinced himself to give her 10 more minutes. Now her time was up. They were not taking any more chances with her safety. He strode down the hall getting closer to the door. He could hear the sound of water still running but that didn't make him feel any better. If anyone tried to take her from them again he doubted they would stop to turn the water off and conserve their resources. One attempt had already been made to take her, what was to say they wouldn't try again when they realized that she and Jeremy weren't coming? The door eased open making little enough noise that it could not be heard over the sound of the water falling and echoing on the tile floor. The sight that greeted him made his heart stop.
Beth was naked, which he half expected. What he didn't expect was that she would look so much like a woman or that she would be scrubbing her skin raw and muttering to herself. Rick was all too familiar with stress pushing you to your breaking point and it looked like Beth was there. He knew he shouldn't be looking but he couldn't stop himself. Them memory of her body pressed to close to his earlier this evening was too strong to forget. Her skin was red and raw anywhere she could reach but he wondered what it would look like flushed with passion not angry from her ministrations. The water cascaded over her body like it was painting a living canvas and he wanted to run his hands and maybe his tongue over every trail left by it. Shaking his head and chastising himself for his dirty thoughts and took his boots off before stepping into the wet area Beth currently occupied. He was more than twice her age. While she may be legally an adult now there was no way she would be interested in an old man like him so he needed to pull it together and help her. She was family and she needed him. The others were willing to let her hurt herself, and that was not something he was going to let happen again. Not after the last time.
Stepping up behind her he reached around her body to turn the water off. He socks were soaked and so were most of his clothing now. She still didn't seem to notice him as she just kept scrubbing at her poor skin. She was whispering things like how stupid she was to trust him and how she put everyone in danger by being so careless. Rick could only assume the him she meant was the boy the governor sent to kidnap her. What was his name again? Oh yes Jeremy. Rick didn't know the kid that well and in his anger at seeing her in such a state had almost forgotten the little piece of shit's name. If it wasn't for the fact that he was already walker food Rick would enjoy feeding him to them all over again, keeping him alive as long as possible while he did it. Thoughts like this were not helping her any more that his previous line of thinking so he tried to let it go for the moment. Trying to be as careful as possible he took the loofa from Beth's tiny hands and pulled her into a hug that, when she finally stopped fighting him to get the loofa back, ended with them sitting on the wet tile floor with her in his lap. Her insane whisperings and struggles were now just hiccuped sobs and her attempting to climb into him again as she sat on his lap. Rick stroked her wet hair and as gently as he could, ran his calloused hands up and down her arms and back, shushing her and telling her it would be alright, practically a mirror of their earlier position in the cell she was being held in. They had come too close to loosing her tonight for his comfort, for anyone's comfort. Together with Judith, she and Beth were their heart, their sunshine in such a stormy world.
Rick tried his best to calm her and ignore the situation he found himself in again but it wasn't completely working. Every time Beth wiggled he felt himself getting harder and harder. She had to be able to feel it! God knows he was close to ripping the damn wet pants off of himself any second but thoughts like that one were not helping him so he chose to stay in the uncomfortable confines using the discomfort as a reminder to keep himself under control. Finally her crying stopped and she lay there on his lap with her head buried in his neck. Rick thought she must have fallen asleep, but he was wrong. When he moved to gather her in his arms and stand up she tensed and began whispering again one thing over and over. It took him a second to make it out because of the acoustics in the shower room however when he finally realized what it was he heart nearly broke. "I'm sorry Daddy. I didn't mean to be bad." She just kept saying it. Rick pulled her impossibly closer and maneuvered them around so that his back was to the wall giving him something to lean on as he held her. He gave her a kiss on the top of her head "You're Daddy isn't mad at you baby. It's ok, this was not your fault! You have to believe that!"
She picked her head up and blinked at him with red rimmed eyes "you're not mad Daddy?" Why the hell does her soft voice uttering those few simple, innocent sounds make the animal in hims stand up and try to claim it's prize? "Baby, you don't belong to me." Her tears started all over again and she buried her face back in his neck begging him to punish her for being bad. Was that what all that scrubbing was about? Was she just trying to punish herself in the absence of anyone else to do it for her? Maybe she just needed reassurance. He puller her up to look at him by gently tugging on her hair and the look he saw in her eyes made all of the reassurances he wanted to give her die on his lips. He buried his hand deeper in her hair and pulled harder, hearing her moan in response and feeling her pushing down on the length of his hard cock brought only one thing to mind….MINE! Rick was saved from doing anything he shouldn't by the door opening. He let go and she was back cuddling into his neck again as he looked up to meet the disapproving eyes of her sister.
"I've tried to get her out of here a couple of times now. She won't let us move. I think she is afraid to leave and face the fact that this happened." he told Maggie with a nod of his head indicating the shivering girl on his lap. He wasn't sure if she was buying it and right now he didn't really care. His baby girl needed him and when the hell did he start considering Beth his? Rick shook his head again as he stood up with her still in his arms. His brains were going to rattle right out of his ears if he kept shaking his head like this. Maggie just raised a questioning brow at him while covering Beth up as best she could with a towel. "Now that I have help let's get her back to her room." She was so small and fragile, he just wanted to take care of her. Maggie was walking ahead to open the doors for them and clear out any onlookers to maintain some of Beth's privacy which allowed Rick to hear her as Beth began begging him again. "Please Daddy. Please!" she pleaded. He wasn't even sure if she knew she was doing it anymore. There was a chance it was just her being in shock. He moved his mouth so it was directly on her ear before he spoke to her in a tone only she would be able to hear. " All right baby girl." He groaned out the next part like a man in the middle of an orgasm which wasn't too far from his current state "Daddy has you and I'll take care of you. What ever you need." She tightened her hold on his neck hiding her face farther from view nipping at his skin asking him "promise?" his only answer was to nod his head. He didn't trust his voice.
He reluctantly put Beth down on her bunk and tried to pull back but she wouldn't let go of him. "Be a good girl for me and let Maggie take care of you sweetie. We need to get you warm again and into bed." He continued to keep his voice low knowing what a chance he was taking with the others so close and possibly hearing him. Maybe he was farther gone than he realized. But he knew she needed the reassurance. He finished the last of his gently given order louder wanting to be heard now. "Maggie has to get you dressed so that you don't get sick." She pulled him in close again but ultimately let go allowing him to step back. He missed the contact immediately. Something about having her in his arms and on his lap felt so very right.
He sad down heavily on his bunk, resigned to the fact that the look in her eyes when he pulled on her wet hair was going to haunt him for the rest on the night. He hadn't meant to do it for any sexual reason. His back was against the wall and that left him no where to go. He was simply trying to find a way to make her move and enable her to look in his eyes and make sure she understood he was being serious, that what he wanted to tell her was important for her to hear. He was gentle about it at the time, but it didn't seem to have mattered. She still responded to his touch like she was born to it and the look in her eyes at that moment was eerily familiar. Rick was a sheriff's officer for a long time before the turn, and he had been sent out on his fair share of domestic violence calls in that time. In all that time he was only sent out on one truly false alarm and Beth's eyes and her response to him reminded him of the one time. Dispatch sent them out on a call that had all the appearances of being domestic abuse but in reality was something exactly the opposite. Rick learned about his darker side that night. He was now fairly certain Beth had one too and it was calling to him. Closing his eyes he let the memory of that night wash over him.
Rick and Shane were in the car when the call came in. They radioed in that they would take it and took off for the address dispatch gave them. Shane was driving leaving Rick free to take down the info. A concerned neighbor called in saying the people who moved in next door were acting suspiciously. The wife constantly had bruises on her and the noises she would hear coming from the house at night sounded like he was beating her up. Then on this particular night they had left the curtains open and this concerned neighbor could see that the husband had his wife hanging from the ceiling and was taking a belt to her. They arrived but no one answered the door when they knocked. Deciding to check this open window they circled the house and were able to see what was happening. As they quietly rounded the corner to assess the situation from this window the neighbor claimed was showing the abuse they were able to see the husbands arm raised two times in rapid succession landing a belt on the body of the woman he did indeed have hanging from the ceiling. The belt left marks indistinguishable from those he had left on her before their arrival. Her skin was a lattes work of cris crossed lines and bruises both old and new. Rick signaled Shane to enter and he would cover the window. They now had probable cause.
But what came next floored Rick. It appeared the beating was over and the man was putting his belt away when the woman hanging from the ceiling turned her face in Rick's direction. From his position outside the window he could see her breathing was accelerated, her pulse beat in her neck like she was running a marathon, and her body was just as marked up with red stripes and bruises on the front as the back. What made Rick hesitate was the look of arousal in her eyes and the juices running, they were fucking running, down her legs. Right then Shane broke in the front door and Rick watched as the husband yelled to the intruder that he was calling 911. He saw him clumsily trying to let his wife down from her bindings promising to protect her. Rick decided to intervene. They were not looking at domestic abuse, these people were in the lifestyle. He remembered something about it from the few classes they were required to take to keep them up to date on current issues and threats to small communities like theirs. As usual Shane never showed to that class. So after much frustration and several tense moments the pair explained to them that they were a committed BDSM couple and this was part of their chosen life style. Both were consenting and there was nothing abusive about the situation. Neither one had realized that they left the curtain open in the next room and that the neighbors could peek in on their special time. This was not something they ever wanted to burden the neighborhood with.
With much in the way of apology for the confusion the two officers took their leave of the couple. On the way out the door the husband asked to speak to Rick for a moment and he agreed while Shane went out to call the situation in from the car. "I want you to know I would never hurt my wife. And I want to thank you for trying to stop what you thought was someone abusing her. She is my world! I would gladly pay for the cost to replace the door if it means I know she is safe and that someone is looking out for her." The husband was so sincere that Rick couldn't help but believe him. Not to mention the fact that once he realized the intruders were the police he had calmed down enough to practically ignore them and care for her physical needs while she came back do earth. The wife for her part would not let her husband stop touching her and holding her. As he was walking out the door Rick would swear he heard her begging to be fucked by her Master.
That was when Rick realized who and what he was, he was a leader, and alpha, and a Dominant. Looking up the lifestyle on the internet, things suddenly made so much sense to him. The things he felt, the urges he had, the need to protect and care for what was his at all costs. He was amazed that he had gone so long without understanding his own nature. But that's what happens when you never look outside of the box you are raised in from childhood. He tried once or twice after that with Lori but she was not interested in games as she called them. Rick had made a commitment to Lori by marrying her and he would honor that commitment. And he did until the day she died and he lost his mind.
The memories overwhelmed him. He wasn't perfect but he was better now than a few months ago. At the moment it was Beth who needed him to take care of her. It was funny, he realized in her own way she had been taking care of him all this time by being such a good mother to Judith and Carl. Looking out for them both like she was family and in a way they were all family now. The look in her eye in the shower earlier was the same look of the wife the night of that domestic abuse call. Of all the shit to happen since the world decided people should begin rising from the dead and eating the living Rick never expected this. How had he managed to find a true submissive? What did he do to deserve her? And how was he going take care of a little girl who knew nothing about being a woman? Hell, he wasn't even sure she knew about sex first hand yet. Rick scrubbed his hand over his face as he mulled that over. The thought of being the only one to ever touch her, to teach her how to please him and in turn pleasing her. His pants were suddenly too tight again. Rick realized something else in that moment. About 80 percent of he males to have survived the apocalypse so far were also alphas. It was just the nature of the situation. It was no wonder everyone responded to Beth the way they did, that is, if she really was what he thought she was. She was going to be a handful and he smiled to himself. At lease she would be his handful and he had family around to help protect her.
Author's note - Ok kids this is kind of a confession….. This was the first chapter that I wrote. Everything up until now was just me getting us to this point. I have no idea what is coming next.
Also- Thank you to everyone who favorites, follows, and reviews. It is much appreciated and keeps me going.
