My Retribution (third instalment of Exception Series)

Three

My mountain man did not disappoint.

Negan flung his hands back and forth, authoritative tone making my nethers clench. "Make way for the princess! It's been a long journey, and she is in dire need of rest!"

I couldn't help the rosy hue that overtook my usually olive complexion. Like everyone knew what we were about to get up to.

Although, as I thought on that for a moment.

So what? It's not like we were naughty teenagers trying to sneak in a knocking boots session.

So much had changed in the past few months, and I needed to take a deep breath and start enjoying life. There was nothing... well apart from the obvious, that I needed to worry about.

Life had been tough. We deserved to be happy.

It took no time at all to reach our old room at the slow jog that my husband had established. The mixture of exertion and anticipation was a heady mix, thankful when we had reached the double door to the old Harem.

The room was sparse, only one of the old lounges remained.

What happened here?

I clutched my arms, protecting myself from a non-existent draft that sent a shiver down my spine. Negan wrapped his arms around me, goose bumps evident on his tanned skin.

Nestling my head into his chest, I whispered, "you feel it too?"

The room felt too clean. Absolutely clinical compared to the rest of Sanctuary. I was hesitant to ask, but needed to know. "Do you know what happened here?"

My rugged safety blanket cleared his throat, grasping me tight. "I can guess." Resting his lips on my temple, he cooed, "did you want to go elsewhere?"

Shaking my head, I turned around in his tight embrace. I stroked his beard before planting one long kiss on his lips.

Enough. Enough of running from everything.

It's time to plant the roots of my family tree. The Sanctuary is going to live up to it's title; I was going to make damn sure of it.

Tugging at his stretched tee, I lead him to our old room. I was thankful that our old four-poster remained in the center of the space. Our lips connected in a fervent frenzy, practically moon-walking to the plush sheets. The back of my knees hit the bed, causing me to sit as my savior stood over me.

Unzipping his jacket, I pulled him in for another kiss. "Do you know what I want? I want you to screw me! Fuck me until all we can feel is our love and need."

Negan shrugged his outer layer off before taking his lower lip between his teeth. "Oh princess! That sounds like just what the doctor ordered!" He walked his fingers up the seam of my jeans. "Bury myself so deep we wont know where you finish and I begin."

He lifted his shirt. The well-lit room revealed shiny slashes all over his chest. Calligraphy telling the horrid tale of the atrocities he'd endured over the past few months. Guilt churned my stomach as I had only just realized how much his frame had shrunken, his collar bone more prominent that it had ever been.

I ran my hands over his serrated scars, a whimper escaping my lips.

He grabbed my wrists too tightly, flinging them back at me. His voice shook me, so strong that it reverberated through my chest. "Don't you fucking dare look at me like that!"

My brows furrowed, scrambling to be close to him again. "Like what baby?"

Holding calloused hands up to me, his voice broke, "Like I'm a fucking wounded puppy." His words sprayed out of his mouth like venom. "Like I'm damaged fucking goods."

Attempting to pull it back together, he placed his finger to my lips. "I can brush it off with anyone else! But not you princess!"

Hopping off the bed, I strode towards him. "Negan please! I didn't mean it like that."

Crossing his arms, he denied me comfort.

"Look! How would you feel if you saw me covered in scars like this?" I clasped his arms, waiting for his resistance to ease. "It hurts me to see what you've been through! That I didn't stop it!"

Tears welled as images of my husband's torture made it hard to breathe.

I needed to stop failing the ones I love.

Negan's grip finally relented, wiping the tears from my cheeks. "It's my job to protect you baby! Don't you go worrying about that shit."

I ran my hands through his slicked back hair before entwining my fingers behind his neck. "Let me take care of you my love." I tilted my head toward the door. "Then you can put that leather jacket on and show me who I belong to."

He looked heavenward, before planting those mischievous discs on me. "You'd like that, wouldn't you princess?"

I stood on the balls of my feet, trying to close the gap. "Yes coach! Yes I would! I know it would be such a burden to tear my clothes off, bend me over that bed and show me who's boss." Grabbing the lapel of his jacket I pulled him to me. "But, do you think you could make this one exception?"

His throaty chuckle warmed my heart. "Well darlin', you drive a hard bargain! But, I think I can manage."

I threw the back of my palm to my forehead. "Oh the struggle of it all!"

"Such a fucking gigantic cross to bear!" My husband's hand grasped my ass. "Now cut out with the theatrics! You don't want me to spank you."

Oh really?

As my heart raced, I remembered our wedding night. "Hurry up and go find a chair! I'm going to give you the make-over treatment before, you know..."

He let go of me before saluting. The anticipation prompting a sense of urgency.

After a bit of a run around, Negan sat on an old pine stool. I threw the black cape I'd found in the bathroom over him, having to hold his beard above it. I sang Songbird while chopping at his overgrowth. "And I love you, I love you, I love you, like never before."

A calloused hand made its way to my belly, as his eyes crinkled. "Your Mommy is a big softy!"

"Smart arse." I stuck my tongue out at him. "If you're not careful you'll end up with a Mohawk!"

"Oh baby! You know I would rock the shit out of whatever you did." He flashed his pearly whites, clicking his tongue.

After finishing his beard and trimming the sides, I pointed to the shower. "Off you go, before I implode!"

"Can't have that can we?" He rose a single brow at me before running his hands though his salt and pepper mane. "Left some length on the top?"

"Gives me something to grab later baby." I squeezed my thighs, thinking about him inside me once more.

With a spring in his step, he made his way to the bathroom. "Well, can't argue with that logic."