#my first thought when i saw this guy was “no way rdr2” because my brain is so rotted from that game

[gert-the-disaster]

red dead gummigoo

[theseerasures]

Conspicuous Media Consumption, 2019

i mean, everyone's doing these write-ups, right? might as well hop onto the bandwagon

towards the end of last year i had one of my typical existential crises about my media consumption: am i slowly disappearing up my own ass because i no longer care about most of the pop culture people like to discuss ad nauseam? but on the other hand, isn’t it more responsible to find the niche items made by non-mainstream and marginalized creators? on the third hand, wouldn’t i be much happier if i just watched FMA Brotherhood over and over again, preferably while starting a new Mass Effect playthrough at the same time?

the answer to all these questions is probably “yes,” but i decided to try something different going into 2019. for every week of the year, i would try to get through a year’s worth of content for some kind of media, be it comics, video games, TV, etc--they didn’t all have to be recent, or even new to me, but once i was done with that week i’d be done, even if i didn’t finish the content, and i’d make a judgement based what i’d seen on whether i want to continue. mostly, i was trying to avoid what happened to me with video games in 2018, when i was hating every second of playing Uncharted but still felt obligated to finish because everyone and their houseplant liked Uncharted or listlessly doing the Master Hunter achievement in RDR2 because the main quest made me miserable.

the actual outcomes of this Project(tm) are a little more complicated than anticipated--some media i could finish in a day, while trying to play through ALL THE CONTENT OF AN MMO understandably took much longer than a week--but it all kind of evened out. in the end i did 48 weeks of this, and used December as my catch-ups month to follow up on some things i didn’t get to finish. i thought i’d give my thoughts on each of the things i consumed this year as part of this project below in a concise manner--and yes, i know the people who’ve read even one (1) thing i’ve written are probably laughing right now, particularly given how long i took in this introduction just to get to me point, but i really am going to try!! it’s all an exercise in shameless self-indulgence, basically, but hey: if any of you want to chat at length about any of this stuff below, hit me up.

(quick note: you’ll only find media that i chose for this particular project below, so things i watched socially with friends--like certain film properties slorping me back into Disney’s gelatinous monolith--are not included)

Devilman Crybaby (anime, finished 1/5/2019): honestly i should have twigged onto what the year was going to be like when the first thing i drew from the metaphorical barrel was demon tiddies and apocalyptic existentialism. i was determined to dislike it for most of the year due to fundamentally disagreeing with its main thematic thrust, but i kept THINKING about it even months after. at this point i’ve kinda mellowed out. it’s definitely not a must love, but there’s enough queer metaphor and philosophical richness in it to make it worth checking out.

Attack on Titan (manga, 3 volumes finished 1/12/2019): this is the second time i’ve tried to get into this franchise and...yeah, no. i still don’t see the appeal. the fascistic overtones juxtaposed with absolutely no one having a sense of humor wigs me out to no end.

Young Justice (TV, 2.5 seasons finished 1/31/2019): honestly, what even is there to say? they’re my kids. they’re back and grown up and making even more terrible decisions. i screamed when i saw Babs in her wheelchair.

Black Leopard, Red Wolf (book, finished 2/10/2019): i tried VERY HARD to like this book, given how much i liked Brief History of Seven Killings, but it just...didn’t click for me. which honestly is fine, since i don’t think it was made for me either.

Dragon Age (3 games, finished 2/28/2019): i feel like there’s always a part of me that’s going to think of this series as “the other one,” but y’know. it’s good. it’s my second playthrough (as a mage for all three) and it’s good! i even went around killing all the dragons in Inquisition because Knight Enchanter was a blast. appreciate the higher queer content vis-a-vis Mass Effect, even though i couldn’t care less about any of the plot. Dragon Age II is the best one, do not @ me

Bitter Root (comic, 4 issues finished 3/1/2019): i love intergenerational dramas and i love stories about vampire slayers, so this was aces. my only complaint is the pacing was a little slow for a story that was going on hiatus after five issues.

Pearl (comic, 6 issues finished 3/3/2019): i know that he’s done great things and grudgingly admit that he’s probably a net positive in the industry but Brian Michael Bendis can suck my entire dick

Lazarus (comic, 5 trades finished 3/ 4/2019): i really thought this was going to clench the position for comic of the year. it’s Rucka doing Highly Relevant Dystopia! it’s a corporate Lannisters AU! it’s a highly personal story about a woman with high privilege and little agency! what more could you want

Immortal Hulk (comic, 2 trades finished 3/ 4/2019): i vibed with the horror feel, but i don’t honestly think it’s THAT exceptional. being set in 616-verse means there was still ton of baggage i didn’t know or care about, since i’ve now swung more to the DC side of things

thank u, next (album, finished 3/5/2019): didn’t Ariana Grande get canceled this year for some reason? oh well, i liked her album

When I Get Home (album, finished 3/13/2019): i vividly remember listening to this for the first time and feeling vaguely disappointed that it wasn’t more like Seat at the Table until i realized that i was covered in goosebumps. still don’t understand the magic but it is Good

The Bird King (book, finished 3/23/2019): pretty much everything you’d expect from a G. Willow Wilson book--spirituality, the female lead finding Themselves and the Answer and learning they’re the same thing, etc etc. i’m slightly resentful that her Wonder Woman was so lackluster while this was so good, but whatevs

Psychodrama (album, finished 3/29/2019): possibly my favorite album of the year? dense and emotionally raw in a way i really appreciate. Dave has a Mercury and he’s younger than me

Mass Effect (4 games, finished 4/7/2019): wow guys did you know that Mass Effect is good! it is. all of it is actually, even the Mass Effect 3 ending, another controversial finale to a big franchise that i will obstinately defend. even Andromeda, which isn’t AS good as the trilogy but still has a lot of heart. all its bugs have been exhaustively patched since launch anyway

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (TV, 4 seasons finished 5/13/2019): i’m...still kind of mad about this finale, but can’t exactly deny that this show is one of the best things to ever happen to me, or television probably. i didn’t even mind new!Greg that much! tho he was probably the nail on the coffin of me jumping onto the Nathaniel train.

Knights of the Old Republic/The Old Republic (3 games, finished 7/4/2019): did you guys know that KOTOR II was my first ever video game? i feel like that...explains a lot about me. anyway, the first game is a classic and the second is a deconstructive classic and playing either of them is basically a fun way for me to turn off my brain these days. even the MMO wasn’t as much of slog as i worried it would be. the Imperial Agent storyline had some nice surprises and i dig the general atmosphere of ruthless pragmatism and crushing loneliness.

Wanderers (book, finished 7/13/2019): Chuck Wendig is a very well-intentioned man in dire need of a strict editor. still good tho! some VERY punchy emotional bits and an ending that still leaves me with vague existential terror.

Code Geass (anime, 2 seasons finished 7/20/2019): i feel like this is on the polar opposite of the spectrum as Devilman Crybaby, because i don’t think Geass is GOOD on like, any basis, and i actually find its central moral message kind of abhorrent? but some part of my lizard brain LOVED the High Imperial Family Drama (it’s been a good year for me and Lannister types, hasn’t it? well, with the obvious exception of--never mind), so...yeah. have i discovered the true meaning of guilty pleasure

The Farewell (movie, finished 7/23/2019): how could i not a) watch this and b) love this and c) feel emotionally cold towards this at the same time because the situations depicted were so similar to mine that i ended up feeling kind of alienated

The Nickel Boys (book, finished 8/8/2019): i STILL haven’t read Underground Railroad, but here i am a book late and a dollar short to appreciate Whitehead’s new book. the man’s stylistic versatility is jaw-dropping and i appreciate the plotting in contrast to like, 90% of the litfic out there that’s just “protagonist sad in different milieu”

Durarara (anime, 2 seasons finished 8/31/2019): it’s fucking bonkers and i loved pretty much every second of it? even the second season, where i finally got the BruceNat AU i deserved??? the first anime i’ve seen where everyone was relatively soberly dressed. the answer was love and having feelings and asking your middle school best friend to hurl you like a projectile so you can chop your girlfriend’s head off with a demon katana

Lover (album, finished 9/1/2019): i feel like with all the Discourse surrounding Taylor Swift re: she’s the devil incarnate or re: she’s good, actually the fact that she makes fucking bops gets kind of lost in the conversation. i have no vested interest in her as a person but i liked Lover, even though London Boy was “what if Style but stupid”

Are You Listening (comic, finished 10/2/2019): my actual choice for best comic of the year if i were giving out awards like that. it’s coming of age! it’s grief! it’s queers! it’s trauma! it’s magical realism! it’s cats! it’s expressive gorgeous art! Tillie Walden has an Eisner and she’s younger than me

High School DxD (manga, 2 volumes finished 10/10/2019): i don’t even know how to talk about this series?? i actually kind of came around to the whole “main character is a perv but goes hard for consent” by the end of the second volume, but it’s still...bad. i only can have lingering conflicted feelings about one Japanese adaptation of Christian mythology per year

Ghosteen (album, finished 10/18/2019): much like Immortal Hulk i thought it was fine but over-hyped. it’s Nick Cave doing his Nick Cave ethereal music thing. i still can’t tell what any of the lyrics mean, except Jesus is there sometimes

Watchmen (TV, 2 episodes finished 10/29/2019): i am nOT FUCKING CAUGHT UP so please watch out for spoilers. it is on my high priority list of things to be caught up on tho--i appreciate that the plot is blatantly unsubtle but still manages to give me aneurysms and i appreciate the political overtones just kinda...balances on a razor thin wire and also gives me aneurysms. i wanna say i have no expectations and would be fine if it does a full dive into the horrible bland depths of the both-sides porridge, but i’m sadly a fool who wants to believe in Damon Lindelof

Syllabus/Making Comics (2 comics, finished 12/24/2019): it’s funny--even before Making Comics came out i was like “man i miss Lynda Barry” and then BAM. it’s incredible how her work just makes me feel taken care of, even when we’re wrestling with tough topics or she’s demanding that i draw a Batman in 30 seconds. kudos for immediately shooting to the top of my gift list for my sister also

Allegiance/Choices of One (2 books, finished 12/24/2019): fun and largely inoffensive, but i was honestly hoping for more. the level of Empire apologia going on was too much for me, someone who thinks Mara Jade is the best Star Wars character of all time (still?????? still). it reeked a little of Zahn believing his own hype as the only valid guy in Star Wars Legends of whatever

Aldnoah.Zero (anime, 1 season finished 12/24/2019): turns out i also can only have “trash but my trash” feelings about one Japanese mecha show with higher art pretensions and patriotism verging into jingoism per year, and this one ain’t it. it’s not as good as Code Geass and Code Geass ISN’T GOOD. at least Geass attempted character complexity and moved at enough of a breakneck pace to distract me from its questionable bits. Aldnoah is just...bland, and nothing gets accomplished or revealed in 12 episodes, except the baffling and contradictory motivations of the main bad guy.

Baldur’s Gate (game, unfinished): yet again something i really wanted to like, given *gestures at all the BioWare above*. i think it’s mainly the Seinfeld issue, where it actually predates my own experience with video games and was so formative for the Western RPG genre that what was innovative just comes across as kind of staid now. i didn’t DISLIKE it, and will probably play the sequel since it’s supposed to be more character-driven, but by the time i finished the vanilla campaign i just didn’t have it in me to squint at more tiny avatars on the screen, so the expansions ended up a no-go.

most prominent thing i noticed about this list is that only one 2019 movie made it on the list and ZERO 2019 video games did so. the former i’m okay with because i currently live with two film people with whom i’m happy to tag along to the cinema. the latter bums me out a little more, because there WERE a few things i wanted to play this year, but all of them came out just as my semester was reaching its catastrophic boil, so i had no time. maybe i’ll use my free time after the New Year festivities to catch up on those.

to conclude: this worked out pretty well! i ended up finishing all but one of the things, and only a few were bad enough that i have no interest in seeking out more content. i’ll probably do this again in 2020--we’ll see if the scheduling can withstand a full year of grad school hell

[verai-marcel]

First Round’s On You (RDR2 Fanfic, Neighbor AU, 18+, Part 2 of 2)

Summary & Notes are on Part 1.

Tags: low honor: jealousy, possessive, rough sex, teasing, orgasm denial, anal play.

AO3 Link is over here.

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Side B: Low Honor

"You up for some chow at Buffalo Joe’s?"

"Sure, when?"

"After I get off work tonight?"

"Sounds good. Just knock."

"See ya then."

After the call ended, you smiled happily and bounced eagerly on your couch for a moment before taking a deep breath. After agreeing to date Arthur a week ago, things had continued relatively as normal, except he'd kiss you good night after your late night balcony conversations. This was the first time he asked you out to eat. Granted, it was to the local dive bar, but it was still something.

***

You finished your work and quickly got ready, putting on a sexy short red dress that you had been saving for a hot date. You had to take off the price tag, reminding you that you hadn’t wanted to wear it for anyone since you bought it. Until now, that is. Arthur made you incredibly hot, his smirk and his swagger just got you wet for him whenever he teased you. Oh, he knew what he was doing to you, and tempted you relentlessly.

So when you answered the door and saw him in a muscle shirt and blue jeans, your train of thought abruptly halted and derailed faster than lightning.

“Oh,” was all your lust-addled brain could manage.

Arthur looked you up and down and gave you a sultry smile. “Hey beautiful. You wear that for me?”

You nodded.

Taking a step towards you, he grabbed your waist and pulled you close.

“Maybe we should stay in tonight,” he rasped in your ear, nibbling your earlobe before stepping away. You were pretty sure you were on fire, given how hot you felt.

Arthur laughed at your dazed expression; damn him, teasing you again. “C’mon sweetheart, I’m hungry.” He grabbed your hand and led you to his truck.

***

At Buffalo Joe’s, the two of you grabbed a table and ordered some chicken strips and fries and a couple of beers. Chatting away, you didn’t notice you had run out of beer until you tipped your glass to find only a few drops left.

“I’ll get us some more,” Arthur said, taking your glass. “Whaddya want?”

“Anything on nitro, please,” you answered.

Arthur smiled. “A girl after my own heart,” he said as he walked back to the bar. You watched him go, your eyes on his ass.

Then someone else stood in the way of your view, and you looked up, irritated. A big man, a relatively good looking one, leaned against your table.

“Hey cutie,” he said, giving you a friendly smile. “How’s your night been?”

“Good,” you said with trepidation.

“It could be great, if you ditch that guy and come hang out with me.”

You rolled your eyes.

“And me,” a man said to your right. You turned your head to see another man as he came up beside his buddy. “We’d love to fulfill some dreams, with a beautiful woman like you.”

While having two men sandwich you was always a side fantasy of yours, you didn’t want anything to do with these men. Sure, they were good looking. But all you wanted was Arthur.

And you could see him, holding two beers and stalking back towards your table. You quickly waved at him and smiled. You could tell he wasn’t happy about seeing these two men crowding your personal space.

Arthur walked around the table, putting the beers down and aggressively grabbed you, seating you onto his lap as he sat down on the bar stool.

“There’s my girl,” he said in a low voice, kissing your cheek. “Are these two bothering you?”

“They were just about to leave,” you said sweetly. Then you turned to the two men and glared. “Because I’m not interested in anyone else,” you said with a hint of venom.

The two men shrugged, but their eyes met Arthur’s, and they looked at each other and took off. When you glanced back at Arthur, he looked like he was ready to murder someone.

“Arthur?”

He blinked and looked at you, his smile back on, but there was still something hard in his gaze. He hugged you tight. “Did they touch you?”

You shook your head.

“Good.”

You stayed in his lap for the rest of the time, just talking quietly with Arthur about his day at work, your day, and random stories from the past. It was nice, but you could feel his hand working its way from your knee up your thigh, and knew he was getting turned on, having you in his lap with the short red dress that exposed a lot of your skin.

“You ready to go back?” he asked after you finished your beer.

Looking at his lustful gaze, you smirked. “I don’t know. Do you want me to be ready?”

The grip on your waist tightened. He leaned in and practically growled into your ear.

“You better be.”

***

The drive home was quiet. There was a tension in the air, like a beast waiting for its prey, coiling up, ready to spring. As you got out of his truck and walked up the steps to your apartment, you could feel his eyes on you as he followed you, and when you got to your apartment, he put his arms up on either side of you as you unlocked the door.

He kissed the back of your neck just as you opened the door. Without asking, he followed you inside, shutting and locking the door behind him. You took off your shoes, dropped your purse on the couch, and then suddenly felt Arthur’s arms around you. You could feel his cock beneath his jeans, hard and aching to be released.

“Need you,” he uttered in a deep voice, walking forward with you in his arms, forcing you towards your bedroom.

Once there, he tossed you onto the bed and crawled on top of you, straddling your body. He took off his shirt and threw it across the room. Then he fell upon you, delivering an open mouth, ravaging kiss that engulfed your senses, his hands pulling at the straps of your dress, sliding them off your shoulders. Pulling at the fabric, tugging your strapless bra down and off your breasts, he let you up for air to suck on your exposed nipples, giving each its due.

Arching your back, you grabbed his ass and squeezed, making him chuckle.

“You want me, darlin’?”

“Yes, fuck me Arthur!”

He sat up and pushed the hem of your dress up, revealing your white lace panties.

“Cute,” he said, stroking you through the lace. “Can’t wait to mess’em up.” He slipped the fabric aside and pushed one finger inside of you. Lifting your hips and humping his finger, you saw his mischievous grin as he slipped another finger into you, and stroked your clit with his thumb.

“Oh, fuck,” you gasped when he sped up, curling his fingers inside of you, hitting a spot that made you spasm a little.

“That’s it, good girl,” he rumbled as you rolled your hips. He shifted back, moving your legs out from under him and over his shoulders. He looked at you for a moment, his eyes sparking with heat before he tore your panties off, and flung the fabric over his shoulder. Then he leaned over and forced his tongue into your pussy.

You writhed, unable to move much since Arthur was holding you down as he was using his mouth to drive you crazy. All you could do was mewl helplessly as he brought you to the edge and pulled you back, somehow knowing when you were about to come, and stopping right before. He smiled infuriatingly after the fifth time, finally taking your legs off his shoulders.

You lay there, catching your breath while you watched him get off the bed and slowly, teasingly, take off his belt, then unzip his fly. He pushed his jeans & boxers down, kicked them away, and got back onto the bed on his knees. He crooked a finger, making a ‘come here’ gesture.

“Suck me off.”

You got on your hands and knees and made your way to him. He ran his hands through your hair as you tentatively licked the tip of his cock. Kissing the velvet skin, you licked his shaft, teasing him, looking up, knowing what you were doing to him. His patience wore thin though, as he grabbed your hair with both hands and shoved his dick into your mouth.

“Be a good girl,” he growled. You started sucking on him in earnest, feeling the drool slip from your lips as you worked his cock with abandon. You didn’t notice when one hand let go of your hair, but you absolutely noticed when his finger started playing with your ass.

You cried out his name in surprise, muffled by his cock in your mouth.

“Just some fun,” Arthur said. “You got a vibrator?”

You looked up at him, and he pulled his cock out of your mouth and grabbed your neck.

“Dirty girl like you, I know you have one.”

You pointed at your nightstand. He let go of you, went and opened the top drawer and pulled out a pink vibrator. He twisted it on, the hum sounding ominous in the silence of your room.

“Oh, what’s this?” He pulled out a small bottle of lube you had tucked in the very back of the drawer.

You quickly looked away. “Um, nothing.”

He leaned over and grabbed your throat again. “Really?”

You smiled. “Guess.”

He smirked at you. “Naughty girl.”

Then he grabbed your hips and pulled you towards the edge of the bed, keeping you on your hands and knees while he stood behind you. Caressing your ass with one hand, he took your vibrator and covered it in the lube.

Then he started to push the vibrator into your ass.

You bent down and bit your pillow, groaning.

He hushed you, petting your head. “Just take it, darlin’. You want it, don’tcha?”

You moaned as he worked the vibrator deeper into your ass. Once it was a good way inside of you, he wrapped his hand around your throat and shoved his cock inside of you.

“Oh fuck!” you yelped.

“Fuck is right,” Arthur murmured as he started to take both your holes, one hand working the vibrator in your ass while he fucked your pussy with long, hard strokes.

“My filthy whore,” he crooned, “look at ya. You take my cock so good, darlin’.”

You moaned, his words turning you on beyond your expectations. You didn’t know why Arthur treating you like a slut made you so hot, but you craved it like nothing else.

“Touch yourself.”

You reached down and stroked your clit while he kept fucking you, and you lost your mind when he slapped your ass.

“Come for me,” he uttered in a low, gravelly tone.

You screamed when your climax swept through your body, your bliss heightened when Arthur shoved two fingers into your mouth to keep you quiet.

“You want the neighbors to know yer a slut?” he muttered as he pumped his fingers between your lips. You sucked mindlessly, drool coming down your lips as he wrung out every last bit of your orgasm from your body.

Then he pulled the vibrator out of your ass and twisted your arms behind your back, holding your wrists with one hand. His other hand glided up your back, caressed your neck, and then held your shoulder as he shoved himself deeper into your pussy. You let out a strangled cry that became a long moan as he rutted into you, leaning over and pushing you into the mattress while he dominated your body.

“Yer all mine, sweetheart,” he murmured into your ear before licking your neck. “You like being mine, don’tcha?”

“Yes, all yours,” you whimpered.

Arthur moaned and suddenly sped up, pinning you down and ramming you fast, the sound of his hips thrusting into your ass filling the room, his breaths getting heavier as he grew closer to his peak.

“Fuck, take it darlin’,” he growled, slamming into you hard as he came, filling you with his come. “My girl.” He stroked your hair and pulled out of you, climbing onto the bed and pulling you next to him.

“Arthur,” you said lovingly, snuggling into his side.

“Yer so good,” he rumbled, caressing your arm. “You like havin’ all yer holes filled?”

You smiled. “It was fun,” you mumbled, starting to fall asleep.

He kissed your forehead. “We can clean up in the mornin’. Get some sleep.”

***

You woke up to the sound of light snoring. You felt sticky and gross, and rolled over and went to your bathroom. After relieving yourself, you started the shower and got in, scrubbing yourself clean.

“You almost done in there?”

“Almost.”

Arthur opened the curtain and came in, his dick hard and his grin lascivious.

“Turn around. Hands on the wall.”

You did what he said immediately. Feeling him against your back, he spread your legs and slid his cock inside of you, moaning.

“G’mornin’ sweetheart,” he grunted as he fucked you against the shower wall, quickly finding his pleasure as he reached around and stroked you until you mewled and came around him, milking his dick as he finished inside of you, biting your shoulder to stifle his own moans.

“Can’t get enough of ya,” he said as he let you go and helped clean you up again. As you left the shower, he slapped your ass. You gasped and turned to him, and he just winked at you before you closed the curtain on him, letting him clean up alone.

***

Washed and dressed, you were frying up some eggs and hash browns when he came out, his hair damp, his T-shirt stretched across his muscular body, his jeans hanging low on his hips. You wondered vaguely where his belt was.

“For me?” he asked as he sat down at the table.

“Yup.” You scooped the food onto two plates and sat next to him, handing him the plate with more food on it.

“Well, thank you,” he said and dug in. The two of you ate in silence, just enjoying the quiet morning. But finally, Arthur spoke.

“You, uh, alright?”

You smiled at him. “Yeah, a little sore, but I’m alright.”

He nodded, looking relieved. “If I’m ever too rough with ya, lemme know.” Looking down and pushing some of his food around with his fork, he paused. “I don’t wanna hurt ya.”

You giggled, unable to help yourself. “Don’t worry, I’ll say something if it hurts.” You leaned in and touched his arm. “Anyway. I like it rough.”

He gave you a dark smile, full of carnal promise. “Me too, darlin’. Me too.”

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End Notes: Ugh, Low Honor neighbor Arthur just wants to FUCK. He fucks and trucks. Hope you enjoyed both parts! At least one more pair of fics to come!

[verai-marcel]

Chase Me Down (RDR2 Fanfic, Arthur x Fem!Reader, 18+, DubCon)

Just posting some of my older fics to tumblr. This is the Captured Hearts series, part 2 of 4.

Summary: You hadn't seen him in weeks, and then he shows up while you're in the middle of a hunt. How will you deal with Arthur’s forceful entry back into your life?

Author's Notes: I wasn't intending to write another one in this series… But since I am, let me establish a few world building things. This is a world where Chapter 2 in the game just started, and it's staying there, as if you went on a bunch of side missions and are not advancing any story missions. So no spoilers beyond that because it isn't happening. Blackwater happened in the past, and that's all. No other crimes occurred, no other plot lines to get in the way. And now, on to the smut! 

Tags: LH Arthur, DubCon, smut, rough sex, D/s undertones, Female!Reader

Word Count: 4772

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You've had a really good run lately. It has been a month since you failed to capture Arthur Morgan, and your “encounter” with him has become just a memory. At least, that's what you tell yourself when you're not furiously touching yourself after dreaming of his strong hands around your neck and pulling your hair. Part of you thinks you've lost your mind. Another part of you wants to go find him and beg to be taken again. 

You shake that all out of your head. You get your rifle ready as you reach the edge of the cliff, far above the gang camp. If you could bring in the leader and two of his cronies, you could make enough money to rest for a month. You had been tracking this whole gang for a while now, and bringing in a few of the men here and there, dead, of course. They weren't much trouble, and you eventually managed to bring one in alive too. But you finally got a good lead three days ago, and tonight you tracked a few of the loud idiots back to their base camp. 

You'd have to be fast if you were to take out the top three men in the gang. There were at least seven men below. You wondered if you were a fast enough sniper to get them all in one go. 

You decided to wait until night and take them out quietly once most of them slept. It'd be a long night, but it beat getting all of them running towards you at once. And you had learned your lesson about being impatient with Arthur.

Thinking of him made you shudder. The feeling you had was complicated; it was both longing and apprehension wrapped up into a solid lump in your chest. 

You took a deep breath and focused on the work at hand. 

As night fell and men started to go to sleep, you waited until all but one was tucked into their bedrolls. You waited another half an hour to make sure at least some of them were passed out. 

Then you started shooting. The first headshot was for the man on watch. The next three were for the men sleeping nearby. 

By now, the three remaining men had woken up and were hiding behind crates and began firing in your general direction. You quickly scuttled to another part of the cliff, closer to the men but circling around them, to fire once more. Another headshot. Two left. 

You heard a rustling behind you. Not this time, you thought, as you pulled out your revolver and scampered around the cliff to some tree cover. A bullet hit the tree next to you, and you looked through the trees behind you and saw a few men coming your way with lanterns, making them easy to spot. 

One hand slinging your rifle back over your shoulder, you shot at the men with your revolver, hitting one and making two of them dodge back into the forest. Then you ran. You needed better cover. 

Bullets began flying again, and you cursed your luck. Of course some of the other gang members would come from a different direction and get behind you. You couldn't kill all of them, but you knew you got the three men you needed. Now you just had to get out and wait, and maybe you could collect their bodies later.

You found a nice thicket to hide around, and decided to try something. Finding a rock, you waited for them to get closer. As two of them approached, you threw the rock far away from you, but out of their sight. Foolishly, they followed the sound, and you quickly shot both of them in the head. 

As you came out and around to confirm the kills, you heard the other man, the one you had shot earlier, come bursting through, his gun pointed at your head. You could see down the barrel of his gun and thought this would be a shit way to die. You tensed to dodge and shoot. 

And then blood exploded from his head and he fell over before you could move. 

You quickly tried to dive back into the thicket, but a shot was fired at your feet. You stopped moving forward, dropped your gun, and slowly raised your hands as you looked up from your crouched position.

A familiar face appeared from behind the trees, and you felt both relief and trepidation. But mostly you felt surprised at seeing him here, and it probably showed on your face.

“Hey sweetheart,” Arthur said as one corner of his mouth twitched in amusement at seeing your reaction to him. 

“Did you have to shoot at me?” you asked, somewhat annoyed, as you picked up your gun and started walking to the dead men to loot them.

“Well, had to be sure you wouldn’t shoot me first,” he said in a light tone. “By the way, I took out the rest of them bastards at that camp.”

You just glared at him and walked away. You had this. You fucking had this bounty. And now you might have to share.

“You’re supposed to say thank you at times like this,” he said sarcastically. 

“Thanks,” you responded curtly. 

He looted the body that he had killed, and followed you as you made your way back to the camp. The walk was made in silence, with Arthur following you a few steps behind like a dog, or perhaps more like a stalker, and it was making you nervous. He was obviously playing with you, and you didn’t really like that at the moment. Also reminded you that he was an outlaw with no loyalty to you. 

When you got back to the camp, you whistled for your horse while you grabbed the head of the gang and dragged his body to a big rock. It was a gristly business, but after the last hunter had lied about killing this guy, the sheriff in the town you took this job from had wanted physical evidence of his death.

Arthur just watched, amused, as you led your horse to the rock and started hauling the body up and onto his back. It took you some time, but you finally did it. When you looked back over at the other two bodies, you realized that in the time it had taken you to move one body, Arthur had moved the other two to his horse, and was mostly done with his cigarette.

“Son of a bitch,” you mumbled. Then you called out to him, “I guess you’ll be wanting partial credit for this?”

“Half.”

“Fuck you.”

He walked closer until the two of you were standing toe to toe. He was taller than you, but that didn’t scare you. What did frighten you was the intense look in his eyes as he stared at you for just a few moments too long. 

“Careful what you say, missy,” he finally uttered in a low tone.

Your brain decided at that moment to remind you of the last time you met, and you felt your cheeks heat up. It was the middle of the night, but in the moonlight, you felt like he could see everything. 

You quickly turned around and got on your horse. It wasn’t like you could really fight him and take his horse with the bounties from him. You knew a losing battle when you saw one. Sighing heavily, you started riding back to town, knowing that it would take you at least the rest of the night and part of the morning to get back. You could get a hotel room and sleep for a day afterwards.

Arthur followed, and you weren’t sure what to expect. You mostly felt annoyed that your reward money was being split.

***

You rode through the night and into the early hours of the morning. Despite the situation, you enjoyed the sunrise, though you were tired and your nerves were frayed because of Arthur’s complete silence along the way. It was eerie.

But during the ride, you had thought about what just happened. He did save you. You hated to be in debt to someone. You also hated it when you got help you didn’t need. Made you feel weak.

You looked over your shoulder to peer at him. He was still following you quietly, and he was looking around, clearly keeping an eye out around you. 

When the two of you got to town, it was almost business as usual, except for the Sheriff looking at Arthur suspiciously. You had done quite a few jobs in this town, and he had never seen you work with a partner. 

“Thought you worked alone, O'Malley,” the sheriff finally said after he had confirmed the identities of the three bodies and handed a stack of bills to you. 

“Ran into him on the way, thought it might be faster with two,” you said, affecting a deeper voice; you, at least hopefully, sounded like a boy on the cusp of becoming a man. Arthur was giving you a pointed look, glancing at the money in your hands. You counted out half and passed the bills to him begrudgingly. 

“Alright then. Well, come on by next week, see if we got any more trouble. Wish you'd take my offer of deputizing you. You're young but capable,” he said, clapping you on the shoulder. You noticed Arthur eyeing the man’s hand on you.

You shook your head at the Sheriff’s offer. “No thanks, but appreciate the compliment,” you replied as you ducked away from him and walked out the door. Arthur just tipped his hat to the sheriff and followed you out. 

“O'Malley, huh? That ain't your real name,” Arthur said after the two of you were back on your horses and riding to the other side of town, via a back road.

“Of course not. It's just the name I give out as a bounty hunter,” you said as you took your hat off that was concealing your longer hair, and shed your bulky jacket so you actually looked like a woman with your tighter fitting union shirt.

“Hmmmm. So you that O'Malley Kid that I hear about sometimes? Young guy that only brings in dead bounties?”

“I brought in one man alive!” you retort, but the jocular grin on Arthur's face makes you laugh. You were somewhat aware of your reputation, but to know that he had heard of it too was a bit embarrassing. 

You had reached the hotel, and wanted to just sleep. You looked back at Arthur, who was just watching you with that intense stare again. But you were so tired. 

“I'm just gonna get some rest. Maybe see ya some other time,” you said almost too quickly as you slid off your horse, hitched him, and started fast walking up the stairs. 

Arthur, of course, followed suit, and was right behind you when you missed a step and almost ate it at the front door. An arm quickly wrapped around your waist, and he pulled you close to his chest. 

“Seem a bit tired, sweetheart.” 

“Don't call me that.”

“You gonna give me a name, then?” 

Not answering him, you shrugged out his hold and surprisingly, he let you go. You could feel him next to you though, and you had an inkling as to why he was sticking around.

“I’d like a room, please,” you said to the clerk at the front desk. The clerk glanced at Arthur, who said nothing.

“Alright,” he said after a moment before handing you a key. “Upstairs, second door on the right.” You gave him a dollar and made your way upstairs. Arthur was following you quietly, and you really didn’t want to make a scene, but the second you got to the door, you whirled around.

“I need some alone time.” And you slammed the door shut in his face.

***

Arthur stood there, a bit stunned, but once he recovered, he just chuckled to himself quietly and sauntered back downstairs.

The clerk raised an eyebrow at him.

“Lady thinks I smell. Could I get a bath?”

The clerk just laughed, and got another worker to prepare it for him.

***

As soon as you locked the door, you practically leapt onto the bed and sighed in comfort. You were exhausted and just wanted to sleep, but you were also nervous because you had also slammed the door on the most dangerous man you had ever met. Would he break in and then, potentially, break you?

You were mad at yourself for being a little bit excited by the idea. This man really was dangerous. Dangerous to your mental stability, that is. You tossed and turned on the bed for a few minutes, and then realized you had to run. There was no way you’d be able to enjoy this nice room while knowing that HE was nearby.

You opened the door and went downstairs. Walking past the clerk who was reading a paper, you asked if he had seen Arthur.

“Oh, he went to take a bath, just for you,” he said with a wink.

Plastering a fake smile on your face, you said, “Oh, that’s good. I’m just going to step out for a few minutes, please let him know I’ll be back shortly.”

“Sure thing miss,” he said, already going back to his paper.

You got on your horse and fled like the wind.

***

After riding all day, you finally felt like you could breathe again. You knew part of you had been really happy to see him, but it was also the part of you that just wanted to bend over and let him have his way with you. You were an independent woman, dammit! 

You chose to bounty hunt because it was what your father did, and it was how he met your mother in a small town out in the middle of the plains. Even though you didn’t see him much back then, every time he came back, he had new toys for you and stories to tell you about the crazy things he had seen. It was too bad your mother came down with an illness seven years ago and died while he was out on a week-long job. You didn’t know what to do; you remember seeing your mother’s dead body in bed, and shutting the door to her room and just surviving on canned food until your father came back. Once he did, he mourned & buried her in a day, and then he packed your bags, got you a horse, and you two never went back to that house. You learned everything from him, how to snipe, how to survive in the wilderness, and how to dress and act like a man so that no one would take advantage of you.

You had learned so much. You should have been better. So you regretted your actions when a job went bad a few years ago. You should have been patient. You should have breathed out when taking that shot. Then your old man wouldn’t have had to go in. He wouldn’t have had to die in that gun fight.

You shook your head of the past. You had been making your own way for years now. You missed both your parents, but like your old man had said the day he buried your mother: “You must move forward and face the future. If you stand still and look behind you all the time, life will pass you by and you’ll be left for dead.”

I must move forward, you thought to yourself again, and took your horse off the path to find a spot in the wilderness to tent up for the night. You felt safe out here, where there were few travelers and there were enough rabbits that you could easily hunt one for supper. A stream nearby made a calming sound as you set up camp and relaxed. After a satisfying rabbit stew, you killed the fire and crawled into your tent to sleep soundly.

***

You woke up to a hand around your mouth. Panic set in. How did your horse not whinny at strangers approaching? Was he okay? You swear, if anyone hurt Ol’ Trigger, you were going to be real pissed. You latched onto that angry feeling to give you courage.

That is, until you heard a voice like butter in your ear.

“Cute, trying to run like that, sweetheart.”

You relaxed, but tensed up again immediately. How did he find you so quickly? You swear you took several back roads and went in and out of streams to lose a trail. And why didn’t Trigger neigh or something?

“I went after you as soon as that clerk said you had stepped out for a little while. I knew it was a lie,” he said, a bit angrily. He slowly let go of your mouth.

“Is my horse okay?” you immediately asked.

“He’s fine. Led me right to you, in fact.”

You were shocked. Trigger wouldn’t betray you.

“I copied your whistle.”

You sighed. You hadn’t thought of that. Then you tried to sit up, but he pushed you back down with his other hand.

“Stay.”

“I’m not a dog to command-”

He immediately put a hand over your mouth again. You were about to bite him and retort, but you saw that he wasn’t looking at you anymore. He was looking outside the tent.

You listened intently. You heard bushes moving and the sound of your horse stamping his foot and whining softly. 

Arthur turned to you with a look that said stay here, and he pulled out his revolver and quietly crawled outside. You stayed put for all of three seconds before grabbing your revolver and following him. 

Once out of your tent, you immediately saw an agitated Trigger. Quickly going to him, you patted his neck to calm him, but you weren't prepared for the gunshots nearby. Trigger reared up and nearly landed on you as you jumped back. You grabbed at his reins and calmed him once more. 

You were feeding him an apple when Arthur came back, a wolf corpse tied up on his horse. He got off and walked towards you, grabbed you by the wrist, and pulled you towards your tent. 

You tugged and dug your feet into the ground, but he was too damn strong. He had almost gotten you to the tent; then he grabbed your hair and forced you onto your knees in front of him. 

“Unbutton my pants, sweetheart.”

You blinked and looked up at him. He kept watching you silently. After a few moments you reached up and did as he commanded. His tone of voice did not brook argument. That, and you felt heat curl below your belly and knew you would do whatever he asked. That voice did a number on your senses, and your sense. 

“Take out my cock.” 

You reached into his pants and pulled him out, your hand gentle on his skin. He hissed with pleasure and wrapped his hand around yours, guiding you on stroking him. With his other hand, he cupped your chin.

“Open your mouth,” he rumbled. 

Your eyebrows furrowed. 

Arthur let go of your hand and pinched your nose, forcing you to open your mouth to breathe. When you did, he forced his cock into your mouth. 

“Just lick and suck on it,” he coaxed, letting go of your nose and caressing your cheek gently with the back of his fingers. 

You started to move your lips and tongue around the head, looking up at him and watching for his reaction to everything you tried. Tonguing a line from the base of him to the tip made his eyes roll up, which made you unreasonably happy. 

Then he suddenly grabbed your hair at the back of your head and thrust deep into your mouth. Your eyes started to tear up, and he pulled back, only to thrust in again, but shallower this time. He did this slowly at first, but then he was going at a steady rhythm, taking your mouth. 

Your mind fell into pace with his movement, and you grew wet from him ravaging you like this. You didn't know how much you had missed the feeling of him fisting your hair like this. 

He pulled you away from him after who knows how long. Then he started taking off his jacket and shirt. You just stayed still, transfixed. I should run, you thought to yourself. 

But then he threw you into the tent and onto the bed roll. Landing on your back, you got up on your elbows to see him crawling towards you, and you couldn't help but think again of the wolf coming to eat his prey. You quivered, knowing that there was no escape, but you didn't know if you really wanted to escape now. 

“Take your clothes off.” 

You started to take off your pants. 

“Slowly,” he added. 

Under his gaze, you did as he said, each piece of clothing sliding off your skin slowly as you trembled. He was watching you so closely, and it was bringing heat to your cheeks as you finally took off your drawers and chemise. 

You sat on your bed roll, naked, and covered your breasts out of habit. 

He crawled closer to you and wrapped his hand around your throat, pushing you down onto your back. You struggled a bit before letting him. Then he put a hand on each of your knees and started to spread your legs apart. You strained your muscles to keep yourself together. 

“Keep fighting me,” he snarled. “It'll make breaking you all the sweeter.”

Like some twisted reverse psychology, you instantly relaxed your legs and let him spread you out. He chuckled darkly before dipping his head down to your stomach and kissing your scar. Then he moved lower, kissing a path to your clit. He licked around it, torturing you with almost-but-not-quite touches, sticking his tongue into your wet channel and making you squirm. Your hands reached for him and you ran your hands through his soft hair. 

Then he started sucking and licking your clit with no mercy. You gasped and writhed, your body coming apart under him as he brought you to climax with just his mouth. As you lay there, breathing heavily, he lifted his head, wiped his mouth, and pounced on you, his cock sliding up and down your folds, but not penetrating you. 

Grabbing your wrists, he positioned them on either side of your head. He lifted himself up so his cock was nudging your entrance. 

“Surrender to me.”

Your heart beat wildly at his command. You couldn't look away if you tried as he took you, agonizingly slow. Your hips bucked, and he froze. 

“Don't you dare move,” he growled. You gulped and nodded. 

He hummed approvingly and kept pushing into you. Once he was all the way in, he crushed you under his weight, making it hard to breathe. He stayed still for a moment, just feeling your heart beating loud in the night. 

Then he took you with abandon, his grip on your wrists tightening as his thrusts became faster, harder. He came with a harsh groan, and finally let go of your wrists. He rolled off you and bundled you up in his arms, pulling you close. Your cheek was against his chest and you could hear his heartbeat calming down. 

But much to your annoyance, you wanted to come again, and you started to reach down to take care of things, but then you felt embarrassed about even thinking of touching yourself while he was right there. 

As if he was reading your mind, Arthur reached between the two of you and stroked you, exactly the way you wanted. You looked up to see him watching you intently. 

“I wouldn't leave you wantin’, sweetheart.”

Trapped in his gaze, he brought you to the edge, slowed down, and did it again, driving you crazy. You grabbed his arm and dug your fingernails in. 

“Damn you,” you cursed as he teased you some more. 

“Beg me.” 

“Never.” You started to reach down to finish yourself, but he grabbed your wrist and twisted you around so your back, and your arm, was against his chest. It hurt a little. 

“Now now, you should know better,” he whispered. “Just give in, it’ll be better for both of us.”

You reached for yourself with your other arm, but he just grabbed it too, pulled your arms back and held your wrists together behind your back with one hand. You pulled and twisted, and in retaliation he wrapped his legs around you to keep you still, and snaked his free arm down to touch you again.

You’re not sure how long it was, of him teasing you, edging you, driving you mad with the desire to come. You hated to admit that he was wearing you down, and you were close to just begging for it.

“Just one little word, and I’ll give you what you need,” he said low in your ear.

You finally whispered, “Please…”

He changed his pace immediately, his stroking became exactly what you needed to push you over the edge and you came in his arms, crying with pleasure and relief, the release almost too much for your poor tired body.

Arthur let go of your wrists and let you stretch your muscles before wrapping his body around yours and petting you gently until you fell asleep.

***

You woke up deliciously refreshed. You’re not sure how long you slept, but the sun was high in the sky now. You rolled over, and found that Arthur was gone. The relief at being alone again, and the shame of succumbing to him once more flooded through you. Along with that tempest of emotions, so too did you have the feeling of a string wrapping around your heart.

You quietly got up and threw some clothes on before crawling out of your tent.

To your surprise, he was still here, patting Ol’ Trigger nearby and feeding him a carrot. It ticked you off, just a little, to see him so friendly with YOUR horse. As you got closer, you could hear Arthur mumbling something to him.

“Now you take care of your lady, you hear. She’s precious, don’t let her get hurt.”

Your heart melted.

He turned to you and smiled, and it was warm like the sun. Goddammit, why was he like this only after fucking you mindless?

“How you doin’?”

“Doin’ alright.”

“Just alright?”

“I’m doin’ GREAT. Is that what you wanted to hear?” you responded, a bit annoyed now.

“I just want your truth,” he said calmly.

His answer threw you for a second. Then you laughed. “My truth,” you said after a while, “is that I feel good. Thanks.”

Arthur just nodded, gave Ol’ Trigger one last pat, and started walking towards you. “Guess I’d better be goin’. I’m sure you have other bounties to hunt.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I do.” Now that he was leaving, you felt torn. You loved your independence. But you also loved what he did to you, though you would never admit that to his face lest he have even more power over you. You watched as he walked up to you. He cupped your cheek and stroked your skin with his thumb. Then he leaned in and kissed you on the forehead.

“See ya later, sweetheart.” He took a few steps back, his eyes on you one last time, before he turned around, got on his horse, and rode away without looking back.

Once he was out of sight, you immediately fell to your knees and hugged yourself. 

After a few deep breaths, you regained your composure and broke camp. Packing your stuff onto Ol’ Trigger, you noticed your saddle bag had been opened. You looked and saw a wad of bills and a piece of paper.

Counting the bills first, you noted that it was half of the amount you had given Arthur yesterday. Then you read the paper.

“Thanks for the fun night, my sweet.”

You were caught between being pissed and being amused. Maybe he was paying you like a whore. Maybe he felt bad about barging in on your hunt.

Maybe it was both. 

You shoved the money and the letter back in your saddle bag and got onto your horse.

“Son of a bitch!” you yelled as you rode west. 

--------

End Notes: I’ve got two more fics in this series on the way, so keep an eye out. Thank you for reading!

[verai-marcel]

Reversal of Fortune (RDR2 Fanfic, Arthur x Fem!Reader, 18+, DubCon)

Hey guys, just posting some of my older fics to tumblr. This is the Captured Hearts series, part 1 of 4.

Summary: You’re a good bounty hunter, but you’ll be the first to admit you’re not the best. So to get better, you gotta catch some bigger prey. However, just because a man has 3rd billing on a bounty poster, doesn’t mean he’s easier to catch; in fact, he may be the most dangerous man you’ve ever hunted. Will you become the hunted one instead?

Author’s Notes: No joke, there’s some dubious consent here; definitely trigger warning for that. This also might be considered Stockholm syndrome, so keep that in mind. You are legal, I imagine in your 20s, but you are visibly younger than Arthur, so he uses a lot of “girl” terms for you, so be aware of that too, just in case. Also this is a darker, more morally ambiguous Arthur. If these warnings don’t turn you off, then please enjoy my dark, twisted fantasies.

Tags: low honor Arthur, DubCon, smut, rough sex

Word Count: about 4300

---------

You shivered under your heavy coat, the bandana around your face keeping your breath from giving away your location in the cold forest. Pulling out the wanted poster you had grabbed back in Blackwater, you looked again at the face of your next bounty. Arthur Morgan, wanted dead or alive. 

You were a good bounty hunter, but only because you were a great sharpshooter and could take out your opponents from far away easily. You never made much money because you usually brought them in dead, but you weren't about to face off with certain men in a fist fight. You knew where your skills lay, and you knew you couldn't stand up to more than a few well placed punches. You had learned that the hard way when you were first starting to hunt, and have the scars on your body to remind you. 

Ahead in the forest were horse tracks; you followed them through the afternoon, tracking down your target until dusk, where you spotted smoke. You changed course, going up a hillside to get a better vantage point. Leaving your horse a ways away, you hiked up the hill until you found a nice flat spot with good cover. Hiding behind some rocks, you pulled out your binoculars and looked at the makeshift camp. 

A small fire, the horse you had been tracking, and a small tent were all you saw for a few minutes. Then from the tent crawled a man, a big man. From your vantage point, you couldn't quite see his eyes under his worn out hat, but you saw his jawline, the shadow of a beard, and his jacket stretched across his broad shoulders.

Too strong to take on face to face, you thought. You'll have to snipe him. You decided to wait for the sky to grow a bit darker before you made your move. If you did it now, other hunters might be alerted and steal your kill; wouldn't be the first time. For now, you would wait and see.

You watched from afar as it looked like he was just cleaning his weapons. After about an hour, he got on his horse and wandered away from his camp, veering left up the mountain, away from you. Looked like he was going hunting. You let 15 minutes pass, then decided to quietly make your way down the hill to follow him. It was dark enough. Maybe you could catch him unaware while he was hunting for food, and get this bounty done and over with.

Although it was dark, you were a pretty good tracker. You tracked him for a couple of miles through the forest, past some big rocks and an abandoned cabin. However, when the horse tracks ended at a small river stream, you cursed because he could have gone anywhere at this point. You decided to turn back to the cover of the forest; you were far too open here. 

You heard a rustle behind you. You slowly looked behind you in the twilight and saw the gleam of a rifle in between the bushes on the hill above you. You quickly dodged back towards the trees as a bullet exploded the dirt where you had been. 

Shit, either he found you, or someone else was stealing your kill! 

You started running, hunched down behind trees and rocks, trying to get a lead on this guy. You pulled your rolling block rifle from your back holster and got it ready as you ran, trying to get as far away from the stream as possible. You could hear him coming down the mountain, and your adrenaline spiked. If he caught you, he was going kill you. 

Running seemed to be your only option at the moment. So you tried to run, quietly as possible, downhill towards the rocky area you had seen on your way up here. Then maybe you could hide in the rocks and take him out. 

Another shot whizzed past your shoulder, and you turned quickly and starting zig zagging through the trees. Branches exploded around you, and you covered your head from the splinters as you kept running, every breath feeling sharp with the cold of the night. A shot grazed your shoulder, but you kept running. You could bandage yourself later.

Finally, after what felt like too long, you saw all the tall rocks and weaved into them, disappearing into the shadows and sneaking as far away as you could. He wasn't being very discreet, you could hear his spurs as he caught up to you and started making his way through the rocks. 

“Don't make me more angry, I'm already gonna kick the shit out of you when I find you. Come out and maybe I'll let you live.”

Hell no, you thought. You crouched down and peered around your rock. He was walking perpendicular to your location. Perfect, when he passed the next rock, you could pick him off. You brought your rifle up and looked through the scope. 

You aimed as he walked out from behind the rock. Let out a breath. 

Fired. 

What should have been a clean head shot had instead hit the rocks beyond. You pulled back your rifle to see him crouched down and running in your direction. 

You scurried away around the rocks again. Keeping an ear out for his spurs, you snaked around corners with ease, thinking you had lost him. 

Until, that is, he came barreling out of nowhere, smashing you into the ground. His full weight was on you, and you couldn’t get a weapon out to defend yourself. You struggled, so he quickly punched you in the stomach, which knocked the wind out of you. As you lay still trying to catch your breath, he quickly flipped you over and hogtied you. Hoisting you up over his shoulder, he walked past where he left his spurs on the ground, picked them up casually, and carried you all the way to the stream where his horse was quietly waiting. None too gently, he put you on the back of his horse and rode to the abandoned cabin. 

You stayed silent through all of this, furiously thinking of a way to get out of this. Better than giving into the despair that was threatening to swallow up your heart. He remained deathly silent as well, but you could sense the anger coming from him in waves. 

Once at the cabin, he carried you inside like a sack of potatoes and dumped you on the floor near the dead fireplace. You finally made a noise as your grazed shoulder hit the ground, and he paused to look at you for a moment. You knew your noise was high pitched. You always tried to fake being a young man in your hunts; being a woman doing a man's work didn't get you anywhere in this world. 

He eyed you suspiciously for a few extra seconds before going outside to grab some firewood, and starting a fire. Minutes passed as he quietly stoked the fire, your apprehension growing with each second. Once the fire was going well, he finally turned to you. Now you could see him close and clear, and despite the fear flowing through your brain, you noticed his steel blue eyes, a good looking face, a very well built body, and thought that if you had to die, at least you got to see a handsome man. 

Arthur reached down and tore off your bandana. 

“You look real young, boy.”

You stared up at him and sighed. Of course, you looked like a boy. You had cut your hair to your shoulders and tied it back so it was a short ponytail. All the bulky clothing you were wearing was hiding your curves. But it made it easier to get your bounties at full price when they thought you were just a young man trying to make a name for yourself, rather than a woman trying to make ends meet.

Arthur suddenly pulled you up so you were kneeling, and started unbuttoning your jacket.

“What are you doing?”

“This is a nice jacket. I think I’ll take it.”

“No, wait!” you exclaimed, fear lacing your words. If he took off your jacket, he would definitely see that you were a woman.

“I know some nice people who need it more than you,” he snarled at you.

Once he got your jacket off your shoulders though, he noticed what you were wearing underneath; a red union shirt that stretched across your chest.

“You’re a woman?” he said, mostly to himself.

You froze. This was bad.

He stopped trying to take off your jacket and stood up, looking you up and down. You swallowed. You had a faint idea of what might happen next, and you started shivering even though you weren't cold. You weren't even sure if it was fear or anticipation that was making you shake, and that thought made you wonder about your sanity. 

“So why’re you huntin’ me?” he asked quietly. “Your answer will make up my mind on what to do with you.”

Your heart pounding, you decided that truth will probably get you the least amount of pain. That, and with his intense eyes staring, you felt like he would see through any lie you could come up with.

“I was trying to get the bounty on you. I… I need the money.” That was technically the truth. You were running low on funds, and needed a big score to get some more ammo and upgrade your guns.

He kept staring at you, and you didn’t look away; part of you knew that if you looked away, he would assume you were lying. Another part of you felt like you were trapped under his blue gaze. 

“Well, you’re pretty brave, trying to get that bounty on me.” He got down on one knee in front of you so he could look at you straight. “And such a pretty young thing too,” he said in a low voice as he caressed your cheek. Your eyes widened. He inched closer. His eyes turned predatory.

“It’s dangerous, you know. For a woman to be out here all alone,” he murmured, his lips so close to yours that you could feel his warm breath on your skin. “There’s bad men everywhere.” He reached out and ever so slowly wrapped his hand around your neck.

You swallowed again, feeling his thumb gently rubbing circles near your jugular. Your eyes never left his, and you felt hypnotized by him, his deep voice lulling you into a strange state of immobility.

“You know what bad men do to someone like you?” he asked.

You shook your head slightly, his hand still around your neck.

He leaned closer to you, his lips caressing your earlobe. “Oh, I think you know,” he whispered.

Then he let go of your throat and pushed you down onto the ground. Losing your balance, you fell onto your butt, and in a daze you watched as he took out his knife and cut your legs loose. Regaining some semblance of sense from being knocked on your ass, you tried to scramble away, but he tackled you back down, flipped you onto your stomach, and straddled you, your legs caught between his. With your face on the floor, you felt him cut the rope around your wrists. He pulled off your jacket completely, tugged off your suspenders, and turned you back around. You immediately tried to hit him, but he grabbed your wrists together.

“Stay still,” he growled. You growled back and tried pulling your arms away from him. He grabbed you by the throat again and dragged you by the wrists and the neck towards the bed in the back of the cabin. He dragged you up onto the bed and starting tying your wrists to the bedpost with your own suspenders. You couldn’t even kick him because he had wrapped his strong thighs around yours, trapping you.

He finally leaned back, and you tugged at your wrists experimentally. They were tight, but not painfully so. You looked up at him, and he still had that look in his eyes that made you feel like a rabbit cornered by a wolf. A very hungry, very angry wolf.

Without taking his eyes off you, he peeled off his jacket, slid his suspenders down his wide shoulders, and took off his shirt. You took it all in at a glance: the fine chest hair, the scars from gun shots and knife fights, the fact that he was all muscles but not overly bulky. It had not occurred to you to move until you realized he had noticed how you were looking at him.

“Like the view, girl?” 

Flustered, you growled and tried kicking him, but he just wrestled you back down again. 

“Looks like you need a lesson,” he rumbled as he grabbed your pants and pulled them off. You kicked and twisted, but he grabbed your knees and spread you open, putting his knees on your thighs to keep you in position. You stopped moving. 

“Good girl,” he said huskily as he leaned over you, putting his weight on his arm near your face, his other hand unbuttoning his pants. 

You should have been scared. You should have been crying, screaming, begging for mercy. Instead, you were getting wet and incredibly turned on. Your breasts were aching to be touched, and you just wanted this man to fuck you senseless. 

You wondered what the hell was wrong with you. 

Apparently, so did he. 

“You ain't cried yet. Don't tell me you're enjoyin’ this?” He reached down to slip a finger into you, and you moaned and arched into his touch. 

“Damn,” he whispered. “Guess you do wanna get punished,” he said as he slid a second finger inside. You writhed under him, and he smiled in satisfaction as he kept slowly pushing in and out of your tight channel. Your breath caught when his thumb flicked your clit a few times, and then he started to rub it in circles, making you pant. You felt like a whore, but you couldn’t stop your reaction to his touch. 

He moved forward until his face was an inch from yours. “You like this with all men?” 

“No!” you exclaimed breathlessly, feeling somewhat affronted. “I don't know why I'm like this with you.” You paused, trying to think past the lust clouding your mind. “I don't know what's wrong with me,” you finally said helplessly. 

He hummed thoughtfully at your answer.

Then he suddenly lifted up your shirt and pulled it over your head and up your arms. You were completely exposed to him; your torso had one particularly long scar from your right hip to a point about a hand’s width away from your left breast.

Arthur looked at your scar and something changed in his eyes. Was it pity? It might have been a moment of softness that passed over his eyes before they turned dark again.

Your breasts were modest, and seemed even smaller as Arthur palmed them, running his calloused fingers over your skin. He leaned down to lick and play with your nipples, making you gasp with pleasure. You felt him reach down to free himself from his pants, and felt him nudging your opening. You were so goddamn wet that he slipped in an inch without much resistance. You tightened up when your mind caught up with the situation. He must have seen the panic and hesitation in your eyes, for he reached up to cup your cheek as he leaned in to nuzzle your neck. 

“S'okay, just relax. Let me in,” Arthur crooned in your ear, and slowly, as he stroked your body and kissed your neck and nibbled your earlobe, you relaxed and let him thrust deeper into you. 

Feeling every inch of him as he filled you, you whimpered until he was all the way in; the rough fabric of his jeans rubbed against your inner thigh and your skin was more sensitive than it had ever been in your life. He moaned into your ear, probably the most erotic sound you'd ever hear. 

Then he grabbed your hips and started taking you, hard. The sudden intensity of it all took your breath away, and you struggled for air. Or maybe it was because he had grabbed you by the throat again and was muttering in your ear.

“That's right, take it all, sweetheart. Be my li’l fuck toy tonight.” 

His words in that low tone almost made you come. After a while you almost saw stars, and he let go of your throat and pulled out of you. You cried out then, feeling abandoned and empty, and tucked your legs in. He tugged at your legs and you tried to squirm out of his grasp.

“Be good, or else,” he threatened as he rolled you over. He slapped your ass, enough to sting. ”Up,” he commanded. 

You got up on your elbows and knees, feeling humiliated by this position. But when you felt his hand bury into the base of your ponytail and tug roughly, forcing your back to arch, you felt yourself getting wet all over again. He grabbed your hip and slid his cock around your wet folds, teasing you. You wanted, no, needed more.

“Please,” you barely whispered. 

“Hm? If you want something, you better speak up.”

You stayed silent this time, your mind racing back and forth. You had always prided yourself on being an independent woman. Yet here you were, tied up and taking a stranger's cock in an indecent position. And it felt so good. But damn, you knew how wrong this was. Maybe you deserved it for getting caught so easily. 

A hard slap to your ass brought you out of your self-pity. 

“Tell me what you want,” he growled. 

“P-please, take me,” you said a little louder. 

“Oh no, I think you know what you need to say,” Arthur said in a coaxing tone. “Say it like my fuck doll would.” 

You wanted to cry. It was so embarrassing, but as he reached down to caress your clit, you let desperation push the words from your lips. 

“Fuck me, please!” 

“Please what?” He tugged your hair when he said this, growling the question at you and forcing you to turn your head to look at him. You suddenly knew what he wanted you to say. 

“Please...sir…”

Arthur smiled at you then, and you had a fleeting thought that this man was dangerous in more ways than you knew. 

Then he slid inside of you, and all thought was lost as you gave into his fast and heavy rhythm. He took you selfishly, roughly, grabbing your body and bruising your skin with his strength. You felt him bend over you, his arms caging you in as he fucked you from behind, biting your neck and putting more weight on you. You tried to stay up for as long as your body could handle, but he was a large man, and you finally collapsed onto the bed under his weight. He continued to pound into you as you lay there, biting your lip and trying not to cry out at his relentless use of your body. 

Smoothly, he flipped you over again and lifted your knees over his shoulders. He didn't give you a chance to adjust as he forced himself inside you once more. Gasping at his swift entry, all you could do was hold onto the bed post as he rocked into you from this new angle, hitting you deeper than ever. 

After a while, you’re not sure how long, he began to slow his pace. You caught your breath for a brief moment before he grabbed your jaw, hard enough to bruise. Then he kissed you. It was a full blown kind of kiss, with his tongue invading your mouth. In his grasp, you could only lay there, feeling like a helpless rag doll under him. 

Just when you thought he wasn't going to let you breathe, he let go and pulled back. You took in a shuddering breath. 

Then he moved again, this time slow and deliberate, to remind you that he was still rock hard and wasn't done with you yet. He let your knees drop from his shoulders. 

“Wrap your legs around me,” Arthur commanded. You were too slow to respond right away, and he slapped your thigh. “Now, girl.”

Your legs wrapped around his waist. “That's it, just like a whore,” he said as he started driving into you again. “Now tell me, you like it when I fuck you?”

“Y-yes!” 

“C'mon, say what you like,” he said softly. 

This was embarrassing. Your cheeks burned. But you felt his hand go around your throat and you quickly said, “I like it when you fuck me!” 

His hand stayed around your neck and he hummed encouragingly. 

“I…” Wracking your air-starved brain for something else to say, you choked out, “Violate me, please don't stop.” 

He let go of your neck and fell on you, one hand reaching behind your head to pull your hair again. His thrusts were more erratic now, like he was getting close. 

“You my good li’l fuck toy?”

“Yes, yes, I'm yours, all yours.”

“Good, so good… “ he trailed off as his breathing hitched, and you felt him give a few strong thrusts before he moaned loudly, coming deep inside of you. 

He reached down then and played with your clit. You were already hovering on the edge, and with a few caresses from his fingers, you came hard around his cock. Arthur didn't stop moving inside of you as you came, heightening the sensation for both of you. 

The last thing you felt was him pulling out of you before you passed out. 

***

You woke up to warm hands on your skin. You turned and saw your bounty half naked in bed with you, and quickly wondered if you were hallucinating. 

“You feel alright?” he asked. 

“Um, yeah.” Other than some soreness and probably some bruising at your hips and neck, you felt fine. Your wrists had been untied at some point while you were passed out. You noticed him looking you over before he continued petting you. This was a strange way to wake up after last night's violation; it was almost as if he were a different man, like he had purged all of his demons the moment he came inside of you. 

Arthur gently traced the scar on your stomach with his fingers. “Who did that to you?” he muttered.

“Another hunter. Trying to steal my kill,” you say quietly.

“What happened to him?”

You’re puzzled as to why he’s suddenly asking, but answered him regardless. “I got my gun back from him and shot him dead.”

“Good,” he said. 

What a strange man.

“Listen,” he finally said after a few moments of silence of him watching your face. “I was trying to scare you off, but, well…” He trailed off as he gestured at the clothes scattered around. 

“And I can’t bring myself to kill you now,” he continued. Then he breathed a deep sigh. “But I can’t have you goin’ after me either. So what should I do with you?”

“Just let me go, I'll find some other bounty. But don't let anyone else catch you. You're too easy to track,” you teased. 

He chuckled at your banter. “Alright, deal. I won't let anyone else catch me.”

“Besides, if anyone's gonna catch you, it should be me.”

“Is that so? And what happens then?” 

“I'd keep you for myself,” you replied, half-jokingly. At this point, you'd be a bit sad if he got caught by anyone else. 

He looked at you, a whisper of a smile on his lips. It looked like a thousand thoughts ran through his mind. 

“That don't sound too bad,” he finally mumbled. 

After a while, you both got dressed in silence and he gave you a ride back to your horse. He held you in front, his arm wrapped around your waist, and you didn't want this to end. 

When you saw your horse, you sighed and knew that you had to face reality. A bounty hunter and an outlaw? And you barely knew him. And he just violated the hell out of you. Couldn't you have been attracted to a normal man? No, you had to crave the touch of a dangerous outlaw who was sexy as sin and loved to use your body like a plaything. 

But he had held you close, taken care of your needs in a way no one else had, and you couldn't deny the pull he had on you. The hell was wrong with you, you wondered. 

He let you down and you trudged towards your horse. You climbed up on his back and patted his neck. Poor fella, left him for too long, you thought. 

You looked back up at Arthur, and he was watching you, a mysterious look on his face. 

You had to swallow back your first thought, which was “come with me.” Instead, you just casually waved at him. “Catch you later,” you said with a half-grin. 

He moved his horse up so he was next to you, reached over and grabbed you behind the neck to pull you in for a scorching kiss. 

“Promise me,” he said. 

“I promise,” you said shakily. “I promise I'll catch you someday, Arthur Morgan.” 

He smirked, let you go, and turned his horse around to gallop into the morning fog. 

Against your better judgement, you hoped you'd see him again as you made your way down the mountain. 

---------

End Notes: I was contemplating going darker, but I had already written this sappy ending. I don’t know.