Venom (Arthur Morgan x Fem Reader)

Protection

You moved your hands around, trying to feel for anyway that you could free yourself. It was useless. You began to lose hope as you watched the O'Driscoll's pace around their camp. "Come on." You rubbed the rope that tied your hands against the tree bark.

You could tell nothing was happening, but there was still a small ounce of hope. You looked around the camp, noticing two guys standing watch just over the hill. You focused on them, watching as they conversed instead of doing their job.

All of a sudden, their bodies dropped to the ground. No gunshot, no shouts. You squinted to try and see through the darkness, just to get a glimpse of an arrow sticking out of each of their heads. It had to be Charles.

You tried to hide your smile as a couple of the O'Driscoll boys came over to you. "We've given her enough time, right?" An older man said as he brought his hand up to your cheek. You flinched at the contact from his rough hand.

"Hey! What happened?!" You heard shouting when someone realized their watchmen were no longer kicking. "Ah shit." The older man cursed and removed his hand from your face. Out of nowhere came gunshots, echoing through the area as the O'Driscoll's began to scramble.

You swiveled your head around to see several figures emerging from the woods around the camp. "You get her! We'll take care of 'em!" You heard John's familiar voice through the gunshots.

Out of all the chaos came Arthur, running towards you with his knife and revolver drawn. You could relax as he began to slice at the rope tied around your wrists. You nearly collapsed as the rope was undone, allowing you to remove yourself from the tree.

Arthur grabbed you around your waist, keeping you held upright as he made his way away from the camp. Your body was weak from the lack of food, sleep and standing against that tree for several hours.

"My horse is just through the trees, Sweetheart." Arthur kissed your forehead as he let go of you and pointed in the direction of his horse. You sluggishly started making your way towards his horse. Your feet dragged through the dirt of the forest floor,barely having enough energy to make it to the horse.

You patted the mane of the dark brown horse as you hoisted yourself up onto the horse. You slumped over, wrapping your arms around the horse and closing your eyes. There were still gunshots going off as you sat there on the horse.

"Y/N!" A voice shouted through the woods as they made their way towards you. You slowly opened your eyes to see Charles, riding his horse with his shotgun drawn. "I got her, Charles." Arthur's voice was soft as he ran towards his horse. Arthur swung his legs over the horse, sitting right behind you as he wrapped one of his arms around your torso and the other one holding onto the reins.

"John and Sean are taking care of 'em. They'll be fine." Arthur kept a tight grip on you as he and Charles headed through the woods and away from the camp. You were having a hard time staying awake as you rode on the horse. The only thing keeping you from falling onto the ground was Arthur's arm.

Thankfully, the ride back to camp wasn't a long one. It only took a little bit before you could hear Sadie shouting at the boys to announce their arrival. "Come on Darling, let's get you in bed." Arthur whispered in your ear as he hopped off his horse, picking you up off the horse.

He held you in a cradle position, your head resting against his chest as he walked towards your tent. He pushed open the canvas, ducking as he headed towards your cot. He gently placed you down on your cot, pulling the single blanket you had over your body.

His hand rested on your shoulder as he looked down at you. Underneath your eyes were dark bags beginning to form from your exhaustion. Your body was limp on the cot as you slowly drifted off to sleep, now able to close your eyes without worry.

"I'm sorry I took so long." Arthur's hand moved from your shoulder to your hand. He cupped it and pressed your hand to his forehead as he buried his face. "I should've been there to protect you." You were going in and out of sleep, still able to hear Arthur's woods. You were too weak to respond, let him know that he did great.

"I love you so much, Y/N. I was so afraid I was gonna lose you." Arthur's voice wavered a bit as he spoke into your hand. "Please, just get some rest." He dropped your hand, sitting down beside your cot. His face was buried in his knees as he rested beside you, refusing to leave your side again.