"Was this really necessary?" Rae could barely even look Negan's' smug face.

"Maybe not, but I sure as shit enjoyed slapping the cuffs on you Red."

Last night he'd cuffed her wrist to the table leg so fast she'd barely had chance to react let alone stop him. He'd said 'nighty night' and walked away without a second glance. Rae had spent the night silently seething, there was no way she would degrade herself further by begging for release.

"You're enough to try the patience of a saint," she said.

"I'm an acquired taste," he countered with a smile, his thumb brushing along her wrist with a featherlight touch before he slid the key into the lock. "But don't worry Doll… we got all the time in the fucking world for you to adjust your pallet."

"Heaven forbid you make an adjustment to your behaviour."

Negan laughed, "the mountain never fucking moves, Doll."

The cuff fell open giving sweet relief to where it had dug into her wrist for the entire night. She rubbed her thumb across the red welt that had been left behind. "You're not a mountain, you're just a brute."

Negan kneeled down and grabbed her hand back towards him before inspecting her wrist with a small frown. "You should have fucking said something Red."

"You handcuffed me to a table. Did you really think it wouldn't hurt?"

Something flashed across his face, remorse, a little guilt. It was a look that didn't quite sit right on his usual cheshire cat face.

"I'm sorry baby," Negan breathed the words so gently that she could barely make them out. She wanted to throw his apology back in his face but suddenly his lips were brushing against the inside of her wrist with tenderness that he shouldn't have been capable of. The niggling pain was masked with wave after wave of unexpected tingles, shooting all along her arm to her core.

Rae sucked in a sharp breath, she regained her senses. Arrogant bastard. She couldn't believe he was daring to kiss her like this. More than anything she couldn't' believe her body was actually enjoying the sensation.

She tried to snatch her hand back but Negan held on with an ironclad grip until he decided to let go, which he did with a mocking grin that had quickly replaced any remorse. "Anywhere else you'd like me to kiss you better Red?"

"Why don't you kiss your own backside?" Rae pushed passed him, grabbing for her rucksack at the same time as Negan yanked out of reach.

"That's what my men are for," he chuckled, standing up and standing far too close for comfort. He held her back pack at arms length away from them both. "Next time you need me to help you all you have to do is ask."

She touched her wrist and the pain stung. "I can't ask for your help if you're the one hurting me." She didn't trust him, she didn't like him and no matter what help he offered she wasn't sure it was worth it. Urgh. Rae grabbed her backpack with both hands and forced it from him.

"Play nicely and you won't get locked up, pretty fucking easy choice baby doll."

She turned back to say something to him, anger was bubbling out of control all over her body but the way he just stood there with his arms crossed and his self satisfied smirk made her hold her tongue. He would just love the attention. Like a spoilt baby looking for any attention, negative or otherwise.

Rae tried not to look any of his men in the eye as she stormed out of the bar. It was humiliating, the way he was controlling her. Like she was an animal, his pet, a thing to be tied up to a post all night. Maybe she could get away, it was light, she could move faster and safer in the daylight. The idea had barely formed in her head when she heard the crunch of footsteps following behind her. She huffed angrily, "I need to go pee, is that okay?"

Rae whipped around, exasperated. She was surprised to see Negan following her rather than Mark, surprised but still very annoyed, "am I not allowed any privacy?"

"Not if you're gonna be using those long legs to run away."

"So you're gonna watch me?"

"That's not really my sort of thing Red," he winked and held out his hand, "the bag."

Rae hesitated. Damn Negan. He might have been an arrogant bastard but unfortunately he was a smart one too. She couldn't run without the medicine in her bag. It wasn't a few stray pills to be abandoned, it was a very precious six month supply.

"Hand it over and you can go potty," he smiled, knowing full well his plan was working.

She shrugged the backpack off, letting it fall to the floor in protest. If he wanted it he could get it himself. Rae turned on her heel and tromped disheartenedly towards the trees.

"You got one minute before I'm sending the cavalry after your ass."

/

Rae gave Negan another middle of nowhere address on the map. He knew she needed to get those meds back to her people so sooner or later she would have to take him home. He just hoped it was sooner. But with the way she was playing hard to get it would likely be later.

"So Red, you wanna play a little driving game?" He needed to soften her the fuck up if he stood a chance of getting his hands in her lacy green panties.

Rae ignored him, her resting bitch face set hard and uninterested. But still beautiful, enticing enough to keep him very fucking interested. He deserved it, he couldn't stop himself fucking with her, pushing all her buttons to get her as angry as a cat with its tail on fire but then Negan didn't exactly do saccharine sweet.

He shifted in the driver's seat, leaning over Rae to search through the glove box for a CD. She edged away, crossing her leg and making sure he didn't touch her which of course made him want to touch her even more than he already wanted to.

"You like Motown, Red?"

No answer. Fuck, it would be a long fucking drive if she kept this shit up. Although he probably should have enjoyed the peace. If there was one thing he complained about when it came to his wives it was the nagging. There was always one of them chewing his fucking ear off until he gave in or shoved his cock in thier mouth.

He shoved the CD in the player and Marvin Gaye started hearing it through the grapevine. He might have been a heartless fuck but he did love soul music, perfect for driving to, fucking to, killing to, a song for every fucking occasion.

Negan pulled out of Lucky's carpark starting day two of their journey. He tapped the steering wheel in time with the beat, might as well fucking enjoy this road trip. It wasn't long until he could sense the tilt of Rae's head as her gaze crept up on him. She was probably thinking of ways to kill him but he liked to think she was thinking about how his lips had felt on her skin. He'd affected her, he'd seen it all over her face. He looked at her quickly, winking as her green eyes shot wide open like a kid with their hand in the cookie jar before she turned away. Negan laughed under his breath. Maybe this drive wouldn't be so bad.

The CD played track after track and by the time Bill Withers was proclaiming it was gonna be a lovely day Rae was relaxed, bitch face melted, her feet tapping along. When The Temptations started 'My Girl' he couldn't resist joining in, clicking his fingers and singing like no one was listening. Hell, Negan did everything like no one was listening, he didn't get shy, he didn't give a flying fuck.

Rae didn't look at him but he could see her smile in his wing mirror and he found satisfaction in it. A genuine smile when she was trying to play mad.

'Come see about me' played next and he stopped his truck driving serenade. He could sing like no one was listening but he drew the fucking line at falsetto.

"You don't like the Supremes?"

Words, actual fucking words, Negan grinned, "I think Diana Ross does it better baby doll."

"The Temptations did it better… didn't stop you drowning them out."

Negan snorted, "I thought you might enjoy some of my oral pleasure."

Rae choked out a laugh, "I prefer it when you're not talking."

"Only one way to shut me up Red."

She shifted in her seat, running agitated fingers through her hair, "pass me a gag and I'd gladly help you."

"You into that kinky shit?" he looked her up and down, "always the unexpected ones."

Rae crossed her arms over her chest and pouted, "I don't know how you make it through the day with your one track mind."

"I'm a fucking marvel of the human condition."

"There's no talking to you."

"You can talk to me. You just can't fucking beat me."

"Then let's talk. Why don't you tell me something real?"

He paused, "this is me baby. You get one you see. I'm a man of singular fucking interests."

"Then I feel sorry for you."

"Oh? And what's so fucking real bout you baby doll?"

She laughed bitterly, her head giving a dismissive shake before she glared at him, "I. asked. You. first."

"Oh we're back to that again?"

"We're not back to anything." Resting bitch face made its reappearance. Fucking hell. Negan couldn't remember the last time someone had dared to give him so much fucking attitude, it had his blood pumping excitedly.

The truck rolled to a T junction and he pulled over before checking his map.

"Its that way," she pointed left, "but…" she softened, licking her tongue across her lips and like all women she wanted something. "Maybe we could have a little detour?"

What a disappointment. "Why don't you ask me nicely? Put a little sugar on it?"

"Just forget it!"

Her jaw set, her arms back tight around her chest then she huffed and looked at him again. Swallowed her pride, "please, its important."

This wasn't a thing like Kirsten asking for face cream or Amber asking for Louboutins. "What've you got in mind baby doll?"

"Lets call it something to keep your mouth busy."

He grinned, "you coming onto me doll?"

"Not even if hell freezes over."

/

'Stricklands Orchards'. The gate was still chained shut just as she had left it last autumn before she'd met Jacob and her biggest worry was a couple of stray halfers disrupting the harvest.

Rae loosened the heavy chain, letting one side of the gate swing open while Negan and his men stood with their guns in hand watching her every move. "Have you ever been apple picking?" she said to noone in particular.

"Do I look like the kind of man who goes apple picking?" Negan laughed.

She considered him for a moment, he looked like an arrogant bastard, which was exactly what he was.

"I went with my Grandma when I was a kid," Mark offered.

"Me too," Rae smiled.

"She used to make the best apple pie," Mark tapped his stomach a far off look in his eye, "you make apple pie Rae?"

She opened her mouth to answer but Negan interrupted, "how about we stop talking about your fucking stomach and get a fucking move on?"

Mark's lips pressed into hard line as he walking into the orchard, his rifle at the ready for a quick sweep of the area. The rest of the men followed suit.

Rae turned to Negan, "you don't like apple pie? Or do you not like Grandma's?"

"My Grandma was a nasty old landlady who chain smoked herself to a painful grave, that's the real fucking truth Red. Your turn."

"My Grandma makes good apple pie and doesn't like cursing, she says it's classless and ignorant." With that she stepped through the gate. She could already see the bright red apples, juicy and ripe filling every branch, some already fallen, blanketing the floor between honey brown leaves.

If Negan really wanted to help her then this would be a start. She strolled over to a wooden shed that contained the baskets and ladders she'd found last year. She flung open the door and turned to Negan.

"These apples aren't gonna pick their-fucking-selves."

His men threw their rifles over their shoulders, their sweep of the area over, and got to work with minimal grumbling. Negan just watched, he'd never picked an apple and it didn't look like he was about to start now.

Rae grabbed a basket and a set of ladders. An afternoon spent quietly harvesting this orchard wasn't a chore for her, it was nice. She could just feel Negan following her without even turning around. She leaned her ladder against a tree, climbed the first couple of rungs and plucked an apple using her new knife to cut the stalk. She pressed it to her nose, breathing in the tangy smell, her mouth watering. She hadn't thought that this would be possible with Jacob watching their every move. She'd imagined all these beautiful apples falling from the tree and rotting into the soil as food for the worms.

"Chew on this." Rae threw the apple at Negan rather than to him but despite the force and speed he still caught it.

He rubbed the apple against his shirt before taking one crunchy bite. "Mmm," he groaned, "so fucking juicy."

He pulled another apple from a branch above his head and rolled it in his hand before passing it to her. "You know red apples are my absolute favourite."

Rae took it and took her own crunchy bite. It was good, she bit back her smile at the way he was grinning at her, his eyes wrinkling at the corners, the sunlight bringing out the flecks of green that hid in the dark. She might have liked him if he wasn't such an unscrupulous bastard.

She filled her basket and she wanted to ignore Negan. Instead, Rae found she could barely take her eyes off him. Leaning against a tree, his leg cocked, one hand in his pocket and his devilish grin barely wavering. He looked carefree and in that he looked dangerous, only the most dangerous predators could look as relaxed as Negan was.

Their relaxed time in the orchard was about to be ruined as the unmistakable rumblings of an engine caught everyone's attention. From her height on the ladders she could just about make out the top of a familiar yellow truck bouncing along the dirt road to where their own vehicles were parked up.

Rae jumped down the ladders, dropping her basket of apples to the ground. "Its Jacob's men."

"This might be easier than I fucking thought," he grabbed her arm, steering her towards the road.

"We can't just walk out there! They'll kill us!" Rae couldn't keep the desperation from her voice.

Negan looked over his shoulder, "cuff her."

"No!" Rae exclaimed, trying and failing to resist as Mark and Donnie restrained her wrists behind her back.

"Calm down doll, behave yourself for five motherfucking minutes."

"Asshole!"

"Better fucking gag her too," he grinned, pulling his red scarf from his neck and making good on his statement.

Donnie and Mark dragged her along with only Mark muttering a small "sorry."

As the truck drew nearer she recognised the driver and the passenger. Neither of them were Jacob but one of them was his right hand man, Logan. She could see his smile slowly spreading across his face as he spotted her, she could remember the last time he'd looked at her like that.

The same yellow truck had rolled up at her house, a handful of men jumped out. They called for her and she watched as they produced two huge burlap sacks, the contents thrashing against the material.

Logan had pointed to where he wanted his men to set the sacks down before he loosened the strings that bound them closed just enough for the contents to crawl out.

"We found them for you," he smiled, "Jacob wanted me to bring them back specially."

Two of her people, Maddie and Patrick, not that it mattered to Jacob who they had been or who they had left behind. Logan had climbed back in his truck without her daring to fire one shot, the last time she'd done that had been when her crops had caught fire in the dead of the night.

The truck pulled over, the doors opened. Logan and four men climbed out, stepping into the road. Rae tensed, her heart was beating out of control. Then she looked at Negan and he was still smiling, still carefree. "Afternoon," he said.

"Afternoon," Logan returned, "looks like you got yourself some trouble there friend. That little red heads not to be trusted."

Negan's fist curled around her ponytail with a gentle tug, "good fucking thing I'm not interested in trusting her then."

Logan laughed, "yeah, Rachey is a real sweet prize. But what use is a woman who'll stab you while you sleep?"

"You tell me."

"We've been looking for her and we'll happily take her off your hands, make it worth your while," Logan sat his hand on his revolver. "This is our territory,we'll make a deal then you and your men will be on your way."

Negan scratched at his chin, casting a quick look to Rae, "what you gonna give me for her? Seems to me she's worth a pretty fucking penny, friend."

"No," Rae cried against her gag.

Donnie shoved her to her knees, she landed awkwardly with her hands tied around her back.

Logan and his men enjoyed the show, laughing at her as they brokered the deal like she was nothing more than cattle. "Tell you what, we'll take you to Jacob and he'll give you what he thinks she's worth to him."

"I don't know," Negan swung his bat onto his shoulder. "I'm not really interested in fucking around. Let's say we make a deal right here, right fucking now?" he weaved between the motorcycles that were providing a barrier between everyone. "What've you got to trade?"

Logan turned his head to look at his men who were shrugging their shoulders, their guns lowering in consideration. Thwack.

Negan's bat crashed against Logan's skull with so much force that even Rae shuddered at the impact. He collapsed onto the road like a marionette with its strings sliced.

It was like a signal, the opening of a floodgate as wave of bullets all whizzing past Rae's head to sink into their fleshy targets.

Negan stood tall and unflinching among the carnage and the gunfire. He actually laughed as he swung his bat on a second target, the man had taken a gunshot to the chest and Negan finished the job with a hard crack to the underside of his chin.

Satisfied, he twirled his bat in his hand and turned his attention back to Logan.

Rae peered through the tyres of the motorcycles to see Logan's shaky hand reaching weakly for his revolver. Then there was one final thwack of Negan's bat and Logan's hand fell limp before a channel of blood began to weave along the worn lines in the dirt road.

As quick as it had started it was all over. Surreal, horrific, human life extinguished in the blink of an eye. Rae glanced at Negan's men. They had just killed for him, for her, without question or hesitation. It was terrifying. The lines between good and evil were nothing more than a endless smear of grey.

Mark unclipped her cuffs in between leisurely puffs of his cigarette, like killing five men was just a regular walk in the park. Perhaps it was.

Rae had never actually killed another human being. In fact it had taken her months to kill her first halfer.

She pulled off her gag, inhaling Mark's smoke and clasping her shaking hands together, "I need a cigarette."

"Boss said no," Mark shrugged, taking one long drag, "sorry darlin'."

Great. Rae scoffed. Negan was bludgeoning men to death with a bat and she wasn't allowed a simple cigarette. His compass of ethics, morals and righteous behaviour had a serious screw rolling loose.

"Its getting late, load up the truck and let's get on the fucking road," Negan barked before his eyes turned to her.

Rae wanted to say she was disturbed by his brutality but she only felt relief. Relief and if she was honest, delight. He held out his hand to pull her from her knees and she let him.

"You okay doll?"

"Yes."

"You didn't think I'd really give you over to them fuckers did you?"

"I don't know."

Negan tilted her chin so she was looking him in the eye, there was no mocking, no arrogance, "your problems are my problems Red."

For the first time, she actually believed him, "okay."

His lips quirked into a smile and it didn't bother her as much as it might have done before. God, he'd just killed for her, it was a strange feeling. She didn't know quite what to say so she said nothing. Instead she noticed the spray of blood speckling his cheek and without much consideration she reached out.

Her palm cupped his cheek, the bristles of his salt and pepper scruff were rough against her soft skin. His breathing changed, deeper, more laboured and she suddenly realised the intimacy of this touch. Rae's breath held as her thumb slowly wiped across his cheek, erasing all traces of blood.

Negans fingers wrapped delicately around her wrist, he stepped even closer, the smell of his jacket enveloping her, the carnage of the road disappearing to a million miles away.

"All better," Rae cleared her throat, trying to tug her hand away.

Like always Negan only held tighter, his smile soft, "let me take you home Rae."

A/N- Welcome to everyone who has favourited and subscribed over the last few days! I hope you're all still enjoying my take on Negan :)