Negan rolled over in the bed, his voice thick with sleep as he mumbled "wrap me up in those long legs baby doll."
Rae pressed herself against the warmth of him, happy to oblige as he eased her leg around his waist and her cheek found a home on his shoulder. She liked being the big spoon, squeezing Negan tight and hiding under the covers as a new day crept into the room. It was the morning after the night before and it felt good, better than she'd expected.
She brushed her fingertips through the soft hair of his chest, letting her breathing fall in sync with the rise and fall of Negan's body. It was like any lazy Sunday with a new boyfriend, the only thing missing was breakfast in bed and a broadsheet she could pretend to be interested in while the radio hummed in the background.
"You hungry baby?" he said, as if reading her mind but more likely hearing the gurgling of her stomach. Last night Negan's body had seemed to satisfy her every craving, this morning she needed fuel for that fire that had burned for him.
"Starving," her teeth grazed his shoulder like she might eat him up and he moaned happily at the attention before rolling over to face her.
He made sure to keep her legs wrapped around him as he claimed a space for himself on her pillow, his face kissing distance to hers. "I could go for some bacon and eggs, coffee and bagels. What about you Red?"
Rae's stomach rumbled even harder, she didn't realise how much she missed the salt and grease until right now, "don't tease me… I can't remember the last time I had bacon."
Negan's grin slipped across his face, "that's so? Well, if you behave yourself Miss Honey I might think about bringing you some next time."
Her mouth watered, her enthusiasm peaked, "you have bacon and you're only telling me this now?"
"I have whatever the fuck you want baby doll," he murmured as his lips devoured hers, his hand cupping her ass to bring her closer to him.
"Whatever I want?" she asked, brushing her nose along his while his erection pushed against her thigh.
"Anything," Negan's breathing deepened, curling hot on her neck as his kisses trailed to her collarbone while his hand ventured with an insatiable appetite of its own.
Rae's stomach grumbled in protest and she laughed, batting his advances away and pulling the quilt all the way up to her chin with a mischievous smile, "what about the food in the car?"
"That your game Red?" he tickled her side, "get a man all worked up then ask him to run out in the goddamn cold to fetch you breakfast?"
"You got yourself worked up," she teased, nestling further into the quilt. If he went to the car then he was a keeper, if not, then he was still great in bed.
Negan's eyes crinkled at the corners and he scratched his beard like a dog with fleas before planting a sloppy kiss on her forehead and rolling out from the bed. He stood by the door without a stitch of clothing on his body as he stretched his arms out as lazy as a big cat with a yawn to match. She rolled onto her side, tangling her legs in the sheet, enjoying the view as he bent over to pick up his boxers and slide them over his ass with the twang of elastic slapping against his waist. With a boyish laugh he grabbed the fluffy pink robe from the peg on the back of her door and slipped it on like the most natural thing in the world.
"Don't think about moving a muscle from that bed," he warned with a grin before ducking out of the door.
When she heard the door close, his footfalls down the hall stairs then the outside door slamming behind him she allowed herself to squeal, kicking her legs in the sheets like a crazy woman before jumping out of bed. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt like this, like she wanted to call her best friend and recount every detail of last night over a cup of coffee or a cocktail. She had no idea what had happened to her friends from her old life and the ones she had now were more interested in what supplies she'd found how much ammo was left in the stores.
She threw open the bedroom curtains and sat on the window sill like she'd done a hundred times before. Only instead of watching the world go by she watched Negan hurrying towards the car with barefeet and her robe. It suited him, she liked him like this. She liked herself like this, even with Jacob it had never been this relaxed, this normal feeling. It had always been frantic, pushed against a tree, two people desperate to feel anything at all. This didn't feel desperate or rushed, it felt like forever.
Rae waited at the window until he was returning, his arms loaded with options and his smile devilish when he spotted her watching him, her nipples hard buds in the cold, her body completely bare at the windowpane.
"I told you to wait in bed," he threw the snacks onto the nightstand, "you disobeying me woman? You know how that makes my palm as itchy as fuck."
Her jaw dropped, her eyes widened and a tingle of excitement crept across her skin, "you wouldn't dare."
But of course he would.
/
All morning Negan couldn't keep his hands off Rae. He didn't want a inch of her to go untouched. She made him feel twenty years younger and a newlywed to boot and he'd been newlywed more times than he cared to think about. But not like this. He wanted to eat her with a spoon until he burst then he wanted to put all the pieces back together and burst again but no matter what either of them wanted even honeymoons had to end. It was already long past noon on day two of what should have been a couple of hours worth of scavenging.
"Grandma will skin us alive if we don't go back," Rae insisted, attempting to slip from the bed. He pulled her back, plastering her back against his front in a bear hug until she sagged against him in surrender.
"Then let's not go back." Negan laughed it off like a joke but part of him meant it when he said, "runaway with me Red."
She nestled the back of her head against his chest, her voice light with opportunity, "where would we run?"
"Somewhere hot," he kissed the point where her shoulder curved into her neck, "with a nice beach. How's that sound?"
Rae tilted her head to look at him, her lips quirking into a smile, "I burn like a lobster in the sun."
He chuckled, his hand splaying across her stomach and all that alabaster skin, "then let's go to Alaska."
Negan practically felt her shiver as she escaped from his hands, covering her arms across her chest with a "brrr… too cold."
He hated the cold too, he liked a temperature where nobody had to wear clothes unless absolutely fucking necessary. He smiled to himself watching Rae pull on her bra like a strip tease in reverse as he quietly played out the fantasy of them just leaving the world behind with nothing but a sports car, a box of food and each other. "What about a national park, somewhere not too hot and not too fucking cold, how does that suit your majesty? We can be forest people."
She raised one eyebrow, her jeans smoothing over her legs as she laughed at him, "and what exactly do you know about surviving in the forest?"
Truth was he knew very little, but he knew he could make it with Red if they had to. She was feisty, strong and that's what he loved about her. Loved, as soon as the word crossed his head it sounded off like an overbearing klaxon. His chest was tight, his face froze in a look that was probably half shock and half terror but his body snapped into action reaching for his own clothes, thrusting his feet through his jeans like he needed the protection.
Rae snorted, "I'll take your silence to mean you don't know a single thing about living in a forest."
He buttoned his shirt, "you're right, it was a stupid idea."
Her smile faded a little, her arm brushing past him and reaching for her glock before holstering it in her belt. He watched every second of it, his heart pounding, before her eyes locked with his, "it's not stupid. I think about running away all the time. It's my guilty secret…" she laughed quietly, "one of them."
Negan didn't say anything. He stood as still as a fucking statue but his blood was pounding, his palms sweaty.
This wasn't love. It was great sex. Great sex with a great girl when he hadn't had either in a long time. Jesus fucking christ, run away with her, what the holy hell was he thinking?
Of course he knew exactly what he was thinking as she ran her fingers through her hair pulling it into a ponytail. He'd be fucked if he could keep his eyes off her for one goddamned second and fucked if he kept on watching.
"Actually," she said like nothing had changed in the past two minutes, "I've been thinking about setting up this town like I wanted to before. With Jacob gone, there's no reason not to. There's plenty of room-"
Negan's laugh was as loud as it was nervous, "I know I'm fucking awesome in the sack but let's not jump straight to fucking living together. Jesus fucking christ Red, you don't need to tie me down and brand my ass."
"Don't flatter yourself!" Rae bit back with her fiery temper, her cheeks pink, "I'm not the kinda girl to go all goo goo eyes because we had one night."
Negan held up his hands. He'd be lying if he said it didn't hurt, at least his pride if nothing else. He laughed it off, "but it was some damn good sex."
Her tempered simmered just a touch, enough to leave her with a smile at the ready but her eyes still sharp and so fucking green.
"What kind of girl are you Red?"
She rolled the idea around in her head. "I'm the kinda girl who liked sleeping in my own bed last night."
She picked up the quilt, flipping it through the air where it spread out before settling over every corner of the mattress to erase any sign it had ever been slept in, or fucked all over. As she fluffed the pillows back into place she had a wry laugh, "you know, I share a bedroom with Grandma and Zuzu back home."
"Jesus. Grandma and the kid?" Talk about a fucking cock block. Even if he wasn't sure about shacking up with Red, he was pretty damn sure he didn't want to share a room with all three Honey's. "You want this town baby just tell me whatever the fuck you need me to do and it's yours."
She pressed her lips to his jaw, "you don't need to do anything. This is my town, my people. And if you wanna move in then... I guess you'll have to ask nicely."
He cupped her cheek, what the hell had this woman done to him? Part of him knew it was time to walk away before he got any deeper, the other part refused to even remember he could walk. "I don't ask nicely for any-fucking-thing."
"When you want something bad enough you might have to learn to be nice."
"I already got you, so I don't have to be nice to any other fucker." He kissed her, his tongue sinking into her mouth claiming his own defeat.
When they finally pulled into the match stick fort it was almost dark. Negan noticed Tim playing catch with Zuzu and using Negan's glove. That fucker. He fumbled the ball when he saw Rae, dropping it between his sneakers and never taking his eyes off her while he crouched down to pick it up.
If she had noticed the look Timmy was giving her then she did a good job of pretending she hadn't. She called out for a couple of her people to help unload the car, leaving Negan to stand like a spare part with murder eyes directed to the fucker.
"You staying for supper?" Grandma Ellie's voice almost made him jump but he kept his shit together, glancing her way with his smile at full grin before he caught the hard stare she was cutting him down with.
His grin faded, "was that an offer or a threat Grandma?"
Her hand rested in her hip, her shoulders squared with indignation, "you kept my child outside all night and I don't appreciate that!"
Negan might have laughed if his throat wasn't so damn dry, it reminded him of the time he was caught with his pants around his ankles in his girlfriend's bedroom when they were teenagers. "With all due respect sweetheart, your Granddaughter is a grown woman."
"You remind me of my late husband," she said in a way that let him know it wasn't a good thing, "I hope you prove me wrong." With no more explanation she turned on her heel, heading back inside with Zuzu chasing hot on her heels. Timmy was lurking behind to stand by the porch steps like a guard dog with the sniff of a crook.
Whatever Grandma thought he might have done he'd probably done far worse.
He spotted Rae heading right for him and he couldn't ignore the fact that he had five wives back home. If Rae knew the truth… he couldn't let it get that far.
"That should keep us going for an extra few days," she smiled, slamming the hood of the trunk.
Negan grabbed Lucille from the footwell where she'd spent the entire night while he was with Rae, "I gotta go home baby."
"But…" her eyes searched his, probably wondering why he was leaving like she'd done something wrong, "it's getting dark."
He pressed his lips to her forehead, breathing her in before he let her go, "I know but I gotta get back."
Rae sucked her bottom lip, her hand resting on her gun as her gaze drifted to his chest instead of his eyes. Negan wondered what she would have said if he'd found the balls to tell her the truth, he wondered if it would have meant he could stay the night here and as many nights as he wanted to. Mostly he wondered how the hell she'd managed to bring him to this, to be a man standing with a woman and feeling something except completely fucking empty.
"Is it gonna be another month before I see you?" she said.
"I didn't plan on that Red, shit happened. I'll be back in a week. I promise. Just don't
do anything stupid and remember my men are just over the field for whatever the fuck you need."
"Okay," her face was a little crestfallen and he reached for her hand, holding it in his before kissing the very tips of her fingers before letting them slide away. He couldn't ignore it any longer, he couldn't keep putting things off, if he wanted Rae then he had to do something about his wives. Fucking hell, he had to do something about a lot of things but his wives would be first. Whether he liked it or not, whether he fucking wanted it or not, things had changed.