It had been a long day that was for sure, and Mia unceremoniously let out a humungous yawn, smacking at her lips, her eyes closing sleepily.
"Wow, well someone's tired," said Blake, who had been sitting on the floor of Negan's room, playing with the tiny toddler for the past hour.
The two of them had a had a busy afternoon.
After finishing up their breakfast, Blake had taken Mia outside, so that they could watch the trucks, that were taking Negan and some of the other Saviours to one of the outposts, driving away out of the lot.
They had lingered there in the sun for a while, Mia pointing at the walkers outside the fences below and asking why they couldn't come in.
But Blake had hastily danced around this question and taken the small girl back inside , back up to Blake's own room so that she could change into a fresh pair of clothes. Still having on the same jeans, shirt and underwear as yesterday despite showering.
While up there, Blake had stuck ghostbusters into the VCR and let Mia watch it. The tiny girl being mesmerised by the pictures on the screen.
Blake doubted she had ever even seen a TV before and that fact felt crazy to her.
That children in this world had grown up with nothing that Blake and others around had taken for granted just a few short years ago. No cell phones, no TV, no internet...
After Blake, who had found a couple of boxes of animal crackers in the cupboard in her room, had given Mia a light lunch, she had then taken her, as promised, to see the wives.
The afternoon, they had spent there, in the large room filled with couches and fluffy cushions, where Mia, who initially had been shy and hidden her face in Blake's t-shirt, had slowly warmed to the women one by one...
...she had babbled and run around the room being chased by Tanya....squealing happily.... before finally, after what felt like a blissful afternoon, the tiny girl had told Blake she needed to go potty and felt tired.
The duo had then hurriedly said their goodbyes and Blake had taken Mia back up to Negan's room, to the nearest bathroom she knew....
The door had of course, been open, but there was no sign of the dark-haired Saviour as the pair had padded hand-in-hand over to the large tiled bathroom, switching on the light.
And it hadn't been long, after the pair had emerged from said bathroom, as if on cue, that there come a sudden heavy knock upon the door.
Blake had chewed on her lip, looking a little worried for a brief moment before uttering an uneasy - 'c-come in...'
But thankfully, to Bake's relief, a short older woman, with long grey hair, had shuffled into the room holding a silver tray, with two plates piled high with two large and juicy hamburgers.
One larger than the other, stuffed with lettuce and fresh tomatoes, and the second, quite a lot smaller, with just a patty and ketchup oozing out of it.
But Blake had smiled, thanking the woman who had hurriedly left without a word, knowing exactly who had arranged this for them...
Had Negan really known they would be here, in his room?
Was she really that predictable?
But even despite this, the pair were ravenous and dug straight into their food, neither of them needing much encouragement to do so.
And so, half an hour later, with delicious burgers both having been devoured....with Mia leaving a bit of the bread and some of the burnt bits of patty pickily...
....the pair had gotten undressed, filled the bath with bubbles, before splashing about together in the tub for a while.
It had been a lovely moment...with Blake being truly happier with Mia than she had felt in a long time...the tiny child bring her so much joy....
And soon, the pair got dried off. Blake shucking a white vest over her matching dark grey bra and panties once again, before placing Mia into a cute pair of black and yellow bumblebee-patterned pyjamas, before the two of them had sat down on the floor, upon Mia's request, to play for a while before bed.
But now, over ninety minute later, it was waaaay past what should have been Mia's bedtime, and Blake, getting to her feet with a sigh, lifted the tiny girl into her arms, hugging her close as she gave another tired yawn.
"Come on, let's get you to bed..." she uttered in a kindly voice, plopping the toddler back down onto Negan's bed, for the second night in a row.
Perhaps they could have gone back downstairs to Blake's room, now Mia had been acquainted to it...
But was it strange to say, that up here, Blake felt safer? More protected, and looked after?
That of course had nothing to do with the scent of the tall, bearded Saviour than seemed to linger everywhere here....
...on the pillows...the couches...in the steam of the bathroom....
...for this place, it was entirely him, and this was where Blake wanted to be right now.
She pulled the covers neatly over the tiny girl and brushed back her hair, watching as she blinked her eyes sleepily closed...mouth hanging open as she did so.....
Blake smiled to herself...watching as she drifted off to sleep into a dream world....
...and the caramel blonde woman thought on how enamoured she was with the tiny toddler.
This girl had come into her life and made it better....and Blake knew, that much ad it pained her to admit, she loved her already...wanting to take care of her, at whatever the cost.
Did Mia really need to go back to her people?
From what she had said this morning, it didn't sound like she had any parents still alive. Just a couple who looked after her.
But Blake obviously knew that Mia's life would be much better served here...instead of out there...on the road...holed up in places like the one they had frequented yesterday...
That was no life for her.
But perhaps this was....
But Blake scolded herself internally. She was being selfish here....Mia wasn't hers and never could be.
She knew that life would never be that kind to her.. Never give her the family she wanted...
The caramel-blonde woman gave a gulp, tucking a long strand of hair behind her ear, before pulling herself from the mattress and back onto her feet.
She padded silently across the room before heading back into the large warm bathroom, a humid steam from their fragrant bath still lingering in the air.
Blake gave a short sigh and wiped the condensation from the mirror above the wash basin, peering at her reflection.
Comparing herself to what she had looked like a week ago...Blake looked positively healthy, bright...glowing even...
Her bruises were gone, her cheeks looked less sallow, and her eyes less ringed and tired, than before.
She felt happier inside too....not just with the arrival of Mia...but with her life here at the Sanctuary...
Negan had long stopped asking her whether or not she wanted to go back there, to Alexandria, and Blake, if truth be told, hoped he wouldn't ask again.
It wasn't as if she never wanted to go back there again....but since coming here, her life had changed.....for the better.
Far more than it had done back in Alexandria.
For who had she had to look out for her there? Had anyone even noticed the bruises she had tried to hide? The fearful glances she had shot David's way over dinner?
She doubted it...for Rick, Michonne, Maggie and the rest....they had all been too concerned with other, more important things, and rightly so too.
For why should Blake ever want to feel like a burden?
Because here she most certainly didn't.
She felt strong and cared for.
But she knew that was mainly by one person in particular...
Blake pushed her long, slightly curled, caramel-blonde hair back over her shoulder, just as, from the next room, she heard a door shut quietly, which caused her heart to begin to race at a mile a minute.
Was there someone there...? In the bedroom?
Had they come for her? Or for Mia?
Blake gulped.
But before she could even make a move towards the door, her questions were soon answered, as a tall, familiar figure appeared in the bathroom doorway.
She breathed a long sigh of relief, eyeing Negan as he stood there, a small smile fixed onto his lips.
He had come back....and earlier than expected at that.
As much as she had requested from him to not be too late, she understood how difficult it was to set a schedule on these things, and hadn't really thought that he would return until long into the early hours of the morning.
Blake lifted her chin, staring back at him, suddenly feeling incredibly vulnerable, stood here in nothing but her underwear and a white, almost see-through vest.
She could see him lift his bearded chin slightly, surveying her, licking at his lips, and revealing a long, slender, and tanned neck beneath.
A few weeks ago he had been a stranger.....a figure of grotesque legend around Alexandria.
And Blake would never have expected she would be here...half naked in front of him...willing to give herself entirely to the tall, dark-haired man.
Negan took a small step towards her.
"So...." he asked in dark and husky, voice, after a few long seconds went by. "...did you miss me after all, Peaches?"
Blake whimpered internally, feeling her breath catch in her throat slightly as his brown eyes slid up and down her slender form...taking her all in, almost greedily.
Blake parted her lips...letting out a shaky sort-of breath, before speaking.
"Maybe...." she murmured back, a smirk dancing its way over her face. "But it depends on what you brought me...."
Negan chuckled and crossed the room slowly towards her. Lucille was missing from her usual spot in his hand tonight, but that same-old leather jacket remained shucked over his grey t-shirt, haphazardly, his hair slicked back, and his eyes glinting.
He grinned back at her, showing off a line of bright white teeth, and cocked his head to the side, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"Brought you?" he uttered in a bemused sort of tone, as he came to stop just in front of the caramel-haired woman, staring down at her.
And at this, Blake could not help the feelings that were currently causing her stomach to jolt, as well as the drumbeat that was currently pounding away inside her ribcage.
How the hell could one man possibly make her feel like this?
Make her feel so much more than David ever had.....even in the early days....
She had been through so much in these past few months....so many horrible words shot her way, that had grinded her down....made her feel worthless, insecure...never good enough...
But here he was...Negan.....the man in front of her....stood there, doing the exact opposite of what David had ever done.... ...lifting her up, instead of bringing her down.
He had called her a queen. And that is exactly what she felt when she was with him.
And it was then that she realised.....
...she wanted to be his....
.....she wanted this to be the beginning...
Blake suddenly smiled, more to herself than to Negan on this occasion, looking down at her feet for the briefest of moments.
For she felt her stomach do a backflip at his proximity to her....
And slowly, with great care, Blake bit at her bottom lip, before gazing up at him once more...
....as the dark-haired, bearded man pressed himself further into her...
...both of them knowing exactly what they were doing...exactly what they wanted right now....
Blake could feel a creamy wetness begin to pool inside her panties...a wetness that Negan could oh-so easily taste tonight, if that was what he wanted....
Her chest heaved needily...
...as everything around the two of them seemed to disappear...leaving the pair of them alone....with no distractions....just each other...
"You promised you'd bring me back something nice...." Blake finally murmured, in a mere ache of a voice, as Negan leaned forwards, and Blake lifted a hand to his leather-clad chest....her fingers trailing up and curling around the fabric of his grey t-shirt. "....Daddy...."
But Negan just smiled that oh-so cocky smile of his....as his lips drifted close to hers...hovering over her mouth teasingly...
...but this was no longer teasing....
...both of them knew that....
"...An' I did, Darlin...." he uttered in that low, growling, drawl of his, smiling gently into her mouth, as one hand slid over her hip and the other moved up to brush a strand of hair from her face.
".....me...."
Blake smiled.....
....and before she could stop herself...
...she closed her eyes, and felt her lips meet his.....
He tasted good....like whisky, and lemon, and salt...
....and Blake couldn't help herself, as she parted her swollen lips...letting his tongue slip into her mouth...licking at her...tasting her...
She felt him immediately push her body back, a little roughly, against the basin behind her...the small of her back colliding with the counter top...
...but Blake wanted this more than she could say....as she gave a moan, as they kissed...with lips parting briefly every second or so....readjusting their positions...with wet, delicious noises that caused Blake to tug him into her, just a little bit more....
Negan gave a sudden needy growl....and before Blake knew it....he had grasped her by her bare thighs, promptly lifted her and dropped her down onto the faux-marble basin-counter behind her.
Blake sucked in a breath of air...as Negan pulled her forwards suddenly by her ass....and grinded his hips into her hers with a dark, wanting groan....
Fuck...she wanted him...
She could feel his cock, hard in his pants...pressing into her wet core...part of her desperately wishing that the layers of fabric between them were gone....
Blake pulled her mouth from his, suddenly panting hard...her pupils dilated, and her panties now soaked and dripping with a creamy wetness.....
Her green eyes met with his dark, chocolate ones....full of longing....staring back at her lustfully, for a brief moment....
...as Negan lifted his hands....his fingers curving around the back of her neck, before he kissed her again...hard...
...as her hands moved down to his belt....
...her fingers fumbling at his buckle...as the tall-dark haired Saviour grunted into her mouth at the contact....
"What Eggy doin to Bwake?"
The pair jumped suddenly, Blake tugging her lips promptly from Negan's, as she stared suddenly around...
...only to see Mia stood in the doorway...peering up at the two adults curiously...
"You have gotta be fuckin' kiddin' me..." Blake heard Negan suddenly mutter, lifting his eyes up to the ceiling crossly.
But Blake immediately reddened...pushing the dark-haired man gently from her, hopping down from the counter...readjusting her vest as she did so.
"N-Nothing, sweetie," said the caramel-blonde woman, trying desperately to catch her breath, forcing a smile in the little girl's direction. "W-What are you doing up anyway. I thought you were asleep?"
But Mia peered over at Negan before looking back over at Blake, little mouth hanging open inquisitively.
"Why you doin' tha' wif Eggy?" asked the tiny girl again.
But Blake, who could feel her cheeks burning red, gave a small cough...not daring to look back over at Negan....before speaking again.
"Nothing....me and Negan.....we were just, uh...playing," she said hastily, knowing that playing was not exactly what either of them had had in mind. "Now its way past your bedtime, sweet-pea. How about we get you back into bed, huh?"
Behind her, from the corner of her eye, she could see Negan, running a hand down his bearded face, letting out a low, frustrated puff of air.
"I ad' bad dweam," said Mia with a small pout, as Blake grasped the teeny, sweet little girl, under her arms, and lifted her up into her chest.
"Awww, no.....well let's make sure you stay snuggled up shall we, and we'll make sure you have only nice dreams from now on...ok?" said Blake lovingly, as Mia wrapped her arms around Blake's neck.
"Okway," said the tiny girl giving a cute little yawn, as Blake threw one last yearning look back at an tetchy-looking Negan, before heading back into the bedroom hurriedly.
The caramel-blonde woman gave a short sigh as she placed Mia gently down onto the bed, as she had done less than twenty minutes before.
"There we go..." began Blake making to tuck her in, but Mia gave a small wail.
"Noh, Bwake stay wif me, she said patting the space on the bed beside her with her tiny fingers. "Pwease, I be gud, I pwomise."
Blake glanced up to see Negan stood in the illuminated bathroom doorway, but after a second or two, she let lout a small gentle sigh, turning back to Mia and stroking her head.
"Of course I will, sweetie," she said in a kindly voice, shifting around the bed and getting under the covers beside the toddler, chewing on her lips as she did so.
And in an instant, the teeny girl had pressed herself quickly into Blake, cuddling at her.
If Blake hadn't known any better it was almost as though the tiny girl was trying to keep the two adults firmly apart...
She sighed again.
The blonde woman glanced up one more time, at Negan, whose hand had drifted once more to his bearded face.
He eyed her with an unimpressed look, before huffing loudly.
"Then I guess I'm relegated to the fuckin' couch again am I?" he said in a pouting voice, placing his tongue to his back molars, looking utterly pissed-off right now.
But Blake just smiled over at him, suddenly tossing him a spare pillow from the large four-poster bed, as she settled herself down beside Mia.
"...sorry, Daddy..." she murmured lightly. "Maybe tomorrow...."
And in that moment both adults knew what Blake meant, as she let out a long breath of air and cuddled Mia to her..
....gently closing her eyes....
...the last sound she heard before she drifted off to sleep, being the sound of the dark-haired Saviour slumping down onto the large leather sofa, across the room, grumpily.....
...damn....