The Devil Dances With the Scorned

Sherry was almost afraid as she ate her food, wary because she was almost positive that Negan would want something from her by the end of the day. What Negan wanted, Negan got. That was something that Sherry had learned a long time ago, she didn't need anyone to tell her that. She only hoped that she would get lucky and perhaps Negan would take another wife for the evening. And she could perform her wifely duties tomorrow and even maybe thee day after.

Her thoughts had pulled her away from reality, only to snap back at the sound of Negan's voice. She jumped, the food falling from her fork and dropping back to her plate instead of being shoveled into her mouth.

Sherry sighed, setting her fork down as she looked away. Leaning forward, she set the plate down on the desk and began to smooth out her dress. "I... no. No, not really," Sherry finally answered, chewing on her bottom lip.

A question popped into her mind and before she could stop it from passing her lips, she spoke, "Can I, y'know, talk to him? I'd never do anything stupid like cheat on you or something but can I at least ask how he's doing sometimes?"

For some strange reason there was a pulling in Negan’s chest as Sherry asked if she could even talk to Dwight. Hadn’t they done enough damage to him? Negan wanted to trust the girl who sat in front of him, but the fact of the matter was that he definitely did not. Negan wiped his hand over his face as he mulled over her question.

Deciding that this could be a test, one that he hoped that she would pass, Negan nodded. Negan was always on everyone’s side to succeed. He wasn’t purposefully setting her up for failure. Not at all. Negan was rooting for her, he wanted her to prove him wrong on his judgments. But only time would tell on that one.

“I guess if that is what you want.” He stated firmly. “Talk. That’s it, you got it? I really don’t want to have to tell you more than once, doll, because if I do… If I do.” Negan paused to shake his head and let out a small sigh. “There’s gonna be a massive pile of shit that is going to hit the fan. You know that, don’t you?”

When she asked the question, Sherry could honestly say that she had no intention whatsoever to betray Negan. She had never seen what would happen to a wife should they betray him in such a way, only what happened to the man that was stupid enough to touch what was Negan's. The iron treatment wasn't something she ever wanted Dwight to have to suffer through, partly because she knew it would be her fault and partly because she knew she wouldn't be able to care for him while he healed.

Sherry nodded, forcing away the tears that threatened to well in her eyes. She didn't want to start crying in front of Negan because she could only imagine what sort of manipulation would occur if she did. "I do," she answered quietly, her gaze flicking down to her lap.

"I've never cheated on Dwight before and I'm not... I'm not going to cheat on you now," Sherry tried to reassure Negan, offering him a small smile as she caught his gaze. "Besides, why would I cheat on that?" It was a secret she would have never admitted to anyone else but she figured it couldn't hurt to stroke Negan's ego a little bit.

Negan watched her and he could tell that she was holding back tears. What he was coming to learn was that Sherry was not good at concealing her emotions. No matter how hard she tried, it showed all over her face exactly what she was feeling.

Negan couldn’t help the annoyance that he felt every time that she mentioned Dwight’s name. He had a sinking feeling that something was going to transpire between the pair of them, and he was going to have to make an example out of someone. It wasn’t that he enjoyed the act, but he enjoyed when people finally got the damn point. Why it had to boil down to physical harm? Hell if he knew. But he was going to do what he had to do to get through to people.

Negan shrugged at her, “Just watch yourself, doll. That is all I ask. I really don’t want to have to shut shit down for a while. You know I don’t like it right? But if it has to be done, then fuck, I gotta do it. And I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

Sherry's weak attempt at flirting with Negan seemed to go right over his head or maybe he chose to ignore it. She didn't know and she wasn't about to ask because she felt like she was already on thin enough ice that pressing her luck was the last thing she wanted to do at the moment.

Offering a smile, Sherry nodded slowly. She wanted to prove to Negan that she could be trusted but it seemed like no matter what she said, there was no way that he would believe her. She would have to leave it until enough time had passed and things hadn't gone wrong, until he believed her.

"Do you..." Sherry trailed off, unsure of what she could possibly say. She couldn't just get up and leave - she was almost sure that would land Negan in a sour mood and regardless of whether something happened to her or not, Sherry didn't want to cause that. She cleared her throat, looking around. Looking anywhere but at Negan himself. "Did you... did you want me to grab you anything else?"

Negan smirked at her, noticing her desperate attempt at changing the subject. Good, he thought to himself. Finally underneath her fucking skin. Negan wiped his hands on his pants, shaking his head as he stood up. He toward over her, it seemed, as she stayed remaining on the bed. He had a clear view of everything she had to offer him.

Negan outstretched his hand, taking her smaller, more delicate hand in his calloused one. He gently tugged her off the bed, his hand snaking around her waist. Negan pressed a small kiss to the corner of her mouth before backing away, making sure his hand gently grazed her rear end. He needed to show her these were things that would be happening more often now.

“Don’t need a damn thing but you, doll.” He graveled. “You have the rest of the day to yourself. I’ll come and check in on your pretty ass before bed. Cool?”

Sherry bit down on her bottom lip as she was pulled to her feet, hanging her head. With her free hand, she smoothed out the skirt of her dress, only to look back up as an arm wrapped around her waist. She looked up to Negan with widened eyes, her head tilting ever so slightly as he leaned forward. Oh. She knew what was coming, she had kissed Dwight a million times before but she had never kissed this man before.

What would she do? What would his lips feel like, against hers? What would Negan like? Sherry's mind was racing so quickly around that she didn't know that Negan had kissed the corner of her mouth before it was all over. She blinked, looking up to him with a small frown as her brows pulled together.

Sherry cleared her throat, taking a small step backward as he spoke. She drew in a deep breath, her arms snaking around her torso as she nodded. "I.. yeah, that's cool. I'll see you later then?" The words sounded more like a question than she would have preferred but she didn't linger long enough to see Negan's reaction. Instead, she turned and scurried off out of his office, intent on heading to her room where no one would bother her.

Negan let out a low chuckle as he watched her awkwardly hurry out of his office. What Sherry didn’t know was Negan had had his eye on her from the moment that her ass was saved and brought into the Sanctuary. Sherry was a beautiful, beautiful girl. There was almost nothing that Negan would have done to make her a wife. Yet, she was always seemingly uninterested. Negan was almost grateful for Dwight and Sherry to betray him; only then was his chance to jump upon the forbidden territory.

Negan couldn’t count how many nights he laid awake thinking about what her skin might feel like, or what her body would do underneath his. Negan sat at his desk for a long while mulling over his thoughts about the girl. Shit, Negan wanted to storm into her room right then and there and order her to undress—but that wasn’t Negan’s style.

A few hours later, Negan found himself walking the familiar route around the wives corridor. He checked in with a few of the woman, some of which beckoned him to spent the night—all of which he turned down. Before long he was at Sherry’s room, knocking on the door.

Sherry had holed up in her room if only because she didn't want to see the judgmental looks from some of the wives and the worse ones yet, the ones that screamed pity. It wasn't as if anyone didn't know what had made her agree to be his wife, she had been foolish and she had betrayed Negan. The only real way to save them, as Sherry saw it, was to offer herself up.

With a book in hand, Sherry curled up under the covers on her bed, her eyes scanning page after page but not really understanding anything that she saw. Her mind was far too focused on the impending visit from Negan. He had said he was going to visit but would he? She didn't know and she wasn't about to go looking for him, she didn't want to put her nose where it didn't belong.

The knock sounding at her door alerted her and she took a moment to save the page she was on before calling out for the person to come in. Sherry's heart jumped to her throat as she made eye contact with Negan. So he had decided to visit. Clearing her throat, Sherry smiled a bit nervously as she pushed the blankets off of her body so that she could stand. "I was beginning to wonder if you were even gonna show," she teased, attempting to keep her tone light.

Negan noticed that she seemed to have been relaxing—or at least trying to. If Sherry thought Negan was stupid enough to not see through her placating façade, she was mistaken. He motioned for her to lay back down on her bed. “No need to get outta bed for me, doll.” He said as he leaned against the door frame.

Negan eyed the book that she was reading. “Hmm,” he hummed out loud. He knew that she was smart, hell she had almost gotten away from him. The fact that she was smart attracted him to her even more. He was glad hat Sherry wasn’t like all the other women. He knew she may be calm and cooperative now, but he knew that they would butt heads eventually. Because Sherry was the way she was, he knew that eventually she would try to resist. Whether or not she would be successful was yet to be determined.

“Just stopping in to say goodnight, is all.” He smirked. “How ya feeling?”

Sherry had been ready to close the distance between the two of them, expecting to lean up and at least offer Negan a kiss. That was what wives did, wasn't it? Her stomach flipped and she slowly inched backward to sink back onto the bed. She drew in a deep breath, wondering exactly why he had bothered to come by if he wanted nothing from her. Oh. Maybe he wanted that from her. She could do that, too.

Her eyes narrowed a bit as she looked up to Negan, trying to figure him out just as much as he was trying to figure her out. Her tongue darted out, wetting her lips as she turned away from his intense gaze.

"Goodnight is all?" Sherry echoed, tilting her head to the side as she lifted her gaze to meet his again. "That's all you wanted? Forgive me if I don't believe you," Sherry said, making sure to keep her tone light and teasing - trying to play it off as flirtatious as she could.

Negan furrowed his eyebrows. And so it begins. Attitude. Oh how he hated attitude. He wanted to cross the room, close the distance, and show her what exactly what happened when you would defy him. Yet, Negan was determined to break her down. Sure, he was playing a mind game with her. Sure, he wasn’t taking his normal tactic that he did with the other wives.

Feigning innocence, Negan placed a hand over his hear. “Not sure what you mean there, doll.” He raised an eyebrow as he looked at her. “Am I not allowed to come in here and say goodnight to you? What the hell do you expect me to do? Think I am just gonna go around and ravish all fifteen of you at once?”

Negan laughed at his words, “I mean, shit. I got stamina but I ain’t got that kind of fucking stamina.”

Sherry shrank under Negan's gaze, her heart sinking as she dropped her gaze down. She could only imagine what sort of things ran through his head and she wanted nothing more than to take her words back. She picked at the edge of her blanket, suddenly feeling not unlike a school girl being scolded for being rude to a teacher.

"That's not.. that's not what I meant!" She exclaimed, her voice rising a bit more than she probably intended. "I just... I'm sorry," Sherry muttered, shrugging her shoulders. She bit down on her lip, wanting to explain further but she also wasn't sure where that was going to land her with Negan. Would it be the right or the wrong move?

"I just was trying to entertain you," Sherry's voice was meak as she shrugged this time around, studying the details of her blanket. "I didn't mean to upset you, you gotta know that."

Negan wanted to laugh at her sudden change of mood, it was apparent by the smirk that was laying across his lips. It was funny, to him at least, to watch Sherry change so quickly, conforming so well to what he wanted. He shook his head and crossed his arms as he chuckled lightly. “You are ridiculous, ya know that?’

Negan strode over to the bed, his hand reaching out and tentatively running it through her hair briefly. He pulled his hand back and watched her. “You don’t gotta be so fuckin’ flip floppy all the damn time. Pick a mood and stick with it, doll. I promise you will find yourself a lot more fuckin’ comfortable.”

Negan stepped back, eyeing the door. He knew that one of the wives was waiting for him to come back. He knew it was too soon to make a sexual advance on Sherry. “Got any questions for me?”

Sherry wanted to scream about how much this wasn't fair. It wasn't fair for her to be expected to just do everything right because she was Negan's newest wife. She was one of many and it wouldn't have mattered one way or another if she wasn't there because there was more than enough girls out there that were willing to warm his bed. Whether they were attracted to him or because they understood the advantages such a positive offered them.

"I wasn't meaning to upset you though and I did and that was wrong of me," Sherry tried to better explain why she had suddenly changed moods but she felt like she was only digging herself a deeper hole.

"I just thought you would have wanted to... stay?" Sherry's face scrunched as she spoke, knowing just how pathetic and silly she had to sound as she looked up to him. She offered a forced smile as she shook her head. "No sir, no questions."

Sherry thought that he would want to stay? This surprised Negan, showing itself in a way of a shit eating grin spread across his face. Did she want him to stay? He scrunched his nose at her and gave her a small wink. “I mean, if you want me to stay darlin’ I can sure as shit arrange it. I didn’t think you were ready for that yet.”

Negan knew that if he did stay, it would cause a ruckus with the other wives. Part of him didn’t give a flying fuck, as he had spent so much time trying to capture Sherry as a wife. His mind immediately went to all of the things that he wanted to do to her, but he highly doubted that is what she wanted. He would just have to go to another wives room and get his sexual frustration out there.

“I’ll stay if you want me to stay,” he spoke, his hand still gripping the handle of the door. “Just lemme know what it is you want, doll, and I will do it.”

Sherry wasn't entirely sure what she actually wanted but she had expected that Negan would stay tonight so she had been preparing herself as much as possible. Negan would stay tonight and tonight, she would sleep with someone who wasn't her husband for the first time ever. She would have to grow used to it, Negan was her husband now. There wasn't really a choice to change that. Over the past few hours, Sherry had done her best to come to terms with that fact.

Now that she had told him she had expected him to stay, Sherry felt trapped. She looked up to him, chewing on the inside of her lip as she shrugged her shoulders. "I don't... I mean, I don't know if I am. But it's part of being your wife, isn't it?" Sherry blinked, holding eye contact with him for a moment longer before she dropped her gaze.

"If you want to stay, you can stay," Sherry spoke up again, drawing in a deep breath and holding it, waiting for Negan's answer.

If Negan were to act on his instincts and his instincts alone he would have stayed. But, wanting to see how far he could bend her, he decided against it. Negan wanted to make sure that the girl in front of him was going to stay true to what she had promised him, to what she had agreed to.

Negan threw her a lazy smile, a chuckle escaped his lips. He brought his hand up and ran it over the scruff of his beard. He shook his head at her, “Not tonight, sweetheart. Believe me, I would in a fuckin’ heartbeat. But I know it ain’t sincere. See, I know you are still trying to figure out the right things to say and the right things to do… So we will skip the slumber parties for now, Doll.”

Negan sent her a wink as he finally pulled the door open, taking a step out of it before turning around and casting another glance in her direction. “Sleep tight, Sherry. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

Sherry's cheeks turned ten different shades of red when Negan pointed out that he knew very well that she wasn't entirely sincere. And the part that bothered her was that he was completely right. That he had seen right through her despite Sherry trying to please him. At the end of the day, if Negan wasn't happy with her, she couldn't really be happy either because she would be on edge the entire time.

Offering a nervous smile as Negan left, Sherry nodded. "Of course not, Negan," Sherry answered quietly, giving a tiny nod of her head. She watched as he left the room, sighing as she sunk back into the mattress beneath her. She closed the book that she had been reading, deciding that there was no wa she would be able to focus on it anymore.

Pulling the blankets up her body, Sherry turned off the lamp on her nightstand. She spent the better part of the night tossing and turning before she finally managed to fall asleep.

The rest of the night was spent in another wives bed. Negan hated the hold and the draw that Sherry had to him. When morning came, Negan slipped quietly out of the wives room and returned to his own. He showered and changed into more comfortable clothing. He decided that a few more hours of sleep wouldn’t hurt him, considering that the sun hadn’t even started to peak yet.

When Negan awoke, he got dressed and made his way down to the cafeteria. He could hear the whispers of conversations flowing about Sherry being the newest wife. Part of him wanted to bark at them and tell them that they had no business speaking of the matter, but, what made this any different than other times he acquired a new wife?

If people new that he favored different wives, that could put him in a dangerous situation. If someone decided to try and pull one over on Negan, that would be the first place they would start. So he keep his mouth shut, nodding at those bowing, and got his breakfast.