Chapter 225: On the House [18+]

The last wagon heading north dropped Arthur outside The Leaping Stag well after dark.

The place was packed. Someone was murdering a drinking song near the stone fireplace, a waitress was slipping sideways between tables with a tray of foaming tankards held above her head, and a burly vanguard near the kitchen window was arguing with the cook over whether he had ordered two plates of spiced ribs or three.

Arthur wove through the crowd toward the center pillar, where Drek was holding court with a half-empty mug in hand. One of his companions kept interrupting to correct the details of whatever hunt he was bragging about.

Drek stopped mid-sentence as Arthur walked past and pointed a thick finger at him. "Arthur! You’re alive!"

"Disappointed?" Arthur asked.

"Depends," Drek boomed over the noise. "Are you buying?"

Arthur laughed and kept walking toward the bar.

Roxanne was pulling a pint from one of the casks behind the counter. She wore her dark corset laced snugly over a low-cut white blouse, her long rabbit ears twitching slightly at the racket around the taproom.

She set the pint down, wiped the wood with a rag, and looked up.

For a second, her ruby-red eyes simply held his. Then a slow smile spread across her face.

"Well, look who finally remembered I exist."

Arthur leaned his forearms against the counter. "Miss me?"

"Terribly," Roxanne said, tossing the rag over her shoulder. "The place has been peaceful without you."

"Sounds boring."

"It was wonderful."

She came out from behind the counter, walking right past a merchant trying to flag her down for a refill, grabbed Arthur by the collar of his jacket, and pulled him into a slow, familiar kiss.

A couple of nearby regulars noticed. One of the older hunters let out a low, amused whistle into his mug.

Roxanne didn’t even look at them.

Arthur slid a hand around her waist, pulling her soft body flush against him for another brief kiss before she laughed against his mouth and pressed a hand to his chest.

"I have a tavern to run, Vance," she reminded him.

As she stepped back, she caught sight of the leather support strapped around his left wrist. She took his hand, turning it toward the lantern light.

"What happened to you?"

"Dungeon," Arthur said.

"Of course." She brushed her thumb over the edge of the leather strap. "Is it healing?"

"Yeah. Blocked a Keeper’s blade at a bad angle on Saturday. It’s mostly stiff now."

She gave his fingers a brief squeeze before letting go.

"Chloe said hello, by the way," Arthur added.

Roxanne brightened immediately, her ears perking up. "How’s my little healer?"

"Keeping busy."

"Tell her she should come visit sometime," Roxanne said. "Preferably when you aren’t dragging her into some ruin."

"I’ll pass that along."

Down at the far end of the bar, someone shouted for another round of ale. Roxanne glanced over her shoulder at the waving mugs.

"Order something to eat before the kitchen closes," she told him, heading back behind the counter. "I’ll come find you once this crowd slows down."

Arthur ordered ale and a plate of roasted pork with potatoes. By the time his food was ready, Drek was waving him over to their table.

They shifted their chairs to make room. They’d already been drinking for an hour, and the current argument was over a lost boot.

"I’m telling you, the marsh swallowed the damn thing whole," a scarred scout named Bram complained, taking a drink from his mug. "Sunk right past my knee."

"He tried reaching back in after it," Drek told Arthur, grinning. "Nearly got his hand taken off by whatever was living under the mud."

"It was a bog crawler," Bram insisted. "Had teeth as long as my thumb."

"It was a mud-toad," Drek shot back. "You lost a good pair of leather boots to a frog, Bram. Accept it."

"Did the toad at least leave you the other one?" Arthur asked, picking up a piece of pork. "Or did you have to hop all the way back to the road?"

"He wrapped his canvas ration sack around his foot," Drek cackled, slapping the table. "Walked three miles back to the supply cart squelching on every step."

"There were sharp rocks on that trail," Bram muttered into his ale.

Arthur laughed, digging into his food and answering a few questions when Drek asked what had kept him away from the woods lately. He gave them the short version of the Tomb expedition—an old ruin up north, undead guards, and a nasty boss at the bottom—without mentioning the class rune.

One of the hunters across the table leaned in on his elbows. "Heard Obsidian Hand’s been buying up weird dungeon scrap lately. Old ward plates and enchanted metal. That true?"

"We’re taking a look at some of it," Arthur said between bites. "Depends on whether the inscriptions are still good."

"Crazy to think Sylvia could barely keep the doors open a couple months back," Drek said, shaking his head.

Roxanne arrived at the edge of the table with a tray of fresh mugs balanced on one hip. She unloaded two foaming tankards in front of Drek and Bram before looking down at Arthur.

"Obsidian Hand is buying up half the district’s salvage," Roxanne said smoothly, "and I still haven’t seen my referral fee."

Arthur looked up at her. "Should I be worried?"

"Very." Roxanne rested a hand on the back of his chair, her red eyes glinting. "I seem to recall I’m the one who told you Sylvia was in trouble in the first place."

"You did," Arthur admitted.

"And now you’re a guild owner."

"Half an owner."

"Still sounds expensive," Roxanne said. "Which means you owe me a commission."

Arthur stared at her while Drek barked out a laugh.

"You should’ve negotiated a finder’s fee before you told me," Arthur said.

"Back then, you were just some academy boy," Roxanne replied. "Now you’re a rich bastard hoarding silver."

Arthur reached into his belt pouch, fished out a single copper coin, and held it up between two fingers.

Roxanne looked at the coin, then pushed his hand back toward his chest. "Keep it. Clearly you need it more than I do."

The whole table laughed as she walked off into the crowd with her tray, the sway of her skirts drawing Arthur’s eyes until she disappeared behind a group of trappers.

When Arthur finally finished his plate and carried it back to the bar, the worst of the dinner rush had passed. Roxanne was leaning against the back shelf, drying a mug.

"Food good?" she asked, taking the plate from him.

"Great," Arthur said.

"I do my best."

"You didn’t cook it."

"Owning the kitchen counts," she said, setting the mug down and leaning across the counter on her folded arms. The posture pushed her heavy tits together over the top of her corset, right at eye level, and she knew it. "How’s your week been?"

"Busy," Arthur said, letting his gaze linger openly before meeting her eyes. "You?"

Roxanne blew out a breath. "A supplier dropped off two casks of turned ale on Tuesday and tried arguing about the refund. Two logging crews got into a brawl over dice on Wednesday and broke a bench. And Drek has told that mud-toad story every night since Monday."

"Sounds like a normal week."

"Friday makes up for it." She reached across the wood and hooked a finger into the front of his shirt, tugging him an inch closer. "Especially since I intend to collect on all the time you missed."

"Roxanne!" one of the barmaids called from the far end of the counter. "Cask three is dry!"

Arthur groaned. "Your staff has terrible timing."

Roxanne laughed, pulling her hand back and giving his chest a light pat. "That’s what happens when you own a tavern, handsome. Finish your drink."

"What, you’re kicking me out after one mug?"

Roxanne glanced back over her shoulder, her ruby-red eyes dark with heat. "Not a chance."

Twenty minutes later, the crowd had thinned down to the late-night drinkers. Roxanne handed the cellar keys and the cash box over to her senior barman, exchanged a few quick instructions with the kitchen girl, and untied her apron.

She walked down the counter to where Arthur sat nursing the last of his ale.

"You staying?" she asked.

Arthur set the mug down. "Was that ever in doubt?"

Roxanne smiled, came around the bar, and took his hand, leading him toward the side stairs that went up to her private rooms.

"Hey, Arthur!" Drek called out from his table. "Where you going? Night’s still young!"

"I’m busy," Arthur called back over his shoulder.

Roxanne laughed and tugged him up the wooden steps.

The noise of the taproom muffled to a low rumble beneath the floorboards as they reached the upper hallway. As soon as they stepped inside her bedroom, Roxanne kicked the door shut behind them, turned around, and grabbed the front of his shirt, hauling him down into a deep, wet kiss.

"Mm—hah..." Roxanne breathed against his mouth, parting her lips and sliding her tongue against his.

Arthur backed her up against the closed door, his hand dropping straight to her plush ass, grabbing a full handful through her skirt and pulling her hips tight against his groin.

"Ahn..." A soft moan vibrated in Roxanne’s throat as she felt his cock already hardening against her belly. She broke the kiss just long enough to catch her breath, her rabbit ears flushing pink inside as she grinned up at him. "Look at you. Hard already?"

"You’ve been leaning over that counter flashing your tits at me for twenty minutes," Arthur said, kissing down the side of her throat and nipping at the sensitive skin above her collarbone. "You knew what you were doing."

"Maybe a little," she purred, shoving his jacket off his shoulders. She tapped the leather brace on his left arm. "Take that off first. And sit down on the bed before you do something stupid to your wrist."

Arthur unbuckled the leather support and tossed it onto the small table beside the door. Before he could take a step, Roxanne caught his belt, unbuckled it, and pushed him backward until the backs of his knees hit the mattress.

He sat down on the edge of the bed, and she immediately straddled his lap, her knees sinking into the blankets on either side of his thighs.

"Since your hand is bruised," Roxanne teased, pulling his shirt up and tossing it aside, "I suppose I’ll just have to do the work tonight."

Arthur snorted. "I have two hands."

"Good. Use the working one on this," she said, turning slightly to give him access to the back of her corset.

Arthur yanked the knotted cord loose and parted the laced leather down the front. Her thin white blouse was warm and damp from the taproom below. He shoved the fabric up past her ribs, freeing her big, soft tits. Her dark pink nipples were already stiff, brushing against his chest as she leaned in.

"Wait—ahh!" Roxanne gasped as Arthur’s mouth closed immediately over her left nipple, sucking hard while his hand kneaded her other tit, his thumb rolling across the tip.

"Nngh... haa... Arthur..." Her fingers dug into his hair, holding his face against her chest as her back arched. Her hips started grinding down automatically against the bulge in his trousers. "Fuck, I missed your mouth..."

Arthur let go of her nipple with a wet pop and looked up at her flushed face. "Thought you said you were doing all the work."

"I am," Roxanne panted, her red eyes narrowed playfully as she reached down between them to yank the laces of his trousers open. She shoved the fabric down past his hips, freeing his hard cock. It sprang up against her stomach, hot and throbbing.

Roxanne wrapped her fingers around his shaft, giving it a slow stroke from base to tip while hitching her skirt up around her waist.

"Didn’t even wear anything under the skirt?" Arthur asked, sliding his hand over her bare thigh to grip her naked ass cheek.

"It got hot behind the bar," she said shamelessly, rising up on her knees and lining the swollen, wet lips of her pussy up over the head of his dick. "And I didn’t want to waste time once I got you upstairs."

She sank down in one smooth motion.

Schlick.

"Ahh—fuuuck!" Roxanne threw her head back, a loud, throaty moan tearing out of her mouth as his cock stretched her soaking walls apart and buried itself to the hilt inside her hot pussy.

Arthur groaned, his fingers digging deep into her soft hip. She was ridiculously wet and tight, her inner walls clenching around his shaft as she bottomed out on his lap.

"Still think you’re charging me a commission?" Arthur rasped, rolling his hips upward to drive an inch deeper inside her.

"Ahn! Haa... y-you’re paying it right now..." Roxanne gasped, bracing her hands on his shoulders and starting to ride him.

The wet slap of her hips bouncing against his thighs filled the bedroom, accompanied by the creak of the timber bedframe. She rolled her hips hard at the bottom of every stroke, grinding her clit against his pelvis before rising and dropping back down onto his cock.

Arthur leaned forward, catching one bouncing nipple in his mouth again while his right hand came down hard across her bare ass cheek.

SMACK!

A sharp smacking sound echoed through the room.

"Ahhn—!" Roxanne’s pussy clenched vice-tight around his dick at the sting. She looked down at him with a flushed, wicked grin, grabbed the back of his neck, and smothered his face between her tits as she bounced faster. "Hitting the tavern owner, Vance? You think one good hand is enough to handle me?"

"You squeezed tighter the second I did it," Arthur said against her cleavage, and smacked her again.

SMACK!

"Nngh—fuck!" Roxanne bit her lip, a hot shiver running down her spine as her pussy leaked slick down his shaft. She sped up her rhythm, slamming her hips down onto his cock with greedy force. "Look at your face... ahn... you’re not gonna last five minutes if I keep riding you like this..."

"Is that a bet?" Arthur asked.

Before she could answer, Arthur caught her around the waist and pulled her down onto the mattress beside him.

Roxanne laughed as she rolled onto her stomach and glanced back at him. "Cheater. Watch your wrist."

"My wrist is fine," Arthur muttered, gripping her hip and pulling her back against his groin.

He drove his hips forward, burying his slick cock back to the hilt inside her from behind.

"Aaaah!" Roxanne cried out, her fingers tangling in the bedsheets as the new angle hit deep inside her.

Arthur set a ruthless pace, his pelvis driving against her plush ass—slap, slap, slap!—as the wet squelch of her pussy filled the bedroom. Every time he pulled back, Roxanne pushed her hips right back onto his dick to meet him halfway, matching his rhythm and grinding back against him.

"Haah... ahn—that’s it, right there!" Roxanne gasped into the pillow as the heavy bedframe knocked against the wall. "Come on, Vance, is that as hard as you’ve got?"

Arthur leaned down over her back, nipping at the sensitive base of her twitching ear while his hand slid down between her thighs, his thumb finding her swollen clit and rubbing fast, firm circles directly over it in time with his thrusts.

"Ahn—! W-wait, right there—oh, fuck!" Roxanne’s breath caught as his thumb and his cock hit her at the same time. "I’m gonna—ahh—Arthur!"

She shoved her hips back hard against his lap, her whole body trembling as she came.

Her back arched, her pussy clamping down like a hot vise around his thrusting cock, soaking his shaft and thighs as she shuddered through the climax.

She collapsed forward onto her chest for a second, panting into the sheets as her inner walls kept fluttering around him.

Arthur slowed his hips to a shallow grind inside her, grinning against her bare shoulder. "Who was the one not lasting five minutes?"

Roxanne turned her flushed face against the pillow, glaring at him with half-lidded red eyes. She reached back with one hand, grabbed his hip, and yanked him hard against her ass.

"Shut up and finish inside me," she panted, pushing her hips back against his throbbing cock even as her thighs trembled from the sensitivity. "You’re not getting off that easy... nngh... give it to me."

Arthur didn’t need to be told twice. He pulled her upper body up against his chest, grabbing her tit and kneading it rough while his hips pistoned up into her from below.

"Haa... ahh...!" Roxanne’s head dropped back onto his shoulder, her nails digging into his forearm as his cock kept hammering into her sensitive, freshly fucked pussy, pushing her straight into another climax. She turned her mouth against his jaw, her breath hot and ragged. "Cum inside me, Arthur... all of it!"

Arthur buried his cock to the hilt inside her clenching pussy with one final, hard thrust and groaned against her throat as he came. Hot ropes of cum pulsed deep inside her, flooding her tight pussy while Roxanne whimpered and rolled her hips against his lap, milking every drop out of him until they were both out of breath.

When Arthur finally eased them both down onto the mattress and slipped his softening cock out of her, a thick trickle of white cum leaked from her swollen pussy lips onto the blanket.

Arthur dropped onto his back beside her, blowing out a long breath as he stared up at the timber ceiling.

Roxanne lay on her stomach for a few moments, catching her breath, before reaching for the corner of the sheet to wipe between her thighs. She pulled the blanket up over both of them and rolled over, draping a bare leg across his thighs and resting her chin on his damp chest.

Downstairs, the tavern had finally gone quiet save for the faint scrape of chairs being stacked on tables.

Roxanne let out a slow sigh, her fingers tracing lazy lines across his ribs. "I have cellar inventory at seven tomorrow morning. After those two casks turned sour on Tuesday, I have to check the rest of the lot before the morning carts arrive."

"Already trying to put me to work?" Arthur asked, sliding his arm around her bare shoulders.

"You’re impossible to get hold of during the week," Roxanne said, nudging his chin with the top of her head. "And I’m not letting you sneak out at dawn after staying away this long."

"I don’t have anywhere to be until tomorrow afternoon," Arthur said.

Roxanne tilted her head up to look at him, her red eyes warm as a slow smile curved her mouth. "Good. Then get some sleep, handsome. Because I’m not done with you yet."