The Innkeeper and the Highwayman [Mf][nc][pros] Chapter 1: The Negotiation

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When the door had opened a crack, he pushed his way in, eager to get out of the rain. He tossed his hat and cloak aside and shook out his thick blond hair, wet with rain and sweat. When he took a look over the girl who'd let him in, he couldn't tell if she was more scared of his rapier or just relieved to have a customer.

She had a pretty face for a freckled girl who'd clearly worked every day of her life. Her light red hair cascaded halfway down her back in loose strands, and her deep green eyes studied him without giving up her intent. She had a slight frame, the top of her head barely came up to his chin and he could tell that her nightgown and coat were hiding something worthwhile.

She hurried to shut the door behind him, and a hush fell over the room as the storm outside suddenly felt much farther away. She stepped behind the counter that served as both a bar and front desk as she lit more lanterns and fell into her old routine.

"Welcome to the Stonewall Inn, I'm Maddie Stonewall!" She flashed a smile that had disarmed men for years. "Heck of a storm out tonight, I suppose you'll be needing a room? Can I get you a drink first, or a bit of food?" She remembered there was no hot food available just as soon as the words had escaped her mouth.

"A pint of ale, if you would, and some whiskey if you've got it." He said as he made himself comfortable at a bar stool. He reached into his vest and pulled out a large gold coin, laying it on the bar top. "I hope that will cover the drinks and a warm bed for the night?"

She had already begun filling a glass of beer when she saw the coin. Prices had always been negotiable at the Stonewall Inn, but this coin was worth more than she had made in the last month. In fact, it was worth almost as much as she would have made in a month when business was good.

She set the beer on the bar and tried to steady her hand as she took the gold coin. "Y-yes." She managed to breathe out, "It'll be quite enough sir. Let me get you that whiskey." She dug through the cabinet behind her and found her father's favorite, oldest bottle of whiskey. Nobody else would be having it now, and this was a customer she wanted to keep. She filled up a large glass of the whiskey, hoping to get him to sleep as soon as possible, so she could get back to sleeping as well.

By the time he had his whiskey, he had already finished half his beer. She realized he had just been watching her and drinking as she worked, which didn't thrill her. Suddenly, she wanted to be in another room, but business came first. She pulled out her large guest book, and noticed that the last people to sign in were longer past than she though. It had been closer to two months than one since anybody had stayed the night.

"All the rooms are open tonight sir, so I'm happy to put you in the deluxe room. It's the biggest, has the softest bed, fire place and your own wash basin." She wondered if he could tell how mud-spattered his face was, he'll definitely need that wash basin. "If I can just get your name, sir?"

He downed his beer and glanced over her log book, "The name's Roberts, and that room sounds fine. Will you be keeping it warm for me?" He cracked a wry smile as he decided she must have some nice breasts.

Her face turned red as she jotted down the name and hurried to put the book away. "I'll build a fire right now for you and heat up that wash basin." She chirped, pretending not to take his meaning. "It might take a minute, can I get you another drink while you wait?"

He smiled to himself, happy to let her go for now. She wasn't going far anyway. "Another ale would be great, this is one of the best drinks I've ever had."

She smiled more comfortably as she refilled her drink. It was a compliment she was used to getting. "Thanks Mr. Roberts, it's the old Stonewall family recipe. Now you take your time enjoying this one, I'll be back down for you when your room is ready." With that, she plunked his second pint in front of him and swept out of the room. She hoped he didn't think she was rushing to get away from him, just to get his room ready.

As she scampered up the stairs, he could just make out the shape of her hips through her coat. He waited until she was well gone to draw his rapier from its scabbard, inspecting its blade. It was still well polished enough that he could check his own reflection and see the spots of brown across his face, and he realized why she had mentioned the wash basin so many times. He rolled up his sleeve and ran the blade across the top of his arm, easily shaving off some of his thick hairs. Satisfied with his rapier, he slid it back into its scabbard and pulled his dagger from his boot.

The dagger wasn't as clean as his sword, so he pulled out a silk handkerchief to polish it up. After a few quick swipes with a whetstone, he pulled off his soft leather glove and checked the blade by trimming his fingernails. It was nice to have a moment to sit indoors and collect his thoughts, and he really enjoyed this whiskey. With his nails properly trimmed and his dagger satisfactorily sharpened, he replaced it in his boot.

He sipped on his beer and listened carefully for any hint that his hostess may be coming back. Hearing only the storm outside, he reached into his vest and pulled out his concealed pistol. The flint and steel were dry enough to throw a spark, and the powder looked to be in good enough shape to catch it. The muzzle could use a good cleaning, but it would have to wait. He hoped he wouldn't have to use the pistol tonight anyway.

He tucked the gun back into his vest and finished his drinks. She had told him she'd get him when the room was ready, but she was already in his room, where he wanted her anyway. When he stood up he realized that three drinks had made him less steady than he'd thought, but he quickly regained his composure and headed upstairs.

Her hair stood on end when the room's door creaked open. Didn't she say she'd get him? Drunks never listen. She was bringing the last pot of hot water from the fire to the basin as Roberts let himself in. She clung to the pot; it was always good to have something heavy and piping hot to keep a drunk on his best manners. "Sorry for the delay Mr. Roberts. Everything's just about ready for you, so I'll be out of here in just a moment."

He shut the door behind him and stepped to the basin, being sure to keep his body between hers and the door. Beads of sweat and formed on her face as she worked up here, and he liked the way the firelight glistened off of them. "Oh you don't need to go in such a hurry. I was hoping we may be able to talk some business. We may have a lot to offer each other."

She stepped away from him, back to the fire, pushing a poker into the coals as she added more wood. "I can't imagine there's much to talk about, my whole business is right here. Business is pretty slow here, to be honest. What business are you in, sir?"

Roberts took a look in the mirror at himself, the mud situation was worse than he'd thought. "You could say I'm in a few trades. I collect and trade beautiful things, but honestly that's more of a hobby. The bulk of the money comes from… the security industry. People will pay good money for me to keep them safe." He discretely moved his pistol from his vest to the waistband of his trousers, untucking his shirt to cover it up. "As it happens, my business has been slow as well, and I think we're both losing customers for the same reason."

His back was turned to her but she watched him closely. She could tell he was hiding something, but wasn't quite sure what. She glanced to the poker in the fire, it was getting a dull red glow. "The same reason?" She wondered. She knew why nobody had been coming, but she hadn't dared say it out loud. "Bandits." She barely more than whispered it, like a curse.

Roberts smiled at the word as he unbuttoned his vest and tossed it aside. "You'd think so, but it turns out bandits aren't the problem. How many rooms do you have here, a dozen?"

"Twenty." She corrected him tersely. She wasn't sure where he was going with this, but she didn't like it.

"Even better." He continued, "So ideally you'd have twenty people, or even twenty parties staying here ever night. Now if bandits were taking all your business, that means that there are twenty robberies every night. That would take an army of bandits, wouldn't it? And even an army of bandits couldn't keep that up with the kind of consistency you've seen, at least a few would slip past in the past month, wouldn't they?"

She stared at him incredulous, can he be this dense? "Well of course there aren't that many robberies. Nobody wants to get robbed so they don't come out past night because they know there are bandits out there!"

He unbuttoned his shirt and let it hang down from his waist as he splashed the warm water from the basin over his face. "You are exactly right and completely missing the point, my dear. They don't know there are bandits out there, they believe there are bandits out there. The bandits aren't stopping anyone, it's the belief that there are bandits that's keeping people away."

She scoffed, "Ok, that doesn't change much. What would you suggest?"

He scrubbed off his arms and pushed his hair back as he turned to her, his broad harry chest exposed in the firelight. "I'm glad you asked. I will ensure that the roads are safe for your customers, and you just have to get the word out that the roads are safe now. In exchange, I only ask for unconditional access to the comforts of this fine inn."

She examined him, puzzled, "How do you propose I do that? And how do you expect to get rid of the bandits? Who are you?"

He pulled off his belt and freed his scabbard from his hip, examining its gold inlays, "To answer your first question, I know that you still get a good number of customers coming through for lunch. It doesn't take many mentions to get a rumor started, and those rumors get retold as facts when people find it's true. As for the bandits, there never were bandits. At least no more than one." He smiled at her as he looked her over.

It took her a moment to realize what she should have realized long ago. The gold, the sword, arriving in the middle of the night, who else could it be? She pulled the hot poker from the coals, now glowing bright orange and brandished it in his face. "It's you! You're the cause of all this! You know you've ruined me and my business? Everything my father built and left to me! How many people have you killed?"

He backed away calmly as she advanced on him, swinging the hot poker. "I have killed plenty, it's easy. And I am truly sorry for the effect I've had on your business, like I said-"

"BULLSHIT!" She screamed as she lunged with the poker.

He easily parried the lunge with his scabbard, sending the tip of the poker harmlessly away. He stepped in close taking her hands in his as he stood behind her. His bare chest pressed against her as his hot breath washed over her neck, "If it's going to be a fight, you won't win. Now like I said, we have a mutual interest and we can help each other here."

She struggled in his strong hands, wondering how he was able to get hold of her so quickly. It occurred to her that he may have a point, and fighting now wouldn't do her much good. She began to relax in his grasp, "So let me see if I have this right. You're running out of people to rob, so you want me to tell people that it's safe out there, and when people travel again you won't rob them? How does that help you, what's in it for you?"

He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her against his body, a bulge in his trousers pressing against her soft buttocks through her coat. "Well for one thing, unrestricted access to all the comforts this inn can afford me would be very appealing. And I never said I would stop plying my trade completely, I said your customers would be safe. There are plenty of people who don't set foot in your inn. That means that nobody here will hear from them, and they weren't going to make you money anyway."

She fumed at the suggestion that she would be complicit in his activities. The cock in her back was just adding insult to injury. "Let me go." She said as firmly as she could.

He loosened his grip on her, "I hate to, but in a negotiation I'm prepare for some give and take. You did attack me though, unprovoked. Why don't you give me the poker and take a seat, and I'll let you go?"

She growled and relented, more letting him take the poker than giving it to him. She slipped out of his arms and sat at the fot of the bed. "Ok, so you've disarmed me. Would you mind putting your sword away? Seems only fair."

He replaced sticker beside the fire and put down is scabbard atop a dresser. "I agree, it's only fair that we should both be unarmed." He turned to her with a grin, "In fact, we should probably both be undressed as well. Looks like I'm ahead of you in that regard."

"Absolutely not." She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I am not interested in any business deal that involves me getting undressed. In fact I'd appreciate if you would put your shirt back on."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out another gold coin, tossing it to her lap. "I must insist. Unrestricted access is not a negotiable term in this deal. Gold, on the other hand…"

As she looked down at the gold coin, she saw all the things the inn desperately needed. A crate full of candles, new shingles, pint glasses, spices… Then she saw her aunts' faces, heard them calling her a whore. She threw the heavy coin at him and jumped to her feet, slamming her fists against his chest, "Fuck you! I will NOT be your WHORE!" She screamed as tears poured down her face.

The coin glanced off his shoulder and he absorbed her blows on his chest as he pulled the pistol from his trousers, pressing it into her belly. He spoke in a low voice, "Maddie, I don't know if you understand your options, so let me make them clearer for you."

When she felt the muzzle in her belly she stopped hitting him and stepped back, her face white as a sheet as tears continued to stream down her face.

"You're a pretty girl and I'd rather not hurt you, but I will have what I want from you. If you try to fight me on that again, I'll make you a pretty dead body. If you don't give me what I want, I will simply take it and you will be left just as you are. I will begin operating by daylight as well and you won't have any business day or night. Soon enough you'll be begging to whore yourself out to me."

She sobbed as she considered his words. She was sure he was right. She was at his mercy.

"Or you can just let go and give in." He continued, "Take off your clothes and come to bed with me. We'll work together as partners and rebuild your inn. Any troublesome customers will quietly go missing but their money will stay behind. You will be more wealthy than you'd dared to hope, and I will be there to keep you safe. Now, your coat."

She wiped her tears, her eyes fixed on the pistol. She slipped the coat off, letting it slide to the floor, leaving her only in her sheer night gown. "You… you'll protect me… Will you.." She sniffled as she raised her eyes, "Will you kill people?"

He lowered his pistol and stepped to her. Running his fingers through her hair, he pulled her face to his and pressed his lips against hers. "I will kill as many people as you want."

She held on to his shoulders and kissed him back, still trembling with fear. She looked up to him with eyes still full of tears and nodded. "Ok Mr. Roberts." She said meekly. "I'll do it, but… be gentle?"

Source: reddit.com/r/sexystories/comments/3mnon4/the_innkeeper_and_the_highwayman_mfncpros_chapter