The Innkeeper and the Highwayman [Mf] (Prologue)

Note: This is derived from a role-play scene I've played out a number of times with different partners which of course headed in a variety of directions. I would just like to acknowledge the contributions that these partners have made, but for the sake of their privacy won't name them here.

Furthermore, I expect this post to just lay the background for a story that will later become sexy, so I don't think there will be much action in this one. The next chapter should be much juicier, but I hope this one will help it flow better.

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The old Stonewall Inn had seen better days. It had seen better nights too, filled to the brim with travelers, traders and dignitaries, all paying top dollar for the inn's renowned dark ale. There was no town to speak of for half a day's ride, but here at the crossroads it was a perfectly situated resting place. In years past, fish mongers and silk merchants on their way from Seaport to Westfield wouldn't think twice about coming in for a room after the stars had come out. Those years were past now, and tonight the inn was dark and quiet when a lone stranger came to the door.

In those old days, families would come by here as well. Children and old ladies couldn't travel as fast as the men, so better a leisurely ride to the Inn one day and off to your destination the next. The halls were often full of the laughter of children mingling with the merriment of their parents. A few children were even born there, and the innkeeper, Pete Stonewall had always seen these as blessed days. The day his own daughter, Maddie, was born was bittersweet though. How could he celebrate the day he lost his dear wife, or mourn the day he gained his daughter? Generally a prudent man, Peter allowed himself to drink only on his daughter birthday. It was the only way he knew to balance his grief and joy.

Maddie's two aunts had served as her mother's midwives, and helped to raise her until they found their own rich husbands in Normont. They never seemed to agree with Pete on the best way to raise her. While Pete favored a gentle hand and a kind word, his erstwhile co-parents insisted on emphasizing Maddie's shortcomings, that she might overcome them. Maddie was sure they'd never done anything for her that didn't benefit them more somehow. The last gift they'd ever given her was a huge cooking pot, and they made sure she tended to it day and night for the next month. She resented them for that, even after she grew fond of that trusty old pot.

On the day of Pete's funeral, Maddie's aunts had come to pay their respects at the inn. They'd made sure to wail more loudly than anyone else, to show that they felt the strongest grief of the mourners. Maddie tried to ignore them until they cornered her with an offer. "This is no place for such a young lady as yourself to be out on your own. You should come and live with us, let us find you a good husband and sell this dusty old place. It's so full of dreadful memories…"

Maddie had no time for their condescension. She had learned every aspect of running this inn from her father, and had even run it on her own for months when he'd gone on a few business trips the year before. She had been 16 when that happened, now at 17 she had no intention of giving up her home. "Thank you for your kind offer, dear aunties." She smiled with the feigned courtesy that came naturally to her by now, "But my dearly departed father, Peter Stonewall, has left me with only two things: his inn, and his name." She felt herself grow bolder as she finally stood up to them, "I don't intend to give up either, particularly to the likes of you."

One aunt had sneered at that, but the other kept up her facade. "Well if you ever need a bit of money, don't hesitate to write. I'd just hate to hear that you were forced to make a whore of yourself."

A year had passed since then, and that was the last Maddie had spoken to the last of her family. In that time, things had gone downhill at the Stonewall Inn. The beer was as good as ever, and everyone agreed the lunchtime stew was even better than it had ever been. Some things were outside of Maddie's control though, and old Pete had never told her how he'd kept the bandits at bay. It had occurred to her too late that some of his visits into town had been to convince the local authorities to patrol the roads, but she had no idea how he'd achieved that.

Now the bandits had moved in and word spread like wildfire not to be caught in these parts past dark. It had been a month since anyone had even dared to stay the night at the inn, and Maddie had given up staying up all night waiting. Only the lunch crowd kept her in business now, what little business there was. Trade and travel couldn't stop all together, but now to avoid traveling by night, each traveler had to leave at the break of dawn and hope to make it to the safety of another town by nightfall. This filled her dining room for about an hour most days, leaving the inn dead silent the rest of the day and night. Now as the days grew shorter, it seemed like fewer people even dared this daylight voyage, and Maddie found herself watching every penny.

She couldn't guess what time of night it was when a pounding on her door awoke her. She seemed to think the pounding had been coming for a while, so she had better hurry. The sound of the rain on the roof told her nobody would be happy to wait long outside. She threw on a long coat over her nightgown, lit an oil-lamp and scuttled down the stairs barefoot as the pounding continued to echo through the inn's drafty halls.

When she threw open the door, she was nearly bowled over by a man built like an oak tree blowing in on the wind. She shut the door behind him as he tracked in mud on her nice clean floor. She could tell that his boots were well made, despite the mud caked on them. His wide-brimmed hat and heavy coat had done a fine job of keeping his well tailored vest and silk shirt dry, and now he tossed them on a perfectly good chair of hers. Her attention was soon fixed, though, on the gold-laden scabbard that hung from his hip.

Source: reddit.com/r/sexystories/comments/3l4wsh/the_innkeeper_and_the_highwayman_mf_prologue