Chapter 8 #2
Didn't that sound like a chapter was missing? Perhaps even three or four? I would have expected at least one chapter before this one, such as a version of the dungeon where the city was intact, or one where the city was destroyed but the temple hadn't been built yet.
That made me wonder if, perhaps, I had been too conservative with the new chapter I wrote for Grubiit. If I received another free chapter, would it be better to play it safe to be sure the core accepted it, or should I be bold and try to get a bunch of new monsters in my spawn menu?
I didn't have an answer for that yet, but it was worth pondering.
By the time we reached the surface, I did succeed in answering a more pressing question: how to serve up Higcliff to Horpus.
We emerged from the dungeon midway through the last day of our crawl and went our separate ways for baths and naps. We reconvened that evening for a celebration of our success, starting with food and drink.
Of the women in the party, Wistia was the only one who interested me.
I would bang Gale and Hixxi if they asked nicely, but I had no intention of pursuing them.
What desire I had for Wistia waned, however, when I entered the tavern and saw her sitting on Higcliff's lap.
Her fit form shone in her thin sundress, draping and wrapping every muscular curve.
She wasn't wearing a bra, and probably wasn't wearing panties either.
Setting a generous pouch of dream dust on the table made me the hit of the evening. From there, I coasted on my party boy persona and pretended to enjoy myself.
This side quest to Minsic was taking too much time. Paladin intel from Horpus was only so useful, and I knew at some point the effort I invested here would have been better spent leveling.
So I hammed it up as much as I could, pushing everyone to drink and snort everything in sight in the interest of moving this along.
I held myself at a comfortable but functional degree of buzzed. The food didn't matter to me, and I briefly considered how awful my life would be if I lost my ability to get drunk or high the way I lost my sense of taste.
Fuck, that would suck.
Sometime around 1 a.m., with the party in the tavern still raging, Wistia draped herself over me from behind, her breasts pressed against my back, and her voice was breathy in my ear.
“Fuck me,” she slurred. “Come with me. Now.”
No one else from the party had left yet, and I really wanted to see Higcliff out if I could.
Dreamdust had him walking in another dimension, so his decision-making was poor.
Furthermore, this was the lowest I had ever seen his guard.
Even without the drugs, he wasn’t thinking about Horpus sending someone to exact revenge.
I might not get this good a chance to snatch him ever again, so I couldn’t leave with Wistia. Not yet.
“How about a game?” I proposed.
“What game?”
I guided her to sit on the bench next to me.
“If I could make you finish right here, do you think you'd be able to hide it?”
“How could you do that? Everyone would see.”
“Say they couldn't. Humor me.”
She grinned. “It'd be fun to try.”
“I have an… ability. I can hide what I'm doing, but I'm not confident you could hide taking it.”
“What is it?”
“I'm putting something between your legs. Reach under the table and gently–please, gently–feel it.”
She slid her hand under the table and jolted a little bit. Her fingers fumbled, but as soon as she recognized what it was, she grabbed the shaft of the tentacle dick and started jerking as if out of habit.
“How… I don't…” she stammered.
I whispered in her ear, “If you spread your legs just a little bit, I'll do the rest. Guide me down if that's what you want.”
She looked around the tavern. Most of the people there were either watching an exceptional game of cards in the corner or standing at the bar, yell-talking to each other and to the barman. Her hand never stopped pumping as she considered her options.
Then I felt her press me down between her legs.
Nope. She wasn't wearing panties. She was already so wet that it had soaked into her bush.
Wistia attempted to sit upright for less than 5 seconds. As soon as my tip parted her lips and rubbed across her clit, she put her head down on the table and pretended to be asleep.
I felt her flex, trying to keep herself from bouncing each time I thrust. I kept the force and tempo reasonable, though. She deserved a fighting chance.
When I looked up, Higcliff lingered near the door, as if he was preparing to leave. I couldn't let that happen. Not yet.
I raised a pouch of dreamdust to catch his attention. “One more for the road?”
“It's rude to refuse a gift,” he said with a grin and ambled over.
I used my knife to line up a run for each of us.
“She asleep?” he asked of Wistia.
“Really drunk, I think.” And also very distracted, and I was starting to get distracted too.
Every time she flexed her abs to steady herself and suppress her moans, her sex tightened around me.
That might have been a tentacle dick rather than my original member, but it was no less sensitive.
I needed to play it cool as much as she did.
Having to look at Higcliff's bastard face messed with the mood a bit but not enough that I didn't enjoy myself.
He chuckled and bent forward to put his face in the dreamdust. “Great way to cap off a great run. You should stay a while longer, friend. Do more crawls with us.”
“I don't want my vacation to end either, but I'll be leaving the day after tomorrow. I have work to get back to. But…”
“What’s that look in your eye?” Higcliff asked, bearing a mischievous smile.
Under the table, I added a second dick, so that was one reason for “that look.” Since I couldn't reach Wistia’s ass, I rubbed the tip of the second cock on her clit. She jumped as soon as I touched her.
The other motivation for my smile, the one I was willing to share, was the evening entertainment I scheduled for myself and for Higcliff.
“You good, Wistia?” Higcliff asked before I could reply.
“I'm druuunk.”
Higcliff laughed.
“I have a post-crawl tradition,” I said, picking our conversation back up, “and it feels wrong not to do it even if my main party isn't here. I’m looking forward to it. That's why I'm smiling.”
“What's the tradition?”
“I handpick four girls based on what my party members like and have them delivered to their rooms. Tonight, I get all four to myself.”
He tilted his head. “I thought your party was all women?”
“It is. And I have to say, I have a talent for making those picks. Whatever city we are in, I just know the right desserts when I see them.”
Higcliff raised an eyebrow.
“I picked out four for myself already but saw other contenders. Do you want a batch? My treat.”
Higcliff hesitated but recovered. “If you're offering, sure.”
I waved a barmaid down and asked for a pencil and a piece of paper. When she brought it back, I had her wait. A few moments later, I handed her a list of names and dropped a gold piece in her palm.
“I thought you handpicked them?” Higcliff asked.
“Higgy, Higgy, Higgy.” I patted the adventurer on the back. “I am a professional. I spent my afternoon browsing over 30 different women to pick what I wanted. I have a good memory, so I have an idea of which ones would be best for you.”
He laughed and tossed back his beer.
“They'll meet you with a carriage at 2:30 a.m. They'll park in front of your place and wait for you.”
“You're for real?” he asked.
“I just paid for them. If you don't want them, tell me now so they don't go to waste.”
“You would try to get your money back?”
“No way. I would add them to my pile.”
Higcliff laughed.
Wistia hissed, “Fuck,” and whimpered. Beneath the table, I felt her juice dribble down my tentacle dick.
Higcliff looked at her curiously but didn't say anything.
Four scantily clad women came in the tavern door just then. “That's my order,” I said, withdrawing my dicks to stand. “Enjoy your evening, Master Higcliff.”
I offered him a sloppy, drunken bow. I patted Wistia's head and went up to my room with my multiple alibis in tow.