Hive Knight: A Dark Fantasy LitRPG (Trinity of the Hive Book 1) by Grayson Sinclair (black authors fiction txt) 📕

“What can I do for you, Duran?”

I reached into my coin purse and pulled out another two gold coins. I slid them across the bar—much to Ruff's confusion. His eyes asked why I was giving him more money.

“For the damages and another ale,” I said with a grin.

He shook his head and pushed the coins back towards me. “No need. You’ve already paid your insurance.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t think I would actually get into a fight. Consider the money a stupidity tax on my part.”

Ruff laughed deeply at that, but still tried to give the money back.

“You can either keep the money, or it’s staying on your bar, but I’m not taking it back.”

“Stubborn, aren’t ya?” Ruff asked.

“To a fault.”

He took the money and poured me another ale. I drained it before moving and went to grab Eris and head off to our room. I gently picked her up from the chair she was snoring in. She woke up for a moment when I lifted her out of the chair, even in her drunken state, she smiled at me and kissed my neck as I held her in my arms, my brutality moments before already forgotten in her eyes.

I made sure to hold her tightly as I climbed the wooden stairs, but fumbled trying to get the key in the lock only to find out that Eris had never locked the door after she had taken a bath.

Pushing the door closed behind me, I found the room quaint and exceptionally clean. The dark wooden walls were fresh with wood stain, and the bed was new; the gray sheets were clean. The room felt fake; that’s how new it was. I hadn’t asked, but I doubted the inn was more than a month old.

The window was larger than average, and the panes of glass seemed cheap and easy to replace. I unlatched the casement window and pushed it open, letting the soft breeze in almost immediately. I sat there staring out of the window for a few minutes, watching the sleeping town. It was just after eight at night, but most farmers were up at the crack of dawn. I ducked my head to go back inside when I noticed a large pile of hay underneath the window.

Chuckling, I went back in. Ruff it seemed, had prepared for all eventualities, and it was comforting to have an easy escape route in case I needed it.

I left Eris snoring softly on the bed and went to take a bath. After I was squeaky clean, I patted myself dry with one of the fluffiest towels I'd ever seen and tied my hair up. Throwing on a clean shirt, I crawled into bed next to Eris, who wasn’t as asleep as I’d thought because she immediately wrapped herself around my body and pressed her lips to mine.

She kissed me hungrily and with abandon but was still completely drunk; her eyes were utterly unfocused as she clumsily fumbled to undress. She managed to get her burgundy tunic stuck halfway over her face, baring her naked body to me in the process.

The sight of her struggling to remove her clothes was probably one of the cutest things I'd ever seen in my life, and I couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Eris wailed in frustration, and at that point, I couldn’t let her continue her losing battle against her greatest enemy: clothing.

I placed my arm on her bare waist to calm her, and then I helped get her shirt the rest of the way over her head. When Eris could see again, she gave me a look of such adoration that it made my heart hurt.

Completely nude, she flung her arms around me in delight. At this point, my libido was gone, and our first time wasn’t going to be while she was drunk out of her mind. I just wrapped my arms around her and held her tight as she tried to get frisky with me, but I didn’t let go of her enough to do much damage.

After a few frustrating attempts, she got the hint and settled into my arms, cuddling into me and kissing my cheek.

“I love you, Sam,” she said as she drifted to sleep.

My throat tightened as I tried to speak but couldn’t. Couldn’t say the words on the tip of my tongue.

 “…me too.”

I awoke when the early morning light hit my face, and I blinked my watery eyes open, pushing myself out of reach of the sun’s unrelenting gaze before settling into the sublime comfort of the darkness. I leaned my head back onto the pillow and found Eris beside me, sleeping deeply.

 She was cute while she slept, and I had no intention of waking her yet, so I lay there, enjoying the comforting weight of her beside me. This was the first time I'd woken up before her, and it was nice to relax in bed for a few moments. I checked the time. It was just after seven in the morning. We had the time to enjoy this for a few minutes. We still had a little ways to go before we reached the East Kingdom, but we were close.

I lay in bed, enjoying the simplicity of the act for about half an hour before necessity forced me to get up. I went into the bathroom and relieved my screaming bladder, only to have my stomach demand attention. It growled as I washed my hands.

I called out to Eris, as I walked back into the bedroom. “Wake up, sleepy.”

Her ears twitched at my voice, but the only response I received was a loud groan. As she forced her eyes open, they were bloodshot, which on a normal person would be fine after a night spent drinking, but with her obsidian eyes, it was