Brianna Anderson laid awake in her bedroll, staring up at the clear night sky and praying the symphony of crickets would finally lull her to sleep. It was probably well after midnight, and she and Micah needed to be back on the road in five hours if they had any hope of reaching Highmoon by tomorrow evening. She suspected her insomnia was caused by excitement. Highmoon was one of the few planned city stops on their journey to the legendary Buried Barracks of Thunder Peak, and she was eager to get a taste of civilization before the pair descended into the mountains. Or, more accurately, she was eager to spend tomorrow night in the company of someone other than Micah.
It wasn't that she disliked the half-elf mage that slept on the other side of the smoldering campfire, she was actually quite fond of him as a travel companion. But he certainly didn't provide the thrill she expected when she signed up for the two-person, long distance contract for The Artifact lost deep within the Buried Barracks.
"Oh well, lucky you," Bri recalled the crooning voice of the Task Master Delegator back home in Myth Drannor. "Looks like the first spot for this fetch quest has already been claimed by a 'Micah Rose.' He's a highly regarded professor at the College. You two should have a lot of fun." She remembered the old woman's deceptive wink. It was enough to cause Bri great disappointment when she finally met the man shortly before they departed on their demanding mission.
Micah wasn't bad looking, just very much not her type. Bri was a brawler. She had slashed, clawed, and stabbed her way from the underground tumble rings to serve as a Three Star private contractor for the Task Masters. However, when selecting a bed mate, she wanted a man who could make her feel like a weak-kneed maiden. A man who could toss her over his shoulder like a rag doll before ravishing her like she was a whore in debt. A man who wasn't anything like her clean and soft-spoken accomplice.
However, over the past month, Bri would say they formed a decent enough friendship. Despite a resume bursting with academia experience, Micah quickly proved himself competent in battle, using his mastery of elements to create both destructive waves and restorative auras. At times, she felt her abilities to be almost secondary to his varied skill set. Thankfully, with the recent uptick in monsters and violent thieves within the Cormanthor Forest, Bri had plenty of opportunities to hack, maim, and decapitate her self-confidence back into place.
Although the pair differed wildly in their upbringing, mannerisms, and formal education, conversation flowed naturally. Bri felt extremely comfortable opening up to Micah, and he never pressed her for any more than she readily shared. He seemed to have a knack for knowing when to advise, and when to just listen. And, most importantly, when there was nothing to talk about on the long stretches of trails, they both welcomed the occasional silence, a priceless trait so many people of their generation lacked.
All the while, Bri's lack of physical attraction to Micah was apparently mutual. She struggled with this a bit at first, as she had never spent so much time alone with a man without him trying to kiss her, or bed her, or profess his undying love. She knew she was a rather enchanting woman, with deep blue eyes that popped through long and wild crimson tresses. At the age of 29, she still had plenty of youthful energy, but the maturity to know how to use it. And, although a bit scarred from battles, her body was healthy and deceptively strong; her war-earned musculature supporting soft curves. Yet somehow, she had never even caught him stealing glances as she changed clothing. She had thought maybe he simply lacked the ability to be attracted to her and probed into this further. However, when she turned the conversation towards romantic relationships back in Myth Drannor, she learned Micah has had several female companions over the years!
Well, what's wrong with me then?
She recalled thinking, crossing her arms and boosting up her full chest. Eventually, Bri decided that Micah's feelings may just be aligned with hers; maybe she just wasn't his type.
She did learn to appreciate their platonic relationship two weeks into their quest for The Artifact. They were at their first city stop since home, enjoying their first cold drink and friendly company in weeks. Bri had selected her target from the patrons at the bar, a large city guardsman who was off duty.
"Don't wait up for me," was the only discussion needed before she went off with the brute of a man, and no awkwardness or hurt feelings were had when they rejoined the following morning.
Bri smiled as she thought of the big man she met two weeks prior. Gods, it felt like a lifetime ago. She never even got his name, but that didn't matter. Not like she could have asked, seeing as he shoved her mouth full of his cock as soon as they closed the door to her room.
Just a few more hours.
She closed her eyes hard, trying not to think about how good the nameless man felt.
It will come sooner if you just sleep. Stop thinking about how he mounted you, and that massive cock stretching you, and the way he groaned when it erupted inside you. Damn it.
She emptied her mind and forced herself into a meditative state. She focused on the solid dirt beneath her bedroll, and every small rock she could feel through it. She inhaled deeply the scent of the nighttime spring forest; damp moss, new and weak blooms, and the smokey oak charcoal as their campfire continued to die. She tuned her ears to the orchestra of nature that emerges after sunset; crickets, frogs, an owl in the distance, Micah's breathing, uncharacteristically erratic and audible over the soft pops of the glowing embers.
Bad dream perhaps? He was normally a silent sleeper, another trait Bri appreciated about him, and such sounds were enough to raise a bit of concern over her friend.
She opened her eyes and lolled her head over to gaze across the fire pit, only to snap it back as soon as she caught a glimpse of her travel companion. The movements coming from the waist area within his bedroll were the universal and unmistakable maneuvers of a man stroking his cock, albeit with immense discretion.
Bri considered calling out to him, shocking him into stopping. Who did he think he was, comfortably masturbating less than twenty feet from her, while she sat in sexual agony? Although it was never discussed, she had refrained from touching herself at any time during their travels, assuming it would be torturous for
him
to catch her in the act. She also never imagined that prudish Micah was a very sexual being, figuring he just didn't have the same needs of most men. Afterall, he had been travelling side by side with a beautiful woman for a month now and had made no attempts at intimacy.
What could he possibly be thinking about to cause such urgent self-abuse? Maybe some distant elven lover back home? Or maybe it had just been so long for him, that his body was demanding release before it would rest? She recalled an interaction between the two of them this morning. Bri had awoken earlier than Micah and took advantage of the privacy by bathing in a nearby waterfall. Towards the end of her bath, when she looked out past the cascade, she remembered seeing his figure hastily retreating with his own grooming supplies in hand. Although it wasn't the first time their close proximity and lack of amenities led to some awkward crossings, maybe seeing the fiery warrior lathering up her naked breasts finally became too much for the modest mage to bare.
Whether accurate or not, the idea that she may have aroused any man to the point of such insomnia turned her on immensely. She couldn't help but allow her eyes to glance back over to Micah.
Gods, she could see how women might find him attractive. The dim glow of the coals accentuated his sharper features and clenched jaw. His normal soft, green eyes were closed, brow furrowed tightly with intense focus. The past two weeks wandering the wilderness had created a bit of stubble on his previously smooth-shaven face, and the blondish, shoulder-length hair Bri normally saw tied up tightly during the day was let down and wild. He almost looked rugged. Bri very much liked rugged.
Damn it.
She forced herself to roll away from the scene before her body betrayed her judgements. She hoped that she was still convincingly pretending to be asleep while she repositioned in such a way that allowed her to cover both ears. She would grant him the basic privacy out of respect for their friendship, and not because she was becoming dangerously tempted to walk across the campsite and straddle his smug, stupid face.
***
Bri must have fallen asleep at some point because she woke up far too late. It was unusual for either of them to sleep past sunrise, let alone on the same morning. They made haste of packing up their camp and continued westward down the trail towards Highmoon.
"Are you alright?" Micah said sometime later, catching Bri by the forearm as she slipped in the mud.
"I'm fine Micah." She replied, briefly accepting his hand. "I'll survive a bit of mud." She yanked her boot from the sinking pit of sludge.
"Oh, I don't doubt that." He wiped the mud from his palm. "But stumbling is rather uncharacteristic of you. Hence, wondering if you felt alright."
No, I don't. I caught you doing something nearly every person does on a regular basis, and it shattered my illusion of you being some sort of pious priest.
"I feel fine! Just anxious to get to Highmoon." It was a half-truth.
"Oh, me too." Micah sighed. "I hear there's an inn with the softest king-sized mattresses and largest bottles of Ever mead. I cannot wait to just sprawl out with a nice full glass of wine, and finally make some headway on my manuscript."
"No interest in meeting the locals?" Bri probed, as they began back down the trail.
"Eh, perhaps. I did want to ask you about that. You said we were a day ahead of schedule a while back?"
Bri had been overseeing the navigation so Micah could tackle any surprise obstacles that could befall them. She paused and pulled out the map, reviewing her markings. "Huh, yeah, I guess we still are."
"I was hoping to spend an extra night in Highmoon. I think we should be well rested before we take on the Thunder Peak Mountains."
She couldn't think of any obvious reason why not. The three-month time frame they were given certainly had a grace period if they got caught up later in their journey. With any other companion or party, Bri would have been concerned about paying for two nights in what she assumed would be a very expensive inn. However, Micah traveled with an uncomfortably large amount of gold, unconcerned about the highway bandits or thieves. "Sure, sounds nice."
***
Once in Highmoon, it didn't take long to find the inn Micah had referenced. While it wasn't the most opulent of lodgings, it was certainly the largest. Highmoon was at a major crossroads and hosted many adventurers, and The Handsome Hill Tavern and Inn was the most popular of accommodations.
"Two king rooms for two nights, please." Micah requested from the clerk as Bri surveyed the busy bar. She learned early in their travels it was futile to argue with his generosity. Besides, her paltry coin purse could barely afford bunk lodging, which was not ideal for her plans tonight.
"Oh dear," the clerk nervously flipped through the pages of her logbook. "For two beds, it looks like we just have bunks open at the moment..." The look on Micah's face was enough to make the clerk keep searching. "Or... we do have one king bed available, but it is in a suite! Very large room, plus a sizable chaise, it could sleep as many as two rooms." She explained.
