Building a Criminal Empire

by Logan Jacobs

  “Better than a stable,” Penny remarked.

  “Dar might not like that after a while,” I added.

  “Fucking animal,” Penny chuckled.

  “It’s not a big place,” Eloy panted as he shut the door behind us. “But my son loved living here.”

  “It’s perfect,” I said as I walked over to the far window and glanced down below. A halfling woman knocked on the front door and then left after a few seconds.

  “If you buy it, everything you see is yours,” Eloy said as he took a seat at the round kitchen table that had three other chairs around it. “I can’t take anything with me on my journey, so …”

  “How soon could we move in if we purchased your place?” I asked as I moved closer to where Penny and Eloy sat.

  “If you bought it in full ...” Eloy scratched his chin. “You can move in today.”

  “That’s what I was hoping to hear.” I smiled.

  “Really?” Eloy clapped his hands. “Well, if you’d like, we can discuss a price?”

  “I think we should,” I said as I sat down in the chair across from the baker. “What are you thinking?”

  “Well,” Eloy tapped his fingers on the table. “My family bought this place for seventy-five gold back in the day.”

  “How long ago?” Penny asked.

  “Oh …” Eloy closed his eyes as he thought. “Hundreds of years ago, I’m foggy on the details. But, seventy-five gold was a lot of coin back then, and it still is today, for crying out loud. But, with the upgrades and everything included, I was thinking around eight hundred gold.”

  Fuck that.

  “Eloy,” I sighed. “You said your family bought this for seventy-five gold, right?”

  “That’s right,” the baker replied.

  “Now, you have taken great care of this building,” I began. “Your family should be proud, but …”

  “Go on,” Eloy said as he hunched forward.

  “That price just makes no sense.” I shrugged. “You won’t sell this to anyone at that rate.”

  “Says you,” the baker scoffed as he leaned back in the chair.

  “Are you not willing to come down at all?” I asked.

  Fuck, this place was perfect for what we wanted to do, but for eight hundred gold?

  I don’t think so.

  “I can’t.” Eloy dropped his eyes to the table and folded his hands in front of him.

  “What do you mean?” I asked. “You can’t or won't?”

  “I … can’t change the price,” Eloy huffed.

  “Do you own the building?” Penny asked as she looked at me for confirmation.

  “You said you owned it, in fact, you convinced me you did,” I added.

  “I own it, but,” Eloy sniffed as he dropped his head into his hands. “I just want to find my son.”

  “I understand that you want to find your son, but you first need to get out of here, right?” I questioned.

  “I know,” Eloy muttered.

  “Then negotiate with me,” I began. “We want to help you, and we want to buy your business today. You can literally be on the road to get your son in a matter of hours.”

  “I wish for that to be true with all of my heart, human.” Eloy rubbed his wrinkled face with his hands. “I need eight thousand.”

  It was the look on his face that gave him away. I recognized the look because almost everyone wore it in this fucking realm.

  “Your family took out a loan to buy this place, didn’t they?” I asked.

  “We did,” Eloy lifted his eyes onto me.

  “And now you owe whoever it is your family borrowed the eight hundred gold?” I asked as I rubbed my face too.

  “Not quite,” Eloy replied. “I owe six.”

  “And you’d use the other two hundred to try to buy your son's freedom?” I asked.

  The elves would scoff at that offer. A good slave was very expensive.

  Eloy just nodded in response as he lowered his eyes again.

  “Haven’t you been making monthly payments?” Penny questioned.

  “The bare minimum,” Eloy’s lips trembled. “That’s why my son did what he did and got arrested by the Empire. To try to steal our way out of this cursed debt!”

  “But your son is no thief,” I guessed.

  “Of course not!” Eloy broke down in tears. “He was … is … a baker like me.”

  “Who do you owe the coin to?” I asked as I leaned forward on the table. “Maybe we can negotiate a price with them.”

  “Why?” Eloy sniffed and wiped his nose with the back of his arm. “You can’t help me, human.”

  “Says you,” I repeated what he told me earlier.

  “Are ya serious?” The baker wiped a tear from his bony cheek. “You don’t want to get involved with th--”

  “Who do you owe, Eloy?” I asked again.

  Eloy didn’t respond at first. He just looked at Penny and me like we weren’t real. Then he cleared his throat and told us.

  “My family took a loan of five hundred gold from the Dwarven Miners Association back before they turned rotten,” the baker sneered. “Those fuckin’ miners increased the interest of the loan without even telling me. I tried to pay it back, I really did, but the more I paid, it seemed the amount I owed grew just as much if not more.”

  “Hmm …” I hummed as I tried to think of the best way to handle this. I wanted the bakery and apartment, and I wanted to help Eloy.

  “I just want to get on the road, ya know,” Eloy said. “Like I said, I’m running out of time to save my son, and ya both seem like good humans. There are a lot of humans that I can’t stand, but I like ya both, especially after you dealt with those two brats robbin’ me blind.”

  “I know,” I reassured the heartbroken halfling.

  “I hope you understand that I just can’t budge on the price,” Eloy muttered as a look of defeat washed over him. “I just can’t.”

  “Listen,” I said as I glanced at Penny then locked eyes with the halfling. “We will negotiate with the miners--”

  “Wade,” Eloy cut me off. “I mean no offense, but they treat me like two-week-old dung, and you’re a human so what makes you think--”

  I dropped my pouch of gold coins onto the table.

  “They will listen to me,” I said. “Plus, we’re already in business with a few of ‘em.”

  “Who are you?” Eloy’s eyes glistened as he stared at the pouch of gold.

  “I’m the man who is dumb enough to help you,” I replied. “Now, as I was saying, we will negotiate with the miners, we will come to an agreement, and then you will hand me the keys to the building as you go on your journey to get your son, okay?”

  “Uh … I …” Eloy stammered as he tried to process what was happening. “How?”

  “You leave that up to me. In return, I need you to do a few things for us,” I said as I glanced around the apartment.

  “If you talk with the miners and somehow come to an agreement to erase my debt or lower it to an affordable price, I’ll do anything.” Eloy nodded with tears welling up in his eyes.

  “Good,” I breathed. “First, if we come to an agreement with the miners and handle your debt, consider that the sale of your bakery.”

  “Okay,” Eloy said with a nod.

  “Second, if I remember correctly, this apartment was where your son lived, right?” I asked.

  “Yes,” Eloy confirmed.

  “You don’t live here?” I asked.

  “No,” Eloy confirmed again. “I live on the other side of Guilder.”

  “Perfect.” I untied the pouch of gold, took out a single coin, and slid it across the table. “That is at least ten-month’s rent in any other apartment about this size.”

  “Wade, I …” Eloy picked up the coin and looked at it as if it were magic. “You want to rent out the apartment?”

  “At least until we can complete the deal to buy your bakery,” I replied. “Deal?”

  We still needed a place to hi
de our whiskey, chests, and the painting, so it might as well be here at the apartment until the elven holiday was over.

  “Deal!” Eloy’s once solemn face seemed to glow like the gold coin he held in his hand.

  As I watched his reaction, I felt myself wanting to do something that would make no sense for the business. In fact, it was idiotic. But I knew Eloy just wanted to find his son, and he still needed some coin to offer the elves when that time came.

  Even though I knew the elves would reject his offer, I wanted to at least make sure he’d have enough funds to make the journey.

  So, I grabbed the pouch of gold and slid the entire sack across the table toward the halfling.

  “What is this?” Eloy looked to the pouch, to Penny, and then back to me.

  “Consider this our donation to your mission to find your son,” I replied.

  “Wade,” Eloy whispered as he widened his eyes. “You’re already doing so much for me, I … I …”

  “There’s a hundred fifty gold, well a hundred forty nine now since I paid you rent,” I said as I pointed toward the pouch. “I think you're crazy for wanting to travel into the elven territories and save your son from a labor camp, but I admire a bit of crazy.”

  “Me too,” Penny added as her lips curled into a smile.

  “I … I … I dunno what to say.” Eloy’s hand trembled as he pulled the pouch open. “This is more coin than I’ve ever seen in my life. Can’t this go toward the debt?”

  “No,” I replied. “We’ll handle the miners. Don’t you dare bring that coin to them. That gold is for your journey to find your son, got it?”

  “I got it,” Eloy agreed, and his eyes started to fill with tears again.

  “Use it well,” I encouraged as I extended my hand out to him.

  “Wade,” Eloy stood to his feet, ran around the table, wrapped his arm around me, and cried tears of thankfulness on my shoulder.

  Fuck.

  I didn’t know how to respond, so I just patted his arm.

  I noticed Penny was crying too and tried to hide it as best she could.

  Fucking thieves.

  We didn’t know how to be normal.

  “If you two beautiful humans need anything at all,” Eloy breathed as he pulled away from me, moved over to Penny, and then hugged her too. “Don’t hesitate to ask me. I mean it, anything ya need.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” I said with a smirk. “Now, can we have the apartment key?”

  “Oh, oh, silly me,” Eloy was so excited I think he forgot where he was. He put the sack of gold down on the table and then pulled out the apartment key from his pocket. “Here it is.”

  “Thank you,” I said as I reached over and grabbed the key from the halfling.

  “You’ve both been the best thing to happen to me in quite some time.” Eloy grinned. “In quite some time, believe me.”

  “We’re happy to help,” I replied. “Now, just focus on running your bakery for the next few days, but have your bags packed, because we will chat with the miners soon enough.”

  “I’ll be ready.” Eloy nodded. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

  “Believe it,” I said. “Now, if you don’t mind, my business partner and I have some strategy to talk over.”

  “Of course, of course,” Eloy said as he backed up toward the door. “I’ll be in the bakery, just lemme know if ya both need anything, like a coffee, my famous cheese bagel, or anything at all.”

  “We will,” I said. “Don’t forget your coin.”

  “Oh, my goodness!” Eloy jumped toward the table and grabbed the pouch, then backed up to the door, bowed probably twenty times, and then left.

  Penny sniffled next to me as she turned away from me and wiped her eyes.

  I stood up with the key in my hand and walked back over to the window that faced the street.

  “What the fuck did I just do?” I muttered as I saw the baker burst through the entrance below. I felt good that we could help him, but I just added another issue onto our ever-growing list. Yet, I was confident that this bakery would be worth it in the long run, and an idea was taking shape in mind to get some leverage on the miners.

  At the same time, I had this other voice in my ear, calling me a “fool” for giving away all that gold. The gold were funds that we could’ve used for Rindell’s hall, supplies for the whiskey, or anything else that mattered to our business.

  Why did I do it then?

  The sound of Penny’s steps approaching pulled me from my thoughts.

  “You gave him fucking hope,” Penny breathed as her hands wrapped around my torso and leaned her head against my back. Then she pulled me closer and her hand drifted lower along my waist.

  “Is this you being you?” I muttered as I turned around and saw her eager eyes.

  “Yeah, this is me being me,” Penny whispered as her lips parted.

  “Good,” I hummed as I leaned down and pressed my lips against hers. Her mouth tasted like honey, and it didn’t take long, but soon our lips moved with each other as if we haven’t eaten in hundreds of years.

  Penny’s icy wall broke down after years of playing games or ignoring the inevitable. I wasn’t exactly sure why, maybe it was because we helped Eloy, but nothing but Penny’s lips mattered to me anymore.

  As our tongues explored each other's mouths, I picked her up, gripped onto her firm ass, and pinned her against the wall next to the window.

  “Wade,” she moaned into my mouth, straddled me, and ran her hands through my hair.

  My arms quaked, my heart hammered in my chest, and my cock sprung to life inside of my trousers.

  She pulled away and looked like she was ready to devour me, then she untied her cloak, pulled it over her head, and then tossed it to the side. Then she pulled off her lace undershirt and released her pert milky breasts in front of my face.

  I didn’t hesitate and buried my face into her and sucked her pink nipples, all while I continued to move my hands down her legs that wrapped around me.

  “Wade,” Penny moaned as she ran her hands through my hair.

  “Penny.” I moved her over to the bed and set her down as I placed kisses on her exposed neck, breasts, and shoulders.

  Then I pulled away and took off my cloak and tossed it aside, as I did, Penny writhed in between my legs as her eyes scanned my bare chest and stomach.

  “Hurry,” Penny squeaked as she reached for the bulge in my trousers and started to rub my cock. “Fuck …”

  As she stroked me, I reached and tugged down her black tights and exposed her pearl-colored flesh inch by inch.

  She pulled her hand off my cock and then slipped all the way out of her tights.

  I yearned for this moment almost my entire life, and now it was a reality, she was on full display in front of me.

  As I looked at the naked beauty, my cock begged for freedom.

  Penny knew that too, so she twirled around to face me onto her stomach, pulled my trousers down just enough to free my member, and then wrapped her pink lips around my erect penis.

  “Ah, sh--” I moaned and closed my eyes at the feeling of Penny sucking me off.

  Then I opened my eyes and almost came at the sight of her ass bouncing every time she slurped up and down my shaft. So, I gripped onto her fiery hair intertwined between my fingers and helped guide her down onto me. It looked like I was holding onto red lava, and I we both groaned when she sank deeper and deeper onto my cock.

  She gulped up and down, but I wanted to taste her too. So, I gently pulled her off me and gestured for her to get on her back.

  She listened and spread her legs for me to see her tight entrance with a small plume of red hair just above it.

  My mouth began to water just like it did when I walked into the bakery, but Penny was more my kind of dessert.

  I tugged my pants all the way off, tossed them aside, and laid flat on my stomach. Then I wrapped my hands around her inner thighs and pulled my mouth onto her wet pussy.

&nb
sp; “Ooh,” Penny gasped as she squirmed against my face and steered herself along my tongue.

  “Why the fuck did we wait so long to do this?” I groaned after my tongue tasted the sweet wetness of her pussy.

  “Fuck, stop talking,”she hissed. “Either lick me or fuck me. I need you.”

  I tasted, licked, and sucked on her clit and used my hands to explore her legs, stomach, and breasts. I couldn’t contain myself around her. I felt my inner beast unleash with each moment that passed.

  Then it hit her.

  “Waddddeeeee,” she hissed as her back arched, and she squeezed her thighs around my ears as her climax shook her small body like a leaf in the wind. I kept licking her pink flower while she came, and a flood of wetness poured from her tunnel. I drank from her while she continued to thrash around me, and her whine turned into a scream that she silenced by biting into the thick part of her hand below her thumb.

  Then she slowly relaxed, and her eyes glowed green fire as she gazed down her body at me.

  “Did you like that?” I kissed her along her entrance, up her stomach, and sucked on her nipples one more time before our mouths found each other again.

  “Yesssss,” she sighed after our lips parted, but then she kissed me again, and wrapped her arms and legs around me as her small body shuddered again.

  Both of us nearly got lost in another long kiss, but then she reached and directed my cock to the lips of her pussy. She was warm and incredibly wet, and we both stared at each other while my tip rested there.

  Neither one of us spoke for a few moments. Our eyes just held each other. We’d grown up together. We’d fought against and for each other, and I’d loved her since the moment we met.

  And finally we were here.

  I made a slow movement with my hips, my cock pushed aside her wet pussy lips, and then Penny and I were one.

  “Ahh,” we both moaned in unison as my cock entered her tight tunnel, and then I paused at the bottom when my full length was inside of her.

  “Kiss me,” I growled as I lips moved to hers, and she let out another little whine we her teeth bit my bottom lip. Then our tongues fought again while her tunnel slowly clenched around my shaft.