Is it prophecy? The future? Some life he had lived before?
Or was it merely scenes created by his mind? Nothing more than a dream.
Adrian wiped his face of sweat as he steadied his breathing. His eyes went to the window where the moonlight shone through.
He dreamed that scenes again, the one with the tall metal and glass buildings, carriages without horses both on the ground and in the sky, and bright lights and a myriad of technology.
Gadgets and phones, he knew those words from the dreams. They were never clear, always foggy, yet the details and imagery were too expansive for his mind to conjure.
From time to time, he learned of scenes, words, and names he had never heard spoken in this place.
And as much as he can read and he'd like to, he didn't remember reading any books from the few he did, with those scenes.
Or maybe he was born a creative? An artist, able to paint, sing, and tell stories never before told?
The thought of him becoming a bard traveling the world made him chuckle.
Or maybe... it's magic?
Adrian shook his head. No point in thinking of mysteries without an answer. For a second he contemplated going back to sleep and instead decided against it and stood up.
The moonlight and his eyes getting used to the darkness allowed him to light a torch. He cleaned himself with a wet cloth for a bit before walking out of his room.
His house was simple enough, a place to sleep in, a place to shit, and a place to work. Looking at the desk full of wooden tools, furniture, and carvings, he contemplated doing his work, but then his stomach rumbled, reminding him that he hadn't eaten supper and went straight to bed, tired after hauling a big-ass log inside.
He stepped out of his house, blowing out the torch. The spare lanterns around the village and the moonlight were enough for him to get around.
He made sure his purse and knife were on him, however, not that he was wary of the people, but tales and rumors of monsters had supposedly been sighted about.
And he'd rather be cautious than daring.
Soon he reached the village's one of two taverns and entered, finding three people at a table slumped and drunkenly mumbling in their sleep.
"Ah, Adrian, good evening..."
"Good evening, Dell. Is the kitchen still open?" Adrian greeted the wife of the tavern owner, plump and in a brown kirtle, wiping a table.
"Of course, what will you have? The usual?"
Adrian found a table and sat, shaking his head. "It's a bit late, so I'll have something softer. Soup and bread..."
"Alright, just settle yourself there..." Dell smiled at him and turned around, grabbing a bucket.
"Where is your husband?"
"Out cold. He had a drink with these logs here and then promptly slept." Dell shook her head.
A figure emerged from where the kitchen was, a shorter figure with brown hair, wearing a white kirtle, with a freckled face.
"Adrian! Good to see you visit the tavern at this hour..." Bell, Dell's daughter, chirped and approached and sat across from him.
"Bell..." Adrian tried to smile normally, but he couldn't help but scratch his cheeks. He was young, 15 years old, though old enough to take greater responsibility in this village, but his experience with women... was practically zero.
And Bell, despite being only a couple of years older than him, had supposedly had several experiences with men, especially with men of coming age... and he wasn't going to lie, he had thought about going to her too.
Bell grinned at him, seemingly guessing his thoughts, and Adrian flinched when he felt something touch his leg...
"What could be in your mind, wood carver?" she said, leaning in slightly, finger teasing his hand.
'Control your mind, control your expression...' he said to himself, almost a prayer, before he looked around. Aside from the drunken people, no one should be listening.
He leaned forward... and whispered... "You... and uh... your skills?"
He didn't know how to directly voice it out while still being polite, so he stuttered.
Bell chuckled, covering her mouth as if finding him amusing, and Adrian felt more embarrassed.
"I can't today..." she whispered, looking at the door where her mother disappeared.
Adrian nodded, feeling a bit disappointed, when she leaned forward again and whispered.
"But for 2 pennies, I can do some other things to you?"
"2 pennies?!" he said, nearly exclaiming before shutting his mouth.
On a good day, he could earn 3 to 4 pennies, and a great day? Double that.
And there was once, because of the baron, that he earned directly 2 shillings, but there were also days that he didn't have work. Hence, 2 pennies was a lot to him.
"2 pennies..." Bell simply repeated. Adrian then felt her toes slide to his thigh and deeper, and then briefly meet his groin area. He could feel himself harden before she promptly took it away.
Adrian pursed his lips. Fire below him wasn't new, but lately, it had been relentless, as if begging for release no matter how many times he did it on his own.
He was young, the prime of youth, it couldn't be help.
So with reluctance, he grabbed some coins from his pouch and gave two to her under the table.
Bell's smile widened and she winked. "Find me in the alley when you're done eating, yes?" Then she stood up...
After that, Adrian was a little dazed... When Dell arrived with his food, he could only perfunctorily reply, anticipation of what's coming filling him, hunger forgotten.
Halfway through his food, one of the drunk people woke up and drunkenly stood up.
"Hrmm... I told you... I know what I saw..." he mumbled. Adrian recognized him, it wasn't hard considering there weren't a lot of people in the village. He was one of the hunters.
"Did you really see a monster?" Adrian couldn't help but ask him.
Devon didn't even look at him and answered while trudging to the door wobbly. "I know! I saw! Creature of the dark! Sharp claws and teeth and long limbs, almost human but on all fours...!"
He raised his hands, gesturing grandly before he stumbled and hit the door with his face hard and slumped down to the ground.
"Maybe on the morrow..." Adrian mumbled, finishing his food.
Adrian tried to look as if he wasn't fazed or the wee bit thrilled, but his fingers shifted.
Thankfully, the cold air allowed him to calm down a bit as he walked out of the tavern and into the alley.
A shadowy figure pulled him, Bell, and pushed him against the wall.
"You're a curious and naughty boy, aren't you?" she whispered. Despite her being older, he was nearly a head taller than her.
She laid her hand on his chest. The tunic couldn't block the heat from her hand as she caressed it. Adrian froze but forced himself to relax...
"That's it..." she whispered, biting her bottom lip, and Adrian wondered if kissing her was part of the coins he paid.
It wouldn't be his first time, though his first was when he was 11 years old.
"Have you touched a woman before?" she asked.
"Of course..." Adrian blurted.
She chuckled... "I mean here..." She grabbed his idle hand and guided it to her chest, to her flesh mound that even the dress couldn't hide.
As his hand felt the warmth and soft flesh, even through the kirtle, his cock became hard immediately, his heartbeat racing.
He squeezed, and he didn't know why such a part of the body made him burn, but it did, probably human instinct, like animals in heat.
Then he flinched when Bell's hand was brought down and touched his member through his trousers, that was forming a tent.
"Hard, aren't you? Tell me, do you know how to relieve yourself?"
Adrian answered after a shaky breath, "I do..."
"Did it feel good?"
"Yes..."
"Then it would feel even better with my hand..."
She mumbled before she put her bare hand beneath his trousers and grabbed the length of his cock. Her rough but warm hand made him shiver for a moment before pleasure took him.
She was slow, squeezing at first before slow, deliberate strokes. Adrian brought his remaining hand and squeezed her remaining breast, fingers playing and squeezing at her hardened niples.
Then Bell pulled back slightly and spit on his cock that was now out in the open. She did this one more time before she increased her stroking so much that he nearly forgot to fondle her breasts.
With her saliva, which added wetness to his member, and the knowledge of her saliva on his manhood increased his pleasure, soon...
"Ughn!" Adrian grunted, head pulling back as he closed his eyes. A heavenly pleasure took over him for what seemed like an eternity before he released a breath and it ended.
'Oh, that was better than my hand..' He thought, but a little dazed.
Adrian looked at Bell, who had sidestepped to avoid getting hit by his release and smirked. She pulled up his pants and kissed his cheek.
"Worth the coin, isn't it?"
Adrian could only nod as he leaned on the wall. Soon he heard Dell's voice calling for her daughter.
"Coming!" Bell answered, and before she disappeared around the corner, she said to him with a wink.
"Next time, we can go all the way, but make sure you bring your purse..."
Adrian wasn't able to respond as he leaned there for a couple of moments before collecting himself.
Acting as if nothing happened, he walked out of the alley, but after a few seconds started running back to his house.
He closed the door behind him and went to his room and lay down. A smile was on his face.
"That was amazing..." he said, remembering the feeling. Then his face fell. "And costly. Better control myself..."
That night, he slept well.