Metal Mage 9

by Eric Vall

  I watched them for a moment before I left, but aside from that crinkle on the old healer’s brow, nothing about him set off any red flags. He was the same obliging, smiling guy he’d been since I’d first met him at the pub, and I could kind of understand why he’d look uneasy given how much running around he was doing at his age.

  So, I headed for the house, and I decided once more a rift between old guys just wasn’t something I should waste my energy worrying about. I had magazines to engrave and copper bullets to load up, not to mention a new automaton to build for Jagruel.

  Then I walked into the atrium, and the second I caught the look on Cayla’s face, I remembered I had one other situation to address first. I’d promised the princess we would discuss her idea about a branding when we got back to Falmount, and her expression clearly showed she was not about to let me avoid the subject again.

  So, I sighed as Cayla crossed her arms, and both Aurora and Deya seemed to pick up on the look she was sending me.

  “We were just getting ready to check on the training at the fields,” Deya said as she glanced between me and Cayla.

  “You and Aurora can head over there,” I muttered. “I need to talk to Cayla about something.”

  “Okay, Mason,” the beautiful elf mumbled, and she headed for the door.

  Aurora’s emerald eyes flicked toward me as she passed, though, and I felt her Ignis Magic spark right before the sound of flames ignited from the hearth in the bedroom.

  I ground my jaw as the two women quietly dismissed themselves, and when I looked up, Cayla arched her brow.

  “Aurora agrees with me about the branding,” she said.

  “I don’t disagree with you,” I sighed as I leaned back against the workshop table, “but I just don’t know if you understand what you’re asking for right now. These runes--”

  “Constantly talk in Elvish in the back of your mind, I know,” Cayla cut in. “But your sight rune doesn’t overwhelm your ability to focus in combat like the healing rune does, and it isn’t as inconvenient as hearing every sound in a two-mile radius either.”

  “True,” I allowed. “It’s the least invasive of the three.”

  “It would also enhance my abilities for the rest of my life,” Cayla continued, “and I wouldn’t ever have to worry about what conditions we were fighting in. Darkness, fog, smoke, impossibly fast targets, distance shooting … none of it. With the sight rune on me, I would know without question I could handle it.”

  “Yes,” I said with a nod, “but you’re also asking me to press searing hot iron into your flesh, and I know firsthand how fucking painful that is. You assume my only concerns are the long-term effects and that I’m perfectly okay with hurting you like that, but I’m not.”

  “I know you aren’t,” Cayla admitted as she blushed and looked away.

  “Then you can understand why I’m saying no.”

  “No,” the princess countered. “I can understand why this could be difficult for both of us. I’m not exactly eager to have a flaming hot iron scalding my backend but--”

  “Your backend?” I clarified.

  A smile twitched at the corner of Cayla’s lips. “I don’t want my father to see it. He would certainly disapprove.”

  “Yeah, your father would kill me if he knew I branded your ass,” I sighed and rifled my hair. “That’s not something any dad wants to know about.”

  “Since he won’t ever see it, it doesn’t matter,” Cayla pointed out as she strolled over, and I narrowed my eyes at the coy look on her face. “Besides, I’ve been thinking about how to manage the pain, and I’ve come up with a solution I think both of us can live with.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Sometimes, I happen to enjoy pain,” Cayla said as she looped her fingers in my belt, “when it’s mixed with pleasure. You know that better than anyone, and you certainly don’t seem to mind inflicting a little pain to gratify me once in a while, either.”

  Cayla held my gaze with her blue eyes slightly hooded, and as I weighed the determination I saw there against her words, heat began to plume at the base of my spine. I did happen to know quite a lot about what the deadly princess liked, and I couldn’t deny she had a solid point. She never complained when I got rough with her, and she even urged me on with her little moans and clawing for more, no matter what I was doing.

  So, the idea of branding her ass for her was suddenly less upsetting to me as a seductive grin curled up the princess’ lips, and every ounce of my blood seemed determined to make its way south regardless of my lingering concerns.

  Then Cayla leaned to brush her lips against mine, and the honey scent of her did nothing to cool down the direction of my thoughts.

  “Please?” she murmured against my lips, and when she pulled away to look up at me with pleading eyes, I fought back a groan of defeat.

  Then I tilted my head in the direction of the bedroom.

  Cayla was waiting for me to untie her leather corset when I joined her beside the bed, and as I slowly undid the ribbons, I noticed her arms were trembling lightly.

  “You’re sure about this?” I asked as I pulled the last ribbons free and helped her peel the leather from her breasts.

  Cayla nodded. “How do you want me?”

  “On your knees,” I told her as I placed the tip of the branding iron to rest in the fire, and Cayla knelt before she braced her elbows on the bed.

  The sight of her flawless porcelain skin in the dim light stoked the desire burning in my loins, and as I pulled my own clothes off, I dragged my eyes along the hourglass of her waist and hips while she waited on her knees for me.

  Then I got behind her, and as I slowly slid my palms up Cayla’s silky thighs to her hips, I let out a low sigh.

  “It really seems like a sin to mar an ass this perfect,” I muttered.

  “I want it,” Cayla murmured as she pressed her backend against my erection, and my cock twitched at the slight tremble in her voice.

  Then I slid my hands up her honed belly to cup her heavy breasts, and with her braced against me, I could already feel how wet she was as I slipped just the tip of my cock inside of her.

  Cayla’s breath hitched as I tweaked her nipple and pushed a little deeper, and the unbelievable tightness of her caused my legs to go numb.

  I didn’t take my time with her, though. I locked my hold on her and forced my full length in as she gasped from the girth, and then I bent her forward to pin her against the edge of the bed.

  Cayla clutched the sheets as she let out a feral moan, and with every thrust, I stopped holding back on her a little more. Soon, she was panting from the power of my thrusts as I took her without restraint, and I locked my teeth in her shoulder to make her moan louder for me.

  I could see the deadly grin on her face as she suddenly tilted her hips up for more, and the heat of her slick entrance brought out a carnal need in me to oblige her.

  “Tell me when you’re ready,” I growled as I grabbed her by the meat of her ass, and I thrust myself as deep as I could into her tight tunnel. Cayla whimpered and shook from the force, and as I eyed the iron in the fire beside me, I could see it was already red hot.

  Then Cayla started to shriek with pleasure, and I could feel her tensing around my cock as she neared her climax.

  My heart pounded in my ears as I reached for the branding iron, and I focused all of my attention on Cayla’s perfect and silky ass as she jolted against me.

  “Now,” she panted desperately, and as she came to a screeching orgasm, I palmed her lower back to keep her pinned in place as I roughly drove into her one last time.

  The glowing iron smoked as it seared into the princess’ flesh, and she bucked violently against me while I refused to let her up. I needed her to put up with the flaming hot metal for a full five seconds to be sure the rune held as it should, and I counted in my head as I watched her porcelain skin turn a blistering pink. That’s when I realized she wasn’t shaking from the pain, and as Cayla squirmed through a s
econd immediate orgasm, her blatant masochism pushed me over the edge.

  “Yesss!” She was wetter than I’d ever felt her, and I dropped the branding iron to the floor as my cock pulsed painfully.

  My mind spun as I filled her with my seed, and my entire body began to go numb while power flowed between us.

  “Ohh, fuck.” My semen coursed hungrily into the very center of Cayla, and I stooped to take another bite along the perfect skin of her shoulder as she cried out and clawed at the sheets.

  “Oh, Mason!” she gasped. “You are coming so much. Ohhh!”

  “Yesss,” I growled as I pulsed inside of her for a tenth time and sent another flood of seed into her accepting body. The heat of her fresh branding burned against my skin while she remained locked in place on my cock, and I kept pushing into her while the magic enhanced her senses.

  Then Cayla was gasping for breath, and when I finally eased up on her, she went limp beneath me.

  I knew from experience the elements of the rune were sending her mind into a loud and leaden sort of chaos now, and I began slowly thrusting in and out of her again as I laid kisses along her trembling shoulders.

  “Just focus on me making love to you,” I whispered. “It will help anchor your new senses.

  “Okay,” she panted, and after another five minutes of slow and deep fucking, her breathing began to deepen, and I felt her soaking wet tunnel clench around my stiff cock.

  “That feels amazing,” she purred.

  “Just release and enjoy it,” I growled, and then she let out a long whine as her climax hit her.

  I stopped thrusting after her orgasm began to calm, but I left my cock buried deep in her tunnel while I lightly traced my fingers over her milky-white skin.

  It was a minute or two before the princess opened her eyes again, but the second I pulled out, she reached back to keep me where I was.

  “Don’t stop,” Cayla moaned in a daze. “I like it.”

  I chuckled. “We should get you to Shoshanne. She can heal the branding and help with the pain.”

  Cayla whimpered impatiently, though, and despite my concern for her, I couldn’t resist taking a bit more of the princess with her being so wet and willing. My cum was seeping down her inner thighs as I let her have my cock again one inch at a time, and the way she rolled against me proved she wasn’t even close to done with me yet.

  So, I reached to get a firm hold on her slender neck, and I kept my eyes on the blistering red flesh of her ass as I let out a low chuckle and began to fuck the beautiful woman for a third time.

  Chapter 18

  Shoshanne clicked her tongue in disapproval as she grabbed her healing staff, but Cayla just grinned and sent me a wink as she laid ass up on the operating table.

  “I actually didn’t mind that at all,” the princess murmured while she let Stan tiptoe across her palms.

  I crossed my arms and leaned against the doorframe. “I know you didn’t, but don’t think I’m gonna be branding you every time we fuck from now on.”

  “You didn’t seem to mind it, either,” Cayla pointed out, and Stan turned his metal head in my direction.

  Even though I’d already cummed inside her more times than I could count already, the princess’ words brought a fresh wave of heat coursing through my loins, and I could hardly believe I was so readily turned on again.

  Cayla had refused to let me get her to Shoshanne for well over an hour after I’d seared the rune into her flesh, and the way she begged me to spank her raw branding had nearly undone me. Still, I thought I’d gotten used to her taste by now, but here I was, warring with an uncontrollable urge to spend the whole evening fucking Cayla into submission.

  Of course, I’d never get the pistols finished if I did, so I forced myself to rein in my libido as I ground my jaw and sent the princess a warning look.

  Cayla let out a shameless chuckle while Shoshanne’s staff glowed a vibrant purple against her raw backend, and I could tell the princess wanted nothing more than to keep me occupied all night.

  Stan’s silent expression was pretty weighted, though, and I borrowed some of the little metal man’s resolve.

  “I want you at the training fields as soon as you’re healed,” I commanded. “Practice your aim with that rune. I’ll be in the shop.”

  “Yes, Mason,” the princess said with a sultry smirk, and it took every ounce of my willpower to turn my back on that filthy glint in her blue eyes.

  My pulse was elevated all the way back to the atrium, and I ended up splashing some of Nemris’ enchanted water all over me in a desperate effort to cool the fuck down.

  I’d never inflicted so much pain on a woman I loved in my life, but the way Cayla moaned for more was throwing my mind into a tailspin, and I couldn’t seem to find a single scrap of remorse over the whole ordeal. I could never resist giving Cayla what she wanted, and after feeling how wet she got for me tonight, I didn’t regret delivering.

  But I did need to find some way to stop replaying the scene over and over in my mind if I was gonna get any of my work done.

  So, I splashed some more water on me as my blood surged greedily to the south, and after a few minutes, the calming powers seemed to seep into every fiber of my being. Then I took a few steadying breaths and roughly adjusted my belt as I headed for the worktable.

  I sparked my metal magic to lay out the magazine with the fireball rune and a fresh chunk of steel, and I spent over an hour replicating the rune on more magazine cases. It took half that time to finally stop thinking about Cayla’s raw ass in my grip, and eventually, I was focused enough to realize it was a lot easier to block out the noises of Falmount while I worked this time.

  I did register the snatcher arriving with more bodies for Shoshanne, but even this didn’t derail my focus from the fiery elements swarming around me. They were becoming more and more familiar now, and the process required less effort the more runes I engraved. It was almost as natural to me as working with my metal magic, except I wasn’t reaching out to bend one element to my will anymore.

  Instead, the effort was entirely interior as I wielded six elemental degrees at once, and my head throbbed while I worked with my eyes closed on one magazine after another like some magic-crazed machine.

  When I finally stood up to stretch, I was so exhausted I could hardly hold my head up, but I had forty fireball magazines completed in front of me.

  Then I sparked my metal magic to fill them all with small copper bullets before I loaded a magazine into each of the four pistols for my women, and I got them all cocked and locked as I laid them out on the table. I stored the spare magazines in the cabinet with the rest of my ammunition, and I figured I could keep a full stash if I set aside an hour here and there to engrave another batch.

  I couldn’t help grinning to myself as I admired the inconspicuous hoard of magazines on the shelf, and the best part was the entire production process was so simple compared to my revolvers and shotguns. At this rate, I could arm every mage in the Oculus with my new pistols and still have plenty of time left over for pleasuring my women, training with Big Guy, and solving this impossible riddle of the Master’s fortress.

  Life was almost seeming simpler all of a sudden, despite the higher stakes, and knowing I had a nation of ogres waiting to deliver any kind of justice I required sent a grim sort of pride blooming in my chest.

  Whatever the Master had up his sleeve, I’d be more than ready now, and I closed the ammunition cabinet with a renewed sense of assuredness I’d been needing lately.

  Less than a week after discovering the fortress, I’d already ensured Haragh’s race were safe, and I’d have Jagruel well-guarded in no time. I also had an entirely new perspective on producing weaponry that was about to change the whole game in this realm, and dozens of designs flitted through my mind as the endless possibilities kept occurring to me.

  Still, I tried to remind myself to take things one at a time.

  Right now, I had the 1911 to shake things up a bit, and
once I finished the other elemental magazines, there was a good chance I’d be set for a while to come.

  The thought made me eager to start engraving more magazine cases with the lightning rune next, but I hadn’t even had time to test it out yet, and I didn’t want to invest the effort if there was a chance I’d have to alter the rune again. The process of wrangling the lightning elements was just too overwhelming to needlessly play around with, and even recalling the chaos of trying to balance the rune made my palms begin to sweat.

  Aurora may have been right about how dangerous the idea was, but I couldn’t shake the feeling in my gut telling me I was on the right course with this one. Especially after seeing that Ignis Mage in Jagruel, and knowing he’d nearly pushed my half-elf to her limits, I was more certain than ever I needed an element no mage could counter.

  The lightning rune would hopefully be the solution we needed, and I decided I’d wait until Falmount was mostly asleep to take my pistol far into the western woods and do a trial run. Then I headed to the kitchen to scrounge up some food because between the exertion of branding Cayla and then engraving the runes, I was completely ravenous.

  There was still dried venison, fresh fruits, and a jug of dwarven wine waiting for me, and as I laid out my own mini feast, I heard Shoshanne heading to the house.

  That’s when I noticed a small pile of parchment on the corner of the counter, and I remembered I’d left instructions for Jenik to bring any messages here while I was gone. So, I pulled the stack over as I unfolded the topmost slip of parchment, and I found a letter from Dorinick.

  I was halfway through it with my wine in hand when Shoshanne walked in, and I mumbled distractedly as I read.

  “How’s it going in the infirmary?”

  “It’s going well,” the healer sighed. “I just wanted to talk with you about something. What is that parchment?”