Metal Mage 10

by Eric Vall

  Then I sat back and studied the lounging area in the corner I’d clearly put in for the sake of steamy sex, and I decided the element I’d just been working with wasn’t directly related to lightning so much as it was pure energy. It was the force behind the rune that kept the lightning sparking as long as it had at peak voltage, and I made note of this on the corner of my bathing sex house sketch while Stan sent me a pointed look.

  Then I casually tucked that design far beneath the others, and the little metal man shook his head.

  “Hey, no one said you had to go in,” I muttered. “You can wander around the rest of the house and mind your own business.”

  I was just regrouping to tackle the next element when Cayla dragged Shoshanne into the atrium, and Stan tugged on my sleeve to direct my attention to the copper haired beauty in the doorway.

  Her dress was a purple see through mesh that hugged her body like paint.

  “Woah,” I managed, and Shoshanne blushed.

  “Cayla, there is absolutely no way I’m wearing this to a castle full of nobility,” the healer muttered, but Cayla waved off her rebuttal.

  “I’ve narrowed Shoshanne’s options down to three gowns, but I can’t decide which to use for tonight,” Cayla told me as she tapped her chin and eyed Shoshanne. “I know it’s a little edgy, but it shows off all of her best assets, and it’s hard to argue with that. What do you think, Mason?”

  I stared at the sheer purple fabric that left almost every inch of the caramel beauty exposed, and my brain lost the ability to form words while Shoshanne slowly blushed to her roots.

  “It’s … completely see-through?” I finally managed.

  Cayla tapped her chin once more as she considered this. “There’s a little slip of silk there, though, so you technically can’t see everything.”

  I nodded, but then I just stared at the slip of silk while I willed it to disappear.

  “Maybe you’re right,” Cayla sighed. “Possibly the wrong crowd. Thank you, Mason.”

  Then the princess carted Shoshanne back toward the bedroom as I gaped at her sheer purple ass.

  “Wait, don’t get rid of that one, though!” I called after her. “Ever. That one should definitely stay. It’s good. Please?”

  Shoshanne giggled in agreement as she disappeared into the next room, and I took a steadying breath while I turned back to the table and tried to decide if I even gave a shit about rune magic.

  Stan was tapping his foot impatiently, though, and when he crossed his arms for good measure, I cleared my throat loudly.

  “Runes,” I agreed. “We’re doing runes. Sorry. Got distracted.”

  It took me quite a while to get back in the frame of mind for it, but after several attempts, I finally summoned the next element, and I spent as much time familiarizing myself with this one even though it was almost painful to do so.

  This was definitely the lightning element, but a different portion of the rune must have dictated the webbing design, because all I could sense was one jolt after another of electricity zapping through the air around me. It didn’t adhere to any pattern or consistency, and when I broke the connection, I decided to keep this elemental line as it already was on the final rune because the energy element was what really needed tweaking. So, I made a note of this as well, and I was just about to move on to the last elemental line when Cayla shoved a chest of diamonds my way.

  “Do you have time to start on our jewelry?” she asked, and since the four women beside me were naked, I immediately nodded.

  “Are you all wearing that then?” I asked.

  “No,” Cayla chuckled, “Aurora needs to fix the seams on a couple of our gowns because our nipples keep falling out.”

  “But Shoshanne’s nipples being fully displayed is okay?” I clarified with a smirk.

  Then Shoshanne cocked a brow, and I realized I’d hit a nerve amongst the women. Judging by the set of the healer’s jaw, she must have spent a while arguing with Cayla on this very point, but the princess didn’t seem remotely concerned about her opinion. Now, the tension between them was impossible to ignore, and I furrowed my brow as I turned on my stool to face the four of them.

  “Did I miss something?”

  “She has perfect breasts!” Cayla insisted. “I just want to make sure all of us look our best tonight, and if that means Shoshanne’s half naked, so be it. She could cripple every man in the room with one glimpse at that ass and those big perfect breasts. That’s called power, Mason, and as a baron, you should definitely utilize it.”

  “You’re not wrong,” Aurora admitted, “but I told you, you’re wasting your breath. We all know Shoshanne only lets Mason see her best assets. She’s shy.”

  “Oh, she most definitely is not shy,” Deya argued. “She just needs to stop being so modest. Mason, tell her she’s beautiful in the purple dress. Who cares how many people will be there? I think she should wear it and make them all drool over her. It’s more fun.”

  Cayla nodded and turned to me for support, but Shoshanne blushed and crossed her arms while I did my best not to smirk.

  Then I pulled the caramel beauty over, wedged her between my thighs, and I settled my palms on the perfect ass in question. I could tell she was beyond irritated by the teasing of the other women, but as she bit her lip and avoided my gaze, I knew she was once again too sweet to admit it. In all fairness, though, it was difficult to stand up to Cayla when she had her whip within reach.

  “Well, I don’t want her showing off for anyone else, either,” I informed Cayla. “They couldn’t handle her, and besides, I happen to like being the only man in Illaria who knows about this ass.”

  Shoshanne’s eyes immediately lit up as a glittering smile came to her face, and apparently she was finally feeling sassy again, because she sent Cayla a defiant smirk over her shoulder.

  “So there,” the healer huffed. “I’m wearing the white dress, and Mason will love it.”

  “Fine,” Cayla sighed.

  “It does make you look like an angel,” Deya said with a sweet smile, and she stroked the healer’s arm. “You should wear it.”

  “Also, I’m slapping Cayla twice later,” Shoshanne added, and I chuckled as I turned her around to prop her on my thigh.

  “Fair enough, but now that that’s settled, what am I making?” I asked as I opened the chest of diamonds.

  “These,” Cayla replied.

  Then she slid her design over to me, and the women gathered around my stool to get a look as well.

  “Ooh, those are so pretty,” Deya breathed with wide eyes.

  “The silver band should be two inches wide and immaculately polished,” Cayla explained, “and the diamonds should crest the entire circumference around. Deya’s should have the pink sapphire from Dorinick’s collection mounted in the middle, too. They’re meant to be worn taut at the neck, but you can customize the sizing to each of us with your metal magic once they’re finished, right?”

  I couldn’t help grinning as I eyed the design. “Let me just clarify … basically, you want diamond dog collars?”

  “What is a dog collar?” Deya asked, and she furrowed her pink brows.

  “They aren’t for Ruela, if that’s what you mean,” Aurora said with equal confusion. “They’re for us.”

  “Right, well, anything you want,” I chuckled. “I’ll get right on it.”

  “Be sure to use the biggest diamonds, too,” Cayla instructed. “I refuse to have smaller diamonds than anyone in that room tonight.”

  “Me too!” Deya giggled. “Although, I’ve never worn diamonds before.”

  “You’ll love it,” the princess assured her, and her icy blue eyes glinted at the thought.

  “I hope the Elders don’t mind we’re not wearing rubies,” Shoshanne worried. “I remember they favor rubies.”

  “The Elders favor superiority,” Cayla clarified, “and Mason is already superior to anyone attending. As long as we arrive looking better than every woman there, they’ll be plenty imp
ressed.”

  I rolled my eyes as the women headed off to secure their nipples in their dresses, but Shoshanne lingered behind to leave a kiss on my cheek. Then she strutted off with an extra wiggle in her hips, and I chuckled while I grabbed a couple random fistfuls of diamonds because honestly, every gem in there was fucking huge.

  Then I shifted gears from lightning powered weaponry to commissioned jewelry, but the fact that I was now making sparkly chokers for my women to impress a bunch of dwarves made the work all the more ridiculous to me.

  Stan was totally on board, though, and he took his job of organizing his favorite diamonds by size very seriously while I formed the silver bands. Then I taught him how to play hockey with a small lump of diamond and a bit of copper wire, since the women were taking forever getting ready anyways, and we used two upturned magazines as the goal posts.

  Once we reached half time, I finished polishing all the silver until Stan could see his own reflection, and then he laid his top choices of gems out in four neat lines with the huge pink sapphire at the center of one. I had to admit, the final product was pretty impressive, and I’d never seen so many diamonds displayed between only four necklaces before. None of the gems were smaller than a half dollar, and I was just smoothing off a few of their cuts so they’d really catch the light when Cayla cleared her throat.

  Then I turned around to find my four women standing in my workshop fully glitzed out for a night at Temin’s castle, and to say my heart skipped a beat would be an understatement.

  It was more like my heart stopped altogether while my body temperature hit its boiling point in half a second, and there was a mingling desire to say fuck the nobility and just tear all their dresses off right there instead.

  Sure, their nipples were technically concealed, but just barely, and the tiny straps that held it all in looked ready to snap from the weight. They still managed to look elegant, though, and Cayla and Aurora’s dresses were identical, except the princess’ was a deep blue silk to contrast with the half-elf’s fiery red.

  Shoshanne’s cleavage was the least exposed of the four in her white silk gown, but the fabric still clung to every luscious curve in a way that left very little to the imagination, and with Deya beside her in taut black velvet, the pair looked like a sexy angel and devil combo just waiting to tempt me one way or the other all night. Especially with Deya’s dress dipping drastically low to expose half her midsection and an ample dose of cleavage.

  Cayla had somehow wound all of their hair up in different elaborate styles, too, with a few haphazard strands hanging down around the edges to give them a tousled look, and as I took in the overall effect, my palms slowly began to sweat.

  “Holy shit,” I managed. “You all look …” I lost the words though when I realized the slits on their dresses left each of their right legs exposed with every step. So, the only word that came out after that was, “thighs.”

  “You’re welcome,” Cayla said with a proud smirk, and the four women giggled as they turned so I could admire the view from the back as well.

  That’s when I realized they were all barebacked as far as possible without revealing the cracks of their asses, and their little straps criss crossed over their backs in designs that immediately reminded me of a few of our activities the night before.

  “Are the necklaces ready?” Cayla asked eagerly, and I blinked.

  “Um … yeah,” I cleared my throat as I dragged my eyes away, and I nudged Stan off Deya’s sapphire to bring them over.

  Then I sparked my metal magic while my women tilted their chins up to expose their slender necks, and as I fused each silver band in place and cinched the metal tighter, I couldn’t resist grinning over the whole situation.

  I really did feel like I was putting collars on a group of sexy guard dogs, and the way their lips curled with satisfaction as they trailed their fingers across their diamond studded throats had me feeling all kinds of ways about it.

  “I wish we had cuffs to match,” Aurora mused as she glanced at her bare wrists, and all four women immediately turned to me with pleading eyes.

  “Hang on,” I sighed, and then headed over to dig out some more diamonds.

  Then Aurora gasped. “But what if we had diamond garters!”

  “Or diamond holsters,” Cayla giggled.

  “Diamond studded daggers,” Deya sighed wistfully.

  “Alright, we’ll never make it to the castle if you guys keep adding to the list,” I muttered as I finished eight silver bands for their wrists, and they all dumped diamonds on the work table for Stan to sort through.

  “Diamond holsters at least?” Cayla asked, and Shoshanne sent me a pout that was genuinely impossible to refuse.

  “How about this?” I laughed. “Diamond garters with silver holsters. Then you can still wear your pistols, but they’ll be concealed under your dresses, and I’ll make the daggers another time.”

  “I’m wearing mine on the right side,” Cayla informed me as she slid her porcelain thigh from the slit in her dress. “I don’t want my pistol concealed. I love guns and want everyone to see it.”

  “Me too,” Aurora decided, and I sparked my metal magic to bring more silver over from the shelf.

  The sun was already starting to set, but with Stan on diamond duty, I managed to finish all the cuffs up in record time while the women strutted around the shop enjoying themselves. Then, one by one, I secured what I mentally deemed were diamond shackles to their wrists.

  Apparently, I was the kind of baron who kept his women collared and shackled now, but at least they were diamond studded, so whatever.

  And goddamn. It was so hot.

  The women fawned over their jewels and announced they felt like queens, and Aurora sparked her flames to make the diamonds glitter even more. They kissed me all over to show their thanks for taking the time to make it all for them, and I grinned and shrugged while I let them carry on.

  I didn’t bother pointing out that the solid silver bands meant I could technically control them all with my powers if I felt like it. That was the fun kind of detail I’d rather keep in my pocket for later.

  Then I used my malleable steel to form the garters, and the diamonds here were large enough that the difference in metal wasn’t even noticeable. I ended up using double garters for each, though, so the weight of their 1911s would be more secure in the silver drop holsters, and then I just sat back to enjoy watching each of them shimmy their diamond garters on and secure their pistols while I took stock of my life up to this point.

  By all accounts, I had no idea what I’d done to deserve all this bounty.

  “Mason, you aren’t even dressed!” Cayla scolded. “You’re gonna make us late!”

  “Right,” I snorted. “My bad.”

  “I laid everything out on the bed for you,” the princess informed me, and I left for the bedroom just as Aurora snapped the steel of her garter against her thigh and giggled.

  It took me less than a minute to get dressed, and I was tucking my shirt in while I headed for my 1911, but then Cayla cut me off and was suddenly tugging at my clothes all over the place. So, I just put my hands up and let her do her thing while Deya giggled in amusement.

  “Can I ask why we went with red?” I muttered. “I’m more of a black and white kind of guy to tell you the truth.”

  “Yes, but you always get blood all over your shirts,” the princess replied as she popped the top button on my shirt open. “I thought we might as well lean into it. This way, if you have to kill someone, you still look nice.”

  I raised my brows. “You really do think of everything.”

  “You’re welcome,” Cayla purred, and she hopped up to give me a kiss.

  The other women headed for the door while they hollered their goodbyes to Stan, but Cayla caught my arm before I could follow, and when I looked over, she was holding the handle of a dagger out to me.

  “What’s this for?” I asked.

  “In case you have anything to take care of th
at you’d rather not draw attention to,” she muttered under her breath, and she sent me a pointed look that immediately reminded me of the Baroness’ warning.

  It really did seem fitting to slit a fucker’s throat if he had a mind to do the same to my women.

  “Good call,” I agreed, and I sheathed the dagger before I gave Stan a high five. “Hold down the fort, buddy, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

  Stan just shrugged, and as I saw him heading toward my rack of daggers, I realized I probably should have chosen my phrasing more carefully.

  Chapter 9

  “Defender Solana, Miss Deya Naera of House Quyn, Princess Balmier, and Mage Shoshanne,” Cayla told the marshal, but the poor guy only stared as a bead of sweat dripped down his forehead.

  It was the third time Cayla had tried to get the marshal to keep their titles straight, and I shoved my hands in my pockets as I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I couldn’t see why it mattered that he announced our arrival to begin with, but I was starting to wonder if being a noble was really going to sit well with me. I was all for owning a village, but seriously, why couldn’t a guy just walk into a castle without all the pomp and circumstance? I did it all the time.

  “D-Deya Solana, Miss … Shoshanne,” the marshal stammered, and Aurora shook her head as she brushed Cayla aside.

  “You can keep it simple,” she told the guy. “Deya, Aurora, Shoshanne, and Princess Balmier.”

  “That’s not regal,” Cayla scoffed. “No, it’s Miss Deya Na--”

  “The second one was fine,” I sighed. “Just say their names so we can get on with this.”

  The young man nodded anxiously, but when he just stared at me and sweated some more, I realized he was still lost.

  “Deya, Cayla, Shoshanne, Aurora,” I repeated, and then I pointed at myself. “Mason Flynt.”