Mage Among Supers 2, page 3
“Work that off how?” I gave her my most suggestive smile.
“I was thinking sparring,” she said and smiled back bashfully, “but we can see where it goes.”
We headed up to the gym, and both changed out of our superhero outfits into loose gym wear. While there was something to be said for getting practice in your working kit, the robes could be a pain sometimes. I kept my amulets around my wrist, just in case, and the silver skull around my neck so I didn’t lose track of it.
We faced each other across the sparring mat, bowed to each other, and then started circling, hands raised. Sophia’s expression grew serious, the furrowed brow of a military veteran focusing on the fight. I smiled. This was going to be fun.
I went on the attack first, trying out a couple of high punches and a low, sweeping kick, confident that she would block me. Seeing how she moved helped me get into the rhythm of the fight, to remember how Sophia maneuvered, how she defended, and where to expect her strikes to come from.
That expectation set me up ready. I saw her swing, dodged the blow, and stepped around her. I was feeling pretty pleased with myself as I struck at her from behind, but my confidence was misplaced. I might be handy in a fight, but Sophia was a super soldier, one of the greatest fighters in the world.
My blow barely skimmed off her shoulder, and she caught my arm like that was what she’d been planning all along, flipped me over her hip, and flung me to the floor. The breath rushed from my lungs as I hit the mat with a thud, and then she was on me, pinning me in place.
“Not bad,” she said as she wrapped an arm around my neck and pulled my own arm back. “But you need to be more careful, to think about what your opponent has planned.”
“Maybe this is what I had planned,” I said. “I do like feeling your hands on me.”
“And I like the feel of you writhing against me, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let you escape.”
Sophia’s body pressed against mine was a feeling that would normally have got all my attention, but there was a tingling in my chest that had nothing to do with her. Power was flowing from the silver skull, running through my limbs. My arms and legs shifted subtly as I let the skull guide me, pointing me toward a better way of fighting.
I twisted, got hold of Sophia’s arm, and rolled her over. She shot clear before I could pin her in place and leaped to her feet, ready to fight again. Her eyes were wide, looking at me in a way she hadn’t before.
“What was that?” she asked. “Where did you learn that move?”
I tapped the skull. “A souvenir from the fight earlier. I think that having a real opponent has finally activated its power.” I flexed my fingers, feeling the way the power flowed, trying to get a grip on how it worked. “Is it OK if I try some magic techniques?”
“Sure. I’ll stay on the defensive; you show me what you’ve got.”
She bent her legs and raised her forearms, shifting into a protective stance. She was never going to let herself be defenseless, but she didn’t mind taking a few knocks either if it helped someone out.
The skull was obviously some kind of magical amulet. Up until now, it had been channeling unfamiliar magics, but maybe I could use it to direct the elements I was familiar with. I didn’t know the magic word for the skull, but I called on air and forced it through, hoping for the best.
The power flowed through me, and with it came an awareness of how I should use it to fight, guided by the skull. I sprang at Sophia, my fists and feet becoming a blur. I launched a flurry of blows, and she dodged the first few before leaping back, eyes wide.
“I never knew you could move so fast,” she said.
“I couldn’t.” I tapped the skull. “That was down to this guy and a little burst of wind.”
I switched elements, calling on the power of fire. In the past, my fist amulet had let me call flames around my hand for a single blow. This was like that but different. A raw heat blazed in my feet and my fists. When I stamped on the mat, it left a charred imprint, a burn in the shape of my foot.
“Looking hot,” Sophia said. “As always.”
“Maybe I won’t use that one against you,” I said. “At least not until I know how to control it properly.”
I let the power dissipate and stood there, contemplating what I’d learned. The amulet had made me more effective than I would ever normally be against a super soldier like Sophia, not just because of the elements flowing through me but because of how the skull had directed my moves. I could feel an intelligence guiding me, and the more attention I paid, the clearer its thoughts became.
‘Hi, there,’ I said inside my head, trying to direct the words toward the skull. ‘Is there someone else in here?’
‘I am Li Han, once the most honored guard of the emperor’s court,’ the skull replied. ‘Who do I now serve?’
‘That’s a question that deserves a long answer,’ I replied. ‘Can I get back to you?’
‘As you wish, master.’
‘Maybe don’t call me that? It creeps me out.’
‘Very well.’
The voice went quiet, but I took it off before speaking with Sophia to be on the safe side.
“What is it?” she asked, clearly concerned at the expression on my face.
“Necromancy,” I said in a disgusted tone. “The worst sort of magic. Forcing the spirits of the dead into service. Corrupting the souls of those who can’t protect themselves.”
“You’ve seen it before?”
“It’s the sort of forbidden power that my mentor was punished for using.”
“Should we destroy it, then?” She cracked her knuckles. “Give me a sledgehammer and I can smash almost anything.”
I took a deep breath, considered my options, then shook my head.
“The damage is done, and breaking this amulet won’t undo that. But it’s disturbing to learn that this sort of magic is loose in your world.”
I picked up the amulet again and directed my thoughts toward it.
‘Are there others like you around here?’ I asked.
‘Many,’ it replied.
‘Damn.’
‘You do not wish us to exist?’
‘Honestly? No.’ I wasn’t worried about offending this thing; after all, it was an abomination.
‘Good,’ the skull replied. ‘I was at rest until they did this to me, and they have done it to so many others who have earned their peace. If you wish to stop this magic, then I will help you however I can in finding and destroying its source.’
‘Works for me.’
‘In return, I ask that you break this amulet once we are done, releasing me so that I can pass on.’
‘You’ve got a deal.’
I wouldn’t gain anything by smashing the amulet, but I didn’t have much to lose by it either, and I preferred the idea of giving this guy peace to keeping him trapped in my service.
Of all the things I’d expected from my day, getting a new ally for our fight wasn’t one of them, especially not an ally I could wear around my neck. But magic was a powerful tool, and who was I to say no to a little help from the dead?
Chapter 3
I set the skull aside and got down to sparring with Sophia for a while. Good as it was to have the extra magical help, that wasn’t going to improve my own skills, and I’d need them if I was stuck without the skull, not to mention after it was gone.
Sparring with Sophia was a great mixture of satisfaction and fun. With all her skills and experience, she made for an effective teacher, spotting my weaknesses and showing me how to correct them. I even got an occasional shot in against her—a sign that I was growing as a fighter, though I doubted I’d ever be taking on super soldiers single-handed.
The fun part came from how good it was to spend time around Sophia. With her hot body and her classical beauty, there was a reason why she was so often the public face of Prime Guard—and superheroes, in general. Sparring with her was like grappling with a supermodel, and every time our bodies slid past each other, or I just brought out a smile on her full lips, I caught myself grinning at how lucky I’d got.
“You must be exhausted,” I said after a while, panting and with hands on knees.
Sophia looked at me with an uncertain smile. She was far more straight-laced than most people I was used to and didn’t always catch the whiff of sarcasm. I winked, and she laughed.
“I am a bit tired,” she admitted, wiping beads of sweat from her brow. “Why don’t we leave it there for today?”
“If you insist. Want to come down to my place and get cleaned up?”
“That would nice, thank you.”
We jogged up to my apartment. Having given up the office/apartment I’d been living my whole life in while I still paid rent to Mrs. S., I now had a nicer, more expansive space farther up the building. I didn’t just have a public office and a private room anymore. There was a thickly carpeted lounge with a big TV and a bigger sofa; a kitchen with all the modern gadgets and some extras Jade had installed; a bedroom with a walk-in closet and a secret compartment for super kit; and a bathroom with the best shower I’d ever owned.
“Do you want to shower first or shall I?” Sophia asked as she kicked off her shoes by the front door.
“Why first and second when we can get wet together?” I asked.
Sophia’s mouth formed into an “O” for a second, then she rushed through the apartment, flinging off her T-shirt as she went.
“Come on, then,” she called out.
By the time I’d stripped off and made my way across the apartment, the shower was already running, steaming up the bathroom. I stepped in to see Sophia standing under the shower, water streaming down her body, plastering her hair to her shoulders, breasts, and back. My body reacted immediately, and she smiled in approval. I leaned against the door frame, enjoying the sight of her.
Sophia was stunning, every inch of her toned body like that of a model. Her hands were covered in suds already, a bar of soap between her fingers. With her eyes locked with mine, she ran her hands over her breasts and across her flat belly, across the perfect olive skin, and down between her legs. She let out a soft breath of pleasure as she ran her soapy hand across herself, fingers working up a lather. Her lips parted, her smile widened, and her eyelids fluttered.
“Looks like you’ve got this worked out for yourself,” I said. “Or would you like some help getting clean?”
She ran her gaze up and down my body and waved the soap at me.
“Come and make yourself useful,” she said. “Though maybe not in that order.”
I stepped into the stream of water, took the soap from her hands, and worked it between my own. Then I ran my hands across her, cupping the orbs of her breasts, slipping my thumbs across erect nipples, and feeling the firmness of her flesh as I ran on down to her thighs and the space in between. She closed her eyes and let out a gasp of pleasure as I worked her deftly with my fingertips.
“Turn around,” I said. “I should wash you all over.”
She did as she was told, pulling her wet hair around to expose her neck and the skin of her back. Again, I ran my slippery fingers down, stroking her spine until I reached that firm ass and cupped one exquisite cheek in each hand.
Then I slid my hands across her hips and around to the front. She pressed back against me, the water running across us both, my cock resting against the slippery cleft of her ass while I toyed with one of her tits with one hand and softly stroked her pussy with the other. She turned her head, and I leaned in over her shoulder to kiss her.
“I’m definitely getting the better deal out of this,” she said.
“I’m not complaining,” I said as I toyed with her nipple and kissed the smooth skin of her shoulder.
“Still…”
She turned around and sank to her knees. Cupping a soapy breast in each hand, she ran them up and down my cock. The soft flesh against my stiffness drew a moan from me. I wanted her so badly it was like a scream.
“I need you,” I said, hauling her to her feet.
She leaned back against the wall, gripping the pipework above, water still running down her body. I took hold of her hips and pressed in, my manhood sliding inside the tight wetness of her. We both gasped at that first moment of joint pleasure before I began sliding slowly out and in, out and in, working our bodies. Holding herself up by her grip on the pipes above, Sophia lifted both her legs and hooked them around me, pulling me deeper in, holding me possessively close.
“Yes,” she groaned. “Oh, yes.”
I kissed her lips, her neck, and her breasts, sliding in and out as our pleasure grew.
“I want to show you something,” she said.
Her legs unfurled from around me, and she pushed me away to stand expectant in the swirling stream. She lifted one leg and leaned over, kept going until her body was horizontal, hands pressed against the wall, one leg holding her up and the other sticking straight up into the air, a dazzlingly balanced version of the splits.
“Did you ever fuck another woman who could do this?” she asked.
“I never knew another woman who could,” I said, gaping in amazement. But I wasn’t too amazed to make the most of it. I moved in again, and her raised leg rested against my torso as I slid my cock inside her.
“This was… oh, yes… this was just a gymnastic exercise before,” she said as I slid in and out, one hand holding her up, the other pressed against her clit. “I never used it in sex.”
“And now?”
“Now it might be the best thing I’ve ever felt.” Her laugh turned into a gasp. “Or maybe that’s just you.”
“Any more tricks you’d like to show me?” I asked.
“Just one.”
She lowered the raised leg and brought herself upright, without pulling herself off me. For a moment, we just moved our bodies together, arms wrapped around waists, her breasts pressed against my chest, losing ourselves in the wonders of each other’s bodies. We kissed deeply, then she leaned back, easing herself over until her hands pressed against the floor, hair hanging between her arms, and her whole body turned into a backward curve.
Her breasts swayed back and forth with each movement. The extra pressure on my cock heightened the sensation of every move in and out, and from the sounds Sophia was making, it worked well for her, too. Her groans grew louder, her excitement swelling.
“Oh, God, I’m going to… going to…” Her shaking hand slid across the damp tiles. She pushed off the floor and swung up, staggering me back against the wall as her arms and legs wrapped tight around me. She jerked her body up and down, jackhammering against me as she clutched me tight. Then her whole body shuddered, and she flung her head back to shout out as she came. The tightness of her around me almost made me come, but I hung on, relishing the feeling of her.
Sophia slumped, sated, against me, but I wasn’t done yet, and she knew it.
“What now?” she asked with a grin, lowering her feet to the floor.
“Now…”
I stepped out around her and took hold of her hips from behind. She pressed her hands against the wall and looked back over her shoulder as I slid inside her. The water cascaded from her hair, down her back, and across her ass as I took hold of that firm flesh, gripping it tight as I pounded her from behind.
The power of my passion was too much to hold back, and I was almost there. I slammed into her with a forceful stroke, then another, and another, watching her mouth hang open in a gasp and her tits sway. Just as I was drawing out for a fourth stroke, the feel of her became too much, and I came in a swift burst across her ass.
She turned to me, laughing. “At least here that will be easy to clean off.”
After that, we really did clean up. We took our time over it, enjoying the simple pleasure of soaping each other down, running fingers over skin that still tingled from our special workout. Then we turned off the shower, grabbed fluffy white towels, and headed into the bedroom to get changed. Though she didn’t have an apartment of her own in the building, Sophia had started keeping some clothes at my place for moments like this.
“Tell me more about your fight with the Scorpions,” she said as we were getting dressed.
“I’m not sure there’s much more to tell,” I said. “Bunch of martial arts guys in tracksuits versus us, with a bit of extra magic thrown in. We won, cops cleared it up, the end.” I looked at her. “You must know more about them if they’ve been causing trouble around the city. I mean, keeping Caliber City safe is what Prime Guard exists for, right?”
“That’s right.” Sophia slid into a pair of figure-hugging jeans and started fastening the buttons. “I guess that’s part of why I’m curious. The Scorpions have been a repeated problem for the city for a while now. Both the cops and the supes keep trying to crack down on them, but every time we get close, their leader gets away.”
“You must have a file of information on them by now.”
“And that file keeps growing. Wolfman usually takes the lead on our detective work, and he’s been doing some investigation into them recently, so there might be a whole load more intelligence in our records than I know about.”
Maybe it was time for us to start working more closely with Prime Guard. That might be hard to pull off when they were the big league and we were the little new super team on the block, but Sophia gave us an in. The challenge would be doing it without bringing more hassle down on our heads—Prime Guard had some powerful and determined villains constantly gunning for anyone in their orbit.
“What worries me is that amulet you captured,” Sophia said as she put on a T-shirt. “If the Scorpions can hand out amulets that give high-level martial art skills to their lackeys, that could seriously escalate the threat that they represent. Up until now, one against one, we could take down any of them, but using that amulet, you were a threat even to me.” She leaned over to kiss me. “No offense.”
“None taken. I don’t expect to be able to kick this ass.” I gave her ass a squeeze through the jeans, and she smiled. “So, we’ve got a criminal gang that’s tooling up in a big way.”
