Page 29 of The Misfit Mage and His Devilish Desires (Diabolic Romance #3)

Wally

Bez had taken less time to recover than I preferred, accompanying Mora on her ventures to secure the city now that the threat of devils had passed. I was pretty disappointed in the Collective using the gaps in the dimensional walls of the Diabolic Oasis to attempt slipping infiltration units inside, and while I didn’t approve of Mora’s kill first, show leniency second philosophy, I understood the sentiment. We’d endured a lot. This city had wounds of its own to heal. We didn’t have time for mage drama.

Tony hissed. Not aloud, but through sheer thought rattling through the familiar link we shared. It rang through from the other side of the city, proving our bond continued blossoming and would hopefully grow over the centuries.

I unveiled my wings and soared through the skies, calmly searching for Tony’s location.

While my essence prevented me from forming a new bond with any other animals, it helped sync my scorpion and me on a different level altogether. So long as I lived, fueled by Diabolic powers and magical forces, so would Tony. He’d thrive and grow and evolve. I couldn’t wait to study all the amazing things he’d accomplish with magic, with essence, with me.

I glamoured myself once I reached the pinged location.

Tony skittered up the wall to join me on the rooftop, where we watched a group of mages slip between the cracks of the city’s protective barriers, magics we hadn’t restored. Once inside, they glamoured themselves poorly. Even without my essence to sniff out their magics, I could’ve seen through these poor tricks before mastering the Pentacles of Power.

My guess was that the most elite forces had been wiped out during Lilith’s attack on the world, or they were still recovering from the ordeal. Not sure why I hoped for the latter. I wasn’t part of the Collective anymore. I didn’t like the way mages sought to control every aspect of magic in our world and sometimes the areas outside it. Still, I couldn’t slaughter these fools. Despite Tony’s insistent thoughts and subtle clacks of his claws.

I leapt off the roof and landed amidst the center of their apprentice-level formation.

“Seriously, how long have you lot even been out of the academy?”

None of them answered. Their faces were frantic and frazzled as they honed their mana, reinforcing their glamours like I hadn’t seen through this travesty.

“Guys, gals, and mage pals. I can see you.” I waved my hands in front of their faces. “Can you see me? My Diabolic features? You might not have heard of me. I’m Walter Alden. Legendary misfit. Bound to a devil. Only he’s not a devil. So much better. But I’m a devil. Sort of. It’s actually a really long story.”

With a thwack of my tail, I shattered the incantations one of the mages behind me traced. With a stomp of my foot, I overwhelmed their attempt to saturate the ground and lay claim to this terrain. With Tony in the wings, their familiars had already fled back through the cracks of this pocket dimension.

“Okay, enough of this.” I took a deep breath and exhaled fire. Partially for a new trick, I planned on winning Weather’s love, even if bribery seemed like the wrong way to win a pet over—I wasn’t above it. The other part of me liked showing off my advanced control over the elements.

In all my years as a mage, a legacy, a student, an apprentice, and an aspiring practitioner, I’d never shown mastery in a single skill from the Pentacles of Power. Now, I wielded each with ease alongside my Diabolic abilities. My devil powers.

The flames didn’t burn the mages, merely licked at their mana and burned away their glamours.

“I’m going to ask you to leave now.” I raised my clawed hands. “Collective forces are not welcome here. If they continue their attempts to infiltrate, they’ll incur the wrath of a Diabolic army. The same army which halted two devils.”

An exaggeration for sure, but no one knew how many Diabolics were involved in the battle against Lilith and Beelzebub. Honestly, fewer would believe five demons, a misfit hybrid, and one wicked witch managed to avert the end of the world anyway. Plus, with Corson, Satan, and Orias out and about, likely making names for themselves in all the wrong ways, it’d give the Collective reason to pause. If those were merely three members of our Diabolic army, they’d surely hesitate. Not that we needed an army at this point.

“He’s just one—”

I smacked their leader across the face with my tail, tracing an incantation with my tail tip in the process and conjuring a metallic seal that welded his mouth shut. He hit the ground face first with the heavy clink of the steel screwed over his lips.

“It’ll fade,” I said with a sly smile. “Sort of like dissolving stitches. Which, fun fact, that metal plate I spelled over your mouth was originally a medicinal spell created to help injured golems.”

Another mage lifted an enchanted sword, hacking at my back. With a simple flutter of my wings, I shook loose three feathers. One to slice through the sigils lining the sword, another to break the blade itself, and a third to hold to the mage’s throat.

“I’m trying to be nice. Show restraint.” I glared at their fallen leader, who struggled to counter the spell that welded his mouth shut. “If I ask again, I’ll simply send your corpses back with a finely written note explaining my demands.”

My shadow swelled over him, horns growing into gnarled horrors I intended to unveil if they didn’t accept my offer.

Their group leader froze. Each of them stilled. Their mana. Their breathing. Every muscle of their body stiffened, too frightened to even tremble.

“Leave or die.” I tilted my head, letting the light hit my horns; the shade cast darkness over my eyes and gave them what Tony considered to be the most menacing expression of all time.

It helped to have his thoughts synced to mine, feeling his words as a vibrant emotion in the back of my head. It also helped me register the attitude I gave those mages worked when their frantic faces fell into horrified expressions, and they fled without taking all their supplies.

“Oooo.” I retrieved one of the bags. “I wonder if the Collective sent them with anything rare. I feel like a mission of this caliber qualifies for unique artifacts.”

“Why is it you keep sparing Collective mages?” Mora asked, slipping through the hidden thread of her Diabolic webs she’d recemented throughout the city.

“Killing them only results in more mages sent in their stead,” I said, keeping my voice steady despite the fact Mora had a super startling presence and always managed to catch me off guard with her arrivals. “Sending them with a message—a warning—that’s what’s gonna stop Collective forces in the long run.”

“You say that, yet this is the fourth, no fifth, time you’ve intercepted my investigations on infiltrations.” Mora sauntered toward me. “It’s funny because you didn’t have a problem with me handling matters in my own fashionable choice the last month or so.”

“The last month or so, it seemed like a brutish but effective method.” I shrugged. “Now, it seems futile. The Collective would likely respond better to amicable treaties. We’ll begin with threats, sparing the forces sent to infiltrate and open for discussion. By the time we have negotiations on the table, our walls will be restored, and this topic will be moot.”

“Really?” Mora placed a hand beneath her chin, feigning deep contemplation and giving off actual irritation. “Right as Bezzy began joining my scouting missions, that’s when it became a futile effort? Hmm. Suspicious.”

“I’m sorry…was that a question?”

“The question is, are you really interfering because you think your plan will work, or are you simply shielding Bez from combat?” Mora asked, hands on her hips and attitude wafting in the air. “Are you worried he can’t handle himself?”

I wasn’t worried about Bez. I mean, obviously, I worried about Bez. But I wasn’t worried about how he’d fair against Collective mages. Well, maybe a bit. Not in such a patronizing way that Mora insinuated with her tone. I just didn’t want Bez rushing into combat to prove himself. He’d fought two devils. He’d survived Oblivion without the aid of a devil. Not a fully intact devil’s restoration. He didn’t have anything to prove.

“Well, Walter.?” Bez slipped out of Mora’s demonic threads woven across the city. “Which is it?”

“Huh?” I bit my lip, stalling for a few seconds to think and keep from blurting the wrong thing.

“Walter?” Bez seethed; crimson eyes locked onto me with a hateful glare meant to wash away what he perceived as pity.

“Um, well, you see…”

Bez huffed louder than the ruffle of his feathers and flew away before I could scramble to put together one concrete sentence.

“Oops.” Mora placed her hand below her mouth, face wide with fake surprise. “Did I go and cause strife with the lovebirds?”

I furrowed my brow and growled, the essence stirring in my chest and ready to roar.

“Oh, you look so furious with your forehead all scrunched up with angry eyebrows.” Mora playfully plucked one of the hairs from my brow. “I miss you with glasses. You used to look so cute and confused. Now, you just look menacing and mean.”

“We’re not done,” I said through barred teeth.

“I’m sure we’re not, Wally.” Mora wiggled her fingers in a farewell wave. “Go find your boyfriend. I’ll deal with Collective drama. Amicably, of course.”

I flew off, chasing Bez.

It didn’t take long to find Bez. I followed his trail, flying past our home, around the city, skipping over most of his haunts since they were still under construction, and finally arriving at our store. The Well of Wonders also remained closed during this restoration period, even though it was one of the few places not entirely decimated by the devil attacks.

Bez trained in the back of the store, making use of his mostly untouched training room. A place where we used to spar regularly. A place that was meant to help me unlock and control my Diabolic abilities. A place I ignored now that I’d found my footing and gained an understanding of myself and this new path my powers had carved out on their own.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Bez had the sleeves of his dress shirt rolled up as he struck a heavy training bag with his fist, rhythmic punches meant to hone his skills.

It wasn’t exactly a standard training bag, given we’d supplemented it with materials that’d withstand daily strikes from Diabolics. Even so, I routinely had to reorder the supplies and make new ones for the room. Guess after today’s training, I’d need to contact our old vendors, see if they were back in business after the near apocalypse.

“I wasn’t trying to protect you or anything,” I said. “If that’s what you’re thinking. I know you’re capable of—”

“I’m not worried about you shielding my feelings or my life.” Bez continued his punches, using his tails on several nearby speed bags. “I’m worried that I can’t keep up with you.”

“What?”

“You’ve always been so strong, Wally. You just couldn’t see it. Now you can. You are one-of-a-kind powerful. Beyond measure.”

“No, I’m not.” I folded my arms over my chest, trying to think of how to downplay Bez’s comments. “I’ve gained some understanding of skills, but I’m not one-of-a-kind. I mean, my essence is. But even so, it’s not that special.”

“It’s not the essence.” Bez stopped his training. “Yes, that adds to who you are, to what you can do, but you’ve always been one-of-a-kind special. I’ve known it since I first laid eyes on you. You weren’t like other mages. You weren’t like other Aldens. You weren’t like other misfits. You were Wally. My Wally.”

I almost collapsed into a puddle of mush. Bez always knew the right thing to say.

“You know, these punching bags can’t offer the real training I need.” Bez loosened his tie. “And honestly, you’ve been getting a little lazy lately. Might need to smack you around until you remember your training.”

My face fell flat. Bez also knew how to say the absolutely wrong thing, too.

“Alrighty, demon.” I stretched my legs, flexing my foot in my hand as I limbered up. “You wanna change first?”

“I do my best work in a suit.” Bez leapt ahead in a blur, not even stating we were going, and attempted to strike me with his claws the instant we began.

I pivoted out of the way, dodging his movements as I slowed the perception of my senses. It allowed me to focus, to take a figurative breather as Bez struck furiously fast, even with time seemingly stalled.

His tails looped ahead of him, slithering at my feet in an attempt to trip me.

If I kept backing up, I’d end up crashing into the wall, but I could already see the fire building in Bez’s palms, ready to scorch me from whichever side I darted. With no other options, I jumped forward, and we tumbled to the floor together.

We ended up knocking into each other, rolling on the ground until I found myself on top of him. Bez dug his claws into the mat, using them to secure his position, and bucked his hips in an attempt to throw me off him.

Swept in the heat of the fight, I slashed his chest.

Bez winced, stifling a shout but visibly frustrated.

“Sorry.” I retracted my claws from his bloody chest, staring down at him below me.

“Don’t be.” Bez whirled his legs so he could wrap them around my neck and lock me in place. “We’re training. I’m fine.”

We flipped around, him on top of me, and my eyes fixed on the blood dripping down his slow-healing wound.

I couldn’t allow this. It consumed me. His injury. His pain. His neglect for his own well-being just to prove he could keep up.

“You’re right here, right beside me.” I forced myself up, pushing between his legs until I squeezed my shoulders through his clenched thighs that held a rock-hard grip on my chest and back. He kept one arm locked, too, but I brought my free hand to his injury.

I bent my thumb as far as it’d go, then let the claw grow and curl inward until I reached my palm.

“What are you doing?”

“Trying something.” I sliced through the skin, letting blood spill into Bez’s injury, but it wasn’t the blood I wanted to share. “A long time ago, I sliced my palm, and your essence spilled into my open cut. Now, I’m trying to reverse that.”

“What?”

There it was. A sliver of essence come to restore the injury on my hand. I sliced it from the whole of my being, letting a single drop fall into Bez’s nearly healed cut.

“What have you done?”

“Given you a piece of the devil essence inside me.”

That single drop multiplied and swelled into several, mixing and merging with Bez’s demon essence. It called to me, roaring within Bez’s body, breaking down and rebuilding all at once. It was unlike any sensation I’d ever felt.

Bez loosened his grip, letting his legs slide down to my waist with his butt resting on my thighs. I moved my hands to his waist, pulling him closer to me, sitting upright.

“I need you to understand I’m not one-of-a-kind.” I bit my lower lip, breaking the skin in my search for the right words.

There were no words to truly convey how complete my life was with Bez in it. He was unlike anyone I’d ever met, challenging me in the best ways possible, keeping me excited and eager to explore new experiences, all the while helping me stay grounded so I didn’t float away on a tornado of overthinking anxiety or a whirlwind of self-doubt or a gust of too many metaphors meant to express what I’d already said.

“Wally, I’m not worried about being left behind. Not truly. Just a little frustrated with myself is all. I don’t need you to share your power, your success, your—”

I kissed him, letting my blood swirl between our lips, carrying over a few droplets of essence. “I’m merely half a person, completed by your presence, your belief, your love, your loyalty, your existence. Without you, Bez, I’m nothing.”

Bez’s eyes welled up, and he kissed me again, fiery and aggressive and with a bite. One I reciprocated.

We rolled around on the mat, kissing and thrusting and pinning each other in place. I couldn’t tell if we were making out or wrestling or both, but I couldn’t stop. Couldn’t submit. I needed to shower Bez with love.

He groaned as I twisted my body over his, holding him beneath me. His tails went to snatch me up, break my grip, but my single tail split into a thousand thin threads and pinned his tails with ease. I smiled, having finally found a way to counter that move he used any time I came close to besting him. His tails, his techniques, his tenacity always outsmarted me when we practiced. Not now.

“How’s it feel?” I asked, teasing him as I nibbled his ear. “Having me inside you for a change?”

“Oh, Wally thinks he’s grown up?” Bez rolled me over, pinning me beneath him as he straddled my hips. “Finally come to take charge?”

I ran my hands up his thick thighs, the firm muscles making me throb. In an instant, I spun in the air with Bez in my grasp.

He growled when I slammed his back against the wall. I ignored it. Ignored him. All I focused on was his lips. His taste. His perfect fucking body covered in clothes. I stripped them away piece by piece. I ripped open his shirt. I tore off his slacks. I slid off his dress shoes in a combination of using my tail and lifting him off the ground by gripping his ass and the back of his thighs while holding him against the wall.

Every kiss. Every step. Every time I locked eyes with Bez during this flurry of passion, it only drove me further. Passion consumed me. Lust fueled me.

Soon, we’d flown from one wall into another. This time, I took the brute force, letting my wings buffer the collision as Bez straddled my waist, kissing me the entire time. I didn’t want to break apart our lips, but I needed to see.

“Dammit.” I turned momentarily, using my tail to rifle through a drawer while still holding Bez with my hands. “Got it.”

I fished out the lube Bez kept stocked and zipped to the center of the room. I threw Bez down, stripping off my own clothes as quickly as I could.

By the time I’d removed my shirt, Bez had sat up on his knees, hands pulling down my pants and mouth playing with the head of my cock.

I stood there, harder by the second, as Bez swallowed every inch. Wrapping a hand through his hair, I grunted in unison with his gurgle as I choked him, and then I pulled him off and pushed him onto his back.

“Not the hole I plan on using.” I dropped to my knees.

“Well then, little mage. Show me what you have in mind.” Bez spread his legs on either side of me, ready to slide in close, but I gripped his ankles and flipped him onto his stomach.

I readied him, using the lube quite generously both for his comfort and my ease since this was new.

“Have you ever?” I asked, not wishing to pause or ruin the moment, but I was worried I’d bust two strokes in.

“This is as new for me as it is for you.” Bez positioned himself on his knees, doing his best to properly angle himself, and far too high.

I smiled a bit, adjusting him, pushing his back down so it didn’t arch like a mountaintop. Once everything seemed just right, I slowly made my first attempt at topping someone.

“Whoa.” My mouth fell wide at the sensation of pushing inside Bez.

He cleared his throat loudly, groaning.

I moved slowly, afraid if I went too quickly, it’d be over, and also allowing Bez a chance to ease into every new feeling of pleasure and pain and submission. Gods, he felt fantastic.

Each time my hips bounced against his ass, I found myself moving a bit faster, a bit harder, and soon the slap of skin had this enticing rhythm that further fueled me.

I thrust deeper inside Bez, relishing the sound of his moans and this bizarre connection as my essence coursed through him. It snapped and broke away from me, coursing through Bez’s veins and becoming his.

Here we were, linked and bound by devil essence, which had evolved and changed beyond measure. How I looked forward to exploring the unique properties of our being, how it’d function in a year, how it’d flourish in a century, how it’d keep us together forever.

But for now, I wanted to enjoy the feel of being inside Bez.

“Arch.” I pressed my knuckles to the small of Bez’s back.

He obeyed instinctively, obediently, and I thrust harder in him, placing a hand over his mouth to stifle a shout he let out from the sharp pain of my pounding.

“Sorry.” I kissed his nape. “You just feel too damn good.”

I continued kissing him as I pounded him, getting in a rhythmic and intoxicating pace.

“Let yourself enjoy it.”

Bez groaned into my mouth, and I swallowed every sound, eliciting a thousand more as I fucked him. Gods, he felt amazing. I wrapped my arm around his neck, holding him close. Our skin was slick and sticky with sweat. I slid my other hand down and squeezed his ass.

Using this position, I pushed him forward all the way, pinned beneath me, and thrust deeper into Bez.

Every time he moaned, I nearly burst, so I finally pulled my cock out and let him rest. I teased his hole, slapping my dick against his ass as I took deep breaths. Calming breaths. I was about to climax. I needed to wait. Savor this. Enjoy Bez’s perfect bubble butt.

“You feel it, right?”

“You?” He panted. “Yes.”

“No, I mean, yes—obviously, I’m amazing.”

“And cocky.”

“You love it.” I pressed the head of my dick against his hole. “But what I meant was the essence. You can feel it merging with you, right?”

This wasn’t like when Bez had shared his essence, where it linked us together, where it required regular rituals to keep the bond strong.

“How’ve you done this?”

“I don’t know.” I used my hands to spread Bez’s cheeks, slowly sliding back inside him, moaning from the euphoric pleasure. “When it became mine. It changed, evolved into something unlike any devil before. Now, a piece belongs to you, untethered from the rules set by all the devils before, and turning you into something completely unique.”

“Something like you.” Bez released a beleaguered groan once I slipped all the way inside him, letting my dick rest and offering him a breath to adjust.

“I look forward to what we are becoming, growing together, and changing.” I wrapped my arms under his, digging my claws into his shoulders as I looped around and secured Bez in my grasp, then I rammed him harder and faster until he grunted and buckled beneath me. “I’m different than any devil, you’re different from any devil, and there’s no one I’d rather share this experience with than you.”

I pounded Bez until he whimpered, body convulsing underneath me, held in place by me.

Bez lay there, taking every swift thrust. Freeing one of my hands, I slipped it between Bez’s hip and the mat, finding his throbbing cock and stroking it in unison with my thrusts. Eventually, I held my hand still, letting his dick slide back and forth with the motion of mine that controlled the sway of our bodies.

“Wally,” Bez whined, unable to bite back his pleasure, and he came onto my hand.

That excited me beyond measure. I tried to stop myself, to slow myself, but my entire body washed over with this blissful warmth. I pressed my forehead between Bez’s shoulder blades and groaned as I came inside him.

“Fuck me,” Bez said as I rolled off him and rested on my back.

“Pretty sure I just did.”

“Is that what I’ve been doing to you all these years?”

“You’re not as gentle.” I chuckled.

“Well, fuck.” Bez rolled into me, wrapping his arm over my shoulder. “I’m definitely gonna make you earn the top in the future. Not handing this ass over lightly anymore.”

“Sparring for top?” I smiled. “You sure you wanna go straight to being the full-time bottom in this relationship?”

“Arrogant.” Bez squeezed me into a tighter embrace. “I think I need to show you now how often I go easy on you.”

“I’m just saying, we both know I’ve got better control over devil essence than you.”

“Walter, I had devil essence for centuries before I graced you with such gifts.”

“But we know I sort of flipped over the board and made my own rules.” I used my tail to tickle him until his sour frown turned into an annoyed smile. “Sort of like how I flipped you over.”

Bez got quiet for a moment.

“Sorry. I’m just teasing.”

Bez didn’t respond.

“I’m not even that into topping. Like strict roles for us. I like that for us.” Which was true. But I’d found myself curious for more with Bez. He always brought out my curiosity for more. More of everything. More of him.

Bez smiled. “I can’t think of anything better than spending an eternity at your side, watching the misfit mage and his devilish desires unfold over the course of forever.”

Bez kissed me, soft and sweet.

“You’re a dashing devil again.” I kissed him back. “You realize that, my darling demon.”

We lay naked in a sweaty embrace with our whole lives ahead of us. I couldn’t imagine anyone better to spend forever with.