Pleasure's Offering by Moira Sutton Read Free Book Online Page B

air. She could feel it gripping her like a physical thing, wrapping her body tighter and tighter as Jeric’s thrusts grew stronger and stronger until she could scarcely breathe, but she could do nothing. The power was no longer hers alone. Jeric’s magic was building between her legs, a raw, frustrated power pent up far too long. She could no more control it than she could control the tides, but she could hold on and ride it with him, holding him tight as the change began.
    He came with a force that vibrated through the building, and the straining power snapped like a taut line. Down below, the crowds in the pleasure hall cried out again. No one was safe from the desperate pleasure ripping through the air. Even Zoa gasped as the force of it blew through her, bringing her own orgasm with it.
    She let it come, sliding down against him as the wave rolled through her. With this much power built up, fighting it could have killed her, but the Chosen of Dezira were not fighters by nature. She surrendered, letting the pleasure wash over her until, at last, Jeric’s power began to fade.
    He stayed perfectly still for one long breath and then he toppled over like a stone statue, taking them both down to the bed. All around them, the cries of the other lovers rattled the rafters as they came down from an orgasm like none they had ever felt before. Zoa couldn’t help but smile at the sound. An Avatar’s orgasm was always powerful, but none more so than the first.
    As the moaning below gave way to delighted sighs, Zoa turned her attention back to Jeric. He lay on the bed beside her, body straining, eyes shut tight, breath caught in his throat. He still hadn’t unclenched from his orgasm, and as the seconds ticked by, Zoa watched him with growing concern.
    This was the moment where Dezira would touch him and offer him the choice. The Lady was the patron of all desire, even those which others found disturbing. Just as the moon had many faces, so did lust, pleasure and love. Even now, the moon herself appeared before him, just as she had appeared before Zoa so long ago, her hands outstretched in offer. Which would Jeric choose?
    Zoa bit her lip. This was taking longer than she’d thought. Jeric was the first Avatar she’d brought into power, but the records were very clear that the choice should be nearly instant. From where Zoa lay, holding Jeric’s stiff body, it seemed he had been gone forever. But then, just as she was about to grow truly worried, Jeric’s eyes shot open and he fell panting into her arms.
    She clutched him to her chest as his breath left him in ragged bursts. He made a sound, half sob, half laughter, and his whole body began to spasm. Zoa stayed perfectly still, cradling Jeric until, at last, his twitching stopped and his breathing evened out. Only then, when she was sure he was as calm as he was going to get, did she dare to look.
    As soon as she did, she let out a breath of her own she didn’t realize she’d been holding. At the center Jeric’s forehead stood a brilliant white crescent moon. It glowed softly in the dim light of the room, warm and inviting as a lamp in winter. Smiling with relief, Zoa raised her fingers and gently brushed them across her forehead, revealing a white crescent of her own, just like his. Slowly, Jeric opened his eyes and looked up at her, his gaze dilated and wide.
    It took him several tries to get the words out. When they finally did come, his voice trembled like a new leaf.
    “What was that?” He whispered.
    “Your Awakening,” she answered, leaning down to kiss his lips. “You belong to the Lady now, Jeric Ballent, marked as the Moon’s Own forever. Welcome, lover, to our order.”
    He glanced at the moon on her forehead, then raised his fingers to touch his own. “It was real, then?”
    “Yes,” she said. “Very real. You are an Avatar of Dezira now, just as I am.”
    He looked at her skeptically. “What does that mean?”
    “It means that you are no longer