Pleasure's Offering

by Moira Sutton

  “Together for sure.” Izar grinned. “The bond’s still there, stronger than ever, and now I have the power to make sure you two never get into trouble without me again.”

  “That’s not all you have the power for, Chosen.”

  It was Marcus who spoke, and the three of them looked up to see the Sun’s Chosen standing back, watching them with a look that was half shocked, half smug. “You are a Chosen of Solus now, a member of our Order and touched by the Sun himself. You will report to the General tomorrow for your ceremonies.”

  Izar nodded, and then looked back at his lovers. “We should go check on the emperor. No one but us, my men and the Legion General know he’s back. It will take a day at least to get the word out that Vallus is back on the throne working for the people.”

  Jeric shook his head. “Even that may not be enough. Toric’s magic is dissipated, but this city was a kettle of rage under high pressure even before he started fanning the desire to rebel. Even if the people hear Vallus has returned and reformed his ways, it might be too late to prevent an uprising.”

  Zoa bit her lip. “If only there were some way to dispel what he’s built up in them, to let off some of that pressure without violence, we could buy time for the emperor to show he’s making things right.”

  Jeric was about to ask what that could be when an idea hit him so hard he nearly stumbled. Zoa did stumble, and Izar caught her with a lightning-fast move, steadying her. “What?” he asked, looking back and forth between the Moon’s Chosen. “I just felt something from both of you.”

  Zoa caught Jeric’s eyes and their faces burst into twin grins.

  “I think it was divine inspiration,” Jeric said at last, grabbing Izar and Zoa’s hands. “Come on, we need to get back to the temple.”

  “The sun temple?” Marcus said behind them.

  “No,” Zoa laughed. “Dezira’s, and you can’t come. Or,” she amended at his insulted look. “You can come all you like, just not with us.” Her smile grew wicked. “Dezira’s acolytes are always happy to entertain one of the Sun’s Chosen.”

  Marcus looked mortified and Jeric laughed out loud. Suddenly, Silas’ complaints about the Sun’s Chosen made a little more sense. Then Zoa’s fingers brushed over his and he forgot all about Marcus and everything that wasn’t related to Zoa, Izar and the task at hand.

  No one tried to stop them as they ran through Toric’s palace. The whole house was in chaos as the mortals who’d been locked in the orgy fled, several of them grabbing whatever of value they could get their hands on in the process. Outside, palanquins had gathered hoping to make a sale off the chaos. Zoa, Izar and Jeric commissioned the largest of them and told the men to hurry to the temple. The moment the curtains were closed, Jeric and Zoa both fell on Izar, removing his new golden armor with reckless abandon.

  “Not that I mind,” Izar said between long kisses. “But would either of you care to explain what this is about?”

  “Our duty to our goddess,” Zoa said, bending down to unhook the plate that shielded his hips. “And your duty to Solus.”

  “Dezira was very clear,” Jeric said, catching Izar’s eye as he began to pull Zoa’s breasts from her white robe. “The Empire is sacred to her brother and Toric’s actions reflect badly on her. She wants us ease the city’s anger. Relax the tension, so to speak.”

  “Oh,” Izar breathed as Zoa leaned down to scrape her teeth over his erection, which was straining against his new leather pants. “Can we do something like that?”

  “We can now,” Zoa said, looking up at him with shining love. “When we follow our desires, we do Dezira’s work in the world. Our desires brought and tied the three of us together in a bond more powerful than any seen in many generations. But that was before, when we were only two Chosen. Now we are three, and bonds between the Chosen are always stronger than bonds between mortals.”

  “The impression I got from the vision was that the magic we can generate together now is unparalleled,” Jeric said. “And Dezira wishes the first act of that magic to be a balm on the city. A sort of peace offering to her brother.”

  Zoa nodded, her grin growing wicked. “And I’m to play the city.”

  “Oh, I see,” Izar said, dragging his hand over down her back. “And our job is to make Madame City here forget everything except pleasure? Sun and moon coming together to quench the anger and bring things back to a calmer, happier place from which order can be restored?”

  “Exactly,” Zoa said. “See, you’re getting the hang of this Chosen thing very quickly.”

  “I had good teachers,” Izar whispered, leaning in to nibble her ear.

  * * * * *

  Zoa was half out her mind by the time they reached the temple. She’d had to remind both Jeric and Izar several times that they had to get everything properly in place before they could actually start. Neither man paid much attention. When the palanquin rocked to a stop, she had to actually pry Jeric’s hands off her in order to get her dress in some semblance of order.

  She hadn’t even gotten the straps up before Izar grabbed her and jumped down to the street. He’d lost most of his golden armor by this point, and Jeric was actively working on the straps that held the rest as Izar ran them up the stairs, but the acolytes were pouring out of the temple now, and a few words from the Chosen were all they needed to send them scuttling down to take care of the driver and gather the armor and other clothing that had been left as a casualty to lust.

  Silas was waiting for them at the top of the steps. That was almost enough to shock Zoa out of her lust-filled haze. Silas never left the temple unless he had to, but the dark moon was smiling wickedly as Jeric carried her past. “I got the message as well,” he said, falling into step beside Izar. “Everything’s all set up.”

  Not a one of them had the breath to thank him, so he just rolled his eyes and let them into the temple proper, shooing the acolytes ahead of him.

  Zoa hadn’t actually understood what Silas had meant by “set up” until she saw it. The procession led out into the garden to the sacred apple tree. But unlike this afternoon’s simple white pad and incense burners, an entire tent was now set up.

  It was square silk structure, like Izar’s captain’s tent, but thin enough to see through and painted inside and out with Dezira’s symbols. Overhead, white paper lamps burned in the apple tree’s bare branches, their light falling soft as water over the enormous cushioned pallet that had been set up on the white moon’s sacred altar. Silas stopped at the tent’s entrance and the acolytes held the flaps aside, their heads bowed.

  Zoa barely had time to thank the temple head and the acolytes for their marvelous work before Izar and Jeric landed her on the enormous cushioned pallet and the world melted away. All at once, nothing existed but Jeric’s mouth on her breasts, Izar’s hands on her thighs. Lust was thrumming through her so hard she was shaking. It was all Zoa could do to wiggle out of her robe as Jeric stripped his own clothes away, and then the two of them turned to help Izar with the last of his armor.

  “Gods,” the captain breathed, his hands trembling as he fumbled with the buckle. “I’m all thumbs. I’ve never—” The words broke off in a gasp as Zoa’s breasts brushed his bare chest when she reached up to undo his shoulder guards. “I’ve never been this hard in my bloody life.”

  “Not even that first morning?” Jeric said, darting down to lick Izar’s nipple.

  “Not even then,” Izar breathed. “Yet another benefit of being Chosen?”

  “Maybe,” Zoa said, shoving the last of his armor off with shaking impatience. “Or maybe it’s because the best lust, the deepest longing, comes from finally getting to hold those you love without hesitation.”

  “Well, that must be it,” Izar said as he rose to his knees. “Because I’ve never loved anyone like I love the two of you and I’ve never wanted anything more in my life than what I’m about to do.”

  “And what is that?” Jeric said, grinning wickedly.

  Izar looked at Zoa with a
predatory grin. “This.”

  He leaped forward, taking her down on the bed like a lion. Zoa shrieked in delighted surprise, and then her shriek turned into a deep moan of pleasure as Izar’s mouth found her clit while his fingers dipped into her already dripping entrance.

  “Jeric,” he said, the words vibrating delightfully against her.

  “Already ahead of you,” Jeric said, moving up to kiss Zoa deeply, his hands moving down to grasp her breasts.

  The moment he touched her, a shock of lust like nothing Zoa had ever felt seared through her. Her hands clenched instinctively on Jeric’s shoulders, locking them together as his tongue invaded her mouth while Izar’s tongue and fingers invaded her slit. Tangled like they were, Zoa could feel both men in her mind, one shining and golden, the other bright and clear as summer moonlight.

  Their love seeped into her, borne up through the multiple, crisscrossing bonds they all shared. But it was more than that. As her lust rose, bringing her magic with it, Zoa could feel the power of the garden as well, the sacred tree and the white altar, the heart of Dezira’s white moons for generations. All of the sensations wove together, and Zoa felt the goddess’s purpose grab her. Suddenly, she was two, herself, writhing on the sheets as Jeric and Izar drove her body wild, and the dark city below, full of anger and fear. For a moment the disconnect sent her reeling, but a gentle hand, firm and white as the moon in the sky steadied her for what must come next.

  Gentle as Dezira’s light, Zoa reached out with her power, their power, the power born of the potent alchemy of love and lust freely given between three Chosen whose bonds ran deeper than gods or magic, and lifted the heavy pall. She ripped away the last remnants of Toric’s magic like rotted cloth, and then, as Izar’s fingers hit just the right spot, Zoa came in a bright white burst. The pleasure rode through her into the night. She let her own power flow with it, her natural gift for increasing lust multiplying her own until the magic was rolling through the city, banishing the dark rage and discontent.

  When the throbbing between her legs finally eased, Zoa collapsed panting on the sheets, but her lovers barely gave her time to recover before they were on her again. Zoa gasped as Izar lifted her like she weighed nothing and set her on her knees in front of him, trailing kisses down her back as he pressed himself against her entrance.

  “What would you like, beloved?” He whispered against her skin.

  Zoa moaned and answered the best way she knew how, pressing herself back until he slid inside her. Izar gasped at their coupling, and then he began to thrust, his lust rippling through the magic they were building like golden sunlight. As he started to move, Zoa reached out and grabbed Jeric, pulling him toward her. He came eagerly, his cock long, hard and ready as she brought the tip to her lips. She drew him into her slowly, savoring the difference between Izar’s thick, hard cock pounding into her ever more desperately and Jeric’s steady, rock-hard pleasure throbbing and jerking against her lips as she slid her mouth down him.

  Jeric’s cry sent a tremor through her as she reached the base of his shaft. He was fully inside her now, just as Izar was, all three of them joined with her as the link. The thought filled her with warmth and she began to suck Jeric for the pure pleasure of feeling him gasp. She was bringing them all together, just like that first night, but it was so much more now. Now the lightning that had always run between them was more than mere lust, more than Dezira’s pleasure. It was deep and abiding and so, so precious. And as Izar’s thrusts grew frantic and Jeric’s hands slid through her hair to hold her head as he arched under the pleasure she was giving, Zoa came with a force that surprised even her.

  Again, the magic rippled out of her, wild and uncontrolled now. For a moment, Zoa panicked. She’d just cleared the last of Toric’s influence. This next step would be the one that calmed the city’s rage. It needed to be powerful, but controlled, which meant she needed to be mindful. But as she flung out her mind to catch the magic, she felt the familiar feel of Jeric’s power. She looked up to see him grinning down at her, his cock throbbing in her mouth as he carefully turned her wild magic and merged it back into the enormous force that was building all around them.

  “Not yet,” he whispered.

  Zoa moaned at the promise in his voice. She was throbbing from the force of her orgasm, and Izar made a desperate sound, but rather than coming, he pulled out and wrapped his arms around her, pulling Zoa up against him. She squealed in surprise. His cock was pressed against her back, hard and pounding. He must have been close, but when she tried to move to take her back into him, Izar held her still.

  “Not yet, beloved,” he whispered in her ear, his voice hot and desperate as he echoed Jeric. “We’re not done with you yet.”

  Zoa closed her eyes as lust raced through her, and then moaned again when Jeric’s hard, hot body pressed against her front, his shaft entering her with a satisfying thrust. The feeling was maddening. She was pressed between them with Jeric’s hard, hot cock pounding into her and Izar’s length pressed into the small of her back, hot as a brand. Izar held her steady, kissing her neck and shoulders as Jeric thrust into her, his head bowed so he could lavish her breasts, drawing her pink nipples between his teeth.

  Zoa cried out and writhed, unable to stop her body as the pleasure took complete control. If Izar had still been mortal, the godtouched strength of her wild motions would have knocked him over, but he was Chosen of the Sun now, and Solus’ Avatars were strong enough to hold a white moon down, which was exactly what Izar did. He held her tight, one hand under her thigh, angling her for Jeric, the other hand draped across her lower belly, the middle finger flicking over her clit with each rocking thrust.

  For his part, Jeric had given himself entirely to Dezira’s lust. His magic trembled around them as strong as Zoa’s own, but where hers was light and warm and fluttery, his was heavy and solid, a deep weight holding the power firmly in control even as his own began to slip.

  “Oh gods,” he moaned, burying himself in her. “Oh, Zoa. Zoa, Zoa, Zoa.”

  He thrust every time he said her name, and with each thrust, Zoa felt all of him, both between her legs and in his magic. She felt his love for both of them and his fierce longing to protect, to hold her and Izar as long and tight as he could, the deep, abiding desire that had driven Dezira to mark him with her white moon. The magic was building faster than ever now, a beautiful, blinding-white combination of her and Jeric, and running through it all like a gold vein through the earth was Izar. The captain was panting against her back now, his fingers frantic on her clit as he grazed his teeth over her neck and shoulders, worshiping her with his lips as he told her how badly he wanted to fill her, how he loved having her on top of him, how he loved the sight of Jeric’s cock sliding in and out of her.

  His words coupled with Jeric’s desperate thrusts were too much. The pressure building between her legs was almost enough to make Zoa weep at the beauty of a world where so much pleasure could exist. And then, as Jeric buried himself to the hilt, she exploded, coming in great waves.

  The pleasure seemed to go on forever. Zoa didn’t even know where her body ended and the magic began anymore. She was one with the enormous power, the great feeling of wonderful contentment and promise, of sweet delight and blinding ecstasy. But as she floated back down to herself, Zoa realized something was wrong. An orgasm like that coupled with so much power should have made them all come at once, sending the spell out to the city below at last. But the magic was still there, hot and strong as lightning around them, and that’s when she realized Jeric was still hard inside her. So was Izar behind her, and the force of their combined lust was nearly enough to send her over again.

  “Not yet,” Jeric panted in her ear. His voice was dazed and thick with pleasure, but it was determined too. Determined and sweet with promise. But then, before Zoa could ask what he meant, Jeric pulled out. Zoa nearly cried out at the loss, but the frustrated sound morphed into a moan of delight as Izar’s cock took Jeric’s place, pumping into her w
ith furious need.

  His hand clamped down on her, drawing her back against him with a primal force as he thrust his cock deep inside her, his fingers teasing her throbbing clit until each thrust felt like a tiny orgasm all its own. She writhed against him, thrashing as the pleasure overloaded her body, but she was trapped between the men as Jeric held her in place.

  Unable to move, she lurched forward and kissed Jeric with all the fury she couldn’t get out through her limbs. He met her in kind as Izar’s thrusts sped up, his finger working a million tiny miracles on the nub between her folds until Zoa was shaking from the intense pleasure. But just as Izar’s bucking reached a furious pace, and Zoa braced for the wash of his orgasm through the bond, he pulled out. Again, the loss was only momentary, for almost before she felt him leave, Jeric was there, thrusting into her with a fury all his own.

  They took turns after that, each man thrusting until he was nearly gone and then pulling out to let the other take over, and all the while they kept Zoa caught in the middle, kissing her and sucking her until her body was a fire between them. Control was impossible, Zoa could only try to hold on and ride it out. She’d thought she’d known what love could be between them. Already, Izar and Jeric had given her the most intense sexual experiences in her life, but even those paled beneath what they built in her now. The orgasms came faster and faster until they merged, raising her up on a tide of pleasure that built and built and built with no end in sight. She felt like Dezira herself was lifting her up, pulling her out of her physical shell until she was nothing but the beautiful white power that was now threatening to burn away the three of them in an explosion of moon bright fire. And then, just when she thought there was no way things could possibly get better, they did.

  Izar had just pulled out to let Jeric enter, but rather than pressing his cock into her back as he had before, Izar moved it to her ass, the hot, wet tip pushing into her sensitive flesh. And then, in one swift, beautiful motion, he slid into her. His cock was hot and slick, and Zoa cried out, the endless orgasm spiking as her two men filled her completely.