Free Pleasure's Offering by Moira Sutton Page B

adjust.”
    Jeric caught her and pulled her into a real kiss, and suddenly Zoa was having trouble breathing. When he finally released her, she was flushed and panting like a virgin, but Jeric only grinned and fell back. “Come back with breakfast,” he said.
    Zoa heaved a put-upon sigh, but she couldn’t hide her grin as she left the room, carefully closing the curtain behind her so no one would disturb her men.
    * * * * *
     
    As expected, Rosa took the news hard, but she accepted that Zoa was an Avatar of Dezira without argument.
    “Makes sense to me,” she said, dabbing her eyes. “You were the best from the moment you crossed my doorstep. But oh, Zoa, how I shall miss the money you brought in!”
    The old woman was so genuinely distraught that Zoa was forced to spend the rest of the morning comforting her, and then several more hours at her side as she directed the cleanup. The pleasure hall was completely trashed. Food, cups and trays lay scattered on every surface, and anywhere the trays weren’t, men and women lay in tangled heaps, spent and sleeping. This in itself wasn’t unusual following a night of such debauchery, but with Jeric’s awakening into power on top of the lust magic Zoa had been weaving, it took Rosa and Zoa several tries to get the girls to wake up.
    As for the soldiers, they only rousted when Izar himself came down, still pale and leaning subtly on Jeric, but otherwise himself. Zoa had sent up a girl with breakfast an hour ago and both men looked better with food in them. Jeric especially was nearly glowing, though that had more to do with his new power than a made-up plate of banquet leftovers. Zoa watched him support his captain with a slow smile. If this morning’s activities hadn’t been enough, the fact that his aura was already starting to swell again was a sign that Jeric would become a powerful Chosen. She’d have to teach him control quickly before his power became more than she could safely shield on her own.
    By midafternoon, Izar had his men well in hand. The soldiers were up and getting ready for the ride to their winter camp. The only ones not kissing the girls goodbye was the squad of twenty veterans who would be riding with Izar to the Capital. At last, the soldiers rode out and the cleanup began in earnest. Meanwhile, Rosa, still dour faced about the loss of Zoa, set up a table at the end of the square and began the long, arduous process of paying everyone. This caused a bit of a riot as people jostled to be first in line. Never one to waste an opportunity, Zoa took this chance to grab Jeric and led him back up the stairs to her room.
    “We need to control your aura,” she said, sitting him on the bed.
    “Aura?” he asked.
    “We all have them,” Zoa answered, sitting down beside him. “The Moon’s Own control desire, but our own desires are part of our magic as well and they can affect those around us. That’s how you got Izar so worked up this morning. Your lust bled into him.”
    “I thought that was you,” Jeric said, leaning back.
    “No,” Zoa said. “It was me last night, but the moment you became an Avatar, you became immune to my lust.”
    “I deeply disagree,” Jeric said, giving her a smoldering smile.
    Zoa returned the look before slipping back into her formal role as a Chosen. “I’m safe from your magical influence, but others aren’t. You have to learn to control it or you’ll start trouble wherever you go.”
    “Very well,” Jeric said, his face growing serious. “Teach me.”
    And so Zoa taught him as she had been taught, coaching him through the process of opening himself to the goddess and feeling her magic. He caught on quickly, and by evening Jeric had his aura well in check.
    “Excellent,” Zoa said, moving her table around as the girl brought in dinner. “We’ll work on using lust later, but you should be safe enough for the moment.”
    “What about when I’m aroused?” Jeric said, not even coloring at the mention after