On the morning of the five hundred and forty-second Ceremony of Light, a slender, red-haired woman with gray-green eyes waited impatiently to be sacrificed to the god of the sun.
The square in front of the temple buzzed with people. They’d been arriving throughout the night, alone and in groups. Tiny dronelights flitted through the air, lighting their way into the courtyard. The drones switched off their lights the moment they entered the courtyard, so as not to displease the Sun God on this, the day dedicated to his radiance. Behind the assembled congregation, the dome projected by the shield generators glowed faintly in the pre-dawn air. Ahead, the stepped pyramid of the Temple of Flame, the largest of the great houses of worship, carved an inky void in the sky.
Deep inside the Temple, in a small chamber illuminated by the dim yellow glow of small globes floating in niches in the rough stone walls, Kheema swallowed. She took a deep breath to hide her nervousness. Five hundred and forty-one Sacrifices before her had walked barefoot down the narrow hallway into this room. From here, five hundred and forty-one Sacrifices had ascended to the altar atop the Temple to welcome the day.
Now it was her turn. She could feel the weight of history on her shoulders, as pervasive and tangible as the mass of the temple itself. All but one of the Sacrifices before her had succeeded in the ritual that would bring the blessing of the Fiery One to his people. She didn’t want to go down in history as the second person to fail.
“You’ll do fine,” Janaie said. She slipped her hand into Kheema’s.
Kheema managed a small smile. “Is it that obvious?”
“Only to me.”
“I can’t hide anything from you.”
“Would you want to?” Janaie placed a gentle kiss on her shoulder. “Your agony will be so lovely. I know the Sun God will be pleased.”
Kheema looked down at her feet, pale against warm dark stone. She thought, not for the first time, that it felt like a living thing, this massive edifice of stone, the physical embodiment of the Lord of Light.
She remembered being surprised by the warmth the first time she’d touched these walls, eighteen months ago to the day. She and seven other Potentials had walked through the door on the far side of the courtyard, a door that opened just once a year to admit eight people who would compete to become Sacrifice to the Lord of Light. She’d hung back from the rest of the Potentials, running her fingers over the hard, textured blocks of stone, so carefully fitted that not even the finest knife blade could slip between them. The stones felt warm, much warmer than she had expected. The warmth entranced her. Tingling currents raced along her skin.
She could feel his presence here. She could taste him, the God of the Sun, in the air around her. Her skin buzzed. A soft whisper filled her mind. In that instant, she knew it would be her. The knowledge filled her until she felt she might burst. Of the eight women in the tight group who had passed through the mammoth stone doors into the Temple, she would be the next Sacrifice. She smiled at the thought.
“Hey!” The voice came from another Potential to Kheema’s left. “Hey, that’s her!”
“What?” Kheema looked around.
“That’s her!” The voice came from a slight woman just a little ahead of Kheema. She stood half a head shorter than Kheema, with wide, dark eyes and dark hair that fell in a series of curls and ringlets over her shoulders. She pointed to the priestess who had met them at the door, and who was now leading them along the gently sloping hallway into the depths of the Temple. “That’s her! Fahren! She was the Sacrifice two solstices ago. I was here. I remember. She was so beautiful. She’s the reason I decided to become a Potential. If they choose me, I hope I can suffer as wonderfully as she did. I’m Janaie, by the way.”
“Kheema.”
“You’re beautiful.”
Color touch Kheema’s cheeks. “Thank you.”
“I mean it. If they don’t choose me for the sacrifice, I hope they choose you. I bet you would suffer exquisitely.” Her eyes swept up and down along Kheema’s body. Something feral glittered there, in the soft light of countless small floating glow-globes. “I would love to watch you suffer.”
Kheema turned away, blushing furiously. Her hand caressed the wall. The tingling grew stronger, like a light electric current dancing playfully over her skin. She smiled a small, secret smile.
~~~~
It started at an orgy in France.
Let me explain. Actually, that would take too long. Let me sum up.
We met at an orgy in a castle in France in 2010. For the next 8 years, we proceeded to brush across each other’s lives on a regular, if infrequent, basis. Fast forward to another orgy in a manor house in Lincoln, UK in 2018, and things got a bit out of hand.
We wound up deciding to write a book together.
Franklin wrote the first paragraph of the first draft of the book on Eunice’s naked back, because when writers go to an orgy in a manor house, things like that just…happen.
That first paragraph grew into *The Brazen Altar*, the first book of the Passionate Pantheon series. It’s literary, it’s philosophical, it’s character-driven…and it’s very *very* kinky*. This is far-future post-scarcity science fiction erotica that doesn’t hold back in the slightest.
** Seriously, there are kinks in these books that don’t even have names. We should know, we looked.*
What came from all this is an erotic novel unlike any other you’ve ever read. Science fiction is the playroom of the possible, but never before has it been set loose on the realm of sex in quite this way. Rich worldbuilding, nuanced characters, and complex stories come together with hot steamy erotic adventures quite different from anything else out there.
Eunice invented the world of The Passionate Pantheon over a period of many years as a playground to explore sex, kink, and philosophy. Mostly sex and kink, admittedly, but it turns out the porn wasn’t as satisfying without the background.
So, imagine a place where there is no disease, no scarcity, and no want, where anything you can imagine can be created from a Provider whenever you want it. (Yes, 2020 has made this image particularly appealing, I agree.) It’s a society ruled by benevolent AIs that are worshipped as gods through highly ritualized group sex. That’s the world of the City.
~~~~~
The Brazen Altar, book one of the Passionate Pantheon, takes us to The City. In this place of peace and plenty, without disease, suffering, or want, people find meaning through service to their gods. These they know were created by humans, but as they protect and provide for the people, why wouldn’t the people express their thanks through utter devotion? In a Utopian society, what better way to express this love than through pleasure and faith? For Kheema and her seven fellow Potentials, it means entering the temple of the Sun God to undergo months of training and practice to determine which of them will be chosen as Sacrifice. On the day of the summer Solstice, the chosen one must recite the entire litany from atop the temple, while submitting to constant forced orgasms from dawn ’til dusk.
For Terlyn, service means becoming part of the Garden, bound naked and asleep while worshippers help themselves to her body. Terlyn wakes in ecstasy over and over, only to fall asleep again. The experience changes her and her relationship with her friend and lover Donvin, who visits her while she is part of the Garden.
Ashi’s service to the god known only as ‘The Wild’ entails competing with other worshippers in a forest that appears overnight to demonstrate her resilience and will, so that she might become part of a ritual involving an altar, a long row of cages, and the complete abandonment of her self.
The three stories brush against each other, revealing the racing heart of the City, as the people of the City serve, or ask for enlightenment from, multiple gods at once.
~~~~~
If this sounds like a book you would enjoy, you can buy a copy via our [IndieGoGo page](https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-brazen-altar/x/6519694#/) or find out more on the [Passionate Pantheon website](https://passionatepantheon.com/brazenaltar.html)
Source: reddit.com/r/eroticliterature/comments/km1fi4/excerpt_from_oc_erotic_kinky_scifi_novel_the