The Mating Ritual (3 page)

Toni swung around and stared at the man in
shock. One thing she knew for certain, he wasn’t Bigfoot, but he
was big, possibly seven feet tall. And he was definitely human, his
features were rugged and strong and not totally unpleasant. He had
long brownish hair that appeared streaked with blond, his brown
eyes conveyed intelligence and something else that she couldn’t
quite put her finger on. His naked body revealed that he was well
muscled, from his thick neck, defined biceps, pectorals, and
sculptured abs. His thighs were as solid as small tree trunks, and
his flaccid cock was surprisingly thick and long. The light dusting
of hair that covered his body was like any other man, allowing Toni
to see his scars and other imperfections. As he stood there staring
at her he made her feel something wild and primitive. He was
magnificent.

Ohmygod!
Was he part of the wild
people that the locals spoke of, the ones who lived in the
mountains? Did they really exist? Toni felt her heart begin to race
with growing fear. His gaze moved over her in much the same way
that she had examined him, and it was then that she recognized that
it was interest in his eyes.

She clutched the animal hide tighter to her
breast. His mouth quirked in the semblance of a grin, which, under
normal circumstances would have calmed her nerves somewhat. But
these were not normal circumstances, and when he moved she gasped,
and leaned as far as she could against the cold stone behind her.
The closer he got, the smaller she felt. Toni had to look a long
way up to meet his eyes.

“What… who are you?” She didn’t even know if
he understood or spoke English.

“My clan calls me Cormac. I brought you
here.”

His clan? His gaze continued to roam over
Toni, slowly, as though he could see right through the fur that she
held in front of her. She cringed when he reached forward and
grabbed a handful of her long, brown hair, bringing it up to his
nose. She pulled it away from him. His response was a grunt, and a
tightening of his mouth. It was clear that he didn’t like what
she’d done. She swallowed hard, recognizing that he could probably
kill her with one blow. The sheer size of him was intimidating. A
flashback of the night before reminded Toni what he was capable
of.

“My name is Toni.” She didn’t know why she
felt the need to introduce herself, except that he’d saved her
life, and maybe if she were friendly to him he would help her. She
wondered how she was going to find her way back home. One thing she
did know, she couldn’t stand there all day and do nothing.

“Well, it was nice meeting you.” It seemed a
silly thing to say but he wasn’t very talkative, and Toni had no
reason to think she couldn’t leave.

She pushed herself away from the wall with
the intention of going further into the cave. There had to be
another entrance because where they were now, the only way out was
straight down. Toni only took two steps before she felt his hand in
her hair, and she was jerked backwards against his solid form. She
cried out, her hand automatically going to where his was clutching
at her hair.

Facing his fierce expression, she demanded,
“Let me go!” She tried to pull away, raising her free hand to pound
her fist against his chest. When he didn’t respond she grew
frustrated and bit him on the forearm. Toni knew she’d made a
mistake as soon as she did it. She was no match for him, and he
could do anything he wanted to do to her. Provoking him was a
stupid mistake.

“Woman, stop!” He growled.

She halted at his command and stared up at
him, frightened. “Please let me go.”

He let go of her long hair and grabbed the
fur from her body, wrapping it around his hips. His gaze fell to
her barely concealed breasts, remaining there until Toni felt her
nipples become hard. When Cormac’s gaze roamed down to the triangle
covering her sex a flush of heat spread throughout her body,
surprising her. She didn’t like the way his nostrils were suddenly
flaring, and his eyes had turned almost black. Toni had slept with
enough men to recognize that hungry look on his face.

All of a sudden the air around them crackled
with an undercurrent of primal heat. It was palpable, and like
nothing she’d ever experienced before. In spite of her precarious
situation there was something raw and basic about the man, and it
was having a strong effect on her dormant libido.
Of all the
times to get horny!
It was the wrong time and the wrong place.
All wrong!

“Go.” He pushed her in the direction that led
deeper into the cave.

Toni dug in her heels. “Wait a minute, what
about me?” She pulled her arm from his grasp, swung around, and
peered up at him. “I need something to cover up with too.”

Damn, she shouldn’t have brought attention to
her undressed state. Once more his gaze roamed over her, seeming to
strip off what little she had left on. She shivered, and not from
the cold air in the cave. His lingering look moved like a caress
over Toni, making her think about things that she shouldn’t be.
What’s wrong with me?
The only thing that should be on my
mind is getting back to the cabin.
Had she hit her head the
night before, and this was some kind of odd side effect?

“Please, just let me go.” Sensing they were
both curious about each other, Toni pushed the notion of what that
could lead to right out of her head. “There are police, people,
looking for me.” She wasn’t sure if she’d said that to scare him or
to take his mind off her lack of clothing. “Do you know what the
police are?”

Her strategy didn’t work. “Only mated females
cover their bodies.”

“What?” For a moment, Toni had forgotten what
she’d asked him. Then his words registered, turning her blood cold.
“But I’m not one of your females,” she said. “And where I come from
everyone wears clothes.”

“Not last night.” He pushed her in the
direction that he wanted her to go.

How was she going to explain last night? It
soon became apparent that the flicker of light she’d seen earlier
deeper in the cave was coming from the burning torches in the
ground, which were spaced every few feet apart. As she unwillingly
walked deeper and deeper into the cavern, she began hearing voices
in the distance. She started to drag her feet, afraid of what she’d
find at the other end.

“Please, let me go,” she pleaded with him
again. “I’m telling you that there are people searching for me,
dangerous people.” Maybe Cormac would release her if he thought his
clan might be in jeopardy.

He continued to push her. “I will protect
you.”

Toni stopped and turned, but he didn’t. As
big as he was, when he hit her she went flying backwards with a
gasp. She would have hit the wall had he not pulled her to him. All
at once she was aware that her breasts were flattened against his
six-pack abs, but what frightened her most was his equally massive
hard-on. As a new threat engulfed her, Toni began to struggle. His
powerful hands seemed to be everywhere at once, as he easily
subdued her.

She wasn’t afraid of rape, she was afraid of
herself. It had been so long since she’d had sex, and lately the
toys in her nightstand drawer weren’t satisfying her needs. This
man, Cormac, was the ideal version of the Viking hero in the last
romance novel she’d read. How many times had she masturbated with
that damn Viking on her mind? Now here he was, in the flesh, and
she was growing exceedingly horny. It wasn’t like Toni to think
about doing it with a stranger, not to mention while in a situation
that was beyond weird.

The next thing Toni knew she was flush
against Cormac. Her nipples were hard and tingling, and a strong,
undeniable feeling of desire fluttered wildly inside her belly. The
arousal she saw on his face frightened her in its intensity, but
what she felt was even more frightening. The way he held himself,
the way his nostrils flared as if taking in her scent, trying to
determine if she was receptive, made her hot. She already knew he
was turned on, and with him, it was palpable. His cock was pounding
against her like some medieval weapon, ready to invade her body and
claim victory. Oh, lord, there was that Viking again! Staring into
his eyes, filled with lust, Toni shook her head no.

Suddenly he picked her up until their faces
were level. She opened her mouth to speak, but the words were
locked in her throat. His warm breath bathed her face, and then his
tongue was against her lips, tracing them. She gasped at the
sensuousness of it, her body buzzing with hunger while she waited
for his kiss. He surprised her by lifting her higher, until her
breasts were even with his mouth.

Her eyes rounded and she quivered, sucking in
her breath. He wouldn’t! But he did. His tongue came out and traced
her hard nipples through the thin film covering them. Wet heat
surged through Toni, and she knew that her body was preparing for
his possession. Then he took one breast into his mouth and suckled
on it as if he was getting nourishment. Toni closed her eyes and
moaned loudly, suddenly coming alive.

The strong pull of his mouth caused the
floodgates to open. She couldn’t believe the intensity of craving
she was experiencing, what he was drawing from her love-starved
body. Her heart raced. She waited with breathless anticipation when
he finally moved onto her other breast, and repeated his action. A
sharp sensation zinged all the way down to her aching cunt. It was
crazy, but nothing seemed to matter at that moment except what he
was making her feel.

Oh God! Why don’t I stop him? This isn’t
real!
Only it was all too real. And Toni’s emotions were
wreaking havoc on her common sense to the point that she had none.
She was shocked that she was enjoying his foreplay, which was
amazingly erotic. How could such a man, who appeared so
rough-edged, be this intuitive to a woman’s needs? To her
desire?

Toni recognized that the moans echoing around
them were hers, mingling with Cormac’s guttural-like sounds. She
felt his long, hard, and hot cock poking against her. Good God, she
marveled once again at how huge it was! If he fucked her, would she
be able to take all of him? All she could think about was his warm
mouth covering hers, and the rough feel of his tongue against hers.
His kiss started out gentle, almost exploratory, until she squirmed
against him, wanting more. Somehow, Toni had to convey her
message.

She reached down and grabbed his cock through
the hide covering it, and squeezed.

The growl that escaped him sounded more
animal than human, and was the first sign that he might not be as
human as he appeared. Toni should have been frightened, but she
knew that it was a sound of pure animal lust erupting from his
monstrous chest. His kiss turned rough, his tongue thrusting
halfway down her throat and nearly gagging her. She was on fire
inside. So many forbidden and lusty thoughts were running through
her mind, the least of which was the reality that she was
responding to his advances as if she’d done it hundreds of times
before.

Without warning he lowered Toni to her feet,
ripped off the covering from around his waist, and tossed it to the
ground. Then he lowered Toni, following her down. He didn’t lay on
her as she’d expected him to. He arranged himself on his knees
between her legs, his eyes zeroing in on the triangle covering her
pussy. She caught her breath when he hooked a finger beneath the
elastic and pulled the thong from her body.

Oh God!
She had to be dreaming! She
raised her hips and almost came the second he inserted his long
tongue inside her aching pussy. It felt so good. It didn’t matter
that all she knew was his name that she was in a cave somewhere,
giving herself to a man that might be part of something that
shouldn’t exist. All Toni knew was that he was fulfilling a need in
her that had been unfulfilled for too many months. She could think
about regrets later because right now ecstasy consumed her.

Cormac pulled her hips up to his face, using
his tongue like a piston, applying pleasure in all the right
places. He massaged her throbbing clit with every spine-tingling
jab, exploring every pleasure spot she knew of and discovering
more, until Toni was barely able to breathe. How had he gotten so
skilled? It didn’t matter, because the storm spiraling inside her
promised to be an out-of-this-world experience.

Toni felt a powerful climax building fast.
She couldn’t believe what was happening to her. If his tongue felt
this good, what would his cock feel like? Just as she was on the
brink of exploding, he stopped and moved up her body. It was as if
he knew what was getting ready to happen. She felt his cock probing
the entrance to her pussy and raised her hips, inviting him inside.
Ever so slowly he inserted his sex into her, one delicious inch at
a time, giving her time to stretch to his size.

Toni moaned wildly, pain and pleasure dueling
for first place as the biggest cock she’d ever had was filling her.
When Cormac was finally all the way inside of her he began to move,
slowly at first, carefully watching Toni’s face every time he
pulled out and thrust back in again. Was he afraid of hurting her?
To soothe any unspoken concerns, she wrapped her legs around him
and forced him deeper inside.

As his thrusts built in speed, Toni caressed
his hard, muscular body wherever she could, noting that he was
built like a marble statue, smooth, hard, defined. Her nails dug
into his taut buttocks, urging him to go faster. He grunted, his
hands moving up and down her curves and settling on her hips.

After a few moments he started to move faster
and harder, releasing a roar right before Toni felt a heavy stream
of cum saturate her insides. His violent release triggered hers,
and she cried out with frenzied pleasure. Panting heavily, they
moved against one another convulsively, and every time Cormac’s
body jerked, Toni felt his cock release more semen.