The Mating Ritual (9 page)

A sharp command from Cormac, and everyone got
to their feet and they were off again. Either he didn’t notice the
look Malik was giving him, or he wasn’t worried. For all Toni knew
their animosity might be a normal occurrence, and had nothing to do
with her.

Falling in behind Cormac, Toni thought ahead
to the next day, and what it was going to be like being fucked in
public, with every eye on them. She didn’t know if she could go
through with it. As if I have any choice. And what happens after
that? She assumed a public mating ritual meant they would become
the equivalent of husband and wife. Did they go on a honeymoon? She
almost laughed out loud at the thought.

It appeared that in the span of two short
days her whole life had been turned upside down.

And with it, her future.

Toni sat quietly as Lila wove wild flowers
throughout her long dark hair. She’d been allowed to bathe and wash
her hair in preparation for the mating ritual. After that she was
brought back to Lila’s primitive shelter where her whole body had
been massaged and rubbed down with warmed, lavender scented oils.
She’d been fed and allowed to nap because the ritual was done after
the sun went down.

Since arriving at the makeshift camp Toni and
Cormac had been kept apart, which was apparently another part of
the ritual. Toni supposed that he was being groomed as well.
Surprisingly, she wasn’t dreading the ceremony as she had been
before, proving that what Cormac had said about his semen must have
some truth to it. The more sex they had, the more she craved it. It
was like a potent drug.

“You have pretty hair,” Lila said softly,
clearly concentrating on what she was doing.

“Thank you.” There was a split in the
curtain-type doorway, allowing Toni to see some of the activity
that was going on outside. Apparently, the mating ritual was a big
deal to the Oh-Mah, especially when it involved their leader.

Her first sight of the campsite had astounded
her. She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting, but it wasn’t the
skillfully camouflaged shelters that were crudely erected among the
trees. At first she hadn’t even known what she was looking at, but
then the occupants had started to emerge. Gradually, their group
was surrounded and welcomed, and it was clear to her these
intelligent, resourceful people cared about each other. She later
found out that this was just a meeting place for Cormac’s people.
In the coming days they would pack up, take down their shelters,
and move on to their summer dwellings, further north into the
mountains.

Toni had mixed feelings about that. She was
confused at how quickly her feelings for Cormac had grown. Yes, he
was different from any other man she’d ever met, but he came from a
world totally alien to her, one she still had a hard time
comprehending. Yet at the same time, the thought of returning to
her old life seemed lonely without Cormac to share it with, and
she’d had enough lonely to last her a lifetime.

“You are quiet,” Lila commented.

“I was just thinking,” Toni explained,
watching Lila reach for a flower.

“About tonight?”

No, but since she asked, “What can I expect
tonight?”

For the first time since knowing Lila, Toni
heard a soft laugh come from her. “You are not a virgin.”

Toni smiled in response. “That’s not what I
mean.” Dusk was fast approaching, it wouldn’t be long now.

“Once Cormac mates you in public, and the
ceremony is over, you belong to him for life. You will bare his
babies.”

Toni thought about that possibility for a
moment, having convinced herself that she was only going along with
the mating ritual so that she wouldn’t have to worry about the
other males pursuing her. In truth, she’d always wanted a family,
like Mary. She flattened her hand over her belly. It was highly
possible that she was already carrying Cormac’s child, and if she
weren’t, it wouldn’t be long before he’d impregnate her.

“Tonight you and Cormac will sit across the
fire from each other. There will be music, and the mating dance. We
will celebrate with the drink of life. Then he will take you as the
tradition of Oh-Mah ancestors. Once the first mating is complete,
Cormac will take you to his shelter.”

It all sounded very down-to-earth and
primitive to Toni. “Tell me about the Oh-Mah so that I can better
understand your people.”

There was a long pause, and then a sigh, as
if Lila didn’t know where to begin. “I will tell you the story our
elders tell us when we are children. The Oh-Mah has existed since
the beginning of time. Outcasts, and misunderstood because we were
different, we were driven away to live in the mountains. For
centuries we remained there, existing in large family groups,
making a living off the land. The world forgot about Oh-Mah, until
one day when we came down from the mountains seeking help. Sickness
was taking away our women; the ones who survived became
barren.”

Toni met Lila’s eyes when she stepped in
front of her. “What was the sickness?”

Lila shook her head. “No one knew. The town’s
people were afraid of Oh-Mah, they thought we were monsters. Our
language was still of the old world, while their language had
changed as the world had changed. Communication between us was
impossible, and Oh-Mah was once again driven back into the
mountains. That is where they remained, until we started to die
out, when no more babies were born.” Lila took a breath, tears
clouding her eyes. “Oh-Mah began to take women from neighboring
farms and towns, for breeding. What we are today is from many years
of Oh-Mah mating with your kind.”

“What about the Oh-Mah you told me about, the
ones who are full-blooded?”

“They will all be gone one day,” she said
sadly. “The last baby born to them was fifty years ago. His mother,
the last female Oh-Mah, died giving birth.

What, how could that be, something didn’t
make sense to Toni. “How old do the Oh-Mah live?”

“We used to live long time. Full-blooded
Oh-Mah, some are three hundred years old.”

Wow!
Toni was aware that her jaw had
dropped.

Lila smiled. “Now that we are more like your
kind, we die younger.” She moved in front of Toni. “Stand.”

“Have you gone through the mating ritual?”
She asked, looking up at Lila.

The older woman paused in what she was doing;
her eyes became soft and glazed, as if she were thinking about a
pleasant memory. A small smile spread across her wrinkled features,
before being replaced with a look of deep sadness. She nodded.
“Yes,” she replied in a whisper soft voice. “Many seasons ago, when
I was young and beautiful like you, but our happiness was not to
last.”

Toni’s heart ached for Lila, who seemed so
kind and understanding. “What happened?”

The faraway look in Lila’s eyes cleared as
she glanced down at Toni. “A grizzly took Juju from me.”

“Oh, Lila, I’m so sorry.” Toni meant it. Lila
had been caring and accepting to her, even after she’d tried to
escape, and in many ways she reminded Toni of Mary, who’d always
been the mothering kind. How devastating it must have been for
Lila.

“Stand,” Lila said again.

This time Toni rose to her feet, watching
Lila reach for something at the bottom of the basket. It turned out
to be strips of leather threaded with colorful beads. Wordlessly
the older woman brought it around Toni’s waist and tied it loosely
so that it hung low and adorned her hips. The excess leather and
beads dangled in strips down the side of her hip, stopping at
mid-thigh. Other than that, she was completely naked.

As if on cue, drumbeats sounded, along with
other crude instruments Toni couldn’t identify. She looked at Lila,
who motioned her outside. She was led to a pelt by the fire, where
she sat down. Across the fire Cormac was also sitting. Their gazes
met and clung, and she felt a telling heat envelop her that wasn’t
caused by the blaze separating them. He looked very masculine and
handsome, and from what she could see he was as naked as she was. A
leather strap was wrapped around his upper arm, and his long hair
was tied behind his neck.

Toni resisted looking around; deciding that
the only way she was going to get through the mating ritual was to
focus on Cormac. Pretending that they were the only ones there was
futile once the music and dancing began. She couldn’t ignore what
was right there in front of her, as several naked, twisting bodies
moved around the fire in a primitive and extremely erotic dance.
The way that they touched and brushed up against each other told
Toni that what she was seeing was the mating dance Lila had
mentioned.

It was designed to arouse, to fuel the soul
with fire and wanton need. Hands caressed and probed, and as the
music sped up so did their sensuous, thrashing movements. Others
joined in until there was no more room around the fire and they
were forced to dance in the shadows beyond. Toni became mesmerized
by the erotic dance; her heart began to pound with the rhythm set
by the drums. Her blood grew hot, and she realized that watching
their slow, writhing bodies was arousing her. Some were all but
making love, as they became one with fluid and graceful
movement.

She glanced at Cormac. His expression looked
raw and wild with passion. The fire danced in his eyes as he stared
across the flames at her. Without warning, the music came to an
abrupt end and the dancers stopped almost as sharply. Toni could
tell by their expressions that they were stimulated, and some were
barely able to remain on their feet. She could see their chests
rise and fall as they fought to catch their breaths. Eyes were
glazed with lust, cocks were hard. The eerie silence surrounding
them was only interrupted by the crackling of the fire, as they all
stood and waited.

Lila appeared at her side and motioned Toni
to her feet. She led her around the fire to Cormac, who also rose.
They were positioned so that they were facing one another. His cock
was bone hard and twitching, and the sight of it made Toni melt
inside. He was handed a small wooden bowl. Keeping his eyes on her,
he brought it to his lips, drank from it, and then brought the bowl
to her mouth. Toni took a cautious sip, praying that it wasn’t
blood or something equally disgusting, but the liquid turned out to
be thick and sweet, and not unpleasant.

The bowl was taken away, and an elderly man
stepped between them. The words he spoke were in their own
primitive language. Toni had no idea what he was saying, yet his
actions spoke volumes. His hand moved over her breast, and he
touched the hair between her legs so fast that she didn’t have time
to react. Then he moved on to touch Cormac’s cock just as
indifferently, talking the whole time. Her guess was that it had
something to do with fertility.

He moved away and Cormac reached forward,
hooked his finger in the leather around Toni’s hips, and jerked her
against his hard frame. She caught her breath at the feel of his
cock pushing against her. Then she was lifted off her feet, and the
moment his lips touched hers the music started up again. Louder and
wilder this time. Caught up in his passionate kiss, she wrapped her
arms around his neck and opened her mouth to his probing
tongue.

Cormac’s touch was the match that ignited the
flame inside Toni. She’d never met a man who could draw out the
lustful side of her so quickly. Her body reacted to him as if
they’d known each other intimately for a long time, and was
comfortable in that knowledge. Toni couldn’t get enough of him, and
she wasn’t totally ready to blame her fierce need to possess him on
his semen. Her thudding heart told her it was so much more.

Cormac’s kiss went on for a long time. Toni
wasn’t aware that he was moving until she felt him lower them to a
bed of soft hides. He covered her body and continued to kiss her,
smoothing his rough hands over her breasts and down her ribcage to
the curve of her waist. He caressed her belly until he reached her
sex. When a long finger entered her she moaned with pleasure,
arching beneath his intimate caresses, forgetting everything but
the moment, and him.

As before, the passion exploded like wildfire
between them. They were caught up in a vortex of raw and basic
passion that demanded to be fed and satisfied at the same time.
Cormac’s hands moved roughly over her curves and with purpose,
leaving a burning trail of pleasure along her flesh and causing her
sex to throb with wild excitement. All the while the music
surrounding them grew louder, wilder, and more exciting, and Toni
was strangely comforted by the raw sounds of passion surrounding
them.

She dug her nails into Cormac’s shoulders
while he concentrated on her throbbing clit. Forgetting about
everything but him, she moved her hips up and down, feeling the
pressure build until she could barely stand it. He left a scorching
path of kisses down her throat and chest, sucked and tongued her
breasts until her nipples swelled with fiery pleasure. All the
while he was shoving his finger deep inside her pussy, thumbing her
clit along the way. Toni felt like she was about to go up in
flames. She was at the very pinnacle of climaxing when Cormac
rolled, and she found herself pulled on top of him.

He pulled her up so he could take her breasts
into his mouth. After loving both of them until Toni was gasping
and straining against him, he lifted her, bringing her down onto
his stiff cock. She cried out with surprise and pleasure. Cormac
arched up; forcing his shaft in as far as it would go. Toni threw
herself back, putting her hands on his muscular thighs and
clenching her muscles, squeezing his rigid flesh as hard as she
could. He shuddered with a guttural groan as she began to ride him
hard, urged by the hands caressing her swaying breasts.