Free The Mating Ritual by Tory Richards Page B

will know you
belong only to me.”
    Toni wanted to say that she already belonged
to him. They’d fucked several times, but she knew about the mating
ritual and the reason behind it. That would protect her from the
lusty advances of the other men, and she’d be able to move about
freely. But did it also mean that the mating ritual would seal her
fate with Cormac? What else did the Oh-Mah believe? Were they
monogamous?
    Movement out of the corner of her eye caused
her to turn her head. She gasped upon seeing Malik watching them,
but he was gone so fast that she questioned what she really saw.
Had she imagined him being there? He frightened her.
    Cormac moved, disrupting her thoughts, and
drawing her attention back to him. “Malik wants you, too.”
    So, he’d seen him, too. “He scares me,” she
admitted with a little shiver.
    “I will not let him hurt you.” He pulled Toni
away from the rock and reached for the pelt.
    Their eyes clung as he covered himself.
Sensing that they were going to rejoin the others, she reached for
her fur, hesitating before putting it on. Would Cormac take it
away? Toni waited, chewing on her bottom lip. He held his hand out
and she reluctantly handed it to him. His gaze raked down her body.
With her thong gone, Toni was completely naked now.
    Cormac surprised her by bringing the fur
around her hips and tucking the loose ends together. Then, taking
her by the hand, he pulled her with him back to the group. Toni
didn’t intend on making eye contact with anyone, especially the
men, feeling as if they all knew what she and Cormac had been
doing, but before she could stop it, her gaze landed on Malik. She
caught her breath at the expression of pure rage or hate on his
face, she couldn’t tell which, as his gaze followed Cormac. Then he
looked at her. Toni quickly averted his gaze, worried at what his
look meant for Cormac.
    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.

Chapter 6
     
     
     
    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