Under His Rule (Dark Romance Suspense) (His Duet Book 1)

I can’t look away, and I know neither can she, no matter how hard she tries. She must see, must know what it is that we do. Our community is one of a kind, one of respect for God and love for your fellow believers.

Love is what drives us … visceral … animalistic love.

Naked bodies clashing into each other is the ultimate form of love. Two people melting into one, man and woman becoming husband and wife for everyone to see.

This is the ritual of the wife.

When a man chooses a woman, he takes her and makes her his in front of everyone. Tonight, the people celebrate, dance, and fuck until the night is over, and then we all go to our homes in peace, knowing people have been united.

But first, the ritual must be completed.

Our women must bear children, and for that to happen, every unity must be watched over and later blessed by one of the patriarchs or the president. That is why we’re all here, watching over the ritual and the ceremony as a whole.

But my eyes still dwindle away from the crowd and focus on her. Natalie … She’s on my mind so often I can’t remember the last time I didn’t think about her.

Sweet, innocent Natalie … so ripe for the taking.

Yet I can’t. Not yet.

“So many rituals at tonight’s ceremony,” Patrick muses.

“Mmmhmm …” I hum.

“Anyone caught your eye?” he asks, raising his brow at me.

Of course, she has, and he knows, but I refuse to play this game.

“Not tonight,” I say.

“Why not? There are plenty.”

“Not for me.” I clear my throat.

There’s a pause before he continues. “Well, I think I’ll pick the one in the back, with the green eyes and the bright red hair.” He licks his lips in a way that makes me want to hurl. “She looks appetizing.”

“Sure does,” I concur, hoping it’ll shut him up. I’m really not up for listening to his dirty fantasies tonight.

“You know you’re allowed, right?”

I frown at him. “You do realize who you’re talking to, right?”

“I know, but I’ve never actually seen you … you know, pick.” He holds up his hand. “It’s custom.”

“I know, Patrick, but there are plenty of us, and I’m sure none of you would mind if I passed,” I reply with a condescending tone.

“True …” He nods, smiling viciously as he buries himself deeper into his seat. “More for me.”

I roll my eyes. The patriarchal position is truly wasted on a lustful man like him.

I know I can choose, but I don’t want to choose … there’s only one girl who I have my eyes on, and I will do anything I can to make her and only her the one to get on her knees for me.

Waiting is not my virtue, but I must persist. She has to see every inch of our society before I can claim her as mine. But when I finally do, she can be rest assured that I will take her in every way possible, and I don’t care who sees.

Natalie

People watch and cheer and dance alongside the fucking couples as though it’s the most natural thing ever. And I can do nothing but stare and wonder if this is a dream I just can’t seem to wake up from.

I’ve never seen anything like this. For anyone to be so open and wild about sex, without any inhibition, is mind-boggling to me. At a sex club? Yes. But at a community whose whole purpose is to serve God? I wouldn’t ever have imagined this is what they meant when they said “ceremony.” Though it certainly does look like a “ritual.”

But I don’t want any part in this. I spin on my heels, but right there are Emmy and Holly, with those same cheerful looks on their faces as always.

“Where are you going?” Emmy immediately asks.

“Uh …” I have no answer, except for “getting the fuck out of here,” which probably won’t do me any good right now, so I opt for nothing.

“You can’t leave a ceremony. We have to witness the rituals,” Holly adds, smiling happily as if this is normal to them. But then I realize … it probably is.

This is all they’ve ever known, all they’ve ever seen.

But I haven’t. This isn’t normal, and I don’t want it to be.

“This is not for me,” I say.

But when I try to push past them, they won’t let me.

“No, no, Natalie, you have to stay,” Emmy says. “That’s the rules.”

“Why? Why do you do this to yourselves? Why would anyone want this?” I ask.

“Because we get to be wives,” Holly answers.

“It’s a privilege, don’t you see?” Emmy adds.

“No, I don’t see.” I shake my head. “Women are getting fucked like animals.”

“That’s how we show our love to God. We share love with one another. Men, women, everyone. It’s how we become husband and wife. After being blessed, of course.”

“By letting a random man fuck you?”

She shrugs. “It’s not random. If a man chooses you, it means you are worthy.”

Holly rubs her lips together and squeals. “I hope I get picked tonight.”

And she walks off into the dancing crowd as though this is her destiny, while I’m left wondering why anyone would choose this willingly. But they don’t know any better. This is how it always went, how it’ll always be in their community.

But this will never be a home for me.

“C’mon, let’s enjoy the celebration,” Emmy says, hooking her arm in mine.

“No.” I shake her off.

“Why not? There’s no need to be afraid. Nothing will happen.”

I must look bewildered, but I don’t care. “What if some man tries to grab me? Tries to fuck me?” I can barely get the words out of my mouth without choking.

She laughs. “No, silly. You’re still an initiate. They only touch you once they’re allowed.”

“Who allows this?”

She points at all the patriarchs in the chair. At the man who has chained me up and put me in this position. The man who decides my fate. Noah.

It’s him and all of them who will make me submit to a man who will take from me what I don’t want to give.

“They bless all the rituals that take place here at the ceremony,” Emmy says. “Now enough talking. Let’s have a drink.” She grabs my hand and drags me into the crowd, away from the doors, until they’re blocked by bodies, and I can no longer find an exit among the sea of people dancing and fucking about.

It’s maddening, completely insane, and all I can do is drink and watch while the cheers around me lull me into believing this is what’s supposed to happen.

Indoctrination never happens suddenly.

It moves slowly, creeping up on you like a snake underneath your blanket, slithering up your body until you wake up and discover it’s too late to stop it from biting you in the neck.

And I can feel his eyes bore into me right now.

The patriarch, Noah, watching my every move like a snake, waiting to strike.

When the night is over—and about twenty to thirty people have fucked like rabbits, covering the floor in a mixture of spilled drinks, sweat, and cum—the patriarchs stand, and everyone stops what they’re doing. All of the fucking people line up.

One of the patriarchs points at a woman. Then another one. In the end, six of them point at two or three people each, all of whom glow with the biggest of smiles. The only one who doesn’t pick is Noah, who only seems to want to stare at me. I don’t know if it is to make me feel uncomfortable or to always remind me of his presence, but it’s working and he knows.

The patriarchs walk off stage, including Noah, who throws me a final glance before everyone exits through a different door than the one we came in through. The people they pointed at are escorted through that same door by a few elders.

The rest of us go back through the showers.

Emmy hooks her arm through mine again. “That was amazing, wasn’t it?”

I don’t respond. Instead, I ask, “What was that pointing for?”

“That’s part of the ritual. The people who are picked are especially blessed by patriarchs.”

“They went with them,” I say.

“Yes,” she says. “The patriarchs will bestow them with love them now.”

“But … didn’t they just get married?” I ask. “Shouldn’t they be together now as husband and wife?”

She gives me huge smile, which unsettles me to my core. “It is a husband’s honor to share his wife with a patriarch after she’s no longer untouched. If the baby ends up being from a patriarch instead of her husband, then she was blessed in the purest of ways.”

My eyes widen, and my heart stops.

“Sharing … as in … fucking?”

Her final nod is like a final nail in the coffin.

She giggles. “I pray this will also happen to both me and you!”