Female Shifters wanted him—human groupies did too. Bowman hadn’t been celibate—he’d satisfied his powerful libido plenty since they’d moved to this Shiftertown, and Kenzie had known it. But never with Kenzie.

Bowman had stood his ground in that kitchen while Kenzie shouted at him. He simply watched her, just as he’d gazed at her that first night in the gym, as he’d looked at her every time they’d crossed paths in the five years since.

Not until Kenzie ran out of words had she realized her grandmother and cousins had quietly departed. They’d left the house empty, and Bowman and Kenzie were alone.

Bowman had waited until she’d finished, then he’d caught her around the waist and crushed a kiss to her mouth.

She didn’t honestly remember how they’d gotten into the living room, but there she’d been with Bowman on the floor, her mating frenzy kicking into high gear. They’d torn off each other’s clothes, barely able to stay in human shape. Kenzie’s back hit the carpet, Bowman’s strong arms cushioning her fall, and then everything became a blur. She’d heard herself crying out, heard Bowman’s voice joining hers, as her body awakened into unbelievable pleasure.

Her hands had gone down Bowman’s bare back, raking his flesh. His mouth bruised hers, his eyes, darkening as he’d taken her, not looking away, not letting her look away.

They’d grappled on the carpet until Kenzie’s back was raw. Bowman spilled his seed into her with a groan, but he was hard again at once, and began thrusting again without withdrawing.

All afternoon and well into the night they’d made love in that living room, sometimes rolling over so that Kenzie rode Bowman, his callused hands on her arms or cupping her breasts. They’d taken it to a chair when the floor got too hard, Kenzie just fitting into it with him.

In the end, when the sun was rising and neither of them could move very much, Bowman had cupped Kenzie’s face in his hands.

“You’re my mate,” he’d said in a voice broken by their long night.

“Yes, all right,” Kenzie had growled, and that had been that.

They’d been mated in the ceremony under the sun that day, and then held the moon ceremony at the next full moon. They’d said prayers to the Goddess in firelight, and then Kenzie had moved in with Bowman.

Ryan had come along a few years later—a few years of almost constant mating frenzy, Bowman determined to produce a son. Ryan had been born robust and healthy, and beautiful. A gift from the Goddess.

Kenzie now watched her son and his friends running together, small and far away, and her heart warmed. Her jealousy was winding down, as Bowman had known it would. Damn him.

Her rage had eased, but the worry hadn’t. In spite of their joining for fifteen years, she and Bowman had never formed the mate bond. Shifters had been proving, in the last years, that they could form it with humans. So just because the vet in there was human didn’t mean she wasn’t a threat to Kenzie, her happiness, and her sanity.

A pair of very strong arms came around her from behind. Kenzie stiffened as a hard body pressed into her back and Bowman nuzzled the curve of her neck.

“Come on inside . . .” Bowman’s broken whisper trailed off. Kenzie bent her head to one side and closed her eyes, letting Bowman’s heat trickle down her body. He slid open the button of her jeans and eased his hand under her waistband.

He inhaled, then his hand froze, and his whisper turned to a growl. “And who the hell have you been with?” he demanded. “His scent is all over you.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

Kenzie swung around to face her mate, who was wearing nothing but a bathrobe, with a crutch under one arm, his leg back in the splint, murder in his eyes.

“What are you doing out of bed?” she asked sharply. “You aren’t supposed to put any weight on that for at least two days.”

Bowman pinned her with the stare that had stopped her in her tracks across the gym all those years ago. “Don’t go all caregiver on me, and tell me who you were with.”

Rage had him standing straight, the crutch loose. His eyes were light gray, as though he wanted to shift; but if he did that, he’d hurt himself again.

“I wasn’t with anyone,” Kenzie said. “You have a suspicious mind.”

“And you weren’t looking the kill at Dr. Pat in there. Would not be good if you gutted her, Kenz.”

“Yeah, well, I wasn’t sitting with a guy letting him stroke my leg,” Kenzie returned. “I was talking to a cop, all right? One who stuffed me into his patrol car and asked me about what happened last night. He’s smart. He already knew most of it.”

Bowman’s anger flared. “He stuffed you into his patrol car?”

Kenzie waved her hands. “I exaggerate. He invited me to sit in the front seat with him. He was really polite while he interrogated me.”

Bowman climbed down a little, but only a little. “What did you tell him?”

“He already knew almost everything, like I said. The humans who were at the roadhouse last night have been talking. For now, the cops are just trying to figure out what happened.”

“Trying to figure out how to blame it on Shifters, you mean.”

“Maybe. He didn’t say.” Kenzie tried to relax, but with Bowman standing a step away, bare beneath the robe, she couldn’t. She felt the warmth of him through the fabric, smelled the comforting scent of male—of him. It made her want to flow against him, put her arms around him, forget this stupid conversation.

“What did he say?” Bowman demanded.

“He seemed like he wanted to help.” Kenzie’s foot moved to take her closer to Bowman. “Smarter than most cops—more common sense. He wants to work with us to figure this out.”

Bowman had started to lean to her, closing the space between them, but he snapped upright again. “What do you mean, work with us?”

“Pool information and skills. He thinks it’s stupid for humans and Shifters to not be allowed to help one another.”

Bowman’s lip curled. “And you believed him?”

“Not all humans suck, Bowman. I liked him.”

“I know you did. I scent it on you.”

Kenzie took the last step to put her directly against him. “Oh, right. And you hated that cute blond vet coming here to feel up your leg.”

“She wasn’t . . .” Bowman’s brows slammed together. “Goddess, Kenzie, I wasn’t about to go all mating frenzy on her with my leg in a splint.”