Mate Bond(14)

Thinking about how many women turned their heads when they saw Bowman  walk by on the sand, his bare skin kissed by sunshine, the small pair of  trunks covering his ass and not much else, made Kenzie growl again.

Don't touch. Don't even look.

She kissed his thigh, then ran her tongue up the tight ridge of muscle.  Bowman sucked in a breath, one hand coming down to furrow her hair.

Kenzie smoothed her fingers over his hurt leg again. Gentle, caressing,  kneading, soothing. She bent and pressed another kiss to him, running  her tongue over his skin. He tasted like warmth, salt, maleness.

Bowman's fingers tightened in her hair. "Damn you, Kenz," he said softly.

Kenzie caressed him all the way down to his ankle, then she looked up at him and smiled.

Bowman growled. He hooked one hand under her arm and yanked her upward. She landed against his chest, his growl still rumbling.

"Damn you," he repeated. "Don't smile at me like that."

"Like what?" Kenzie gave him an innocent look, but she couldn't make the smile go away.

"Like you're the sexiest woman alive, and you know it." His voice broke  over her like the soothing waves of the ocean in summer. "Laughing at  me, because you think I don't understand what I've got."

Kenzie had no idea what he was talking about, and she didn't care. She  only knew the weight of his voice tumbling her as though she were a  pebble in the sand.

His arm was hard around her, Kenzie holding on to him to keep herself  steady. He was the hurt one, but she used his strength to remain  standing.

"House," he said. "Now."

Kenzie didn't want to go inside. Bowman had been badly injured, and moving might hurt him again.

Not that she had a choice. Bowman hauled her around with him and started  walking. The crutch dug into the pine needles as Bowman braced himself  on it and on Kenzie for the short distance to the kitchen door.

The house was empty and shut out the cold. Bowman leaned more on Kenzie  once they were inside, where no other Shifters could see them.

"You need to rest," she began.

"I'll rest when I'm done with you." Bowman hobbled into the bedroom with  her and collapsed on the bed, dropping the crutch in the process.

His robe fell all the way open. Kenzie halted at the foot of the bed, her heart pounding swiftly.

Bowman was stretched out full length, bronzed skin and dark hair against  the white robe. The scrapes and abrasions he'd obtained last night had  faded into light red lines across his skin, and his face was shadowed  with new beard. In all this darkness, his gray eyes stood out like  many-faceted diamonds.

Something else stood out prominently. The pale splint couldn't take away  from the beauty of him spread out for Kenzie, his cock dark and hard,  rigid against his abdomen.

She wanted him with a wild longing-she still burned from their interrupted encounter last night.

Kenzie slipped her shirt over her head without a second thought and  tossed away the camisole beneath it. A few more quick movements had her  out of her jeans and underwear. Now she was as bare as he was.

Even with her wanting, she hesitated. "You sure you're going to be all right?"

"Goddess." Bowman growled again. "Are you trying to kill me, Kenz? Get over here."





CHAPTER NINE




Kenzie obeyed, but only because she decided to. The alpha called his  mate, but Kenzie took her time walking to the side of the bed, putting  one knee on the mattress. As soon as she was within his reach, he'd haul  her to him, and she knew it. She liked the thought, but he was injured.

"I don't want to hurt you," she said.

Bowman didn't wait. He heaved himself up and seized her, pulling her  onto the bed. He hooked his hand under her left thigh, and Kenzie landed  straddling him, bracing her weight on her knees, hands splayed on his  chest.                       
       
           



       

"I don't want to hurt you," she repeated.

Bowman thumped back down to the mattress, transferring his grip to her  wrists. A feral smile spread across his face. "You can't hurt me, Kenz."

His arrogant confidence heated her blood. "Want to bet?"

Bowman rose on his elbows, his eyes glittering. "Give me your best shot."

Kenzie very carefully moved her hips forward. The brush of his cock at  her opening made her shake, and she started to lose all her good  intentions.

"Come on," Bowman said impatiently. "I can't lie here all day."

He'd said a similar thing to the pseudo-groupie last night. His gruff  command had flared Kenzie's anger then, but now that he directed the  words to her, it excited her beyond belief.

The feral in her responded to the wildness in him, his need to have her, never mind the pain.

"Touch of a mate, Kenzie," he whispered.

Kenzie lowered herself slowly, the feeling of him sliding inside her  blurring all thought. She sucked in a breath, remembering in time to not  rest her full weight on him.

"That's nice," Bowman said, his eyes growing heavy. "I feel better already."

Kenzie had no answer. Bowman was big, filling her, finding her empty  spaces. Her head went back in silent joy, and he rocked forward and  curled his tongue around her nipple.

The heat of his mouth warmed, banishing winter. Kenzie raised her head  so she could look at him as he lay back again on white robe and sheets,  his warrior's body beautiful despite the incongruity of the splint.

Her innate need to heal him worked through even her lust. She made sure  she put no weight on his hurt limb, and she reached back to touch his  leg, hoping that would help.

Bowman's growl broke through her fog, his gaze intensifying, the lines  of pain leaving his face. He focused on her, and her alone, his eyes  gray like the winter sky.

Kenzie's body felt heavy, her breasts full; where he filled her felt  stretched and wonderful. Bowman flicked his tongue once more over her  nipple, pulling it between his lips, releasing it after one tug.

His powerful hands caught her hips, urging her to ride him. His raw body  and intense strength was trapped beneath her, but Bowman wasn't tamed.  Far from it. His fingers gripped her thighs, his hips moved in time with  hers, his gaze held hers and wouldn't let go.

"I thought you said you could hurt me," Bowman said as he thrust hard up into her. "Not even close, sweetheart."

Challenging her, was he? Kenzie increased her own thrusts, Bowman's  words fading as she sped up to meet him. He got up on his elbows again  as he thrust into her as hard as he could.

He was proving he wasn't debilitated, Kenzie realized. Kenzie could  stagger outside afterward, looking sated and content, and the story  would spread through Shiftertown that Bowman's wounds hadn't slowed him  down one bit. And, if any of his enemies decided to burst in, hoping to  catch him when he was vulnerable, they'd see him servicing his mate at  full strength.

They'd certainly get an eyeful. Kenzie's head went back once more, her  hair brushing her shoulders, the silken touch of it erotic. Just as  erotic was Bowman, now gripping her thighs, his fingers tight on her  soft flesh. Her breasts moved with their rhythm, and every time she  looked down at Bowman, he caught her gaze in his strong one and held it.

He was holding her with his gaze when Kenzie's climax overtook her. She  forgot about being gentle and ground away at him as wave after wave of  joy flooded her.

Bowman snarled-a long wolf snarl, the sound tearing out of his throat.  The next moment, Kenzie felt his seed flood her, the life of a strong  male Shifter filling her and completing her.

Perhaps another cub would come of this, Kenzie thought in hope as she  collapsed on top of him. Bowman caught her, his arms coming around her  to cradle her and keep her safe. A cub, she repeated to herself muzzily.  She longed for that most of all.


* * *

Kenzie was heavy on top of him, and Bowman's leg itched like crazy, but no way in hell was he going to push her away.

The most beautiful thing in the world was Kenzie stretched out on him,  her dark golden eyes half closed in afterglow, her tight body relaxed in  a way she didn't relax any other time. She was a fine armful, her  breasts cushioned against his chest, their heartbeats on top of each  other's.

Bowman held his breath, waiting for the warm spike in his heart that  other Shifters had told him about, the almost-pain that meant he and his  mate were bound forever.

It didn't come. It never had. Exhaustion was there-he and Kenzie always  tore it up in the bedroom-but the mate bond eluded them. The Goddess  testing them, maybe? Telling Bowman he wasn't building enough bonfires  to the God or meditating hard enough?                       
       
           



       

Whatever reason the God and Goddess and the wide universe had for  denying Kenzie and Bowman the mate bond, it hurt. He knew it hurt Kenzie  too-she was simply good at hiding it. Their Shifters also weren't happy  that their leaders shared no bond. Instability could come of that, and  they knew it.