Sawyer stood on the bottom step next to her, and it was impossible not to look at him. Or to ignore the proximity. His eyes were so unbelievably blue, and his arms looked so strong. She breathed in deeply. He even smelled like the sea.

“I was going up to my room.” Sawyer cocked his head, maybe noticing the change taking over Gemma. “Did you want to join me?”

“No!” She hadn’t meant to sound so forceful, but he didn’t seem to notice. He seemed just as entranced by her as she was by him.

It wasn’t lust and it wasn’t hunger, but some dangerous combination of the two. She craved him in a way she hadn’t known it was possible to crave a human being. Her mind was filled with the same thoughts as yesterday, of all the things she wanted to do to Sawyer, but then it all turned into a blurry haze. She couldn’t think, and all she could feel was a blazing heat that threatened to consume her.

She reacted on instinct, doing what her body told her to do. She didn’t even realize what she was doing until she felt Sawyer’s lips pressed against hers. She’d thrown her arms around him, pressing her body as tightly as she could against the warm contours of his, and kissing him ferociously.

The only reason she stopped kissing him was that she needed to breathe, and she felt his lips on her neck, trailing down her collarbone. Hot tingles radiated through her, reminding her of when her legs shifted into a tail, and dimly she wondered if she was transforming into something else.

Then suddenly Alex flashed into her mind. When the hunger/lust had first taken over her, it had blocked him from her thoughts, but now she remembered him again. She loved him, and she still thought of him as her boyfriend, even if she wasn’t sure that she’d ever see him again.

So this with Sawyer, this was cheating on him. Maybe for a second she’d lost control, and that could be forgiven. But she remembered now, and she had to get back in control before she did something with Sawyer that she’d regret forever.

“No,” Gemma said. She started pushing against his chest, but Sawyer ignored her, still kissing the spot just above her heart. “I said no!” She pushed more forcefully then, and he went flying back, slamming hard against the railing behind him.

“Did I do something wrong?” Sawyer asked in a daze.

“Yes!” Gemma shouted, then shook her head. It was a struggle for her to keep from attacking him again. “No. I don’t know. But I have to get out of here.”

“I’m sorry.” He moved toward her in some attempt at an apology, and Gemma jumped off the step, getting away from him before she gave in to her urges.