Page 54 of Fury

Epilogue

“Here you go,babe. One blueberry hard cider. Food will be up shortly.”

Penelope tore her gaze away from her view of the island she now called home and lifted her shades to peer up at Sawyer. She’d wandered out to the lower deck of the island tap room while he ordered drinks and food because for once the sun was shining and she needed to feel it on her skin.

“Mmmm. Thanks.” She took the offered glass and sniffed at the contents. “Wow, I can really smell the blueberries much stronger this time.”

He grinned down at her. “Enhanced senses will do that. Wait until the holiday season and Dave starts cooking up his infamous pumpkin cranberry bread. You’ll think you’ve died and gone to heaven.”

She looked over at him. “You celebrate regular holidays, too?”

“Yeah, babe. We may have a different culture due to our animal nature, but don’t forget we’re still human as well. And we spend most of our time living among mixed company so we blend in every way we can. Besides, who doesn’t like Christmas presents?” He winked at her.

“Duly noted.” She sat back in her lounge chair and resumed her watchful gaze across the water. It had been two weeks since her decision to take time off and she still hadn’t fully adjusted to their life here.

Club Diablo was completely gone. What the explosion didn’t destroy had been hauled off and disposed of shortly after her arrival. In its place they were in the process of building a new bed and breakfast that would welcome tourists 365 days a year.

She wasn’t sure she understood the logic of that considering they wanted to keep their existence secret. Their various streams of income seemed sufficient without adding that risk.

As for the bite and her subsequent reaction…

Well, she was more than a little disappointed that not much had changed. Her senses were definitely evolving, but beyond that she didn’t notice much difference. No pull to the moon, no more itching under her skin to indicate she might shift and no substantial changes to her strength or running speed. She did feel able to run farther and longer than before, but she couldn’t keep up with any of the pack females who had been turned.

Only the pull to Sawyer drew stronger each day. Maybe that was due to the changes in her DNA or maybe, and more likely, it happened because she’d fallen in love.

Or the fact that he loved her back, seemingly unconditionally.

“You seem lost in your thoughts today. What’s going on?” he asked, taking the seat next to hers.

“I can’t stop thinking about why I still haven’t turned. It’s been weeks and Faith confided in me that her change happened really fast.”

Sawyer shook his head. “Faith is different. We all are. Everyone is going to react different to the bite. Besides, her case was extremelydifferent.”

She cocked her head in his direction. “How so?”

His beer halted halfway to his lips. “She didn’t tell you?”

“No, but now you have to.”

He grinned down at her. “You know what they say about curiosity.”

“Whatever, now tell me.”

With a smile on his face, he leaned down and planted a hard kiss on her lips instead. For a moment, her mind blanked and she only thought about soft lips and warm tongues. More specifically, how wickedly talented Sawyer was with his tongue.

When he broke the kiss, she gasped for air. “You don’t play fair. Stop trying to distract me.”

“Nobody ever said anything about fair play, baby. You should be used to that by now.”

Her body tingled as his warm breath caressed her face. He was right. Who needed fair play when she could have this instead? She set her glass down, grabbed his head with both hands and pulled him back down for another mind bending kiss.

This time he wasn’t quite so gentle as he pushed his tongue into her mouth. A rumble formed in her chest that sounded a lot like a growl. Maybe there was more wolf DNA in her than she’d thought because suddenly she felt a little primal. She tightened her fingers in his hair and tugged him tighter to her, which resulted in a deeper growl from him.

Next thing she knew, he’d lifted her onto the table, stepped between her legs and his hands were teasing her bare thighs at the edge of her shorts.

That simple skin on skin contact worked a shiver up her spine as her body electrified from his touch. By the time his fingers touched the edge of her panties, she was already wet and ready for him.

“You make me so damned hungry it’s hard to control myself around you.” The low rumbled growl that followed his words made more heat pool between her legs. He wasn’t the only one having trouble staying calm.

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