Lycan Heat

Chapter One

“Come on, Janine. I already agreed to come with you two to these God forsaken woods in the middle of nowhere. Can’t we at least listen to some good music?”

When her sister rolled her eyes at her, Sherry promptly rummaged through her bag until she found her MP3 player. After turning it on, she stuck the earbuds in her ears and cranked up one of her favorites by Lady Gaga. She was so not into country, and that meant anything concerning music or nature. She would much rather spend a weekend getaway lying on a sandy beach overlooking the ocean with cabana boys bringing her drinks—

not that she’d ever gotten to do that either, but one day, she planned to.

Why her sister would choose to spend every weekend in the freaking jungle was more than her mind could comprehend. While she and Janine were close, they were polar opposites. Janine had always liked nature. The closest Sherry wanted to get to nature was the Discovery channel.

When Janine looked back at her, she playfully stuck her tongue out at her sister. Janine’s frown was proof of her lack of amusement. Raze, Janine’s husband, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying the exchange between the sisters. The twinkling pair of clear gray eyes peering at her in the mirror gave testament to that fact.

Janine had met Raze only a few months ago, and while Sherry had been a bit hesitant about the guy, it hadn’t taken her long to realize that Janine and Raze were head over heels in love. She was glad Janine had found someone like Raze, but something about him was strange. She just couldn’t put her finger on exactly why she thought so. The way he moved, the way he watched her sister, reminded her of a predator. While she genuinely liked Raze, he still set her a bit on edge at times with his intenseness.

Sometimes she wondered if she’d ever find the right guy. She wanted that one-of-a-kind true love. She wanted a soul mate, a man who could make her toes curl with a mere smile or a brush of his fingertips on her cheek. She sighed. She definitely wasn’t going to find him out in the middle of nowhere because her ideal man would so not be the woodsy type. She didn’t want a wussy man who liked pedicures, manicures, or who spent more time in the bathroom than she did, but she didn’t want Tarzan either.

She was beginning to wonder how her sister had finally managed to talk her into coming with her and Raze on their routine weekend trek to the woods—Sanctuary, as Janine referred to it. Sherry had been refusing her invitations for so long, the thought of seeing the disappointed look on her face one more time had finally made her cave. Janine had done so much for her since the crash that had killed their parents. While Janine never expected anything in return, Sherry still felt indebted to her sister. She knew that if she hadn’t had a sister as wonderful as Janine, she might have ended up under the state’s care until she’d reached the age of eighteen.

It had been tough for them after the wreck. Money had been tight, but Janine had started a cupcake business, and had made sure she and Sherry were provided for. Her brows furrowed. Come to think of it, lately she hadn’t noticed the pronounced limp Janine had been plagued with after the shattered leg she’d gotten as a result of that horrific accident. She’d have to ask her sister about that later. It was extremely odd that it would just go away since she’d suffered the limp for several years now.

She’d tried her best to be a good kid after the wreck, not wanting to cause Janine any more grief than she’d already suffered—than they’d both suffered—in their young lives. She was aware she hadn’t always been an angel. Yet, Janine had always handled those situations with great care for her sensitive feelings. If taking a weekend trip into the freaking Amazon would make her happy, she’d do it. She only hoped after she proved to her sister once and for all how thoroughly she hated nature, she’d leave her be from now on where that matter was concerned.

She stretched and smoothed the green cotton of her sundress down over her legs. It was getting cooler out since fall started to take hold, but she hadn’t been able to resist the opportunity to wear her favorite dress one last time before putting it away for the winter. She let her head rest against the back of the seat and must have dozed because the next thing she knew, the bouncing of the car jarred her awake as the smooth highway they’d been on was no more, and an uneven dirt lane took its place.

“We’re almost there.” Janine smiled.

Sherry forced a smile and almost giggled at the sight of her sister’s excitement. She thought her sister was gorgeous with her pale blonde hair and soft blue eyes. Her clear, creamy skin would make many women envious.

She had been fortunate herself to have good skin as well, a gift from their mother. However, their skin was about the only similarity they shared. Janine was a bit taller and had more curves, and Sherry was shorter, thinner, and had a shape that resembled a ruler—straight and narrow. Also, Sherry’s hair was a coppery red and her eyes were green, as she’d gotten her father’s darker coloring.

“Thank God. This is the most uncomfortable backseat I’ve ever been in.” Sherry put her MP3 player back in her overstuffed bag.

“Oh, it’s not that bad, Sherry,” Janine teased.

Soon, they stopped in front of a small log cabin. Sherry tried to hide her shock at the rinky-dink, rustic cabin, which undoubtedly would lack modern amenities.

Janine laughed. “It’s very nice inside.” She opened her door after Raze stopped the car, got out and opened Sherry’s door. “Come on.”

Janine opened the back door on the Jeep and started to get their bags out, but Raze came around and tugged her hand away before she could pick anything up.

“I’ll get everything. Why don’t you go show your little sis around?” Raze bent and kissed Janine on the cheek.

“Are you sure?” Janine batted her lashes at Raze and stood on tiptoe to place her mouth against his.

His arms came around her and his mouth came down on hers hard in a deep kiss that made Sherry blush. When Janine moaned, Sherry cleared her throat and Raze reluctantly broke the kiss.

“Yeah. You can show me how grateful you are later,” he whispered.

“Yuck! There is someone else here who, by the way, does not want to watch you two slobber all over each other.” Sherry gave her sternest look, and kept the giggle threatening to spring from her throat at bay.

“Okay, okay.” Janine raised her hands in surrender and led the way to the cabin, but not before giving Raze one last sultry glance.

Good God. If looks could be rated, the one Raze gave back to Janine would be rated X—no, XXX. Sherry could swear his eyes had actually glowed with raw desire. While it was pretty gross witnessing the exchange between him and her sister, she had to admit, she wouldn’t mind in the least if a man looked at her with such raw intensity.

She was pretty surprised when Janine showed her the cabin. It was way more modern than she’d ever thought it would be, and it was clean.

Unfortunately, there was only one bedroom. She had no doubt she’d be riding the couch this weekend, which she didn’t mind all that much as she didn’t want to accidentally witness anything intimate that her sister and Raze might be doing on this trip. Thankfully, there was a brand new sofa that folded out into a bed in the living room.

“We wanted to make sure you had some place comfortable to sleep.

When you finally agreed to come, we ordered the new fold out just for you.”

Janine proceeded to unfold the couch, lay across it, and sigh as if to demonstrate its softness.

“Thank you. I appreciate it because if you had made me sleep on the floor, I might have hurt you.” Sherry laughed.

Janine got off the sofa, and she helped her fold it back up.

“No. Thank you for coming. I know it isn’t your thing, but it really means a lot. I know you only did it for me.” Janine hugged her.

“Just don’t expect me to come out here again anytime soon.” She hugged her sister back.

“Promise me that you will give it a fair chance?” Janine pulled away a bit, her blue eyes pleading.

Sherry sighed in defeat. How could she deny her sister such a simple request? She squared her shoulders in resignation.

“I promise.” If this was all it took to make her sister happy, she’d give it an honest effort. Although, she was pretty certain she wouldn’t be any more impressed with nature than she already was—maybe more unimpressed.

Raze walked through the front door carrying all of their bags with what appeared to be little effort. Sherry was impressed as she had trouble carrying her own. He certainly wasn’t lacking in muscles.

“I think that’s everything.” He let Sherry’s bags drop to the floor by the sofa and carried the rest down the hallway.

“Why don’t you get settled, and I’ll figure out what’s for dinner?” Janine went to the small kitchen and started rummaging in the fridge and cabinets pulling things out here and there.

“I’m not really hungry. I think I’ll take a look around if you don’t mind.”

Sherry unzipped one of the bags at her feet and started pulling out her clothes.

“I don’t know, Sherry.” Raze came back into the room before Janine finished what she’d been about to say. “Maybe you should wait until one of us can come with you.”

“I promise I will not go far.” Sherry laughed. “I’m just going to walk around the cabin. I’ll stay close. Believe me, I will not venture into the woods.” She yanked her tennis shoes free from where they were wedged in the bag. I definitely will not go into the woods.

She didn’t like bugs or spiders or snakes or any other creepy crawly thing, and she was pretty sure the woods held plenty of them. She shivered.

“I’m warning you. If I see one spider in here, I’m sleeping in the Jeep.”

She gave the floor and walls a quick look, but didn’t even see one cobweb.

“Why don’t you go with her, Raze?” Janine chewed her bottom lip, a sure sign that she was worried about something.

“Are you afraid I’m going to fall down a well or something?” Sherry giggled. “We should have brought Lassie. What’s that? Sherry’s in the well, Lassie?”

“She’ll be all right, babe. I’ll keep an eye on her.” Janine smiled as Raze wrapped his arm around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head.

When Janine sighed in obvious relief, Sherry frowned.

“Gee, you are starting to scare me. Is there a monster loose in the woods or something?”

“Um, not exactly.” Janine’s eyes widened for a second.

“I’m not going to go far. I still have my favorite dress on, and I don’t plan to get it dirty.” Sherry toed her flip-flops off, slipped her sneakers on, and stood.

“Go on, Sherry. I’ll be out in a couple minutes,” Raze called, but she was already halfway out the door.