Virtual Snow by Viola Grace Page A

and found herself walking into a snowstorm. “Perfect.”
    She sucked in a deep breath and waded into the storm hiding the man she was looking for. “Hello? Hello? I am lost.”
    Playing the helpless female wasn’t really her style, but whatever it took to calm the patient and get him to relax. It was a long process and his being awake would make it agonizing.
    She continued on through the snow, her skin turning white and then blue with cold. She was shaking wildly and continuing to make her way forward, running through the whiteout. She collided with a wall and bounced back to land on her butt.
    Hands came out of the wall and lifted her up. She was wrapped against the chest that had been so immovable to her. Her body was shivering uncontrollably.
    “Idiot.” She heard his voice, and it was deep and well-modulated for someone of his size.
    He walked with her through the snow, covering her with the white fur that was draped around his shoulders.
    He kicked open a door and they were suddenly inside a warm, cozy room. He closed the door behind them and carried her to a bed.
    He stripped off his clothing quickly and did the same to her. So much for advertising the goods, he looked right past them and pulled her against him before yanking the covers over them both.
    She shivered, relaxed and shivered again. “Sssssssooorry.”
    He held her and rubbed her back. “Why are you out in this blizzard?”
    “You need to stay in your mind for a while. You have the plague.”
    He paused in his rubbing. “I know that.”
    “Well, my people found a cure and have been slowly waking the two hundred Edinar that were sent here for safekeeping.” She spoke as clearly as she could between chattering teeth.
    He continued to rub her back with his huge hands. “So, why are you here?”
    “We can cure you, but we need to bring you out of cold sleep and the cure is very painful. We want you to remain asleep while we administer the treatment.”
    He sighed. “And our bodies are inert in cold sleep, including our immune systems.”
    “Correct. We have filtered out members of our population called monitors. They—we—link to you and keep you company during the treatment. We had a young man in here but something went wrong.”
    Her patient snorted. “He didn’t like the cold. He panicked and ran out into the snowdrifts. I tried to find him, but he disappeared. That is when I began to think about waking.”
    “And I jumped in. I am technically not supposed to be here, but now that I am, they can’t pry me out.” She shivered and cuddled against his huge, bare body.
    He turned her around and pressed her back to his chest, her thighs to his. He wrapped his arms around her and she was mostly covered.
    “Who are you, miss? I am not that used to naked blue women in my bed.”
    She giggled. “I am not usually blue, and when I appear in the real world, I will have lost my hair.”
    “You did not answer the question.”
    “I know. My name is Medic Sno Driina Ekalin.”
    “Snow?”
    “Sno without a w.” She shivered again and relaxed when the fit was over. “And you are?”
    “Healer Kyron Defani, at your service.”
    Sno laughed, “Thank you for your first aide. It is most welcome. We don’t get a chance to garb ourselves, so I was unprepared for a blizzard.”
    “I admired the view I got when you collided with me. It was a charming outfit.”
    She laughed and relaxed a little. “I think the worst is over. You can go on with whatever you were doing before I arrived.”
    “I was walking in the snow, thinking about the physical world and returning to it.”
    “Oh, well, don’t do that.” She squirmed in his grip and felt a reaction against her butt.
    “And, you don’t do that. I have a great deal of self-control but not if you are squirming your curves against me.”
    She froze. “Fair enough. So, do you like spicy food?”
    He chuckled and she could feel it with every inch of her body. “Desperate for conversation?”
    “I