Virtual Snow by Viola Grace Page B

am not used to being with a naked man when I haven’t even had a cup of tea with him. This is becoming the weirdest introduction on record.”
    He laughed and squeezed her carefully. “I agree. Just relax. Another ten minutes and I will ply you with tea.”
    She chuckled and leaned against him, letting his body heat work its magic on her dream body. Sure, he could have simply warmed her; this was his domain after all. She preferred the way he had done it. It showed reflexes honed in practice, in the physical world. Those reflexes marked him as not only a healer, but also a survivor.
    Everywhere they touched, she felt sparks, and sleeping was not an issue when your mind was screaming that you had just met the one.
     
    Ten minutes of intensely personal medical cuddling, she was able to slither into one of his shirts. Her clothing was damp, and apparently, he obeyed the rules in his mind.
    “So, why the blizzard?”
    He was preparing a pot of tea and something flashed in his eyes when he looked at her. She was rolling up the sleeves of his shirt so that her hands could peek out, and it seemed that he was admiring the fit of the voluminous fabric.
    She picked up her clothing and hung it over a chair near the fire. The boots she had been wearing were set back a bit. She didn’t want them drying too fast or catching on fire.
    With her fingers, she combed her hair out, sitting on the floor in front of the fire.
    Kyron brought her a cup of tea, hot and sweet. He sat next to her in a chair, his bare feet extended toward the flames. He had put on his trousers but that was his concession to modesty.
    “So, Sno, what will I be doing when I get back into the physical world.”
    “I guess you will be a healer. It is what you do after all.”
    He nodded. “Will you continue as a medic?”
    She leaned her head against his knee. “That depends. They might not let me now that I have been contaminated by being a monitor. I broke about a thousand rules coming in here, but your monitor was in shock and you were waking up. Even our spare was gone for the day because everything was going so well.”
    “I see. I am sorry to have wrecked your career.”
    She laughed and yawned. “I will get over it. There are dozens of occupations I think I would be good at. I could be a counsellor. I think I would be good at that if I could remember to listen and not talk.”
    “Talking seems to be your forte.”
    She bumped her head into his leg. “You have only met me. You are not to be judging me yet.”
    He laughed. “Well, I do like you much more than the first monitor. So there is that.”
    “Yeah, well the first guy didn’t have breasts, and given where your gaze is now, I think that is key to your preferences.”
    She looked up, and he flushed with guilt. His eyes were indeed brilliant icy blue, in complement to his pale gold hair. She was a study in opposites with her dark blue eyes and midnight hair.
    The front of the shirt gaped open, and his gaze had been able to delve straight down her torso.
    “Apologies. It was very tempting and I have been alone a very long time.”
    “Was it frustrating when your healing skills couldn’t keep the plague at bay?”
    He sighed. “All the healers could do was to restore the ill to health and they re-infected immediately. We didn’t have any chance to get on top of the disease and turn the tide.”
    She patted his calf. “I am sorry. It was a rude question.”
    “No, it was a valid one. And as one healer to another, it is important.”
    She yawned again. “Oh, this is horrible. I am only going to be in your mind for a few days and I am nodding off.”
    “It is the side effect of your hypothermia and the sedative I put in your tea.”
    Sno scowled. “Why?”
    “You need rest and you weren’t going to take it, so rest within my mind and all will be well.”
    She leaned heavily against his leg, trapped by the will of his mind and the rules of his dreamscape. If he wanted her to sleep, she would