Shifting Snows Read Online Free PDF Page B

information. Her brow furrowed as both seemed to weigh their replies, and neither said a word. “Do you lose a lot of girls to them? Surely not. I mean, look at you,” she spouted nervously with a wave of her hand at their naked forms.
    The other two had dressed sometime while she’d been passed out, but Sorin and Danel hadn’t. Refusing to be distracted by that, she focused on their faces—though the truth of their state was clear in her mind. Naked, naked, naked, her thoughts taunted.
    “There aren’t a lot of girls to lose,” Sorin finally answered. He walked toward her, and she backed away as a horrifying thought occurred to her.
    “Was this a contest?” No…it couldn’t be. But then…she didn’t know them well. She didn’t know them at all! And she’d slept with them.
    “No,” Sorin protested. His hands slid along her upper arms and despite her worry, his touch calmed her blooming anger. He seemed guilt-free. There wasn’t a trace in his strange-colored eyes. “There was no contest. There were four of us here. Why did you choose to stay with us?”
    “I don’t know,” she answered honestly. Why wouldn’t she stay? There hadn’t been a question in her mind about what room she should stay in. For some reason, her senses had connected with Sorin and Danel, deciding they were the pair she’d be with for the weekend. It hadn’t been conscious. A tenuous bond had grown between them that she couldn’t explain. She felt it with these two and not with the others.
    “It just seemed right?” Danel ventured.
    “Yeah. Weird, huh? I should take that bath now. I bet the water’s cold now.” The sooner they were off the subject of her oddball feelings the better. She must be hormonal or something—
    Her eyes went wide, and she stumbled, reaching blindly for anything to keep her up. Immediately, Sorin caught her to him.
    “Macy,” he gasped. “What’s wrong?”
    “You…none of you…” Tears filled her eyes as being hormonal and the act they’d just completed clicked together to form damning evidence of the stupidest thing she’d ever done. “None of you wore condoms,” she rasped, barely able to get out the words. She placed the blame fully on herself. She should have made them stop, to wear protection. It was her body after all, and ultimately, she’d be the ones to bear the consequence.
    “Baby,” Sorin soothed, kissing her temple. He lifted her into his arms. “It’s okay—”
    “No it’s not!” she snapped.
    “Yes, it is,” he continued, heading toward the bathroom. “None of us have diseases, and I can guarantee you that you have not been impregnated.”
    “How can you guarantee that? I’m not stupid,” she argued. “Even if I did just do the most irresponsible thing ever. We had sex. There were no condoms. There could be repercussions.” But thank God, no diseases if he was telling the truth.
    “My people are…advanced in procreation,” Sorin said slowly. “Right now, none of us is able to get you with…child.”
    She blinked at him. It seemed too good to be true. And frankly, it sounded like a big fat lie, but she needed to grasp at those straws as fragile as they seemed. “Really?” she still asked.
    “Really.”
    “And your people didn’t think they should share with the rest of the class?”
    “Only certain men can do it,” he explained. “The four of us can.”
    “Hmmm.”
    Sorin set her on her feet and untied the robe. “You don’t believe me.”
    “No,” she replied. Hurt flared in his eyes then quickly subsided, but it made her feel bad for doubting him, even if there was a huge chance he was lying. “Sorry,” she offered hastily.
    He nodded and lifted her again. The sensation of his warm skin against her almost distracted her from the topic, but not quite. His destination did, though.
    “Sorin, it’s got to be freezing,” she protested as he climbed the first step to the tub.
    “It’s not. Look, see the steam?”
    Indeed, small swirls of