Page 11 of Abdominal Snowman

Indecent Exposure

As consciousness rushed to her, the first thing Sage recognized was the blissful warmth of… wherever she was. Hopefully it wasn’t the afterlife.

At least she wasn’t cold anymore. Beggars couldn’t be choosers, could they?

Sage blinked her eyes open, the room filled with bright light glinting off the freshly fallen snow outside.

Outside?

She rustled around in the surrounding heat—a blanket?—and raised her head to take in her surroundings.

Bed. She was on a bed. In a cabin!

She’d found the cabin last night. She remembered the warm interior. Embers of the fire last night settled in the cooling hearth in the living room below.

A soft rumbling snore echoed through the house. Maybe the owner of the cabin had come back and taken pity? Nursed her back to health?

Warmth spread across her cheeks as she thought of the events that brought her to this place.

There was a slight chill in the air, and Sage rubbed her hands against her bare arms. She froze.

Bare. Arms.

Sage looked down at her naked body and the white fur blanket surrounding her. Panic coursed through her veins.

What the hell?

The snoring stuttered, shaking the bed she lay on. Heart stopping, Sage slowly turned her head to the side.

The white fur of the blanket rose and fell with the even breathing of the person sleeping beside her. A million reasons tore through her mind as to why she was laying naked in a bed with another person.

The most probable, based on her circumstances, was probably whoever had found her half frozen on their couch.

Sage was rational. She liked facts.

Fact: She was alive. And safe. For the moment, at least.

Also a fact: She was naked. With someone next to her. Someone she didn’t know.

Counter fact: She was frozen to her fucking bones when she’d broken into the cabin. Wasn’t it common sense that body heat was the best thing for that?

Sage sucked in a deep breath, keeping the panic at bay. Barely.

Sage evened her breathing, quelling the rising panic in her chest as she tentatively reached a hand to pull the blanket back. Grasping the ridiculously soft tufts, she pulled.

A hoarse, sleep-disturbed yelp tore through the air, startling her. She jerked back as the blanket rose to impossibly high heights, almost brushing the ceiling in the loft room. Her mouth dropped open.

“What the hell?” grumbled a deep, tired voice, and Sage blinked to clear her vision.

Nothing changed, but she still couldn’t believe her eyes.

In front of her stood... Well, she couldn’t even find the words to describe the being in front of her. Huge was a good start. Soft white fur covered the entire body. Large claws protruded from the fingers and toes, clicking against the wooden floor as the giant form skittered back from the bed, cramming into the corner to give her space.

Sage scrambled back on the bed, eyes wide as she took in the huge... thing in front of her.

Oh. It’s a he, she thought, as her gaze dropped between his legs.

She was learning way too much about this beast way too quickly. Now it was burned into her mind that he was uncut. With white body hair. Or maybe it was fur.