Snow and the Seven Men (Seven Ways to Sin 1)

“Fine,” I replied in a clipped tone. I didn’t want to hear her take on how I’d run off to give her a hard time. “Thanks.”

I grabbed my laptop and set up a Skype call to my mom, who answered on the first ring. Her eyes were red-rimmed, and she burst into tears the second she saw me.

“Oh, thank Jesus!” she screamed. “Alex! Alex, it’s Sasha!”

Instantly, my bestie appeared at her side, and I could see that she looked as distraught as my mom. Oh, Jesus. It was worse than I thought.

“I’m fine,” I assured them. “I’m sorry you were so worried—”

“Worried?” Mom howled.

I winced at the feedback and shook my head. I had a headache, and her screeching wasn’t making things any better.

“Worried is an understatement,” Alex offered, resting a hand on my mother’s shoulder. Even through the grainy feed, I could see Mom was shaking with relief.

“Look, I’m alive, see?” I tried to joke. “It was a freak turn of weather. I got stranded and—”

“Where? Were you in a cave? Did you go to the hospital? How did you survive?” The questions were like a spray of gunfire on my already assaulted body, and I held up a hand.

“If you’ll let me finish, I’ll tell you,” I said, trying to keep my patience.

Mom glared at me balefully. “Tell me what happened,” she insisted. Through the webcam, I caught Alex’s eye, and I could read the deep concern in her face.

How much could I really tell them?

“I went out to collect samples,” I explained. “And I—"

“Alone?” Alex and my mom demanded in unison, and I paused, thinking about how easily Hunter and Queenie had let me go.

“Yes,” I answered, reluctant to get into the details.

“Are you supposed to do that?” Alex asked.

“That was foolish!” Mom snapped at the same time, and I rolled my eyes.

I doubted I was going to make it through the conversation with my sanity intact. “Do you two want to know what happened, or are you just going to pepper me with questions?”

They clamped their mouths shut and waited for me to continue.

“Anyway, I was out longer than I expected, and then I got lost,” I rushed on, wondering how much I should tell them. Obviously, the orgy with the seven men who had rescued me was out of the question, but what else should I leave out?

“Spill it, Sash,” Alex growled at me, and I realized I’d fallen silent for too long.

“Spill what?” I asked innocently, but they continued to glare at me.

They could tell I was hiding something. I knew I’d better fess up to something before their minds started making up their own stories.

“I fell into a bear trap,” I sighed. “And I found a cabin where I was lucky enough to wait out the storm with some contract drillers.”

“Wait. What?” Alex cried.

“A bear trap!” Mom choked. “Are you hurt? Do you have an infection?”

“No, no. These men were amazing.” I felt my heart catch in my throat as I thought about them. “I was really, really lucky.”

Don’t you dare get all emotional in front of these two, I warned myself.

“There was a medic, and he took care of me,” I offered weakly, realizing their eyes were pinned on me.

“They were all men?” Alex asked, her eyes widening, and I groaned inwardly.

It didn’t matter how I spun this; they were going to be freaked out. Not that I could really blame them.

“I was lucky,” I insisted again. “If I hadn’t found their cabin…” I shuddered to think about what could have happened. I surely wouldn’t be sitting there talking to them; that much was a certainty. “There’s no serious damage to my leg.”

“How can you be sure?” Mom wanted to know. “You need to go to a hospital. Is there a hospital there? Oh, I knew I shouldn’t have let you go!” She was moaning as if she’d had a say in my decision to go, and I stifled a sigh.

“Who the hell puts out bear traps in Iceland?” Alex mused aloud.

Before I could stop myself, I muttered, “Jimmy does.” A pang of melancholic affection sliced through me, but somehow, I managed to keep it together.

“Who’s Jimmy?” Something in my voice had piqued her attention, and I blushed, knowing that I was saying too much.

“One of the drillers. Listen, I’m exhausted,” I said. “I don’t mean to blow you off, but I’m really behind at work now, and I—”

“Hang on there, Sash,” Alex interrupted, leaning into the camera. “Are you staying there?” The disbelief in her voice was almost palpable.

“No! You’re coming home!” Mom screamed so loudly that I was shocked Queenie and Hunter didn’t come running inside to see who was being murdered.

“I’m not coming home. I have less than three weeks here, and I have a job to do.” I was trying to keep the annoyance out of my voice. “Of course I’m staying!”