“Maybe havin’ sex with Fyodor triggered this,” Evangeline surmised. Her clothes actually hurt her skin. She couldn’t take the way the material rubbed against her nipples. She’d dragged on her shirt but left it unbuttoned with the idea that she’d jump in the bathtub if Alonzo returned sooner than she thought he would. Now, she pushed the two sides open and off her breasts hoping for a respite. The material slid across her nipples like the brush of his thumb. Her sex spasmed. Clenched. Wept for him.

She tried to breathe the need away, but it was like a wildfire sweeping through her. She knew if Alonzo were in the room, she’d be all over him. “Is it this bad for you?”

Yes. I want my mate close to me, but the time isn’t right yet. It will pass soon.

Evangeline wasn’t certain she would survive if it didn’t pass soon. She could call Alonzo to her, but she needed to know what was happening in her new world. He would try to shut her out, keep the worst from her, but she was self-sufficient and independent. She wasn’t the type of woman to have a man make all her decisions for her.

She lifted her head determinedly and stared at his face on the screen. Listened to his voice. So low. So mesmerizing. She could see the men in the room were as affected by his voice as she was, although not in the same way. Her hand slid up her rib cage, her fingers trailing fire. She gasped when she cupped her breasts and her thumbs brushed her nipples just as he did. All the while she kept her eyes glued to his face.

He was frozen again. Inside. Outside. Her Iceman. She realized that only she really thawed him, melted that ice inside of him. She gasped again as her fingers tugged and rolled her nipples. Lightning streaked from her breasts to her core. Her sex clenched again, clenched and burned in desperation.

She tried to concentrate on what the men were saying, but there was no letup. She had no idea the Han Vol Dan would be so intense. She found herself on her hands and knees, her hips bucking. Her fingers slid deep and her thumb found her clit. She needed Alonzo, or at least her toy. It was brutal. The worst thing she’d ever felt. She needed. It was all-consuming. Frightening in its intensity. The burn couldn’t be assuaged, and she found herself sobbing.

She could barely see straight. Her vision was banded, as if she were seeing through waves of heat. Colors were different. Dull. She was acutely aware of her body. Every cell in need. Her skull too tight for her head, pushing outward. Her teeth ached. At the same time, she became aware of her leopard. The fear. Discomfort. The pushing outward when she wanted to retreat.