Rage was an easy emotion to read on Holion’s face as he lifted his head and flashed a nasty look at Lynn before he met Coto’s gaze. “Our mission is to retrieve Argis Vhon, not to protect a woman. Are you sure you did not injure your head when you were attacked? I question your priorities and your ability to think clearly.”

In the blink of an eye, Coto moved, nailing Holion square in the chest. The other man grunted loudly from the impact of Coto’s fisted hands as he was thrown back from the sheer force of the hit. He flew a good five feet and landed on his back. Coto snarled, taking two steps before he halted, his blue eyes flashing with emotion. His lips parted and his sharp teeth showed clearly as he glared at the downed man.

Lynn was shocked to the core at the sudden violence. She couldn’t move and wasn’t even sure she breathed as she watched Holion struggle to sit up. He pushed away from the ground, getting to his feet quickly. He opened his mouth, growling viciously. His hands clenched into fists.

“You think you can take me?” Coto moved to the right, putting his body in the way so Lynn couldn’t see Holion anymore. “Try. The last thing we need is you injured, since we may face an enemy when we find Vhon, but if you want to do this, we will fight.”

Lynn leaned sideways enough to get a view of Holion. As much as she appreciated Coto putting his body between her and the angry alien, she wanted to see what was going on. It was fascinating and horrifying at the same time. It astounded her that they were such an advanced race if they used violence to work out differences. She wondered briefly if Coto had moved to protect her or if he just didn’t want her to see most of what was going on between him and the other guy.

“You are not acting rationally, Coto. You should be discussing strategy with us to find Argis Vhon, but instead you are feeding and coddling the woman.”

“It is dark and we can’t hunt until their sun rises,” Coto growled. “What I do is not up for your judgment. Were you raised with Vhon? He is a brother of my heart and his life is everything to me. You question this?”

Holion shook his head, his gaze dropping to the dirt between them. “My apologies, Vartas Coto. I am stressed and angry. Our ship is damaged, we are trapped here, and the enemy may have Argis Vhon. Their ship went down close to ours. All our lives will be forfeited when Hyvin Berrr finds out we allowed his son to be taken by our enemy.”

Coto relaxed his stiff shoulders and sighed loudly. “We are all under stress—and I’ve ordered you not to use my title, friend. Others will come when they realize they can’t contact us. We will find Vhon. The Collis can’t leave here either, with the damage we inflicted, and Vhon is too valuable for them to take his life if they find him first. Kollen will guard our camp, we will relax this evening, and tomorrow we will have him back with us.”

Holion nodded, regret on his features. “My apologies again, my friend. I never wish to fight with you. It has been a bad day.”

“Yes,” Coto agreed. “It has.” He turned then, his exotic gaze fixing on Lynn before he moved toward her.

She didn’t miss the trepidation she saw on his face. She’d overheard a lot that she was trying to do the math on. Whoever this Vhon dude was, he was in danger. It sounded as though two ships had fought and both crashed. Coto’s men and whatever a Collis was, were enemies. Vhon’s father had to be Coto’s boss. The guy wasn’t going to be happy—in a murderous way—if something happened to his son.

“There’s no reason to be afraid.”

Lynn shrugged. “Shit happens. I’m glad you two aren’t going to come to blows. You could open up your wounds.” Her glance flicked over his bandaged wrist and she gasped at the sight of red on his hand. She rose to her feet. “You did! Let me see.”

He held out his arm to her as she took his hot hand, a jolt going through her as her fingers curved around his long, strong ones. She kept her attention on his wrist where the bandage showed fresh blood. She looked up, had to tilt her chin to meet his narrowed gaze, and frowned.

“You need your doctor to look at this.”

“Yavil isn’t a doctor but he is medically trained for emergencies. Let us go inside and he will tend to me.”

Movement at the corner of her eye had her turning her head. Speak of the devil, she thought, watching the tall blond with the dark eyes cautiously approach them with his likely first-aid bag in hand. He met her curious gaze for a second but then turned his full attention on Coto.

“I’m ready.”

Coto nodded, his fingers firmly clasping Lynn as he turned and led her toward the igloo-like tent. She followed meekly behind him as he opened the flap of the thing.

The light inside wasn’t blue; instead, regular white light came from a round disk that may have been the smallest, coolest lamp she’d ever seen. It was the size of a pot lid but the light it put out was tremendous, making the room bright as daylight but not glaringly so. Someone had set up bedrolls on the floor, spaced a few feet apart. Coto kept hold of her as he crossed the room, walking between two bedrolls to the far side. He released her and pointed to one.

“Please sit.”

Coto bent and removed his boots. They were big things, heavy-duty, like military issue. It made her wonder if they were in some kind of alien army. She hoped they weren’t there to check out Earth for a possible invasion. That concept left her feeling cold but if they were merciless killers, they sucked at it since they’d saved her. Coto had also been super nice to her. She relied on her gut instincts and believed their reason for being on Earth. Some of her tension eased.

The bedroll was a thick, comfortable pad as she got settled, sitting cross-legged, and then looked up. Her jaw dropped as Coto lay back flat on his bedroll, both hands going to the front of his pants, which he pushed down his legs and totally removed. She stared at his kinky shorts again, those long, muscular legs, and forced her lips firmly together.

Don’t gawk, she ordered, forcing her gaze to Yavil. Of course Coto has to take off his pants. The other man needs to clean his wounds and wrap them better. Yavil studied for Coto’s bleeding wrist first and removed the bandage.

“What did this?” Yavil reached for a bottle.

“They were vicious creatures with sharp teeth.”

“Dogs,” Lynn offered quietly. “They are similar to what you chased away when you found me.”