The way Leftrin’s body blocked Jess’s access to her suggested he was protecting her. She wasn’t sure from what but felt profoundly grateful he was there. Alise had never seen the captain so clearly enraged and yet so controlled. It frightened her, and at the same time it spurred a powerful surge of attraction toward him. This, she suddenly knew, was the sort of man she wanted in her life.

Yet despite Leftrin’s intensity, Jess seemed unfazed. “Go do what I was ‘paid’ to do? Isn’t that exactly what we’re talking about here, Captain? Getting paid. And sooner rather than later. Perhaps we should all sit down and have a chat about the best way to make that happen.” He leaned around Leftrin to shoot Alise a knowing grin. She was appalled. What was he talking about?

“There is nothing to discuss!” Leftrin’s voice rattled the windows.

Jess’s gaze went back to Leftrin. His voice lowered suddenly, taking the note of a warning snarl. “I’m not going to be cheated out of this, Leftrin. If she wants a share, she’ll have to go through me. I’m not going to stand by and watch you take a new partner and cut me out for the sake of making a sweet little deal for yourself.”

“Get out.” From a roar, Leftrin’s voice had dropped to a near whisper. “Get out now, Jess. Go hunting.”

Perhaps he knew he’d pushed Leftrin to his limit. The captain hadn’t verbalized a threat, but killing hung in the air. Every beat of her thundering heart seemed to shake Alise. She couldn’t draw a breath. She was terrified of what might happen next.

Jess swung his feet to the floor so that his boots landed on the deck with a thump. He stood, taking his time, like a cat that stretches before it turns its back on a slavering dog. “I’ll go,” he offered lightly. “Until another time,” he said as he walked out the door. Around the corner but still within hearing, he added, “We all know there will be another time.”

Leftrin leaned across the table to reach the door’s edge. He slammed it so hard that every cup on the table jumped. “That bastard,” he snarled. “That traitorous bastard.”

Alise found she was hugging herself and trembling. Her voice shook as she said, “I don’t understand. What was he talking about? What does he want to discuss with me?”

LEFTRIN WAS AS angry as he’d ever been in his life, and by his fury, he knew that the damn hunter had woken fear in him as well. It wasn’t just that the man was misjudging Alise in such a base way. It was that his assumptions threatened to ruin Leftrin’s good image in her eyes.