Page 13 of Mated to Team Shadow
"Start the engine and pray to the jaguar god that it starts."
Damon took the step across the deck and thunder boomed over the waves, and raindrops hit my face. The boat's rocking grew more intense as the wind picked up. Waves hit with rounding slaps of water. Out on the water things could turn dangerous fast, and this boat was not one to weather a big blow.
"Gunner," said Ryker. "Get a lifejacket on her and take her down below. Damon, turn over that engine!"
"Sure thing, Chief."
Damon engaged the ignition, and the engine chugged and whined, and my heart sank. If that goo reached into the engine, it would kill it. Our only hope was if the engine started.
"Is that pump primed?" yelled Damon over the rushing wind.
I pressed the primer bulb, and it was as hard as a rock.
Like me.
Fuck. I was at full mast as Gunner helped her with a lifejacket and then escorted her down the steps. Her sexy long legs extending from that short dress commanded my attention as she walked.
"Kane!" yelled Damon. Oh hell, I hadn't answered him.
"Yeah!" I said. "It's hard."
"Goddamn it," Damon grunted, and I didn't know whether it was from not getting the engine started or his physical condition which mirrored my own.
"Crank it," I yelled.
"Fuck you," he muttered and pressed the ignition again. The engine sputtered and finally caught.
"Thank god!" he said. Damon throttled the engine higher and turned into the storm toward the island. This normally was a bad practice, but it was never good to get caught on the water in a storm like this.
I pulled down the seating of the boat to close off the engine and lurched across the deck to Damon.
"Careful," I yelled in his ear over the engine. "I'm not sure if the engine got any of the goop. If you rev it too high, it could stall."
"We need speed."
"We need to get there."
Damon huffed and peered into the storm-cloud darkened path.
"I'll get us there."
Damon was one stubborn son-a-bitch, something we all appreciated. We were trained to get ourselves out of any situation, but Damon did it from sheer strength of will. Which was an advantage to our team, but I was not so sure how it would work with Jeanine? I had to tell him the truth because the last thing I wanted was trouble with my crew.
"Dude," I yelled, "my jaguar says Jeanine is my mate."
Damon made a derisive sound and opened his mouth, but just then a streak of lightning flashed a bright ribbon and thunder cracked in a deafening boom. Electricity cracked in the air, and the sky opened on us as if it wanted to blot us from the face of the churning ocean.
Fuck.
Damon
Hell, no. Jeanine is not Kane's mate. She's mine.I'd never experienced such a powerful reaction to a woman. This emotion came straight from my jaguar, and I could do nothing about it. She was mine, and I would convince her of that fact, and these other fuckers could stay away from her, or I would do them serious damage. If we weren't in a life-threatening situation, I'd claim her now. I didn't like that Ryker was in the hold with her. It's tiny and intimate and who knew what ideas he had. I would set them all straight, just as soon as I got us out of this mess. And I opened my mouth to tell Kane this when the air split with light and sound, and it made the beast inside me growl.
As much I tried to heed Kane's warning, I had to push the engines because otherwise, I couldn't make traction against these waves. My jaguar, my intuitive sense, told me this was a bad idea to challenge this brutal weather but I had to go with my head on this. We needed to make landfall. None of us could survive if this boat capsized. As SEALs, we were all strong swimmers, and as jaguars, stronger, but few people, human or shifter could survive in a storm-tossed ocean. And Jeanine? She wouldn't have a chance, and I couldn't let her come to harm.
Ryker climbed onto the deck.
"I'll take the wheel," he said. "Get in that hold."
