Claire led Owen back to the Jeep, where her nephews were waiting anxiously. The minute they caught sight of the couple, their faces lit up.
"Owen! Owen, you're alive!" Gray yelled in immense relief as Owen opened the driver's door.
"God, what happened out there? What took so long? What ever happened to 'I'll be back in half a minute,' Aunt Claire?" Zach snapped. His rough tone disguised his genuine concern for his aunt.
Claire climbed into her seat and turned to her nephews, running a hand through Gray's messy hair. "I am so sorry, guys. You see, Owen was getting attacked by this Dimorphodon and-"
"What? Is he okay? Owen, are you okay?" Gray asked frantically.
Owen smiled at this, touched by the concern. "Yeah, buddy. I'm fine. Just a bit banged up."
"Uh, Owen..." Zach said. "I think you're more than 'a bit banged up.'" He gestured to Owen's chest. The fabric of his blue shirt was stained with dark red.
Owen glanced down and his eyes widened at the sight of the stain near the top of his shirt. It was then that he became aware of the searing pain. He clenched his jaw.
"Damn it! It must've been from the damn dinosaur's claws," he cursed almost inaudibly under his breath as he fumbled with his shirt.
Immediately, Claire removed his hands from his shirt. "You're making it worse," she sighed.
"Well, what am I supposed to do? This is my most favorite vest!" Owen snapped.
Dismissing the fact that her nephews were watching closely, Claire placed a finger to his lips to silence him, much to his surprise.
"Firstly, I need you to shut up," she said seriously. Owen cracked a smile despite the pain.
"Alright. I'm shutting up now," he quipped. Claire rolled her eyes, though she gazed at him fondly.
"Whatever. Can you unbutton the top part of your shirt? We need to stop the bleeding."
Owen raised an eyebrow. "You sure about that? I don't want to accidentally melt you by half undressing myself, especially when you're about to start this gruesome operation."
"Shut up and do what I tell you to do. And you're not half undressing. Not in front of everyone in the Jeep."
"Right. We'll save that for the bedroom." Owen fumbled with the first few buttons. He revealed the wound on the top of his chest with a wince.
"Honestly, Owen. I don't know what you were even thinking to go out there alone," Claire chastised him as she inspected the gash. It wasn't very deep and looked worse than it really was.
"I wasn't thinking," Owen admitted with a shrug. Claire rolled her eyes. Of all the millions of men in this entire world to fall in love with, it had to be this idiot!
"We need to stop the bleeding. Do you have anything?" she asked him. Owen shook his head. Claire sighed. Her gaze fell upon her torn skirt. Well, it's already ripped. And it's not like I plan to ever wear it again... She tore off a section of the fabric near the tattered hem.
Owen stared at her while her nephews flinched visibly at the sound. I didn't know Aunt Claire had the guts to rip her expensive work clothes in pieces, even in dire situations.
"Stop looking at me like that," Claire said as she placed the piece of cloth onto Owen's chest and pressed down carefully to staunch the flow of blood. Owen grimaced.
"Sorry. I'll try to be careful," Claire said softly. Owen nodded and shifted in his seat to better look into her beautiful eyes. Just then, her phone began to ring. She kept one hand on Owen's wound while she reached for her phone with the other.
"Hello?" Who could this be?
"Claire, it's Lowery. I called to give you a heads up. I don't know what's happening, I don't know why they're here, but the board assigned emergency ops to Ingen's private security division. This guy named Hoskins is in charge. And he has this insane plan to use the raptors to hunt the Indominus." Claire's heart skipped a beat and she unconsciously pressed harder on Owen's skin.
"What do you mean by 'use the raptors'?" she asked in confusion.
"I'm not sure. Just get to the raptor paddock. Now. Hoskins wants them to be released-"
"Oh, my God! What the hell is he thinking? Do you know when they'll be released?" Claire fought down a wave of panic. It's not going to work! The raptors haven't ever been out of containment. They won't know what to do. This is an accident waiting to happen.
"Sometime tonight, I think. You still have time to change their minds."
"Oh, I'll be doing much more than changing their minds. Thank you, Lowery. I'll get back to you soon."
"You're welcome- wait, did you just thank me? Oh, God. Claire Dearing just thanked me! I, like, never saw that coming-" Claire shoved her phone back into her pocket. She met Owen's eyes with her distraught ones.
"It's your raptors... they might be in serious danger..." she whispered. Owen's hands tightened on the steering wheel as realization dawned on him. Before Claire could ask him to drive to the raptor paddock, he stepped on the gas pedal and steered the car sharply around, nearly unseating everyone. Judging by the furious way that Owen was driving, they were set to arrive there very soon.
Claire struggled to keep her balance as she removed the fabric from Owen's chest, which thankfully had stopped bleeding. She tore another strip of cloth from her mangy skirt and tucked it under Owen's shirt in case the wound reopened. He shot her a half smile when she rebuttoned his shirt. Then, the Jeep hit a bump and she was thrown forward without her seatbelt.
"Hold on!" Owen grunted. He placed a firm hand on Claire's thigh to steady her. She felt her skin breaking into goosebumps as soon as his hand touched her, but she had grown more accustomed to it by now.
"Owen..." she said nervously, her eyes fixed on the speedometer.
"Sorry," he said with a sigh. He reluctantly lessened the Jeep's speed and glanced at the two boys sitting at the back. They were silent, their hands gripping their seatbelts. God, for a second, I forgot that we have kids sitting at the back.
"It's okay, Owen. We're fine," Zach reassured him as if he could read his thoughts. "Besides, at home, Mom drives too slow. She's probably the reason I failed my driver's test. She told me to drive real slow so I wouldn't crash. It backfired because another car ended up almost colliding into us."
Gray laughed out loud. "I remember that day! You came home in a horrible mood and you punched me in the face when you saw me. I asked Mom about it and she told me that you failed your test. I asked her why you weren't going to be allowed to drive and she told me that 'the world would be a more dangerous place if Zach Mitchell hopped behind a steering wheel.'"
Claire snorted. That sounded exactly like Karen. She was grateful that the mood had lifted. Already, Owen looked more relaxed. She squeezed his hand tightly, causing him to glance swiftly at her.
"Yes. Karen has always seemed terrified of the gas pedal. She drives at the pace of a snail. I don't know why," Claire remarked. "I've always preferred going fast than going slow."
Owen grinned at her smugly. "Me, too. Then I guess we'd be good in bed together."
Claire stared at him. "What?"
"Yeah. You said you like it fast. So do I," Owen replied, giving her thigh a squeeze. Claire reddened and glanced at her nephews. Fortunately, they were still joking about Zach's driving test and were oblivious as to what was happening up in front.
"You never know, Mr. Grady. I'm pretty unpredictable. What if I want it slow?" Claire asked coyly.
"Don't worry, Ms. Dearing. I can make it last all night if that's what you want. Unpredictable or not, this man knows exactly how to satisfy women. I think I've told you that before."
"Yes, I remember that. How could I forget? I couldn't hold back a series of thrilling daydreams after hearing that."
"I can't wait to actually get in bed with you." Owen teased her lightly. Claire blushed as he rubbed her thigh in small circles with the pad of his thumb.
"Don't get too excited. As of now, this is only a joke between both of us. And I can't wait to see your face when I reject your offer."
Owen feigned shock. "You'll be too turned on to reject me, Claire. Don't worry too much about it, though. You won't be the first woman to succumb to my charm."
Claire giggled and then realized too late that the back of the Jeep had suddenly fallen silent.
Unfortunately, Owen was too wrapped up in his daydreams to notice. He proclaimed loudly, "God, I can't wait to make you scream."
Claire's eyes widened and she slapped his arm to shut him up. Too late.
"Aunt Claire, why would Owen want to make you scream?"
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