Eleven
Claire and Owen were swimming in the ocean. She swam up to him to kiss him, and he held onto her.
"I could never get you in the water back in the day," he said.
Claire smiled, "I've resumed doing new things with you."
"I might've asked you out sooner if I'd seen you in a bikini." Claire splashed him and swam away. Owen caught her and pulled her back into his arms, "You're sexy fully clothed, especially with a rifle in your hands. You were missed at the range."
"I bet," replied Claire, "All testosterone again."
"Hoskins even asked about you there."
"Did he?" she scoffed.
"Technically," answered Owen, "He asked about my 'hot piece of ass shooting partner.'"
Claire groaned and said sarcastically, "Quality human being. Got what he deserved."
"Let's just say...I punched him in the face once before this week."
Claire blushed, "That's really sexy." She kissed him sweetly then asked, "You didn't worry about your job?"
"It was reflex," said Owen, "I didn't worry about anything, including the confirmation it provided to him." Tears welled in Claire's eyes as she looked at him. Owen kissed her gently. She slipped out of his grip and swam toward the beach. Owen swam after her and caught her hand when she was knee-deep in the water. Claire turned to face him but wouldn't look at him. She ran the fingers of her free hand along three parallel scars on his chest. Owen swallowed.
"Foxtrot," Claire said matter-of-fact.
Owen nodded, "She was always wilder than the rest, even when she was small."
"It made me anxious to receive Barry's monthly safety reports, especially after this."
"It's not something you want guests or investors to hear about," said Owen, rolling his eyes.
Claire looked up at him and replied indignantly, "Fuck the guests and investors. I cared about you. I was really upset that you refused to go the mainland after this."
"It wasn't that serious," he said, "and the mainland doctors weren't better than ours."
"I couldn't tell how serious it was! The incident report was vague and formal. Sutures. Morphine." Claire shook her head and continued, "You have no idea how worried I was. You wouldn't see me."
Owen stroked her cheek with the back of his hand, "When you just showed up unannounced at the paddock, I thought you were upset because it would make the park look bad." He paused then stammered and looked away from her, "I thought...ugh. A poor rationalization. God, I'm an asshole."
"Thank you for admitting that," replied Claire, "Why didn't you send Barry, at least, to talk to me? Do you know how demeaning it was to have one of your random assistants send me away and tell me to 'schedule a meeting with the research division'?"
"I asked Barry to talk to you. He refused. Said he wasn't getting involved." Claire smiled and shook her head. Owen continued, "When you didn't schedule a meeting, I figured you just wanted to yell at me."
Smirking, she said, "Well, I did want to yell at you but not because I was concerned about the park."
"You never came to my paddock before that day," Owen reflected, "I asked you many times."
"I know," answered Claire.
"I was...am really proud of my work," he said, "l wanted to show off to you. You showed off to me all the time." Claire made a face. Owen clarified, "Don't get me wrong, I like watching you work. You're passionate about it. I just wanted it to go both ways."
"It did," she told him, "You're amazing at what you do. I always appreciated your commitment to it. Part of me was jealous. I felt like I couldn't compete with the joy it brought you." She paused to take a deep breath then continued, "But the main reason I avoided the raptor paddock was that I didn't want to see - or even have the visuals to imagine - you getting hurt. It really upsets me to see these scars...much more than reading about them." Claire covered the scars with her hand, took a deep breath and swallowed, "Even as Assets Manager, I worried about your safety above all others. When Indominus..." Her voice trailed off, she looked away from him, and her breathing started to heave in panic.
Owen turned her face back to him and looked at her with intense desire. He kissed her deeply, then picked her up, and started walking back to their hotel. She rested her head on his shoulder. Owen carried her into their room, put her on the bed, and climbed on top of her.
"I want you inside me," said Claire, panting.
"I need to thank you first for worrying about me," Owen replied.
A/N: I'm trying to keep this to a T, but I toyed with a longer M version of this chapter. Sorry if some are disappointed in my decision. Let me know your thoughts on that.
