Chapter Eight

I break out of my musings when I hear sounds coming towards the tree I am hiding in. I hold my breath and try to steady my heart from beating out of my chest. The sounds get louder and I wait until something comes out of the foliage and I see huge back plates. I breathe a sigh of relief when it is merely a group of Stegosaurus coming through. I watch them as they nibble on some things on the ground and then I realise what an opportunity it was that they were actually right below me. Their tracks would cover mine which means that I could get out of the tree and Owen would have nothing to go on. I slowly climb down the tree not wanting to spook the huge creatures. As much as they are harmless herbivores, when they decide to hurry up their pace a small person like me will end up being crushed to death.

I try to be as silent as possible and manage to get out of the trees safely, ending up at the grassy area near my bungalow. I take the chance to go back there and hide, knowing that this part of the park was what I knew best. However running straight across the grass could give Owen a first row seat to where I am headed. I go back into the trees, using a more difficult route to get back to the bungalow. I jump over puddles and try not to leave any tracks behind, smudging the footprints and making them look like big blobs of disturbed dinosaur prints.

I spend some time making fake trails through the trees and not touching anything more than I had to. I break a few bigger branches as if though large dinosaurs had been walking through rather than a human…well mostly human…anyways…afterwards I began the trek back to my bungalow, messing up my trail on the way. I smell dirt inside of my home and don't think much of it. I slowly open the door making sure that I check over my shoulder every few moments. I make sure to check every corner of the place to see if Owen had been there and when I find no trace of his scent, I finally relax. I slump down onto my sofa and enjoy the soft leather moulding to my body. I remove my muddy boots and lift my feet onto the sofa and decide that maybe a nap would do me some good. Eventually I doze off lightly which soon turns into a good sleep.

When I open my eyes, the sun has already set. I open the cupboards and find some instant ramen which I heat up in microwave. As I sit on my sofa I can't help but wonder if Owen is okay. It's been a really long time and the dinosaurs are still roaming about. What if he is in trouble and can't get himself out of it? What if he is hurt and waiting for me to come and get him? The ramen becomes tasteless and I make the decision to go looking for him after swallowing the remaining noodles down. Tossing the cup in the trash, I go back to the sofa and put on my still muddy boots. I open the door and almost take a step outside when I hear a sound inside. I look over my shoulder and there he was. Owen Grady was inside my home, watching me.

"Where are you going?"

I step back inside, closing the door behind me but kept the distance that is between the both of us.

"I was going to look for you. I thought maybe something happened to you"

He opens his arms

"Well here I am"

I sigh

"Sorry for worrying about you then"

"I used to be in the Navy, I can take care of myself you know"

"Exactly, you were in the Navy. You were at sea, not on land working with the animals that could kill you with a flicker of a tail"

"They did teach us how to survive if we ever got stranded you know"

"Would it have been enough if you had a broken bone or something Owen?"

"Like I said, I can take care of myself in the wild. I was training raptors, I know about survival"

He steps towards me, slowly, testing to see if I would bolt, but I didn't. I stand my ground as he gets closer and when he reached me he takes my hand in his. I watch curiously as he places it on his chest, on his heart.

"Feel it"

I have my hand on his chest and his heart thumps quickly. I can hear his heartbeat from a mile away, but he doesn't need to know that I can hear it. In a group of people I can track his scent so easily, hear his voice and heartbeat. In a room he always stands out to me more than any other person. When he is there, it is as if my world is complete and the rest can fall away into nothingness and I wouldn't feel a thing for them.

I look at his lips and wonder what it tastes like. I want to taste them. I tilt my head up at him and he dips his head a tiny bit. Looking into his eyes I could see that his eyes mirrored exactly what I am feeling. He presses his lips to mine, gentle in his touch. He pulls away and I let him. I flicker the tip of my tongue on his lips, giving him a kitten lick and tasting slight saltiness on my tongue. He opens his mouth and leans down to catch my bottom lip and gives a single suck. I pull him closer to me, needing to feel the warmth of his body. He nuzzles at my temple and I feel him get down to my neck and nuzzles in the crook of neck and shoulder.

"Bathroom"

He lifts his head then suddenly the ground is no longer underneath my feet. I wrap my legs around his waist to keep steady. One of his hands is underneath my bottom and I raise an eyebrow. He grins at me and begins the trek to my bathroom.