Won't Let You Go | Owen Grady

Chapter Ten

Four Years Ago

"They're pretty cute, ya know?" Charlie said, looking down at the Raptor den from her spot beside Owen, high up on a metal bridge overlooking the paddock. She was wearing an army green tank top and khaki shorts, strands of blonde hair escaping her ponytail in the breeze. "I mean, for a Dino that would bite my hand off if it got the chance," she elbowed him in the side playfully.

"Hey now," He rolled his eyes at her, "If my training turns out well enough, they won't bite the hands off of anyone I don't tell them to," he looked down at the raptor pen, watching the four dinosaurs race around, tumbling over one another, still young, still small. Still easy enough to make an impression on, and they had imprinted on him already, which was the first step in the program.

One of the raptors, Delta, ran underneath the leafy greens of a fern, letting out a chirp, her siblings looking up in surprise, trying to found out where the source had gone. They were playing. It honestly was very very cute. Stuff like this was half the reason she had came to work here. To see the miracles of nature, and help them all flourish as much as possible. Yea, there were life or death experiences every now and then. But seeing these dinosaurs, acting unaided as they would have in the wild, that made it all worth it every time.

"Oh," she laughed at Owen's response, "So what you're saying is I have to stay on your good side, then?" She turn to face him, sunlight splashing over her bare, tanned skin as she batted her eyes up at him. Shameful flirting, the two had always been so full of it.

"You could never be on my bad side, Saunders. Every side you have is a good one, even the one I see when you're walking away," He flashed a grin, wiggling his eyebrows up and down playfully.

Lightly, she punched him in the upper arm, rolling her eyes. "Perv," she muttered, but she stayed there, right beside him, turning back to face the pit, their arms pressed against one another. That had just been how the two always were. Endless playful banter, all in good humour of course. Everything between them had always just come so naturally.

"Alright, stay right here, Saunders," Owen said suddenly, stepping away from the railing and walking off the bridge, taking the steps a couple at a time. She watched him go for a moment, before turning her attention back to the baby dinos in front of her (attention hogging little bastards, they were). She watched them race around, nipping playfully at one another's tails. It was easy to see their familial bond like this. It was easy to see why Owen liked working with them so much, why he really did enjoy his job. She wouldn't mind hanging out with these four dinos every day. Or having her own personal mini army. No one would ever try and fuck with her if she had her own raptors. She grinned at the thoughts.

Suddenly, hands came down on the outside of either of hers, a body pressing flush against her back. Her breath caught in her throat as Owen's lips came right beside her ear, whispering. "Want to feed them something?" She could feel his bear graze her neck as she imagine his lips coming down on her earlobe, sucking sweetly, then moving to her neck, his hands moving over hers, then to her tanktop, slipping underneath and moving over her bare skin. She almost let out a groan at the thought.

Taking in a shaky breath, she managed to nod, too scared to speak, let alone open her mouth, lest the moan escape, her thoughts of sex with Owen being on full display for everyone around. She would never live that down.

Carefully, he turned one of her hands over with his own, placing a small piece of frozen meat in it. "Alright, I'm going to whistle, when I do, hold your hand up in the air, in a fist. They should all stand to attention. If they do, toss the piece down," he explained, backing away from her with a devilish grin on his lips.

"Aye, aye, Captain," she gazed at him over her shoulder, before turning down to look at the circling raptors below her. When she heard Owen let out a sharp, shrill whistle, she held her hand up into the air, tight in a fist around the piece of meat. Below, all four raptors lined up in attention, staring up at her fist, eyes blinking rapidly, heads tilting as they studied her. After a beat, she gently dropped the piece inside, watching as Charlie, the raptor who shared her name, jumped in the air to snatch it. Owen tossed in three more pieces behind her, making sure each raptor got one for themselves.

"That was ridiculously cool," Charlie laughed, grabbing at Owen for a quick hug of thanks. "You'll have to come by P Squared some time, see the neat tricks my little buddy can do." She thought of her Packy, back home by himself, and her heartstrings pulled a little bit. She hadn't seen him in over a day, and she missed him.

"I will definitely do that," Owen replied, squeezing her so tightly some of her back popped, and he laughed. "But that's all the tricks I have for now. Need to get more training done before I can really start to show off and impress me." He gave her a wink, then the two of them made their way off of the bridge.

"Well, based on the notes you provided, I think they're doing great, and growing exactly as they should be. I'm recommending an additional supplement daily, I made note of the on the email overview I sent you." That had been the entire purpose of the visit, actually, doing her actual job. The fun part had come after her assessment had finished. "And," she let out a sigh later, "Drinks tonight?"

"A chance to wine and dine the infamous Charlie Saunders?" Owen teased, elbowing her lightly in the side as they took the stairs down two at the time, warm, ocean breeze blowing their direction. Owen Grady never passed up on the chance to spend time with Charlie, and everyone with eyes and ears knew that to be a fact. Those two were clearly so head over heels for one another and everyone recognized it, beside them.

"Wine, dine, and reeeecline," She laughed, drawing out the last word playfully, brushing back some stray strands of blonde hair away from her face as the wind tried to sweep them into her vision.

"Well when you add that into the mix, how could I even think of saying no?" He asked teasingly, checking his watch. "Meet at Margaritaville in 50? Usual table?" He suggested. That would give both of them time to get home and shower off the days work.

"Fifty sounds good to me," She replied, leaning against the door of her Jeep, not wanting to break away. The two stared at each other for a long moment of silence, before she turned and entered the car, driving away into the sunset.