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Claire emerged from the bathroom with damp hair, wearing a gaudy oversized tie-dye t-shirt advertising the resort they were staying in for the night. They would all be flying home in the morning, but for now they had a safe place to stay and a tote bag full of clean clothes and toiletries that a staff member had given them.
Owen looked up from where he was reclining on the king-sized bed and let out a chuckle.
“What?” Claire asked. “Is this not the sexiest thing you’ve ever seen me in?”
“You could wear tree bark and look sexy. How are you feeling?” Owen asked her.
“Sore. Tired. Sore. Achy. Sore. Did I mention sore?”
Owen swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat up, holding out his arms. Claire immediately walked straight into them and let herself be enveloped. She rested her chin on top of Owen’s head and asked him the same question.
“What about you? How do you feel?”
“Sore. Tired. Sore. Achy. Sore. Did I mention sore?” He repeated back to her. She could feel him smiling against her and pulled back to look at him.
“Smart ass.”
“Seriously though, Claire, you took some hard hits.”
Claire stepped back and lifted the hem of the t-shirt to show him her torso. He inhaled sharply and she could see the worry in his eyes.
“Jesus, Claire!” He reached out and ran his hands gently up her sides. Her entire midsection was mottled with angry red and purple splotches. She lifted her shirt higher, and he could see her bare breasts were marked in the same way. The restraints from the ejection seat had left a large X across her body. “Claire …”
“It’s okay, Owen. It all hurts, but the medics checked me over. Nothing is broken.” She cupped his chin with one hand, “They’re just bruises. They’ll fade. We’re all okay. We’re safe.” She let her shirt drop back down and leaned down to give him a soft kiss on the lips. “I’m going to go check on Maisie again. You should take a shower. You stink.”
She smiled and gave him a wink before heading to the door connecting their rooms. She knocked softly and when Maisie didn’t respond, Claire pushed the door open and saw her sitting on the edge of her bed, still wearing her dirty clothes, the tote bag of toiletries next to her.
“Maisie, honey, are you okay? You came in here to shower thirty minutes ago.”
Maisie looked up and Claire saw tears in her eyes. “Yeah. I’m just … I’m just a little bit freaked out, I guess. Can you stay in here while I take a shower?”
“Oh honey, of course I can. Come here.” She pulled the girl up from the bed and wrapped her up in a tight hug. She reassured her the same way she did Owen, “We’re all okay now. We’re safe.” She could feel Maisie’s body relax against her and so she held on for another moment before telling her, “Go ahead and take your shower. I’ll be right here when you’re done.”
Twenty minutes later, the bathroom door opened back up and Maisie came out in a cloud of steam, wearing the same oversized tie-dye shirt that Claire had on. It fell past her knees and dropped off one shoulder.
“This is a fashion statement, for sure.” She said, laughing. She held up a tiny comb, “This is all I have to brush my hair.”
Claire was sitting on the bed with her legs crossed in front of her. She pulled her legs back and patted the space in front of her. “Sit. I’ll help.”
Maisie plopped down in front of Claire and handed her the comb. Claire began working her way through the tangles at the ends of Maisie’s wet hair and asked, “Tell me the truth, how are you?”
Maisie took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I think I’m okay. I’m a little achy from the car crash. I kind of can’t believe any of the last couple of days even happened.” She paused before saying “Kayla told me about what happened in Malta. And on the plane. You really did all of that for me?”
Claire continued combing the girl’s hair, “Of course I did. We did. Maisie, we couldn’t bear the thought of losing you. We took off as soon as Owen realized they’d found you. We were terrified we’d never see you again.” Her voice wavered, just slightly, and she felt a few tears slide down her cheeks.
Maisie turned to look at her, tears swimming in her eyes, “Thank you. For everything. I’m so sorry for what I said about you not being my mother. I didn’t listen and this is all my fault, and you still came to find me. You jumped out of a plane.” The words came out in a rush, and she let out a small laugh, then started crying.
“Hey, hey honey, it’s okay. And this was absolutely not your fault. Know that Owen and I will always love you, no matter what.” She held her arms out and Maisie scooted herself back on the bed until she could curl herself up against Claire’s side. Claire wrapped her arms around her and dropped a few kisses down on the top of her head, holding her close. Maisie reached across Claire and ran her fingers across the braided string bracelet Claire wore that matched her own.
“I can’t believe this never broke.” Maisie sniffled a couple of times and said quietly, “I love you, Claire.”
Claire tipped her head back against the headboard and felt more tears escape. She was trying so hard to keep it together, but she was failing. “I love you, too, sweetheart.”
They stayed that way until Owen knocked on the door and stuck his head in. “Everything okay in here?”
“Yeah. Everything’s okay.” Claire said. “I’ll just be a little longer.”
Owen nodded and said “Night, kid. Love you.”
Maisie’s eyelids were getting heavy, and she sleepily mumbled “Love you back.” Her hand had dropped away from Claire’s wrist and her head drooped. Owen smiled and shut the door as he backed into the other room.
Claire tucked Maisie’s hair behind her ear and then tipped her chin up with a finger. “Hey, why don’t you try and get some sleep now?” She suggested. Maisie sat up and wiped her still wet cheeks with the sleeve of her shirt. She pulled back the covers on one side of the bed and wriggled down under them.
“Will you stay a few more minutes?” she asked.
“You bet.”
The girl turned to face the other way but stayed close, making sure her back was pressed up against Claire. Claire stroked her hair and let the long strands slip between her fingers. She watched as Maisie relaxed into the pillow and her breathing evened out. She was asleep after only a couple of minutes. Claire marveled at how peaceful she looked despite all the trauma she’d just experienced over the last few days. Claire certainly couldn’t get the image of Maisie nearly being eaten by a dinosaur out of her head. She leaned down to press a kiss to the girl’s temple before sliding off the bed and heading to the door. She watched Maisie from the doorway for another minute before disappearing into her and Owen’s room and shutting the door with a soft click.
Owen was back in his reclined position on the bed, arm flung over his face. When he heard the door close, he peeked out at Claire from under his forearm. “Is she asleep?”
“Out like a light in record time.” Claire said. She slid under the covers and snuggled up against Owen. She ran her hand across his bare chest. “It appears I’m not the only one with nasty looking bruises.” She lifted the sheets slightly and saw a trail of bruising down Owen’s side and disappearing around his hip into his boxers.
Owen smirked, “You can examine those if you want …”
Claire laughed and rolled her eyes, “Later, if you’re good.”
Owen hooked his hand behind her knee and pulled her leg up over his. Legs intertwined, she relaxed into him, and they were silent for a few moments. Claire trailing her fingers up and down his arm, and Owen absentmindedly brushing his thumb over the scar on her thigh from the Indorapter a few years before.
“Claire?”
“Hmm?”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too, Owen.”
“Claire?”
“Hmm?”
“I just …” Owen stopped and pressed his lips together. Claire waited, but when he didn’t speak again, she tipped her head back to look up at him. Owen rarely cried and she could see he was fighting not to now.
“Owen, please … what is it?” She reached up and cupped her hand around one side of his face so he would look at her.
“I thought I lost you out there. I thought I’d lost you and Maisie and I —“ he was too choked up to continue. He turned his face into Claire’s hand and kissed her palm a few times. He pulled her hand down and clutched it to his chest. He tried again, “You two are the best part of my life and I thought I’d gotten you killed. When that Giga had its jaws around Maisie, I thought for sure …”
“Owen, none of this is your fault. None of it. We’re all okay. We knew there would be risks when we took Maisie with us. That we’d always be looking over our shoulders. But we were both willing to lay down our lives for that little girl. I went into this with you one hundred percent. It’s not your fault.” She extracted her hand from his and used her thumb to brush away the one tear that had slipped down his cheek. Shifting slightly so she could reach, she kissed him softly and whispered, “Not. Your. Fault.” between each kiss.
She kissed his cheek where the tear had fallen and then moved back to his lips. Soft and warm and open, her tongue slipped between his parted lips. Her hand grasping at the nape of his neck, she moved her lips slowly against his. She gasped when he slid his hand up the back of her thigh and squeezed her ass. Owen took the opportunity to deepen their kiss, needy and heated, like her kiss was the only thing that could save him somehow. She was kissing him back, just as desperate, shifting her body for a better angle and then suddenly he pulled away and groaned, “We really shouldn’t do this now. I don’t want you to wind up hurting more than you already are.”
“No. You’re right. We shouldn’t. But when we get home …” Claire panted, open-mouthed, against his lips and then kissed him again, lingering as she pulled away, her lips barely touching his, “Your hand is still on my ass, Mr. Grady.”
Owen squeezed again then slid his hand around to rest gently on her hip. “When we get home, will you wear that sexy little lacy thing you have and let me put my hand on your ass again?”
Claire laughed, “Whatever you want. In fact, I’ll insist you put your hands, and mouth, everywhere.”
Owen pressed one more sweet kiss to her lips and then let his head fall back against the headboard.
“Do you ever think about how absurd all of this is?” Owen asked her.
“Which part? There’s a lot of absurdity in our lives these days.”
“All of it. Dinosaurs? Hiding in the woods? A child? Shit, a teenager. She’s so grown up now, isn’t she? I still think of her as a little girl. Remember when she first came to live with us, she’d have those nightmares? She’d climb into our bed and cling to you until morning.”
“She was so scared all the time. I guess I was, too. I was always worried they’d find us and take her away. Or that she would realize I had no idea what I was doing as a mom.”
“Claire, you’re an amazing mom. I know you worry about that, but you don’t need to. That kid in there loves you so much.”
They were both quiet again for a moment. Owen bent his head down and inhaled the clean scent of her hair.
“You know, I really love Cabin Claire.”
Claire laughed, “You mean opposed to bitchy Corporate Claire?”
“Corporate Claire wasn’t bitchy; she was responsible for thousands of lives and millions of dollars’ worth of assets, and she was just doing her job. She had the weight of an entire island on her shoulders. She did look really hot in those fancy outfits and heels though.”
“Liked those, did ya?”
“Let’s just say it was a major perk of the job.” Owen grinned down at her. “But I suspect that Cabin Claire was really right under the surface all along. She’s even hotter.”
“Now you’re just sucking up.” Claire laughed. “I love our life together with Maisie, Owen. I thought that job, and climbing the corporate ladder, was what I wanted in my twenties. But I wasn’t happy then.”
“And now?”
“And now I’m happier than I ever thought I’d have a right to be.”
Owen kissed the top of her head, but before he could say anything else there was a quiet, tentative, knock on the door between their rooms.
Claire untangled her legs from Owen’s and glanced down to make sure neither one of them were exposing anything before saying “You can come in, Maisie.”
Maisie stuck her head in the door, she looked like she’d been crying again, and she’d wrapped herself up in a blanket. “I woke up to pee and … I’m too scared to stay in there alone.” She looked embarrassed and it broke Claire’s heart.
“Hey, that's okay, kid. You can come in here with us.” Owen told her gently.
Maisie climbed onto the bed on Claire’s side and curled against her for the second time that night. Claire held Maisie’s head against her and kissed her forehead.
Owen flipped the switch to turn out the light on the bedside table and repeated what Claire had been saying all evening, “We’re all okay.”