A wild man's primal instinct. *Completed*

Chapter Sixteen

Well, that took way to long and I'm so sorry. I really just wanted to do an update so it hasn't been edited to well.

"Gus?" Evelyn murmured distractedly, her mind still racing a mile a minute. Together they were sitting in their same spots, however now Evelyn laying on the ground with Angus' head on her upper thigh. They shifted positions a while back. Evelyn fingers traced through the rough hair, the brown chunks catching on her fingers as she tried to curl the straw like strands around her pointer finger. She'd mumble an apology as her finger tips scraped the top of his skull and he'd only sigh as he'd sneak a kiss to the underside of her wrist whenever it came into reach.

It had been a while since the heart racing incident, a long while sat in silence as Evelyn tried to process what had just happened. True to his word, Gus was okay. He was smiling and partaking in the conversation, continuing his playful persona with her. He had kept reassuring her he was okay and it made her feel lighter than air.

But she still blamed herself, and nothing would ever convince her otherwise. Angus made her leave so he would face the danger of the wild animal so she wasn't in harm's way and she did. She could have stayed and let Angus go free, but she knew acting out on something drastic would have concluded in one of their deaths. Evelyn suppressed the shudder at the thought of the pain he must have felt from the razor like claws. At first she found it sweet he would do such a thing but now a potential life of death situation occurred and he stood by protecting her, all she could feel was guilt. Flattered beyond words but guilty as all hell. But he way okay, at least that's what he told her.

On the outside, Gus kept a happy face. He was relieved to see that Evelyn was not in shock from what she had just encountered however on the inside, Gus was hurting.

He had two flesh wounds, one on his shoulder and one on his waist and he had lost a fair amount of blood before he could apply the pressure to block the blood flow. He felt tired so he kept his eyes closed as he made it look like he was relaxing, but really if he opened them, his eyes felt like they would droop closed unconsciously after a few minutes as exhaustion set over his body. The wounds stung, they felt like they were being torn open all over again and it took a lot of his energy to keep a happy face on just for his Evy. He didn't need her stressing because he knew there was only one way off his home now that the bridge was cut down.

The water.

He would give himself a few more minutes to reenergize before figuring a safe way from his home.

"Mhmm?" He mumbled his response.

"Are you," she stared but her musical voice trailed off. He sensed the apprehensive tone in her voice and pushed himself up, unable to hold in the grimace. He saw her concern appear on her face but he made it disappear as he stole a kiss from her lips quickly, making her cheeks turn even redder from their natural state. He loved the look.

"How do we get off here?" She finally asked, pushing her previous question away. It was eating her alive but at the moment her focus was getting back to her camp. Her backpack was left back at the meeting point of the marozi, along with her notes, camera and satellite phone. She knew there was no way to reconnect the bridge and after watching the marozi fall to its death from the rocks embedded under the water, she knew it would be difficult.

"Uh, the water." He murmured, studying her reaction closely. When he saw the horror on her face he traced his thumb over her thin, pink bottom lip before pushing himself up. He winced but held his hand out for Evelyn anyways to assist her up. Evelyn had noticed the wince as she grabbed his hand. She pushed herself up with her free hand but squeezed his hand in reassurance, worry in her mind.

"It will be safe." He spoke as he led her around to the other side. He pulled her into his side and pointed down below to where the choppy water looked slightly lighter than the rest. "There no rocks there. Jump in and stay close to the base. Beach is only not long swim." He said. He felt her body tense in his hold and he hated how she was feeling this way.