Monsters In The Night - Ch 3- Truths Turned Inside-Out
Rating change: R+ but not quite NC-17, for adult content as well as language
Disclaimer: It all belongs to someone else. I just like to give them some romance and a happy ending somewhere down the line.
Monsters In The Night
by
Lattelady
Ch 3 - Truths Turned Inside-Out
The skiff’s space doors closed and locked, and Fry breathed a sigh of relief. She was cut off from the others for a while, giving her time to think. That, along with most other things, she did best alone. Their situation had gone from bad to disaster in the amount of time it had taken the group to drink the water Imam and his boys had found. Her mind quickly sorted facts as her fingers flew over the console to bring the twenty-year-old computer to life. They had thought they were safe from the flesh-eating aliens that lived in the darkness deep below the planet’s surface, but they’d been wrong. If their calculations were correct a total eclipse was coming that would darken the planet for a long time, giving them nowhere to hide, and the monsters from below free reign of the surface. The old skiff was all that stood between them and a gristly death.
Carolyn gave a sigh of relief when the computer hummed to life on the third try. She focused her mind on the Systems Check and tried not to think of the strange group of people that were on the other side of the locked doors. She had always made it a practice to avoid the sleepers she carried on her runs, now she knew why.
Turning in the pilot’s seat to re-modulate the computer for the new power source, she felt eyes on her and jumped. Riddick! She quickly checked the readouts, but the sys-check had begun. If she hit the emergency exit, it could blow the one power cell they had and they would be back to square one. Watching his face as he walked slowly toward her, she realized he knew it as well.
“They say timing is everything,” he grinned at her. “And I’ve been meaning to get some more time alone with you…unrestrained, that is.”
“I got work to do, Riddick,” it took all her nerve, but she forced herself to turn her back on him. He might kill her, as he had the pilot of the prison transport, but she believed she was safe until all the power cells were in place. He had moved close enough behind her chair that the heat radiating off his body made her skin tingle. In an attempt to keep her hands from trembling, she focused on moving them carefully and precisely over the controls.
“So, what do ya think?” He let himself touch only the tips of her hair with his right hand as he grasped the overhead bar with his left. How she answered his many leveled question would tell him a lot about her. Would she take it as an easy sexual invitation as most women he had known would or was there more to her than met the eye?
“I’m afraid of you. Is that what you wanted to hear?” She turned in her seat and slid around him, feeling trapped in the cockpit.
“No you’re not, at least not right now.” He backed her up until she was wedged between the pilot’s chair and the wall. “I think you’re afraid of you, but before we get into that, I gotta ask you, do you think Johns is a do-right man? Can I trust him?” He could see the answer in her face, making part of him itch to reach for his shiv. He knew that before the skiff doors opened again, he was going to bury something deep inside of her. Her next answer would be the tiebreaker.
“He…” If he had been touching her, she would have lied, but he stood inches away from her and waited. Even though his goggles still covered his eyes, she knew he was seeing deep into her. “No,” she whispered. “You can’t trust him. He has no plans on keeping his end of the bargain, and I believe he’ll kill you if he can.”
“He won’t kill me.” He slid his goggles onto his forehead as he watched the shadowy expressions flit across her face. “I’m worth twice as much to him alive.”
“What!”
“He may carry that nickel plate badge and wear a uniform,” he shrugged. “But he’s just a merc and I’m just a payday!”
She rocked back as if he had struck her, “No!” She had trusted Johns with her darkest deed, and he was nothing but a bounty hunter. The only difference between him and Riddick was that the government put a politically correct spin on Johns’s killing. She paled as she realized the huge mistake she had made.
“And you’re right not to trust him,” Riddick nodded as if he could read her mind. “He’ll tell your little secret any time the going gets tough, and he can use it to his advantage.”
“Oh God!” she gasped, closing her eyes and leaning against the wall. “How did you know?”
“I was inches away from you, hiding in the skull,” he laughed. “Close as we are now, and that fucker, Johns, couldn’t find me, but I heard you loud and clear.” He watched her fight for control as her lip quivered and she paled under her sunburn. “But I was born in a garbage heap, so it wasn’t the first time someone tried to dispose of me. Just so you know, no one has ever tried it a second time.”
“Oh,” a small high-pitched sound escaped her lips before she opened her eyes, and wiped all emotion from her face.
“And you? I’m supposed to trust you?” She let the anger pour out of her. It was the only weapon she had against the soft female feelings he brought out in her and the overwhelming guilt her own actions had caused. “I should just sit around calmly doing systems checks, and waiting for you to slit my throat like the last time you wanted to hitch a ride somewhere?”
“Ahhh, so our boy told you about that did he?” Riddick stepped closer. He liked the feeling of her anger erupting over him, it bubbled against his skin and made him hard just listening to her. Oh yes Babe, feel the passion. He had known all along that she had the potential to sizzle, and this felt so much safer than before. Now it was Fry back in the cooking pot, and he knew he was going to turn up the heat as high as he could before the systems check was over.
“So? Are you going to kill me?” Her eyes dared him to tell her the truth.
For a fleeting second he wondered if she would trade her life for a fuck, but as quickly as the thought surfaced, he knew that when he took her, it would be because she wanted it, anything else would be a waste. “Carolyn, I’ll be honest with you, I truly don’t know what’s gonna happen when the lights go out. When the dyin’ starts I think this little psycho-fuck family of ours is going to pull itself apart.” It surprised him that he included himself in the group, and even more so, that he spoke the truth. A lie would have been so much more convenient.
For a moment she stared at him across the small space. Then she nodded her head in understanding. He’d been honest with her, and strangely that put her more at ease than all the promises in the world.
“But we may have a more immediate problem.” He slowly pulled the black box from his pocket and handed it to her. “Now don’t say I never gave you nuttin.” He had known from the start that he would have to bring her in on this, unless he killed her before they left the planet, and that was looking less likely every moment.
“What’s this bullshit?” She looked at the small device and wondered what game he was playing now.
“It’s not bullshit, it’s a death warrant.” His voice rumbled deep in his chest as he stepped closer to her.
“Stop trying to fuck with me, I got things to do to get this ship ready.” She pushed his cupped hand away, and tried to get back to the cockpit, but Riddick stood like an unmovable mountain in her path.
“If I was fuckin’ with you, it wouldn’t be tryin’, it would be doin’.” He gave her a moment to be sure she understood exactly what he was saying. From the shocked expression on her face he could tell she had never run into a man she couldn’t control before. It’s gonna to be one interesting time we have, Carolyn.
“You sure you don’t know what this is?” He rubbed the box against her shoulder, pushing her a bit harder.
“No, I don’t! If it is so damned important, why don’t you tell me what it is, and I’ll get back to business!” She was hot and tired and his presence was a strain on her nerves. She just wanted to get on with the sys-check and pretend he wasn’t locked in a confined space with her. Though she knew that no matter how quiet he was or how far away he stood, she’d be able to smell his scent and feel his skin touch hers.
“That’s the Hunter-Gratznia’s black box.” He whispered.
“The what?” Every flight crew had heard stories about the supposed hidden computers on Company ships, but only the greenest rookie believed it. Plenty of searches had been done and no one had ever found anything.
“You heard me, Carolyn, you just don’t want to believe me.” He bent and pulled the housing off the main console of the skiff. “If we’re lucky I can get it to interface.”
“Wait, stop!” She grabbed his arm and pulled. “We only have a limited amount of power. You’re going to screw up the sys check, we gotta get off this planet before the eclipse.”
“The check is safe, it’ll run slower but it’ll run. Those aliens will kill us if they get the chance, but there are other things that can do that too, and worse things than dyin’.” He motioned her to the pilot’s seat and he took the one beside her. From there he could rig a connection somehow. It had been a long while since he needed to do this sort of thing, but he used to be able to do it in his sleep. “Do you know of a planet on the New Mecca route that has three suns?” He threw the question out casually.
“No, but I’m not a navigator and I figured we must have gotten off course somehow.”
“Somehow, is right,” he kept working until the computer in front of him came to life. “There we go, now listen and watch.” Riddick quickly scrolled through all the pre-flight data, and moved to the major course changes. He was almost to the end when he found what he was looking for. “How long were we in cold sleep?”
“Owens said something about 22 weeks, but that couldn’t be right. He must have been rambling. Sometimes getting pulled out of cryo like we did can cause Cold Sleep Disorientation for a while.” She forced herself to remember what happened after ejecting from her locker. “He insisted that we couldn’t be awake because we were 22 weeks out and still had ….19…to go? Maybe I’m remembering that wrong. It’s only a 28 week trip from Kordis 12 to New Mecca.”
“You’re remembering right,” he pointed to the last course that had been signed off by the navigator. “According to this we deviated from the flight plan about 12 hours after leaving the Kordis system.”
“Wait,” she threw up her hands and jumped out of her chair. “You’re telling me that I should believe this nonsense, without any proof. If that were really what you say it is then that would mean that Owens had sold us out! The guy was a chauvinist pig asshole, but he was faithful to Captain Mitchell.”
Riddick didn’t say a word, he just scrolled down a bit further and the computer was filled with the frightened face of Carolyn Fry as she fought to bring the Hunter-G under control.
“What the fuck?” she gasped over his shoulder.
“These little boxes not only record flight information, but in case of emergency, they record bridge activity.”
“Turn it off!” She gasped, her eyes locked on the picture of her frightened face. She broke down and backed away until the locked crash doors prevented her from further retreat. “Please, Riddick, don’t make me watch it. I believe you.” In the background she could hear the computer giving flight instructions to dump the loads. She was afraid the emotionless electronic voice would play in her dreams forever.
She never saw him leave the cockpit or heard him move toward her, but suddenly she could feel him standing inches away. The only sound in the shuttle was her ragged breathing, as she fought to bury the guilt that was threatening to overpower her.
“It’s off,” he growled, hating the panicked looked on Carolyn’s face. “That fucker Owens deserved the kind of death Johns gave him.”
“What?” She shook her head not sure she had heard him correctly. “Johns didn’t kill Owens, I did.” She caught her breath when she realized she’d said the words that’d been haunting her, and didn’t fallen apart; maybe someday she could learn to live with her actions that night.
“Owens killed himself when he was stupid enough to do a course change like that, and thought he could sleep through it. I was talking about the way he died, suffering, with no morphine. That was Johns’s doing. He stole the med-kit for the drugs.”
“Johns is a junkie as well as a merc?” She let out a rough laugh to try and keep the tears at bay, but one escaped, she hoped Riddick wasn’t able to see it in the dark corner they were in.
“You didn’t know?” Riddick ran his hand gently over her cheek, curious about the lone tear. It was the second time he had known her to cry over the crewman who would have sold her out. The first had been when she had made the others leave the ship while Owens died his painful death, but he had been there, listening; bound and gagged in the back of the ship. He had wondered what kind of con she was trying to pull. When he realized it wasn’t a con, but real, it frightened him but made him feel warm inside at the same time. Her response was unheard of in his world. “The man wasn’t worth your tears. He was going to turn you over to slavers.”
“Oh God, Riddick! I left the emergency beacon broadcasting on the H-G, if Owens was leading us into a trap, it’ll tell his partners exactly where we are! We gotta abort and get that thing turned off.” She pushed past him to see what damage had been done to the systems check. It was running, but much slower than it had been. They were going to be stuck in the skiff for at least another hour and a half, unless they did something.
“We’ll be long gone by the time they get here.” He grinned, but it looked more like a death mask. “I’m sure they’ll be invited to the eclipse party, for dinner. All that should keep them too busy to bother with a small shuttle, parsecs away.”
“I don’t think I can take many more surprises like this one,” Fry rubbed her temples as she tried to make sense out of all that was happening.
“Sure you can tough-girl.” Riddick wanted to touch her, but held back. Her vulnerability was showing through the hard exterior he knew she liked to present to the world. He understood all about building an image and how important it stay in tact.
“Ya think?” She turned from him, taking the time he offered to regroup. Owens worked for raiders, the possible outcome of that made her shiver. Johns was a merc and a junkie to boot. Riddick, what was he? Certainly not the average murderer being taken back to Slam that Johns portrayed him to be? And her, what had she become? She was a coward and a potential murderer. This was truly the planet of the damned. What other surprises were in store for her? “Is anyone on this fucking planet what they seem to be?” She threw up her hands in frustration.
“I am,” he grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her around. “Make no mistake about that, Carolyn.” He watched her closely as she digested what he was saying. He knew of at least one other surprise, but decided to keep it to himself for the time being. Jack was probably safer pretending to be a boy, and Fry didn’t need anything else to worry about at the moment.
“I didn’t lie to you. I got the shine job in Slam, not for mining corbinite or millinite in the asteroid belts, or for one of those special ops units. All my life, until I went to Slam, I needed my vision. Colors were important, when I worked for the Company. I did things for them you can’t even imagine, but that was how I knew about the black box, so maybe it’s….”
“No!” God, he’s a Company spook. We’re all dead! She tried to pull out of his hold, afraid of him for the first time. But no matter how hard she struggled, he wouldn’t let her go.
“Yes!” His fingers dug into her shoulders as he spoke. She was afraid, he could smell it on her, but he had to finish this so she understood what he really was. “Go to work for the Company and learn a trade. You know the game. They test you and try you and play games with your mind until they find the one thing you’re best at doing. In my case it was death. They were good teachers and I am a quick leaner. But they didn’t like it when one of their trained assassins turned on them.”
“Let me go!” She lunged toward him with her fists raised, more afraid of him as a Company spook than she had been when she thought he was a mindless killer. But under that fear there was also anger. She realized that in those unguarded moments when he had been gentle, she’d been harboring a hope that there was more to him than he’d said. That his attitude was an act, but it wasn’t, not only was he a killer, he was the worst kind of killer, one that took money and killed coldly with thought and precision.
Riddick didn’t say a word; he’d been a survivor too long to let a little thing like an angry 98-pound woman get past his guard. His large hands wrapped around her incoming fists and he pulled them behind her back. In one quick movement he shifted and sent her crashing against him. She looked up in desperation, her eyes swimming with tears. It made his mind freeze and his body explode. There was a beating deep in him and he felt himself grow hard again. Temper and tenderness, all wrapped up in one neat little package, who would have thought it would make a woman so desirable?
“What’re you really afraid of, and why are you angry enough to come after me with fists?” He held her tighter as she struggled to get free.
“Let go of me!” She ground out. He had made her lose control and that made her more angry than afraid. She was drowning in his scent and touch. He was making her feel things she had never felt before and part of her wanted to hate him for it, but she couldn’t.
“You’re afraid of you, and losing control, because you know with me there is no control,” he growled and felt her nipples push hard against his chest.
“No,” she whispered in denial, though it was as if he had read her mind.
“Yes,” he whispered and pulled her closer, trying to still her in his arms.
“Please, let me go,” her breath was warm and sweet against his face, but she held herself stiff, trying to pull away from him.
“Is that what you really want?” The air around them grew heavy as she gave up the fight and let him take her weight completely.
“I…” she bit her lip as doubt gnawed at her.
“What color are your eyes, Carolyn?” The huskiness in is voice caught them both by surprise, as they recognized the familiar phrasing. Had he lost his mind? He had a desirable woman in his arms and it would take just the slightest sensual push from him and he would be where he had wanted to be since he first caught her scent. He would be buried deep inside her. What the hell was he doing, giving her a choice?
“Ahh,” her voice faltered. Held tight against him she felt the hardness that dug into her abdomen, and flushed as she realized he could probably feel her nipples grow ridged against his chest.
“I don’t think we have any secrets form each other now, do we?” He grinned at her, but didn’t make a move, just watched her with his silver eyes that saw all and missed much.
The choice was hers. She would either give herself to him freely, or not at all. There would be no seduction or question of force. Wetting her lips she took a deep breath and stepped off into oblivion, “blue, my eyes are blue.” Her voice quivered as she realized the odds were great that he’d leave to her crash and burn on landing.
“We’ve only got about an hour,” his whisper vibrated from deep within him, as he ran his nose over her cheek and neck. One hand held both of hers securely behind her back, while the other searched for the zipper that opened down the back of her shirt. “I think we need to make it really count.” Was that the rasp of his voice or the sound of her shirt being slowly unzipped?
“Yes,” she shivered as she felt air on her damp skin, and his hand moving across her warm flesh to cup the side of her breast. “Ohhh,” in frustration she moved her mouth over his chest and up his neck, while trying to turn into his hand.
“Easy does it, Carolyn,” he wrapped both arms around her and held her close to his aching body, shaking with desire as her small pink tongue traveled over his skin.
“Please, I want to kiss you so badly,” she moaned as she rocked her hips against his thigh. She wanted so much more, but was unsure of him and of herself, so she followed instinct and kissed anyplace his skin was within reach.
A kiss, she wanted to kiss him? She was kissing him. That changed things. Whores tongue fucked, they didn’t kiss. His mind came to a screeching halt. This was what he had discovered before: Carolyn wasn’t a whore. Suddenly he wasn’t sure how to treat her. He freed her hands and holding himself apart, watched her face as the emotions played across it. He wished he could see more than shadows, so he wouldn’t do the wrong thing.
“What’s the matter?” She pulled back when she realized he was no longer participating, just standing, watching her. Suddenly she felt very naked. Her shirt had slipped down her arms, exposing most of her breasts. “Were you just fucking with my mind?” She whispered and moved her arms across her chest, mortified that she had been so easily manipulated.
“It’s not your mind I want to fuck.” Then because she deserved the truth, he told it to her. “You caught me by surprise that’s all.” With a hand that shook slightly, he reached for her cheek and pulled her close. Leaning in he covered her lips with his. His first kiss, he hoped she didn’t realize. It was like drinking from a fresh clean pool of water. The longer the kiss lasted the deeper he drank. It filled him with a cool freshness that made his blood burn.
Slowly, slowly, he told himself as he ran his hands down her arms and peeled her top away until it fell somewhere in the shadows around them. His large hands kept hers captive as he pulled them behind her and used them to lock her hips securely to his.
“Oh yeah,” he murmured. He held her wrists tightly in a one-handed grip against the small of her back. Arching her hips against him and keeping her legs straddled snugly over his well-muscled thigh. He looked down at the beautiful blonde woman who trembled against him, as he ran his hand along the side of a small firm breast. His fingers circled, circled, circled, until he filled his palm with one pink tipped mound.
“Ohhh,” little mewing sounds escaped her throat as she tried to move harder against his hand. But he had her too tightly in place. Her helplessness should have frightened her, but it didn’t, it only added to the passion that was sweeping through her.
“That feel good, Babe?” He watched her lips try to form an answer, but no words came out. Long strong fingers separated until they caught a swollen nipple between them, and then closed tightly. His thumb moved in to play with the rock hard prisoner in his hand.
“Richard,” she moaned as sensations shot through her making her buck while he slowly played with what he had caught. If he hadn’t been supporting her, she would have fallen.
“Easy Babe,” he whispered as he leaned over to kiss her again. The sound of his name on her lips had made him weak in the knees, though he would never admit it, so he lowered them both to the deck. When he was seated, in the aft section of the skiff, between the benches, he held her securely to him with one arm, and reached behind him to pull off her boots.
Once her hands were free she dug beneath his shirt. Small strong fingers stroked his skin and worked their way around to his back. She pulled at the hem of his top, struggling to get it off him while his arms were locked around her. “I want to feel your skin against mine,” she ground out.
“I think that can be arranged.” He gripped Carolyn’s thighs to keep her splayed against him while she pulled the garment over his head. As his shirt disappeared into a dark corner of the skiff he lowered her beneath him and nibbles on her lips. There was so much he wanted to say to her, but he didn’t know how, or if it was even right. He was traveling down a different road with Carolyn. For the first time he wanted to give as much as take. Her small whimpers of desire had made him want to hear more. It had become vitally important to him to know that he was able to give her pleasure. Was it the planet, was she right, was everyone different here?
She ran her hands over his shoulders and chest, lost in the feel of his skin until she found his nipples. He moaned at her touch. His large hands moved through her hair and pulled her head back until his mouth covered hers. She had never felt so out of control or so secure in her life. Her body caught beneath his, she felt the weight and hardness of him pushing against her, even through their remaining clothes. Every time she tried to pull at the waistband of his pants, he pulled her hands back.
“Please, Richard,” she cried out as she rocked her hips against his groin, still unable to feel him where she needed him most.
“Not so fast, Babe.” He looked down into her shadowy face and even with his shined vision he could see she was lost in passion. Her eyes were huge and her mouth full and damp, the expression of want plainly written for all to see. But he was determined to set the pace for reasons of his own. Shifting his legs, he straddled hers and locked them together.
She had had a few casual affairs between runs, but she had never felt anything like this. “You gotta help me, please!” she begged, and pulled at the back of his pants again. She was drowning in need so intense she could hardly breathe. All she knew was that she wanted his touch everywhere, and she would do anything to get it.
“I’m right here.” He slipped both arms under her, arching her back and bringing her right breast against his mouth. “Now hold on tight and I’ll take you where you need to go,” his voice was a deep growl, making her moan.
Pulling her breast to his eager mouth, he felt her shiver beneath him. Her hands reached for his back and held him tightly, the only solid thing in her shifting world. He took a hard nipple between his teeth and pulled while he sucked. When his tongue moved over the taught bud he felt her nails dig into him as she bucked wildly beneath him, and gasps of pleasure tore from her throat. He relaxed his mouth slightly until she subsided to quiet moans, then his mouth tightened and he pulled and suck as his tongue flicked over the still hard nipple. Carolyn’s body exploded again as she was rocked with sensations, and held on tighter to the large body that covered hers.
He nibbled his way to her left nipple. Taking it between strong lips he pulled and sucked while his nimble tongue danced over the hard nub driving her to the edge where a little nibble of sharp teeth pushed her over. Twice more he relaxed his hold, only to tighten again and send her body shattering in all directions.
“Oh my God, Richard!” she gasped. The sound of her calling his name was still loud in her ears. She held tightly to him while she tried to catch her breath. Her body was on fire from him and still she wanted more.
Her short nails had dug into his back, but it gave him pleasure to know he would have small crescent shapes under his shirt where she had marked him. He slowly lowered her to the deck before he sat up.
“No!” She reached for him as he pulled away.
“Shhhh Babe, just rest, we’re not done yet.” He whispered and dug his hands into the waistband of her slacks to pull them off along with the scrap of lace that passed for panties.
He quickly slipped off his boots then stood and pulled off his own pants, before lowering himself to the deck beside her. He ran his hands over her body, marveling at the contrast between his darker skin and her petite paleness.
“Richard,” Carolyn whispered as her eyes fluttered open at his touch.
“I’m right here, Babe.” He slipped his legs between hers and spread them and then knelt between her thighs. She lay before him like a virgin sacrifice, his for the taking. Her eyes were glassy with an expression he had never seen before. Was this real desire on a woman’s face?
Grasping her hips he pulled her round bottom onto his thighs. The soft blonde curls between her legs were damp and glistening as his long fingers probed and touched, learning her inner self.
“Oh, please!” she cried out as her back arched and she bucked against his hand. The total vulnerability of her position only added to her passion.
“Soon, Carolyn, real soon,” his voice was like melted honey. She felt wet and slick, from desire, and it was making him throb with need. Her muscles relaxed around his fingers, deep inside of her. She was a small woman and he was a large man. He had deliberately done all he could to prepare her for him. His touch verified what he had suspected before; it was going to be a tight fit. It gave him an odd feeling of pleasure and pride to know that if he hadn’t taken care with her, she would have only experienced pain.
“Now!” she demanded, unable to take his probing any longer. “Please, I need you inside of me.” Tears filled her eyes as she struggled with the animal need she was feeling. It was all about him, all about them. Her legs gripped him and she reached to touch him anywhere she could.
“Yes, now!” He lowered her to the deck and covered her body with his. “Wrap you legs around my waist. It’s gonna to be tight.”
“It will work!” She gripped his face in frenzy.
“That’s what I like, a woman with determination!” He laughed as she pulled his face to hers and kissed him.
She felt him hard and large, touching her wetness and then probing, until he slid inside her. She gasped as he filled her deep and hard. “Ohhh yes,” her words were lost as he perfected the art of kissing, their tongues dancing against each other.
She was warm and wet and very tight around him. He tried to rock slowly, but her hips moved to meet his thrusts, increasing the pace and intensity. In that moment he let go and instinct took over. His hands roamed, fingers pinching and caressing as her legs locked him deep inside her. Then he felt it, the quivering deep in her core and she began to throb around him as she cried out his name over and over again. He held her securely as she exploded in his arms and then he followed her over the edge.
“You’re so beautiful,” she whispered as her brain cells finally began to reconnect. She knew her face was covered with tears, but she didn’t care. “That was so beautiful. I never knew it could be like that.”
Me neither, Babe, me neither! The blood pounded in his head, as he tried to get his mind around what had just happened.
For a moment Riddick rested his weight on Carolyn as he fought to pull back into his shell. He could feel her raspy breathing beneath him and her body slicked with sweat. It made him want to hold onto her tightly, as he’d done when her orgasms had ripped through her. Instead, he balanced on his elbows and put some distance between them.
“Richard!” she murmured, as he would have pulled out of her. Her arms, which were still wrapped tightly around him, moved down his back. Her small hands dug into his buttocks keeping him locked between her legs.
He could have easily broken her grasp and freed himself, but the feel of her body wanting his and the way she called his name were too much for him to push away, though he knew he had to do something before he lost his edge. There was something about the woman beneath him that changed all the rules.
“Our time’s almost up,” he whispered in shock as her lips moved over his bicep and she kissed her way to his shoulder. It made him itch to feel her mouth move over other areas of his body as well. All he really wanted to do was fold her close in his arms, but he knew that was a dangerous road that he didn’t want to take.
“They gotta be wondering where we got to.” He looked down at her naked body below his on the hard floor of the skiff and knew she didn’t belong there. Her pale skin contrasted with his deep tan; her petite frame overshadowed by his larger one; and her dented soul fragile and new compared to the blackened pit that was all that was left of his. What did she want? And how could he possibly give it?
“Just another minute, please,” her nose ran over his chest and drank in his scent. The adrenaline was still rushing through her veins and all she wanted to do was feel him against her. He meant safety and comfort. She didn’t question it, because she knew too soon they would be back to work and she would be alone again. The systems check had cut them off from reality, so for now, she held tightly to the man who had been strong enough to cut through her reserves.
THIS HAD TO STOP AND STOP NOW! “If we’re quick, we can work it in,” he forced himself to chuckle, as he reached back and grabbed her wrists pulling them high above her head. Using his hips to pin hers roughly to the ground, he stretched her out below him. The shocked look on her face only served to strengthen his resolve. “Ya gotta remember that when you play with the animals, you might get bit.”
“No! Stop.” She tried to pull out of his grasp, but he ground his hips into hers, in a rough parody of their earlier dance. She fought the desire he was fueling even as it caused tongues of fear to lick at her senses. If he hadn’t warned her what he had in mind, the flash of bared white teeth would have. She bucked, as she watched his mouth move to her right nipple that was still sensitive from the last time his lips had covered it, and growing harder by the moment. This time there was nothing gentle about him as he bit and pulled, causing her scream to echo throughout the soundproofed skiff. Wild uncontrolled need pounded through her.
“What’s the matter, Carolyn, don’t have the stomach for it whore style?” He could hear her ragged breathing and knew he was missing something. Her scream had carried a note of fear, but it was mainly surprised desire. She didn’t have to tell him no one had treated her like this before, it was written all over her face. But why wasn’t she running scared? He pulled back and tried another tactic. “One fuck is much like another, but ya gotta admit that there are some things that add spice to it.” He pulled hard enough on her wrists to send a quick shaft of pain through her shoulders before he rolled off her, his words dripping with distain. “Naaa I’ve never been one for rape. Give me an EASY woman any day.”
“You son-of-a-bitch!” she shouted. Still in a haze of want, she reached for the oxygen tank on the bench above them and aimed it at his head. His words had been a slap in the face. She had been easy for him, even when he had turned it rough she had still wanted him. The thoughts shamed her, but worse than that was what he had made her feel. He had let her feel safe. Let her feel that there was one person she might be able to trust on this damned planet. Worst of all, in her exhaustion she had let him get closer to her than any man had before. She had given him a peek at the Carolyn Fry that lived beneath the cool exterior of the Docking Pilot and he had taken what he wanted, then slammed the door in her face, laughing at her as he did it.
He easily deflected the incoming tank and grabbed her fists as they followed on the heels of it. The anger on her face was what he had wanted, what he knew how to deal with. He was back on safe ground.
“Are you sure you really want to try that?” his voice poured over her like honey mixed with ground glass. He felt her slight tremor as he looked pointedly at her bare breasts, inches from him. “You’re way out matched in this game so if I was you I’d watch my temper.” Neither of them questioned why he had warned her off, instead of just taking what each knew would have been his if he chose to take it.
“Just let me go,” she ground out between clenched teeth. “Just let me the fuck go!”
Fry grabbed her clothes and moved to behind the pilot’s seat where she quickly dressed. She could feel him at the other end of the skiff and it was making her hands shake so badly that she fumbled the zipper up the back of her shirt. She froze when she felt two large hands move hers aside.
“Don’t you touch me!” She turned on him in temper.
“I took it offa you, I’ll refasten it.” He turned her around and carefully moved the zipper into place and slid it up the length of the shirt; they both ignored the shiver that followed his movements.
He cupped her shoulders and turned her toward him. “You’ve been warned twice, now. That’s once more than I usually give. Don’t make the mistake of underestimating me again, Carolyn. I am what I am. Maybe this is one time you should believe Johns.”
“Go to hell, Riddick.” She threw back her head, her chin raised and a deadly look in her eyes. But it was the glint of tears as she quickly slid into the pilot’s seat, to put more distance between them, that caused his hand to reach for her, before his mind kicked in and he pulled it quickly back.
…………………………
The green hull integrity light began to blink and Riddick knelt beside Fry’s chair to quickly reattach the cover to the computer. “When we get back to the Hunter-G, I’ve got to have time to put the box back where it belongs and make it look like it hasn’t been tampered with.”
“But why? The ship crashed, it could have been damaged then, or the pirates could have gotten…” she felt a shaft of cold fear as he shook his head.
“No….believe me on this Carolyn, sometime, somewhere, the Company will come into possession of this box. When that happens someone like me will be sent hunting you.” He watched her absorb what he was saying, as he reached for his discarded goggles and slipped them over his eyes. “You think those aliens out there are scary, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”
But she had, she had seen Richard B. Riddick in action. He was scary all right, but not for the reasons he though; for what he did to her peace of mind. She tried to tell herself it was only the planet, but she knew there was much more to it and him than that. So she took the only sane way out and slammed the doors on all that had happened between them. “So we aren’t going to tell the others what we found out?”
“Not yet.” He stood and put the box in his pocket. “The raiders are too far away for us to worry about at the moment. Once we get this skiff launched will be time enough to figure out what to do.” He leaned over the back of her chair and whispered in her ear, “Besides, Carolyn do you really want the others to see all that’s on this box?” He shouldered the oxygen tank and unlocked the skiff’s doors. His words were left hanging in the air behind him as he sauntered into the sunlight.
………………………..
It had taken a bit of searching, but Carolyn found Johns in a storage area behind the Coring Room. She watched him quietly from the hall as his trembling fingers opened what appeared to be a shotgun round and pulled out a spike. It turned her stomach to see him carefully inject it into the inner canthus of his eye.
“So who are you really?” She strode into the box and barrel lined room, and began digging in Johns’s ‘ammunition’ box. “You’re not a cop are you?”
“I never said I was.” Johns leaned back enjoying the buzz he was getting as the morphine sang in his veins. This was his favorite time, when the drug was fresh and new, giving him a high that said all was right with the world. He was damned if he would let the bitch interfere with it.
“You never said you were a fuckin’ hype, either.” She couldn’t believe she had ever thought the dazed lax man in front of her was attractive! It made her skin crawl just thinking about him, now.
“I don’t see the problem. You have your caffeine in the morning and I have my morphine.” It sounded logical to him, maybe it would get her to leave him alone.
“It becomes a problem when you let Owens die the way he did!” A little voice shivered across her mind reminding her of her own guilt in the matter, but she ignored it. “You’ve got enough drugs here to stop a fuckin mule train. Owens shouldn’t have had to die screaming!”
That was the last straw, Johns grabbed Fry’s wrist and pulled her close. “Sure it isn’t what he was screaming when he died that’s really bothering you, Carolyn?”
“Let go of me.” She wrenched her hand free and took a step back. “You’re nothing but a hyped up Company sanctioned assassin, and I’ve been letting you roll the dice with our lives.”
“You figured that part out too, that’s too bad.” He stood and moved slowly toward her, the morphine having lulled him into a false sense of power. “You been talkin’ to Riddick?”
“What the hell does Riddick have to do with this?” She stood her ground. She had been pushed by one big man already today, and she was damned if she would let another get away with it.
“Well you were talking about assassins, I thought maybe you and Riddick were doing a head count.” He grinned at her as he saw the fire explode in her eyes. “I’ve killed a few in my days, but old Richard B., well he puts me to shame. Then there’s you, Docking Pilot Fry, how many deaths were caused by you? There were easily forty passengers and you were going to dump us all!” He laughed at her outrage. “If you add in the crew, like your old friend Owens, that puts you in Riddick’s league.”
She moved so quickly his morphed out minded didn’t see her coming. Her right hook landed squarely on his chin, followed by a left upper cut that took his breath away. She swept his legs out from under him, but he brought her down with him. He got in one punch to her left jaw, but she had seen it coming and pulled back, so it landed, but didn’t do much more than bruise the skin. Grabbing him by the shirtfront, Fry dug her right knee into his neck just below his Adam’s apple. She was taking in great gasps of thinned air and adrenaline pumped through her veins. Two men, the words kept playing in her mind as the fight with Johns was superimposed with her time in the Skiff with Riddick. Two damned men sending me into adrenaline overload because they wanted to get physical. Well shit head; I can be physical, too!
“If you ever fuckin touch me again, you’ll find out if I’ve got it in me to be a murderer!” She let him go and stood over him, daring him to try something with her again. “Now I got work to do.”
You’re dead, bitch! His mind screamed as she turned her back on him and left. But first he had time for one more spike.
……………………………
When Riddick had left the skiff he looked longingly at the windmill and the small amount of water it was producing. He could smell Carolyn on his skin and clothes and it was twisting his stomach into a knot. He would have gladly gone thirsty to wash her fragrance off of him, but he knew that no amount of scrubbing could do that. He needed distance and anger. Setting his jaw, he knew he was a mean enough son-of-a-bitch to pull it off, or at least he had been before she had dared him to tell her the truth about Zeke’s death.
Shaking his head at the mess he was in, he saw Imam, Jack, and the two boys in a circle where they had buried the kid who had died a few hours earlier. He reminded himself to keep an extra watch on Jack. By not telling Fry she was a girl, he had taken on responsibility for the child. What the fuck? He wasn’t a man who took on responsibility. Damn you Carolyn!
“Mr. Riddick,” Imam called as the children went off to load water onto the skiff. “Is everything all right?”
“How would I know, Holyman?” The big man looked at the older one, trying to figure out what game he was playing.
“You know a great deal more than you’re telling.” Imam had seen him come out of the skiff, followed by Fry moments later, and they had both looked troubled. More than a systems check had gone on in that locked ship. “The skiff is it not the life raft we had hoped it would be?”
“We gotta get the other power cells here first, until then, that thing’s just another place to keep out the monsters.” Yes, in there he had found a place where the monsters didn’t live, or at least he had, until he had brought them in to scare away Carolyn, but she had been much harder to scare than he had expected.
“Monsters?” The black man raised an eyebrow. “An interesting choice of words. Have you ever wondered what a Holyman is before he looks into the face of God?”
“No Father, I can’t say I have,” Riddick looked around wondering where Carolyn had gotten to, he had seen her leave the skiff a few minutes after he did.
“You should, you might be surprised what you….”
Riddick could feel the sudden change in the light and he stopped listening to the drivel Imam was trying to preach. He turned and saw the large ringed planet appear on the horizon. Time was running out.
The voices of Imam’s boys could be heard frantically calling for ‘the captain.’ Riddick turned from the awe-inspiring sight of the huge planet rising, his eyes darting to the entrance of each building. Where the hell was she and why didn’t she come when the boys called her. Suddenly he realized that Johns was nowhere to be seen either, and a knot formed in his stomach.
The rattle of a door opening to his right caught his attention. She stood in the entrance, her hair disheveled and a bruise forming on her left jaw line. She had had bumps and bruises from the crash and her fight out of the hole. He had seen each and every one of them in the skiff. Though he had been rough with her toward the end, he knew every place he had touched her and just how hard. This one was new! The hackles rose on the back of his neck as he met her eyes. How much more damage did Johns do?
Carolyn could read the question on Rich…Riddick’s face as clearly as if he had shouted it. She shook her head and shrugged. As she moved past him, he reached for her hands and saw the smattering of blood and broken skin on her knuckles. I can take care of myself, her expression challenged.
“We gotta get going!” She pulled her hands from his and pointed toward the sky. “Time’s running out.”
…………………………..
Riddick waited for Johns until the last minute, then he ran for the Sandcat. Let the fucker die here, he thought as he landed on the moving vehicle amide the frenzy of the group. Carolyn had been right, they were out of time. A noise to his right caught his attention and he turned and instinctively reached out, pulling Johns aboard. He smiled as he realized that she had also been right about taking care of herself. Johns had gotten the worse end of that interchange. For the moment he would let him live. But if there had been any doubt in his mind that Johns would die, it had ended when the spiker had dared put a mark on Carolyn.
Chapter 4 - Born To Endless Night
Disclaimer: It all belongs to someone else. I just like to give them some romance and a happy ending somewhere down the line.
Monsters In The Night
by
Lattelady
Ch 3 - Truths Turned Inside-Out
The skiff’s space doors closed and locked, and Fry breathed a sigh of relief. She was cut off from the others for a while, giving her time to think. That, along with most other things, she did best alone. Their situation had gone from bad to disaster in the amount of time it had taken the group to drink the water Imam and his boys had found. Her mind quickly sorted facts as her fingers flew over the console to bring the twenty-year-old computer to life. They had thought they were safe from the flesh-eating aliens that lived in the darkness deep below the planet’s surface, but they’d been wrong. If their calculations were correct a total eclipse was coming that would darken the planet for a long time, giving them nowhere to hide, and the monsters from below free reign of the surface. The old skiff was all that stood between them and a gristly death.
Carolyn gave a sigh of relief when the computer hummed to life on the third try. She focused her mind on the Systems Check and tried not to think of the strange group of people that were on the other side of the locked doors. She had always made it a practice to avoid the sleepers she carried on her runs, now she knew why.
Turning in the pilot’s seat to re-modulate the computer for the new power source, she felt eyes on her and jumped. Riddick! She quickly checked the readouts, but the sys-check had begun. If she hit the emergency exit, it could blow the one power cell they had and they would be back to square one. Watching his face as he walked slowly toward her, she realized he knew it as well.
“They say timing is everything,” he grinned at her. “And I’ve been meaning to get some more time alone with you…unrestrained, that is.”
“I got work to do, Riddick,” it took all her nerve, but she forced herself to turn her back on him. He might kill her, as he had the pilot of the prison transport, but she believed she was safe until all the power cells were in place. He had moved close enough behind her chair that the heat radiating off his body made her skin tingle. In an attempt to keep her hands from trembling, she focused on moving them carefully and precisely over the controls.
“So, what do ya think?” He let himself touch only the tips of her hair with his right hand as he grasped the overhead bar with his left. How she answered his many leveled question would tell him a lot about her. Would she take it as an easy sexual invitation as most women he had known would or was there more to her than met the eye?
“I’m afraid of you. Is that what you wanted to hear?” She turned in her seat and slid around him, feeling trapped in the cockpit.
“No you’re not, at least not right now.” He backed her up until she was wedged between the pilot’s chair and the wall. “I think you’re afraid of you, but before we get into that, I gotta ask you, do you think Johns is a do-right man? Can I trust him?” He could see the answer in her face, making part of him itch to reach for his shiv. He knew that before the skiff doors opened again, he was going to bury something deep inside of her. Her next answer would be the tiebreaker.
“He…” If he had been touching her, she would have lied, but he stood inches away from her and waited. Even though his goggles still covered his eyes, she knew he was seeing deep into her. “No,” she whispered. “You can’t trust him. He has no plans on keeping his end of the bargain, and I believe he’ll kill you if he can.”
“He won’t kill me.” He slid his goggles onto his forehead as he watched the shadowy expressions flit across her face. “I’m worth twice as much to him alive.”
“What!”
“He may carry that nickel plate badge and wear a uniform,” he shrugged. “But he’s just a merc and I’m just a payday!”
She rocked back as if he had struck her, “No!” She had trusted Johns with her darkest deed, and he was nothing but a bounty hunter. The only difference between him and Riddick was that the government put a politically correct spin on Johns’s killing. She paled as she realized the huge mistake she had made.
“And you’re right not to trust him,” Riddick nodded as if he could read her mind. “He’ll tell your little secret any time the going gets tough, and he can use it to his advantage.”
“Oh God!” she gasped, closing her eyes and leaning against the wall. “How did you know?”
“I was inches away from you, hiding in the skull,” he laughed. “Close as we are now, and that fucker, Johns, couldn’t find me, but I heard you loud and clear.” He watched her fight for control as her lip quivered and she paled under her sunburn. “But I was born in a garbage heap, so it wasn’t the first time someone tried to dispose of me. Just so you know, no one has ever tried it a second time.”
“Oh,” a small high-pitched sound escaped her lips before she opened her eyes, and wiped all emotion from her face.
“And you? I’m supposed to trust you?” She let the anger pour out of her. It was the only weapon she had against the soft female feelings he brought out in her and the overwhelming guilt her own actions had caused. “I should just sit around calmly doing systems checks, and waiting for you to slit my throat like the last time you wanted to hitch a ride somewhere?”
“Ahhh, so our boy told you about that did he?” Riddick stepped closer. He liked the feeling of her anger erupting over him, it bubbled against his skin and made him hard just listening to her. Oh yes Babe, feel the passion. He had known all along that she had the potential to sizzle, and this felt so much safer than before. Now it was Fry back in the cooking pot, and he knew he was going to turn up the heat as high as he could before the systems check was over.
“So? Are you going to kill me?” Her eyes dared him to tell her the truth.
For a fleeting second he wondered if she would trade her life for a fuck, but as quickly as the thought surfaced, he knew that when he took her, it would be because she wanted it, anything else would be a waste. “Carolyn, I’ll be honest with you, I truly don’t know what’s gonna happen when the lights go out. When the dyin’ starts I think this little psycho-fuck family of ours is going to pull itself apart.” It surprised him that he included himself in the group, and even more so, that he spoke the truth. A lie would have been so much more convenient.
For a moment she stared at him across the small space. Then she nodded her head in understanding. He’d been honest with her, and strangely that put her more at ease than all the promises in the world.
“But we may have a more immediate problem.” He slowly pulled the black box from his pocket and handed it to her. “Now don’t say I never gave you nuttin.” He had known from the start that he would have to bring her in on this, unless he killed her before they left the planet, and that was looking less likely every moment.
“What’s this bullshit?” She looked at the small device and wondered what game he was playing now.
“It’s not bullshit, it’s a death warrant.” His voice rumbled deep in his chest as he stepped closer to her.
“Stop trying to fuck with me, I got things to do to get this ship ready.” She pushed his cupped hand away, and tried to get back to the cockpit, but Riddick stood like an unmovable mountain in her path.
“If I was fuckin’ with you, it wouldn’t be tryin’, it would be doin’.” He gave her a moment to be sure she understood exactly what he was saying. From the shocked expression on her face he could tell she had never run into a man she couldn’t control before. It’s gonna to be one interesting time we have, Carolyn.
“You sure you don’t know what this is?” He rubbed the box against her shoulder, pushing her a bit harder.
“No, I don’t! If it is so damned important, why don’t you tell me what it is, and I’ll get back to business!” She was hot and tired and his presence was a strain on her nerves. She just wanted to get on with the sys-check and pretend he wasn’t locked in a confined space with her. Though she knew that no matter how quiet he was or how far away he stood, she’d be able to smell his scent and feel his skin touch hers.
“That’s the Hunter-Gratznia’s black box.” He whispered.
“The what?” Every flight crew had heard stories about the supposed hidden computers on Company ships, but only the greenest rookie believed it. Plenty of searches had been done and no one had ever found anything.
“You heard me, Carolyn, you just don’t want to believe me.” He bent and pulled the housing off the main console of the skiff. “If we’re lucky I can get it to interface.”
“Wait, stop!” She grabbed his arm and pulled. “We only have a limited amount of power. You’re going to screw up the sys check, we gotta get off this planet before the eclipse.”
“The check is safe, it’ll run slower but it’ll run. Those aliens will kill us if they get the chance, but there are other things that can do that too, and worse things than dyin’.” He motioned her to the pilot’s seat and he took the one beside her. From there he could rig a connection somehow. It had been a long while since he needed to do this sort of thing, but he used to be able to do it in his sleep. “Do you know of a planet on the New Mecca route that has three suns?” He threw the question out casually.
“No, but I’m not a navigator and I figured we must have gotten off course somehow.”
“Somehow, is right,” he kept working until the computer in front of him came to life. “There we go, now listen and watch.” Riddick quickly scrolled through all the pre-flight data, and moved to the major course changes. He was almost to the end when he found what he was looking for. “How long were we in cold sleep?”
“Owens said something about 22 weeks, but that couldn’t be right. He must have been rambling. Sometimes getting pulled out of cryo like we did can cause Cold Sleep Disorientation for a while.” She forced herself to remember what happened after ejecting from her locker. “He insisted that we couldn’t be awake because we were 22 weeks out and still had ….19…to go? Maybe I’m remembering that wrong. It’s only a 28 week trip from Kordis 12 to New Mecca.”
“You’re remembering right,” he pointed to the last course that had been signed off by the navigator. “According to this we deviated from the flight plan about 12 hours after leaving the Kordis system.”
“Wait,” she threw up her hands and jumped out of her chair. “You’re telling me that I should believe this nonsense, without any proof. If that were really what you say it is then that would mean that Owens had sold us out! The guy was a chauvinist pig asshole, but he was faithful to Captain Mitchell.”
Riddick didn’t say a word, he just scrolled down a bit further and the computer was filled with the frightened face of Carolyn Fry as she fought to bring the Hunter-G under control.
“What the fuck?” she gasped over his shoulder.
“These little boxes not only record flight information, but in case of emergency, they record bridge activity.”
“Turn it off!” She gasped, her eyes locked on the picture of her frightened face. She broke down and backed away until the locked crash doors prevented her from further retreat. “Please, Riddick, don’t make me watch it. I believe you.” In the background she could hear the computer giving flight instructions to dump the loads. She was afraid the emotionless electronic voice would play in her dreams forever.
She never saw him leave the cockpit or heard him move toward her, but suddenly she could feel him standing inches away. The only sound in the shuttle was her ragged breathing, as she fought to bury the guilt that was threatening to overpower her.
“It’s off,” he growled, hating the panicked looked on Carolyn’s face. “That fucker Owens deserved the kind of death Johns gave him.”
“What?” She shook her head not sure she had heard him correctly. “Johns didn’t kill Owens, I did.” She caught her breath when she realized she’d said the words that’d been haunting her, and didn’t fallen apart; maybe someday she could learn to live with her actions that night.
“Owens killed himself when he was stupid enough to do a course change like that, and thought he could sleep through it. I was talking about the way he died, suffering, with no morphine. That was Johns’s doing. He stole the med-kit for the drugs.”
“Johns is a junkie as well as a merc?” She let out a rough laugh to try and keep the tears at bay, but one escaped, she hoped Riddick wasn’t able to see it in the dark corner they were in.
“You didn’t know?” Riddick ran his hand gently over her cheek, curious about the lone tear. It was the second time he had known her to cry over the crewman who would have sold her out. The first had been when she had made the others leave the ship while Owens died his painful death, but he had been there, listening; bound and gagged in the back of the ship. He had wondered what kind of con she was trying to pull. When he realized it wasn’t a con, but real, it frightened him but made him feel warm inside at the same time. Her response was unheard of in his world. “The man wasn’t worth your tears. He was going to turn you over to slavers.”
“Oh God, Riddick! I left the emergency beacon broadcasting on the H-G, if Owens was leading us into a trap, it’ll tell his partners exactly where we are! We gotta abort and get that thing turned off.” She pushed past him to see what damage had been done to the systems check. It was running, but much slower than it had been. They were going to be stuck in the skiff for at least another hour and a half, unless they did something.
“We’ll be long gone by the time they get here.” He grinned, but it looked more like a death mask. “I’m sure they’ll be invited to the eclipse party, for dinner. All that should keep them too busy to bother with a small shuttle, parsecs away.”
“I don’t think I can take many more surprises like this one,” Fry rubbed her temples as she tried to make sense out of all that was happening.
“Sure you can tough-girl.” Riddick wanted to touch her, but held back. Her vulnerability was showing through the hard exterior he knew she liked to present to the world. He understood all about building an image and how important it stay in tact.
“Ya think?” She turned from him, taking the time he offered to regroup. Owens worked for raiders, the possible outcome of that made her shiver. Johns was a merc and a junkie to boot. Riddick, what was he? Certainly not the average murderer being taken back to Slam that Johns portrayed him to be? And her, what had she become? She was a coward and a potential murderer. This was truly the planet of the damned. What other surprises were in store for her? “Is anyone on this fucking planet what they seem to be?” She threw up her hands in frustration.
“I am,” he grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her around. “Make no mistake about that, Carolyn.” He watched her closely as she digested what he was saying. He knew of at least one other surprise, but decided to keep it to himself for the time being. Jack was probably safer pretending to be a boy, and Fry didn’t need anything else to worry about at the moment.
“I didn’t lie to you. I got the shine job in Slam, not for mining corbinite or millinite in the asteroid belts, or for one of those special ops units. All my life, until I went to Slam, I needed my vision. Colors were important, when I worked for the Company. I did things for them you can’t even imagine, but that was how I knew about the black box, so maybe it’s….”
“No!” God, he’s a Company spook. We’re all dead! She tried to pull out of his hold, afraid of him for the first time. But no matter how hard she struggled, he wouldn’t let her go.
“Yes!” His fingers dug into her shoulders as he spoke. She was afraid, he could smell it on her, but he had to finish this so she understood what he really was. “Go to work for the Company and learn a trade. You know the game. They test you and try you and play games with your mind until they find the one thing you’re best at doing. In my case it was death. They were good teachers and I am a quick leaner. But they didn’t like it when one of their trained assassins turned on them.”
“Let me go!” She lunged toward him with her fists raised, more afraid of him as a Company spook than she had been when she thought he was a mindless killer. But under that fear there was also anger. She realized that in those unguarded moments when he had been gentle, she’d been harboring a hope that there was more to him than he’d said. That his attitude was an act, but it wasn’t, not only was he a killer, he was the worst kind of killer, one that took money and killed coldly with thought and precision.
Riddick didn’t say a word; he’d been a survivor too long to let a little thing like an angry 98-pound woman get past his guard. His large hands wrapped around her incoming fists and he pulled them behind her back. In one quick movement he shifted and sent her crashing against him. She looked up in desperation, her eyes swimming with tears. It made his mind freeze and his body explode. There was a beating deep in him and he felt himself grow hard again. Temper and tenderness, all wrapped up in one neat little package, who would have thought it would make a woman so desirable?
“What’re you really afraid of, and why are you angry enough to come after me with fists?” He held her tighter as she struggled to get free.
“Let go of me!” She ground out. He had made her lose control and that made her more angry than afraid. She was drowning in his scent and touch. He was making her feel things she had never felt before and part of her wanted to hate him for it, but she couldn’t.
“You’re afraid of you, and losing control, because you know with me there is no control,” he growled and felt her nipples push hard against his chest.
“No,” she whispered in denial, though it was as if he had read her mind.
“Yes,” he whispered and pulled her closer, trying to still her in his arms.
“Please, let me go,” her breath was warm and sweet against his face, but she held herself stiff, trying to pull away from him.
“Is that what you really want?” The air around them grew heavy as she gave up the fight and let him take her weight completely.
“I…” she bit her lip as doubt gnawed at her.
“What color are your eyes, Carolyn?” The huskiness in is voice caught them both by surprise, as they recognized the familiar phrasing. Had he lost his mind? He had a desirable woman in his arms and it would take just the slightest sensual push from him and he would be where he had wanted to be since he first caught her scent. He would be buried deep inside her. What the hell was he doing, giving her a choice?
“Ahh,” her voice faltered. Held tight against him she felt the hardness that dug into her abdomen, and flushed as she realized he could probably feel her nipples grow ridged against his chest.
“I don’t think we have any secrets form each other now, do we?” He grinned at her, but didn’t make a move, just watched her with his silver eyes that saw all and missed much.
The choice was hers. She would either give herself to him freely, or not at all. There would be no seduction or question of force. Wetting her lips she took a deep breath and stepped off into oblivion, “blue, my eyes are blue.” Her voice quivered as she realized the odds were great that he’d leave to her crash and burn on landing.
“We’ve only got about an hour,” his whisper vibrated from deep within him, as he ran his nose over her cheek and neck. One hand held both of hers securely behind her back, while the other searched for the zipper that opened down the back of her shirt. “I think we need to make it really count.” Was that the rasp of his voice or the sound of her shirt being slowly unzipped?
“Yes,” she shivered as she felt air on her damp skin, and his hand moving across her warm flesh to cup the side of her breast. “Ohhh,” in frustration she moved her mouth over his chest and up his neck, while trying to turn into his hand.
“Easy does it, Carolyn,” he wrapped both arms around her and held her close to his aching body, shaking with desire as her small pink tongue traveled over his skin.
“Please, I want to kiss you so badly,” she moaned as she rocked her hips against his thigh. She wanted so much more, but was unsure of him and of herself, so she followed instinct and kissed anyplace his skin was within reach.
A kiss, she wanted to kiss him? She was kissing him. That changed things. Whores tongue fucked, they didn’t kiss. His mind came to a screeching halt. This was what he had discovered before: Carolyn wasn’t a whore. Suddenly he wasn’t sure how to treat her. He freed her hands and holding himself apart, watched her face as the emotions played across it. He wished he could see more than shadows, so he wouldn’t do the wrong thing.
“What’s the matter?” She pulled back when she realized he was no longer participating, just standing, watching her. Suddenly she felt very naked. Her shirt had slipped down her arms, exposing most of her breasts. “Were you just fucking with my mind?” She whispered and moved her arms across her chest, mortified that she had been so easily manipulated.
“It’s not your mind I want to fuck.” Then because she deserved the truth, he told it to her. “You caught me by surprise that’s all.” With a hand that shook slightly, he reached for her cheek and pulled her close. Leaning in he covered her lips with his. His first kiss, he hoped she didn’t realize. It was like drinking from a fresh clean pool of water. The longer the kiss lasted the deeper he drank. It filled him with a cool freshness that made his blood burn.
Slowly, slowly, he told himself as he ran his hands down her arms and peeled her top away until it fell somewhere in the shadows around them. His large hands kept hers captive as he pulled them behind her and used them to lock her hips securely to his.
“Oh yeah,” he murmured. He held her wrists tightly in a one-handed grip against the small of her back. Arching her hips against him and keeping her legs straddled snugly over his well-muscled thigh. He looked down at the beautiful blonde woman who trembled against him, as he ran his hand along the side of a small firm breast. His fingers circled, circled, circled, until he filled his palm with one pink tipped mound.
“Ohhh,” little mewing sounds escaped her throat as she tried to move harder against his hand. But he had her too tightly in place. Her helplessness should have frightened her, but it didn’t, it only added to the passion that was sweeping through her.
“That feel good, Babe?” He watched her lips try to form an answer, but no words came out. Long strong fingers separated until they caught a swollen nipple between them, and then closed tightly. His thumb moved in to play with the rock hard prisoner in his hand.
“Richard,” she moaned as sensations shot through her making her buck while he slowly played with what he had caught. If he hadn’t been supporting her, she would have fallen.
“Easy Babe,” he whispered as he leaned over to kiss her again. The sound of his name on her lips had made him weak in the knees, though he would never admit it, so he lowered them both to the deck. When he was seated, in the aft section of the skiff, between the benches, he held her securely to him with one arm, and reached behind him to pull off her boots.
Once her hands were free she dug beneath his shirt. Small strong fingers stroked his skin and worked their way around to his back. She pulled at the hem of his top, struggling to get it off him while his arms were locked around her. “I want to feel your skin against mine,” she ground out.
“I think that can be arranged.” He gripped Carolyn’s thighs to keep her splayed against him while she pulled the garment over his head. As his shirt disappeared into a dark corner of the skiff he lowered her beneath him and nibbles on her lips. There was so much he wanted to say to her, but he didn’t know how, or if it was even right. He was traveling down a different road with Carolyn. For the first time he wanted to give as much as take. Her small whimpers of desire had made him want to hear more. It had become vitally important to him to know that he was able to give her pleasure. Was it the planet, was she right, was everyone different here?
She ran her hands over his shoulders and chest, lost in the feel of his skin until she found his nipples. He moaned at her touch. His large hands moved through her hair and pulled her head back until his mouth covered hers. She had never felt so out of control or so secure in her life. Her body caught beneath his, she felt the weight and hardness of him pushing against her, even through their remaining clothes. Every time she tried to pull at the waistband of his pants, he pulled her hands back.
“Please, Richard,” she cried out as she rocked her hips against his groin, still unable to feel him where she needed him most.
“Not so fast, Babe.” He looked down into her shadowy face and even with his shined vision he could see she was lost in passion. Her eyes were huge and her mouth full and damp, the expression of want plainly written for all to see. But he was determined to set the pace for reasons of his own. Shifting his legs, he straddled hers and locked them together.
She had had a few casual affairs between runs, but she had never felt anything like this. “You gotta help me, please!” she begged, and pulled at the back of his pants again. She was drowning in need so intense she could hardly breathe. All she knew was that she wanted his touch everywhere, and she would do anything to get it.
“I’m right here.” He slipped both arms under her, arching her back and bringing her right breast against his mouth. “Now hold on tight and I’ll take you where you need to go,” his voice was a deep growl, making her moan.
Pulling her breast to his eager mouth, he felt her shiver beneath him. Her hands reached for his back and held him tightly, the only solid thing in her shifting world. He took a hard nipple between his teeth and pulled while he sucked. When his tongue moved over the taught bud he felt her nails dig into him as she bucked wildly beneath him, and gasps of pleasure tore from her throat. He relaxed his mouth slightly until she subsided to quiet moans, then his mouth tightened and he pulled and suck as his tongue flicked over the still hard nipple. Carolyn’s body exploded again as she was rocked with sensations, and held on tighter to the large body that covered hers.
He nibbled his way to her left nipple. Taking it between strong lips he pulled and sucked while his nimble tongue danced over the hard nub driving her to the edge where a little nibble of sharp teeth pushed her over. Twice more he relaxed his hold, only to tighten again and send her body shattering in all directions.
“Oh my God, Richard!” she gasped. The sound of her calling his name was still loud in her ears. She held tightly to him while she tried to catch her breath. Her body was on fire from him and still she wanted more.
Her short nails had dug into his back, but it gave him pleasure to know he would have small crescent shapes under his shirt where she had marked him. He slowly lowered her to the deck before he sat up.
“No!” She reached for him as he pulled away.
“Shhhh Babe, just rest, we’re not done yet.” He whispered and dug his hands into the waistband of her slacks to pull them off along with the scrap of lace that passed for panties.
He quickly slipped off his boots then stood and pulled off his own pants, before lowering himself to the deck beside her. He ran his hands over her body, marveling at the contrast between his darker skin and her petite paleness.
“Richard,” Carolyn whispered as her eyes fluttered open at his touch.
“I’m right here, Babe.” He slipped his legs between hers and spread them and then knelt between her thighs. She lay before him like a virgin sacrifice, his for the taking. Her eyes were glassy with an expression he had never seen before. Was this real desire on a woman’s face?
Grasping her hips he pulled her round bottom onto his thighs. The soft blonde curls between her legs were damp and glistening as his long fingers probed and touched, learning her inner self.
“Oh, please!” she cried out as her back arched and she bucked against his hand. The total vulnerability of her position only added to her passion.
“Soon, Carolyn, real soon,” his voice was like melted honey. She felt wet and slick, from desire, and it was making him throb with need. Her muscles relaxed around his fingers, deep inside of her. She was a small woman and he was a large man. He had deliberately done all he could to prepare her for him. His touch verified what he had suspected before; it was going to be a tight fit. It gave him an odd feeling of pleasure and pride to know that if he hadn’t taken care with her, she would have only experienced pain.
“Now!” she demanded, unable to take his probing any longer. “Please, I need you inside of me.” Tears filled her eyes as she struggled with the animal need she was feeling. It was all about him, all about them. Her legs gripped him and she reached to touch him anywhere she could.
“Yes, now!” He lowered her to the deck and covered her body with his. “Wrap you legs around my waist. It’s gonna to be tight.”
“It will work!” She gripped his face in frenzy.
“That’s what I like, a woman with determination!” He laughed as she pulled his face to hers and kissed him.
She felt him hard and large, touching her wetness and then probing, until he slid inside her. She gasped as he filled her deep and hard. “Ohhh yes,” her words were lost as he perfected the art of kissing, their tongues dancing against each other.
She was warm and wet and very tight around him. He tried to rock slowly, but her hips moved to meet his thrusts, increasing the pace and intensity. In that moment he let go and instinct took over. His hands roamed, fingers pinching and caressing as her legs locked him deep inside her. Then he felt it, the quivering deep in her core and she began to throb around him as she cried out his name over and over again. He held her securely as she exploded in his arms and then he followed her over the edge.
“You’re so beautiful,” she whispered as her brain cells finally began to reconnect. She knew her face was covered with tears, but she didn’t care. “That was so beautiful. I never knew it could be like that.”
Me neither, Babe, me neither! The blood pounded in his head, as he tried to get his mind around what had just happened.
For a moment Riddick rested his weight on Carolyn as he fought to pull back into his shell. He could feel her raspy breathing beneath him and her body slicked with sweat. It made him want to hold onto her tightly, as he’d done when her orgasms had ripped through her. Instead, he balanced on his elbows and put some distance between them.
“Richard!” she murmured, as he would have pulled out of her. Her arms, which were still wrapped tightly around him, moved down his back. Her small hands dug into his buttocks keeping him locked between her legs.
He could have easily broken her grasp and freed himself, but the feel of her body wanting his and the way she called his name were too much for him to push away, though he knew he had to do something before he lost his edge. There was something about the woman beneath him that changed all the rules.
“Our time’s almost up,” he whispered in shock as her lips moved over his bicep and she kissed her way to his shoulder. It made him itch to feel her mouth move over other areas of his body as well. All he really wanted to do was fold her close in his arms, but he knew that was a dangerous road that he didn’t want to take.
“They gotta be wondering where we got to.” He looked down at her naked body below his on the hard floor of the skiff and knew she didn’t belong there. Her pale skin contrasted with his deep tan; her petite frame overshadowed by his larger one; and her dented soul fragile and new compared to the blackened pit that was all that was left of his. What did she want? And how could he possibly give it?
“Just another minute, please,” her nose ran over his chest and drank in his scent. The adrenaline was still rushing through her veins and all she wanted to do was feel him against her. He meant safety and comfort. She didn’t question it, because she knew too soon they would be back to work and she would be alone again. The systems check had cut them off from reality, so for now, she held tightly to the man who had been strong enough to cut through her reserves.
THIS HAD TO STOP AND STOP NOW! “If we’re quick, we can work it in,” he forced himself to chuckle, as he reached back and grabbed her wrists pulling them high above her head. Using his hips to pin hers roughly to the ground, he stretched her out below him. The shocked look on her face only served to strengthen his resolve. “Ya gotta remember that when you play with the animals, you might get bit.”
“No! Stop.” She tried to pull out of his grasp, but he ground his hips into hers, in a rough parody of their earlier dance. She fought the desire he was fueling even as it caused tongues of fear to lick at her senses. If he hadn’t warned her what he had in mind, the flash of bared white teeth would have. She bucked, as she watched his mouth move to her right nipple that was still sensitive from the last time his lips had covered it, and growing harder by the moment. This time there was nothing gentle about him as he bit and pulled, causing her scream to echo throughout the soundproofed skiff. Wild uncontrolled need pounded through her.
“What’s the matter, Carolyn, don’t have the stomach for it whore style?” He could hear her ragged breathing and knew he was missing something. Her scream had carried a note of fear, but it was mainly surprised desire. She didn’t have to tell him no one had treated her like this before, it was written all over her face. But why wasn’t she running scared? He pulled back and tried another tactic. “One fuck is much like another, but ya gotta admit that there are some things that add spice to it.” He pulled hard enough on her wrists to send a quick shaft of pain through her shoulders before he rolled off her, his words dripping with distain. “Naaa I’ve never been one for rape. Give me an EASY woman any day.”
“You son-of-a-bitch!” she shouted. Still in a haze of want, she reached for the oxygen tank on the bench above them and aimed it at his head. His words had been a slap in the face. She had been easy for him, even when he had turned it rough she had still wanted him. The thoughts shamed her, but worse than that was what he had made her feel. He had let her feel safe. Let her feel that there was one person she might be able to trust on this damned planet. Worst of all, in her exhaustion she had let him get closer to her than any man had before. She had given him a peek at the Carolyn Fry that lived beneath the cool exterior of the Docking Pilot and he had taken what he wanted, then slammed the door in her face, laughing at her as he did it.
He easily deflected the incoming tank and grabbed her fists as they followed on the heels of it. The anger on her face was what he had wanted, what he knew how to deal with. He was back on safe ground.
“Are you sure you really want to try that?” his voice poured over her like honey mixed with ground glass. He felt her slight tremor as he looked pointedly at her bare breasts, inches from him. “You’re way out matched in this game so if I was you I’d watch my temper.” Neither of them questioned why he had warned her off, instead of just taking what each knew would have been his if he chose to take it.
“Just let me go,” she ground out between clenched teeth. “Just let me the fuck go!”
Fry grabbed her clothes and moved to behind the pilot’s seat where she quickly dressed. She could feel him at the other end of the skiff and it was making her hands shake so badly that she fumbled the zipper up the back of her shirt. She froze when she felt two large hands move hers aside.
“Don’t you touch me!” She turned on him in temper.
“I took it offa you, I’ll refasten it.” He turned her around and carefully moved the zipper into place and slid it up the length of the shirt; they both ignored the shiver that followed his movements.
He cupped her shoulders and turned her toward him. “You’ve been warned twice, now. That’s once more than I usually give. Don’t make the mistake of underestimating me again, Carolyn. I am what I am. Maybe this is one time you should believe Johns.”
“Go to hell, Riddick.” She threw back her head, her chin raised and a deadly look in her eyes. But it was the glint of tears as she quickly slid into the pilot’s seat, to put more distance between them, that caused his hand to reach for her, before his mind kicked in and he pulled it quickly back.
…………………………
The green hull integrity light began to blink and Riddick knelt beside Fry’s chair to quickly reattach the cover to the computer. “When we get back to the Hunter-G, I’ve got to have time to put the box back where it belongs and make it look like it hasn’t been tampered with.”
“But why? The ship crashed, it could have been damaged then, or the pirates could have gotten…” she felt a shaft of cold fear as he shook his head.
“No….believe me on this Carolyn, sometime, somewhere, the Company will come into possession of this box. When that happens someone like me will be sent hunting you.” He watched her absorb what he was saying, as he reached for his discarded goggles and slipped them over his eyes. “You think those aliens out there are scary, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”
But she had, she had seen Richard B. Riddick in action. He was scary all right, but not for the reasons he though; for what he did to her peace of mind. She tried to tell herself it was only the planet, but she knew there was much more to it and him than that. So she took the only sane way out and slammed the doors on all that had happened between them. “So we aren’t going to tell the others what we found out?”
“Not yet.” He stood and put the box in his pocket. “The raiders are too far away for us to worry about at the moment. Once we get this skiff launched will be time enough to figure out what to do.” He leaned over the back of her chair and whispered in her ear, “Besides, Carolyn do you really want the others to see all that’s on this box?” He shouldered the oxygen tank and unlocked the skiff’s doors. His words were left hanging in the air behind him as he sauntered into the sunlight.
………………………..
It had taken a bit of searching, but Carolyn found Johns in a storage area behind the Coring Room. She watched him quietly from the hall as his trembling fingers opened what appeared to be a shotgun round and pulled out a spike. It turned her stomach to see him carefully inject it into the inner canthus of his eye.
“So who are you really?” She strode into the box and barrel lined room, and began digging in Johns’s ‘ammunition’ box. “You’re not a cop are you?”
“I never said I was.” Johns leaned back enjoying the buzz he was getting as the morphine sang in his veins. This was his favorite time, when the drug was fresh and new, giving him a high that said all was right with the world. He was damned if he would let the bitch interfere with it.
“You never said you were a fuckin’ hype, either.” She couldn’t believe she had ever thought the dazed lax man in front of her was attractive! It made her skin crawl just thinking about him, now.
“I don’t see the problem. You have your caffeine in the morning and I have my morphine.” It sounded logical to him, maybe it would get her to leave him alone.
“It becomes a problem when you let Owens die the way he did!” A little voice shivered across her mind reminding her of her own guilt in the matter, but she ignored it. “You’ve got enough drugs here to stop a fuckin mule train. Owens shouldn’t have had to die screaming!”
That was the last straw, Johns grabbed Fry’s wrist and pulled her close. “Sure it isn’t what he was screaming when he died that’s really bothering you, Carolyn?”
“Let go of me.” She wrenched her hand free and took a step back. “You’re nothing but a hyped up Company sanctioned assassin, and I’ve been letting you roll the dice with our lives.”
“You figured that part out too, that’s too bad.” He stood and moved slowly toward her, the morphine having lulled him into a false sense of power. “You been talkin’ to Riddick?”
“What the hell does Riddick have to do with this?” She stood her ground. She had been pushed by one big man already today, and she was damned if she would let another get away with it.
“Well you were talking about assassins, I thought maybe you and Riddick were doing a head count.” He grinned at her as he saw the fire explode in her eyes. “I’ve killed a few in my days, but old Richard B., well he puts me to shame. Then there’s you, Docking Pilot Fry, how many deaths were caused by you? There were easily forty passengers and you were going to dump us all!” He laughed at her outrage. “If you add in the crew, like your old friend Owens, that puts you in Riddick’s league.”
She moved so quickly his morphed out minded didn’t see her coming. Her right hook landed squarely on his chin, followed by a left upper cut that took his breath away. She swept his legs out from under him, but he brought her down with him. He got in one punch to her left jaw, but she had seen it coming and pulled back, so it landed, but didn’t do much more than bruise the skin. Grabbing him by the shirtfront, Fry dug her right knee into his neck just below his Adam’s apple. She was taking in great gasps of thinned air and adrenaline pumped through her veins. Two men, the words kept playing in her mind as the fight with Johns was superimposed with her time in the Skiff with Riddick. Two damned men sending me into adrenaline overload because they wanted to get physical. Well shit head; I can be physical, too!
“If you ever fuckin touch me again, you’ll find out if I’ve got it in me to be a murderer!” She let him go and stood over him, daring him to try something with her again. “Now I got work to do.”
You’re dead, bitch! His mind screamed as she turned her back on him and left. But first he had time for one more spike.
……………………………
When Riddick had left the skiff he looked longingly at the windmill and the small amount of water it was producing. He could smell Carolyn on his skin and clothes and it was twisting his stomach into a knot. He would have gladly gone thirsty to wash her fragrance off of him, but he knew that no amount of scrubbing could do that. He needed distance and anger. Setting his jaw, he knew he was a mean enough son-of-a-bitch to pull it off, or at least he had been before she had dared him to tell her the truth about Zeke’s death.
Shaking his head at the mess he was in, he saw Imam, Jack, and the two boys in a circle where they had buried the kid who had died a few hours earlier. He reminded himself to keep an extra watch on Jack. By not telling Fry she was a girl, he had taken on responsibility for the child. What the fuck? He wasn’t a man who took on responsibility. Damn you Carolyn!
“Mr. Riddick,” Imam called as the children went off to load water onto the skiff. “Is everything all right?”
“How would I know, Holyman?” The big man looked at the older one, trying to figure out what game he was playing.
“You know a great deal more than you’re telling.” Imam had seen him come out of the skiff, followed by Fry moments later, and they had both looked troubled. More than a systems check had gone on in that locked ship. “The skiff is it not the life raft we had hoped it would be?”
“We gotta get the other power cells here first, until then, that thing’s just another place to keep out the monsters.” Yes, in there he had found a place where the monsters didn’t live, or at least he had, until he had brought them in to scare away Carolyn, but she had been much harder to scare than he had expected.
“Monsters?” The black man raised an eyebrow. “An interesting choice of words. Have you ever wondered what a Holyman is before he looks into the face of God?”
“No Father, I can’t say I have,” Riddick looked around wondering where Carolyn had gotten to, he had seen her leave the skiff a few minutes after he did.
“You should, you might be surprised what you….”
Riddick could feel the sudden change in the light and he stopped listening to the drivel Imam was trying to preach. He turned and saw the large ringed planet appear on the horizon. Time was running out.
The voices of Imam’s boys could be heard frantically calling for ‘the captain.’ Riddick turned from the awe-inspiring sight of the huge planet rising, his eyes darting to the entrance of each building. Where the hell was she and why didn’t she come when the boys called her. Suddenly he realized that Johns was nowhere to be seen either, and a knot formed in his stomach.
The rattle of a door opening to his right caught his attention. She stood in the entrance, her hair disheveled and a bruise forming on her left jaw line. She had had bumps and bruises from the crash and her fight out of the hole. He had seen each and every one of them in the skiff. Though he had been rough with her toward the end, he knew every place he had touched her and just how hard. This one was new! The hackles rose on the back of his neck as he met her eyes. How much more damage did Johns do?
Carolyn could read the question on Rich…Riddick’s face as clearly as if he had shouted it. She shook her head and shrugged. As she moved past him, he reached for her hands and saw the smattering of blood and broken skin on her knuckles. I can take care of myself, her expression challenged.
“We gotta get going!” She pulled her hands from his and pointed toward the sky. “Time’s running out.”
…………………………..
Riddick waited for Johns until the last minute, then he ran for the Sandcat. Let the fucker die here, he thought as he landed on the moving vehicle amide the frenzy of the group. Carolyn had been right, they were out of time. A noise to his right caught his attention and he turned and instinctively reached out, pulling Johns aboard. He smiled as he realized that she had also been right about taking care of herself. Johns had gotten the worse end of that interchange. For the moment he would let him live. But if there had been any doubt in his mind that Johns would die, it had ended when the spiker had dared put a mark on Carolyn.
Chapter 4 - Born To Endless Night