It has been absolutely forever since I've updated this story, but I've been writing the whole time, just hadn't managed to put it up. So finally, here's the next installation, and some more will be up soon, so don't go forgetting about me.
(No, I haven't somehow managed to buy Riddick since I started this story)
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Wayne snapped awake at the sound of his rusting door grating open, pushed by a very large and very welcome tanned arm. But it was not that arm's body that entered first… Ducking pristinely through the doorway was the sweetest little thing he had ever laid eyes on. Hot-fuckin'-damn, man, he didn't know who told Riddick about the party tonight or where he picked up this new girl, but that was what he would call rewarding hospitality! He hauled himself from the couch and eagerly advanced.
"Hey baby, my name's-"and out of fucking nowhere-
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Riddick's eyes followed her inside before he moved himself. Jesus, just to run his fingers through that hair… He shut his eyes and smiled at the thought. Riddick stepped through and turned his back to her to force the door closed.
Riddick's animal mind, lulled as it had been by her words and her scent, snapped into action at the sound of another male's voice. Not just the voice, the tone. Threat. Like the strike of a snake, Riddick whirled and slammed the threat into the wall behind it. For half a second everything paused in shock, and Riddick had time to wonder what her face must look like behind his shoulder, and how long it would take her to reach the door and run. Wayne recovered first, however, and kicked out at Riddick's knee, indignant but still playful.
"What the fuck, Riddick-"
In the rush, Riddick had thankfully missed the throat and had Wayne pinned upright by his jaw. He shifted his hand under Wayne's chin and began to slide his weight slowly up the wall. Playfulness withered at the idea of strangulation, and suddenly Wayne began to panic, desperately trying to wrench Riddick's hand away. When Riddick had the boy's wide eyes level with his own, he answered.
"Don't fuck with the girl." He snarled, and dropped him unceremoniously to the floor.
Riddick looked to Carolyn, who was watching Wayne caugh and sputter on the floor, shock written all over her face. His movement drew her eyes from the scene to him, but she didn't flinch from him like he expected. She raised her eyes to meet his, and he wanted to explain himself, he did, but there just weren't any words. It was. It had happened. The only thing that hadn't yet was her reaction. For a long, long second, Carrie just stared her empty eyes through him. Finally it seemed to melt away, and her eyes began to focus. She didn't quite smile, but er eyes softened for him and she spoke.
"Excessive?" Carolyn bantered playfully while she tried to figure out how much this had changed things. She watched relief flood him as she searched herself for her reaction. Am I scared, even? Shouldn't I be? Jesus, two inches down and he'd've crushed his throat. He didn't even look, he just struck. But he struck for me, didn't he? He defended me.
Carolyn decided that it really didn't change anything. She had already sensed his violence and that it wasn't dangerous to her, and this just confirmed it. And Riddick had only behaved as all animals and convicts do: being an alpha male and new, he had immediately demonstrated his superiority to the current power so he'd only have prove it once, and began to set his own rules. And under those rules, she was safe.
"Yeah, maybe a little extreme…" Riddick answered, laughing out of sheer overwhelming relief and looking uncharacteristically awkwardly down at his boots. Carrie's smile grew sweeter and more thoughtful, like she was smiling at him rather than just giving him the expression she knew he wanted. Whatever it was, his problem with Wayne wasn't over, he had to confirm his authority, make sure he understood whose will was dominant here.
For a second Riddick's relief had made him look downright normal, like a teenage boy would look if he'd never had to worry about brute survival. Carrie was almost disappointed to hear Riddick curtly inform the coughing figure stumbling for the couch that his bedroom had been taken. That brutality of him, it wasn't all there was. Carolyn realized that she had caught a glimpse of the boy Riddick could have been. And maybe still could be, she thought to herself, as she followed him around the corner and through another door.
'Bedroom' was a generous title; it only resembled one in the crudest sense. A dirty one person mattress lay haphazardly in the back right corner with its pile of blanket, but there was no other furniture. The walls and littered floor spoke of infrequent cleaning at best, but it gave the impression somehow that the owner was actually proud of the cleanliness of his living space.
Carolyn stopped short and was forced to take a step back, as Riddick unexpectedly turned and pushed the door closed behind them over her shoulder. He knew he wasn't about to attack her, but with her back to the wall, her body couldn't help but tense at the extremely fresh memory called up by this position. He rested his weight there and hung his head in thought, searching for the words.
"So you go by Riddick?" she stalled for him. Funny, but in their whole walk, she hadn't realized that she had never actually addressed him. Probably a good thing, since she would have addressed him wrong.
"Yeah…" It was hard to concentrate this close to her smell, but he was too deep in thought to consider anything except what he meant to say. He couldn't put this off any more. Suddenly he recognized the stiff, nervous set of her shoulders, and he hurriedly dropped his arm and gave her a half-step back. "Look, Carrie-"
"I figured you were from the prison," she interrupted him thoughtfully, and he was struck silent by sheer surprise. "And by the way you interact you probably knew him there." And she raised her eyes sadly to his; he was half-mouthing something in confused, incredulous explanation. "But you don't like the idea of me knowing that, and you don't want me around his type. And that's why I don't care about the other stuff. It doesn't matter, Riddick. You're…" She sifted for the word, the image that would-
Riddick couldn't take anymore. What he thought was disappointment in her eyes was serenity, total acceptance, and their lips met before he knew he had acted. He heard her back thump softly against the door, and his hands buried themselves in her silken hair. She twitched away in surprise, but he felt her apprehension melt under him. (you're on shaky ground already, Riddick, back off while you're ahead) His tongue just tasted her bottom lip, and completely of their own accord, Riddick's hands withdrew from her hair and reached for her waist as he- (for fuck's sake, stop!)
With huge effort Riddick stepped back, using the door to physically push himself away. He looked into her face, carefully not-panting. She was just so… He felt himself being drawn back to her, but he couldn't risk scaring her. Riddick backed himself away before he could lose control again. Guess that's what people mean by a conscience. By the distance in front of him, Riddick figured he was pretty much as far across the little room as he was going to get. Not like you'll look like an idiot all the way over here or anything, Rick, he lectured himself. But Jesus, that… That angel, stands there in utter trust of me. That's my angel. He licked his lips, suddenly desperate again for the taste of her.
For a second more Carolyn kept her eyes shut, and she giggled happily.
"You're welcome."
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So? Tell me what you think! Good or bad, be completely honest, any and all feedback is invited.