A/N: mild sensuality. no more than i usually do, but figured i'd warn you anyway. YAY! new chappie! enjoy!

Chapter 10: Animal Instinct

Valin stood at the pile of rocks at the end of the canyon trail with wide eyes staring at it, Deirdra's dress clutched in his hand and Toombs standing next to him.

"Well, ain't that a bitch?" Toombs stated, rubbing the back of his neck then gazing at Valin. "You think it was that quake that showed up on the ship's sensor?"

"It must have been," Valin replied, breathlessly as he headed to the pile of rocks. He noticed something sticking out of the rocks and frowned at it. It looked like a strap of some kind. He gripped it and pulled, but it was still trapped under the rocks. He pulled with all his might until he finally felt it slacken and a few rocks fell away as it came out. Valin staggered back as rocks covered the place where the thing had been then looked at what was in his hands.

"A bag?" Toombs observed and Valin grinned evilly. Realization hit the merc and he grinned as well, as he growled, "Riddick."

Sunset...

Deirdra stood at the edge of the canyon trail, staring at the graveyard and wondering which of them were the graves of her parents that she'd never known. She rubbed arms her against the cold. Sheera had given her a new outfit to wear while the old one was cleaned and her sleeves stitched back on. Her new outfit consisted of a red tank-top, a tan mini-skirt with a leather belt for the knife they'd provided for her as well and tall boots with socks which she only laced up partly to let the tongues dangle out. She'd given her a jacket as well, but she'd left it in the cave.

After Sheera had come back from getting blankets and pillows for Deirdra and Riddick, she'd showed them around and introduced them to some people. Everyone had been frightened of Riddick, but after Deirdra had made a show of teasing him and he hadn't reacted, people started warming up to him, which he wasn't too thrilled about.

She was now here, watching the suns set after having dinner consisting of one of the reptilian creatures Dr. Xenos had called a Cantoray around a huge bon fire with everyone else. Riddick had stayed in the cave with his dinner, and Deirdra had decided to come here instead of going back to check on him. He was a big boy, and she knew he didn't really need looking after.

With a shiver, she regretted not going back for her jacket. She thought her clothes were cute, but they did nothing against the cold. She sighed and leaned her head on the stone she was leaning against, wishing Valin hadn't betrayed her so that he could be here now and share this with her. She pulled the braid Sheera had made of her hair and pulled it out, wanting her hair to be loose. She tousled her hair then looked back at the sunset as she ran her fingers through it slowly.

"Stupid."

Deirdra jumped at the low voice behind her and whirled around only to have a jacket thrown into her face.

"Hey!" she squeaked, pulling her jacket from her face and glaring at Riddick as he came up next to her. "Don't call me stupid!"

"You're standing in the cold without a jacket," Riddick observed. "That makes you stupid."

"Riddick, you're mean," she pouted as she tried pulling on her tan, coat-like jacket. When she couldn't pull it on, Riddick rolled his eyes and snatched it from her then held it up by the collar so she could slip her arms into the sleeves. She did and pulled it tightly around her to warm up quickly.

"Thank you," she said, and turned back to lean on the canyon wall again as he leaned on the other side. She noticed he hadn't changed from his black tank top, gray pants and black combat boots. She was thankful he hadn't because she could see his muscular arms she found attractive.

Riddick glanced at her a few times, almost disappointed he'd let her put the jacket on. When he'd come up behind her, he hadn't revealed himself at once, taking in the sight of so much of her skin. He had never done that before with her, but he'd figured since she was there, he may as well. He had seen her shiver and take her hair out of its braid, and when he had said "Stupid," he wasn't really calling her that, but saying it more to himself.

Deirdra turned to him, leaning back on the stone to face him and he did the same to face her, his goggles still over his eyes.

"Would it be weird if I told you I felt at home here?" she wondered out loud, not really expecting an answer but knowing he'd give her one anyway.

"Yes," he blurted, looking back at the sunset. Deirdra sucked her teeth and crossed her arms in a huff as she looked back at the graveyard as well. Her irritation instantly faded and she glanced at him a few times before sighing.

"Do you wanna know what I was thinking, before you came and started calling me names?" she wondered and Riddick only shrugged.

"Whatever," he replied and Deirdra rolled her eyes without responding. Riddick glanced at her then turned his head completely to her as she only stared out at the graveyard. "Well?"

Deirdra turned to him again and shifted as she smirked, "Oh, you really want to know, now?"

"I'm not gonna play games with you," Riddick snapped. "You can either tell me or not. I don't care."

"Well, fine," Deirdra smirked again and pushed off the wall to walk up to him and lean next to him. "I was wondering which of those graves belonged to my parents."

Riddick looked at the graveyard then shrugged as he looked at his feet to kick at some sand.

"Do you ever wonder about that?" she wondered.

"About what?" Riddick asked.

"About your parents," she explained. "What they were like and stuff?"

Riddick shrugged in response and said nothing else. Deirdra sighed, hopelessly. She glanced around him to the sunset and leaned back again.

"It's pretty, isn't it?" she asked.

"I guess," he shrugged, still not looking at her.

"What do you think about?" she wondered sarcastically. He looked up at her with a frown. "I'll bet all you've ever thought was whether or not the people around you knew who you were and whether or not they were gonna turn you in. You only ever thought about whether or not they were mercs, right?"

"Why do you care?" he wondered.

"Because you can relax now," she insisted, turning to lean on her arm and face him. "You're around people who've gone through the same thing you have."

"The hell they have," Riddick snapped standing completely and turning to face her as well. "They haven't had to run from mercs because they murdered people! They haven't had bounty after bounty on their heads!"

"How do you know that?!" Deirdra spat, standing to continue the face down. "How do you know what they've been through?! They're Furyan, like us. They may not have been exactly what you've been through but they were nearly killed and had to fend for their lives! Why are you being such an asshole about this?!"

He didn't respond and instead ripped his goggles off of his head and pulled her toward him by the waist until her body was against his and his lips crashed down on hers. He slammed her against the canyon wall, still ravaging her mouth and she moaned, to his surprise. He felt her hands on his back and shoved her harder against the stone as she pulled him closer and met his passion with every stroke of their tongues against each other.

Riddick had figured it out when she was yelling at him. The reason they were always arguing and fighting. It was probably partially because he hadn't been laid in a while and the arguing, yelling and fighting was foreplay. He had thought quickly on what had happened before the earth quake yesterday morning. She had been seductive with him, and that had told him that she hadn't been laid in a while either.

Deirdra bit his lower lip roughly making him moan and push her even harder against the stone behind her. She finally broke the kiss to breath and Riddick busied himself with parting the collar of her jacket to smother her neck in wet kisses.

"What the hell are we doing?" she panted, yet didn't let him go as she wrapped her arms around his neck to place her hands on his head.

"What does it look like we're doing?" he retorted, biting her neck roughly. Deirdra gasped when she felt his teeth sink into her flesh and pulled him a little closer.

"Should we do this?" she wondered out loud and Riddick pulled his mouth from her neck to smother her own, making her moan against his lips.

"Animal instinct," he growled, biting her lip. "What difference does it make?"

"None," she moaned as his mouth attacked her neck again. "But should we do this out in the open like this?"

"Who cares?" he wondered.

"I do," she replied, trying to shove him away.

All that accomplished was to make him pull her away slightly and slam her into the stone behind her. She grunted as his shining eyes stared into hers with a combination of dominance and hunger. She realized this was animal instinct, and he was the aggressor, which made her the submissive.

He growled low in his throat and gripped her wrist to drag her down the trail toward their cave. Once there he flung her into it and turned to the curtain he'd hung earlier for privacy at the entrance. He pulled it shut and turned to Deirdra as she stood trembling in the cave, only seeing his eyes in the darkness. His eyes came closer and she suddenly found herself immersed in another rough kiss, his hand in her hair to pull her closer and lower them to the ground.

"Animal instinct, huh?" she wondered breathlessly as she lay against his chest, her finger tracing his chest and abs as he grabbed a pillow and shoved it under his head.

"Pure and simple," he replied in a sigh of satisfaction and Deirdra placed her chin on his chest to look at him, her eyes now adjusted to the darkness.

"I know you don't like me that way," she began. "And not that you'll ever feel this way, but I want you to know, I don't expect you to---"

"Oh, be quiet and go to sleep," he groaned. "You talk more and say less than anyone I've ever met."

Deirdra opened her mouth to say something else, but Riddick rolled her onto her back again and smothered her with a passionate kiss. She squeaked in surprise and when he pulled away his shining eyes stared her down, hungrily.

"Don't make me screw you senseless, as much as I'd like to," he warned and Deirdra nodded violently, placing two fingers over her mouth and zipping it shut. As much as she would have liked that too, she knew that after a while, it would hurt, and that's what he was threatening: to make it hurt.

He nodded and rolled back onto his back, wincing slightly at the pain from cuts she'd made on his back with her nails before pulling a blanket over himself and Deirdra found a pillow and blanket for herself as well. She glanced at him but turned onto her side, her back facing him. She heard faint shuffling and suddenly felt a heavy arm around her waist and it pulled her back slightly. She turned her head to say something but decided against it and turned back to snuggle into her pillow with a smile.

He doesn't love you, ya know? her mind warned her. His attraction to you is pure lust, like he said. He's just doing you because you're there, and you're female.

It doesn't matter, a more timid version of her voice argued. If he needs something, I'll give it to him, because I like him enough, and I'm attracted to him.

You're a fool, she told herself, but she didn't care. She fell asleep to the soothing feeling of his breath against the back of her neck and the security of his arm around her waist. She could live with lust, after all, she was half animal herself.

Midnight...

"They can't be far now," Valin told Vaako as they stood now on the other side of the rocks that covered the canyon trail. "Without food and water, they'll be lucky to reach those mountains ahead."

Vaako looked around in evaluation then turned to Valin and said, "Take one of the fighters and patrol the rest of the area."

"Lord Marshal," Valin called, respectfully lowering his head. "With all do respect, I work better when I track from the ground. Not to mention, the element of surprise would be in our favor. Riddick would surely sense a ship fly by, even if we were too high to see."

Vaako thought for a moment and nodded then said, "Very well." He turned around as if looking for something. "Where is that Toombs character?"

Valin sighed and gestured toward the mountains.

"He didn't want to wait for you," he explained. "I told him it would be foolish to go off on his own, but he didn't care."

"Stupid fool," Vaako insulted then turned to Valin again. "Continue tracking him and when you find him, and that traitor of a woman, kill them."

He turned to walk back to his small fighter which sat not too far away but Valin stopped him.

"Sir, about that," he called and Vaako turned to him again. "The woman…she could still be…persuaded. Perhaps we shouldn't kill her? We could use her skills and, perhaps she could make a useful Purifier?"

Vaako narrowed his gaze at the man. He thought back to when they had all been on Necropolis, and how this man standing in front of him had defended that woman by threatening Vaako's life. Now, this same was begging for her life. He knew then that Valin was in love with her, but her betrayal, and the fact that she wasn't even a Necromonger, could not be over-looked. In all reasoning, he should have killed Valin as well for not telling anyone the truth about her, but he was now proving to be useful.

"No," he finally replied. "She must be punished for her actions. We kill them both."

Morning...

Deirdra slunk through the camp back to the place she had been last night. She realized when she'd woke up that when Riddick had pulled off his goggles, he'd left them there. She figured she'd better get them now before he woke up and got pissed when he couldn't find them. She had dressed quickly, so her clothes were disheveled, along with her hair and she hadn't bothered to put on her shoes, but she decided on taking her jacket this time.

When she reached the edge of the camp she saw Sheera standing where she had been last night. Freezing in her place she scanned the ground for Riddick's goggles but she couldn't find them. She frowned and when Sheera suddenly held her hand out, not turning to look from the graveyard at Deirdra, she saw his goggles were in her hand. The red-head straightened and cleared her throat as she came up next to her and took Riddick's goggles from her.

"Thank you," she muttered, and turned to walk away but Sheera stopped her.

"You should be careful," she called and Deirdra froze again to turn to the other woman.

"Careful?" she echoed. Sheera finally turned around to face her and leaned sideways against the canyon wall. "Careful of what?"

"Riddick," Sheera replied. "He is dangerous, though we have welcomed him here."

Deirdra stared at Sheera in wide eyed shock but shook it away to say, "Though you've welcomed him here? He's Furyan. We're all Furyan. Shouldn't that mean he shouldn't have to worry about what you think of him. Shouldn't that mean that you welcome him with open arms instead of cautious minds?"

"He has killed many people," Sheera went on, "and though we are grateful, as is the whole universe most likely, that he's avenged the Furyan race, the fact remains, he's dangerous."

Deirdra couldn't believe what she was hearing. So they were all cautious about him, and everything they had done were only courtesies disguised as acceptance. Riddick had been right to keep to himself, and she had been…deceived. Disbelief turned to anger as she straightened and glared at the woman.

"So, what are you saying?" she wondered, sarcastically. "That everything he does will be scrutinized? That if he does anything that any of you find disapproving he'll be kicked out? Where will he go? He'll be on the run again? Can you have that on your conscience?"

"He is a dangerous man," Sheera said simply. "And if we were to tell him to leave, for any reason, he can take care of himself. You forget, we know him."

"You don't know him," Deirdra argued through clenched and angry teeth. "And if he goes, I go. Not that it'll be a great loss for you, I'm sure. But keep that in mind if you care at all."

With that, Deirdra turned and stormed back to the cave. Some of the campers were getting up and going about their business as the suns began rising, casting their light into the canyon. Deirdra felt tears prick the back of her eyes as she hurried back to the cave. She couldn't believe that Riddick had been right all along, and that she had been completely wrong about this place. She started thinking that they should both leave. After all, they could take care of themselves. They could find some way to get off this planet.

She stopped at the curtain hung over the cave entrance and took a deep breath before slowly entering so as not to disturb Riddick if he was still sleeping. She stepped in, his goggles hanging around one of her wrists and some light coming in through the sheer curtain. She looked for Riddick but he wasn't there. Frowning, she turned and gasped when she was met by the very person she'd been looking for.

"I told you," he said, simply. "I told you, didn't I? I said they hadn't been through what I had. I knew they wouldn't understand. Didn't I tell you?"

Deirdra couldn't speak and instead held his goggles up to him which he snatched away from her and she looked away in shame. She knew now that he had followed her, and he had told her, but they had all pulled the wool over her eyes and she kicked herself for being so god damn gullible.

"What now?" she wondered in a small voice and Riddick sighed as he pulled his goggles onto his head but not over his eyes.

"We could leave," he suggested.

"But we'd be right back where we started," Deirdra pointed out.

"At least we won't be here," he replied, looking away in thought then looking back at Deirdra. She wasn't looking at him, and he knew she was afraid to. He realized a long time ago that she didn't have his insight so he wasn't angry with her for being so easy, but he knew she thought he was.

Taking a chance he raised his hand and pulled her face to his to gaze at her, his fingers on one cheek, his thumb on the other, her chin resting in his palm. Her eyes locked with his and he saw fear in the chocolate depths where confidence should have been. He'd never seen that from her before when he looked at her, and he knew why it had changed. He suddenly regretted taking her last night.

"Come with me, or don't," he said, emotionlessly. "But make up your mind quick, because I'm leaving today. I won't blame you for wanting to stay, but I'll probably never come back, so when you make up your mind, you make sure you know it's for life."

He let go of her face and turned to leave but Deirdra stopped him.

"I've already made up my mind," she said in a quiet voice. "Didn't you hear me tell Sheera? If you go, I go. It's as simple as that." She walked up next to him and he pulled on his goggles before she opened the curtain so they could both walk out. "You're stuck with me, remember?"

A/N: i love Dee, she's everything i'm not. lol! reviews?