A/N: Happy Wednesday! I am posting two chapters tonight. Thanks for the awesome reviews. I appreciate the suggestion to add a note regarding the POV switches, I will probably do that later, when I go back to do some editing. Considering I am so far in, it may take some time to go back and do that... (sounds like a weekend project to me). Oh and I hated this chapter until a wave of inspiration hit me and I did a major last minute revamp of the entire thing, let me know if it is up to snuff.

I do not own Pitch Black, Dark Fury, Chronicles of Riddick, or Riddick, nor do I own their characters or the story lines. I own only Rehtaeh and any new characters that I may add, and any plot changes that may happen within.

I really hope you enjoy the story! :D

Chapter 26

*Riddick*

It seemed like an eternity passed as he waited for her on the side walk. What the hell was taking so long? All she had to do was change and pay for their supply order. When she finally stepped out of the store, he grabbed her hand and hauled her after him. He was done waiting. He had promised himself that they would take care of Toombs first, then he would take his time with her. Damn it she was just too much of a temptation to be around. When he wasn't actively teaching her about the ship, she was off doing things to avoid him. Whether it was working out or drawing, making meals or cleaning up the ship. Her presence around him was as seductive as her absence from him. He wanted her. Plain and simple, he wanted her.

He disengaged the security on the ship and pulled her up the ramp into the air lock. He had planned to take her to the loft, but his need proved greater than his logic. As soon as they were inside he pushed her against the wall and started to undress her. The collar and the cuffs fell away as he undid them. She struggled against him for a moment until he kissed her. Her arousal was instantaneous and she stopped her attempts to stall him. He pushed her hands away gently and reached for her dress, pulling it up from her waist, over her shoulders and arms until it joined the other things on the floor. The sight of her in her sports bra and skin tight jeans revved his need for her ever higher. He was working on the button and fly of her jeans when she tried once again to stop him. He couldn't see her eyes as she glared up at him but her face and body told him she was trying to defy him again.

He couldn't help the snarl or the growl that came from his throat as he told her, "You flaunt yourself at me with those shorts and gym top. Then avoid me for days on end. The most expensive item you buy in town is a set of fancy underwear. I can barely control myself around you as it is. I want to be inside of you, I want to make you mine."

"Riddick, I-," She stopped for a heart beat before she continued, "I want you too, but-."

But nothing, she wanted him and that was all there was to it. He kissed her hard cutting off her excuse, refusing to let her protest. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. He could hear her heart racing in her chest, so he pressed for more and she opened for him joining her tongue with his. He hummed in appreciation as her hands pulled him down for more. Finally they were on the same page; he opened the button and lowered the zipper on her jeans. His left hand moved to explore her core, he wanted to make her ready for him, for what he intended to happen. Her arousal spiked and he caught her tiny cry in his mouth as he touched her center.

The sudden knock and one of the guards cleared his throat made Riddick growl in frustration. 'When the fuck am I going to fulfill this promise if I keep getting interrupted?' he thought in anger. How the hell had she driven him to such distraction that he let someone come up behind him like that? This lust was going to get him killed. He pulled away and looked over his shoulder at the guard standing on the ramp. He tried to angle his body to protect Rehtaeh from the other man's view.

"Sorry sir, the Security Forces Mechanic is here to inspect the work done on the weapons systems. He needs access to the bridge, to run the tests." The man had the decency to turn away when he realized what he had just interrupted and Riddick turned back to the girl he had pinned to the wall.

Her forehead leaned against his chest and he heard a choked moan as he cupped her intimately in a silent promise. He pulled his hand out of her jeans and placed his finger under her chin tilting her face toward his and kissed her hard. "We are not done, Rehtaeh, as soon as we finish our business with Toombs, I am taking what I want."

He unbuttoned her shirt, shrugged it off and handed it to her. She slipped her arms into it and pulled it around her. He heard the soft moan leave her lips as she took in his scent from the fabric. He watched her pick up her things from the floor and walk into the main cabin and directly to the loft stairs.

He glared at the mechanic as he stepped down the ramp. These people had the worst possible timing. "You can access the bridge now, everything is unlocked. Make it quick, we wanna get back on course as quickly as possible."

One of the guards seemed to understand the meaning of what Riddick really meant because he looked at his partner and reminded him that Riddick was on his 'honeymoon'. The mechanic looked at him with open curiosity, then in peaked interest as Rehtaeh came out of the ship with her UD card to pay the guards. "Man, if that was my wife, I'd be in a hurry too. I won't be long."

The mechanic walked quickly up the ramp to the main console and got started on his equipment checks and tests. Riddick followed him to keep an eye on the man as he ran tests on the computer hook-ups as well as the actual installs. Since their arrival Riddick was struck by how easy things went, everyone here had been perfectly polite to him, and not one seemed to be tipped off about the bounty on his head. He wanted it kept that way and he was wary that the mechanic might add a tracking bug to the systems.

He was going over the operating instructions with the Security Mechanic when the order of supplies arrived. Rehtaeh tried to hide the fact that she was staring at him, he could see her from the corner of his eye. Twice he turned to catch her gaze and both times she looked away as though she was not staring. The third time it happened he caught her outright, and she blushed heavily and turned away flustered. When the deliverymen finally arrived with their supplies, she nearly pounced on them, as she tried to ignore him. She turned her focus to directing the delivery men as to where she wanted everything placed and used her UD card to pay for delivery and give them a big tip. Then she started opening packages and putting stuff away. She was very efficient in everything she did, completely focused on the task until it was complete. She handed him his bag of clothes in case he needed to change but he tossed it up into the loft. He would change just before takeoff, until then he was going to enjoy the feel of her eyes on him as he moved around the ship.

The mechanic headed outside to check some data lines that were not connecting to the console, Riddick followed and was half way down the ramp when he turned back to look at Rehtaeh. She was standing a dark recess near the galley. The shadow seemed to caress her skin, hugging to her curves as she blended into the darkness. Her purple irises looked electric beside the silver depths of her pupils. She was watching him and had taken off her sunglasses and was biting the tip of the arm. A small slow grin crept across her face, growing more and more feral and wild, as she looked at him. Up and down, and back up, the lust he saw in her eyes was raw. She blushed prettily when she realized that he had caught her read handed, she put her hand over her face for a moment before she shook her head and went back to work. He grinned at her failed attempt to not get caught then he followed the mechanic out to the gun receptacles.

The mechanic was cursing heavily when he arrived, whole adaptation was installed incorrectly, the man would have to take apart and redo the work that had been done earlier in the day. Riddick offered his help; he wanted to get out of this port and quick. He had a bad feeling about spending too long in a place like this. He and the mechanic had just finished rewiring the laser guns to the console when one of guards came back into the ship at a run, "The Betenari Boys killed Ray! They are on their way. They wanna piece of your cash!"

Riddick rounded the ship at a run just in time to see a man enter the ship, there was a battle cry and the man flew back out and landed in a heap at the feet of one of his comrades. Rehtaeh stood at the top of the ramp winding her hair into a bun at the back of her head, an angry snarl on her lips. "Back off freak show, I am lethal. I will cut you up if you try that shit again."

"Yeah, whatever bitch, we're gonna take that hit on you and when we're done we gonna take anything and everything we want. Including your ship." One of the larger men said, he was feeling pretty tough standing amid the group of sixteen men and women that moved to surround the ship.

"You should listen to the lady. She's a devil with a pair of knives." Riddick warned threateningly as he moved to stand beside the ramp. The guard was beside him gun drawn and ready to fight, the mechanic stood just behind the guard holding a flat ended screwdriver in his hand.

"Like you are chump change, Richard?" Rehtaeh drawled from her spot on the ramp, she slowly pulled her sleep shirt over her head. She let it fall to the ground revealing her tight muscular body. Within moments she had prepared for battle. Her hair was pulled away from her face, her loose clothing removed. He admired her form as she warily lowered to a lung and pulled both of her knives out of her boots. She was one hot sexy lethal woman. "Or should I start calling you Riddick again babe? Riddick here is a master with a blade."

There was a murmur through the group, but the leader apparently didn't care that his group was starting to back away. He took a step toward Rehtaeh, his stance threatening. The guard moved to stop him, dropping to his knee to take aim with his blaster. The leader still figured he had the upper hand even though some of his crew had taken off and taunted them, "Right. You willing to put your money where your mouth is?"

He took one shot at one of the remaining ten gang members and chaos ensued. The leader rushed the guard who hunched his back and shuffled backwards towards the ship, closer to Rehtaeh. Seeing a perfect opportunity Riddick rushed in and plunged his shiv into the sweet spot of the first man before spinning away and slicing the throat of the next man. The guard was on his knees in front of the ramp trying to protect the ship and the woman on the ramp. Rehtaeh had other plans she used that moment to run down the ramp, planting her foot on the guards shoulder and launched herself at the leader, screaming her battle cry once again. Her feet connected with his shoulders and he fell backwards under her momentum.

The guard had taken out two with his blaster, but with Riddick and Rehtaeh in the way he was having a hard time finding a target. There were seven men standing between him and Rehtaeh. A woman ran at Riddick hoping to use her agility against him, but she was telegraphing every move and when her knife came at him he was easily able to grab her hand and knock the blade away. He slammed his elbow into her face knocking her unconscious. A head rolled past his boot and he looked up to see Rehtaeh on top of a headless corpse holding off another attacker with her blades. Riddick growled, the man was easily twice her size. The Mechanic was in a slugfest with a man about his size, the other man had the upper hand.

Two men came after him having decided that attacking in higher numbers would give them better odds. They both had long blades and they came at him in unison going for his arms. He spun to the left at the last possible moment slicing the man across the shoulder, as he took a hit and was cut on the ribs. He reacted quickly spinning again behind the man before he had any time to react. Riddick reached out took his head in his hands and twisted hard. There was a slick snap and the man dropped to the ground as the other man jumped on him from behind. Riddick hunched forward pulling the man off the ground grabbed his clothes and pulled him forward over his shoulder. The man fell hard on his back the breath knocked out of him.

He was about to gut him when Rehtaeh's bloodied form landed face down on top the man. Her hair had come loose, and there was red gore painted in the long sliver blonde tresses. She rose, a scream in her throat, knives in her hands she slammed both blades into the man underneath her in a fit of anger and frustration. The man screamed in agony and she pulled her knives back out and they plummeted again this time both of them slamming into the man's ribcage and into his heart. She rose to her feet, met his eye for half a second before looking behind him. She growled angrily and went after someone behind Riddick. The woman must have woken back up. There was the burst of gunfire as the guard shot another man that went after the mechanic who had just killed the man he had been fighting by embedding his screwdriver in to his temple.

Riddick looked up in time to see the massive beefy man that he had last seen Rehtaeh fighting come after her. Riddick stood up and faced off with the man. The massive meathead threw a huge right hook trying to take off Riddick's head, but he was able to arch back and under the hit. He countered the hit with an uppercut that hit the man in the bottom of the chin. He threw a left hook to follow up and the man staggered but didn't fall if anything the hit only seemed to egg him on. The man seemed to become more energized and he hit Riddick three more times. Riddick staggered back towards the ship the man following him. He mentally shrugged off the hits and lunged at the bigger man swiping twice with his blade, he struck both times, leaving massive red slashed in the man's shirt. Still the man kept coming, he was weaker and stumbling, but he was still trying to attack. Riddick slashed again, and punched the man twice in the temple before he was able to embed his shiv into the back of the man's neck, severing his spine.

He looked around, the mechanic had survived, but barely, he had several deep lacerations in his shoulders and back. The guard looked like he had gotten into a hand to hand tussle as well he had a large bloody gash over his eyebrow and his nose was bleeding heavily. Rehtaeh was finishing off the woman, her silver hair swirled around her like a cloak of silver and red. The woman was stumbling towards her with her hands clenched, they had both lost their knives somewhere in their scuffle. Rehtaeh went after the woman with her feet, spinning into a massive butterfly kick, hitting the woman in the head not once but twice. The woman's nose was bleeding everywhere, and she was staggering heavily, but she found one of Rehtaeh's knives on the ground and moved to pick it up, just as Rehtaeh rounded on her with a massive drop kick to the back of her head. Riddick heard the crack as the woman's head slammed forward and her neck snapped. The woman's body hung leaning over for a long second before it toppled over lifeless.

"No one uses my knives, unless I say so." Rehtaeh growled as she picked up her blades, she wiped them both on her jeans and put them back in their scabbards in their boots.

"That was too close." The guard said as he looked around at the dead bodies littering the ground. "You two better get out of here before the police show up. We can figure out a story."

"No." Riddick growled looking steadily at the guard. "You tell them that Rehtaeh Furya was here for the day, these mobsters showed up to try to take a hit out on her. You tell them that she and her bodyguard acted in self defense you helped. If they have a problem with that you tell them to contact General Farah Tiller in New Mecca. You got all that?"

"Yeah." The guard looked at her for a long moment before going to help the mechanic to his feet.

"Good." Riddick turned toward Rehtaeh looked her up and down, she was banged up and a bit bruised but she had no major injuries. "Let's go, we got places to be."

"I still gotta run that final check for you." The mechanic said from where he was sitting on the ground. He slowly got to his feet and headed to the ramp.

"I can do it." Riddick told him with a growl, but the man continued on determined to finish the job. Rehtaeh double timed it to finish her job putting everything away. She was done before the mechanic finished his checks, and finally the man was paid and they were ready to make tracks. She pulled her bloodied hair back into a thick knot at the back of her neck and joined him at the console. Again her eyes swept over his chest and abs and he caught her looking, and watched as her flush deepened. Her eyes stopped on the cuts that he had gotten during the melee and a crease marred her brow. That was his cue, game time was over for now, they both needed to be on high alert. There was no more time for distractions. He went up to the loft and found his clothes tucked neatly into a drawer in the little cabin. He grabbed a tank and pulled it over his head, enjoying the feel of clean fabric against his skin and went down to prepare for takeoff.

Rehtaeh called for a departure request and they were immediately given the go ahead. He quirked a brow at her and she grinned at him, heat spread through his chest as her smile warmed him from the inside. If she ever figured out what that smile did to him he would be in trouble. Seated beside him as he prepared the ship for takeoff, she gripped the arms of the seat and took several deep breaths and he hadn't even left the ground yet. It was then that he realized that her motion sickness triggered a fear response in her. As much as he usually enjoyed the scent of a person's fear, the peppery smell did not suit Rehtaeh and he didn't want her to fear something that he actually enjoyed doing.

"Switch spots Rehtaeh, you're gonna take us out of here. Show me what you've learned." He powered down the ship and stood up, waiting for her to trade him seats.

"You're serious?" she asked her eyebrows shot up above her glasses in surprise and he almost laughed at her.

"Yes, you've done all the book stuff already, time for hands on training. Let's go."He growled at her as she stalled for a moment more before jumping into the captain's seat. She made sure that all hull doors were sealed and the ship was space ready before starting the main drives. Then she deftly went through the start up sequence, not missing a beat. It was as though she had been flying for years as she called into tower for a flight lane and prepped for exit from the main dock. She pulled the throttle gently like he had taught her and the ship lifted slowly off the ground and hovered for a moment before she hit the thrusters and they took off through the atmosphere. Her adrenaline spiked as she maneuvered the ship out of atmosphere and into space. That was a scent he much preferred on her.

She made her way to the main shipping lanes following his instructions to a tee. Then she engaged the Ion drives, luring Toombs along the trail for nearly a day before she dropped off speed and turned off the drives. Pulling off the main road, she banked the ship silently into the middle of nowhere, then doubled back to the service station and hid behind a nearby moon to watch for the Merc. He knew she hated waiting for the man, but at least if she knew she could run the ship she would be able to kill some time doing maneuvers and practicing protocols. Which might help her overcome her motion sickness and the fear that went with it. He wondered for a moment when he had stopped enjoying the scent of her fear, and when it had been replaced by this need to protect her.

They took turns on watch as they waited for Toombs to arrive. He could feel the ship moving as he slept in the bed in the loft. Sure enough she preferred spending her shift putting the ship through different drills until she was comfortable with the controls, and the touchiness of the ship. Strangely enough he trusted her and her abilities, not once did he feel the need to make her stop.

She was up in the loft sleeping when the Merc finally showed up at the station. One of the alarms started beeping loudly and a screen popped up showing him exactly where Toombs ship was landing. He wondered for just a moment when she had time to create the alarm and how the ship knew that it was the right ship. His second thought was that she had made a tracker for Toombs ship and yet she had spent the last day and a half avoiding him. Again! "Rehtaeh, he's here! Get your ass down here!"

She was down minutes later, wearing one of her new t-shirts and a pair of skin tight cloth pants that showed off her beautiful legs. He had to tear his eyes away from her as he watched and waited for the Merc to pick up their trail. Riddick waited him out as the Merc searched for information on his quarry. She sat in the co-pilot seat and buckled in, waiting for his commands.