**** Okay, I've decided to make 'Fate' a little longer and I'm really thinking about a sequel but I'm not sure where I want to go with it, so I guess I better start planning.  Thanks for all your reviews and e-mails…they make me very happy.  Anyway, here's the next chapter.  I hope you enjoy it. 

Riddick stayed with Jack for most of their second run until it was time for drop-off.  Jack was back to her normal self within a couple days but Riddick stuck close by, making sure she didn't over-exert herself.  She thought it was unnecessary but sweet and she really enjoyed the time they were able to spend together.  Riddick was like a new man, the smile on his face brighter, the tenderness of his hands when he touched her, softer; even the air about him felt lighter.

Sometimes it would be too much for her, all the sweet caring stuff and she would push for his darker side, the one she fell in love with.  She wasn't afraid of it anymore and occasionally she wanted to feel the animal heat.

Riddick was a little surprised by how strong she would come on to him and he was a little hesitant out of fear of hurting the baby, but Jack knew how much she could take and he never pushed it farther than that.

She cornered him one day at their place and made it very clear what she wanted just by the way she moved her body, the path her hands took on him, and the look in her eyes.  Her aggressiveness turned Riddick on more than he thought it would and when his back hit the wall from her playful push, he growled low in his chest and watched as Jack shut her eyes and leaned her head back, totally enjoying herself.

Riddick eyed her smooth throat down to her heaving chest, over her hard nipples, and further down to the small pooch of her belly where his baby was.  And his train of thought stopped as he looked at what his life had become.  It didn't really scare him that he was going to be a father, it just made him wonder.  Would he do right by this baby?  Would this child have his personality or Jack's, hateful or loving?  Only time would tell and right now was definitely not the time.

Jack roughly grabbed the front of Riddick's pants at the waist and jerked him forward, bringing him back the present; to Jack's wonderful scent of arousal, to the heat of her body.  He brought his chin down to his chest and smiled seductively at her, licking his lips when her eyes wandered to them.

She turned then, with her hand still in place, and pulled him in the direction of the bedroom.  Jack shut the door, pushed him onto the bed and had her way with him all night long.  It didn't take much to get her going every time.  At one point he was right in the middle of a full body stretch, revealing to her his gloriously naked self, deep golden skin shimmering slightly with sweat, muscles rippling up his abs to his chest, and Jack groaned audibly at the sight before pouncing on him.

'Thank God for hormones,' Riddick remembers thinking because he's never felt this satisfied by a woman in his entire life.

They spent the next two days in bed…recovering and they both needed it.  Not only was there a drop-off scheduled, but also a pick-up…same day.  Riddick involved himself in this one because it was more complicated to set up and the details needed to be strategically worked through and analyzed.  Jack, however, was not going to be allowed out of their room when they began descent; Riddick was not going to risk Jack's life, their baby's, or his sanity again.  She could be involved in everything else, just not this; and right now, she wasn't complaining.

This run involved the daughter of a top corporate executive who was on her way home from private school; normally she would just go on a public transport but her father has been experiencing some problems with his competitors and he was in fear for her safety.  Riddick let Jack go over the files, mainly to check their medical history, but also to familiarize herself with their new passengers, just as Riddick had done.

She was lying in bed going over the electronic files on the laptop when Riddick came in, all sweaty from his workout, and he tossed the towel on the bed, getting Jack's attention.

"How goes the research?" he asked, pulling his shirt over his head.  Jack looked up and took a second to admire his chiseled body, quickly trying to stifle the feelings that stirred inside her.

"It goes," she said, rubbing her hand over her eyes.  "Here, take a look at this."  She turned the laptop around and slid it to the end of the bed.  Riddick stopped in the middle of unzipping his pants and walked over, putting his hands on his hips, he looked down at the screen. 

Jack reached around and tapped the top right corner and said, "Right there.  Locked file."  Riddick crouched down and pulled the laptop closer.

"No shit," he said in surprise, typing something in.  "And fucking locked is right."  He continued typing for a minute, his eyes moving over the screen as he brought up all the information he could.  Jack moved off the bed and joined him so she could watch; he paused for a second when she kneeled down next to him and he glanced at her.  She could see him from the corner of her eye but she knew if she made eye contact, they'd never get through this, the laptop and the files would be forgotten and they would be tangled in each other for another heated round of horse-play.

He forced his attention back to the screen and sighed in frustration, "We pick-up tomorrow…this isn't good."  One of Riddick's rules was: they needed to know details about the people they were transporting so they could anticipate any problems; it wasn't just for the passengers' safety but the crew as well. 

This was kind of an emergency run and they were being paid double so it wasn't something they could just change their minds about.  Money was not the issue but the amount alone told them that it was very important this girl make it to her father alive, and it made Riddick tune in to his parental instincts and this was one job he would not refuse…or fail.

"Now what?" he asked, resting his chin in his hand.  Jack finally looked at him and draped an arm over his bare shoulders.

"Look, give me a couple days and I might be able to crack it.  No guarantees though, but I'll try."  Riddick smiled and turned his head to look at her.

"That's right, I forgot you could do that," he said moving his hand from his chin and put it underneath hers.  "But can you start on it tomorrow, I need a shower and I'd really like it if you'd join me."  A small laugh escaped her throat and she patted his knee before standing up.

"You're insatiable, you know that?"  Jack walked back to her side of the bed and sat down. 

Riddick snorted at her, "I'm insatiable?" he asked incredulously.  Jack felt her cheeks get hot at the reminder of what she had done to him a few days ago.  They had barely recovered and she still wanted more but this wasn't like her and it actually made her embarrassed. 

Riddick sat down next to her and nudged her with his shoulder.  "It's normal to feel this way Jack and I'm certainly not complaining."

Jack shook her head and put her face in her hands, "How can it be normal, sitting in a meeting with the whole security team, watching you talk and wanting nothing more than to rip your clothes off and fuck you right in front of everybody."  Riddick raised his eyebrows at her and smiled.

"Really," he said thoughtfully.  Jack looked at him and was slightly confused by the look on his face.  "It still doesn't compare to what I've been thinking of."

"Oh, yeah, like what?"  Jack turned on the bed so she could face him and Riddick shook his head.

"I don't want to embarrass you," he said and Jack punched him in the arm.

"Come on, tell me," she insisted. 

"Fine," he relented.  "You remember a long time ago, the first time I told you I was leaving?"  Jack gave him a small nod as the flood of those painful memories began to invade her brain.  "Well, you were in the shower and I told you to come out so I could talk to you."  Riddick looked away from her as he spoke.  "Anyway, you were wearing just that towel and water was dripping from your hair onto your shoulders…" Jack suddenly realized where this was going and it made her smile and get all warm.  Riddick turned back to her and leaned in close.  "It took everything in my power not to tear that towel off and lick every drop of water off your body even with the Holy Man sittin' right there.  I didn't care.  I wanted you and sometimes when I see you, I feel just like I did that day."

Jack was shocked by his confession but the heat from his words, passing over his wonderful lips, made her ache in the lowest part of her body.  She looked into his eyes, seeing the immense power of him shining through to her, forcing her mind to tumble over the events of such a long time ago.  Riddick had been very good at hiding his feelings from her.  She had no clue that he felt that way about her, not even looking back on it now, she still couldn't see it.

Riddick could see the surprise in her eyes; her mouth dropped open slightly as if to speak but he put a finger to her lips to stop her.  "But I need to tell you what else was going through my mind."  Jack furrowed her brow and moved away from his finger and waited… curious.  "At the time, I saw you as just a girl with a body, you know, curves, soft skin, beautiful eyes, and that was it.  All I could think about was how good you would be in bed."  Jack tilted her head and looked at him intently.  She wasn't sure she was going to like where this was going but she let him speak.  "I'm glad I didn't act on what the animal was telling me because the night before I left I wanted to come to you, make you mine but I fought it and I'm glad I did because I don't think we would be here right now." 

Jack's eyes wandered down to her hands, clasped tightly in her lap, just seeing a blurry version of them as her eye filled with tears. "While I was gone I thought about you all the time and my thoughts changed from seeing you as just a body, to a person…to a woman I could love and that scared me.  I found myself wanting to see you just to see you, to be near you so I could feel how strong you were."  Riddick paused for a second as he looked at Jack.  He couldn't see her face but could feel the tension in her body.  He swallowed hard and finished up, "By the time I got back, fucking your brains out was the last thing on my mind."

Jack could feel the tears slip down her cheeks as Riddick talked, feeling so many things at the same time, anger, sadness, love, lust, happiness.  He has never talked this much to her about the way he was feeling and her emotions erupted inside her, filling her with love so strong it hurt, made her dizzy and weak. 

She leaned forward and put her forehead on his shoulder, sobbing loudly now.  Riddick took it the wrong way and started apologizing but she cut him off with a solid kiss to the lips, pressing hard into them until he eased up and accepted her gesture for what it was, a passion filled kiss that spoke volumes.  There was nothing to apologize for; he was being honest with her about how he used to see her and how much his feelings have changed, grown stronger and more meaningful; it was what she's wanted to hear for a long time now.

Jack moved closer, forcing him to lie down and straddled his hips, still kissing him, drawing out the passion she felt just below the surface, sucking softly on his tongue until he was moving beneath her, trying to get more.  His hands went to her face and he held her still as he searched her mouth, her lips, trying to express to her how strongly he felt about her, how extremely vulnerable she made him feel, how fast she could make his heart beat from the simple taste of her lips. 

It was hard for Jack to breathe; she didn't want to stop, she needed to feel this but she also needed air, she needed to slow down out of fear of breaking apart from all the emotional turmoil; so she tore her lips from his, breathing just as hard as he was and sat back on him, looking up at the ceiling.  The room seemed to tilt as she tried to restore the oxygen to her brain but the dizzy sensation went away quickly and what she felt started her heart jumping again.  Riddick was very hard and every time she moved her hips, she felt him twitch beneath her.

She looked down between them and Riddick followed her line of sight.  "Told ya you were insatiable," she gasped out.  Riddick laughed but it was stopped short when she moved again, dragging her hot center up the length of him.

"I guess you're right," he growled, grabbing her hips and looking up into her eyes.  "So…where are we on that shower?"

********************

 The new passengers followed Riddick and Taylor up the ramp and Jack looked them over from her hiding spot down the hall.  There were two of them; one was a young girl about 16 with medium length blonde hair, light brown eyes, small build, and a very shy stance.  The man with her was tall, fairly decent build, with short brown hair and bright blue eyes.  Jack recognized them from the research files…Ethan and Kelly.

Kelly was the daughter of the big corporate executive and Ethan was her personal bodyguard.  Jack knew more about them than most people, intimate details, like the fact that Kelly was on birth control because she couldn't keep away from the guys.  That made Jack a little nervous and seeing her standing their pretending to be shy…she could tell it was an act. 

Jack watched Riddick do his thing, shake their hands, smile, talk, be the professional, the one to instill confidence in those he was protecting, and it worked every time.  Kelly looked up at him and smiled, relaxing visibly with a sparkle in her eyes that made Jack feel suspicious but she smiled as well.  She remembered looking at him like that a long time ago, trusting him, admiring him, falling in love with him.  Yeah, Jack was definitely going to have to keep an eye on that girl. All it takes is one look from Riddick and you'd fall head-over-heels in love with him.  She knew from experience.

Riddick glanced down the hall and saw Jack, giving her a look that made her feel like a child, caught out of bed in the middle of the night, but Jack could see the smile behind the look as he walked out of her line of sight.  She laughed quietly as she headed back to their room to relax, clear her head, hoping that Riddick wouldn't decide to come find her because her head would never stay clear with him around.

Tonight she was going to start on that locked file and see what she could come up with, she had her doubts about her abilities, but she also knew that a fresh pair of eyes is sometimes the way to go.