::: CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE :::
"It's been a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Riddick," Shoc extended his hand once again. This time Riddick refused it . . . not only that . . . refused to move his ass from the couch and leave. The transaction was seemingly over and he looked like he might pull out a tent and park it here. UN-fucking-believable. He sure was making this hard on me. With each passing second, the desire to fling on to him and never let go was increasing while my resolve to tough it out for a couple of years as Missy Shoc was decreasing. Riddick picked the best methods to create tension. I didn't know what he was exactly waiting for, but being with him for a while allowed me the knowledge that he was as taut as a rope . . . waiting to . . . what?
I looked over at him and through my blurry eyes, full of missed opportunities, I caught a glimpse of his neck. Complete, irrational need came over me; I wanted to lick his neck . . . sounded weird even to me . . . but I desired to shove my face in the crook, sniff, and suckle over his pulse point like the mewling animal that I was. My nose, of its own accord, inhaled sharply and my eyes grew more bleary while the pupils dilated. My tongue was thick as it timidly caressed my upper lip and my nails dug into skin . . . my skin . . . even though I wished it was Riddick's. He was going to leave me here and all I craved at the moment was to mark him in some way so if others saw him they would go: "Jack had been there."
And after that initial need to covet, I was struck by the impulse to just make him want to stay with me. Not force him but make him prefer to not abandon me. Strange, but even with that, the first thing that came to mind was licking his neck . . . different context . . . different feelings it would bring, I concluded.
Who was I kidding? I just wanted to bolt to him like I was thirsty and he was water. I knew if I hurled myself at him though, that I would crouch into a tiny ball and never let go; he would have to either encircle me in his arms and hold me or tug me off and place me on the ground. His decision was what scared me -- the not knowing what his reaction would be was what held me back.
After all this time, I still had no clue what Riddick felt about me and it was pinching all my veins closed, numbing me. Here I was -- last moment before Riddick would literally walk out, and I was a dizzy wreck. My thoughts stumbled over themselves and words were threatening to mizzle out so I shut my mouth. My hands came up, rubbing my eyes, trying to blind me.
Even though that felt like forever and a day, it had probably only been a minute or so because if it had been longer, Mr. Shoc would've been quite nervous that the huge man before him was not leaving. As I continually stared at Riddick, trying to figure out how to ask him how he felt about me, his head moved in my direction while his hand lifted up his goggles. Squinting the light out of his eyes, he focused his gaze on my green eyes, that felt lazy gray, and the carbon dioxide that was about to travel out of my body stopped and "poofed" in my chest, poisoning my ability to breathe.
Riddick regarded me with a serious expression and in his eyes I saw missed opportunities reflected back. Whether they were mine or his I didn't know. He lowered his head slightly, as if he was going to tell me a secret and whispered, "Take care of yourself, kid." With that and an unexpected sad sigh from me, he got up, lowering his goggles back down.
Without thinking, I immediately stood up too. Now all three of us were up but the cold realization that only one of us was leaving bit my neck, sucking me dry.
Exposed. Revealed. Vulnerable. These words stuck in my mind as I realized that I would've walked all the way to the door with Riddick, thinking that I was going with him. It didn't matter that we had just finished the trade; instinct compelled me to follow him no matter where he went. I hadn't gotten up as a person who was saying bye but as a person leaving. Riddick must've noticed that because his arm raised up a bit before dropping back down to his side. Was he about to stop me? I was too frazzled to think. All I felt was shame that Riddick had seen me slip and forget what he had done to me -- that he sold me.
I quickly tried to play it off, but inside I realized that who cares if Riddick saw that -- he had a right to know. Why pretend that I was strong anymore? The pink heat from my cheeks disintegrated and my head came back up. I nodded to Riddick, kind of letting him know he could leave, but he seemed hesitant. Was he stalling? Mr. Shoc was staring at both us, probably mesmerized by the whole conversations we could have with just our bodies.
Finally, Riddick took the first step towards the door, and I tentatively followed, feeling Shoc's eyes on my back -- creepy for some reason. Riddick reached the threshold and turned to me one final time; I just glumly stood there, purposely pouting and hunching my shoulders -- one last guilt trip for old times sake.
Mr. Shoc shuffled past me, brushing my arm in the process and awarding me with an unwarranted shiver. Riddick frowned as I flinched but allowed Shoc to open the electronic locks and the door. Mr. Shoc came back behind me -- he really didn't like Riddick, I guessed and put an arm on my shoulder, probably a fatherly thing -- I didn't know.
Riddick moved backwards towards the exit saying, "I'm sure you'll both find what you're looking for," in a subdued tone.
I wanted to shout "NO!" at the top of my lungs but Riddick was turning away and as if in slow motion, Mr. Shoc's hand was rubbing down my arm, sickeningly tickling all the tiny hairs, past my hand, pinching it, and finally reaching my hip, moving round it to my ass and grabbing it while saying, "I'm sure we will," keeping his voice innuendo free so Riddick wouldn't pick up on it.
Momentarily stunned by his actions, I wrenched my gaze from the almost completely turned Riddick and gaped at Mr. Shoc, slapping his hand away. Mr. Shoc must've thought I was some prissy but goddammit I wasn't and the first words out of my mouth were, "Watch your fuckin' hands, you motherfucker." Stupid asshole didn't even have the self-control to wait until Riddick was completely out of sight before he let his true colors show. Before I could continue to verbally assault "Mr. Can't Contain His Excitement," an arm shot out of nowhere, pinning Mr. Shoc by his neck to the wall.
Damn Riddick! Son of a bitch had amazing peripheral vision. I wanted to kiss him.
"Get your chocolate covered fingers off Jack," he growled while flexing his fingers around that skinny ass neck of Shoc's. "She ain't no mint."
"Yeah, that's right," my voice squeaked from behind Riddick.
His head whipped in my direction and I shrugged my shoulders. Don't look at me.
When his attention was back to Mr. Shoc, I tried to peek over his shoulder to see what was happening.
Riddick reached in his jacket pocket, pulling out the gold cred-card. He shoved it in Mr. Shoc's hyperventilating mouth while his menace filled words strangled the room. "You can keep your money." With that, he released his grip on Shoc and he fell to the floor, clutching at his neck. Swift kick from Riddick rendered him unconscious.
My eyes widened, taking in the scene, but my fascination was cut short by Riddick's hand on my wrist, pulling me out of the apartment. We fucked the elevator and stumbled down the stairs -- well, I stumbled. Riddick had to keep hauling me up. I was grateful for the stability because with all I had gone through in that short period of time, I was amazed I could even walk.
Once outside, I had to stop, catch my breath. What just happened fully hit me and I just had to ask, "Riddick, what are you doin' ?" between inhalations of cotton candy air.
Riddick was exasperated with my question, I could tell. "Didn't you notice something strange about Mr. Shoc, Jack?" he asked clearly irritated but doing a good job of hiding his impatience.
I felt angered or threatened by his harshness and while rubbing my ass, remembering, I couldn't help say, "Um, yeah . . . but hello! . . . What did you think?" I narrowed my eyes at him. "That he wanted a real daughter? He could've gone to a legit agency for that!" I was almost shouting at this point. My anger was always something that fluttered against my ribcage and begged to be let out. Even though there was no reason to be arguing now, I couldn't help feel mad that Riddick assumed too much about this Mr. Shoc . . . and about me. Noticing that Riddick wasn't answering, I voiced my inquiry again. "Did you really think he wanted a daughter?" I breathed wistfully.
"No, but I just didn't expect to care." Blunt and sharp at the same time.
His words reached my ears on a speeding train and crashed all my thoughts. He didn't expect to care? Which meant . . . .
"Riddick, wait," I called out. He was walking in the opposite direction with his back full of confliction. I wanted to reach out . . . touch him . . . smooth away lines I couldn't see but I knew resided on his forehead.
And as he started walking away from me and I instinctively followed him, it started to rain.
"It's been a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Riddick," Shoc extended his hand once again. This time Riddick refused it . . . not only that . . . refused to move his ass from the couch and leave. The transaction was seemingly over and he looked like he might pull out a tent and park it here. UN-fucking-believable. He sure was making this hard on me. With each passing second, the desire to fling on to him and never let go was increasing while my resolve to tough it out for a couple of years as Missy Shoc was decreasing. Riddick picked the best methods to create tension. I didn't know what he was exactly waiting for, but being with him for a while allowed me the knowledge that he was as taut as a rope . . . waiting to . . . what?
I looked over at him and through my blurry eyes, full of missed opportunities, I caught a glimpse of his neck. Complete, irrational need came over me; I wanted to lick his neck . . . sounded weird even to me . . . but I desired to shove my face in the crook, sniff, and suckle over his pulse point like the mewling animal that I was. My nose, of its own accord, inhaled sharply and my eyes grew more bleary while the pupils dilated. My tongue was thick as it timidly caressed my upper lip and my nails dug into skin . . . my skin . . . even though I wished it was Riddick's. He was going to leave me here and all I craved at the moment was to mark him in some way so if others saw him they would go: "Jack had been there."
And after that initial need to covet, I was struck by the impulse to just make him want to stay with me. Not force him but make him prefer to not abandon me. Strange, but even with that, the first thing that came to mind was licking his neck . . . different context . . . different feelings it would bring, I concluded.
Who was I kidding? I just wanted to bolt to him like I was thirsty and he was water. I knew if I hurled myself at him though, that I would crouch into a tiny ball and never let go; he would have to either encircle me in his arms and hold me or tug me off and place me on the ground. His decision was what scared me -- the not knowing what his reaction would be was what held me back.
After all this time, I still had no clue what Riddick felt about me and it was pinching all my veins closed, numbing me. Here I was -- last moment before Riddick would literally walk out, and I was a dizzy wreck. My thoughts stumbled over themselves and words were threatening to mizzle out so I shut my mouth. My hands came up, rubbing my eyes, trying to blind me.
Even though that felt like forever and a day, it had probably only been a minute or so because if it had been longer, Mr. Shoc would've been quite nervous that the huge man before him was not leaving. As I continually stared at Riddick, trying to figure out how to ask him how he felt about me, his head moved in my direction while his hand lifted up his goggles. Squinting the light out of his eyes, he focused his gaze on my green eyes, that felt lazy gray, and the carbon dioxide that was about to travel out of my body stopped and "poofed" in my chest, poisoning my ability to breathe.
Riddick regarded me with a serious expression and in his eyes I saw missed opportunities reflected back. Whether they were mine or his I didn't know. He lowered his head slightly, as if he was going to tell me a secret and whispered, "Take care of yourself, kid." With that and an unexpected sad sigh from me, he got up, lowering his goggles back down.
Without thinking, I immediately stood up too. Now all three of us were up but the cold realization that only one of us was leaving bit my neck, sucking me dry.
Exposed. Revealed. Vulnerable. These words stuck in my mind as I realized that I would've walked all the way to the door with Riddick, thinking that I was going with him. It didn't matter that we had just finished the trade; instinct compelled me to follow him no matter where he went. I hadn't gotten up as a person who was saying bye but as a person leaving. Riddick must've noticed that because his arm raised up a bit before dropping back down to his side. Was he about to stop me? I was too frazzled to think. All I felt was shame that Riddick had seen me slip and forget what he had done to me -- that he sold me.
I quickly tried to play it off, but inside I realized that who cares if Riddick saw that -- he had a right to know. Why pretend that I was strong anymore? The pink heat from my cheeks disintegrated and my head came back up. I nodded to Riddick, kind of letting him know he could leave, but he seemed hesitant. Was he stalling? Mr. Shoc was staring at both us, probably mesmerized by the whole conversations we could have with just our bodies.
Finally, Riddick took the first step towards the door, and I tentatively followed, feeling Shoc's eyes on my back -- creepy for some reason. Riddick reached the threshold and turned to me one final time; I just glumly stood there, purposely pouting and hunching my shoulders -- one last guilt trip for old times sake.
Mr. Shoc shuffled past me, brushing my arm in the process and awarding me with an unwarranted shiver. Riddick frowned as I flinched but allowed Shoc to open the electronic locks and the door. Mr. Shoc came back behind me -- he really didn't like Riddick, I guessed and put an arm on my shoulder, probably a fatherly thing -- I didn't know.
Riddick moved backwards towards the exit saying, "I'm sure you'll both find what you're looking for," in a subdued tone.
I wanted to shout "NO!" at the top of my lungs but Riddick was turning away and as if in slow motion, Mr. Shoc's hand was rubbing down my arm, sickeningly tickling all the tiny hairs, past my hand, pinching it, and finally reaching my hip, moving round it to my ass and grabbing it while saying, "I'm sure we will," keeping his voice innuendo free so Riddick wouldn't pick up on it.
Momentarily stunned by his actions, I wrenched my gaze from the almost completely turned Riddick and gaped at Mr. Shoc, slapping his hand away. Mr. Shoc must've thought I was some prissy but goddammit I wasn't and the first words out of my mouth were, "Watch your fuckin' hands, you motherfucker." Stupid asshole didn't even have the self-control to wait until Riddick was completely out of sight before he let his true colors show. Before I could continue to verbally assault "Mr. Can't Contain His Excitement," an arm shot out of nowhere, pinning Mr. Shoc by his neck to the wall.
Damn Riddick! Son of a bitch had amazing peripheral vision. I wanted to kiss him.
"Get your chocolate covered fingers off Jack," he growled while flexing his fingers around that skinny ass neck of Shoc's. "She ain't no mint."
"Yeah, that's right," my voice squeaked from behind Riddick.
His head whipped in my direction and I shrugged my shoulders. Don't look at me.
When his attention was back to Mr. Shoc, I tried to peek over his shoulder to see what was happening.
Riddick reached in his jacket pocket, pulling out the gold cred-card. He shoved it in Mr. Shoc's hyperventilating mouth while his menace filled words strangled the room. "You can keep your money." With that, he released his grip on Shoc and he fell to the floor, clutching at his neck. Swift kick from Riddick rendered him unconscious.
My eyes widened, taking in the scene, but my fascination was cut short by Riddick's hand on my wrist, pulling me out of the apartment. We fucked the elevator and stumbled down the stairs -- well, I stumbled. Riddick had to keep hauling me up. I was grateful for the stability because with all I had gone through in that short period of time, I was amazed I could even walk.
Once outside, I had to stop, catch my breath. What just happened fully hit me and I just had to ask, "Riddick, what are you doin' ?" between inhalations of cotton candy air.
Riddick was exasperated with my question, I could tell. "Didn't you notice something strange about Mr. Shoc, Jack?" he asked clearly irritated but doing a good job of hiding his impatience.
I felt angered or threatened by his harshness and while rubbing my ass, remembering, I couldn't help say, "Um, yeah . . . but hello! . . . What did you think?" I narrowed my eyes at him. "That he wanted a real daughter? He could've gone to a legit agency for that!" I was almost shouting at this point. My anger was always something that fluttered against my ribcage and begged to be let out. Even though there was no reason to be arguing now, I couldn't help feel mad that Riddick assumed too much about this Mr. Shoc . . . and about me. Noticing that Riddick wasn't answering, I voiced my inquiry again. "Did you really think he wanted a daughter?" I breathed wistfully.
"No, but I just didn't expect to care." Blunt and sharp at the same time.
His words reached my ears on a speeding train and crashed all my thoughts. He didn't expect to care? Which meant . . . .
"Riddick, wait," I called out. He was walking in the opposite direction with his back full of confliction. I wanted to reach out . . . touch him . . . smooth away lines I couldn't see but I knew resided on his forehead.
And as he started walking away from me and I instinctively followed him, it started to rain.