Broken Promises
Chapter 5
Cassidy woke slowly, groggily. She let a groan vibrate through her and rolled over onto her back, her arm flopping out toward the side of the bed. Rather than a warm body sleeping next to her, her arm found a cold, wrinkled sheet. She sat up quickly, alarmed. Pulling the sheet off the bed with her, she searched the apartment, flopping onto the couch with an exasperated "fuck" after discovering she was alone. It was still night – no telling where he could be. She shook her head, standing and heading back to the bedroom with an aggravated sigh.
She was merely catnapping when she heard the door creak, waking fully before she noted his shadow moving toward her down the hallway. But something didn't seem right. Something was off. She just lay there, silently, eyes open just enough to see without blowing her cover.
"Cass?" Just a whisper. Something was definitely wrong. "Cassidy, get your ass outta bed," he demanded more firmly, but still next to silent. He reached out and clamped a hand over her mouth, watching her eyes go wide as he pulled her off the bed, holding her close to his chest as he hurried out the front door. Luckily for her, she'd pulled on a pair of sweat pants and a wife beater after discovering he'd left her in the middle of the night. He paused just outside the door, glancing from side to side, finally deciding on the back stairs. Down to the second floor, then more waiting. He backed her into a dark corner, his body hiding hers. Her eyes stared up at him, questioning him, but he just shook his head. Silence now, explanation later. Something gave, and he was on the move again, his fingers intertwined with hers tightly, pulling her behind him. Into what was left of the woods, out of the woods, and she stopped dead in her tracks as a small skiff came into view.
"What the fuck are you doing?" she demanded, wrenching her hand from his.
"The shit hit the fan, Cass. Mercs, cops, you name it. Someone spilled it, and I'm willing to bet it was our little contact." The final word mimicked the way one would say manure. She stuttered, unable to come up with something to say. Finally.
"I'm not leaving, Riddick," she insisted stubbornly. He closed the gap between them, his eyes darting over her shoulder. She glanced as well, seeing hand lights dancing maybe 500 metres away. Her eyes turned back to his, cold and hard. He swore.
"God damn it, Cassidy. You felt betrayed all this time because you didn't think I protected you or cared about you." She'd never seen him so anxious, hurried, frantic. "Will you listen to me now?" She looked over her shoulder again, torn between freedom and safety. "Give me a fuckin' chance here, Cass. Let me protect you for once, okay? Just let me instead of assuming I won't because I didn't in the past." He swore under his breath. "Please, Cassidy." Her lip trembled slightly. She still didn't want to leave. "I don't know what I'd do if anything ever happened to you again."
"Do you love me, Riddick?"
"Do we have to do this right now, Cass?" He looked over her shoulder. Dancing hand lights drew nearer.
"Answer the fucking question," she demanded, more firmly than she anticipated.
"Yes," he said quickly, his eyes meeting hers.
"I want you to say it," she pressed.
"God damn."
"Say it!" she yelled. Dogs barked in the distance. Too close, too close.
"I love you, Cassidy. Now can we go?" She followed him toward the skiff, watching out the back until the hatch was closed, then taking a seat and strapping in.
"I don't believe you," she whispered, her lip trembling.
"Can we talk about it later? Let me concentrate," he insisted. Her brow furrowed, but she gave in. A restless sleep found her quickly, her body tired, drained. Torn between instinct and raw emotion, and for some unknown reason, she'd chosen emotion. A silent tear slipped down her cheek, not unnoticed by the looming figure in the pilot's seat a few feet away.
She woke later to a finger running down the side of her face. Keeping her eyes closed, she tried to figure out where she was. On a ship definitely, or something of that sort anyway. Artificial gravity was a unique feeling, one rarely forgotten. She was lying down though, not in the chair she remembered falling asleep in, and that confused her. Usually if anyone even thought about moving her, she'd wake. Her eyes opened slowly, taking in the pained expression on the man lying next to her.
"Where are we going?" she asked quietly. He shrugged. Her eyes closed, the lids still sleep-laden and heavy. His fingers continued caressing her face slowly, softly, something she wasn't used to experiencing.
"I'm sorry you don't believe me," Riddick said quietly. Her eyebrow twitched, her memory betraying her. Ah, yes. That heated moment before boarding this god-forsaken skiff. She shook her head and rolled over onto her other side, her back facing him.
"Trust has to be earned, Riddick," she retorted. "Stealing me in the middle of the night without telling me what's up and then screaming an 'I love you' at me just to get me on this damn ship isn't convincing me at all."
"Would you have come with me if I hadn't?"
"No."
"I rest my case."
"That's not the point," she insisted, agitated by the slight smirk of pride in his voice. "Using emotions like that to get me to do what you want isn't the way to earn trust points."
"Think about it this way," he said, reaching out to smooth her wild hair over the small pillow. "I wanted you on this damn ship because I love you and I couldn't bear the thought of leaving you behind, no matter how self-sufficient you might be. I told you before, I don't know what I'd do if I lost you again."
"You'd deal," she spat. He shook his head.
"You know," he said, standing. "I've told you I don't know how to make you feel like I mean it when I say I love you. I told you you'd have to trust me on that, or show me how to make you see I mean it. I mean, fuck, Cassidy. In the heat of the moment when you see mercs and officials running toward the building you're staying in, we'll see how loyal you are. We'll see if you'd come running back to me and risk getting both of us caught in the process of trying to get me out alive." Her shoulders shook. "If anything, I'm the one that's proven myself." She felt him leave her there, unsure of where she went. She swore. Cursed him. Damn it, he was right. Even worse, he knew it. Fuck.
