Chapter 10
He didn't know where his fingers were. His brain sent the message to wiggle, but the movement didn't get sent back. Then it all came back to him. Ah yes, he thought. The nightmare.He sighed lightly. I bet if I open my eyes, I'll be in her room. He did so, and sure enough, there he was. He glanced over her head. There they are. They wiggled, but he didn't feel them. Shit. He knew if he moved he'd wake her, and he wasn't sure the pins and needles awaiting him when he did move would be welcome, so he just lay there, watching her sleep peacefully.
With the arm he could still feel, he reached out and ran a hand through her hair. It was getting to the point where she needed to either let it grow out or cut it. He smiled to himself, imagining what she would look like with long hair.
She inhaled sharply, tensing, signaling her impending awakening. He let his eyes close and his breathing slow. Her eyelashes fluttered against his neck and he felt her stretch against him.
"I know you're awake, Riddick." His lips curved into a lazy smile. The look on her face when his eyes opened went in the file in his memory. That eyebrow crooked at an arch, the green eyes locked on his, and the slight pout of those lips. Made him just want to reach out and take the lower one between his fingers and pinch lightly. It was an odd urge, but he let it slide. She started to press herself into sitting, but he grabbed her arm, holding her on her side next to him. "You're not gonna let me sit up?" He shook his head. "Why not?"
"My arm's asleep."
"Okay?"
"If you sit up, it'll wake up and be fuzzy for a while." She chuckled.
"So you'd rather it be asleep, then, huh?"
"For now," he grumbled, resting his chin on the top of her head.
"So what's the agenda for today, Captain Thomas?" she asked, stifling a snicker. He so did not look like a Mark Thomas.
"Get ready to dock on Mena. Lock down anything loose, clean up a bit." She nodded against him. An unsettled silence fell over them. Well, unsettled to her. He was perfectly comfortable pondering whether or not to fall asleep.
"Riddick?" He mumbled something indecipherable back at her. "What happened last night?"
"We had wild monkey sex, Jack." She rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, right. You honestly think I'd still be dressed if that had happened?" He glanced down at her.
"You're not," he stated simply, grinning when she looked down at herself to check. She glared back up at him.
"Asshole." He shrugged.
"You had a nightmare and asked me to stay in here with you." She nodded.
"That's what I thought," she said quietly.
"Better now?" he asked. She shrugged.
"I guess we'll see."
She sighed and groaned as she tried to stand up, her knees aching from sitting in the floor for so long. Tight jeans were not good for repair work. A few wires had come loose in their hurried takeoff, and hadn't been found until after she tried to adjust their identification settings.
"Get everything fixed?" She smacked her head on the underside of the control panel. "Sorry." She chuckled and stood, rubbing her head.
"I told you I should have been an electrician," she replied.
"So it's fixed then." She nodded. "Good." She watched him sit in the pilot's chair and glance up at her. "What'd you name 'er anyway?" She sighed and plopped into the copilot's chair.
"Solar Eclipse," she said quietly. His eyes snapped over to hers, but she was staring out the window. "It was all I could think of at the time besides Big Evil, and I figured that would've been a dead giveaway." He smiled.
"You're probably right." He watched her foot start to jiggle harder the longer the silence remained.
"Don't stop talking," she said quietly.
"You've got a think about silence, don't you?" he asked gently. She nodded slightly.
"When there's no noise, you don't know if anything's out there," she explained, staring at her fingers in her lap with a pensive expression on her face.
"There's always noise, Jack," he countered. "Might be barely audible, but it's always there." She glanced over at him, then back at her fingers. He shifted to look at her without craning his neck. "Close your eyes, Jack." Her eyes met his, questioning. He just nodded. She complied. "Tell me what you hear."
"Not this again," she groaned. He chuckled.
"It's good practice." She sighed. "Tell me what you hear," he repeated. Her face reflected her concentration. "Don't think about it, just listen," he instructed.
"The front engines," she answered.
"What else?"
"The back engines."
"Observant." She smiled, her eyes still shut. "What else?"
"My breathing."
"What else?"
"The air conditioner." He smiled. It wasn't running, but the motor hummed just a bit anyway. She was getting closer.
"What else?" he asked, watching her face intently. She turned her head slightly, her brows knitting deeper the harder she listened.
"Your breathing."
"What else?"
"The freezer coolant shifting." Much better, Jack.
"What else?" She took a breath and stopped, as though she were unsure. "What is it?" Her eyes opened slowly, as though she were awestruck. He shook his head slightly, his eyes locked on hers, willing her to tell him.
"Your heartbeat," she whispered. His eyebrow rose.
"Are you sure it wasn't yours?" She shook her head.
"No, I could feel mine, and it was different." The corners of his lips curved upwards barely noticeably, and he nodded in satisfaction.
"Always something there." One of her brows twitched downward slightly, her eyes suddenly sad. She shook her head.
"Not always." He strained to make out what she said. He sighed.
"You might not be able to hear it, but it'll be there," he said quietly, glancing over at her. She smirked, as though sharing an inside joke, then looked up at him.
"You know what that sounds like?" she asked. His eyebrow rose. "Sounds like you just promised to hang around me even if you—" she trailed off, her eyes averting his.
"Then it sounded like it was meant to," he said quietly, standing slowly. Her eyes darted up to his, and she watched him walk down the hall. She shook her head.
"Anything else to lock down?" Riddick looked up from the charts spread out before him and glanced around.
"I don't think so," he replied.
"So what now?" she asked, looking around the cabin. They weren't due to dock until early tomorrow morning, and if everything was locked down and cleaned up, there wouldn't be much to do except stare into space. Literally.
"Feel like a workout?"
"I don't have anything to wear," she said, her eyebrow quirked. He grinned, but didn't say what he was thinking.
"Well, I don't know then," he finally said. She sighed and flopped down at the kitchen table. "Got a question for ya," he said, reaching into a cabinet and withdrawing two glasses.
"Shoot," Jack replied, watching him pour two glasses of her green juice. "So that's why my juice hasn't been lasting as long." He shrugged, handing her one.
"I'll buy you some more." He paused to take a sip and sat down in the chair across from you.
"You were asking?"
"Yeah, I was, wasn't I?" He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "How, um, tightly did you adhere to your cover?" Her eyebrow rose. He chuckled at himself. "You were a convincing guy, Jack." Her eyes focused on her juice as she slowly swirled it around. "Did you convince yourself?"
"You mean am I a lesbian?" He didn't reply, so she took that as an accurate rewording. "No, I'm not." He just looked at her, as though he expected more explanation. She took a breath and sighed heavily. "I just never really had the time or the luxury of getting involved with someone." He nodded, falling silent. She watched him watch her. "Why?" she finally asked.
"Just wondering." She stared at him, mimicking his expectant expression. "What about now?"
"What about now?" she repeated, blinking a few times.
"You know," he said slowly, "I mean if you meet someone at a stop, and, uh…" He trailed off, a grin growing on his face, "sparks fly." She snickered, shaking her head. His seriousness bled back through. "Are you planning on going back?" She stared into her glass for a while.
"I don't know." She sighed. "Does it matter?" What a question, he thought, inwardly kicking himself.
"Not really, I guess," he said quickly, shrugging. "I mean, I wouldn't mind either way." Her eyebrow rose, and he sighed. "What I really mean is that you should do what you want to, Jack. If it's more comfortable for you to keep up the disguise, I think you should." He glanced at her. "If you want to."
"Long explanation," she mused. He smirked.
"I'm not good with words."
"Not as bad as you think," she said.
"I've never had to be."
"I guess," she said, looking thoughtful. "What about you?"
"What about me?"
"Sparks ever fly for you?" He shrugged. "If they do?"
"I usually get over it," he said simply. "Less of a trail." She swallowed hard, scrounging up all her courage.
"What if it was someone willing to go with you?" His eyes met hers, and she looked away quickly.
"I'd be worried." She nodded. He smiled.
"You know," he said slowly, "you're getting to the point where you need to cut it or let it go." She shook her head, not knowing what he was talking about. He just waited for an answer.
"I'm not good at confrontations," she said slowly. His face remained unreadable. "I can't just come out and say what I want, Riddick." Her cheeks flushed. "You're just going to have to figure it out."
"I was talking about your hair, Jack." The red in her cheeks deepened.
"I'm not sure yet," she said quickly, running her fingers through the short locks.
"But since you brought it up," he started. She shook her head. "What is there for me to figure out?" She sighed.
"Nothing," she returned, standing quickly.
"Jack," he started. She shook her head, rinsing her glass.
"I have a tendency to embarrass myself," she said quietly. He reached out and shut the water off. She set the glass in the sink. "Can I get a pet?" His eyebrow rose. "Not like a dog or fish or anything that could be messy."
"What did you have in mind?"
"A snake?" His eyebrow twitched. "Or two?"
"I don't know if they could handle the starjumps, Jack. They stress out easily." She shrunk. He brushed a strand of hair away from her forehead. "And you didn't embarrass yourself." He felt the heat return to her cheeks. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"
"Not everything," she said quietly.
"Sure you can." She shook her head, looking up at him.
"Every girl has her secrets."
"I guess," he said. "Nothing major?" She shrugged. "Don't get all enigmatic on me Jack."
"Big words, Riddick. You been reading that dictionary to fall asleep again?" He chuckled and sent her a winning smile.
"You caught me, red handed," he said sarcastically. Her skin tingled at his closeness, making her nervous. She wasn't sure why she was so guarded about her feelings for him, perhaps because she wasn't finished sorting them out. She felt his breath on her cheek and turned to him, forcing herself to keep from pulling away. "You make the first move whenever you're ready." His voice was quiet and seductive, sending shivers up her arms and leaving goose bumps behind. Her eyes closed slowly, and when she pried them open again, he was gone from the room.