Disclaimer: There is a line from Triple X and a name from Andromeda in this chapter.
"And here you are. So now what? Were you hoping that after that story I would leap into your arms and tell you that I forgive you?"
"Maybe not leap, but at least forgive me."
"You lied to me. I don't deal with liars, I punish them."
"I understand that I lied to you, but I told you the truth, the entire truth, and the lies were all to save our lives."
"I don't care! You lied to me! I can never trust you again. I won't even be able to trust what I may or may not be feeling for you. I don't like to second guess myself, or anyone I'm with. You need to leave now."
"But…"
"But nothing. You need to leave now. And I never want to see you again."
Dannie got up and left the room. Riddick came back and said, "You should leave. If she finds you in here when she comes back out, then you'll regret ever coming here. She was just about over you completely, and she probably won't forgive me anytime soon for bringing you here. So do yourself and the rest of the people in this house a favor and leave until she contacts you."
"But I love her."
"So if you love her, let her go. If it was meant to be, then one day she will forgive you and you two can be together. But right now, you had better leave."
Dannie came back out of her room and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw that Derick was still in her living room. "Riddick get him out of her!" she demanded.
"I have been trying to get him to leave since you left the room! And the name is Dad, or have you forgotten?"
"Sorry, Dad, get him out of here, or call the hospital, because their about to get a new admittance."
Derick walked up in front of Riddick who had been standing in Dannie's line of vision blocking Derick from her. "Fine. I'll accept whatever you feel you need to do to me, but first I want some time alone with you. I don't even want Riddick in the house for at least a couple of hours. When I'm done, you can kill me if you really want to, but not until then."
Riddick looked over at Dannie, and she gave him a nod to show that she agreed with the deal and Riddick left the house. Derick ran over to Dannie and pulled her into a deeply passionate, overwhelming kiss. Dannie tried to struggle to get free of his grip on her body, but the longer it took to get free, the tighter he held, and the harder it became for her to get free. Finally, he had her completely relaxed in his arms, and he threw her onto the couch and covered her body with his.
Oh God how I've missed this! Her lips. Her skin. The way she feels under my body! The way she tastes, like watermelon and honeydew. His lips roamed down from her's and made their way to her neck and on passed to her collarbone and the very beginnings of her breasts. His hands went up under her shirt and began to undo the claps on her bra. "Wait! What's going on here? One minute I'm threatening your life, and the next you're all over me acting as if you never left and everything is fine between us, as if there ever was an us! Get off of me you idiot!" Dannie pushed him off of her, got up, and walked away from him to her bedroom.
"I didn't spend a year away from you, just so you could call me an idiot and walk away when I attempt to make things right between us!" Derick pushed himself off of the couch and stomped to the back of the house following Dannie to her bedroom. When he caught up with her, he tightly grabbed her arm, up high, close to the shoulder, spun her around to face him, and pushed her up against the door frame, causing Dannie to wince from the pain. Dannie pushed him away hard and he hit the door behind him with a thud.
Derick still had a hold of Dannie's arm, so when she tried to get away again, he pulled her into his body, whirled her around so she was backed up against the door, and pinned her there with his body all in one swift motion. "Like I said," he forcefully whispered into her ear, "I want time alone with you, but I hadn't planned on fighting the entire time. So if you would quit with this holier than though attitude and just give into those feelings for me that I know you have, this will go a lot smoother, and without nearly as much pain."
"And what did you have planned to do to me? Knock me out, beat me up, or rape me, because there is no way in hell I'll ever consent to being with you." Derick backed away from her and let her arm go. He looked deep into her eyes and saw all the pain that he had caused her. He could see how much she loved him, but there was more pain in her eyes than there was love, so he left her standing in her room, alone, as he left the house.
Riddick was almost certain that nothing was going to happen between them that day, so he didn't stay gone for long. He returned to the house after about thirty minutes and found only a sobbing Dannie alone in her room. "Dannie, are you alright? Did he hurt you in any way? Talk to me." "No, he didn't hurt me. I'm just… just… I don't know what I am." Tears began to stream down her face, and Riddick put his arms around her to comfort her as she told him the entire story.
That night Dannie spent it out by her mother's grave. It was the fifteen year anniversary of Zara's death and right now, all she wanted was her mother to hold her and tell her that everything was going to be alright. Riddick came out periodically to check up on her and bring her some hot cocoa or something warm for her belly. Kyra had called a week before and told Dannie that she wouldn't be able to come this year and paid her respects over the phone. Dannie fell asleep in a ball on the ground that night, but woke up the next morning on her bed. I guess Riddick came outside last night and found me asleep, so he brought me inside and put me in my bed. He really is a great father.
Dannie got out of her bed and walked into the living room to find Riddick already up and having some breakfast. "Hey there sleepy-head.", he said kissing her on the forehead as she passed by him heading for the living room, "I was beginning to think that you weren't ever going to get up this morning." Dannie was still half asleep, so she instinctively went over to the couch and laid down, but instead of falling into the deep cushions of her couch, she landed on a hard body.
Screams Riddick didn't budge, he knew what was about to happen. "What the fuck is going on here? Why is he here?" Derick had been laying on the couch asleep when Dannie plopped down on him and woke him up, scarring her awake in the process. "I told him he could stay the night. Calm down."
"You told him he could do what!" "He told me that I could stay the night." Derick said.
"Get out of my house right now!" "Fine, but it is Riddick's house as well, and he was the one who told me that I could stay."
"I don't care if he told you that you could stay, I told you that I wanted you gone and to never come back! So get up now, and leave!" "But…" "But nothing! Leave." Derick got up like she said, dropped the sheet that he was using as a blanket, and revealed that he slept in the nude. "Fuck!" Dannie picked back up the sheet and wrapped it around him. Derick looked down at her, This will probably be the closest to her that I will get in a long time. And as she was tying off a knot to keep it up so he could walk, he tilted up her chin to force her to look up at him, brushed some stray hairs out of her face, put his free arm around her waist, and kissed her ever so softly on the lips.
Derick pulled away and could see that Dannie was still waiting for the rest of the kiss. He leaned down to her ear and whispered, "I had hoped that the first time you saw me naked we would be having sex, not having an argument that we can't seem to get passed." Dannie was stuck between her desires and her will to make him pay for all of the lies and deceptions. Inevitably she chose her will, and continued the punishment. She leaned to his ear and whispered, "Did you enjoy that kiss?", Derick nodded his head in agreement, "Good, because that's the last time that will ever happen again." Derick got dressed and left the house. He didn't see Dannie again before he left, he didn't even try.
A month went by and Dannie was beginning to see Derick more and more around the station. After everything went down and was settled, Derick put in a request to be transferred to the Helion Prime Police Force, he had hoped that by now Dannie and him wouldn't still be fighting, but that was what was going on. She was still teaching the defense without weapons class and fighting in the ring in the evenings, but Derick was no longer one of her pupils. Plus, she combined some of her classes, so she now only had two classes to teach, one in the morning, and one in the afternoon. She couldn't stand the idea of being in the same room with Derick, so she started going home for lunch, which was why she combined some of her classes. The chief was more than willing to oblige her request, but her students took it a little harder, now more of them had to get up earlier to come to class.
One night, while at home taking a breather from her life, it was a rare night that she closed the ring and had a day off from work, there was a knock at the door. Knock, knock, knock Dannie answered the door, expecting it to be Derick, but instead it was the fighter that nearly killed Dannie. He was dressed in a suit and tie rather than his usual fighting garb. This man is twice Dannie's size, about as tall as Riddick, just as muscular, and he is bald as well. Dannie had only just now realize who he was, he was Telimicus Rodda, the wealthiest black man in the entire system, but he had always put down Troy when he fought, so Dannie, nor anyone else ever thought anything of it.
"Hello everyone."
"What are you doing here Troy? And how did you find out where I live?"
"You know, it's amazing what you can find out when you have enough money. I have a proposition for you."
Dannie turned to walk away, "I don't care about anything you have to say."
Troy grabbed her around the waist to stop her, "Oh, but you will care about this."
Riddick ran over to help Dannie, but realized in mid step that it would make her look weak in front of an opponent from the ring, and she would kill him if he did that.
Dannie had her back to him, so he had easy access to her ears and neck, plus he could look down her top while doing whatever he chose to do. "It's about the ring. I have a challenge for you."
Dannie broke away from him, "I'm listening." She walked to her bedroom with Troy following behind her, "So what is the challenge? Please tell me it's not you, because you haven't beaten me yet and there is no way in hell that you'll ever beat me."
"It is me, but it's not for money. If you win, you keep your championship and I never fight again."
"And if you win?"
"If I win," he came closer to her, their bodies almost touching, "I get the championship and you."
"Me?" Troy nodded to confirm what she was thinking. "For how long?"
"Until I get tired of you." He leaned down and kissed her on the lips, and he could almost feel every heartbeat through them. "That confirms it."
"Confirms what?"
"Your a virgin. I had been expecting something to that degree. It will be my pleasure to bring you into womanhood. Do we have an agreement?"
Dannie hadn't noticed it before, but Derick had come over almost immediately after Troy, and he had heard the entire conversation between them. "Dannie, no! You can't agree to that arrangement."
"Too late! I accept. In two days time we fight."
"Fine with me." And with that Troy left.
