Chapter XVI: The Lame Movie Action Made Up For…(by none other than Riddick. Of course.)

The evening passed without excitement, but both Imam and Liege noticed the touches that were a second too long between Jack and Riddick. Imam smiled knowingly to himself, of course Jack would end up with Riddick, there was not another man in the universe who could ever understand Jack. Liege sometimes raised an eyebrow, but she never commented, glad to see that Jack finally had someone.

"Jack, can we go out tomorrow to look 'round the city? Only been 'ere once or twice 'n I never got to explore it." Liege asked after dinner, when Imam had gone up to his study to work and Riddick went out. The two girls were going to watch some vids, and they were setting up food, blankets and pillows, knowing they would fall asleep in front of the screen.

"Sure we can! Looking for anything in particular?"

"Well, since ye are 18, I figure…eh…I could scout out a few tat parlors. If thas alright with ye. I need some work done on meself, ye know."

"Tat parlors?"

Liege rolled her eyes and turned around and lifted her shirt, where Jack saw a tattoo of three words.

"Oooh. I get it. Sure…by the way, does that mean?"

"The tat? It's Latin." Liege replied, snuggling into the couch.

"And it is…" Jack trailed off, setting up the vid discs in the player.

"'odi et amo'." Liege said with a good accent.

"Which means!" Jack turned around, frustrated with Liege as she plopped down next to her, reaching for the bowl of popcorn that Liege had made.

"Hate and Love."

"Oh. I see…well, ready to start?" Jack asked, changing the subject.

"Ye bet. Vid on! Disc one!" Liege commanded the system, making Jack laugh.

"It isn't an army or something." She muttered, holding the bowl tightly to her as Liege tried to pry it away from her.

They had purposely tried to pick scary movies, but neither of them became even close to scared. Most of the time they were laughing at the fake expressions on the faces of the actors. Liege lost count of how many vid discs they had gone through when she realized Jack had fallen asleep on her shoulder.

"Oy, Jack," she said, whispering so as not to wake her friend. "What am I goin' to do with ye? Tis is a shame that Riddick isn't here to carry ye up. 'm strong, but not tha' strong."

"You called?" Liege almost jumped out of her skin when the familiar deep voice smoothed out of the dark shadows.

"Aye, that I did. Will ye take care of this lass or will I 'ave to wake 'er up?" Liege asked, tilting her head back to see Riddick's eyes staring down at hers, flitting to Jack's resting form between words.

Deciding not to grace her with an answer, Riddick slipped his arms between Jack and the couch and somehow managed to pick her up and keep the blanket on her. Liege smiled slightly when she saw how Jack instantly tightened herself against Riddick, sensing in her sleep it was him.

Liege watched as the silent form moved up the stairs, the only thing making noise was the blanket as it trailed beneath his feet. Impressed that he didn't trip on it, she turned around and quietly ordered the screen off.

Pulling another blanket over her, she quickly fell asleep on the couch, glad to know that Jack was safe.

Jack emitted a sad whimper when she felt the sun hit her face and suddenly felt herself being repositioned and she was in shadow again. Confused, Jack looked up and saw Riddick's face looking down at hers.

His body blocked the sun as he laid on his side and his left arm propped up his head. His right arm was moving with his hand as he gently played with Jack's hair.

"Morning, Jack." He greeted her quietly, only to be responded to by a sudden snuggle into his chest. Threading his fingers up her neck and into the base of her hair, he gently rubbed her scalp, not surprised when he felt and heard the appreciative groan into his chest.

"Grrmpf, Ridgrrf." Was the verbal reply as she breathed in his scent and suddenly felt the need for him to claim her. Looking up, she was glad to see that he had taken off his goggles and she lifted her hand and rested it on his cheek, taking in the smoothness. As he gently pushed into her hand, she smiled and sat up, removing her hand and putting it on the other side of his body, holding herself up.

He twisted to lay on his back and was surprised at how flexible Jack was, the way she kept her lower half completely at rest while the upper was twisted and turned. She looked down at him and smiled, just glad to be around him.

Riddick readied himself for another long kiss but was let down by a quick peck. Opening his eyes, he saw the usual grin grace Jack's features.

"I'm going out with Liege, today, so I can't stay around in bed all day. As much as I would like to." She explained, moving back as Riddick sat up. She moved her arm and rested it on his chest as he got comfortable.

"Alone?"

"I said, 'with Liege.'" Jack replied, blushing as Riddick pulled her up onto his lap and grabbing behind her knee, tugged the leg over his body, forcing Jack to straddle him.

"But that's without me." He wasn't in the mood to argue, feeling Jack's body over his.

"Yes, I realize that. We'll be fine, I promise. You know I can take care of myself and Liege will bite anyone's head off if they even get near me. And we are going out, regardless of the fact that you can't accompany us, due to the large bounty on your head." Jack argued, poking her finger directly into his chest.

Riddick growled, causing Jack to startle and pull away. He immediately grabbed her waist and pulled her as close as possible to himself. Resting his head on her chest, he closed his eyes and listen to her heartbeat, memorizing each individual thump.

Jack swallowed, not sure what to do, but ended up circling his neck with her arms. She knew that her absence would completely unnerve him, but she was not going to be locked up. No matter what Riddick said.

"Jack. Be home two hours before sunset. Not a minute later." He ordered, pulling back and holding her wrists, his large hands easily wrapping around them.

"Yes, sir." She mock replied, leaning in to kiss him once more before she left.

'Bad idea, Jack, really bad idea,' she thought to herself as she exited his room twenty minutes later, feeling like her entire body was flushed with heat.