Thanks to:
BabyKat – loved your story

mysterio – thanks! Yeah there seems to be competing Kell/Liege and Khan/Liege

FluidDegree – good to have you as a constant reviewer

TotallyRiddickObsessed – thanks again, you rock.

Chapter XXXI: Confusion of Animal Instinct

"Got it, Jack." His tired, gravelly voice echoed off of the study walls. He stood over a desk, with his fisted hands balancing him. His goggles were hanging out of the waistband, reflecting the dim light Jack had to use to write random notes and pieces of information they could use.

"Knew you would." She replied, her voice weak and exhausted considering her brain was completely drained of all coherent thought at this point.

Standing up from the couch, the blanket draped around her, she shuffled over to him. The moment she came into arms reach, he gently pulled her into an embrace from behind.

"Good god, Jack." He almost moaned with the closeness of their bodies. Inhaling every part of her he could, he was awakened by the shudder of Jack's body. "You smell amazing."

"As do you," she replied, leaning her head back on his shoulder, her left hand reached up and pulled his head closer to hers. Smelling his neck, she stretched her neck and lightly licked his ear. "But your plan?"

"Alright. I figure that could storm wherever she is in hiding. This of course will take insiders, a source of weaponry and a quick mind. Actually, more then one. We'll storm it, take over, yet relate back to the base that the leader is still alive. When we get to wherever we're supposed to go, we'll overturn that as well."

"It took you all that time to think of that?" Jack asked, raising her eyebrow. She was shushed by gentle nip on her neck.

"Don't be fresh with me. I was fine-tuning it. So, how can you contribute to this?" He growled, not liking Jack's attitude. It could get one of them killed if she was so confident.

"Easy. Khan will serve as a messenger and weapons source. Liege can take of the insiders, but we'll need outside forces, too. I got that covered. Falc, Rick and me can take out any outside guards. Rick and I are better at close-combat, Falc can take a hidden step out and take down anyone else who could be a threat." She said, nodding at her own idea.

"Back up, kid." He snarled, ignoring her face at being called 'kid'. "How the fuck are you good at close-combat? You went to boarding school, not boot camp."

"I…" she hissed when he roughly grabbed her and spun her around and she was pinned between the desk and him. Looking up at him, her eyes narrowed. "First, you're going to treat me as an equal through this. Second, boarding school has hierarchy and you fight to survive. Third, it's none of your business as to how me, Liege, Falc and Rick know anything about combat."

Jack cried out in pain when Riddick seized her wrists and crushed them in his vice grip. She was suddenly afraid, this was the killer people were terrified of. Then she felt stupid for thinking he would be someone different around her, he was always that cold, calculating murderer.

"Shut the fuck up. I'm making it my business. Now fucking tell me." His cold voice pierced her mind like sharp icicles.

She struggled for a moment, only squeezing her eyes tight shut when he tightened his grip on her wrists. Why was he hurting her like this? Jack desperately tried to focus on the reality, not the nightmares she was prone to slip into.

"NOW JACK!" He roared at her, causing her to cringe back at the volume. Riddick was all animal now, the tiger-like roar put out the fire in her body. She was whimpering like an abused dog. She wasn't sure as to why she wasn't telling him, but the defiant streak shone brighter than anything else.

Jack cursed when she was suddenly thrown across the room, hitting the floor and sliding straight into a wall. Blacking out, the last thing she saw was a pair of black boots stalk out of the study, the wooden door slamming behind them.

Snarling at the sudden thunderstorm that burst in her head, Jack sat up stiffly, wondering how she had fallen asleep in that position.

'Falling asleep my ass,' she thought, snorting as she remembered what had happened. Balancing against the wall, she pulled herself up and realized she hadn't been knocked out too long. It was still night.

Shaking her head, the harsh pounding was numbed slightly, so she ventured forward, only to fall to the floor again. Cursing herself for her weakness, she refused to get up with the help of the nearby desk.

During this she never noticed the dark shadow that loomed off on the balcony. The silver eyes leaked small droplets of mercury, reflecting in the platinum pools. They were roughly wiped off when Jack gave a short yell of desperate frustration.

Breathing heavily, she wondered how a bang on the head could induce all of this. Forcing herself up again she wondered if she had hit a nerve center that shorted out the rest of her muscles. Hoping she hadn't, and if she did that it would fade soon, Jack grunted as she found unknown energy to shove herself up off the cold floor.

Congratulating herself silently on her newfound ability to stand, although she was swaying a bit, Jack waited until her breathing evened out. The headache was fading, her eyesight wasn't fuzzy and she took a step forward.

Though as she took a second step, she collapsed again, gravity pulling her harder than anything she had ever experienced. Giving up, she rolled onto her back and didn't stop the tears that silently streamed down the sides of her eyes.

"He'll never take me with him…I'm way too weak to even go outside. Shit, I'm stuck alone forever. Well, I've got Liege, Falc and Rick…though Falc and Rick sure as fucking hell aren't Riddick…" she said to herself, looking at the soft lights overhead that didn't hurt her already weakening eyesight.

In the smooth charcoal shadows, Riddick clenched his jaw, furious with how he made Jack feel. He had only wanted to know why she could fight, had she been in danger at boarding school? Imam had said it was safe, but he wasn't too sure now.

Jack had quieted and her breathing was still unsure, signaling she was still awake. Moving forward he stood at the end of Jack where her feet twitched once in a while. Feeling another presence, she cracked open her eyes to see him standing in front of her.

"Sorry, Riddick." She said clearly, keeping direct eye contact with him. Jack barely moved as he sat down, using her energy to crane her head up to see what he was doing.

"Shh, Jack." He whispered back, gently taking her legs and spreading them so he could pull them around his waist. At this point Jack struggled to sit up and wasn't strong enough to protest his help.

Yet at his warm hands spanning her back and moving her forward up his legs, she couldn't help but relax. He wasn't going to hurt her. Or yell at her.

When she finally sat on his lap, her legs circled around him, Jack looked down into apologetic shined eyes. She tensed briefly when he wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his head in her chest.

Stroking his head, Jack's hardened resolve to be angry with Riddick melted away as his warm breath smoothed over her chest with every breath he took. Growling, he pulled back and looked up to see forgiving eyes that was accompanied by a tired sigh.

"What I did was unforgivable. I hurt you." He said quietly, wanting Jack to understand. "There is the excuse I was worried as to how and why you were any good in combat…I fucked up royally, Jack."

"It's true that you were simply worried. And I should've told you. I'm starting to think that being this defiant isn't good for either of our health." She replied, smirking. "Liege and a pretty large group of guys had a paint-ball game that went on during the year. We snuck out around 1 or 2 in the morning and played until dawn. Course we played it on days we didn't have classes, but all the same, we were cautious about it. Liege was really well-versed in all sorts of strategies, so I picked up a lot from her. We always won, actually."

"Paint-ball?" Riddick asked, amused.

"Yes, paint-ball." She snapped back, flicking his ear with her nails.

Without any sign of it happening, both leaned in for a deep kiss that resulted with Jack back on the floor, being mapped out by Riddick's hands and tongue.

"So," Riddick said between licks and gentle bites, "the plan."

"I think-" Jack hitched as Riddick's hand slipped under her shirt and up her back. "-it's fine."

"Good." He finished the conversation, deciding to talk about it later. The matter on hand was far too important to be distracted.

In a feline growl, Jack softly commanded the lights off, knowing he would prefer darkness to any sort of light. As Riddick became more adventurous, Jack arched up into his dark touch that blended perfectly with the surrounding darkness.

As clothing was slowly removed, soft whispers of caresses drove each of them mad with lust. In her heightened state of sensations, Jack shivered violently as a desert breeze slipped between her and the fiery body of Riddick. The warmth was soon found again as both bodies melted into one another. The night wore on and Riddick noted how well Jack's moans mixed with the howling wind of the dark night.