Chapter Eight: Big Girls Don't Cry

River lay on the bed with her hands behind her head staring at the ceiling. Her mouth still gaped open slightly and her eyes made odd shapes as they travelled all over the place while she thought. Her toes continuously curled up and out as she tried to comprehend why his eyes were like that and to remember where she'd seen eyes like that before or whether it was just a dream. Finally her mouth closed and she frowned in frustration in not being able to understand her strange recollection of those stunning eyes. She sat up abruptly and stared out of the door with a determined look on her face.

Riddick's eyes flickered open as he started to wake up. Her kicked his legs off from leaning on the empty space in the control board and looked at the ship's current position and the time. Pulling the goggles off over his head he rubbed his weary eyes then flipped a switch to turn off the auto pilot.

"So… where we going?"

He rolled his eyes to fix on the figure that had just materialised in the co-pilot's chair. She looked at him, staring at his eyes before forcing herself to look away, trying to look interested in the endless outstretching space ahead. He tilted his head, smirking at her discomfort in his eyes.

"They're shined."

River turned her head back round to look at him as he focused on which switches his hands would glide over.

"Means I can see in the dark."

"So the goggles are for protecting your eyes from light?"

He stopped everything, seeming to freeze in thought at her words. She tilted her head, waiting for him to respond.

"I'm a creature of the night. I'm a…"

He looked down, unable to understand why he couldn't finish his sentence. River leaned forward and down, trying to get a look up at his face to see if he was ever going to finish explaining.

"You're a what?"

Riddick continued back to flipping switches and checking metres.

"So what were you doing falling off roofs for?"

She clamped her jaw and turned away, not expecting such a sudden and painful subject change.

"Well, I-"

"Most people only have one thing in mind when they go roof jumping."

He turned slowly and fixed his eyes on her face. Her eyes were flickering with the memories he'd brought up. Suddenly her face turned cold and hard, she was glaring at him from the corner of her eyes. Within an instant she'd wiped round and out of the chair and was heading for the door, only to find an out stretched arm blocking the way. Riddick continued to study her face, stepping towards her, forcing her to back up. She looked in all directions as she tried to avoid his eyes until she ran out of space to back up in to and bumped her back into a wall, stopping her and forcing her eyes to lock with Riddick's. He leaned in close to her face with his own, faces barely centimetres away from each other, noses brushing.

"You have a curious effect on me, little girl, but that won't stop me from-"

"What are you?"

Her voice came out as a puff of breath she couldn't control. Her lips continuing to hand open slightly from the intense stare he held her in.

"I'm the bogeyman, baby."

He leaned in even closer, their lips brushing for a fleeting moment, sending shivers down her spine, her eyes flickering slightly with anticipation. Quickly she remembered herself and slipped down and under his arm, half running for the door. Once again she was stopped by a pair of strong arms wrapping around her and holding her in place.

"You're a convict."

Her voice was shaky as it came out as a panicked whisper. Riddick ran his nose and lips up against the side of her neck and cheek, pausing for a moment at her ear to whisper in it.

"And you love it."

Her eyes closed momentarily and her breath uncontrollably escaped from her lungs in a hushed moan. River clenched her fists as she tried to regain even the slightest bit of control. Screwing her eyes tight shut, she took in a deep breath, trying to ignore as Riddick took in a deep breath of her scent. Eventually she opened her eyes and a single tear ran down her cheek as she managed to regain her voice.

"Let go."

Riddick did as she asked and released her, watching as she walked for the door hastily.

"There's no getting off this boat."

His words caused her to pause in the doorway of the cockpit for a moment before she ran to the bedroom and finally let go of her restrained tears.