Chapter Four- The Girl All The Bad Guys Want
Planet Frontier Augustus- New Roma
Eight years after Chapter Three
Riddick sighed as he looked at all the signs. They were advertising some band that was 'promoting the return of old Earth rock in New Frontier fashion!' The front woman was a tall brunette with piercing eyes regularly hidden behind a pair of shades. The trid-V ads showed her as about five-ten, maybe one-thirty, leggy and unafraid to enhance the already mile-long legs with leather pants that looked painted on. Her hair was carefully tamed into a braid that reached her heart-shaped ass that couldn't possibly be anything but natural.
She moved with a grace that Riddick had often been said to possess. Warrior's grace, it was called. He could tell that she'd handled weapons, once upon a time. Maybe blades? Nah, no one did blades anymore but Richard B. Riddick, and Riddick had died six years ago, from mysterious circumstances.
The same time that Audrey Richards had disappeared from New Mecca and been reported dead. A suicide, from all accounts. There was only one flaw in Jack's story. If Jack had suicided, Imam would have called Riddick.
There had never been a call.
Dumb move, Jack. If you'd never wanted to see me again, that's all you had to say. You didn't act like you never wanted to see me again, Kid. Hell, you wanted more and so did I.
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She tasted of honey and silk. He moaned as she moved closer, her arms going around his neck. No whore had ever welcomed him like this. There had never been a kiss that was this important, this intoxicating.
She's real. She's here.
"Make me stop, Jack. I won't stop unless you tell me to," he whispered, voice harsh and tortured.
Her arms went tight around his neck and the beast roared in satisfaction.
She doesn't want you to stop! You don't have to stop! Take her, make her our mate!
He pushed her against the wall, placing small open-mouthed kisses against her neck and shoulder. She mewled and the blood rushed from his head to other, far more interesting parts of his anatomy. Her heart was pounding, the pulse obvious in the hollow of her collarbone.
He could see the reds, silvers, and purples rolling off her body as he lifted her. "Forgive me, Jack. I can't be slow. I can't do slow this time."
She kissed him and shook her head. "Less talking, more moaning."
He held her against the wall with his hips as he pulled out a shiv and sliced her clothes off. She ripped his shirt in her rush to get it off. It was going to be a violent, fast, dominating mating. He couldn't give her the gentleness that she deserved, the slow 'thank you' for making him more human than animal. He couldn't be human enough right now to treat her with care.
She deserves better!
She wants you! US! the beast screamed, defiant. For once, no restraint, no need to hide. Bury inside of her, make her home!
He shuddered as his hands shoved down his pants just enough to get his cock out. She was wet and writhing against his hips.
He shoved inside of her, barely aware when she screamed in pain…He'd just taken her innocence and he'd never known.
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He was little better than a rapist, in truth. He'd taken her, buried himself inside her with no hesitation, the most indelicate of foreplay. He'd known that possessing her would change things but he'd never expected Jack to hate him. Yes, there had been some pain, but if she'd given him a second chance, he'd have made it better.
Instead, afterwards, she'd ran up to her room, face pale and her hands over her stomach. Her virginity ran down the kitchen wall, a brilliant red stain against the sunny yellow of the room.
She didn't want it after all. And I hurt her to have it. You're no better than the monster they call you, Riddick. You're just as heartless as they all say. You didn't have to touch her, but you wanted to and you swept her up before she could decide what she wanted. That was what was important, what she wanted, not you, you great pinhead. She was too young, too inexperienced, and you fucked her like you would a whore.
Yeah, despite his full intent to 'make love' to Jack, he'd been rough and borderline abusive. If there was one thing he couldn't stand, it was abuse towards women, and mercs didn't count. Yet, what had he done to the only woman who'd ever mattered?
No wonder you didn't come back downstairs, Jack. I wouldn't have wanted to face me either, if I'd been you. It wasn't what you were expecting, but who were you to fuckin' think that you, out of how many billions in the galaxy, could get Richard Riddick to be gentle? Fuck you, too, Kid.
He took a third- or was it his fourth?- drink of scotch, taking a long deep pull from the bottle. He really was scum, but he was a hell of a lot more fun drunk.
"And tonight, at the New Coliseum, it's Stellar, the galaxy-famed band! One night only, with only three hundred tickets left, fifteen backstage passes included! Come see Victoria, Ken, and Mario perform such old Earth hits as 'Prayer', 'Home', 'One', and 'Fully Alive'! Tickets are limited."
The voice came on and Riddick's eyes went wide. It was her!
"This is Victoria. Come see Stellar as we perform in your home system. This is a one night show, so you'd best hurry. Our shows always make your entertainment news, so would you rather be there, or hear all about it later?" She smiled, her eyes seductively, artistically, enhanced. They weren't just that sparkling green he adored, but a smoky emerald that promised a soft, sexy atmosphere and things that he had introduced her body to. Despite his rough taking of her, he'd known that she'd came before he did. He made damned sure of it.
"Computer, call the Coliseum. Secure a backstage pass to the Stellar concert."
"Placing call…. Ticket is four hundred credits."
"Charge it," he snapped, glad that, unlike Jack's computer, this one didn't have AI. Janice would have never tolerated Riddick snapping at her.
"Charging."
May Holy Man's God have mercy on Audrey Richards when he saw her again. Because he had sworn that after he took her for the first time, he'd never leave her alone. And she'd ran away, leaving the mystery of who called the mercs on her, of who betrayed her, of how they could find a way together unsolved.
They were supposed to have found a way together. Alphas didn't change mates like that. Alphas were forever. She was his.
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"Vic-tor-ia! Vic-tor-ia!"
The crowds were screaming and Victoria Blanchett grinned. "A'ight, boys. Are we ready?"
Kenny Smith, guitarist extraordinaire, smirked. "Why, Jack, have you ever known us to let you down? We've trip-checked the sounding, the acoustics, the line-up, and everything."
Mario was silent. Then again, with the earbuds constantly in his ears, you never knew what music he was listening to, or if he was listening to music at all. Mario was the drummer, mainly because he liked pounding on things, be it an instrument or a person.
Mario reminded her strongly of Riddick, but without the shine job or the criminal record. Mario was about as clean as they came. A few assaults in his past, but most dismissed as self-defense. Plus, both were one-name men, by their own preference. If Mario had a surname, Jack had never heard it.
She missed Riddick, when she was in a mood to be honest. That was why she'd become a rock star in the first place. When he'd ran off after that afternoon in the kitchen, she knew that she'd done something terrible. She hadn't been able to satisfy him and he'd run off to a whore, leaving the planet so fast that she never got to say goodbye. She wanted to apologize, ask for a second chance. She hadn't meant to be a disappointment to him, but she hadn't possessed the experience to please him.
She shouldn't still love him, especially after that afternoon tryst. She'd given him her best 'come hither' look afterwards, trying to lure him into her room, and he disappeared. Disappeared like he'd never been there.
At least he'd had the courtesy to clean her virginity off the wall. Though that would have put Lajjun's accusations about her and Abu to rest. She gave a small hysterical laugh inside her mind. At least Abu had gotten rid of that witch not too long after his trip to New Medina. He'd sent her on her way, back to the Orion Belt, and kept Ziza, spoiling her outrageously.
"If you can do that to anyone, even a woman you think is causing your husband's infidelity, you deserve to be divorced, Lajjun. No amount of begging will convince me to keep you. You are an unsatisfactory wife and a hopeless mother. Do not come to Ziza again."
"Victoria! Show starts in five. Are you ready?" yelled the stage manager. Jack nodded, zipping up her boots and making sure that the chandelier earrings were fastened. Her hands were shaking, just like they always did before a show. She'd done this so many times, but the nerves always came.
Kenny would be at the second mike, waiting, one foot braced on the speaker as he slowly strummed a few chords, not really hinting at what they'd actually be playing. Mario would be behind the drum-glass, twirling his second set of sticks, having already thrown the first set to the crowd. Both of the young women that had caught the drumsticks were about to be escorted backstage as soon as Jack was clear on the stage.
"Victoria, three minutes. Start up to the stage in ten seconds."
Jack often wondered what Lajjun had done to cause Abu to finally divorce her. And she mused about it again as she walked towards the stage ramp.
The only thing Jack could figure was that Lajjun was the one to switch the tags and had called the mercs on her. That was the only thing that Jack could think of that would piss Abu off so badly. In his own way, Abu had loved Lajjun. As far as Jack knew, Abu had never betrayed Lajjun.
Jack left not too long after the divorce was finalized. Ziza had taken to calling Jack 'mama', something that frightened Jack. Especially after the news came.
Two months after Richard Riddick left New Mecca, Jack discovered that she was pregnant.
And the father was no where to be found.
A tech handed her the program for the night and she viewed the songs quickly. A wild start for the concert, one of her favorite songs was at the top of the program.
'Ten Thousand Fists'.
She could hear Mario begin the drum intro and she began to sprint to the stage. She was running late. So late, in fact, that she didn't notice when one of the shadows behind the stage moved and silver eyes glared at her.
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Sorry, my dear reviewers. I know that this update took far too long, but I couldn't get the kiss between Riddick and Jack just right, so I decided to skip some time and make it a powerful, poignant memory for both.
Oh, and PagingDr.House, I hope this satisfied your need for J/R smut. It wasn't much, but it was important.