CHAPTER SEVEN

Riddick released the girl and turned away. He felt like he'd been kicked squarely in the teeth. He was stunned. For an instant—just one, brief mind-blowing instant—he'd really thought it was her. He'd been filled with a blinding rush of relief at seeing her safe and whole, and then fury at the thought of her leaving Helion Prime alone. To look for him. But then, at the same instant his head had believed her to be Jack, his body had recognized the truth.

She wasn't Jack.

Jack had been a kid when he'd last seen her, no more than thirteen years old. She'd been skinny, bald, and completely in awe of him. While he realized she would have grown up in the past five years, he couldn't for a second imagine himself having the physical reaction to her that he'd just had for this girl.

He raked a hand over his hair.

He'd come close to kissing her. Shit. Kissing be damned. He'd wanted to consume her; to tear her clothes from her body and take her like the outlaw he was.

Jerking his goggles down over his eyes, he glanced back at the girl. While she looked amazingly like the little hellion whose ass he'd saved five years earlier, there were subtle differences. Like her eyes. Jack's eyes had always been guarded as she tried to fool those around her into believing she was a boy. Even after her secret had been discovered, she had been full of false bravado and defiance, determined to prove herself. Riddick had admired the kid's spunk.

But this girl was different. Oh, there was bravado and defiance in her eyes, sure. But there was none of the youthful hero worship that Jack had demonstrated from the time she'd first laid eyes on him. He hadn't been oblivious to her youthful infatuation with him, but neither had he felt the slightest inclination to do anything about it. She'd been a kid, and despite her proud arrogance, had been vulnerable and alone. If anything, he saw her as an irritating but appealing younger sister. He intended to find her, once he was off this slab of ice, and make sure she was staying out of trouble.

But this girl...she was something completely different. Because what he'd felt for her in those brief seconds he'd been pressed against her had nothing to do with sibling affection.

She was still leaning against the wall, staring at him with a dazed look in her eyes, her breathing coming in fitful gasps. As he stared at her, one of her hands crept up to her mouth as if she were remembering how close he'd come to crushing her soft lips beneath his own.

"Shit," he muttered savagely, and swung away from her to settle himself into the captain's seat. "Strap yourself in, Princess, it's going to be a rough ride." His voice sounded harsh, even to his own ears.

He sensed her hesitation when she finally lowered herself into the seat beside him and brought the safety harness down across her chest. She'd pulled her gloves off, and he could see her slender fingers curled around the armrests, the knuckles white with tension.

"So," she finally managed, her voice husky, "where to now?"

He flipped the engines on and was gratified when they roared to life, causing the small craft to vibrate. He spared her one pointed look before turning his attention back to the control panel. "First," he grated, "I'm dumping you and your friend on the nearest planet. Then I'm going after your sister."

He heard her swiftly indrawn breath. "I want to come with you."

"I'm sure you do," he drawled, "but it ain't gonna happen. You're a liability."

Any response she might have made was drowned out by the sound of the engines as he thrust them into full gear, and then the entire craft tipped back as he angled it, nose up, toward the opening in the cavern overhead. He didn't pause, but thrust hard on the acceleration lever, gratified when they shot toward the opening at a dizzying speed. Then they were free of the cavern and streaking through the snowbound skies toward space. It was only when they had exited the atmosphere surrounding Fresion and he was able to level the craft out, that he felt the tension in his body slowly start to uncoil.

Goddamn, he'd done it. He was finally free of the frozen planet that had kept him prisoner for the past five years. Beside him, the girl released her harness. He heard her let out a long, grateful breath and sensed her relief at being underway once more. Although he didn't look over at her, he was acutely aware when she reached up to unfasten her survival suit, pushing the bulky layers down over her shoulders and off her arms. Then she stood up and shoved the suit down the length of her body, stepping out of it. As she bent to retrieve it, Riddick spared her one, swift glance.

His breath caught.

Any thought of her resembling Jack completely vanished. The silver flight suit clung to her body and resembled slick, sheeting water whenever she moved. The effect was mesmerizing. Her dark hair tumbled down her back in rich, glossy waves. He remembered how soft those silken skeins had felt between his fingers. She was slender, but curved in all the right places. There was nothing remotely childlike about her. He could smell her. It was an intoxicating mixture of soap, sweat, and the feminine fragrance that was hers alone. He was reminded uncomfortably of how long he'd gone without a woman. Too long.

The girl settled herself back into the seat, although she made no move to refasten the safety harness. "What can I do to persuade you to take me with you?" Her voice was low, and her eyes were shadowed. Cautious.

He knew then she was willing to do just about anything to go with him. Riddick smiled slowly, and let his gaze drift over her. "I don't know," he said, his voice husky and threaded with suggestion, "but I'm sure I'll think of something."