CHAPTER EIGHT

Kylie's breath caught at the frankly sexual suggestion in his voice. She felt the slow flush of color that suffused her entire body, driving away the last vestiges of Fresion cold and leaving in its wake a warm, tingling sensation. She stared at Riddick, held captive by the gleam in his silver eyes. It was with supreme effort that she dragged her gaze from his and concentrated on quieting the riotous beating of her heart.

She didn't believe for a moment that she was actually in any danger. Quite the opposite, in fact. Despite his daunting appearance and crude manner, she realized she felt safe for the first time in years. For so long, she'd had to rely on her own wits and quick reflexes to survive. She might look fragile, but appearances were deceptive. As she suspected they were with Riddick. While she was under no illusions about the sort of man he was, her gut instincts told her he wouldn't harm her without a good reason. And she wasn't about to give him one.

"Well, while you're thinking," she said, pushing herself to her feet, "I'm going to check on the pilot." She paused. "Thank you...for taking both of us with you." She didn't look at him, but she could feel his eyes on her, assessing her. When he didn't answer, she ducked her head and made her way aft to where Captain Terran was still slouched unconscious in her seat. Kylie removed the pilot's thermal head gear and unzipped the enveloping suit just enough to peel back the fabric and examine the wound to her shoulder. It oozed very little blood and didn't appear to be life-threatening. Kylie wondered what other, unseen injuries the pilot had sustained.

"Do you have any anestiphine on board?" she called over to Riddick. "Or something to combat infection?"

"Yeah, right," he muttered in derision. "Like it would have lasted the five years I was stuck on that rock."

Kylie's eyes widened. Five years? She wondered how anyone could have survived that long on Fresion. Even for a man of Riddick's reputed survival skills, it couldn't have been easy. Reluctantly, she acknowledged she felt a tiny bit of admiration for the man who had managed to overcome such insurmountable odds.

"Okay," she finally said. "So you have no medical supplies on board, no food that I can see, and if this bucket of bolts manages to get us out of this galaxy, it will be a miracle." She turned to stare at Riddick's broad back, seeing his face reflected in the glass of the cockpit window. "So where do we go from here? Captain Terran needs medical attention. You don't even have sleeping pods on this heap. How far do you think we're going to get?"

"Far enough." He reached overhead and flipped several switches. "At least to the nearest colonized planet."

Kylie frowned and returned to the small jump seat beside Riddick. Leaning forward, she studied the illuminated celestial map that glowed on the control panel. "Well, according to this, the nearest inhabited planet is Antellion Prime." She bit her lip. "I don't know much about that planet."

"I do." Riddick's voice was grim.

Kylie stared at him, a shiver of foreboding tracing itself along her spine. "Why doesn't that sound reassuring?"

Riddick smiled humorlessly. "Because Antellion Prime is a cesspool of humanity. If you don't want to be found, it's a good place to get lost. Every sick fuck from every known galaxy eventually ends up on that planet." He gave a snort of disgust. "Even the bounty hunters don't go there."

"So why are we?"

He turned his head to look at her. Kylie wished he would remove his goggles. It unnerved her, not being able to see his eyes.

"We've got no choice," he finally said, and turned his attention away from her.

Kylie stared at him, willing him to reassure her; to tell her that he didn't really intend to bring her to Antellion Prime. His attention remained focused on the ship, however, ignoring her as completely as if she weren't even there.

"Do you have a plan for when we reach the planet?" she found herself asking. "You can't possibly mean for us to stay there." She gave a disbelieving laugh. "If what you say is true, we won't last an hour! And if anyone discovers who I really am..." Her voice trailed away as she contemplated the various unpleasant fates that awaited her should that come to pass. "It's suicide."

"It's the only chance we have."

Kylie didn't miss the importance of the word "we" and she clung to the small hope that he did, indeed, mean to keep her with him. "How long do we have to stay there?" she asked.

Riddick turned to look at her then, and through the thick beard that obscured his face, she saw him smile. "I intend to stay just long enough to jack another ship." He glanced around the small compartment. "One that's in a little better shape than this one."

"But you'll take me and the Captain with you, right?" she persisted.

"I already told you, Princess," he drawled, "that depends on how well you... persuade me."