Chapter 10

Despite their attempt to stay in bed for most of the next day they were forced to emerge for food. Riddick watched as his pretty wife poured a cup of coffee and doctored it liberally with milk and sweetener before she made him a cup with very little of each. It was damn handy that she could Read his thoughts. Her laugh drifted through the room like a breeze and she twirled gracefully before she handed him his mug. "Husband finds much to be pleased with today," She observed. "Beaumonde comes closer. Secrets to be smuggled aboard."

"Sounds like fun," Riddick grinned and sipped his coffee. "Was thinking, as a thanks to the crew, for…well helping yesterday. Like to use some of the venison and flour, and some canned vegetables. Make a venison stew with dumplings for dinner."

"And protein for Simon," River grinned at him. "We have spent much of the day abed. Dinner will be in three hours."

"Tell you what, you make us a little snack, tide us over until then, I'll grab the doeskin out of our bunk. We get the food to cookin' after our snack and I'll work on those leggings for you some more," Riddick suggested. "While I'm doing that, you go through the clothes you got, make a list of what we'll need to buy while we're dirtside."

She grinned at him wickedly, "My zhàng fu wants to buy me new underpinnings." She began to pull down the frozen protein waffles. "Venison is very cold. He will have to cut it for her. Musculature is not suited for hauling carcasses or butchering."

"Yeah lemme get to work on that," Riddick set the coffee down and deliberately crowded his wife against the counter, taking the opportunity to slide his hands over her ribs and legs. Just touching her…he groaned and rubbed his aching cock against her backside. He loved how her scent changed when he touched her, hot and sweet to his nose as desire warmed her blood.

"Hey!" The Captain was standing in the doorway with a disturbed look on his face. "Ya'll got a bunk for that sorta thing."

River's scent was still hot in his nose, "Yeah." Riddick agreed with a shrug and kissed his wife's neck. "Got hungry."

"I can see that," Reynolds sighed in resignation. "'Tween you two an' Zoe an' Wash always getting' so handsy…gonna have a boat full of places I can't walk in 'thout havin' my eyes closed."

Riddick reluctantly stopped rubbing against his wife and began to pull out some of the larger pieces of venison. "Mal, with as pissed as I get when someone sees River in bed…you really think I'd risk fucking her in a public place?" His wife gave him a sharp poke in the ribs and he groaned, "Sexing?"

River made a disgruntled noise in her throat but shrugged, "Either applies. But the words do not encompass enough to satisfy her sensibilities."

"Oh you got some a those?" Riddick teased her and was rewarded with a wicked little grin.

"Has she not proven to him that she does," River imitated his drawl and squeaked when he grabbed her up for a hot hard kiss. Her laughter turning into a moan in his mouth was like drinking straight whiskey. Riddick shuddered and carefully put her down again.

"Ya'll at it again," Jayne's voice asked gruffly as he entered the galley. "Ain'tcha got a bunk for that?"

"Jealous?" River slanted a glance over her shoulder at the gun hand as he slouched into a chair at the end of the table.

"A what?" Jayne retorted as Mal began to go through the cabinets and typing things into a data pad. "You two? Think we've talked on me really not wantin' to get involved in that."

Riddick looked at River and tilted his head questioningly towards the huge gun hand. Her gorgeous mouth curved upward slightly as she nimbly grabbed the protein waffles off the pan and topped each with a dollop of hunchberry jam. "He worries that Kaylee is broken hearted over Simon's behavior," She murmured for his ears alone. "Very protective of her. Rivals your worry for me."

"Huh," Riddick folded the waffle in half and pulled his long bone knife off his belt. Taking a bite of the waffle he considered and then looked over his shoulder. The merc was using a stylus and painstakingly writing something on the Captain's data pad. "Thought he might just have the hots for her. Didn't think it ran to feelings," The convict muttered to his wife.

River shrugged at him taking a dainty bite of her own snack as she began to wipe down the pan. "Tries to think of how to gain her attention. Worries she will think he is old," She knew just how to pitch her voice so it caught his ears but was low enough that no one else even noticed she was talking.

"What about you?" Riddick looked down at her, "You think I'm too old for you?" He popped the last of the waffle in his mouth and began to cut the venison into stew sized chunks.

She was smiling as she shook her head. Her hands were finally free of work and food. Soft fingers slid over his jaw and turned his face to hers, "His mind is…open to hers... and he has lived a long time, much of it stuck in cryo. Months that felt like decades to a sleeping body and waking mind. More than a third of his life in cryo. The mind and experience of a man past fifty years…And the body of a man half that age." River's hand stroked down his neck to his shoulder and bicep, "He is the perfect age for her."

"Yeah?" Riddick put the knife down and picked her up for another kiss. "Make your list. And look over my stuff too; figure what you want me to wear." He set her down with a pat on her ass.

That got him a confused tilt of the head, "Richard wishes for her to dress him?"

"Well not in skirts," That got her giggling. "But I guess you got the right to demand I dress nice once in a while. So figure out how you want me to do that. Can't say I'll agree but I'll listen."

"Wěn biàn ," She smiled and twirled out of the room before breaking into a run that was nearly silent on the metal floor. He grinned after her for a moment before going back to his work. She seemed more stable today, less like the words weren't staying in their right places. Her scent was healthier too.

Riddick frowned down at the venison and began looking into the cabinets for spices. "Cobb, where do you folks keep the spices?" He found a dry drawer with potatoes in it and took five along with two onions. A jar of the canned vegetables he and River were given as a wedding gift was set on the counter and he nodded his satisfaction with the supplies. He wasn't a chef by any means but he could do a mean stew. Two years on Triumph had taught him a lot about basic cooking.

"Check in the real narrow cabinet over the cleaner," The other man's voice called from the table. "Oh, an' there's a jar of stewed tomatoes somewhere in the pantry if you need it." He was sighing over his list, "Gotta get supplies when we get to Beaumonde, you need ammo for your guns?"

"Can always use another box," Riddick nodded. "Anyone here allergic to anything?" He grinned as he found dried corn in another drawer. Some water in a pot on the stove and a big handful of corn and it was set to rehydrate.

"Not that anyone's ever said," Cobb stood and moved towards the pantry. He moved lightly enough for a big man, for all the heavy boots he didn't clomp around in them. Riddick would be willing to bet that Cobb had gotten training in tracking and hunting at some point in his life. He could always tell a man who knew how to live off the land. The goateed man's eyes were dark as he brought out the jar of tomatoes. He was ticking something off on the data pad as he leaned against the wall.

"How old are you Cobb?" Riddick found himself asking. Maybe it was a lingering thought that River had once considered marrying this man. Or maybe it was the scent of bemused affection the gun hand had for the girl he called moonbrain. Or a strange sort of sympathy for a man who thought he wouldn't be given the time of day by the girl he wanted to court. Fuck, maybe it was River's influence. Whatever the reason, Riddick found himself wanting to nudge Cobb in the mechanic's direction.

"Think I'm about…thirty eight?" Apparently there was some uncertainty regarding the actual number. Jayne looked up and shrugged with a sheepish grin. "Don't like to think about it much really."

"Well you're younger than I am," The Furyan chuckled as he began to throw the venison into a large pot. "River just figured out I'm around fifty or so. At least I've been alive that long."

"Now you're feedin' me a line a gǒu pì," Jayne shook his head in disbelief. "You look like you're the doc's age. If that."

"Yeah well, from what I got up here…" Riddick tapped his skull with a fingertip, "Furyans are pretty long lived anyway. And I've spent at least a third of my life in cryo. You don't age in cryo. I fucking hate it but that never stopped mercs from sticking me in a tube or wrapping a cryo cuff around my arm."

"So you're like…more'n thirty years older'n River?" The gun hand was shaking his head in disbelief.

Riddick chuckled and shrugged as he grabbed the sack of flour and the powdered milk. "If I gave two shits about numbers I might have thought about it. River doesn't care how old I am. That's all that matters to me. She's the only one has any right to talk or worry as far as I'm concerned. That doesn't mean her brother wouldn't get his back up about that too."

The other man's eyes were still dark and concerned but he shrugged, "So ya don' think it should matter? Age or whatever?"

Riddick couldn't stop sliding his eyes towards the door, waiting on his wife to return. "I think having things in common is more important than how old folks are accounted to be. Never met a woman with such old eyes as River. Sweet, don't get me wrong. But I could see it in her, just like she could in me I guess. Part of why she chose me."

"My zhàng fu is correct," River had returned to the galley with the doeskin as well as a datapad and stylus. Riddick frowned to see very little written on it. "We found each other in the dark. Could feel his mind, perfect for mine. Silver eyes to see me in the darkness, not afraid of him, and he is not afraid of me."

"You better not be done with that list," Riddick knew she needed more than what had been written down. "Told you I got enough money. Get anything you need."

"Short list encompasses much," River showed him what she'd written. "Necessities are many, but words are few."

"Gotcha," Riddick smiled. "How're you set for weapons?"

The conversation ended up including Jayne as well as Zoe and Mal. The three warriors of the boat took both them down to the small armory. Riddick hadn't cared much for the weapons there though he'd seen a few pistols that were small enough for River's hands. He'd looked at his deceptively dainty wife and she'd given him an evil grin that had sent blood rushing to his groin. They added weapons of her own to the list.

Beaumonde wasn't one of his favorite planets. Too much crap in the air for him to enjoy being off the ship. He and River took one look at the docks and then looked at each other. He knew his mouth was set in a firm line of distaste while her nose was wrinkled. She took a breath and grimaced, "Could wait until a planet that is more palatable is our place to land."

"Nah, we'll do this quick, we got liberty for a week anyway," Riddick shook his head. "Let's get what we need; we'll head back to the boat after."

He'd had the strange idea that he might not mind the planet so much if his gorgeous wife was at his side. Riddick found himself quickly disabused of that notion. Beaumonde was as irritating to his nose as ever. River wasn't feeling like herself and when he tilted his head with his unspoken question as to what was wrong she murmured that all the people pushed at her head. She hadn't had enough time alone with him. Her mind wasn't completely settled yet and able to withstand the multitude of thoughts around her. On ship, with the crew, was easier on her mind, comfort, familiarity easing her tensions. But a world full of strangers... Riddick resolved that this would be the quickest shopping trip ever and River nodded her silent agreement to that thought.

As a result he really had no idea what typical shopping with his pretty wife would be like. They marched into a store, picked out the bare necessities of what she needed, paid and left. They'd found him another pair of cargo pants and a couple of muscle shirts as well as similar clothing for her. The most time they'd spent in any one store had been when they were testing and choosing weapons for River.

Their return to the boat was greeted with a surprised look from Book. The Shepherd was talking with Kaylee about the merits of the various ships around them and his white eyebrows rose when Riddick and River walked back up the ramp. "I would have expected you two to enjoy some time alone," Book remarked as they entered the quieter light of the cargo bay. "You've barely been gone two hours."

"Too many people," River shook her head and leaned against her husband's side. Her weariness was apparent though being back on the ship was perking her up. He wondered if it was the familiarity or the shielding effect of the metal that helped. "Both," His wife murmured and he thought again how handy that was.

Riddick nodded his agreement. He and River both carried bags but nothing that would impede them in a fight, "The air screws with my sense of smell. Beaumonde's not our favorite place in the 'Verse." He lifted one of the bags, "We got some things we both needed. Gonna unload and see about getting something to eat."

"Yeah, 'bout that," Kaylee looked towards the middeck where the crews bunks were situated. "Uh, there might be a little…problem."

Riddick looked down at his wife. River had started giggling, her laughter tired but still tickling his senses with her amusement. "Wanna share the joke little wife?"

"Funnier to hear and show you," River's hand dipped from his back to squeeze his ass and Riddick chuckled. He did like a woman who knew what she wanted. He let the hand resting on her waist slide down to cup her cute little butt and chuckled to himself when she squeaked in surprise.

"Turnabout's fair play," He reminded her with an evil grin. Her dark eyes peeked up at him under drooping lashes, hot with sudden desire and he almost groaned. Her tongue was sliding out to dip over her lips as if she was anticipating some wonderful taste.

"My qīn 'ài zhàng fu should keep that in mind," She agreed with a smirk of her own. "She has much yet to show him. All of her abilities."

Riddick watched as she mounted the stairs and led him to the upper deck and down the hall to the crew bunks. The minute they hit the galley he could hear the cursing from within their room and smell the laughter coming from the pilot and first mate.

"Gorramit Mal! I got steel plated toes in these boots, an' you still manage to bruise my foot until I look like I been dancin' in Ma's blackberries," Jayne's voice was, from the sound of things, understandably irate.

"Well if you'd follow my directions we'd be done already an' you wouldn't have bruises 'cause the bed wouldn't a fallen on your foot," The Captain didn't sound like he was in too good of a mood either.

Riddick and River walked down the hall towards Wash and Zoe. The married couple sitting on the steps leading up to the bridge looked for all the 'verse as if they were listening to a show on the cortex.

Riddick frowned at the open hatch to their bunk and then looked at the duo sitting on the stairs. "Do I want to know why they're in our bunk," He set the bags he was carrying down and leaned against the wall.

"Wedding gift," River murmured and did the same as he had using his chest as her wall and tugging his arms around her. She smelt thoughtful and curious and the big man had to wonder what was going through her mind. Dark eyes looked up at him with a little smile curving her lips, "A larger bed than Zoe and Wash's bed. Folds up against the wall. Cap'n and Jayne are having trouble."

"Cap'n always does when it comes to mechanics," Kaylee remarked as she came up the hall.

"Throwin' away specs tends to do that," Wash offered with a shake of his head.

"He never did like followin' orders," The First Mate sighed.

Riddick looked down at his wife and shook his head, "I was really looking forward to getting you fuckin' horizontal." He pulled her tighter to his body so she could feel just how interested he was. All she had to do was rub her ass against him and he was half ready. "Damnit woman," He growled down at her as she did just that.

Her laugh was pure feminine evil and she turned in his arms, "She and her husband could decide to help the Captain and Jayne with the gift. Three men will have an easier time of it than two, especially when Riddick is the most intelligent man in the room."

"Yeah, if we're ever gonna get to bed today looks like that's our only option," Riddick groaned. "Leave the stuff up here though. We'll get it when we're done." River's grin made her smell like mischief. He groaned again and ground his hips against hers, "Wife you are so going to pay for all this teasing."

"She was told a tease does not live up to the promises made," His little wife giggled at him as she began to pull away. "Riddick's wife has every intention of fulfilling her promises." His hands gripped her hips and dragged her body back to his before he'd really formed the thought or intention. Kissing her until she was moaning into his mouth and his lips were devouring hers happened before he knew it, the animal rising in him to claim his lovely slender wife.

When he let her go she smelt of desire and hot blood and she looked dizzy, her body leaned against his for support. "Such a wicked man," Her whisper was hot on the skin of his neck.

"Yeah but I'm your wicked man," Riddick murmured into her hair. He loved her scent when her blood was up. "So let's get this finished and I can prove it to you."

"Hmm…" River nodded and took a deep breath. He was reluctant to do it but managed to unlock his arms from around her body and let her slip through his hands. She moved a few feet away to crouch by the hatch of their bunk and called down into it, "Captain, they are returned and would like to use the bunk."

"It ain't ready," Jayne grumbled. "An' if Mal don't stop droppin' things on me it won't never be."

"Yeah, uh, little one, we've got a bit of a situation…" Mal's voice was both chagrinned and irritated over the problem at hand.

"Yes. She knows. She and husband will help to solve it," River's voice had the tone of 'men are so stupid I must be patient with them' that Riddick had heard from every woman on Triumph at one time or another.

"I'll go an' get my tools," Kaylee offered and took off at a trot.

Riddick sighed and nodded for River to head down into the bunk, "Just tell me you haven't messed with anything." He muttered as he followed her down. One look at the bunk told him that hope was…baseless. Granted he and River didn't have much but what they had was piled in one corner out of the way. The weapons crate was under the wooden chest and everything else was piled on top of that. Bedding, clothing and all. He growled in irritation at seeing their things so jumbled.

River's soft hand slid over his forearm soothingly, "Looks worse than it is. Tried to keep it tidy but things began to fall down." She shrugged and moved towards one of the unopened crates. Snatching a knife from Jayne's boot she pried the lid off and found several sheets of imprinted plasti. "Found directions. We will need a drill bit suitable for the metal walls. Everything else is provided."

"We cain't find half a what we need, 'cause Mal opened the boxes an' they're all higgledy piggledy," Jayne groused.

Riddick looked at the two taller men, one of them holding a bedbox frame in his hands to keep it from falling, the other digging through a small box in search of something. "All right," He shook his head, "Jayne, lean that against the wall. Lemme see the size of it."

The senior gunhand nodded and did just that coming to stand beside Riddick and look at the layout, "We figured to put the bed against this wall, length wise so the head was near the curve of the ship. Can't put it flush in the corner or the curve near the ceilin'll keep it from workin' right."

"I gotcha," Riddick nodded. "River, what's the first step say to do?"

"Clear the room and wall," River looked around and grinned at him. "Cap'n and Jayne have done so. Determine placement of bed. Already done," She frowned. "Assemble wall frame and bolt to the selected wall."

"The frame is done," Jayne indicated the metal he'd left leaning against the wall. "It's holdin' it up an' gettin' it bolted and level that's the hard part."

Riddick nodded, "Hey Wash!" He shouted up the hatch, "Tell Kaylee to bring her level too."

"I already got one," Kaylee called down and handed him her bucket of tools before she began to climb down the ladder. "An' a few other things we might need." She looked around, "Ya'll have been at this for how long an' you ain't even half done? Whyn't ya ask me for help."

"'Cause we're manly men who can handle puttin' a bed an' all together," Mal snapped back.

"Uh huh," Kaylee was looking at the messed up room and unassembled furniture with a jaundiced eye. "I can see that."

Riddick chuckled as the scent of amused sarcasm wafted off the mechanic and was echoed by his wife. "Yeah, we see you seeing it," He shook his head. "All right. Cobb, you and me, we'll hold the corners, Mal, you get the middle and Kaylee'll handle the drill. River, you give her the screws she needs and the brackets as she needs 'em."

River nodded and located the illustration of the appropriate parts, "Need to find them." She showed Kaylee the picture. "Looks like this."

"Ah, those are good ones," The mechanic nodded happily and gently pushed her captain out of the way. In a few minutes, she and River had come up with the small bags of screws and brackets.

Riddick watched as the two women worked together, slipping under the arms of the men in order to put the brackets in place, Kaylee's level put to good use. This was interesting, watching the women, working with the men. He generally hadn't had much use for other people, everything he had he'd either made himself or bartered for it. There wasn't much he couldn't do with his hands and a few tools.

Following River and Kaylee's instructions he and Jayne began to assemble the secondary box frame designed to hold the mattress and fold into the wall frame. It was a clever design, two long narrow drawers swung out on a corner hinge to support the top of the mattress box while a set of sturdy legs folded into the bottom of the box to support the bottom. The work to put it all together wasn't particularly grueling with him and Jayne holding the parts together so Mal and Kaylee could use the tools. The goateed gun hand's mood had improved when he and the Captain weren't doing the entire thing on their own. Riddick guessed not having furniture dropped on his feet helped with the attitude somewhat.

Riddick found himself watching his wife while he assembled one of the swing out drawers. She was reading ahead, checking some of the other boxes on the floor and nodding to herself. There were a couple that she was regarding with a puzzled look and he couldn't help grinning. Unmarked boxes stymied his pretty little wife, genius or not. She looked cute as hell frowning at the unmarked containers. She'd look even prettier once she had her knives and guns situated on her slender body.

He frowned; he had plenty of buckskin left from making her mocs. He'd have to make her a good weapons harness for her guns and knives. She'd been muttering about a sword and he could just picture her with one, a long slender blade to match her body. She needed a jacket too, something thicker that he could line with shearling, for hunting on colder worlds. Gloves and a detachable hood for the jacket. He wondered if he could find something that had soft fur; his mate deserved fine things against that captivating white flesh.

The Furyan was so wrapped up in his thoughts of how to best clothe his wife by the ways of his people that he was nearly startled by that same woman stealing up for a kiss. Her soft lips brushed over his cheek as she giggled over his preoccupation, "He is a fine husband. Plotting how he will dress his wife. She approves of his thoughts. Would like to learn his skills, create hunting boots for him."

He grinned at her and stood, scooped her up in his arms and carried her towards the hatch so Mal and Jayne could open the compressed mattress. Kaylee grinned at them from her position by two more containers, "Shouldn't be much longer." She told them with a shrug. "Me an' Zoe pitched in to get you two a dresser. An' Wash gave ya a shelf to go next to the bed. You know, someplace for a clock an' stuff."

"We got the space to set 'em up now or should it wait until the bed's folded up?" Riddick asked as he set River on her feet.

"Oh we can' do it now. Won't take long," Kaylee was pulling a container open and handed River the instructions.

It took a little more time but finally everything was built to Kaylee and River's satisfaction. Riddick found himself sitting on the floor and putting bureau together. It was a simple thing of hard molded plastic and metal that looked more like a wall locker than a bureau to Riddick. One half was open space with a rod at the top for hanging clothes with the other half stacked drawers. Doors closed over both halves and beneath them two full length drawers were set up for shoes or blankets.

The shelf was a simple thing, short enough to just fit under the ships curved outer wall. With the bed folded down the second shelf from the top was just the right height for a clock and a gun. It was nice to see River happily putting a few of her books on the shelves. She borrowed Kaylee's drill and used one of the extra screws to make a hook in the curved wall above the shelf.

Riddick watched as she hung the wedding wreath she'd given him on the wall. It was suspiciously shiny and he touched it with a careful finger, "You do something to preserve it?" He looked over at his wife who was now putting his old clothing into some of the higher drawers of the bureau.

"Yes," She nodded before tossing a smile over her shoulder at him. "Borrowed a spray from Kaylee. Fine coating of poly to keep it from deterioration."

The convict nodded his understanding and looked at the swing out drawers of the bed, "Figure I'll put my tools down here. Won't want 'em when the bed is out anyway."

She nodded, "Though we might look for a table that will lie flat on the wall when not in use, suitable for your leatherworking." She indicated an area near the hatch that wasn't taken up by the wide bureau.

"Somethin' to think on," Riddick nodded as he stepped up behind her and let his hands settle onto her hips. "Mean time wife... you've been doing some awful teasing," He reminded her. Gently he pressed his mouth against her soft exposed neck and nipped at her pulse point. Her sigh of pleasure went through him like fire.

Before he could turn her around and continue what he'd started someone knocked on the hatch. Riddick growled, "Do these people know what a honeymoon is?" He stalked over to the ladder and pulled it down, "Yeah?" His silver eyes were not welcoming as they stared up at the Companion who stood by the hatch.

"I have a gift for you and River, but I can't carry it to your room by myself," Inara seemed to realize that flowery manners would just irritate him more. "It's in my shuttle."

"Be right there," Riddick nodded as politely as he could manage. "Just need to get the room a little more cleaned up." The Companion inclined her head gracefully in acknowledgment and moved down the hall. Riddick turned to River. "I don't care if the next knock on the door is Reavers. We aren't opening it."

His wife's rueful laugh of agreement along with the smell of frustrated desire was enough to placate him somewhat. "If the next knock was Reavers they would not wish to open it anyway." She kissed him gently.

Riddick looked around the bunk and wondered exactly what Inara had given them. Whatever it was it had better be small or it wouldn't fit. One last kiss and Riddick more than a little reluctantly climbed out of the bunk.

The small ship was dim and smelt of incense along with the faint aroma of sex. He doubted anyone else would notice but for someone like him it was obvious what the shuttle was used for. Apart from that the little boat was luxuriously appointed and sensuously welcoming. The only fly in the ointment was that apparently in the few minutes between his and Inara's arrival Simon Tam had decided to visit the Companion.

Riddick had heard him before he knocked, that elegant logical voice speaking to Inara. At least he was respectful to the older woman if not his sister. The doctor was still very upset though, that much was obvious, "He doesn't love her." The Core man continued, "It's always 'my wife', 'his' or 'little wife'. He doesn't even call her by her name. She deserves better. How can I—"

The Furyan had knocked then, fairly certain his temper couldn't take another soliloquy on Tam's opinion of him and how awful it was that he'd married River.

"Rick," Inara greeted him with a smile only slightly strained as her door slid open. "Simon just—"

"Came to visit and bitch about my marriage again," Riddick nodded. "I'm not deaf."

"See? 'His marriage'," Simon repeated angrily. "She's a thing to him. He doesn't love her."

"Simon," The Companion began patiently.

"No, I'd like to hear him say it," The doctor stared at Riddick who leaned against the doorway in an elaborately casual show of how little Simon Tam bothered him. "I want to hear him try to talk his way out of this question. It's simple. Do you love my sister? Yes or no?"

"Simple's the only thing it isn't," Riddick nodded to Inara. Maybe she'd understand this, maybe she wouldn't. She supported River's choices, that wasn't to say she supported Riddick.

"Another evasion," That elegant voice was cold and nothing like River's warm sweet tones.

Riddick frowned, "I'll say this to you once Doc. And never again because it's between River and me." He wasn't happy about the conversation and it showed in his tone, deadly quiet and painfully controlled. He saw the Companion stiffen slightly and take a half step back.

"Fine. I'm listening," The Core man stood as straight as he could with a wound in his side, his arms folded across his chest.

"I don't know what love is," Riddick said flatly. "And I don't need to." He held up his hand in sharp command when it looked like the doctor would speak. He pulled the neck of his shirt down to expose the handprint on his chest. "I'm Furyan. Married your sister in the way of my people. Gave her my Mark. My hand on her skin. What we have goes light years past love. It isn't pale or romantic or sweet. She is, literally, the other half of me. That kind of need, passion, I don't have words for it. Never felt anything like it. But I knew. Knew that something, someone, was coming for me. Didn't know it'd be her. Didn't know who she was. Knew it in my bones though that she'd be my Home."

"Simon, Riddick is the last of his people. Furya is…lost," Inara interjected when Riddick paused, unable to convey exactly how important River was to him. "He explained this to us somewhat while you were unconscious. He might not call it love but the way they are together argues strongly for one of the purest forms of that emotion."

"Maybe that's what you call it," Riddick shrugged finally. "All I know is that I'll kill for her. I'll die to protect her. Without her…the Animal will take over until someone puts me down. She's mine. But she owns me in a way no one ever has. I'm a possessive son of a bitch but River's just as bad as me. She knows that I'm hers." He straightened, "And that's the last time I'm gonna talk about this with you. You either get it or you don't."

The doctor had nothing to say, simply staring at the handprint on Riddick's chest and then at Inara as if he was in shock. Finally he took a deep breath and nodded to the Companion politely and carefully brushed past Riddick to exit the shuttle.

Inara gestured to a thick roll of what he guessed was a carpet lying in the empty space of her floor.

"River prefers to go barefoot much of the time," The Companion said quietly. "In the privacy of your room I thought this would be comfortable for the both of you."

Riddick stomped down his irritation with the doctor and offered her a half smile, "It's kind of you." He nodded slowly. "Didn't expect everyone to react like this to River marrying me." He wasn't exactly sure where the Companion stood on the marriage yet and Simon Tam's presence hadn't helped him in determining her position.

"She's very dear to us all," Inara said softly. "I admit I was a bit surprised to see how dear she is to you though."

"After all that about seeing that our marriage was a true one?" Riddick frowned at her. "And defending us to her brother?"

"It is a true marriage, very obviously," The elegant Core woman spread her hands. "But the way you two are together speaks not only of attraction and choice but of affection." She gestured to his bulk and face, "And it is clear that you are not a generally affectionate man."

"You don't know much about me," Riddick bent and picked up the rug, balancing it on one shoulder before he rose from his crouch. "And I'm not obligated to explain myself any more than I have. Watch and learn; you'll figure it out soon enough." He nodded as politely as he could manage. "Thanks for the rug."

He turned carefully, irritated he might be but he didn't want to destroy her living space. Finally he was out the shuttle door, through the airlock and back in the galley. Fitting the rug through the hatch to the bunk was tricky but not impossible and finally he was able to maneuver the awkward bundle into the room and climb down the ladder.

His wife was waiting for him and he had the pleasure of River throwing herself into his arms and kissing him fiercely on the lips. "He is mighty with patience," She murmured against his mouth. "He has definitely earned a reward."

"Yeah?" Riddick pulled her closer. "I like the sound of that." He lifted her so her face was level with his, "Guess you heard or saw what Simon and Inara said?"

"Yes," River nodded and her soft hands cupped his jaw. "Simon will either accept or he will not." She shrugged of her brother's worries. "Inara does not See you the way I do. Does not Hear you. No idea what it is to be Furyan."

"She's right though," The Furyan told her quietly. His deep voice was as gentle as he could make it. "I'm not...demonstrative or affectionate by nature."

"My zhàng fu," The slender woman said firmly. "My choice. Your touch makes me feel cherished. You always touch me, a hand on my waist, fingers touch my skin, sends your regard through my flesh. Can feel how much you value me. Wife, partner, mate, Home."

"Well you knew I wasn't romantic," Riddick pressed his lips to her jaw and let them drift down her pretty throat. "That probably won't change. But I'm still yours."

"She finds his thoughts of her very romantic," His pretty wife countered. "He wishes to create clothing for her, to fashion it and craft it himself. No one has ever given such consideration to what would suit her and be functional. Husband is unique. Glad to be his wife." She was pressing soft kisses over his face, "Now would like it very much if we could put the rug down on the floor and test out the new bed."

"Hmm... yeah, guess we should do one before the other," Riddick pressed one last kiss to her collarbone and let her slide down his body. The breath hissed out of him as her slender body rubbed tantalizingly against hard, needing, flesh before she pulled away.

It didn't take long to roll out the rug, a soft thing that looked dark purple, grey and black to his eyesight. River was making pleased noises as she pulled out the drawers to support the bed. Riddick looked at her and grinned darkly as she began to unbutton the old oversized dress she wore. He pulled the bed down from the wall, popped the legs out and grabbed the pillows from the top of the chest.

River ignored her half undone dress to grab the bedding and make the bed so they weren't sleeping on a bare mattress. Finally the quilt was tucked in and the pillows in their places. Riddick grinned and grabbed his beautiful little wife. His teasing little woman was going to find out how riled up the animal had gotten.

Author's Note: So more fluffy than plot driving. I just really liked the idea of those two getting their den all cozy. And Simon is still being a pain in the pì gu (butt) but he does have an actual reason for it. He's just awful at expressing himself. And he's really concerned about River as how she relates to his Family/House as much as he is for her as a little sister he loves. Although he really needs to learn to shut his mouth.

One more chapter, a little epilogue and we're done with these folks for a while. I've got a companion piece for this from River's point of view and there'll be a bit of overlap but not much because I want to move on from this episode.

So I hope you have enjoyed this story and I'll see you with the last of it next week.

Thanks for all the support and feedback, its always hugely appreciated!

Chinese Translations:

zhàng fu - husband

Wěn biàn - As you wish

gǒu pì - bullshit, nonsense

qīn 'ài zhàng fu - beloved husband