A/N: This chapter has SEX. Yeah, Riddick finally gets his act together. I attempted to be tasteful and to describe things from an emotional/spiritual perspective. Still, if you flame I'll just use 'em to toast marshmellows... Coming soon: We'll get to meet Kyra! Yep, she not Jack. Well, not exactly anyhow...
The Aquilan Trail
Richard B. Riddick sat staring out into the black of space. Out of the millions of twinkling lights, a single small set of artificial ones was slowly shifting to reveal an automated outpost, courtesy of the Aquilan System. He adjusted the ship into a slow tumble on its side, made more believable because the engine on that side was sputtering because it was so low on fuel. He thought it was, in a way, very sad that his current ship, the only one he could claim to legally own, was about to die a not-so-noble death. The ship had been a good one. It served him well for the time he'd had it. He pushed the thoughts aside as he considered exactly what his next move needed to be.
The bare-bones ship that protected him and his precious 'cargo' flew like a sleek eager hunter away from the hindrance of planets. It had been, in a previous incarnation, a small long-range private cargo ship and in the depth of space that showed. It was really too bad that the small fuel cells limited the sturdy ship's range and thus, to Riddick at least, its value. He knew already that the plans to get Jack to safety meant that they needed another, larger, ship. Lucky, long range freighters were easy to come by in Aquilan space. After weeks of carefully watching and pushing the ship to its limits, they were almost there. He rubbed his eyes and looked back at the woman peacefully sleeping. His own stint in cryo had ended hours before. He had work to do to make sure that it looked like 'Smyth' had perished. He set about destroying parts of the ship…
Not that Jack was aware of it while in cryo. Her mind was far away from her body. She could feel Furya right there, almost like a living thing wanting to welcome her home, only lately every time she'd gone there it was pain she got. The spirits were active, and each one wanted to tell her its story. It was a struggle on her part to avoid the agony. She couldn't handle any more. There was already too much stress. So this time Jackie willed herself to rest and saw nothing but muddy blackness even as she felt Furya tugging at her.
Riddick turned away from his calculated violence and guessed that it was time to focus on the life support. He needed to wake Jack now. The easy way was to just rip out the controls for the system so that the emergency systems forced her awake. It would be rude, but with the outpost scanning them he needed it to look like the systems were failing. "Sorry, babe," he mumbled under his breath as he caught a fist full of wires and set the cutting torch on them to make them appear fried. The alarms made an abortive attempt to activate in spite the fact that he'd smashed them already.
Jack was suddenly pumped full of drugs designed to wake her up. Her eyes flew open. 'Still in space,' was the thought that made its way through her sluggish mind. The view that greeted her eyes spun like a head on view of a top. She swayed and blinked at it, not sure of what her eyes were telling her. Weird, it didn't feel like the ship was spinning, but space usually didn't move like that. The confusion from the movement delayed her recovery. She slowly wobbled her way forward, hands out in front of her like a blind woman. As her senses returned she found herself behind Riddick swaying slightly as she held the pilot's chair. Jackie looked out at the small asteroid slowly filling the screen as they approached. There was a cave-like hole in the middle of it and a computerized voice crackled across the speakers asking if they required help.
Riddick's answer was to cause the main console to go up in a shower of sparks. Jack flinched back but managed to keep her feet. Shortly thereafter, the automatic functions of the outpost caught the ship and guided it closer. Riddick had burned the engines hot and fast, using up the fuel but covering the distance in record time. Jackie's internal alterations of the sensors muted the readings of life aboard the ship. That factor and the physical condition of the ship prompted the outpost to consider the situation an emergency.
The asteroid didn't look like much. Doubt swelled up in Jackie's soul, giving voice to her thoughts, "You sure about this, Riddick? Can we really find a ship in there?" Jack was surprised to hear her voice as she stated her doubts out loud.
He was aware of her behind him, and briefly he considered how to answer. It was better to be totally honest, he decided, "No." Riddick looked back at her stricken face and squeezed her arm, "But something's got to turn up, Jacket." She smiled at him and he grinned back at her. "Get the loader ready and make sure you have yourself good and warm. This is going to happen fast."
It boiled down to trust. She had to trust him just as he trusted her. "Right." No point in arguing. Jackie readied the huge loader so that it was an easy push out the door. She slipped on the heavy coat and warm pants Imam had provided and them felt in the pocket. "There's a box in this pocket?" She pulled it out to find that it was tied shut with a small piece of ribbon. A small tag was tucked into the bow. Jackie pulled it out to find it had her name on it.
"What is it?"
"I don't know. It's from Imam…Why he'd hide it?" She got the ribbon off and opened the box to discover a pair of goggles inside. "Look at this…"
Riddick looked over at her. "Stop staring at the damn things and put them on, Jackie. He hid them so that Lujjan would not know about your eyes."
"I thought we trusted Lujjan."
"To a point, Babe." Riddick trashed even more of the ship as the Aquilan outpost pulled them in. "Right now, though, I got a feeling we shouldn't trust anyone." Jackie heard metal crunching and looked his direction. She noticed he was destroying much of the ship's delicate systems, liberally ripping out and smashing anything that might give some clue to the ship's owners, passengers, or flight path. "I want you to stay out of sight of the cameras and scans, got it?"
"What, hide on the loader? Why so paranoid all of the sudden?"
Riddick looked back at her again. "Gut feeling. Don't argue," he ordered.
"Alright, Riddick." Jackie sighed and made herself an opening so that she could hide inside the stuff. "You're going after a Kovan ship, aren't you?"
Laughter punctuated the destruction, "Yeah." Jackie shook her head. 'Gut feeling, my ass.' She waited until he waved her to move then crawled inside the small cavity and pulled the box into place. 'Okay, I hope this goes fast.' She heard the sounds of the ship being pulled into place and robotic arms linking up to it. Then she heard Riddick start up the loader and open the hatch. Outside the ship was bitterly cold, the air was thin and filled with fuel fumes, not a place built with the living in mind. She guessed the loader was moving due to the hum of its control unit but because it was a self-contained gravity unit she did not feel it moving. Jackie heard Riddick open another hatch. 'Must've found a Kovan ship…' she thought as the loader moved into a warmer, denser atmosphere. "Stay hidden until I come back for you." She heard Riddick's voice and the sounds of him moving off to secure the ship. She waited. The loader had in reality about six months of supplies, maybe more if they were careful. Not enough for a long-term hideout. Jackie shifted enough to peek out the crack in the boxes. A full storeroom. 'A freighter?' she thought. 'Looks like food supplies, likely not much variety. Something fresh or living, though, from the temperature. I wonder how big a ship this is.' Sounds of battle reached her ears, a very short battle. Riddick came into view. "I dumped the crew, but it's not safe yet. You still Okay?"
"A little cramped here, but the faster you get this ship out of here the faster I can come out right?" He moved the box so that he could see her. "I'll stay put until you say."
"Just stay in the cargo hold until we are in space." He helped her out, "Looks like this ship was taking supplies for a 'goll religious event. I've never seen so much different stuff in one place outside a market. Go ahead and look around."
Jackie nodded as she stood up. She began to take note of the items in the hold. Flowers…. Cloth, too thin to be of use…. Ah, some food. Live, but in cryo, fish, 'Really expensive way to move fish.' Jackie was aware that the temperature was warmer than the outside but not really that warm. Still, it was slightly above freezing. She looked around some more noting that there were a wide variety of things in the hold, mostly fresh, but less than she'd expected of each item. She reached a door, walked around the entire outside of a small room, and moved back to the door. Something tugged at the pit of her stomach. "Riddick?"
"Yeah?" He was some distance off but began moving closer.
"I found something odd." Jackie waited until Riddick was with her before opening the door. Inside were two cryo pods. The power was on to them but not enough for keeping people alive. "What the fuck is this?"
Riddick moved into the room past her. He began to laugh. "Damn. My shiv is still in his eye!"
Jackie moved over next to him. It was the bodies of Junner and Chillingsworth. "Son of a bitch…" she whispered. "This stuff is for a funeral…."
"Looks like the damage you did to bitch-witch's ship set them to drifting for a good while. I'm gonna dump these in space after I get my shiv back. We are almost fueled up. Go back to the loader." Jackie nodded. The bodies were in bad shape. She moved off and gratefully allowed Riddick to handle the find.
The freighter that they'd hijacked off the Aquilan automated outpost was a fast ship capable of long distances. Riddick's main concern was not distance but pushing the engines fast and hard. He planned this to be a one way trip. Jackie busied herself with sorting the stuff in the cargo holds, moving things that they could use to the inside walls with the loader. The flowers were shuffled to the outer walls. The ship had four holds in all. Jackie tried to use how the Hunter Gratzner and come apart to figure out what might survive. She really doubted that the planet they were going to would have a docking station and shuttle service…. Everything worth keeping, even the stuff she could not see immediate use for like the thin cloth, went to the front inside walls in layers of what was most useful to what was least so. Riddick let her be for a very long time before coming back to look at what she was doing. "Good," he said. He began to help.
"We're in space?" Jackie asked as she worked. Riddick nodded. "How much time do we have before we shut ourselves into cryo?"
"No cryo. I shifted the cryo power over to life support. Once we get this done I'm gonna take care of the fish. I found a freezer unit."
Jackie looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Okay, how long until we crash?"
"I'll let you know."
"Where are we going?" Jackie opened a crate and looked inside. It was food. She pushed it onto the loader.
"Nowhere important. Hopefully someplace out of the way enough that the Mercs won't think to look." Riddick moved over and helped her with the next crate. Jackie gave him a 'why won't you tell me' look and turned her back to him as she opened another box. He just looked at her. "Babe, it's not a place you've heard of."
"Okay. You want to save power? Cut the lights. Neither of us needs them. Oh, look at this…. Empty calories…sugar…" She laughed. "They must have been planing on making deserts." They loaded the box up, Riddick trying to ignore the nagging feeling that made him think he should tell Jack everything he knew. They were in this together, right? She did deserve to know where he was taking her, didn't she? After the loader was moved and unpacked he paused and looked at her. She glanced at him with an expression that was beautiful to behold. "What's the matter, Riddick?" She cocked her head to the side and gave him a small, trusting, smile. He couldn't help himself, and mirrored her expression for a moment, relief flooding through him. "Go fix the lights, you dumb lug!" she teased.
He let out a slight chuckle as he moved away to divert the energy from lighting to life support. As the lights flicked off, Jackie sighed and removed her goggles. A dim star would be a welcome thing. After being forced to wear them, Jack found that she hated the goggles with a passion. It was not hard to figure that Riddick found them to be just as uncomfortable. His light footsteps brought her back to her work. He joined her and they finished the shifting in silence. Once finished, Jackie walked into the center hall and unzipped her coat. It was much warmer here. Riddick joined her. She felt his arms slide around her sides and pull her close. She relaxed into him letting his familiar warmth soothe her worries away. Jackie reached up and curled her fingers over his. She could stand here, like this, forever. He nuzzled her hood down and rested his cheek against the top of her head. "Um, your hair is curling as it grows."
She suppressed a giggle, "Yeah? It had a wave before."
He turned her and slid her coat off, dropping it to the floor. "Come up to the cockpit," he took her hand and lead her there.
"What's up, Riddick?"
"I'm gonna teach you to pilot, Jackie. I'll teach you everything you need to know." With those words he set about to do just that. He covered everything she needed to know in order to handle monitoring the flight path and then to show her he trusted her he left her alone in the cockpit when he went to handle the fish.
So, Jackie did indeed monitor the flight path. She also dug into the computer enough to look at the information that there was to be had about where they were going. She noticed that the ship was rapidly leaving Aquilan space in favor of wild uncharted regions. The flight data sure made it look like they were on the most direct route to a star listed as an ultraviolet one. She glanced at the likely location they were headed to and pulled up what info there was to be had. Making sure that the ship was clear of comets and wayward chunks of rock at the moment, she figured that a few minutes digging in the database wouldn't hurt anything. By the plotted path, if that star was the one they were headed for, it looked to be a two-month trip on high burn. The path was pretty clear, but the star was in uncharted space. The information about it stated that there was a planet that landed on the 'just-barely-able-to-support-life' range. It would be harsh, cold, and dark existence, if they lived long enough to make it to that point. There was no data about how the ship was going to land on that planet, or how they would survive it. She hoped that Riddick took the time to slow the ship down before crashing it.
It was many hours later when he came back. He brought her a blanket and was freshly showered. "Hey," she greeted as she turned her chair.
He stood in front of her, "Hey." It was a deep rumble. Something stirred within the core of Jackie's being. That sound. His voice. She trembled. His silver eyes glistened like twin stars in the black of space. His gleaming gaze caught and held her golden one. Time slowed. He watched her reaction to his greeting before he planted his hands to either side of her and leaned in, breathing as slowly, as fully as he could, to take in her fragrance. Jackie's heart fluttered as his face moved in close to her neck. She closed her eyes and drank deep of his warm musk-like odor that rose fresh from his clean skin. Parts of her throbbed for more contact. She slowly slid her hands onto his arms and nuzzled his neck with her face, pausing to tickle his skin with her eyelashes. A deep, amused, reverberation rippled through Jackie; one that was felt more than heard. He caressed her neck with his face in response seeming to take pleasure in the fact that he could feel her skin on his eyelids and temples. She felt his eyelashes sweep over her neck. Chills raced across her skin causing her to wiggle slightly in the chair.
"Um…" she pressed her face into the hollow of his neck and gently brushed her lips over the smoothness of his skin. She languidly, exquisitely, teased her tongue over the same path. His skin heated. She could feel it under her hands. He tasted good. He smelled good. She felt his lips on the smooth skin behind her jaw and under her ear, sliding like velvet, followed by the warmth of his tongue. Sparks shot through her. Had he felt the same when she tasted his skin? She wiggled again. He was waiting. Jackie moved her hands up under his tank, fluttering her fingers along the muscles of his sides, tracing his scars. His pulse was a beat faster than normal. She kept her face pressed into the hollow of his neck. He lightly worked his hand under her top and back behind her. He traced her spine with a sensual caress. She arched slightly without thinking and lifted her head to find his face nose to nose with hers. His other arm folded itself behind her. Inside she felt like a lightening storm was surging, flooding her with sensation she could not fight. Jackie clung to him. It would be too much for her to handle if he pushed her away now.
"Babe?" He sounded breathless, like she was squeezing the air out of him. His voice was low and soft but filled with urgency. Her head swam. She released him from her hug as she pushed her body against his. He was watching her. Jackie put her hands on his face. She investigated the lines of his face with her hands. He closed his eyes as she brushed her thumbs over his eyebrows and fanned her fingers over his forehead. Her lips found his, just a light stroke in passing as she kissed his cheeks, nose, eyelids and brow with a soft pattering touch. Something primal yet arousing purred from deep in his chest. His hands mirrored her path, rubbing gently over the contours of her face. Jackie's breath caught in her throat. Her skin tingled at every point where his hands came in contact, hot and cold all at once. Riddick ran his hands lightly down the sides of her neck and across her shoulders as he followed her step of their courtship, teasing the delicate skin on her face with nimble velvet pats. She arched her head back and put her hands on his elbows. He nibbled a bit at her chin, "Jack?"
She snapped out of her aroused state. "What, Riddick?" Annoyance tinged her voice. He looked amused again. Maybe he liked getting hot and bothered then pulling away. Jackie was at her wit's end.
"I want to – um…" He stood up and lifted her at the same time. "Let's put those flowers to use."
"What?"
He laughed. "You are too beautiful to not make this special." She stared at his back as he walked to the storage hold.
Jackie tried to ignore whatever it was that Riddick was doing. She could smell the roses and lilacs and guessed that he was selecting the most fragrant blooms. She stood up and glanced down the central hall. Riddick turned his back to her and waved her off. Something exotic floated back to her nose, sweet like honeysuckle but not as strong. She tried to be angered enough with him to force the curiosity back, but it was proving impossible. She ducked out of sight as he crossed back into the cargo hold. She waited for a moment and then ventured forward. He came back into the hall with a bolt of the shimmery sheer cloth. "Wait."
"For what? This is so not like you…"
"Just wait."
Jackie blinked at him as he blocked her view and slipped through the door into the rather fragrant room beyond. "Okay, it's so not necessary, Riddick."
He popped back out of the room and handed her several yards of the cloth. "Get a shower."
"Why?"
"I'm asking you to."
"Um, a -- cold -- shower…?"
"What? No…" he put a hand under her chin. "No more teasing, okay?"
He might have well as kissed her at that point because Jackie felt suddenly light-headed and giddy. Her resistance melted away. She caught his hand and kissed his fingers. "Okay…" she whispered. Jackie felt almost like she was floating as she wandered off to the shower. He was gonna really follow through this time. Jackie's mind tried to figure out what he could possibly be thinking of. Was he making a connection between the flowers and fertility? He'd said a number of times that Johns had not messed her up with the rock fall. She still wasn't sure about that, really. Maybe he didn't care. Jackie started up the shower and stripped off her clothes. She could hear Riddick in the hallway because the doors kept opening and closing.
The warm water felt really good against her hand, so she took the plunge and stepped into the shower. The water was delicious and refreshing all by itself. She closed her eyes and let the warmth soak into her skin, pattering in a stimulating pattern across her flesh for a time before lathering up with the unscented body-wash hanging over the showerhead. After rinsing, Jackie shut off the water and toweled off. Then she looked at the shimmery cloth and raised an eyebrow. She picked it up and shook it out. 'So, what am I supposed to do with this? Wear it? This seems so silly….' She found the middle of the cloth, gathered it up in a toga type of thing and loosely tied it. Jackie adjusted it a bit and tucked in the ends.
The hall was covered with a mixture of fragrant petals by the time she walked out of the shower. Each step washed her in a softly beautiful aroma. Riddick had clearly taken care with his blending of smells if not colors. In the total darkness of deep space any other couple would be panicking, but this was no ordinary couple. Jackie's eyes caught the individual petals as easily as her toes. Riddick had fooled the door sensors into staying open so that it was easy for her to find his location. "Hey…" she called as she entered the petal carpeted room.
"Hey," he huskily whispered as he began to circle…. Jackie smiled at Riddick's animalistic approach. She coyly tilted her head and tucked a wisp of hair behind her ear. He had his shoes off and his pants resting on his hips lower than normal. 'So ready to take those off of you…. I can't stand this!' Jackie's pulse and breathing increased as he passed in front of her just out of reach, teasing. The thin cloth hid nothing. She knew his luminous eyes drank in every change, every shift her body involuntarily made. She could smell him through the floral perfume his feet caused to fill the air. His musk, so aphrodisiac, seemed increased by a counterpoint of sweetness the flower petals provided. Jackie took in a deep breath, filling her lungs with it, letting it lift her into a plane of pure sensation. Her eyes closed. He swept in closer, still moving, radiating heat, drinking up her clean scent, making her react spontaneously, locking her into the dance of their mutual desire. She was only dimly aware of retracing their earlier steps. The sniffing, the reaching, the tasting, all performed in a rhythm that only they knew, one that beat to the tempo of their heartbeats.
Had they been observed, their audience might have agreed with Chillingsworth – that they were, in fact, art. Her body had become sculpted by exercise and growth into a lean, muscular form that fit into the spaces created by his body as they circled in the darkness. But neither of them spared thought of that. They only knew that they needed each other in a deep carnal way, that they were driven by biology much as generations before them had been. Jackie was absorbed in the moment. This perfect, timeless, moment. Nothing else existed. Nothing else mattered.
This time, when he extended his arm to skim just a hair's width over her skin she seemed to dance with it, gracefully twisting to provide a counterpoint to his movement. Her arms reached and encircled his waist, not quite touching, but close enough to raise the hairs on his skin from the energy that was building between them. His hands finely brushed her shoulders and she reached up and back, arching to touch him. Her arms circled his neck as he leaned over her, nuzzling her hair, lightly nibbling on her ear, brushing his lips and tongue over her skin. Together, they found the hollow of the other's throat as their bodies closed the distance, molding into one another as they sought as much contact as possible. The fluttering caresses of fingers and lips were undeniably gentle. Every touch glittered and rippled like waves across the pond of her being. She could feel his skin respond to her touch, the hairs lifting like electricity was arcing between them. She rotated on the ball of her foot, finding his shoulder, brushing her cheek across his bronze muscled body, echoing his movements, nibbling, kissing, and tasting….
Still turning around a hidden center. Riddick removed the cloth covering Jackie and let it flutter to their feet. Their slow tightening spiral moved them away from it onto fresh petals, but his focus was her face, his need to memorize the contours of her lips, the sweep of her brow, the curves of her cheeks and the edge of her jaw. Jackie also was consumed by this desire, this compulsion to know every line of his face. She was so enthralled with this intent that she did not notice him removing his own remaining clothing. He did it so gracefully that she might not have noted it anyhow. His fingers trailed sparks across her back and down to her hips. She arched up into his chest, running her hands up onto his neck and into his hair. They fit each other, line for line, and curve for curve. Energy crackled and sparkled between them charging their embrace with all of the passion of Furya. It crashed like thunder. The first peal of the rising storm.
His desire to profoundly know her figure drew his attention away from her face, to her neck, shoulders, and the swell of her breasts that he'd watch appear over the months as he'd taught her. Jackie felt his fingers lightly move over her skin, following the shapes of her body. His face pursued a similar path; nuzzling, velvety patters, warm moist tickles, the smoothness of teeth, his warm breath, and the random effortless suckle. Inside she tingled, every nerve alight with desire. He gracefully slid down as he explored her. She was torn between curling over him and arching away. In the end his scent won out. She put her hands firmly on his shoulders and curved her body over him as he worked his touch lower, across her stomach. He moved his cheek and entire face against the firmness of her muscled abdomen. So close to the source of her scent. So close to the core of her being. He paused there, imbibing her essence, building her fire. Riddick could feel her breathing, her pulse racing, but he wanted it higher, deeper. His hands caressed her sides, her back, the curves of her hips and posterior in slow, light, tiny, circles. Jackie loosely skimmed her palms down his back to either side of his spine, twisting to one side to kiss his ear. They were in new territory now, beyond where they'd gone before. She shifted her hips in his hands, a tiny wiggle that flooded his nose with a mixture of scents.
He had been so gentle that his sudden lifting of her off her feet produced a startled gasp. For a moment her head swam and she was unsure of up or down. His hands cradled her weight like a chair. His arms were remarkably unstrained from the shift. She recovered her sense of direction and looked at his face. So intense, filled with desire, ripped open. She lost her apprehension within his quicksilver eyes. Jackie settled her feet back onto the floor, legs apart, leaning back, and balancing with her hands on his shoulders. Her breath came excited and fast. Riddick growled softly as he brushed his lips on her knee. Jackie became aware of a deeper sensation, a throbbing unlike anything she'd felt before. He leaned in, shifted her balance again so that one leg crooked over his shoulder, and playfully nibbled on her inner thigh. The throbbing expanded up and out, a deep booming feeling accompanied by a fevered flush. Jackie found her balance and ran a trembling hand under his chin. His eyes followed her arm up to her face. Something unreadable lingered there, some desire that she could not comprehend yet. But she could see that he was not going to withdraw this time, that he was beyond stopping, and he was not going to hurt her. She closed her eyes and languidly curved her body gracefully back so that her hands rested on the floor behind her head. His posture shifted too, moving so the one hand rested in the small of her back. His other hand settled on her lower abdomen and fanned out before gliding up the smooth arc of her body. She could feel his sight soaking her up. She wiggled under his hand as he felt across her chest finding the knots of sensitive nerves that shot electricity back down her torso.
There were other areas he wanted to touch, to taste. Jackie couldn't have stopped him if she'd wanted to. Not that she did. She was aware of his breath, his teeth, his lips and tongue, exploring her where she was most sensitive. It was intense. It washed her in the hottest flashes of sensation she'd ever felt. What surprised her was that she wanted it. She wanted more of it. That she was making it easy for him to torment her, going counter to everything she'd ever thought about how she'd react. The old familiar tingle started in her feet, building and intensifying as it moved up her legs. It joined with the throbbing, the deep hot flashes, and the wash of her pulse in her ears. A deep rich moan emerged from her throat. There was too much happening for her to sort it out. She found herself in a bodiless state, floating, blissful. She hovered there for a timeless moment before crashing suddenly back into her body.
"What--?" she gasped.
Riddick let out a deep laugh. "You like that?" he inquired. She was aware of a tickle, an emptiness, a yearning that ached to be filled. Her eyes filled with moisture. His teeth caught a fold of sensitive flesh and teasingly gave way to suckling. She shifted her legs but did not push away. "I'm not--" he licked, "-- done yet." Jackie swallowed.
He didn't linger for an answer. Jackie found herself on the petal-covered cot, sideways with him standing over her, watching her chest heave from her breathing. She found he was perfect, scars and all. There was nothing she'd change. Except for the fact that he was once again making her wait. She squirmed against the small bed, raising a cloud of scent in the process. His deep voice resonated through her, "Beautiful." She moaned from the renewed sparks the sound created. It was all he needed to act. He moved in close, near enough to almost touch body to body. Jackie suddenly felt silly and kissed his nose. "Um…" Riddick began to tease her with his hands ever so lightly. She wrapped one leg up over him. That empty feeling demanded to be filled so much so that she ached from it. The tickle had become an inflamed prickle, an itch driving her mad. He had to know, to see it in her face and body how badly she wanted… him, closer. As close as he could get. He made an amused rumble, "Wait." She groaned. He smiled at her passionate agony and moved painstakingly down her body again.
His touch, light as it was, made her dig her fingers into the covers. He licked her inner thigh, nibbling on her soft skin ever so gently. It drew her attention away from his fingers that were carefully exploring her, searching for another exquisitely sensitive area. There was no mistaking when he found it. Jackie suddenly felt herself burning with intense sensation originating deeper within her body than she'd realized was possible. It consumed her, blotting out her awareness of everything else. She strained up off the bed, tensing with every muscle possible. It was what he'd been looking for. Riddick worked her higher. All she could do was ride it to its conclusion. Again she was in that timeless place, blissful, floating. She was cognizant that somehow she transcended her body into a different level of awareness. Here, she perceived without boundaries, but what she saw she had no reference for. She drifted there in wonder. Then she was slammed back into her body, her flesh buzzing with energy and desire for the man who loomed over her. She'd do anything, go anywhere, for him…for this.
She fluttered open her eyes. She could sense that he wanted her as badly as she needed him. Jackie lifted a foot slowly up onto his thigh and traced the shapes of his muscles until she reached the hollow of his hip. She teased his flesh with her toes, watching his face as she moved ever closer to the one thing she burned intensely for. He watched her face too, as he felt her toes slide over him. She would never be more ready. The union would never be more explosive or intense. He picked her up off the cot and guided her into position, pausing to judge one last time if this was what she wanted. Jackie wrapped her legs around him, "Riddick…" her voice was sexy, throaty, deep and passionate. She folded her arms around his neck and kissed him. He was not pushing away this time, not now…
At last he claimed what was his, forfeiting his freedom forever to her, forging a bond stronger than flesh and blood in the inferno of their desire. Jackie felt him deep inside. Every throb was like an explosion of sensation. She quickly lost herself in the powerfulness of the act. 'So this is sex…' part of her mind commented, 'reward enough for my shitty life. Do I deserve such bliss? Damn straight I do.' Each second drove her closer to that place of bodiless ecstasy, but this time she fought it. She did not want to be there alone. She'd rather be at the brink in Riddick's arms than on the other side without him. So Jackie fought it off for as long as she could, and when she could no longer struggle against it… Riddick was there.
They were like one creature here. Suddenly she understood. He'd been here before; his perception of it fed her the information she needed to make sense of it. Although they had separate minds, some other part of their essence was united and across that union, she could see into his darkness with greater clarity than ever before. She took his pain, his suffering, his trauma, and made it her own. She was dimly aware that he was doing the same. 'Protected and protector…'
Having gone this far, taken this step, Riddick's entire life goal shifted. Personal survival had no meaning if it did not include his mate. Life without her would be empty and worthless. He'd killed for less. He made the shift in paradigm as he realized what it was that she'd been saying all this time. She'd do anything to protect him, her champion… her mate. She'd never leave his side. For once he felt at peace with things, with his life, with his destiny. And for a brief moment he understood more than he could possibly remember. His dreams seemed to fit into place. The Darkness illuminated itself into something more. Understanding destiny and facing destiny were two different things however. The risk was that he'd lose her. Not acceptable. He set his mind to fight it for as long as possible. He had what he wanted, what he needed… the universe could fuck itself. Destiny could fuck itself. Furya could fuck itself.
At some point Jackie had fallen asleep. She did not realize it until she woke up. Petals stuck to her skin. With a moan, she brushed them off. Her movement produced a deeper echo and elicited a gentle but secure embrace. Riddick was behind her, covering her, fitting her with his warmth. She had to pee. "Riddick? I gotta get up." She lifted his arm with some difficulty. He either really trusted her or was acting like he was deep asleep. Her feet made a light patter on the metallic floor as she moved to the toilet. Jackie didn't shut the door but she felt a need to linger in the small room after emptying her bladder. What had happened? What had they done? Even away from him she could feel him like he was right there, behind her, just out of eyesight. And she knew his name… his Furyan name… Amadak…
The cot creaked. "Jackie?" His voice was sleepy, calling her back to the now, "Babe?"
"I had to pee…" she returned to him. He reached out and gathered her up in his arms commenting with only a soft murmur. Jackie pushed her face into his neck and nibbled, "I wasn't going anywhere."
"So, we need a piss-pot under the damn bed." He began to entice her body into arousal again, "I forgot women need to pee after sex."
"New one to me. Then again I've never had sex before… Hey, you can't be wanting to do that again can you?" she knew deep down that she wanted him to say yes. He didn't answer in words but actions. Jackie noticed that he had scratches, fresh ones, some were rather deep and had clearly bled. "Riddick? I, um…"
"Don't worry about it." He certainly didn't seem to mind the marks or the blood. He might have wanted her to claw him more by the way he was making her move. Not that he was rough but she knew she was not recovered fully from before and was still sensitive.
Jackie squirmed, "Riddick? No one is watching the controls."
"You wanna fuck in the cockpit?"
He was so blunt. Jackie laughed, "Okay, sure… anywhere you want." The idea was not a bad one, evidently, as Riddick picked her up and carried her though the ship. 'What a sight we must be. I wonder if other couples act like this on dark ships while in deep space. Alone.' She giggled, "We are so depraved."
"Um-huh. Totally." He barely lifted his face from her skin to speak. Jackie tried to stay aware of what he was doing this time instead of becoming lost in her own feelings. Riddick paused from his enraptured attention on her for just a briefest of moments to check the readouts, dropped her into a chair and adjusted it for his comfort as he kneeled in front of her. She raised an eyebrow. Riddick leaned her back and put his fingers to work, honing in on the two spots she had no control over. 'So much for paying attention…' she heard herself gasp and groan, and the seat creaked as she arched against it. Her body took on a life of its own, independent of her mind before washing out her ability to think, 'I sure hope he teaches me how to inflict this kind of torment on him… It's not fair, really. I want to watch him too…' she surrendered herself to sensations he produced in her body. Her first trip to the other side was a short one, kind of like a cork bobbing in the water. Jackie's body was still trembling from release when she popped back into it. She curled herself up and looked him over. "Now. I want you -- now."
"Do you?" He sat back on his heels. "No one's stopping you."
Jackie made her own purring growl and pounced on him. "You're gonna teach me what you like Riddick."
"I like you," he playfully nipped at her breast. "I like – this," he ran his fingers over her hips, between her legs, as she crouched just above the point of union. "Go on, Jackie. I'm yours." She cocked her head to one side. She hadn't thought of it like that. Her perception had always been of her belonging to him, not the other way around. It was a profound sudden alteration of how she looked at the dynamics of their connection. Shirah had told her that she held power in the relationship but Jackie thought it ended with her acceptance of Riddick as her mate. She shifted back, away from him, looking at his form. Suddenly she needed to explore this, this new sense of curious desire. She needed to touch and taste. He didn't stop her, no matter where her fingers roamed, no matter what she did with her mouth. She explored his legs, his back, his groin, his chest, and everywhere else. He simply shifted slightly as needed to help her reach. There was no pressure to do any certain thing on her part, so Jackie let instinct take over.
His scent, erotic and warm, was so familiar. She faintly smelled herself on his skin too. She slid her cheek into his abdomen, following the separation of his muscles with her tongue, working lower. Her fingers touched him in places she'd seen but never touched before. He was so toned, so firm, so smooth…yet parts of his skin was baby soft, delicate beyond compare. She could hear his heart, picking up speed. Much of what she touched with her fingers she was compelled to follow with her mouth. It awed her that she could do this to him; he was so unflappable and calm. But here they were, and she was in full control. Control he willing gave up to her. Jackie moved slowly, searching for his hidden spots, places she could exploit to watch him fly through the sensations she'd experienced. He concealed nothing from her as she sent him into places he rarely visited. "I like that…" he whispered as she watched him settle back into his flesh.
"So do I, Riddick. I like it a lot." She cleaned him off with her tongue enjoying the mixture of salts on his skin, "Um…"
"Now you know how to wake me in the morning, babe."
Jackie laughed. Impossibly, she still wanted him. "Man, we are never going to accomplish anything. But, um, sex… I didn't know I had such a dirty mind."
"Wait." He sat in the pilot's chair and patted his lap. 'So okay, wait but not too far away,' Jackie thought with a smile as she wove her way over to him. She stood teasingly to the side until he caught her and pulled her down. "Sex is good."
"We haven't fucked yet." She said with a giggle.
"Getting to that. Just wait." He busied them both with another piloting lesson. He confirmed Jackie's hunch that they headed to UV. Panic threatened to set in. She had so little time to learn how to fly well enough to help him crash this ship so that neither of them died. 'One hell of a final exam' she thought grimly. His voice closer to her ear saying, "Don't worry, babe. We got it covered," was what jarred her away from her fear. Still, it took a lot for her to focus on what he was telling her, and the fact that she was sitting in his lap with not a scrap to separate their skin didn't help. But she tried with all her might for several hours. She learned something, too. It would be a bad thing for her to sit in his lap during the landing process on UV…
Finally Jackie fidgeted. Riddick stirred in response. She looked at him with a questioning expression, "Now?"
"Um, yeah. Right now."
In a sudden fit of silliness, Jackie got up and dodged away from him. 'God knows I want this so bad, but I can't help it…' Riddick was on to her game, cornering her against the hull. She tickled his ribs and dodged but not fast enough to get away. He laughed, lifted her up and pinned her. "Um, Riddick?" He looked at her with a 'what?' expression. "This metal is cold," she squirmed. He nodded. She curled her legs around his waist. His hands moved to support her back, "Oh – Um, yeah…that'll warm me up." He guided her down, all the way, stripping the humor out of the situation with his excitement. Jackie curled her fingers in his hair. He knew exactly what to do to push her beyond reason, beyond thought, into a state of pure feeling. Back to the point of oneness. Once there Jackie realized that her little chase was what he needed, what he wanted…. A spark of innocence that had been lacking in his life. She complimented him that way, showing him back to his human side, lifting him clear of the things that made him no longer care. Giving him a reason to live above simple survival. 'I got you… you're safe here.'
She felt herself sobbing as she landed back in her body. She held him tight. What she felt she couldn't put into words. He seemed to understand on a level no one else would have. He didn't stop what he was doing, but he was gentler. He let her cling to him as his manner shifted becoming soft, tender, but no less passionate. Jackie was overwhelmed again by the shift in her understanding. The person she mimicked was nothing like the person she was finding herself with. It was that his soul had built up layers of protection and she was being pulled into those layers, seeing deeper into who he was without changing who he'd become. She couldn't describe how or why, but Riddick had let her open his shields and then he enclosed her within them. What they had together nothing could break.
His gradual build-up led to a long, leisurely, visit to that realm of bliss. Jackie floated there, mingling with him, content to just be. Her return to her body was rather relaxed also. She molded to him and just sat there, peacefully. His breathing was slow and even. Jackie slowly turned her attention to the controls. Now she could focus on what he'd been trying to teach her. "Riddick, you awake?"
"Yeah, babe." She smiled before going over out loud what she remembered from the earlier lessons. He indicated where she was right, corrected where she was wrong and took full advantage of her desire to learn by teaching her new things without drawing attention to the fact that it was new. It was a useful way to pass the time.
They fell into a rhythm, napping, snacking, playing, piloting, working out, and training together. Jackie went through it all in a state of elevated exhilaration the source of which she could not pin down. She had never felt so safe, so alive, so wanted. Much of the time Riddick didn't even have to say anything to her; just a look or a motion was enough for her to know. Their symbiosis grew and developed along lines that aided their ability to compliment one another's fighting aptitude, making them seem to swirl together in a beautifully lethal acrobatic dance. He taught her everything he knew from his days at the academy and all that he'd learned in prison. Although he'd started teaching her quite a ways back, everything gelled now that Jackie could sense more of where he was physically and mentally. She no longer worried that he was going to leave her.
"Jackie, you about ready to crash this boat?" Riddick finally asked one day as she came out of the shower.
"Is it that time?" She watched him as he walked up and wrapped his arms around her waist. Jackie kissed his nose. "We have to slow down, you know that." He nodded and planted his lips on hers. "So, shall we?" she asked once he pulled back even though she'd just as well drag him into the room where they slept and remove his clothes. Riddick walked her to the cockpit and took the co-pilot's seat. Jackie sat, "You sure you want me here? I've only been doing this…"
"I want you there." Jackie looked at him and turned her attention to the controls. She took in the scans and plotted several possible routes that might slow the freighter as it crossed the system to the targeted planet, UV6. She scrolled the data over to Riddick's station and waited for him to look them over. "Last one looks good. Best chance of survival." He reached over and squeezed her hand, "That's why I wanted you there, babe." He couldn't beat her computer skills…