Okay so this update got done a lot sooner than I anticipated =) So I hope you all enjoy it. Also, if anyone has song requests/suggestions feel free to send them my way, I am always on the look out for new music to include in this story. Thanks go out to mommy2onebb, Elliesmeow, Ceruleankitten, and ArtLightLove for the reviews, they are much appreciated. Special thanks go out to my amazing beta, divine_one, she really is the best.
Riddick's POV
Girl's a gorram tease, nothing but a skinny little thorn in my side who just wants to irritate me. I open the door she said the shepherd would be in without knocking. "Girl says we need to talk." I say to him. He's sitting on the floor praying, and I mentally roll my eyes at him.
"I will be there in a moment then." Book says as he continues praying.
With that I turn and walk back to the room the girl is in. She's seated on the bed with her legs crossed, eyes closed, and breathing deep. "He's coming." I say to her, and she acknowledges me with a head nod.
She tilts her head to the side a bit as if focusing on something. "What exactly are you doing?" I ask her.
"Scanning. There are six crew members on the vessel, the girl would like to know if they are unscrupulous."
"And?"
"Negative. While they may appear to be hooligans, Monty has established a crew that is loyal and do not wish to incur his wrath by being dishonorable."
"Good to know. That mean you and I can have a 'dance' later?"
The edges of her lips curve into a small smirk at this, but she still remains in her meditating position. "Maybe."
"That's not the answer I'm looking for River." I say with irritation.
"Anticipation makes the pleasure stronger." She replies and that just makes me want to lock the door and claim her then and there. She giggles a little then replies to my line of thinking. "You could try but the girl can think of twenty three ways to incapacitate you before you make a move towards her."
I am about to make a move to lock the door but the shepherd makes his entrance at that moment, and I cannot help but curse him in my head. River just giggles again.
"Good, now we may begin." River says as she opens her eyes and smiles.
River's POV
"Let me begin by stating that if either one of you makes a move from your positions while the girl is telling this story there will be severe consequences, dong-ma?"
"Don't like where this is going already girl." Riddick grumbles from his corner in the room.
"Too bad, if you want a bedtime story you have to listen." I say with a coy smile on my face. I know this just irritates Riddick more.
"Fine," he says through gritted teeth. "Let's get this over with."
"Please begin, River, we will do as you ask." Book says with a slight nod to her.
"We have all been shaped by the hands of blue, Blue Sun Corporation, which is the Alliance. These are the ones that take you. They're the ones reaching and doing. They're the ones...everywhere, and the hands go everywhere... and nobody says anything... And then they come... I was forcibly molded to be a weapon…you two elected to become what they wished, well, at least in the beginning you did. But things changed before the Alliance could finish with us, we changed our fates, and as such incurred the wrath of the Alliance." Both men exchange glances at this, and the girl can feel the pin pricks of curiosity from their minds.
"You're ex-military then?" Riddick asks Book.
"In a manner of speaking," He replies.
"Which means what?" Riddick asks. He doesn't like Book's evasive behavior.
"Some would have considered me military."
"You're starting to sound a lot like the girl with the riddles shepherd."
"I am not obligated to tell you Riddick." Book says challenging Riddick's taunt.
"Operative." The girl says. She knows she will need to speed this along to avoid the two men throwing punches. Book narrows his eyes at the girl, but does not say anything about her revealing part of his past.
"Well that explains a few things." Riddick says. I can feel Riddick's irritation spike and sends him a warning glance. He clenches his jaw but does not move.
"Do not be so quick to judge Orpheus, you also enlisted with the Alliance." I say with a pointed glance.
"Yeah but it's not like I really had much of a choice."
"Half-truth, people always have a choice." I say challenging him. "You exercised that choice when you tried to do the right thing, and the Alliance branded you a monster."
"Lot of good it did." Riddick grumbles.
"Negative. Nothing happens by chance... No such thing as luck. A meaning behind every little thing; and such a meaning behind this. Part for you, part for me, we may not see it clear right now, but we will, before long."
"You're talkin' in riddles again girly."
"I think she means that our past is important." Book offers pensively.
"Correct Hermes." The girl smiles brightly at Book for understanding her words.
Riddick just rolls his eyes. "We're going to have to work on your communication skills." This earns him a look that roughly translates to 'you're a boob.' "So you said that he was going to help us with our little game, care to explain that?"
"And what game is this?" Book asks with a questioning look. Both Riddick and the girl say nothing to answer his question but cannot help but smile. "Never mind I don't want to know." Book says in mock defeat.
"We require information that Hermes would have been privy to as an Operative agent for the Alliance," she says.
"I haven't been an Operative in twenty years though."
"Irrelevant. Information that we would require deals more with operational tactics of certain people and locations of where Persephone and Orpheus can acquire necessary…supplies."
"Should I be prepping a sermon about now?"
"Negative. The people we are concerned with deserve the punishment they receive."
"Well that just makes me feel so much better." Book says somewhat incredulously.
"Consider it…payment for services rendered."
"And what services have you provided?"
"Keeping your ass alive on that piece of shit we just left? Course we could just kill you now if you prefer?" Riddick supplies as he leans towards Book.
Moving slightly further away from Riddick, Book holds his hands up in a defensive manner. "Point taken." He says.
"Well it seems as if we have an understanding then." Riddick says with a smug smile on his face.
"And with that I think I am going to take my leave before I agree to any other madness." Book says as he moves towards the door.
River giggles at this. "No great genius has ever existed without some touch of madness."
Book just shakes his head, but the girl can see a hint of a smile before it slips from his face. She can also feel more bricks from his mental wall fall to the ground and smiles.
After Book has left and closed the door, the girl's attention is back to Riddick.
"Now where were we?" He says as he moves toward her, like a jungle cat stalking its prey.
She allows him to get closer, lets him think she will make it easy. "You were about to attempt to seduce the girl."
"Attempt?"
"Have to catch me first," River says with a twinkle in her eye as she bolts up punches Riddick square in the solar plexus and runs out the door that Book had just left through.
Gasping for breath, Riddick doesn't know whether to be angry she hit him again or turned on. "I might have to tie her to the damn bed," Riddick says to himself as a dark smile wings across his face.
Riddick's POV
I exit not more than a breath behind River, but there is no sight of her. Damn that girl is quick.
I walk back into the mess hall, still no sign of her. Two of Monty's crew are sitting around playing cards. They look up at me as I enter, but quickly go back to their game. I walk back toward the cargo bay to see if the girl ran there, for our 'dance', but there is no sign of her there either.
GODDAMN LITTLE TEASE. My anger and frustration is growing with every area I look through. I end up back in the mess hall, after I looked through the infirmary, the passenger dorms, and the crew area. "You guys see a girl come through here?" I ask them. "No, just you man." One says without looking up from his game.
I begin to stomp towards the bridge. Hell, if the girl doesn't want to be found, I ain't gonna look. Might as well go see what Monty has to say.
River's POV
The girl holds in hysterical laughter as she watches Riddick stomp away in frustration through the metal grating of the ventilation shaft. Orpheus really needs to learn to let his frustration go with regards to the girl. Oh well, all in due time. The girl yawns as her exhaustion begins to set in, and she lays her head down and begins to fall asleep.
Riddick's POV
I walk into the bridge and sit down in the co-pilot seat next to Monty. He's sitting back in the chair, legs kicked up on the console, cigar in his mouth. "So what did you do this time to get thrown in?"
"The usual, crime, murder, some theft thrown in for fun."
"More purple bellies?" He asks with a look that reminds me of a kid with candy.
"Isn't it always?"
"You always did know how to have fun."
"So, what about you ol' man? Still reliving the glory days on this heap?"
"Hey don't you talk about my ship that way! She's a fine and proper ship; especially for activities the law might…frown upon." He says with a twinkle in his eye.
"Why I am I not surprised. Speaking of, what planet you planning on setting down on for the drop?" I ask.
"Aww, you not planning on stickin around long then? Crew could always use another scary face. Could be just like old time."
"Sorry ol' man, the lil' bit and I have some business that needs attending to."
"Your kind of business or normal people kind?"
"You really need to ask?"
"No, I don't. Well, we'll be on Persephone in a few days. You want us to drop you there?"
"Girl seems to think that's where we need to be."
"So you going to tell me about that lil' bit you have a thing with?"
"Nothing to tell." I mumble.
"My muscular buttocks." He says as he turns to face me. "Now my crew may not the brightest bunch around, but ol' Monty here is as sharp as a tack."
"You sure about that ol'man? Not looking as fit as you used to, you might be going soft in the brainpan."
"Hey you watch your mouth, I can still wipe the floor with you." He says as he with a chuckle. There's a pause between us, each of us just looking at the stars.
"She's…interesting." I say.
"Define interesting." Monty probes. He knows he can push it a bit with me, I blame it on the 'I'm your commander' mentality he will always have with me.
"She frustrates me. Likes to push my buttons, and a gorram tease." Monty begins to chuckle at this. "She's my kind of woman, not much else to explain."
"So she's the 'I can hand your ass to you on a platter while using my feminine wiles to frustrate you' type. Which just makes you all the more intrigued to take her for a 'ride,' huh?"
"That about sums it up."
"Well good luck with that one then, you're gonna need it. Sex is the thing that takes up the least amount of time and causes the most amount of trouble."
I cannot help but smirk and shake my head at this. "Well, you know I wouldn't recommend sex, drugs or insanity for everyone, but they've always worked for me."
"Not for me. I remember the first time I had sex - I kept the receipt."
"Speaking f sex, that lil' bit come through here earlier?"
"No, why?"
"Girl hit me and slipped away first chance she got."
Monty can't help but bust up laughing at this.
"Yeah yeah laugh it up."
"Girl's gonna give you a run for your money." Monty says through laughs, gasping for breath.
"Anyways," I say with mild irritation "Girl can stay hid for all I care right now." I can feel a plan for my revenge on her forming in my mind and just hope she isn't anywhere near to pick up on my thoughts.
"Uh huh. Sure you do." He says as he goes back to smoking his cigar. "Just try not to get blood everywhere will ya?"
River's POV
The girl wakes to the faint sounds of music in her head and knows Orpheus is close; can feel smug satisfaction rolling off him. He thinks he has the perfect plan hidden behind his walls of static, but he should know everything eventually falls down. Oh well, it makes their game more fun.
She slowly crawls out of the ventilation shaft she had been sleeping in and makes her way to the mess hall, where she knows he is, hiding in the darkness, waiting for her to make a move. She slept through dinner, and he is right to assume she would go for sustenance first.
As she makes her way to the cabinets that hold the protein packets she feels the knife press into her neck, but doesn't tense, she knows better. The crew has long gone to sleep and he finally has her alone.
"So you want to explain to me why you felt it necessary to disappear for a few hours? And why it was necessary to hit me again?" He purrs into her ear.
"I could tell you, but it would take the fun away," she says with a girlish laugh. He just presses the knife a little harder and she cannot help but press her body flush against him. The cold steel is a comfort on her skin from the heat that she feels beginning to burn within her.
"Well I think you best be explaining yourself right about now, dong-ma?"
She huffs in minor annoyance. "Fine, the girl needed sleep, and you would not have let her sleep in peace. And the harm done was necessary to slow down the Riddick so that the girl could climb into the ventilation shaft."
"Interesting." He says as he removes the knife but does not move away from her. The girl just goes back to prepping food for herself. After a moment she feels his arms begin to snake around her waist and to the front of her body and she stops. She begins to hear music pulsing in her head, but this time it's not Riddick's, it's hers.
…(Whats wrong with me?)
Bum bum be-dum bum bum be-dum bum
(Why do I feel like this?)
Bum bum be-dum bum bum be-dum bum
(I'm goin' crazy now)…
His walls are still up so she cannot tell what exactly he is planning, but knows that she has to try and not give him a reaction. But it's rather difficult the way he is rubbing her hips with his thumbs, causing her to close her eyes and focus on breathing.
…Feels like I'm going insane, yeah
It's a thief in the night to come and grab you
It can creep up inside you and consume you…
He's sliding his thumb along the edge of her leggings now, allowing it to dip ever so slightly into the waistband. She feels like his touch is slicing into her skin with every brush of his finger tips along her skin.
…It's like the darkness is the light…
She moves her hands away from the food she had been prepping and grips the edge of the counter in front of her, silently willing her breathes to come out evenly.
...Am I scarin' you tonight…
He's inching her leggings lower on her hips now, just enough to allow him to move one hand between the waistband. He's brushing against the cotton of her panties now, the last thing separating his hand from her flesh. And as he dips lower, she cannot help but push further back into him.
…I gotta get out, oh
Figure this shit out
It's too close for comfort…
The girl sighs as he presses his fingers into her further. She knows he is retaliating for her earlier behavior. He wants to drive her insane, and damn him, she likes it. "The sexual embrace can only be compared with music and with prayer." She says in a whisper as she can't make her voice work normally at that moment.
…A disease of the mind it can control you (uh huh)
I feel like a monster, oh woah!
She attempts to turn around at this point, but he uses his un-occupied hand to hold her against him and closer to the counter in front of her, effectively pinning her to the spot. She curses him in her head, as soft mews escape her lips. She can feel his fingers beginning to speed up, creating a delectable tension in her, and she wishes he would let her move, she's so deliciously close.
…Release me from this curse I'm in
Tryin' to maintain but I'm struggling
If you can go-o-o-o-o-o
Think I'm gonna ah ah ah ah aah
But that's when she feels him move away from her, and she opens her eyes wide in shock. The bastard was being a TEASE! GORRAM HUNDAN was STEALING her MOVES! This is highly unacceptable! Only she is allowed to be the gorram tease.
"Turn about is fair play, darlin," he says as he walks across the mess towards the passenger dorms; chuckling as he does.
Her eyes narrow into slits, and throws the protein pack she had been preparing at the space he once occupied in the doorway. The girl is left fuming, and wants to kill him in that instant. Oh the game is very much on now.
Author's Note: Figured it was time for Riddick to get a little 'revenge' on River. ;) Wouldn't be the psychotic killer we all love if he didn't.