4) Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This

There were times that Carolyn wondered why she even bothered. Riddick could be a complete and total fèifèi pì gu at times. Silent as the grave and just as dark. Or subtly mocking her with every quirk of his eyebrow and tilt of his head. He'd flip one of his many shivs through his fingers like a magician's coin and smirk as if he knew exactly where she wanted those hands of his. Dangerous or not.

He'd rub up against her in a passageway, made her feel the heat of his skin brushing over hers, and huff a near silent laugh, like the chuffing of a huge orange and black cat she'd seen on the cortex once. A blunt finger would trace down her jaw to her neck and she could practically hear him murmur about the sweet spot. Fourth lumbar down…

Hot breath on her skin, the stiff length of his dick pressing against her pì gu for a moment before he moved on. A deep inhale as if he was savoring the fumes from one of Paris's wines. And that wicked grin as if he knew exactly how hot he'd gotten her in less than two minutes time.

Once. Once. He'd caught her alone in the bunk. Just about to go out when she was coming in. Jack running errands between the engine room and the bridge. Abu in the galley. And he'd tried the same trick again.

This time though, she'd turned and shut the door behind her, locked it and gripped the knit of his shirt in her fists, pulling him down and taking his mouth with hers in a silent challenge. He'd groaned, the sound of the earth yawning open to a chasm and flattened her against the door, lips devouring hers for a moment before his mouth licked down her neck. "Only got five minutes before my shift," He murmured against her skin. "Not enough time Carolyn."

"You sure," She challenged him again. It wasn't like she was a blushing virgin. Unless he had some sort of monster in his pants… The hard length that pressed to the apex of her thighs answered that question.

He'd grabbed her hand and pressed it to his groin, "Unless you like pain, yeah, I'm fuckin' sure."

She didn't but that didn't mean she was going to just let this go. Hands quick on controls were quick with zippers too. And if she couldn't bring him in a minute or two, as long as he'd gone without… That groan, hotter, desperate as her hand wrapped around his dick. Damn he would feel good in her… "That's it…" She tugged his mouth to hers again, whispering against it as she worked him up and down. "I want to feel you Riddick."

"Not without you," He muttered the protest and for a moment she thought he'd stop her. But instead, his hands went to the waist of her pants and yanked them open, pushing his hand down her panties to cup her hot pussy for a moment. "So hot and wet…that all for me?" How he could tease like that, a dark wicked drawl, with her hand jerking him off and his chest heaving like he'd run a mile on that damn rock with three suns.

"Yeah, it's for you," Carolyn could admit that much. "It's also been a while." That was the truth too, and he half laughed half groaned as he pushed two of his fingers inside her tight channel, huge hands, long thick fingers deep in her, rubbing, rubbing… "Ohhh… wǒ cào…" She groaned against his mouth and felt more than heard his breath hitch as his dick got harder in her hand. "Right…there…God yes."

"Unghh…fuck baby," He groaned and took her mouth again, hips thrusting against her hand, fingers pumping inside her, thumb on her clit, ruthlessly finding the right spot with each stroke. It was too much and not enough, and she ached and he was groaning into her mouth again, his other hand kneading and squeezing a breast through her shirt until she gasped and moaned and he nearly snarled as she came in blistering hard waves on his fingers and he erupted into her palm with hot panting gasps into her mouth and on her neck.

"Oh…fuck…" Carolyn groaned as he slipped his fingers out of her and sagged against the door for a moment before he picked her up and put her on the bed. She'd half expected him to join her, but he just handed her a towel and used another to clean himself before zipping up his pants and giving her a look.

"We get a bed under us and a room without a kid and a Holy man, I'll make you scream for me Carolyn," He promised with a dark wicked smile.

Shit, that just got her hot all over again. And he knew it too, his smile sliding into a smirk as he closed the door behind him.

Yeah, sometimes he could be such a sāo lǘ.


"I swear to God," Carolyn griped as she wrestled with the stick and managed to keep the artificial gravity from failing at the same time. "If one more thing goes wrong…"

"Be interested to hear the end of that," Riddick, still spattered with blood, slid under the console, practically between her legs, and began to do something to the underside that had an immediate effect on the efficacy of the steering. "How's that?"

"Much better," Carolyn ground her teeth together and hauled back, hitting the thrusters to fire in reverse so they didn't hit the ground like a belly flop. Air brakes were damn near useless on this thing.

"For a variable value of better huh," Riddick did something else to the wires and pushed himself back out to take the co-pilot's chair. "Let's just get this beast on the ground."

"Pretty sure that's gonna happen no matter what," She informed him wryly as she stabbed at the buttons and flipped the switches for landing gear.

"On the ground in one piece," He clarified and began to do the same on his side, cursing in a combination of Chinese and English when nothing happened.

"Not with half the landing gear stuck in flight mode," Carolyn shook her head. "I've got the stick, fix the gear." Her arms might ache for days but damned if she'd give up this close to an even halfway decent landing. This was still easier than the damned cannibalistic sky shark planet that was likely still in eclipse.

"On it," He growled and slid under his half of the console, rewiring even as she fought to make reentry without burning out the thrusters. More cursing, wires sparked and for a moment she thought he'd shorted out the entire bridge. Until everything flared bright again, and Riddick pulled himself back into the co-pilot's seat. "They're down. No clue if they'll go back up again though."

"Really don't care," She clenched her jaw and prayed the strength in her arms would hold out. Her side ached like a bitch and the ship was rattling like a skeleton in a hurricane. "So long as we hold together."


They'd made it to the ground in one piece mostly (the landing gear had crumpled pretty badly). Riddick had grabbed her, heedless of the blood that would smear on her clothes and kissed her so hungrily she might have lost herself if adrenaline hadn't been pushing her to do the same thing. No time, no more than they'd had before in the cabin the four of them shared. This had been building between them since she'd seen his eyes and sooner or later, like a spark to paper, it would ignite. Just not, apparently, right now.

Squawking from the comms forced them to pull apart and Riddick headed back to their quarters for a change of clothes that didn't make him look like a homicidal maniac. Carolyn got back to the console and began to make soothing noises at the port authority whose space she had invaded.

Never in her life would she have thought she'd be grateful for the paranoia of an escaped convict. But if Riddick hadn't shared his observations and conclusions, if Imam hadn't added bits and pieces he'd learned to Jack's stories of what she'd seen and heard… Well, indentured to pay for passage sounded better than slave but it amounted to the same thing. And once they'd been on the ship during a raid they'd be labeled pirates no matter how they'd ended up aboard.

Once she'd been able to get up and around Carolyn had taken a shift on the bridge and added her own observations. She'd gotten a brief tour of the ship, mostly so she'd have an idea of how it would land and take off, and very few questions answered.

She never had gotten the full story of how a ship that made regular runs between Anvil and Paquin had been out past the Rim long enough to find the skiff. And no one seemed inclined to answer her when she posed the question.

When she'd gone back to the room and shared what she'd observed Riddick's grim face had set like stone. "Pirates," He spat the word out like poison in his mouth. "Likely came back from the Outer Rim with a big score, fence it on Anvil and Paquin, then head out again."

"Can we be sure?" The Imam had looked troubled. "They have been kind."

"Well, there's a dozen of them, which is a small amount for a ship like this. Might be they lost some people this last run out," Riddick shrugged. "We're all good workers, good enough to qualify as crew, I figure we make noise about leaving. I'll flat out say we're getting off on Paquin. They react any other way than 'There's the door, mind your pì gu on the way'…well then, we know.

He'd insisted that Jack and Imam stay in the room. Carolyn had been on the bridge, another thing he'd made certain of, when Riddick had put his theory to the test. She didn't think either of them had been pleased to be proven right.

Riddick had taken care of the rest.


"What a tiān shā de mess," Riddick shook his head and lay back on the bed. The boarding house wasn't any great shakes as far as what the Imam called amenities, but it was clean and there was food and a head. That was pretty much all you could ask for. Paquin wasn't exactly Core.

They'd gotten the Mirabelle (what a name for a pirate ship) on the ground in one piece (mostly) and he'd found a local dealer who didn't care so much about paperwork as he did a deal. Thank Abu's God for his own connections to the criminal underground and black market. So long as he knew where to find the right people and what to say to get the right sort of attention no one knew (or cared) about his name. Everything on the boat had been sold. Then they'd sold the boat.

With some of that money they'd found a ride out to New Mecca for the Holy Man. He'd tried to convince them that Jack should come with him, but Carolyn wasn't having it and more importantly neither was Jack.

With a liberal wad of cash to use for necessities they'd agreed to put the rest of the money into Carolyn's accounts. The Hunter Gratzner wasn't even overdue yet, so the money was safe enough there. Carolyn was out dealing with the banks now, closing out the accounts and (again thanks to the dealer) starting a new account under another name with the funds. That was the account they'd use to pay for passage if they couldn't find work on the same boat and they didn't have any cash left over.

He'd used some of the cash to take Jack shopping (a level of hell he was not eager to experience again) and got her outfitted with clothing, knives, boots and other gear she'd need. He'd had to do the same thing himself, to a lesser degree. Not that they had the money for huge wardrobes or anything but at least she wouldn't be wearing the same thing day after day and neither would he. His equipment included several guns, a gun belt and a shoulder harness and he'd spent more on weapons than he had clothing.

Now Jack was installed in the adjoining room, packing her things into the small duffle they'd bought along with the clothes. She was under strict orders to rest and read the book she'd borrowed from the boarding house's little library. He and Carolyn had decided they'd only book two rooms. If it turned out they didn't suit as bedmates he'd switch with Jack and the women could have the double. But given the fact that they'd been all over each other less than a week ago he didn't think it would be a problem.

Riddick had shoved the new clothing into his bag, stripped and washed (and shaved, that was a tā mā de relief), put on a pair of clean shorts and called it done. Carolyn and Jack had gone through the crew quarters of the Mirabelle, scrounging, which was also part of why they hadn't had to buy a lot. And why he'd been able to walk off the ship without looking (obviously anyway) like the killer he was.

The door opened and closed, and he eased his eyes open behind the goggles. Carolyn Fry, hauling a duffle of her own and looking like she'd make him shove over in the bed for her fair share of the mattress.

She must have thought he was asleep, or (maybe) she didn't mind giving him a show, stripping down to nothing and washing the last day off of her body. She'd pulled on a pair of panties and was in the process of pulling a support tank (or whatever women called the combination of bra and undershirt) over her head when he made his move.

One hand around her wrists while the tank was over her eyes, pinning her in place. Take that mouth, so hot and sweet, let his other hand close over a full firm breast. A startled moan against his lips and the smell of want filling the air. Pull the shirt thing off of her and do the same to the panties. Turn her so he could push her down on the bed and shuck his shorts.

"Oh…god…" She moaned as he covered her body with his and put her hands on the rails of the bed, stretching her body tight as he took her mouth again.

"That's it, Carolyn, now we've got the time and the bed, and nobody'll come walking in," He sucked his way down her neck to those hard, tight nipples, so dark compared to her pale skin. "If you're gonna tell me no, do it now. We both need this."

"Yes…" Carolyn at least agreed with him. "Fuck me."

First time fast, second time slow…maybe…depending on how ready she was… slip his fingers between her thighs, pale curls dark with wet, practically sucking his fingers into her slit. "Yeah, tiān shā de right I'm gonna fuck you.

He pushed her legs apart and took himself in hand, rubbing the aching head of his painfully stiff cock over her slick folds and pushing slightly. Slow and steady…she was so damn wet…fill her up until Carolyn gasped and mewled and begged under him for more as he kissed and sucked her breasts, holding still inside her until her body adjusted around him, by sheer force of will. He wanted to do this more than once after all and a woman who hurt wasn't going to be interested.

She just got hotter and hotter around him as he played her body until her hips were shivering frantically under him. "Carolyn, once I start moving, I am not going to stop," He warned her.

"I don't want you to stop," She groaned in frustration. "Tā mā de niǎo, I need you to move. Fuck me."

Her pussy flexed around him, and he groaned, just about at the end of his control and he had to start moving. Rough deep thrusts that slammed his hips to hers, so slick that her body made gorgeously erotic wet sounds with each stroke. Harder, harder, so hot… and she shattered, shrieking wordlessly as she came in deep pulses that gripped his dick like a fist and he couldn't wait anymore, roaring against her neck as he emptied his balls into her in long aching bursts of fire and seed.

He remembered to roll off of her body after a minute. She was a tall woman but compared to him Carolyn felt dainty. "Jiàn tā de guǐ," He ran a hand over her hip. "I'd say that was worth the wait."

She chuckled, stretching and he grinned licking a nipple lazily, and she squeaked in surprise before agreeing. "Hmm…can't argue with you there," She rolled onto her side and looked at him. "Just… let's not make this more than it is all right? We both needed it. We've been flirting around this, and it was great but…" He could be grateful she'd said it. Telling a woman this was only sex and fun, right after you've had sex, was an invitation to have parts kicked and/or cut off, no matter how she felt about you personally.

"What, you're not painting me in a romantic light?" He pretended to huff in aggravation and grinned at her. "Nah… you and me…neither of us are ready for that I think." Riddick patted her pì gu, "Wouldn't mind a bit of this now and then."

"I can handle that," Carolyn poked him in the stomach. "Gotta be mutual though okay? I come to you, you come to me, we fuck, get the tension out, relax. No getting upset with each other if one of us says no." He nodded his agreement. He could handle something like that. Easing towards friendship, fucking now and then when they got the urge. And it would help him keep an eye on her. Mentally he still had concerns she hadn't gotten past that guilt she felt though the Imam seemed to have helped. The pilot sighed. "I need a nap now. You wanna fuck again you'd better let me sleep some first and wake me up good."

"I can handle that," Riddick echoed her. "One thing though." He waited until she opened the eyes she'd closed, "You want to just fuck now and then do you want to just sleep sometimes?"

"Both kinda," She kept her eyes open. "Sometimes…with someone, feels like I'm being smothered. An' other times, it's good. That a problem?"

"Hell no," He shook his head. "I got the same problem. That's why I was asking."

"Then we're good," She poked him again. "Now bì zuǐ and lemme sleep."

He chuckled and did just that.


Author's Note: So the two of them each have issues, and Jack's got problems of her own. Plus now they're all technically 'dead'. But they seem to have a nice friends with benefits thing started. Light on the actual friendship but they don't know each other all that well yet.

Chinese Translations:

fèifèi pìgu (Baboon's ass crack / Baboon Butt)

pì gu (butt)

wǒ cào (holy fuck / lit. 'I fuck')

sāo lǘ (jackass)

tiān shā de (Goddam! / goddamn / wretched)

tā mā de (damn it! / fucking) (taboo curse)

Tā mā de niǎo (goddamn it /lit. 'His mother's dick')

Jiàn tā de guǐ (damnit/ bloody hell)

bì zuǐ (Shut up!)