22) 'Til All My Sleeves Are Stained Red

Owens screaming.

The planet coming up so fast.

Gotta get the nose down…

I tried everything else.

I still got no horizon.

Don't you touch that handle!

Owens screaming…

She came awake with a gasp, hurling herself upright and getting tangled for a terrifying instant in the sheet and blanket. Like struggling out of that pile of sand, the weight compressing her ribs, squeezing the air out of her lungs.

And then her arms were free in the cool air, and she gulped it in like they'd all gulped down the water in that desert. "Āi yā," She leaned against the wall that served as a headboard and tried to slow her racing heart.

She was tempted to go to Riddick's room, but he'd told her he didn't wake up well. Carolyn had no desire to have lived through a crash and the planet/sky sharks, pirates and then another crash, only to have her pal and occasional lover slice her throat in a case of mistaken identity.

When would she stop having these nightmares? Nightmares that woke her up after she'd gotten (a glance at the clock and a silent curse) barely five hours sleep. Nightmares not about nearly dying but Owens dying, the crash and how she'd nearly killed every single one of those passengers.

She'd have killed Riddick, Jack and Abu without another thought. She'd have to live with that the rest of her life, that if Owens hadn't gotten out of the safety of his seat harness and stopped her, she would have. Owens had saved them and gotten killed for it. She had no doubt he'd have survived the crash if he'd been safely harnessed in. Just as she had.

Poetic justice would have been that she died, and Owens lived. But there was precious little justice in the 'verse, poetic or otherwise, unless they made it themselves. Riddick's words to her, after she'd made her confession, echoed in her mind, 'There's a price, consequences, for every damn thing in this life Carolyn.'

He hadn't been wrong. She was paying for that mistake with sleepless nights and nightmares. Ghosts that seemed to follow her around.

She had taken Riddick's advice and talked to Abu. The Imam had been encouraging, but ultimately it had come down to forgiveness being something that she had to earn. His religion taught that for every sin, an act of penitence or contrition had to be made, the sin confessed, and an earnest effort made to not repeat the same sin again.

Carolyn had done everything she could on that planet to keep everyone alive, scouting the cave systems, trying to stand up to Johns, fighting for Jack and going after Riddick when he'd left them in that cave. She'd been terrified and he'd been so tempting, standing at the top of the ramp, cajoling her into forgetting about the other two survivors and going along with him.

Pouring rain, a bottle of glow worms, the larval form of the sky sharks maybe, glowing so they didn't get eaten by their kin before they'd grown? "I promised them that we would go back with more light."

"Did you?" That mildly amused tone, a predator entertained by the sheer nerve of prey to make promises for it.

"What? Are you afraid?" Oh, she'd tried to challenge him, as if it would do her any ounce of good.

"Me? Afraid?" Contemptuous. Disguising that strong survival instinct of his.

"Come on. There's gotta be some part of you that wants to rejoin the human race." Another challenge, worth exactly nothing.

"Truthfully, I wouldn't know how." Riddick didn't lie, didn't bother with it. She'd learned since that he might prune the truth a bit, or simply not speak, but lying was beneath him.

"Then just give me more light for them. I'll go back by myself." God she'd been so afraid. That fear of death had never left her.

Light. Shining around that huge powerful frame. Seductive voice. Cajoling her into joining him. Into abandoning the others. Clinging to life. Taking her hand and helping her up out of the mud and rain.

And she'd just lost her mind. Hadn't been able to stand herself. Furious with her cowardice, furious with him, the strongest, most dangerous man she'd ever met. And he wouldn't help the others. Would only help her to suit his own ends. Screamed at him, tried to pull rank (laughable but she'd tried) and tackled him. "And I am not leaving anyone on this rock with those things, even if it means—"

That had lasted all of thirty seconds before the predator she'd been baiting turned the tables. On her back, under him, shiv at her throat, and she'd blustered, "Get that thing off my neck."

Yuàn Fótuó réncí, his voice was more like a growl than speech "Shut up." But he'd stared at her with those strange eyes, "You'd die for them?"

"I would try for them," She'd been so angry. Helpless, frustrated and unable to do anything against him.

"You didn't answer me," He'd stared down at her. So hard to read that implacable face, he might have been carved in stone.

"Yes," She'd burst out. "I would. I'd die for them."

That had been when his face changed, softening? Contemplative. And Riddick's ultimate compliment, "Interesting."

She'd had no doubt that if he hadn't chosen to go back with her that they'd all have died. If she'd had to go alone she might not have made it. Jack and Abu would have died in that cave or when the sky sharks finally managed to breach the rocks blocking the entrance.

God knew where Riddick would be.


Carolyn's panicked gasps and thundering heartbeat had woken him from a nightmare of his own. That happened more often than he liked to admit. Usually, he woke and went back to sleep after a few minutes of making sure he knew where he was. Sometimes he heard Carolyn get up, sometimes she'd just stay in bed and breathe, trying to deal with the flood of adrenaline in her system without waking anyone else.

This time seemed to be one of the stay in bed occasions; he could hear her heartrate slow, her breathing ease back to something less labored. He'd warned her, back when they first started screwing around now and then, that waking him up in the middle of the night, especially when he was sleeping deeply, didn't always end well. Or words to that effect. Last thing he wanted was to terrify her. He'd done enough of that when they'd first met. Neither of his ladies deserved any more of that sort of fear.

He was awake now, no point in fighting it, might as well make good use of the time, see if they could both get some more sleep. The shorts he wore to sleep in would serve well enough for a quick trip across the hall to Carolyn's dorm. Going to her room like this didn't always make him feel the best, like he was purging himself of his nightmares only to pass them on to Carolyn, but she didn't seem to think of it that way. She didn't know what was in his head. That need to prove he was in control. He chose what to do or not do.

Slide the shoji door open, and as he thought, Carolyn was leaning back in bed, using the wall as a headboard to rest against. "Rid—Rick," She stopped herself and corrected his name.

"Hey," He slid the door shut behind him as he stepped across the threshold and put a knee on the end of her bed. "You up for some company?"

"Yeah, I could use it," She nodded. "Just knew waking you up wasn't a good idea."

"You ain't the only one with nightmares," He pulled the blanket and sheet back and climbed in beside her. "C'mere." Tug her down so she was spooned up against his chest and skim his hands over her legs, up to her hips and stomach, cover the curves of her breasts. Revel in her soft sigh and the slow relaxation of her body against his as his touch pushed away the dreams and brought on an entirely different type of tension.

Roll onto his back and bring her with him, spine to his chest, free to kiss and suck the elegant curve of her neck and palm her tits with both hands. Tug gently on the tips, tight wanting nipples to roll between his finger and thumb, pinching lightly until she moaned softly. Her hips moved restlessly over his, her ass rubbing against his cock, nestled between the curved cheeks of her pì gu. Teasing them both now and he groaned quietly. "You want this Carolyn," He whispered in her ear. "Thought about this when I had you in the skiff, alone, unrestrained… you smelled so good. Salt and sweet and nerves, not knowing which way I'd jump." His teeth tugged on her earlobe, "Scared of me then but I could smell that you wanted this…even under the fear. Ain't anything to be embarrassed about."

"God," She gasped, soft and needing as he kept playing with her breasts.

"We're all animals underneath Carolyn," He scraped his teeth over the curve of her neck and shoulder. "We all want life, and this," Roll his hips up to hers, push his cock firmly between her cheeks, make her feel how hard she got him. "This is life Carolyn," Her hands had covered his over her breasts, a silent plea for more and he took one and put it between her thighs. He could smell her, already wet and wanting, "Touch yourself Carolyn. Come on me and get me nice and wet before I push into you."

He could feel it when she obeyed, how her hand moved between her thighs, rubbing her clit, hips moving in time with it. That gave him plenty of opportunity to kiss and suck her neck, play with the soft swells of her breasts and caress her hips and legs. The scent of her filled his nostrils and he could feel her slick starting to coat his cock.

Slide one arm down and hook it under her knee, drawing her thigh back, keep his other palm on her tits, tugging and teasing, "Should I fingerfuck you first Carolyn?" Her mewl of need was all the answer he wanted, and he slowly pushed a couple fingers into her pussy. "So tight… are you gonna come on my hand? You're so slick I oughta open up your ass and fuck that too. Pull on a condom and fuck every hole?"

Her slight catch of breath, and sudden thundering of her heart, combined with her pussy practically shuddering around his fingers answered that question, "Oh so you like a little ass play huh?" Give her another finger in her pussy and slowly fuck her with them. "Answer me Carolyn, do you want that? You want me to come in your ass before I fuck your pussy?"

"Ohh…yes…I do, I really do," She gasped and tensed as a slow climax rolled over her, soaking his hand and pulling her pussy tight around his fingers. "I like it…"

"I don't do that rough," He warned her. "You want your ass torn open you'll have to go to someone else." Not that he didn't have fantasies but there was only so much he was willing to do in the name of exorcising his demons.

"Unghhh…no…don't need rough, not always," She shook her head, her fingers lifting from her clit, and he snarled in her ear.

"Keep touching yourself," Pull his fingers out of her and slip them down to her puckered rosebud, tease around it. "I'm gonna open you up. Want you nice and slick." He'd need lube or something to actually fuck her ass if she really wanted it now. It was one of those stupid urban legends that a woman's natural juices would slicken her enough for a comfortable ass fucking. "You got anything I can use on you?"

"Hmm…" She shuddered as his fingers teased her and pressed gently. "No…damnit."

"Another time," He gave her ass a squeeze. "Now that I know you like it, I'll make sure you can have it."

"Fuck me now, please," Her voice was almost a whine for his cock, and he grinned.

"Yeah, I think so," He pulled her up and held her by her hips, straddling him. "Go on and take me…slow as you need Carolyn. I can feel all that hot slick on my cock."

God she was tight, orgasm had made her tighter, she had to take him slower, but she felt so damn good sliding down onto him. Her moan sounded damn near pornographic as he hit the end of her and pulled her back down, spine on his chest. Slow at first, wrap his forearm under her thighs and pull her legs up, his other hand over her belly, pressing down, fingertips on her swollen wet clit.

"Ohh…god…please…" She begged as he positioned her so he could fuck her and play with her clit. Another urban myth that a man's cock was always enough to get a woman off.

"Better be quiet or I'll have to stop," He threatened mildly. "We don't wanna wake anyone up now do we?"

They might have anyway, but at least it wouldn't be because they hadn't tried to be quiet. At least the bunk didn't squeak or groan. Which was good because he was going to start moving. The way he was feeling he could get at least two more orgasms out of her before he finally came. He always had to hold back, not use his full strength, and be careful he didn't go too deep into her… he'd figured out their second time together Carolyn didn't like having her cervix bumped. Some women enjoyed it, but for Carolyn it was painful. Keeping control of himself became more difficult the closer he got to coming but he usually managed to keep himself in check.

Slick, hot, so tight, she moaned and begged softly, and he had to take her mouth with his quickly to stifle her scream as she came in hot shuddering waves around his cock. He could almost feel her pulse in her clit she was so wound up. Grind deeper into her and drink in her gasp as he came to the end of her, stopping just short of what she'd find uncomfortable.

Sit her up and pull out, turn her and kneel, put her on her knees and spread those strong thighs, push back in, harder, a bit rougher. One palm between her shoulder blades pushing her upper body down to the mattress. "Play with your clit Carolyn," He ordered and gathered some of her slick on his fingers. He could play with her ass in this position, and he knew the minute she realized what he was going to do.

Her pussy contracted hard around him, and Riddick groaned. "Oh, you want my fingers in your ass don't you," He muttered as he began to open her again, his other hand clenched tight on her hips to steady her body as he fucked her harder and harder. Rub and tease and press slowly on that puckered little rosebud, her moans getting louder as he pushed his thick thumb past the tight ring of muscle.

A scream of pleasure muffled in the pillow (thank god, that'd be a rude awakening for the other residents of the dorms) as she came again and he cursed under his breath. "Fuck Carolyn, that's it…" Use his thumb in her ass and the other hand on her hip and jerk her on and off his dick, hard and rough now. Careful damnit, not too deep for her.

Fuck she'd gotten so tight, he shuddered and ground his teeth against a roar of satisfaction as he slammed into her one last time, ramming his cock deep into her, and finally erupting in a blast of cum and heat. He felt her shudder in reaction and caught himself in time to pull back slightly, hips still rolling with his release.

Careful now, she'd be tender, maybe a little sore, pull out of her and wash (thoroughly). Get her cleaned up a bit too and stretched out on the bed, climb in beside her and pull the blankets and sheet (after a search) over them. "This good?"

"Hmm…yeah, stay please," She snuggled against him, and Riddick breathed in the scent of her. "Sleep."

Maybe now he could.


Author's Note: So these two… they're interesting…not totally compatible but definitely growing their friendship.

Chinese Translation:

Āi yā (interjection of wonder, shock or admiration)

Yuàn Fótuó réncí (May Buddha be merciful / May the Buddha be merciful)

pì gu (butt)