Red On Black

Chapter 11

Rehtaeh:

The man was driving her insane, what the hell was his deal? She had felt a connection from the day she first heard his heartbeat, he had been locked up and tied like a dog and here she was, ready to get all cozy with him. She didn't even know him for cripes sake! He reminded her of her brothers with their mind games and tricks, she understood that part of him. Hell, she liked that part of him, it kept things interesting and entertaining. He had a dark sense of humor, which she also liked, and he could obviously hold his own, he was a survivor. The more she got to know him the more she liked him and under these circumstances the last thing she needed was a distraction. In her mind that was exactly what he was; a major distraction. Her subconscious was making intimate connections with him. Her instincts screamed for her to keep him close, her body was too busy freaking out in his presence that her logical mind just couldn't seem to keep up with everything. She needed as much distance as she could get from him, just so that she could get mind wrapped around her feelings for him.

He had taken it easy on her when they were sparring, she was fully aware of it. It was as though he understood that she needed to expend excess energy, and yet she knew he could have taken her down in a heartbeat. It had been one thing to go easy because of her injuries, but he had allowed her to use him as a punching bag. Of all the things she had come to know about him, that was the most confusing. Why would he do that? It made no sense. He was the type who preferred to dominate, had he been testing her?

 She was walking quickly, the whole idea of the eclipse had her spooked. She was just coming to the end of the canyon, she had wasted no time looking at the massive bones or the remains of the beasts. She wanted to be back at the ship getting those power cells immediately, not waiting for some wasted addict to make up his mind whether his bounty was worth the trouble of keeping around. That type of decision-making got people killed. It was pure bullshit. If she could get to the crash site and at least pull the cells, they would save a hell of a lot of time. They just had to stay ahead of the eclipse. As she came up over the rise, she looked to the horizon and a chill brushed over her entire body.

"Shit, shit, double fucking shit!" she cried and started to jog. "Stupid, Rehtaeh. That was stupid, leaving the safety of the group." She thought. She was in the middle of the fucking desert, with no weapons, and the planet was rising fast. At this pace, she would never make it. She had at least another hour to walk, she could half it if she ran full out, but that would leave her no juice to survive.

She heard the sand cat before she saw it come over the ridge, she could hear everyone hollering at her. She adjusted her speed and as they passed two hands were offered to her. Riddick and Mac. They were near the back, they had both stood up a little to reach for her. There was just enough room for her to jump in, but only if she planned it perfectly. She grabbed both hands and used the momentum of them pulling her up to vault feet first into the cat. Mac let her go as she landed on her feet in the middle of the sand cat's bed, and Riddick held her, steadying her against him. Her heart leapt and her skin sparked against him. He practically purred in her ear, "Nice move."

"Thanks for picking me up," She said trying to mentally shake his effect on her. He sat back in his spot and she remained standing using the overhead beam to balance while she surfed the ride. It was rough, but she saw it as a challenge. She was doing just fine until they went over a bump and something freezing cold slammed against her knees and she fell forwards onto Riddick's lap her ribs banging hard against his legs. She ground her teeth together once again to hold in her cry of pain, even then a small whimper escaped.

He pulled her into a sitting position on his lap and when she tried to stand he held her there, not allowing her any movement. She looked up into his hard face ready to ream him out, but he had turned to look across the cat at Johns, who was smirking from his spot by the hoist. The jackass Merc had pushed her on purpose. Riddick buried his nose in her hair and took a deep breath, she clenched her fists to keep from shaking, and she watched as Johns smirk changed to a mask of cold fury. She felt the heat rise in her body like it did every time Riddick touched her, and she tried her damnedest to ignore it. It was becoming intense. When he had pinned her earlier that day in the ship, the contact had been warm. In the small room, the contact had been more concentrated, during their little sparring match she had been reveling in each hit and block and now it was bordering on intense. It seemed the more he touched her, the more his touch affected her.