Treacherous

Slowly Bell became aware that the heat at her back had stilled. It took several more seconds to register that the heat was Riddick and he was lying over her.

Life seemed to return to her with a gasp. Air! She needed air. Long gasping breaths weren’t enough and she found she was nearly hyperventilating to replace the oxygen in her lungs. Riddick moved to the side, taking the brunt of his weight off of her. Skin sliding against skin sent shivers through her and she started shaking.

The tears came then. Huge crocodile tears on long rasping breaths. Gods! Riddick must be ready to run, surely thinking that whatever she’d caught could be contagious. But instead his thick fingers found hers and he just lay there with her as she wet the mattress with her tears. She was at least thankful that she faced away from him.

Long minutes passed. Her breathing returned to normal, her skin cooled, the tears stopped flowing. In no hurry to move and face what had just happened, Bell just held Riddick’s hand and let her eyes close.

“Okay now?”

She wiped her face against the mattress as she turned toward him. Hair clung to her damp face, but before she could lift her hand to push it back he was doing it. A blunt fingertip scraped across her cheek, bringing the sticky hairs into check.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

He smiled, “Don’t be. You can never say you faked it.”

She grinned. Yeah, that was definitely true. “Didn’t want all the hang-ups though.”

His shoulder flexed as if he’d intended to shrug but never got that far. “What? You wanted to impress me by being my whore?”

Bell was shocked for a moment, but his even tone made the vulgar question seem pathetic. *Had* she wanted to impress him?

Probably. It foolishly made sense. After all, he was the infamous killer here, and she was the nobody.

“If I was gonna be your whore, shouldn’t I have started sooner?”

“That would’ve been nice.”

She laughed, feeling so ridiculously comfortable it was scary. “So I guess I should say thank you again.”

“We came out even.”

Bell wanted to pinch herself, but figured *that* would be inappropriate. She was lying half naked, bent over a bed, chatting with an equally naked Riddick. His ass was probably catching a breeze, but he appeared content to lie with his face only inches from hers and just look at her. What planet was he from anyway? So lethal and threatening one minute, and the next he was participating in bed-talk.

“All the same, I *do* thank you. And I guess I apologize. Your name comes prepackaged with a reputation. I expected to wake up with my throat slit just being near you. While I think you encourage your ill-fame, I don’t think you deserve it.”

Long seconds of silence followed. For once Bell didn’t wonder if she’d pushed too much, and just waited to see his reaction. None came immediately. Lying nearly nose to nose she was staring into those expressionless eyes as they looked back at her.

“I’m gonna have to kill you now.”

She fucking laughed! His tone was deep and even, like usual. No hint of humor or any other sign that he was joking. He * could* be altogether serious and be reaching for his shiv with his free hand, but it didn’t matter. It was still fucking hilarious.

“Gotta save the rep?”

“You could spread tales.”

“Of a Riddick that can speak words of more than one syllable and stand the presence of a female for over forty hours?”

“It’s been that long? Shit. You do have to die.”

She just smiled, “Do you normally taunt your victims?”

His brow creased. Those small lines that meant he was either thinking or stressed. Did she know him so well now? Regardless. She didn’t stop her hand from lifting and allowing her thumb to smooth across his forehead.

“Sorry. Not a great topic. Forget about it.”

Bell couldn’t place her finger on what was different, but there most definitely was *something*. The niggling feeling told her it was her, just her. She felt calmer, more thoughtful, more easygoing, if you were. Is that what finally having an orgasm could do? Had she been some high-strung bitch up till now? Or was this just some blissful afterglow and she’d return to reality after a shower and a nap?

If so, if things were this…fresh and laid-back after cumming, then by God she needed it more often!!

She double blinked at the man’s face in hers. Well, shit! Wasn’t that just typical? If the location and circumstances weren’t enough of a throwback, then there was the company. Was she to ask *Riddick* to be her fuck buddy before or after they escaped a hostile dead planet where they were fugitives from the only other survivors of a crash from outer space? Hmm, she’d have to give that some thought.

“Regrets?”

She grinned at the soft question. Regrets? Sure, but not the way he probably expected. She wasn’t regretful that they *had* done something, but that they couldn’t do it *again*!

“Just contemplating the wonders of the universe.”

“You gonna get spiritual or something?”

She rolled her eyes. “No, I’m going to get dressed.”

They rose and separated with less awkwardness than she’d have figured on. Of course, leave it to Riddick to be the master of strange circumstances.

Instead of pulling his pants up he kicked them off and headed for the door bare-assed naked. Bell had to swallow *three* times to find her voice as her eyes followed the extraordinary spectacle.

“Uh, Riddick?”

“Shower.” And then he was gone.

Bell shook her head as if to clear the memory of the sight of him walking before her. He might be a scary person to be around, but he was damn fine to look at. Self-defense was something she’d be looking into more thoroughly if that was the end results.

Her body still felt shaky as she struggled into jeans and bra and shirt. A damp spot on the bed was testimony to her tears and she smiled to herself. She couldn’t find one of her shoes and leaned down to look under the bed, squinting to see in the dim light.

She stilled.

Wrong. Something was wrong about that. She looked up from her kneeling position and gasped at what had been right before her eyes and she hadn’t been able to see.

The light was fading. No direct sunrays shown through the tiny slits and holes in the vents.

She stood and moved toward the vents as if not looking would make it not be happening. The large blinds opened and her mouth fell open. Dusk. It was the only word she could think of. So normal on other planets. A picturesque scene. The reds and golds changing the world to a beautiful place for those striking minutes before night fell.

“Riddick!”

She was running, grabbing the left shoe and his pants on her way. “Riddick!”

“Needin’ it again?” he was asking as she slammed into the bathroom. Her entrance halted him, head cocked beneath the flow of water. A *very* memorable scene if she’d had the time to care. “What?”

“Can’t you see? The fucking sun is going down!” she yelled, utilizing the moment to pull her boot on.

His gaze went to the blinds, still showing light from outside. Water still coursed down his body in privileged rivulets, and he turned to her and said in one of the most calmly eerie voices something she’d never forget, “You’re not afraid of the dark, are you?”

Bell blinked at him in horror and shock.

He took his pants from her numb hands before she realized he’d moved. Then they were moving through the apartment. Riddick dressed as they went, shirt, boots, goggles. Bell grabbed up anything of worth they passed, but was ultimately headed for the door.

The light was brighter outside than she’d expected and she felt a rush of relief. Then she turned to go down the steps and halted in her tracks.

A huge ringed planet was rising from the horizon on a crash course with the two orange suns that hung so small in the sky. She had a moment to see that the rings were moving in opposite directions, circling the sister planet eternally, and that it was magnificent to look upon. One of those chance-in-a-lifetime scenes. Then the lower sun glinted one final time as it disappeared behind the upper ring and she was jolted back into reality.

Riddick shoved her so hard from behind that she nearly fell down the steps. They reached the bottom and took off in a flat out run. The hangar at the other end of the settlement looked so welcoming, and so damn far!

The very air seemed to vibrate with a sound that seemed to come from everywhere. Bell was so morbidly fascinated that for a moment she wanted to stop and just listen. Riddick’s steady pace beside her kept her moving. She didn’t imagine that Riddick ran for just anything.

Cries came from the air, sounding like excited screams hurrahing the coming night. Bell nearly screamed herself, but kept it to a squeak.

“Along the buildings! Run beside the buildings!”

She glanced at Riddick to see him looking up and behind them just before he shoved her to the side. They slowed some, having to dodge the obstacles that were now in their way. The cries got louder.

Half way there. Shit! Only half way?

“Down!”

A hand grabbed the back of her pants and she had to obey or be cut in half. A crate and the wall worked to shield them. But from what?

Suddenly the source of the shrieking was upon them. A shiny black cloud of flying sharp-looking creatures moved as one, like an unearthly party streamer. The lead passed above the roof tops and then circled back to dip into the alley between the rows of buildings, the rest followed.

Bell felt the air move as they flew past, not seeming to spot them huddled down, or not caring. Was this just the scouting party to look around and see what was on the menu? Two hundred and sixty months? Wasn’t that what the computer had said? That was almost twenty-two years. Long time to go hungry.

The things passed and after a few seconds Riddick had them up and running again. A space between the buildings let her see the western horizon for a bit. Both suns were now hidden behind the rings of the ever-rising planet. Some light still shown through, but pathetically little.

Finally they reached the hangar. Riddick stopped at the corner, seeming hardly effected by the run. Bell was gasping from exertion. The air hadn’t cooled a bit yet from not having the sun on it.

She turned back from the door and then stepped up beside him to see what had caught his interest. Slowly he lifted his goggles. The suns were now almost completely hidden.

Before it, rising from the planet were flying silhouettes perfectly outlined against the golden sky behind it.

“What is it, Riddick?”

He was silent, staring out at the growing number of things dotting the sky. Their shapes looked wavery in the heat still coming off the ground. Still distant, but growing larger by the second.

“Round here ain’t me ya gotta worry about.”

She frowned and glanced sideways at him before stepping up to the door.