Predator

Chapter 3

He removed her clothing from her still unconscious form and gently traced the fading scars from the bullet wounds. He lifted her in his arms and carried her into the large bathing pool in her private chambers. He sat on one of the steps with her lying across his lap and washed the blood off her body with the rose scented water.

He carefully cleansed her of every trace of the incident but knew in his heart that he could not cleanse her soul. He hugged her to his chest and kissed her shoulder. He felt her hands run up his back and hold on to his neck. “Ian.”

“Yes, love.”

“Is everyone safe?”

He knew that she was referring to their family and no one else. She held nothing back in battle and innocents caught in the crossfire did not deter her from defending her men and children. “Yes, love. You made sure of that.” He pulled back slightly and looked into her tired eyes. “Are you feeling better?”

“Like I’ve been reborn.” His eyebrow arched and he regarded her with a disapproving frown. “Okay. That was a bad joke.”

“Indeed. Has your strength returned?”

“I’m almost back to my old self.”

“I was hoping we could talk about your intentions with the assassin.” Her dark eyes met his and he averted his gaze. “Forgive me, my lady, but I cannot stomach the thought of him touching you for pleasure while he plots your death.”

“I made a deal with him, Ian, and I won’t go back on my word.”

His eyes returned to hers and she saw the familiar spark of anger in them. “He was hired to kill you! Many have tried and all have failed! Why would you promise to give yourself to him when you know he cannot succeed?”

“I know no such thing. I have died more times than I can remember and on occasion it takes longer for me to return. It is possible! It has to be!”

“Why?” He gripped her arms and shook her in anger. “Why is it so damn important for you to return home? We’ve made a life here!”

“I can feel it coming!” He eased his tight hold on her upper arms and sadness replaced his anger at the look of terror in her eyes. “My power is growing. Soon I will not be able to contain it and I will unwillingly destroy the life we created. I was not meant to remain in human form this long.”

“Pass some to me! Let me take the excess…”

“You can’t. Ian, I made you self sufficient. You are in perfect balance because I created you that way.” She caressed his bearded cheek and he nuzzled into her touch.

“Why didn’t you leave me with the ability to help you?”

“I didn’t think that far ahead.” She chuckled. “Kind of ironic really. Me not thinking of the future is ridiculous. Ian, I was lonely and needed a companion. I took a part of myself and made you. Don’t you understand the difference between us? I have always existed but I made perfection in you.”

“Love…please let me do something.”

“You can. Put me in bed and bring him to me. Please.”

He looked into her imploring eyes with tears in his own and nodded his head. “As you wish, my love.” He carried her out of the pool, set her on her feet, and dried her skin and hair. He slipped a short white silk robe over her arms and secured the belt at her waist.

“Ian.” She held his neck as he picked her up and carried her to bed. “I love you.” He placed her in the center of the large bed and she kissed his lips before she released him. “You are the best thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

“I love you too. I…I’ll bring him now.” He turned to exit her bedchambers and paused. “Love…you have died 7,863 times including today.” He quickly left the room before he gave in to the urge to beg her to reconsider. His mate was quite inflexible and he knew she would not change her mind no matter what tactics he used.

He strode down the halls to the guest quarters and threw open the doors. One of the servants bowed her head and addressed him quietly. “He is ready, my lord, but he would not allow me to assist so I am not sure if he is to our lady’s standards.”

“I’m sure he is fine.” He noticed the girl’s nervous fidgeting and asked her quietly. “Are you well?”

“Yes, my lord. He is…an unsettling man.”

“You may go.” She bowed her head again and hurried from the stranger’s room.

“Is this shit really necessary?” Riddick came into the sitting area dressed in a black silk shirt and drawstring pants. “That bitch actually thought I was gonna let her bathe me.”

“You need to be prepared for…her. The girl did not know she was offending you. She was just following our customs.”

“If I didn’t have the greatest catch in creation waiting for me, I probably wouldn’t have minded sharing a bath with the girl.” Riddick saw Ian bristle at the reference to his woman. “Like I said though, I have been promised full access to your mighty ruler. Why the elaborate bath? It seemed ritualistic.”

“You are about to…be in the…presence of our Majestrix.”

Riddick grinned at Ian’s slips. “You’re having a hard time with this, aren’t you?”

“Fuck you and follow me.” He led him down the halls and stopped outside her doors. “She’s waiting for you.” With that said Ian walked down the hall and disappeared around a corner.

Riddick walked into her chamber and shut the door behind him. The lights were low enough for him to remove his glasses and he quietly moved further into the room. His breath caught and his chest constricted when he saw her lying on the bed. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m still alive. Are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

She smiled tenderly. “You look uncomfortable again.” She crawled to the edge of the bed and sat on her legs. “Come here.” He moved to stand in front of her and she looked up into his eyes. “I am sure the circumstances were not pleasant but those are really comforting to look into.” She rose up to her knees, untied her robe, and slipped it off leaving her bare to his eyes. “Richard, do I make you uncomfortable?”

“How do you know my name?”

“I am a telepath.”

Understanding crossed his face and he smirked. “That’s how you knew I was at the lake and the banquet.” She smiled and nodded her head. “That was some fucked up shit you played at the lake.”

“I know.”

He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her close to his face. “You made me look like a fool.”

“I saw you in my head. You didn’t look like a fool to me.” She smiled seductively and practically purred. “If you’re angry with me about it, you can always punish me.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“I gave you my word.”

“I don’t need a charity fuck.” He pushed her back onto the bed.

“That’s good because I don’t give them.”

“So you’re just whoring yourself out to sweeten my already sizeable fee for ghosting your beautiful ass.”

Her anger flashed in her eyes and she swung her arm in an arc in front of her body. It felt like an invisible battering ram hit him in his side and sent him crashing into a wall. “I am not a whore!” He shook his head and looked at her standing on the bed with clenched fists.

He cocked his head and ran his eyes over her naked flesh. “You could’ve fooled me. I just walked in the door and five seconds later you’re naked and spreading your legs.” He rose to his feet and walked towards her with a grin. “What is this fighting from across the room shit? Come here, princess.”

She somersaulted off the bed, landed squarely on her feet, and walked to him. “Hit me, Riddick.”

“What?”

“I said take your best shot. You’re thinking that you want to see what I’m capable of. Hit me and I’ll show you.”

“You were dead about an hour ago, darlin. I don’t think you’ve got it in you.”

“Now you’re trying to piss me off…provoke me.”

“Get out of my fucking head!”

She laughed at his outburst. “It doesn’t work that way. I actually have to force you out of my head and as for having it in me to take you on, try me.”

He stared hard at the angry woman in front of him, weighed his options, and backhanded her across her face. Her head snapped to the side and she looked back at him smiling through the curtain of her hair.

“That was extremely pathetic for the notorious Richard B. Riddick.” She pulled back her arm and gave him a quick uppercut to his chin. The force of it sent him sailing across the room. “I was expecting more out of you.”

She picked him up by his throat and slammed him against the wall. He grinned and his deep bass laugh filled her ears. “This is exactly what I was expecting from you!” Confusion crossed her features and he clarified. “Your dark side.”

“You saw my dark side! Did you forget the little display that occurred recently?”

“No. That was not your dark side. That was you defending your family. I wanted to see you fight for yourself.” He used the distraction to break her hold and reverse their positions. “Confusion leaves you weak…defenseless. Not a good trait to possess in your position.”

“Then you must be the weakest man I’ve had before my eyes because you are very confused if you think I’m defenseless.” She smashed her hand into the marble wall and he watched the cracks spread from the impact. Her eyes grew large with shock at the rise of her anger.

“What are you afraid of?”

“Afraid…”

He inhaled her scent deeply. “I can smell your fear. So I repeat…what are you afraid of?”

The fury bled out of her instantly under his scrutiny. “Myself. I’m afraid of myself.”

“That’s my girl.” He pressed his body against hers and tilted up her chin to look in her eyes. “Now tell me why.”

“I use to symbolize life. Now I am the bringer of death.” Tears rolled down her face and she showed him a vulnerability that he was positive she never knew she had.

“I don’t know if I like that.”

“What?”

“Your soft side.”

“My soft side is the ONLY thing that is keeping you and everything around me alive.”

“I want to know more about you but…”

“But what?”

He looked at her breasts pressed firmly against his chest and his erection made itself known. “I’m ready to take you up on your offer.” He tossed her over his shoulder, carried her to the bed, and threw her down on it. “There’s something I’ve wanted from you since your little tease at the lake.” He unbuttoned his shirt and dropped it to the floor.

“I’m not in the mood for this now.” She scampered back towards the headboard. “Please go away.”

He grabbed her ankle and pulled her to the edge of the bed. “I don’t care what you’re in the mood for.” He knelt between her legs and placed them over his shoulders. Her hips firmly in his grasp, he lifted her ass off the bed. “I take what I want, remember?” He ran his tongue the length of her folds. When he reached her clit, her back arched off the bed and a loud moan escaped her lips.

“You taste sweet, your highness. Just like I knew you would.” Her eyes had fluttered closed from his intimate teasing. “Look at me.” She propped herself up on her elbows and their eyes met as he drove his tongue into her core. He moved his tongue to tickle her clit, inserted 2 fingers into her dripping wet pussy, and pumped them hard within her until she cried out her climax.

He lowered her legs so that they hung off the edge of the bed and rose to his feet. Her eyes were closed and her breasts were heaving from her release. He untied his pants and stepped out of them while keeping his gaze on her body. He was dying to bury himself in her.

He straddled her waist, wrapped his hands around her ribcage, and moved her further up the bed. He positioned his cock at her slick entrance and her eyes opened when she felt him nudge her. Her eyes showed an emotion that he didn’t associate with sex. It appeared to be affection and adoration. Her hands ran up his neck and caressed his face gently.

His brow furrowed and he jerked his head away from her grasp. “Don’t touch me!” She flinched away from his anger with a hurt look on her face that made him angrier. He took both her wrists in one of his large hands and pinned them above her head on the bed. She clenched her eyes as he thrust into her to the hilt. “Leave your hands where they are.”

He released her and started to move within her like a man possessed. His hands went to her breasts and pinched her nipples until they were hard tips. His arm snaked under her back and pulled her up until his mouth latched onto the blood engorged peak. He continued to pound into her furiously while he sucked, licked and bit her nipples. He saw the rapture he remembered seeing before cross her face after each of the 3 times he made her cum before he finally found his own release and spilled his seed deep into her body.

She was covered in sweat and physically spent from his long, hard treatment of her body and began to drift into a state of euphoria. He laid down beside her and stared at the ceiling trying to expel the belief that this was something more than a promised fuck.

“Can I move now?” She whispered. “I promise I won’t touch you.”

“Sure.” He found himself disturbed by the thought of being deprived of her touch but the things she made him feel were equally disturbing. “What are you? Where do you come from?”

She was quiet for a moment before she sighed and spoke. “I am a cosmic entity made flesh and I was born in the first star at the dawn of creation.”

“So when you said you created life you meant…”

“Yes.”

“Why are you the bringer of death now?”

“I got bored wandering the stars and I became fascinated with mortals. I created this form so that I could live amongst them.” She seemed to struggle her way through this confession of her origins and her voice would catch on every couple of spoken words. “Unfortunately I have human emotions as well and my power is not made to be contained. I am losing the ability to control it and when I do all will be lost.”

“How much will be destroyed?”

“At the very least, this star system and a good portion of the next will be utterly annihilated. I’m tired now.” She rolled on her side and turned her back to him. “If I make you uncomfortable, you can retire to your chambers and return when…if you want me again.”

“Have you shut me out of your head?” She nodded. “You don’t make me uncomfortable for the reasons you think.”

“Whatever you say, Richard.” She said with clear disbelief in her voice.

“Why do you call me Richard?”

“I refuse to address a man that I allowed into my body by his last name. Good night.”

He watched her sleep for hours. He could tell her dreams were vivid but when the nightmares came and she thrashed about in its grip, he couldn’t resist the urge to wrap himself around her body. She turned in his arms and curled into his chest while he held her close.

Ian quietly entered her room. He sensed her unrest and made his nightly visit to comfort his lady while she slept. When he drew close to her bedchamber, he stopped at the sight before him.

“Shh, darlin. It’s alright.”

The assassin was cradling his mate in his arms and Ian could feel her troubled sleep ease. ‘A link between the two. Interesting.’ He spun on his heel and left them alone.

“Richard…” She mumbled in her sleep. “Save me…please.”

A pain shot through his once cold heart and he kissed her forehead tenderly. “I’ve got you, baby. I’m right here.”