Predator

Chapter 4

Alex felt warm and secure in Riddick’s arms. A sense of peace swept through her that she hadn’t felt in as long as she could remember. The only thing that bothered her was that she didn’t know if the peace came from living in his arms or the knowledge that he would deliver her fate and spare everything she loved from the destruction that she would inevitably bring them.

She did not know how she ended up in his arms during the night but he had a protective arm wrapped around her waist holding her to his chest. ‘It must be a mistake. He doesn’t like my touch.’ She delicately tried to extricate herself from his grasp without waking him.

“What are you doing?”

His deep voice startled her and she moved away from him like she had been caught in the act of a crime. “I’m sorry. I, uh, didn’t mean to touch you. I don’t even know how I ended…”

“I did it.” He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked at her questioning stare. “You were having a nightmare. I was just trying to calm you down so I could sleep.” He felt guilty when a sad, dejected look crossed over her face. “Was it a bad one?”

“Thirty-five billion ones.” She shook her head to dispel the memory and turned her face away from him. “Thanks for that. So…what do you want to do today? Do you need to know more about my strengths and weaknesses?”

His hand clamped onto her arm and he felt her tension. “You’re wound pretty tight, Alex. I noticed you don’t let strangers touch you. Why is that?”

She looked at him warily and her breath quickened. “It’s harder for me to keep people out of my head if I touch them. There is also the factor that I could accidentally kill someone with a flinch.”

He slowly pulled her closer as he spoke. “I held you all night while you thrashed around in the throes of your nightmare and I’m still here.”

She lost her balance as he drug her towards him and her free hand went to his chest to steady herself. “I’m sorry. I…”

“Be quiet! I’m not afraid of you!” She shut her mouth and arched her eyebrow. “You’re surprised, huh? Are people normally scared of you?”

“I was the protector of life. Everyone knows what I am now.”

“That’s a hell of a complex you have there.” He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her chest flush to his. “I see a beautiful, powerful, emotion-ruled creature that…”

“What?” She got flustered with his words and lost her concentration. Her mental shields dropped and he flooded her mind. She sifted through his thoughts and emotions trying desperately to ascertain what she was reading from him. Her eyes burned red when understanding dawned on her. “What are you doing?”

“I have no idea.”

Anger filled her features and reverberated through her voice. “If you think I am a viable subject to kick start your long dead heart with you are terribly mistaken!”

“I don’t know what I feel!”

“I do!” She batted his hands off her shoulders and backed away from him like he was a despicable thing. “You have a job to do! This isn’t it! Do you see these?” She pointed at her smoldering eyes. “They use to be white energy! Now there are flames coming from my eyes! I don’t have much time!”

“Why do you think I can succeed in killing you when no one has so far?”

“You are Furyan.”

“So.”

“Your race is a step between human and…me.”

“There is another equation you haven’t considered, love.” Ian eased into the inner chamber with his usual stealthy ability. “He is the link you’ve been looking for.”

“Ian, no.”

“A link between humanity and warrior god, remember?” She began to shake her head in denouncement and Ian’s eyes flashed with anger. He rushed forward and grabbed her upper arms in a tight grip. “Why won’t you consider it? He is the answer to our problem!”

“No!”

“Are you so fucking eager to die that you won’t even try?”

Riddick watched Ian reduce Alex to tears with his anger and a dark fury shot through him. He pulled her from his grasp and hit Ian with a quick combo to the stomach and a kidney punch to the back.

A hand clamped on his arm and threw him effortlessly across the room. “Do not touch my mate!”

“Love…stop!” Ian placed his hand on her shoulder and she spun around. He was not expecting the force of power that struck him in his chest.

“DO NOT TOUCH ME!” She took a couple of deep breaths in an effort to calm down. When her anger came down a notch, her eyes met a pair of silver ones and amber ones. “I need some space. Please leave me be.” She backed up to the bed, retrieved her robe, and put it on.

Both men got to their feet and Riddick stood in her path to the door. When she shrank away from his outstretched hand, he put both up in surrender. “Calm down, baby. I can fix this like I did last night.”

“How? You refuse to help me in the way I asked.” She went to move past him and found herself pulled back into his chest. “Let me go!” She began to struggle against his hold when she felt her anger leave her in a rush. She felt drained.

“My lady, your eyes have returned to normal. Are you alright?”

“Let me go.” She whispered and Riddick complied. She turned and her eyes ran up his chest to his face. “I…oh shit. I need to be alone.” She had tears in her eyes when she disappeared from the room.

“Where the fuck did she go?”

“I would assume she went to the lake. That is where she usually goes when she’s upset.”

“No, asshole, I meant what the hell just happened?”

“I’ll explain as much as I can after you bathe and dress. I don’t feel like having a conversation with you while your dick is flapping in the breeze and you reek of sex.”

Riddick laughed loudly and slapped Ian on the back as he passed him to enter the bathing room. “Jealous, Ian? Maybe you’re scared that I can give your woman something you can’t…and I ain’t talking about this link either.”

“Hey, Riddick!” When he turned and looked at Ian’s serious expression, Riddick’s smile faded. “Two things. I am definitely jealous. I have been with her since before the creation of mankind. Second, if you can give my woman what she needs in any capacity and she stays, I’ll be eternally grateful. I’ll wait in the sitting room.”

Twenty minutes later, Riddick emerged from the other chamber. He was wearing a black wife-beater and cargo pants. His skin was still steaming from his bath. “Thanks for my clothes.”

“You’re welcome. So where do you want to start?”

“Her power.” He sat opposite Ian and dried his freshly shaved head. “How does she do that shit?”

“Anything she can imagine, she can do. If she wants to be someplace else all she has to do is picture it in her mind and she’s there.”

“So when that shit went down in the hall and she told that prick that everyone he knows is dead…”

“She read his mind, pulled every image from his memories, reached out with her mind, and ended their existence.”

“Son of a bitch.” He whispered. “She told me I couldn’t imagine the death she’s delivered but I had no idea. Wait a minute. Her nightmare…”

“I will not discuss it with you.” Ian cut him off quickly. “That is for her to tell. What else do you want to know?”

“You’re like her, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

Riddick’s eyes fell on the damage her fist did to the outside wall of her bedroom. “That wall is about a foot thick of solid marble.”

Ian glanced over his shoulder at the obvious result of his lady’s temper. “Actually it is a foot and a half.” He turned back to Riddick and regarded him critically. “What did you do to anger her?”

“I, uh, called her a whore and said she was weak.”

Ian began to laugh hysterically and pointed at Riddick. “You…are lucky…to be…alive.”

“You sure you don’t wanna embarrass me some more?”

“I’m…sorry.” He got his laughter under a semblance of control and chuckled lightly. “What were you trying to accomplish by pissing her off?”

“I wanted to gauge her strength.”

“Uh huh.” Ian pointed over his shoulder. “How did that work out for you? You cannot gauge something that has no measure.”

“She told me about the cosmic thing. What I don’t get is her physical strength. She is a delicate little thing. Muscular…built beautifully…but delicate.”

Ian smiled at Riddick’s obvious discomfort with his spoken words. “She can take a punch, measure its kinetic force, and return it in kind. The stronger force she’s hit with the powerful she gets. Remember that I said anything she can imagine she can do.”

“Right. So what is this link you were talking about?”

“She is a mix of human and a supreme being. Her power cannot be contained in this form unless she grounds herself. That balance is Duncan and Ares but they are so far apart that there is no middle ground. She is lost without that and she doesn’t have long. You have a new job to do now so you better go find her.”

Riddick rose from his seat, headed to the door, and halted at Ian’s whisper. “She needs you. Whether she will admit it or not and I know you need her. You’re falling in love with her, aren’t you? I’ll take your silence as a yes and you’re having difficulty dealing with it.”

“I’m not…familiar with that emotion.”

“She’ll teach you without even trying just don’t fight it.”

“It’s all I know.”

“You have something in common with her. You both think you don’t deserve love and all you’re good for is fighting. You’re both wrong. Now go hunt her down and bring her home.”

“Ian…I know you don’t approve of me but you’re accepting this because of her. The others…”

“You worry about her and let me take care of them.”

“I’m just saying if anyone tries to keep me away from what is mine, I’ll kill them.”

Ian watched Riddick leave with renewed hope for their future. ‘He’s the one. I just hope her estranged mate doesn’t try to reclaim her. I’d hate to see the damage those 2 would do to be number one in her heart.’

Riddick left the palace and ran full steam towards the lake. As he entered the woods, he felt a stir of excitement. He was still on the hunt. He would have to pursue her. She would not give in to him otherwise. ‘She has to submit.’

He slowed as he came upon the clearing and saw her sitting in the sand hugging her knees to her chest. This woman was a contradiction. She was possibly the most powerful being in existence and yet a fragile woman who needed to be cared for.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

“Where else should I be?”

“I told you I wanted to be alone.”

“Not gonna happen.” He crouched down behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Why did you run…vanish?”

“I don’t need this. You had a job to do! We had a deal!”

“According to Ian, I still have a job to do.” He nuzzled the crook of her neck while he wrapped his arm around her chest and pulled her back to him.

“How much was your contract? I’ll double it if you’ll go away.” She whispered with some difficulty as he nibbled on the delicate skin below her ear.

“Not gonna happen.”

“You don’t want this. You’ll be bound to me forever. You can’t have anyone else but me. Do you think you can handle that, Riddick? Are you sure you won’t get bored?”

“I can handle you.” He cupped her breast and lightly traced his thumb over her nipple. “You are far from boring. I think you can keep my attention.”

“This is not a game!” She moved from his touch and rose to her feet gracefully. “I’m not something you can walk away from and we both know you’re good at walking away, don’t we?”

He stood and smirked at her. “You’re trying to piss me off, aren’t you?” He lifted her chin and looked in her eyes. “I’m not going anywhere. You were meant to be mine. I can feel it.”

“What do you feel?” Tears welled in her eyes as she stared into his goggle-covered ones.

“It’s…hard for me to say.”

What little hope she had left her face and she looked defeated. “If you can’t say it, you don’t mean it.” She turned from him and began to walk away. “You have no fucking clue what you feel!”

“Yes, I do!” He ran up behind her and stopped her by grabbing her arm. “I know what I feel!”

Pure anger lit a fire deep within her. She was furious at his audacity and his touch. “All you are capable of feeling is this.” She threw a right uppercut to his jaw that lifted him up in the air and sent him flying back about 10 feet before he crashed to the ground. “Not many men can handle me. It takes a special kind of man. I’ll break you and you’ll run.”

He staggered to his feet and shook his head no. “You’re wrong.”

“Am I? I don’t think so. You’ll run from me and your life will be forfeit.” She ran at him, jumped up in the air, bicycle kicked him in the chest, and landed squarely on her feet. “Spare yourself, Riddick, and leave now.”

He lay on his back and coughed up some blood. He gasped for breath and wheezed out. “No.” He thought that was the hardest he’d ever been hit. He was wrong. She straddled his broken chest and beat him mercilessly. When his face was barely recognizable, she stopped stunned by her actions. “I’m…still…here, baby.”

“Oh god. What have I done?” She moved off of him and looked at his injuries that she inflicted. “I’m sorry. I…”

He weakly grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips. “You know…they say…you always…hurt…the ones you…love.” He placed a bloody kiss across her knuckles and fell further into darkness.

She cupped his cheek in one hand and placed the other on his chest. “I’ll fix it. Hold on, Riddick.” As she closed her eyes to concentrate, her tears rolled down her face and fell on his battered body.

He could feel a strange sensation pass through him from her touch. His burning pain was replaced with a cool feeling that swept through his skin, muscle, and bone. He felt his bones mend, the swelling fade, and the bleeding cease. A fleeting thought of wishing he could look on her with his own eyes passed through his mind and he was surprised when it instantly got darker outside.

“Are you okay?”

He took off his goggles, sat up, and stared in her eyes. “I’m fine.” He pointed up at the sky. “Did you do that?”

“You did.” She said distractedly as she inspected his face and chest for any signs of damage.

“How?” He took her hands in his to still her exploration of his skin. Her touch sent a thrill through his body and he didn’t want to get side-tracked.

“You wanted it.” She saw the confusion on his face and clarified. “My power was in you when the sun faded. So you wanted it. Why did you want it darker?”

“I wanted to look at you.” She blushed and averted her eyes from his intense stare. “Do you yield to me?”

Her eyes snapped back to his and she looked at him like he was crazy. “I just kicked your ass and you’re asking if I yield to you.”

“You know what I mean.”

“You don’t know what you’re getting into. If you become my mate, you absorb a portion of my power. It binds you to me, protects you, and lets us read each other.”

“I don’t have a problem with that.” He cupped her cheek in his hand and caressed her face. “I want you.”

He pulled her into a searing kiss that she was drowning in. His passion overwhelmed her and she pulled away breathless. “You have to impregnate me.” She whispered. “I have to bear you a son.”

That left him speechless for a minute until a question entered his mind. “Why do you only have sons?”

“They will be the future guardians of the next protector. What…how do you feel about becoming a father?”

“I want all of you and everything from you.”

“You’re being evasive. You haven’t told me how you feel about me or giving me your child.”

“Emotions aren’t something I’m use to.” He said solemnly. “I’m not going anywhere but…give me some time to say the words. Please.” He kissed her forehead gently and pulled her into a tight embrace.

“Okay. Take me home, Richard.” She whispered into his chest.

“Now she calls me Richard.” He picked her up in his arms and carried her into the woods.