Last Dance Redux 19

::NINETEEN::

I hadn’t intended to mark her. Maybe it just wasn’t something I did consciously. Small trail of bite marks down her neck. Broke the skin lower down. I haven’t lost control like that in a while. I’ve paid for the privilege of doing it deliberately, biting a woman, which isn’t anywhere near the same thing. That scent of her blood, her sweat, added to the beautiful sound of her, as she screamed for me.

I’ll have to warn her about it before we leave, so it won’t embarrass her. I’m not really surprised that she liked it as rough as she did. There’s not much that’s soft in Jane. Not that she likes to be hurt, of course. There’s just so much heat in her, she gets lost in the moment.

Clearly no one’s bothered to see that in her in a while. I’m guessing there aren’t many men with the guts to look at her the way she should be looked at. So quite a while, I’m guessing. She was close to tears, by the end, and, if she was a woman that cried easily, she would have been. It’s intense when the need for it is that strong. I was worried I’d hurt her, for a moment, but that wasn’t it. It’s just been a while. I almost regret seeing her get control of herself again. She’s an animal when she finally lets go. Gonna have to give her a rest right now, so I don’t hurt her, but I could definitely go for this again.

“I bit you.”

“I had noticed that, sweetheart.”

She’s not mad, just rubbing the spot. A shirt would probably cover the bigger one. I don’t know about the rest. Maybe I don’t care so much about the rest. Maybe I don’t really mind that I marked her.

“I left marks, you may want to have one of them bandaged.” Taking another look at it. I bit pretty hard, a small half circle on the bottom, deeper mark over the canines, where I broke the skin. She’s smiling at me, a snort of laughter.

“Yea, I can just see that conversation. I think I’ll live, without having to walk in with you to Franks to get it bandaged up. I’d never live it down, the amount of times I’ve been in there, shot, stabbed, you name it. And I go in to have a lovebite bandaged. You’re going to get your leg poked at again, aren’t you?”

“Lovebite, huh?” Funny word for it. “You’re not coming with me?”

Slip my arms around her waist, nuzzling where I bit her, the scent of blood close to the surface, making me want her again. I don’t want to leave her alone. Don’t really want to tell her why, either. It might piss her off if I tell her not to trust Dufresne. He’s been sitting in the blind spot he’s made for so long, that she’s not going to see it the way I see it. It might even push her away from me. Play right into his hands, separating her from me.

“That big one won’t show, the rest, well, I can’t do much about that. If someone wants to bust my chops over it, I’ll just have to live with it. I’m NOT walking into the med bay with you to have it bandaged, I’m just not. I’m starving. Gonna go find something to eat. Meet me down there when you get done.”

She’s starting to laugh now, as she moves to get up, sitting on the very edge of the bed. Muttering to herself.

“…where the hell…how the hell did they get under there….”

Fuck, I don’t want to leave her alone. Not for a minute. Franks did say she was pretty safe as long as she was here. This leg shouldn’t take long to bandage, and then I’ll be with her the whole time. She’s going to start to get suspicious if I never leave her alone for a minute.

A wince, as she pulls her pants up. Pull her close to me, making room for her between my knees. “I hurt you?”

“No, it’s just been a while….really, I’m fine.”

“How long?”

“Longer than I feel comfortable admitting to.”

Hate this ache in my leg, when I finally stand up. I hate that she notices I’m hurt. Hold her face up to mine, being careful of where I bit her. “I can be a little rough, Jane, but I didn’t mean to hurt you. I would never hurt you. You believe me.” She’s getting ready to tell me she’s fine again. Put my fingers over her lips, before she gets the chance. “I’ll be more careful. Next time.”

“Don’t be TOO careful. Next time.”

She’s grinning at me again. Hard not to think of her as beautiful when she grins like that. Doesn’t matter that she’s scarred and beat to hell. Still beautiful.

Standing at her door. I don’t want to leave her, but it won’t be long. She smells like me. Is marked as mine. A last deep kiss, before I leave her.
—

Really had been quite a while. Had to be over, what, three years? Can it really have been that long? Sex with Riddick once and I already want him again. How the hell did I wait three years? It does go towards explaining my generally irritable nature though.

I smell like him, which is nice. The cook’s eyeing the bite marks down my neck, which I could do without. Doesn’t bust my chops over it, though. Didn’t really expect he would, most people aren’t exactly sure when I might go off. Coffee. A sandwich. Go sit out in a quiet part of the loading bay, out of the way, and wait for Riddick. Wave to Dufresne, as he walks over.

—
“THEY TOOK HER! THEY TOOK HER!”

That scrawny little kid, Small Johnson. Bloodied nose, looks like he’s been crying. Screaming, gasping for breath, in the doorway of the med lab. I can feel my mouth go dry, that scream start in my head. Franks had just finished bandaging the leg. I had hopped off the table and started to walk towards the kid, almost falling. Catch myself at the last minute, pulling my pants up.

Franks has got to him first. Probably for the best. pulling him into the med bay and slamming the door behind him. Pin him against the door, a shiv to his throat. The kid looks terrified as it is. I’m probably not helping. Franks probably thinks I’m going to kill the kid, before we get the story out of him.

“Talk quick, Small. You better make it fast.” Franks, standing to the side now. He doesn’t want to get in the way either.

“They took her!! Jane. They took her!”

It’s like Franks isn’t even in the room. He’s pulling at my arm, to get me to drop the kid, drop the shiv, it’s like he isn’t even there.

“WHO THE FUCK TOOK HER!” Twist the shiv against his throat. Fighting with myself not to just kill him.

“Dufresne. Somebody else. Shot her with some sort of dart.She was in the loading bay, I had ran into her earlier. She said she was waiting for you. I couldn’t stop them. I ran to find you. I’m sorry…”

“Dufresne…” My voice drops to a hiss, at the man’s name. Feeling cold hate wash over me.

The kids crying agin. Scared for Jane. Scared I’m going to kill him. I can feel everything go black around the edges. She was waiting for me. Waiting. I left her for a few minutes. I never should have left her alone. Dufresne must have been watching. Waiting for an opportunity. Probably figured once I started sleeping with her he wouldn’t have many of those.

“Did they say where.”

Try to shut everything down, grow cold. Before I kill people I might need to get her back. He’s shaking his head. Not what I wanted to hear.

“…they took one of the smaller fighters…she was out pretty quick….”

“You’re going to need all the help you can get, Riddick. Killing him isn’t going to get her back.”

The kids face is going redder by the minute, as I squeeze. Small line of blood under his jaw, as I fight with the urge to slit him from ear to ear. Everything in me wanting to kill him, kill anybody I can get my hands on, for her being gone.

“He’s a pilot, Riddick. We may need him to fly the Virago, she’s the only bird that stands a chance of catching whatever they’re flying. You can’t kill him, Riddick.”

My fault. Never should have left her. Should have fucking told her about Dufresne from the first moment I suspected him. Truth is, I didn’t want her to hate me for it. And now, she’s gone, and I don’t know where the fuck to start looking for her. Except that’s not entirely true, is it.

“What if the original plan wasn’t to get ME to Epsilon 4, but to get HER there. What if that fucker planned this thing that far back. To get HER there.”

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