A/N: Thanks for your reviews, guys. Wow, this thing is getting long! It's
up to almost 67 pages on Microsoft Word already, and it's not even close to
being finished. Next chapter is half-done, so that should be up without too
long of a delay. Tell me what you think, please. :)
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em. I hope you can figure that out by now.
Chapter Six
_______________________________________________________________________
Derelict Apartment
Prague, August 10th, 2003
He was gone.
Vanished, without a word to her, no indication of where he might have disappeared to. Only the faintest remnants of his scent lingered, an enticing mixture of soap and aftershave.
His pack remained, however, giving the impression that he would be back. But the fact that he'd just taken off pissed her off to no end, a somewhat unexpected reaction that surprised Lara. *What the hell do I care if the damn fathead has gone off on his own?*
The argument did nothing to lessen her feelings of abandonment, but the gun he'd slipped unnoticed into her holster did persuade her against putting a boot up his ass the moment he returned. *I'll just bloody his nose.*
She rose now, muscles uncoiling painfully, stiff from long disuse. Her body ached fiercely, each twinge of protest testament to the hardness of the floor on which she'd spent the night.
"And that damn Yank refused to get a bloody hotel room." she muttered, shaking her head and scowling. He'd truly earned her wrath this morning; mostly because she found herself in the mood to bitch at him, and he didn't even have the decency to hang around and bear the brunt of her obscenities.
Scowling once more, Lara loosened the weapon strapped to her right thigh, and hefted it in a slender hand. Nine millimeter semi-auto; a Glock, to be specific. Light, concealable, an altogether nice little pistol. She preferred something with a bit heavier firepower, but this would do for now. It fit snugly within the depths of her palm, sleek metal glistening beneath dancing sunlight.
The sunlight drew her attention for a moment, keen gaze surging to the far wall and the ragged hole streaming warm golden illumination. "Well, at least it isn't raining here all the time."
*And Kurtis got me a rather nice gun. I suppose I can probably forgive him for being an annoying ass and making me like him even when I don't want to. After I bloody his nose.*
Dark eyes fell now on the partially unzipped backpack he carried with him, and Lara's new firearm disappeared absently into worn leather. She crossed almost unbidden to the crumpled object, and crouched beside it.
"He wouldn't have left this out if he didn't secretly want me going through it."
It was a sneaky move, rendered out of a fierce need to know more about her mysterious companion. He would not be pleased, she knew, to return and find her rummaging about in his belongings. She, herself, for that matter, would have clubbed him upside the head had she caught him doing precisely what she herself now was. It was a breach in privacy, and thrust pangs of guilt briefly throughout her.
She shoved them aside, and jerked the bag open. Its contents lay in darkness, the ill lighting in their temporary home lending little assistance. Impatient, Lara unclipped her flashlight and snapped it on, turning its beam on Kurtis' pack.
*Clothes...chewing gum...that explains his good breath. 'You had something in your eye' my bloody ass. Little prick probably planned the whole thing, hoping he could cop a feel on me because he's been sex-deprived for years or something.*
She rifled quickly through various items of clothing, tossing each aside.
Searching fingertips brushed a cold and hard object. She palmed it, its chill exterior shivering her entire body.
It rested cold and silent against the leather of one fingerless glove, her startled features reflected in glittering silver. Pale azure illumination sizzled along a sharp and deadly blade, nipping lightly at the bare flesh of Lara's fingertips.
She blinked, full lips parting slightly in shock.
* * *
Kurtis purchased a newspaper from a street vendor and clutched it in one hand, coarse paper whispering against the callused pads of his fingertips. He walked briskly, with purpose, eyes focused intently ahead. The cold hardness of his features persuaded any passerby's to refrain from friendly greeting, the darkness swirling in the steely-gazed of this hardened man prompting all to skirt widely around him.
His Boran X and Chirugai bobbed at either side, clearly visible to the naked eye, awakening fear in many. They eyed him warily, and shrank before his intimidating presence.
*Coffee, maybe? I could use some caffeine. A different place from the one where Lara and I stopped, yesterday, though. Don't want to risk running into her just yet.*
He would have to return to the derelict apartment they'd spent the night in, and soon. They didn't have the luxury of fucking around while Karel was in some foreign country breeding little evil half-angel half-human hybrids into existence. But she was awaiting him, no doubt awake by now, mahogany orbs sparkling with warmth and life, that slender body curved perfectly to fit his own. Lips full and crimson, slightly parted in welcome...
Kurtis shook his head briskly, pissed at himself. *I already almost lost it in the coffee house yesterday. If she hadn't stopped me I would have kissed her. What the fuck am I doing? I've never wanted or needed a woman in my life before.* He'd never wanted or needed *anyone* in his life, preferring instead to lone it, particularly after his father's violent death.
*Flashback*
Kurtis woke languidly to the length of a warm, shapely body pressed all along him. A slight smile tugged at his lips, this warmth undulating pleasantly all throughout his body. The softness cradled against his strong chest pressed closer, its heart thrumming powerfully, mingling as one with the drumming rhythm of his own. He reveled in this heat, this feeling of security and happiness, such as he had never before experienced.
He felt each supple curve meld to the hardness of his own body. Such soft, lithe grace in this slender body, and yet he sensed an unnatural power in the taut and toned muscles.
*Lara.* he realized, and jerked upright. *Oh shit.*
They tore themselves from one another, looking slightly mortified, untangling limbs with downcast gazes.
*End Flashback*
Now, remembering, Kurtis shook his head once more. There could be no more of this. She'd gotten too close for comfort.
* * *
Lab Cambodia, August 10th, 2003
*Such a waste.* Joachim Karel thought, contemplating the grisly visage before him.
It clung spasming and vomiting to the very table on which it had been born, the horrible retching noises reverberating within sensitive ears. Blood geysered from between lips parted in a shriek of agony, carmine gore painting the steel beneath the creature's writhing body.
This one had lasted an entire night, longer than any of the others. Karel had clung to the hope that he'd finally succeeded, that this was the beginning of the 'benign new order' he'd spoken of to the lovely Lara Croft. But this one was dying, just as all the others had, its organs decaying, innards rotting at an astonishing rate.
It arched upward in another spasm of torment, the scream that tore vocal cords purely primal, echoing throughout the small room. A tongue thrashed from between gnashing teeth, blackened and corrupt, dangling limply against now still lips. A final twitch, and the beast contorted in Death's posture. It settled into reluctant acquiescence, head drooping to a final rest in pooling vomit.
Silence fell thickly.
"Gunderson, has your team in Prague retrieved Lara Croft and Kurtis Trent yet?" Karel asked quietly, moving forward to the single operating table. He snapped off the overhead light, throwing thin and severe features into blackness.
The tall, imposing figure standing nearby shifted in his thick boots. "No. They have made two attempts so far, and failed both."
Ebony orbs surged to dull and cool verdant ones. "Interesting."
"We will have them, Karel. You can be sure of that."
"I've given you plenty of time. Tell your men in Prague to double their efforts. I am afraid the Great Work may not be finished without those two."
"They are an efficient team. And the male has...special powers."
"Yes, that was known before. He's a Lux Veritatis initiate, though not a full member of the order. His father was an important figure in the Lux Veritatis, until he was murdered by Eckhardt a couple of years ago."
"He worked for me once, years ago. He's an extraordinary man; invincible, it would seem. Some of the messes he survived..."
"That's to be expected. He trained diligently with the Lux Veritatis for many years, and was considered special even among them. And the Lady Croft, as well, is known for her keen survival skills. You have told me nothing I don't already know."
"The Proto Nephili even lost those two, the other night during a retrieval mission. Trent was injured, though apparently not fatally so. He escaped with the Croft woman on a motorcycle, and put the van my men were using out of commission."
"Take caution. I do not want either of them damaged. At least not for now. Their bodies will be abused enough when I get hold of them. But until then, they must remain intact."
"I'll inform my men."
Karel smiled, a touch of wickedness curving thin lips.
* * *
"I didn't realize I was keeping company with an assassin."
Kurtis paused in the entrance, his gaze lifting to the brunette standing before him. She knit both eyebrows and hurled something at his feet, its bulk clattering to a reluctant rest against the toe of his left boot.
Slender arms crossed over an ample chest. Mahogany orbs surged to cerulean ones, their gazes twining and holding for a single moment.
Slowly, almost lethargically, Kurtis tore his eyes from her, and crouched to examine the object glittering at his feet. Both thick brows lifted in shock, and he looked quickly toward Lara once again. "What the hell are you doing with this?"
She smiled coldly. "Found it in your bag. I realize that wasn't very polite of me-to go through your belongings, but then again, politeness has never been a major factor in our...relationship, or whatever the hell you want to call this."
"You had no right to do that." Kurtis said coolly, closing strong fingers around the object's handle.
"Yes. You're right. But I was curious as to who exactly I was dealing with. You're not exactly forthcoming with information about your past."
"And you are?"
Lara paused, full lips parted as though to retort. Then she shook her head, loosened strands of hair swaying lightly before stormy eyes. "The design on that dagger is one of an ancient order of Assassins who call themselves the 'Plague.' An adequate description for an assassination brotherhood which has been around for over a hundred years. I bet you didn't know I knew that, did you? I've run into a few of their henchmen over the years. I never considered the thought that you might be one of them."
He tucked the dagger carefully in his belt and rose to face her, darkness swirling now in the beautiful depths of his intense gaze. "I'm not an assassin. This was given to me by my father several years ago."
"Then your father was an assassin."
He struck her with such force she stumbled backward, color flaming in one high cheekbone. Pain numbed the entire right side of Lara's face, its chill touch caressing pallid flesh. She lifted a hand to gingerly probe the tender area, her wide eyes lingering on his shocked face.
Kurtis looked stricken, both shoulders rising and falling in gasped breath, indigo gaze stunned. He peered blankly at the hand which had dealt the powerful blow, the masculine fingers trembling.
She took him down in a swift, mighty tackle, their limbs intertwining as his legs gave beneath his swaying body. He drooped limply beneath her fury, placid and docile, not even attempting to fight back as Lara hooked both legs around his hard waist. She straddled him, pinning his larger mass under her, one gloved hand landing several hefty punches to his strong jaw.
He closed his eyes against the vicious onslaught, still breathing heavily.
"Don't do that again." Lara hissed, and he felt her breath fall harsh and ragged against his ear.
He'd never meant to harm her. The act had not been pre-meditated; his strike had been born out of fury and momentary insanity, so blinded by anger had he been. His blood still surged hot through throbbing veins, boiling at the suggestion that his father had been anything other than the decent human being Kurtis had grown up with. Slowly, the pulsing liquid cooled, its furious churning slowing as a single thought reverberated in the depths of his mind.
*I hit her.*
He felt ashamed, and wondered at such ferocious loss of his control. Had his father's death really driven him to acts of brutality against a woman not even half his size?
Blood stirred within the warmth of his mouth, and foamed thick to dry lips. It traversed the strong curve of his chin, flowing warm across her fingertips.
Lara ceased all movement, freezing against his body. She rolled free of him, and pushed herself to her feet.
He touched gentle fingers to his streaming mouth, wiping aside dripping carmine fluid. Slowly, with a grunt, Kurtis propped himself up on one elbow, and drew his knees to his chest.
Lara helped him wordlessly to his feet, and he peered upward, through clinging bangs at her stony features.
"Sorry." He reached to set a callused palm lightly against the curve of her cheekbone, gently cupping bruising flesh. "You pack a good punch."
"Yes, and a good kick as well, which you'll find out first-hand if you don't take your hand off me."
Kurtis pulled away obediently, and turned his back on her, crossing stiffly to his backpack. "You're wrong about my father." he said quietly, feeling the anger build inside him once again. "He was a good man."
*I should have kept my big mouth shut.* Lara realized. She'd known this was a touchy subject for him, and to accuse his deceased father whom he obviously loved very much of being an assassin, whether this was true or not, had been downright slimy.
Her eyes slipped unbidden to the curve of his back as he leaned over his bag to replace the dagger.
She strode to her own pack, and seated herself beside it. "Kurtis-"
He swung around to look at her, and the cerulean fire of those intense orbs halted her words mid-sentence. He pit a hand against the floor to steady himself, his perusal of her thorough.
Neither spoke for a moment. Then she said, haltingly, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have spoken about your father like that."
He said nothing, still studying her.
"You're bruising." Kurtis said finally.
"Yes, well that happens when a big ape knocks you upside the head." she retorted, arching both brows in a cross look.
His gaze dropped from hers. "Can't say you didn't get your chance to give it back to me." He stood. "Let me see it."
"I'm sure you can see it just fine from over there, and if you can't, I suggest a visit to the eyedoctor. He'll fit you with a nice pair of glasses for your aging eyes."
"You're a stubborn ass."
"Yes, as opposed to being just an ass, like some people I could mention."
Kurtis shook his head, a soft sigh parting crimson-painted lips. He hefted his pack in one strong hand, and slipped its strap over a broad shoulder. "We don't have time to dick around here. We need the 4th shard, and then we need to find Karel. We've wasted too much time as it is."
"I'm a lady. I don't 'dick' around. That's an action only dicks are capable of. Which is a fairly accurate description of a certain-"
He thrust up a hand in acquiescence. "Look, you've made your point, Lara. You hate me, I'm a dick. It's nothing I haven't heard before."
"Bad luck with the ladies?" she asked sweetly, without shifting from her position. She looked in no hurry to go anywhere, and Kurtis wondered with a brief flash of panic if he'd just lost his 'partner.'
He crouched before her, and cupped a shapely knee in one work-roughened palm. She felt the slow passage of his thumb against her kneecap, its warmth undulating pleasantly throughout her body.
"Let's just call a truce." Kurtis said, and extended his free hand.
She peered into those twin indigo pools, their depths cold and indifferent once more, sheathing any emotions he might be experiencing. *Bloody hell. I just can't seem to hate this man. He could probably kill Karel and then decide that he wanted to take over the world with the evil Nephilim army, and I'd look at him all starry-eyed and agree to be his right-hand woman in his quest for world domination.*
Reluctantly, she took his hand in a powerful grip, the weight of her slender hand resting heavy in his own for a brief moment.
A slight smile curved his lips, the mouth which held her captivated crusted in carmine flakes, the angry slashes of red waning to brown as his blood dried and congealed against soft flesh.
"A truce." Lara agreed.
They held hands a moment longer than was appropriate, and seemed to notice at the same instant. Both sets of fingers disentangled quickly, two pairs of hands thrusting automatically to waiting pockets.
Lara rose to join him, briskly dusting her hands. "So, where to next, oh fearless leader?" a twinge of sarcasm distorted her voice.
"There's only one other place I can think of that might have information on the 4th shard." he replied quietly, face hardening.
* * *
He picked the door's lock swiftly, with such skill that she suspected he'd had plenty of practice at this kind of thing.
They slipped into the study's darkened interior with hardly a sound, staying close to one another. She felt his shoulder brush her own and drew slightly away, unnerved by his closeness. One slender hand cupped the butt of the Glock, fingers closing securely around cold steel.
His breathing intensified, the inhalations more ragged now, the broad shoulders heaving with difficulty, almost as though he were having trouble breathing. Full lips parted in surprise, both eyebrows lifting. She released her gun and touched his arm, dark eyes converging warily on his face. "Kurtis?"
"Start searching the place." he replied brusquely, and shook her off.
She watched him a moment, following the smooth, muscular movements, his stride powerful and mesmerizing. His face lay bathed in darkness, thick shadows falling heavy across his familiar body.
Shaking her head to clear it of inappropriate thoughts, Lara moved to the desk before her, its surface laid bare to the moonlight streaming in through a single window. "Is this place used anymore?" she asked quietly.
He seemed oblivious to her question. Slowly, Kurtis crouched at the foot of the desk, one large hand drifting lightly across hard wood, a moody pensiveness seizing handsome features.
Lara's brow rippled into lines of confusion.
Then, unbidden, her gaze shifted to the floor beneath his hunched figure, its mahogany luster marred by a faint chestnut stain. Blood? Lara thought. And suddenly, she understood. "This was your father's office." There was no question present within the quiet tone of her voice.
Kurtis darted a glance almost absently toward her.
She rounded the desk to join him, and kneeled at his side. He contemplated her from beneath concealing bangs, then drew his hand back, placing it on one knee. "Yes. This is where I...found him."
His voice wafted shakily to her ears. She glanced to the hand lying clenched and trembling on a jean-clad knee, and draped a hand softly across his shoulder. "Eckhardt murdered a man named Werner Von Croy during my first visit to Paris." she said quietly, deciding to omit the fact that it had actually been Karel who'd committed the atrocity, deciding it was too complicated a matter to delve into at this moment. "My friend. For a while, he was more like a father to me than my own father ever was." Mahogany orbs surged to the nearby window, to focus on the stars twinkling as far-off diamonds.
Kurtis listened silently.
"I wish it had been me to drive the 3rd shard through the fucker's brain. If not for me, then maybe for you. Despite the fact that you are a dick," and she broke off, full lips curving slightly, eyes dancing for a moment. He smirked. "We're two of a kind. I suppose I felt guilty that it wasn't me who killed Eckhardt, that I hadn't completed either my or your revenge."
"It wasn't your job to get revenge for me." he replied quietly, studying her beautiful profile.
"No. But it was partially my fault that you weren't there to avenge your father's death."
"I stayed behind to fight Boaz. It was my choice. And I had my chance to get the 3rd shard-and they caught me."
"You're right. It was entirely your fault."
"Thanks, Lara." he responded, with a slight smile.
"You're welcome, Kurtis."
Their gazes surged to twine as one, both studying one another intently for a moment. Lara felt a breath catch and lie suspended in the interior of her throat. Her fingers stirred lightly against the thin material of his T-shirt.
"Sorry about your friend." he said quietly, the expelled breath accompanying his words wafting gently across her face, so near to his own.
Then, as she parted full lips to speak, he leaned in, with such swiftness she had no time to react. His lips descended on hers with the lightest of pressure, the brush of his mouth across her own as soft and silent as a whisper. His masculine scent filled her nostrils, the pleasant aroma prompting a shudder throughout her entire body.
Their combined body heat thrust away the invading chill of the long abandoned office, embracing her slender body in its comforting warmth. She sank slowly to both knees, turning to fully face him. Their torsos touched briefly, electrically, as his mouth lingered soft and tentative against hers.
As Kurtis felt her shift positions he jerked roughly away, tumbling backward to land on his ass, both palms connecting with hard floor to cease his motion. They peered wide-eyed at one another, both chests rising and falling in rapidly gasped breath.
He tore his eyes from hers a moment later, and scrambled upright, ashamed at his sudden loss of control. *What the fuck am I doing?*
* * *
"If your father knew so much about the 4th Shard, why didn't we come here first?" Lara asked, rifling a thick sheaf of papers nestled within the depths of one desk drawer.
"I said he knew it existed. I didn't say he knew where it was located."
"Well, that's extremely helpful." She slammed a drawer shut, having found nothing of any use, and took a moment to scan the room, seeking a new potential hiding place. "If we don't find any information on this damn thing soon, I'm going to get very cranky."
"He must have kept something on the 4th Shard here. There has to be some kind of documentation on it. It might give us a hint where to start looking." Kurtis replied.
"You know what would make me very happy?" *Besides grabbing your adorable little head and shoving my tongue down your throat? Oops, where did that thought come from?* Brilliant color flamed in high cheekbones, and she turned from him so he would not notice.
"Let me guess: a cheeseburger and fries."
"You're incredibly witty, and no."
"I try."
Lara rolled her eyes and strode to the bookcase against the far wall, her deft fingers selecting a book at random and slipping the dusty tome from its resting place. She flipped it open, briefly perusing its contents.
"Well don't keep me breathless with anticipation, Croft."
Her head snapped up. "What?"
"What would make you very happy?"
"If the 4th Shard reared its ugly little head in this office, and we could concentrate on killing Karel right away instead of traipsing off to God knows where to pick up a piece of glass."
"It's not just a piece of glass."
She waved a hand dissmissively in the air. "Yes, I know. But all the same, it's an awful damn lot of trouble."
"You just don't appreciate it the way you should."
"Don't be a prick. And don't lecture me about having appreciation for ancient artifacts of significant importance. I've had enough experience in the field of archaeology to know they deserve a certain amount of..."
"Admiration?"
"Actually, I was going to say respect. Nasty things tend to happen when you don't have enough respect; flying darts, rolling boulders, fire-breathing statues, falling walls."
"And you would know this from experience?"
"You could say that."
Kurtis shook his head, hiding a smile as he spun to examine the wall beside him. He traced callused fingertips across its surface, feeling carefully for any indications of concealed nooks. "What first brought you to Paris a couple months ago, when we first met? Eckhardt?"
"No, actually. A compelling feeling that there was a gorgeous hunk of a man waiting to ride me off into the sunset on his motorcycle. I suppose my intuitions aren't always correct; I found you instead."
He ceased all motion, and turned to face her, crossing both arms over his chest.
She shot him a sly look.
Kurtis lifted both thick brows and smirked. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Take it for whatever you'd like it to mean. However, I feel compelled to point out that there's really only one conclusion to be drawn. And that would be- "
He thrust up a hand in aquiscience. "Thanks, but I think I've had enough of your ego-boosting compliments to last me for a while."
She shrugged, and took down another book. "It's not my fault you seem to have trouble accepting compliments. Self-esteem issues, perhaps?" Lara suggested lightly.
"Perhaps." He set one shoulder up against the wall at his back, leaning casually against it, cerulean orbs tracing the lithe curves of her body. "Or perhaps-"
"Can't you just agree for once, instead of arguing with me?"
"No."
"Well try. Being the inferior species of the two of us, you should roll over and play dead once in a while. You know, be submissive." *Not that I actually want you to do that. It makes things more interesting when we're engaged in a battle of wits. But what I would find even more interesting would be us engaged in a battle of tongues.* Lara paused a moment, engrossed in her perusal of his handsome features, then suddenly her last hazy thought solidified within her mind, and she stiffened. *God damn you, Kurtis Trent, you stupid nasty little prick! Stop tempting me, or I'm going to... do something, and it will *not* involve tongues or roaming hands.* she fumed silently, the teasing light dancing in mahogany orbs darkening to an ominous glare.
He raised an eyebrow in response to her dirty look, brow rippling into lines of confusion.
"Keep looking. As you so elegantly put it, 'We don't have time to dick around here.'" Lara ordered, a bit more caustically than she'd intended.
"You started it."
She snorted, head snapping up from the book she'd bent intently over a moment before. "Oh please. Don't you think that's a little childish?"
Kurtis shrugged, without taking his eyes from her. "No more childish than stealing someone's cigarette then putting it down your shirt."
"That was for your own good. It's a bad habit."
"You didn't do it for my own good. You did it just to piss me off."
"Well did it work?"
*Now what would she do if I said 'No it didn't actually, because I was too involved with staring at your breasts, which are very nice by the way.'?* Kurtis thought, then quickly admonished himself, darting a tongue out to moisten dry lips, her taste still clinging thick to the curve of his mouth.
He looked up once more to find her staring expectantly at him.
"You look a little distracted. Did your brain just short out?"
"Thanks for acknowledging that I have a brain." he replied sardonically, absently cracking his knuckles.
"You're right-I was a bit hasty with that last comment, wasn't I? I apologize." She returned to her reading, and he shook his head again, even as a happy warmth spread throughout his chest, feeling a strange contentment at trading snappy comebacks with this headstrong and beautiful woman.
"Kurtis, I think I've found something." Lara murmured a second later, crooking a finger at him. He crossed obediently to her side, and took hold of a corner of the book for himself, gently tilting it so he could read. Their shoulders brushed lightly as they stood sharing the tome, and he willed away the tingle that flared all down his arm.
"It's a map, of a Lux Veritatis temple located in...Egypt." Lara explained, the sentence dying into a whisper on the last word.
Kurtis glanced over at her, his eyes caressing wan flesh. She looked savagely ill for a moment, before regaining composure and steeling herself. He tucked this reaction away in the back of his mind, surprised at this slip in her normally unshakable exterior.
"There are no Lux Veritatis temples in Egypt," he replied calmly. "The Lux Veritatis were based here, in Prague, and in Paris, and Turkey. There's no reason for there to be a temple in Egypt." He nudged her fingers slightly out of the way, and squinted at the scrawled writing which had been concealed by her slender fingertips only a moment before.
"It *says* Egypt." she said stubbornly, a bit pissed at being contradicted.
"It's not. This depicts a small part of South America. A small part of the Amazon, to be specific."
"And how do you know this?"
"Because there is a Lux Veritatis temple in South America. It's where I was initiated into the Lux Veritatis order, when I was very young."
"I thought you said the Lux Veritatis were based in Prague, Paris, and Turkey. None of those are in South America."
"Right, because this temple isn't a regular one. The temple in South America is where any family of Lux Veritatis members were taken to be initiated. That was the only purpose it ever served. It hasn't been used in twenty years, maybe more."
She knit both brows and caught the fullness of her bottom lip between gnawing teeth. "Why go to such trouble and build a temple that isn't even used very often?"
"I don't know. It was built thousand of years ago, but you're welcome to ask the creators."
"You're hilarious, Kurtis. I don't know how I ever got along without your comic genius before." Lara said dryly.
He smirked and ignored the gibe. "This is where the 4th shard is?"
"The passage talks about three Periapt Shards, and another one, more powerful than the other three combined, but also more dangerous." She touched a section of the page, indicating the passage she spoke of.
He tipped his to head see it better, tousled dark hair whispering lightly against the side of Lara's own head. She shifted uncomfortably, recalling all too vividly the brief kiss they had shared only an hour earlier.
"This is it." Kurtis breathed, and his lips curved in a genuine smile, the expression irritatingly adorable. "The 4th Shard is here. My father marked the map as one of Egypt to throw anyone else off. That's why the map isn't very detailed; anyone who took a quick look would accept it as part of Egypt, so the 4th Shard wouldn't fall into the wrong hands. It's almost coded, in a way."
"Then how can you be sure it's a picture of the temple in South America?" Lara asked skeptically.
"Don't trust me?" he replied, sneaking a look at her out of the corner of one eye.
"It's not that I don't trust you," she assured him, though in truth she realized that she could not completely place all trust in this man. She'd seen too much, suffered betrayal at the hands of too many 'friends' to blindly follow someone just because of a fierce attraction. "Just your powers of deduction."
"Because I'm a dick?" Kurtis asked, smiling.
"No, because you have no brain."
"I thought it was customary of women to recognize that a man has a brain, but that it's in his-"
Lara thrust up a hand. "Please, no discussions of your anatomy. I'm not sure my stomach could take it."
He chuckled, and the unfamiliar sound fell pleasantly on waiting ears. Removing the book from her grasp, he tore the page free of its binding in a swift, rough motion. "We're going to need scuba equipment." he said, deftly folding the map and slipping it into a front pocket.
"What for?"
"The temple entrance is underwater."
"Terrific. What is it with you Lux Veritatis and your obsession with putting vaults and temples in hard-to-reach places?"
"Makes things more interesting. You could use some excitement in your life."
"Yes, because God knows I don't have enough of that." Lara responded sarcastically.
"Quit complaining, Croft. We have a fucking temple to break into."
A/N: There, they kissed. That was a sneak preview for what could be to come. ;)
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em. I hope you can figure that out by now.
Chapter Six
_______________________________________________________________________
Derelict Apartment
Prague, August 10th, 2003
He was gone.
Vanished, without a word to her, no indication of where he might have disappeared to. Only the faintest remnants of his scent lingered, an enticing mixture of soap and aftershave.
His pack remained, however, giving the impression that he would be back. But the fact that he'd just taken off pissed her off to no end, a somewhat unexpected reaction that surprised Lara. *What the hell do I care if the damn fathead has gone off on his own?*
The argument did nothing to lessen her feelings of abandonment, but the gun he'd slipped unnoticed into her holster did persuade her against putting a boot up his ass the moment he returned. *I'll just bloody his nose.*
She rose now, muscles uncoiling painfully, stiff from long disuse. Her body ached fiercely, each twinge of protest testament to the hardness of the floor on which she'd spent the night.
"And that damn Yank refused to get a bloody hotel room." she muttered, shaking her head and scowling. He'd truly earned her wrath this morning; mostly because she found herself in the mood to bitch at him, and he didn't even have the decency to hang around and bear the brunt of her obscenities.
Scowling once more, Lara loosened the weapon strapped to her right thigh, and hefted it in a slender hand. Nine millimeter semi-auto; a Glock, to be specific. Light, concealable, an altogether nice little pistol. She preferred something with a bit heavier firepower, but this would do for now. It fit snugly within the depths of her palm, sleek metal glistening beneath dancing sunlight.
The sunlight drew her attention for a moment, keen gaze surging to the far wall and the ragged hole streaming warm golden illumination. "Well, at least it isn't raining here all the time."
*And Kurtis got me a rather nice gun. I suppose I can probably forgive him for being an annoying ass and making me like him even when I don't want to. After I bloody his nose.*
Dark eyes fell now on the partially unzipped backpack he carried with him, and Lara's new firearm disappeared absently into worn leather. She crossed almost unbidden to the crumpled object, and crouched beside it.
"He wouldn't have left this out if he didn't secretly want me going through it."
It was a sneaky move, rendered out of a fierce need to know more about her mysterious companion. He would not be pleased, she knew, to return and find her rummaging about in his belongings. She, herself, for that matter, would have clubbed him upside the head had she caught him doing precisely what she herself now was. It was a breach in privacy, and thrust pangs of guilt briefly throughout her.
She shoved them aside, and jerked the bag open. Its contents lay in darkness, the ill lighting in their temporary home lending little assistance. Impatient, Lara unclipped her flashlight and snapped it on, turning its beam on Kurtis' pack.
*Clothes...chewing gum...that explains his good breath. 'You had something in your eye' my bloody ass. Little prick probably planned the whole thing, hoping he could cop a feel on me because he's been sex-deprived for years or something.*
She rifled quickly through various items of clothing, tossing each aside.
Searching fingertips brushed a cold and hard object. She palmed it, its chill exterior shivering her entire body.
It rested cold and silent against the leather of one fingerless glove, her startled features reflected in glittering silver. Pale azure illumination sizzled along a sharp and deadly blade, nipping lightly at the bare flesh of Lara's fingertips.
She blinked, full lips parting slightly in shock.
* * *
Kurtis purchased a newspaper from a street vendor and clutched it in one hand, coarse paper whispering against the callused pads of his fingertips. He walked briskly, with purpose, eyes focused intently ahead. The cold hardness of his features persuaded any passerby's to refrain from friendly greeting, the darkness swirling in the steely-gazed of this hardened man prompting all to skirt widely around him.
His Boran X and Chirugai bobbed at either side, clearly visible to the naked eye, awakening fear in many. They eyed him warily, and shrank before his intimidating presence.
*Coffee, maybe? I could use some caffeine. A different place from the one where Lara and I stopped, yesterday, though. Don't want to risk running into her just yet.*
He would have to return to the derelict apartment they'd spent the night in, and soon. They didn't have the luxury of fucking around while Karel was in some foreign country breeding little evil half-angel half-human hybrids into existence. But she was awaiting him, no doubt awake by now, mahogany orbs sparkling with warmth and life, that slender body curved perfectly to fit his own. Lips full and crimson, slightly parted in welcome...
Kurtis shook his head briskly, pissed at himself. *I already almost lost it in the coffee house yesterday. If she hadn't stopped me I would have kissed her. What the fuck am I doing? I've never wanted or needed a woman in my life before.* He'd never wanted or needed *anyone* in his life, preferring instead to lone it, particularly after his father's violent death.
*Flashback*
Kurtis woke languidly to the length of a warm, shapely body pressed all along him. A slight smile tugged at his lips, this warmth undulating pleasantly all throughout his body. The softness cradled against his strong chest pressed closer, its heart thrumming powerfully, mingling as one with the drumming rhythm of his own. He reveled in this heat, this feeling of security and happiness, such as he had never before experienced.
He felt each supple curve meld to the hardness of his own body. Such soft, lithe grace in this slender body, and yet he sensed an unnatural power in the taut and toned muscles.
*Lara.* he realized, and jerked upright. *Oh shit.*
They tore themselves from one another, looking slightly mortified, untangling limbs with downcast gazes.
*End Flashback*
Now, remembering, Kurtis shook his head once more. There could be no more of this. She'd gotten too close for comfort.
* * *
Lab Cambodia, August 10th, 2003
*Such a waste.* Joachim Karel thought, contemplating the grisly visage before him.
It clung spasming and vomiting to the very table on which it had been born, the horrible retching noises reverberating within sensitive ears. Blood geysered from between lips parted in a shriek of agony, carmine gore painting the steel beneath the creature's writhing body.
This one had lasted an entire night, longer than any of the others. Karel had clung to the hope that he'd finally succeeded, that this was the beginning of the 'benign new order' he'd spoken of to the lovely Lara Croft. But this one was dying, just as all the others had, its organs decaying, innards rotting at an astonishing rate.
It arched upward in another spasm of torment, the scream that tore vocal cords purely primal, echoing throughout the small room. A tongue thrashed from between gnashing teeth, blackened and corrupt, dangling limply against now still lips. A final twitch, and the beast contorted in Death's posture. It settled into reluctant acquiescence, head drooping to a final rest in pooling vomit.
Silence fell thickly.
"Gunderson, has your team in Prague retrieved Lara Croft and Kurtis Trent yet?" Karel asked quietly, moving forward to the single operating table. He snapped off the overhead light, throwing thin and severe features into blackness.
The tall, imposing figure standing nearby shifted in his thick boots. "No. They have made two attempts so far, and failed both."
Ebony orbs surged to dull and cool verdant ones. "Interesting."
"We will have them, Karel. You can be sure of that."
"I've given you plenty of time. Tell your men in Prague to double their efforts. I am afraid the Great Work may not be finished without those two."
"They are an efficient team. And the male has...special powers."
"Yes, that was known before. He's a Lux Veritatis initiate, though not a full member of the order. His father was an important figure in the Lux Veritatis, until he was murdered by Eckhardt a couple of years ago."
"He worked for me once, years ago. He's an extraordinary man; invincible, it would seem. Some of the messes he survived..."
"That's to be expected. He trained diligently with the Lux Veritatis for many years, and was considered special even among them. And the Lady Croft, as well, is known for her keen survival skills. You have told me nothing I don't already know."
"The Proto Nephili even lost those two, the other night during a retrieval mission. Trent was injured, though apparently not fatally so. He escaped with the Croft woman on a motorcycle, and put the van my men were using out of commission."
"Take caution. I do not want either of them damaged. At least not for now. Their bodies will be abused enough when I get hold of them. But until then, they must remain intact."
"I'll inform my men."
Karel smiled, a touch of wickedness curving thin lips.
* * *
"I didn't realize I was keeping company with an assassin."
Kurtis paused in the entrance, his gaze lifting to the brunette standing before him. She knit both eyebrows and hurled something at his feet, its bulk clattering to a reluctant rest against the toe of his left boot.
Slender arms crossed over an ample chest. Mahogany orbs surged to cerulean ones, their gazes twining and holding for a single moment.
Slowly, almost lethargically, Kurtis tore his eyes from her, and crouched to examine the object glittering at his feet. Both thick brows lifted in shock, and he looked quickly toward Lara once again. "What the hell are you doing with this?"
She smiled coldly. "Found it in your bag. I realize that wasn't very polite of me-to go through your belongings, but then again, politeness has never been a major factor in our...relationship, or whatever the hell you want to call this."
"You had no right to do that." Kurtis said coolly, closing strong fingers around the object's handle.
"Yes. You're right. But I was curious as to who exactly I was dealing with. You're not exactly forthcoming with information about your past."
"And you are?"
Lara paused, full lips parted as though to retort. Then she shook her head, loosened strands of hair swaying lightly before stormy eyes. "The design on that dagger is one of an ancient order of Assassins who call themselves the 'Plague.' An adequate description for an assassination brotherhood which has been around for over a hundred years. I bet you didn't know I knew that, did you? I've run into a few of their henchmen over the years. I never considered the thought that you might be one of them."
He tucked the dagger carefully in his belt and rose to face her, darkness swirling now in the beautiful depths of his intense gaze. "I'm not an assassin. This was given to me by my father several years ago."
"Then your father was an assassin."
He struck her with such force she stumbled backward, color flaming in one high cheekbone. Pain numbed the entire right side of Lara's face, its chill touch caressing pallid flesh. She lifted a hand to gingerly probe the tender area, her wide eyes lingering on his shocked face.
Kurtis looked stricken, both shoulders rising and falling in gasped breath, indigo gaze stunned. He peered blankly at the hand which had dealt the powerful blow, the masculine fingers trembling.
She took him down in a swift, mighty tackle, their limbs intertwining as his legs gave beneath his swaying body. He drooped limply beneath her fury, placid and docile, not even attempting to fight back as Lara hooked both legs around his hard waist. She straddled him, pinning his larger mass under her, one gloved hand landing several hefty punches to his strong jaw.
He closed his eyes against the vicious onslaught, still breathing heavily.
"Don't do that again." Lara hissed, and he felt her breath fall harsh and ragged against his ear.
He'd never meant to harm her. The act had not been pre-meditated; his strike had been born out of fury and momentary insanity, so blinded by anger had he been. His blood still surged hot through throbbing veins, boiling at the suggestion that his father had been anything other than the decent human being Kurtis had grown up with. Slowly, the pulsing liquid cooled, its furious churning slowing as a single thought reverberated in the depths of his mind.
*I hit her.*
He felt ashamed, and wondered at such ferocious loss of his control. Had his father's death really driven him to acts of brutality against a woman not even half his size?
Blood stirred within the warmth of his mouth, and foamed thick to dry lips. It traversed the strong curve of his chin, flowing warm across her fingertips.
Lara ceased all movement, freezing against his body. She rolled free of him, and pushed herself to her feet.
He touched gentle fingers to his streaming mouth, wiping aside dripping carmine fluid. Slowly, with a grunt, Kurtis propped himself up on one elbow, and drew his knees to his chest.
Lara helped him wordlessly to his feet, and he peered upward, through clinging bangs at her stony features.
"Sorry." He reached to set a callused palm lightly against the curve of her cheekbone, gently cupping bruising flesh. "You pack a good punch."
"Yes, and a good kick as well, which you'll find out first-hand if you don't take your hand off me."
Kurtis pulled away obediently, and turned his back on her, crossing stiffly to his backpack. "You're wrong about my father." he said quietly, feeling the anger build inside him once again. "He was a good man."
*I should have kept my big mouth shut.* Lara realized. She'd known this was a touchy subject for him, and to accuse his deceased father whom he obviously loved very much of being an assassin, whether this was true or not, had been downright slimy.
Her eyes slipped unbidden to the curve of his back as he leaned over his bag to replace the dagger.
She strode to her own pack, and seated herself beside it. "Kurtis-"
He swung around to look at her, and the cerulean fire of those intense orbs halted her words mid-sentence. He pit a hand against the floor to steady himself, his perusal of her thorough.
Neither spoke for a moment. Then she said, haltingly, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have spoken about your father like that."
He said nothing, still studying her.
"You're bruising." Kurtis said finally.
"Yes, well that happens when a big ape knocks you upside the head." she retorted, arching both brows in a cross look.
His gaze dropped from hers. "Can't say you didn't get your chance to give it back to me." He stood. "Let me see it."
"I'm sure you can see it just fine from over there, and if you can't, I suggest a visit to the eyedoctor. He'll fit you with a nice pair of glasses for your aging eyes."
"You're a stubborn ass."
"Yes, as opposed to being just an ass, like some people I could mention."
Kurtis shook his head, a soft sigh parting crimson-painted lips. He hefted his pack in one strong hand, and slipped its strap over a broad shoulder. "We don't have time to dick around here. We need the 4th shard, and then we need to find Karel. We've wasted too much time as it is."
"I'm a lady. I don't 'dick' around. That's an action only dicks are capable of. Which is a fairly accurate description of a certain-"
He thrust up a hand in acquiescence. "Look, you've made your point, Lara. You hate me, I'm a dick. It's nothing I haven't heard before."
"Bad luck with the ladies?" she asked sweetly, without shifting from her position. She looked in no hurry to go anywhere, and Kurtis wondered with a brief flash of panic if he'd just lost his 'partner.'
He crouched before her, and cupped a shapely knee in one work-roughened palm. She felt the slow passage of his thumb against her kneecap, its warmth undulating pleasantly throughout her body.
"Let's just call a truce." Kurtis said, and extended his free hand.
She peered into those twin indigo pools, their depths cold and indifferent once more, sheathing any emotions he might be experiencing. *Bloody hell. I just can't seem to hate this man. He could probably kill Karel and then decide that he wanted to take over the world with the evil Nephilim army, and I'd look at him all starry-eyed and agree to be his right-hand woman in his quest for world domination.*
Reluctantly, she took his hand in a powerful grip, the weight of her slender hand resting heavy in his own for a brief moment.
A slight smile curved his lips, the mouth which held her captivated crusted in carmine flakes, the angry slashes of red waning to brown as his blood dried and congealed against soft flesh.
"A truce." Lara agreed.
They held hands a moment longer than was appropriate, and seemed to notice at the same instant. Both sets of fingers disentangled quickly, two pairs of hands thrusting automatically to waiting pockets.
Lara rose to join him, briskly dusting her hands. "So, where to next, oh fearless leader?" a twinge of sarcasm distorted her voice.
"There's only one other place I can think of that might have information on the 4th shard." he replied quietly, face hardening.
* * *
He picked the door's lock swiftly, with such skill that she suspected he'd had plenty of practice at this kind of thing.
They slipped into the study's darkened interior with hardly a sound, staying close to one another. She felt his shoulder brush her own and drew slightly away, unnerved by his closeness. One slender hand cupped the butt of the Glock, fingers closing securely around cold steel.
His breathing intensified, the inhalations more ragged now, the broad shoulders heaving with difficulty, almost as though he were having trouble breathing. Full lips parted in surprise, both eyebrows lifting. She released her gun and touched his arm, dark eyes converging warily on his face. "Kurtis?"
"Start searching the place." he replied brusquely, and shook her off.
She watched him a moment, following the smooth, muscular movements, his stride powerful and mesmerizing. His face lay bathed in darkness, thick shadows falling heavy across his familiar body.
Shaking her head to clear it of inappropriate thoughts, Lara moved to the desk before her, its surface laid bare to the moonlight streaming in through a single window. "Is this place used anymore?" she asked quietly.
He seemed oblivious to her question. Slowly, Kurtis crouched at the foot of the desk, one large hand drifting lightly across hard wood, a moody pensiveness seizing handsome features.
Lara's brow rippled into lines of confusion.
Then, unbidden, her gaze shifted to the floor beneath his hunched figure, its mahogany luster marred by a faint chestnut stain. Blood? Lara thought. And suddenly, she understood. "This was your father's office." There was no question present within the quiet tone of her voice.
Kurtis darted a glance almost absently toward her.
She rounded the desk to join him, and kneeled at his side. He contemplated her from beneath concealing bangs, then drew his hand back, placing it on one knee. "Yes. This is where I...found him."
His voice wafted shakily to her ears. She glanced to the hand lying clenched and trembling on a jean-clad knee, and draped a hand softly across his shoulder. "Eckhardt murdered a man named Werner Von Croy during my first visit to Paris." she said quietly, deciding to omit the fact that it had actually been Karel who'd committed the atrocity, deciding it was too complicated a matter to delve into at this moment. "My friend. For a while, he was more like a father to me than my own father ever was." Mahogany orbs surged to the nearby window, to focus on the stars twinkling as far-off diamonds.
Kurtis listened silently.
"I wish it had been me to drive the 3rd shard through the fucker's brain. If not for me, then maybe for you. Despite the fact that you are a dick," and she broke off, full lips curving slightly, eyes dancing for a moment. He smirked. "We're two of a kind. I suppose I felt guilty that it wasn't me who killed Eckhardt, that I hadn't completed either my or your revenge."
"It wasn't your job to get revenge for me." he replied quietly, studying her beautiful profile.
"No. But it was partially my fault that you weren't there to avenge your father's death."
"I stayed behind to fight Boaz. It was my choice. And I had my chance to get the 3rd shard-and they caught me."
"You're right. It was entirely your fault."
"Thanks, Lara." he responded, with a slight smile.
"You're welcome, Kurtis."
Their gazes surged to twine as one, both studying one another intently for a moment. Lara felt a breath catch and lie suspended in the interior of her throat. Her fingers stirred lightly against the thin material of his T-shirt.
"Sorry about your friend." he said quietly, the expelled breath accompanying his words wafting gently across her face, so near to his own.
Then, as she parted full lips to speak, he leaned in, with such swiftness she had no time to react. His lips descended on hers with the lightest of pressure, the brush of his mouth across her own as soft and silent as a whisper. His masculine scent filled her nostrils, the pleasant aroma prompting a shudder throughout her entire body.
Their combined body heat thrust away the invading chill of the long abandoned office, embracing her slender body in its comforting warmth. She sank slowly to both knees, turning to fully face him. Their torsos touched briefly, electrically, as his mouth lingered soft and tentative against hers.
As Kurtis felt her shift positions he jerked roughly away, tumbling backward to land on his ass, both palms connecting with hard floor to cease his motion. They peered wide-eyed at one another, both chests rising and falling in rapidly gasped breath.
He tore his eyes from hers a moment later, and scrambled upright, ashamed at his sudden loss of control. *What the fuck am I doing?*
* * *
"If your father knew so much about the 4th Shard, why didn't we come here first?" Lara asked, rifling a thick sheaf of papers nestled within the depths of one desk drawer.
"I said he knew it existed. I didn't say he knew where it was located."
"Well, that's extremely helpful." She slammed a drawer shut, having found nothing of any use, and took a moment to scan the room, seeking a new potential hiding place. "If we don't find any information on this damn thing soon, I'm going to get very cranky."
"He must have kept something on the 4th Shard here. There has to be some kind of documentation on it. It might give us a hint where to start looking." Kurtis replied.
"You know what would make me very happy?" *Besides grabbing your adorable little head and shoving my tongue down your throat? Oops, where did that thought come from?* Brilliant color flamed in high cheekbones, and she turned from him so he would not notice.
"Let me guess: a cheeseburger and fries."
"You're incredibly witty, and no."
"I try."
Lara rolled her eyes and strode to the bookcase against the far wall, her deft fingers selecting a book at random and slipping the dusty tome from its resting place. She flipped it open, briefly perusing its contents.
"Well don't keep me breathless with anticipation, Croft."
Her head snapped up. "What?"
"What would make you very happy?"
"If the 4th Shard reared its ugly little head in this office, and we could concentrate on killing Karel right away instead of traipsing off to God knows where to pick up a piece of glass."
"It's not just a piece of glass."
She waved a hand dissmissively in the air. "Yes, I know. But all the same, it's an awful damn lot of trouble."
"You just don't appreciate it the way you should."
"Don't be a prick. And don't lecture me about having appreciation for ancient artifacts of significant importance. I've had enough experience in the field of archaeology to know they deserve a certain amount of..."
"Admiration?"
"Actually, I was going to say respect. Nasty things tend to happen when you don't have enough respect; flying darts, rolling boulders, fire-breathing statues, falling walls."
"And you would know this from experience?"
"You could say that."
Kurtis shook his head, hiding a smile as he spun to examine the wall beside him. He traced callused fingertips across its surface, feeling carefully for any indications of concealed nooks. "What first brought you to Paris a couple months ago, when we first met? Eckhardt?"
"No, actually. A compelling feeling that there was a gorgeous hunk of a man waiting to ride me off into the sunset on his motorcycle. I suppose my intuitions aren't always correct; I found you instead."
He ceased all motion, and turned to face her, crossing both arms over his chest.
She shot him a sly look.
Kurtis lifted both thick brows and smirked. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Take it for whatever you'd like it to mean. However, I feel compelled to point out that there's really only one conclusion to be drawn. And that would be- "
He thrust up a hand in aquiscience. "Thanks, but I think I've had enough of your ego-boosting compliments to last me for a while."
She shrugged, and took down another book. "It's not my fault you seem to have trouble accepting compliments. Self-esteem issues, perhaps?" Lara suggested lightly.
"Perhaps." He set one shoulder up against the wall at his back, leaning casually against it, cerulean orbs tracing the lithe curves of her body. "Or perhaps-"
"Can't you just agree for once, instead of arguing with me?"
"No."
"Well try. Being the inferior species of the two of us, you should roll over and play dead once in a while. You know, be submissive." *Not that I actually want you to do that. It makes things more interesting when we're engaged in a battle of wits. But what I would find even more interesting would be us engaged in a battle of tongues.* Lara paused a moment, engrossed in her perusal of his handsome features, then suddenly her last hazy thought solidified within her mind, and she stiffened. *God damn you, Kurtis Trent, you stupid nasty little prick! Stop tempting me, or I'm going to... do something, and it will *not* involve tongues or roaming hands.* she fumed silently, the teasing light dancing in mahogany orbs darkening to an ominous glare.
He raised an eyebrow in response to her dirty look, brow rippling into lines of confusion.
"Keep looking. As you so elegantly put it, 'We don't have time to dick around here.'" Lara ordered, a bit more caustically than she'd intended.
"You started it."
She snorted, head snapping up from the book she'd bent intently over a moment before. "Oh please. Don't you think that's a little childish?"
Kurtis shrugged, without taking his eyes from her. "No more childish than stealing someone's cigarette then putting it down your shirt."
"That was for your own good. It's a bad habit."
"You didn't do it for my own good. You did it just to piss me off."
"Well did it work?"
*Now what would she do if I said 'No it didn't actually, because I was too involved with staring at your breasts, which are very nice by the way.'?* Kurtis thought, then quickly admonished himself, darting a tongue out to moisten dry lips, her taste still clinging thick to the curve of his mouth.
He looked up once more to find her staring expectantly at him.
"You look a little distracted. Did your brain just short out?"
"Thanks for acknowledging that I have a brain." he replied sardonically, absently cracking his knuckles.
"You're right-I was a bit hasty with that last comment, wasn't I? I apologize." She returned to her reading, and he shook his head again, even as a happy warmth spread throughout his chest, feeling a strange contentment at trading snappy comebacks with this headstrong and beautiful woman.
"Kurtis, I think I've found something." Lara murmured a second later, crooking a finger at him. He crossed obediently to her side, and took hold of a corner of the book for himself, gently tilting it so he could read. Their shoulders brushed lightly as they stood sharing the tome, and he willed away the tingle that flared all down his arm.
"It's a map, of a Lux Veritatis temple located in...Egypt." Lara explained, the sentence dying into a whisper on the last word.
Kurtis glanced over at her, his eyes caressing wan flesh. She looked savagely ill for a moment, before regaining composure and steeling herself. He tucked this reaction away in the back of his mind, surprised at this slip in her normally unshakable exterior.
"There are no Lux Veritatis temples in Egypt," he replied calmly. "The Lux Veritatis were based here, in Prague, and in Paris, and Turkey. There's no reason for there to be a temple in Egypt." He nudged her fingers slightly out of the way, and squinted at the scrawled writing which had been concealed by her slender fingertips only a moment before.
"It *says* Egypt." she said stubbornly, a bit pissed at being contradicted.
"It's not. This depicts a small part of South America. A small part of the Amazon, to be specific."
"And how do you know this?"
"Because there is a Lux Veritatis temple in South America. It's where I was initiated into the Lux Veritatis order, when I was very young."
"I thought you said the Lux Veritatis were based in Prague, Paris, and Turkey. None of those are in South America."
"Right, because this temple isn't a regular one. The temple in South America is where any family of Lux Veritatis members were taken to be initiated. That was the only purpose it ever served. It hasn't been used in twenty years, maybe more."
She knit both brows and caught the fullness of her bottom lip between gnawing teeth. "Why go to such trouble and build a temple that isn't even used very often?"
"I don't know. It was built thousand of years ago, but you're welcome to ask the creators."
"You're hilarious, Kurtis. I don't know how I ever got along without your comic genius before." Lara said dryly.
He smirked and ignored the gibe. "This is where the 4th shard is?"
"The passage talks about three Periapt Shards, and another one, more powerful than the other three combined, but also more dangerous." She touched a section of the page, indicating the passage she spoke of.
He tipped his to head see it better, tousled dark hair whispering lightly against the side of Lara's own head. She shifted uncomfortably, recalling all too vividly the brief kiss they had shared only an hour earlier.
"This is it." Kurtis breathed, and his lips curved in a genuine smile, the expression irritatingly adorable. "The 4th Shard is here. My father marked the map as one of Egypt to throw anyone else off. That's why the map isn't very detailed; anyone who took a quick look would accept it as part of Egypt, so the 4th Shard wouldn't fall into the wrong hands. It's almost coded, in a way."
"Then how can you be sure it's a picture of the temple in South America?" Lara asked skeptically.
"Don't trust me?" he replied, sneaking a look at her out of the corner of one eye.
"It's not that I don't trust you," she assured him, though in truth she realized that she could not completely place all trust in this man. She'd seen too much, suffered betrayal at the hands of too many 'friends' to blindly follow someone just because of a fierce attraction. "Just your powers of deduction."
"Because I'm a dick?" Kurtis asked, smiling.
"No, because you have no brain."
"I thought it was customary of women to recognize that a man has a brain, but that it's in his-"
Lara thrust up a hand. "Please, no discussions of your anatomy. I'm not sure my stomach could take it."
He chuckled, and the unfamiliar sound fell pleasantly on waiting ears. Removing the book from her grasp, he tore the page free of its binding in a swift, rough motion. "We're going to need scuba equipment." he said, deftly folding the map and slipping it into a front pocket.
"What for?"
"The temple entrance is underwater."
"Terrific. What is it with you Lux Veritatis and your obsession with putting vaults and temples in hard-to-reach places?"
"Makes things more interesting. You could use some excitement in your life."
"Yes, because God knows I don't have enough of that." Lara responded sarcastically.
"Quit complaining, Croft. We have a fucking temple to break into."
A/N: There, they kissed. That was a sneak preview for what could be to come. ;)