I have been overloaded with creativity today, so I've been churning out chapters like nothing you have ever seen. If this isn't up to standard I'm sorry. P.S. If you want to know what Raven would look like in reality, the closest thing to him you could find would be Travis Fimmel (do a web picture search). I am utterly in love with him.

Joining Forces

Chapter 12 – Bloodhounds

Lara dragged herself out of bed, drank the tea that Hilary had brought for her, ordered breakfast (fruit salad, French toast and a cappuccino), had a shower and managed to get dressed in her jeans. She was just about to pull on a thin v-necked jumper when there was a knock at the door.

'Come in.' she called, thinking it was Hilary. It was Kurtis, who turned a very fetching shade of pink. He made to leave the room. Lara sighed. 'Ah. Don't tell me you have never seen a woman in a bra before?' Her head disappeared under the material for a second.

'Wow. You really don't care?' He sounded embarrassed still.

'Well I've seen you with your shirt off before. If you were my butler you'd have seen a lot more than that.' She laughed out loud at the now burning red color of his cheeks. 'Anyway, I'm sure you came in here for a reason other than to see what color underwear I'm wearing. What's up?'

He cleared his throat. 'It's this morning's newspaper.' Lara saw him drop the paper onto the bed. On the front page was a large photograph of her in Kurtis' embrace.

'Crap.'

'I figured something like this would happen. I told Bryce about what happened at the airport yesterday. He intercepted the paper from the mailman on his way to delivering it. He said Hilary would go apesh--.'

'At least it's just some stupid tabloid. It's not like it's...' Kurtis dropped The Times onto the bed, opened at the fourth page. 'Bloody unbelievable. Bloodhounds the lot of them.' She steadied herself by grabbing hold of his arm and he saw that saw look of panic in her eyes as he had the day before. Once again he pulled her close. Unfortunately for the pair, like gravity, Murphy's Law is unbreakable. At that exact second Hilary burst in, looking furious.

'Have you seen today's papers? They're saying that you and your friend Kurtis are...' He stopped in his tracks when he saw the two together. 'Oh Christ, you are.'

They immediately dropped each other like they were on fire. 'Ug. You can explain. I'm going to go quiz Bryce about that third paper.' Lara stamped out the room.

'Well you're not gonna believe this but...'

Lara stepped out of the Mercedes. She had received a call from a friend at one of the Sunday national papers. They wanted to set up an interview with her at the Ritz for their Sunday supplement magazine. Val, her friend had seen the article and had figured that Lara could get her side of the story across and Val's paper would sell copies.

When Lara entered the room, the whole place went quiet. She had made the extra effort to appear glamorous and in control. Her brown hair was curled and partly piled elegantly on the top of her head. She was wearing black heels, black shirt and a black knee-length skirt.

'Val!'

'Lara!' The two women hugged briefly and Valleera gestured for Lara to sit on the couch behind her. The tape machine was set up and Lara was ready to make herself heard, something she didn't need a gun for. At least she had the thought of a coffee with Val to look forward to.

When the interview had finished, Lara stood, she shook hands and she smiled. She had to put up a strong front. The two things she hated most about her country were the government and the press. Well the press may have won the battle, but she was fully intent on winning the war.

Just as she was thinking this, a man walked up to her. He had long goldy- blonde hair and the singularly most beautiful face she had ever seen. He looked a little like an angel, but with a possible dark side. She could have sworn she had seen him before.

'Excuse me. My name is Raven Angel.' He said. 'Fitting', Lara thought. 'I am Valleera's husband.'

'Oh! Of course! I thought I recognized you! The wedding pictures that Val sent me!' Lara had wished she could have gone to the wedding, but she was "dead" at the time. Although she had never met Raven before, she could tell he suited Val very well.

'Ah I see you have met my husband!' Called Valleera. 'Do you mind if he joins us for a drink?'

'Of course I don't mind. Let me get my jacket.'

Lara never saw the look Valleera and Raven shared.