Chapter 6:
Summary: And finally…those of you who have been in for the long haul get your erotic payoff! Not too explicit actually, somehow that wouldn't be appropriate for our favourite couple, but steamy and suggestive enough…
The day before she was due to fly out to Peru, Lara was more restless than she had ever been. Ever since her confrontation with Hillary in the training room, she had remained keyed up and confused about her feelings. She kept thinking back to how she felt when she was crushed beneath him; how good it felt to have his body pressed against hers and how she'd wished that they could stay that way forever. She knew that he found her attractive, and that his sudden burst of dominance when he had pinned her to the floor was his way of hiding his own arousal at her presence. She also knew exactly why he had refused to discuss the changing dynamic in their relationship; it wasn't his place.
Well, bugger what he thought his place was. She was off to Peru tomorrow for God knew how long, and she didn't want this…thing…whatever it was, hanging over her head, distracting her from her mission. She resolved to have it out with Hillary before she left in the morning.
The afternoon was hot and muggy, and Lara could feel the humidity in the air like a warm blanket. As she descended to the lower levels of the Manor, she felt the temperature drop to a more manageable cool, and was immediately soothed. She had arranged to meet Hillary in the cellar, to carry out the last checks of the equipment that she needed to take with her to Peru. She intended to travel light but defensively, with the bare minimum of supplies, a first aid kit and a pair of pistols. As she descended the steps to the cellar where the equipment was being kept, she had the advantage over Hillary, who was bent over her rucksack on the ancient worktable. Lara took a moment to admire Hillary's broad back in the beautifully cut tailcoat and to fantasise about touching the exposed nape of his neck as he busied himself with the contents of the rucksack. In the far corner of the room lay an old settee, so covered with cobwebs that its Axminster pattern could barely be distinguished. Overspill from the wine cellar in the next cavernous room lay stacked neatly in wooden racks on the right hand wall and the dust over the candelabra bulbs gave the room a cosier glow than it deserved (rumour had it that after the invention of electricity the fourth Lord Croft had had the electric candelabra installed so that he could seduce his wife's maidservants in the cellar under new-fangled electric light).
"Is everything ready?" She asked Hillary from her vantage point on the stairs.
Hillary started at her voice, as if he had been lost in some private reverie. "Yes, my Lady, everything is as it should be." He turned away from the table to face her as she walked across the room to the table. The hazy light of the candelabra softened the contours of his face and cast a warm glow over his skin. Lara took a deep breath and joined him by the table.
Checking the straps of the rucksack, Lara picked up the two pistols and checked the chambers. Finding everything was in its place, she took hold of the neatly folded map that had been put in the front pocket of the rucksack and frowned in concentration. "So this is where the helicopter is setting me down, give or take a few miles," she said, pointing to a region of the map. "And there is where I need to get to on foot." She felt Hillary looking over her left shoulder, and shivered at the sensation of his breath on her neck. Self-consciously, she draped her long ebony plait over the other shoulder so that her neck was further revealed to him.
"Do you see the amount of woodland I'll have to get through between those two places?" Lara murmured, only half-concentrating on the map. Hillary moved a little closer so that he could see more clearly.
"You'll have a pretty hard time getting through that, Lara, it's not woodland, it's solid rock," Hillary corrected with a smile.
"Are you sure?" Lara asked, knowing he was right.
"Of course, look, here's the symbol for woodland, and it's totally different." Hillary reached across the map and pointed to another area. In doing so, his arm brushed Lara's breast. She jumped as if burned by his touch. Hillary blushed.
"I think you're right," Lara replied softly. She looked up at Hillary, who was still pointing somewhat redundantly at the map. "As you are about so many things." Turning slightly, so that she faced him, she looked up into his eyes. Darkened by the soft glow of the candelabra, they looked like two emerald pools flecked with amber. And Hillary's pupils weren't just dilated because of the dim light. He cleared his throat and made to step away from her, but she placed a hand on his arm.
"Did you mean it when you said you thought I was out of shape?" Lara asked him softly. She moved her hand a little further up his arm.
"Well…um…you have been a little…overindulgent lately," Hillary stammered, unnerved by Lara's closeness.
"Really?" Lara asked, her voice little more than a husky whisper. "And how would it make you feel if I overindulged a bit more?" Her insistent fingers worked their way up to Hillary's shoulder. "How would it make you feel if I felt the need to sate myself totally?" Gently, she began to caress the back of Hillary's neck, stroking his short hair and feeling the familiar shudder down the back of her own.
"Lara…please…" Hillary said weakly as her cool fingers stroked and caressed.
"Tell me how you would feel," Lara repeated, drawing closer to Hillary. Her other hand rested lightly against his chest and gently found its way under his tailcoat.
"How would you feel if I wanted to gorge myself until I couldn't take any more?" Her voice was barely audible as she leaned forwards. Slowly and deliberately, she moved closer to Hillary's lips until there was scarcely a breath between them.
"How about…" But her sentence was left in mid air as, with a desperate crushing of lips, Hillary took hold of her, and the situation.
Lara was off guard for a moment, unused to having control taken from her so suddenly. But she had little opportunity for contemplation as she responded ecstatically to his kiss. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she felt Hillary's tongue probing between her lips and she melted against him, a current of pure electricity running up and down her spine and through her body. She heard Hillary moan as he pulled her even closer, grinding his body against hers until they must become one. In moments she was white hot with desire, and from the way that Hillary's hands ran up and down her body, she knew that he wanted her just as badly.
Apprehensive of just how much the aged worktable could take, Lara tried to concentrate once more and, between furious kisses, guided Hillary to the old settee. Trying to push him back against the seat, he countered her and she found herself underneath him for the second time in two days. There was no denying his arousal now, as she lay beneath him. His hands stroked the hair from her eyes and by some miracle managed to unravel the plait that trailed over her right shoulder until her raven mane was loose.
"I want you so much," Lara whispered breathlessly, running her hands through his already dishevelled hair. She began to undo the buttons of his white shirt as Hillary's hands slipped the t-shirt she was wearing over her head, and in very little time their clothes were in a pile on the cellar floor.
"I want you too, Lara," Hillary replied, himself gasping for breath. His usually calm features were flushed with desire and the raw need in his eyes was almost painful. This was a battle that he was unused to fighting, and Lara knew at that moment that he loved her.
They made love with a passion that neither had ever experienced before. Their years of living and training side by side had given them an instinctive rhythm that guided them to a union that was both passionate and tender. As they kissed and caressed with a desperation borne of long-held desire, to Lara, nothing had ever felt so right. Her body responded instinctively to Hillary's touches and she explored his body with the wonderment of one who sees suddenly with new eyes. To her, everything about him was perfect, from his wavy, wildly untidy hair to the lean length of his naked, muscled thighs. For one moment, dominated by Hillary completely, Lara cried out in ecstasy as they became one before her own body rode a crescendo of sensation in time with his. As they both reached the peak of their pleasure, Lara called out again and again, her voice echoing around the cavernous Croft cellar.
Eventually, they rested. Too exhausted to think, Lara lay in Hillary's arms on the old settee. "Have you any idea how long I've wanted to do that?" she asked him, a gentle smile on her face.
"Hopefully as long as I have," Hillary replied, stroking her long dark hair.
Propping herself up on one elbow, Lara looked down into Hillary's green eyes. "I don't have to go to Peru, you know," she said quietly.
Hillary frowned. "Oh yes you do-you gave your word to Jacqueline Natla." He sat up awkwardly. "And we must make sure that you have everything you need to return safely." Gathering up his clothes, he shrugged quickly into his shirt and other garments and passed Lara her jeans and t-shirt.
The passionate spell that had been cast over them had broken; Lara hoped it was only temporary. In a daze, she watched Hillary finish buttoning up his shirt and then put her own clothes back on. She had the vaguest sense of unease, but she tried to brush it aside as she got ready to go back to the main part of the house.
"Hillary?" She questioned, hating the fact that she could hear the insecurity in her own voice.
Hillary didn't quite meet her gaze. "I'll see Cook and arrange some dinner for you," he said quietly as he walked up the stairs to the main house.
Lara watched Hillary's rapidly retreating back and, trying her best to quell her worry at his sudden departure, wandered back up the stairs to her own room.
Chapter 7 coming soon! Return to Fayza's Fanfic page