Chapter One
________________________________________________________________________
Croft Manor
England, May 20th, 2004
She propped booted feet on the table before her, moodily contemplating the swirling depths of the steaming beverage gripped in a white-knuckled hand. Through the window, Lara glimpsed streaming precipitation, the tempest raging outside shaking the window pane with its ferocity.
She'd barricaded herself inside the library hours earlier, with express orders to Winston not to admit anyone. She didn't expect visitors anyway; there hadn't been many after Egypt and the following events in Paris. People feared her, she supposed, even after she'd been cleared of Von Croy's murder.
Her faithful butler, after expressing concern for his mistress and being waved casually aside, had left her to her own thoughts, disturbing Lara only for a moment to bring her a cup of coffee.
"I need to do some reading." she'd explained, fabricating some story about needing to research an important artifact which had recently been discovered in Antarctica. What she really mean by 'reading' was 'fume over an unexpected meeting with Kurtis Trent and sit staring blankly at a disk which might hold the answers to my past.' Neither seemed particularly appealing to her, but they were the only two actions she'd seemed capable of taking since arriving back at her home three days ago.
*Why did *he* have to show his face again?* Lara raged silently, picturing him for what seemed to be the millionth time in the past five minutes. They hadn't set eyes on one another in almost a year; and suddenly there he was, alive and well, precisely as she'd remembered him.
After her release from the hospital, Lara hadn't bothered attempting to track Kurtis down. She suspected the whole situation between them could be summed up as 'love at first sight,' as sappily Disney-like as that sounded. This realization, one she'd come to terms with a long time ago, displeased her to no end, and so she'd been more than happy to take her leave of Kurtis Trent, and forget such a man ever existed. Love had no place in her life.
She'd heard nothing from him in the long period of time they'd been separated. He'd either been killed in his quest to destroy Karel, or had no wish to contact her. She'd suspected the latter; he seemed too much of a resilient little dick to be killed by Joachim Karel.
He could have just as easily come to visit her, had he wished to; her whereabouts were not exactly secret. The fact that he hadn't revealed that his wishes exactly resembled hers; to just be left alone, a hardened, loner adventurer on their own with no constant companion.
*And that's the way I like it.*
Lara took a sip of the coffee, its burning warmth traversing her throat to settle hotly in the pit of her stomach. Restless, she set it aside, and retrieved the disk balanced precariously on one shapely knee.
She twirled it slowly before her, tense features reflected in the circular metal plate embedded in its center. With an effort, Lara banished Kurtis completely from her mind, returning to the problem at hand.
"Egypt." she sighed quietly. "What the hell happened in Egypt?" *A whole important section of my life is missing. Could this disk restore that? Could I use it to find out exactly what happened to me after the temple collapsed? What did Von Croy find out, before he was murdered?*
Full lips curving downward, Lara shifted, upholstery whispering over sun- darkened flesh. She absently fingered the gun strapped to a statuesque thigh, lovingly tracing sleek metal curves.
The disk hovered temptingly before her, gripped loosely between two slender fingers.
It rotated slowly, lethargically as she contemplated it from each angle.
Her dark gaze flicked swiftly to the laptop, lingering a moment, before skipping onward. A sigh parted sumptuous lips. Both eyes slipped briefly closed; then, standing, she set the disk aside and strode to the window.
A small palm touched cool glass, resting lightly against its comforting solidity. She squinted into driving rain, staring into ambulant darkness a moment, before shutting the curtains in an abrupt, savage motion.
* * *
In the blackness, a single light flared.
A lone figure hunched low against the raging storm, huddling against cold cement, dark hair clinging tenaciously to slick flesh. He glanced often to the light burning only a few feet away, its warm illumination piercing the gloomy night to softly paint muddy ground.
The cigarette bucked restlessly in numb fingers.
"Fucking pansy." he murmured, disgusted with himself. He knew the trembling was not due to the cold.
Croft Manor towered far above his dark head, the majestic building startling him when he'd first pulled up to the gate, even though he'd known of her wealth.
He'd arrived nearly an hour earlier, traversing the winding drive on his bike, throttling toward her home at low speed, apprehension thick in the pit of his stomach. Now he perched on her front step, saturated and miserable, moodily contemplating the past nine months. *The past nine Lara- free months. Do I really want her back in my life?*
At first, he hadn't intended to ever see her again. When they'd parted in the hospital, that was to be it. No more Lara, no more distractions. No more attachments to another human being. He'd learned better than that.
Their meeting five days ago changed everything.
Lara's unexpected appearance, once again, had managed to royally fuck up his life in her usual flamboyant style. When he'd cornered her, drawn his gun on her for the third time, then looked into those familiar chestnut eyes, everything else had fled. All other sounds, smells, tastes...only she existed, and he hated her for that. No other adjective could adequately describe the loathing he'd experienced toward her for enthralling him so completely.
He'd caught a plane to England, and broken speed limits driving to her mansion on his bike, only to find himself now too uncertain to knock on her damn door. Did he really want this? There was no legitimate reason to re- open the lines of communication. Karel had disappeared long ago, and Kurtis had busied himself working for semi-legal agencies who needed someone willing to go beyond desk work. He didn't need Lara's help, or her companionship.
*No. I don't need it. Worse; I *want* it.* he thought, and scowled.
Standing, Kurtis flicked the still-glowing cigarette butt into undulating shadows.
His eyes drifted again to the lighted room a mere six feet away.
Golden illumination flickered a moment as a slender figure passed before the window. Then it disappeared completely, obscured by the curtains thrust forcefully across rain-streaked glass.
He stared a moment longer, water traversing the handsome planes of his face, before turning and walking resolutely to his waiting motorcycle.
* * *
It struck forcefully, plunging deep into gleaming wood.
A brief smile graced full lips.
Satisfaction swirled in her dark gaze, both keen eyes coming to rest on the knife handle protruding from a pockmarked section of wall above one of the bookcases. *Funny how destroying things always makes me feel a little better.*
Crossing swiftly to the bookshelf, she leapt, pitting one booted foot against a bottom shelf and stretching lithely to retrieve the embedded weapon.
She dropped once more with a light thud, and tossed the shining blade to the opposite hand, flipping it idly from palm to palm as she retreated to her previous position.
The scored and ravaged wall served as a punching bag of sorts, an outlet for her frustration when she became agitated or needed to work out a problem in her mind. Throwing knives soothed her almost as much as handling her beloved guns, she'd come to learn, and since the weather was too nasty to be out in, much less attempting to best her latest time on the assault course, she'd turned instead to her blades.
Hefting the weapon in a slender hand, Lara gripped its handle firmly, and raised her arm to hurl it several feet across the library.
Her muscles tensed, then relaxed with the sudden fierce movement. The knife contacted with a satisfying thunk. She dusted her palms cockily, in a false show of bravado.
Truth be told, she felt downright shitty. Both Kurtis and Egypt nagged at her, ever-present thoughts she feared would never abandon her. * I'll never be able to sleep tonight.*
A headache raged just behind both temples, drumming fiercely inside her head, a pounding equivalent to a severe hangover. She lifted two fingers to delicately massage her throbbing brow, and draped herself with a breathy sigh over the arm of her favorite chair.
*Shit. Shit shit shit. I suppose I'll take another hot drink and then be off to bed. Maybe a quick dip in the pool will help me feel better.*
A fist thrummed lightly against the library door.
Winston's creased face eclipsed shining wood a moment later, his eyes seeking hers as Lara twisted to face him. "A man stopped by to see you. He said it was important."
"At this time of night, in this kind of weather, it would have to be, wouldn't it? Did you send him away?"
"Yes. I told him you weren't receiving any visitors. He left a minute or two ago."
"Good. Did he leave a name?"
"No. He departed without saying anything."
She smiled a little weakly. "Thank you, Winston. Have a good night. I'll be off to my room in a little while."
He looked fondly at her a moment, then softly whisked the door shut. She listened a moment to his retreating footsteps, their cacophony gradually fading as he retreated deeper into the immense house.
Then, inhaling deeply, Lara retrieved the pilfered disk, and powered up her laptop.
* * *
"Yes. I told him you weren't receiving any visitors. He left a minute or two ago."
Their words drifted muffled and slightly garbled to his waiting ear where it lay pressed against the library window. A smirk curved thin lips. "No he didn't." Kurtis murmured.
He slipped his fingers deftly to the window's sill, smoothing callused fingertips lightly along damp wood, seeking a small opening he might be able to use to break in. Finding nothing, he loosened his Boran X and curved a large palm around it.
Solid metal impacted heavily against shaded glass, the window frosting over in an intricate spiderweb with a resounding crack. Satisfied, he slipped his weapon back into its holster, and ducked to the side, just out of her view.
* * *
The monitor flickered before her, loading agonizingly slowly. She peered mesmerized at the disk lying in one softly curved palm. *I hope Werner left me some good leads. It was the least the old bugger could do after trying to kill me in Egypt, and then getting me framed for his murder. Though that last part wasn't exactly his fault.*
She shook her head, and ripped the disk from its protective sleeve, slipping it partially into the slot at the front of her computer.
The noisy shatter of glass rent the silence, thrusting Lara immediately to her feet, gun already in hand. Her startled gaze darted to the far window, sheathed from prying eyes by the curtain she'd closed earlier.
Her heartbeat accelerated, its thundering beat magnified in sensitive ears.
Cautiously, Lara approached the far side of the library, pistol out before her, stepping quietly as she drew near.
She nudged aside rough material with one hand, aiming her firearm with the other, its barrel pointed directly at destroyed glass. The window's exterior, once unmarred, now stood severely lacerated, the enveloping crack stretching nearly to the sill in a lazy spiral.
"Who the hell damaged my property?" she demanded aloud, and angrily flung open the window.
Only the reverberating patter of rain answered.
Hard-eyed, she peered outward, scanning the darkened landscape, squinting into lashing precipitation. She paced forward a step, keeping her pistol inside, holding it beside one ear as she pressed herself flat to the wall.
It skimmed agilely through the open space, whirling blades hooking the weapon from her hand and tossing it half-way across the library, chill steel lightly kissing smooth flesh. The Chirugai grazed so close to her she felt her heart freeze for a moment, the near brush flinging her with a muttered curse against the window sill.
Strong fingers clamped around her forearm, her unseen assailant jerking Lara's face into streaming rainwater with a savage jerk that nearly toppled her out the window.
He appeared a moment later, smirking.
Their faces hovered near one another, so close she might have angled her head to kiss him, had she not been overcome by the urge to bash his smug face into her knee.
"Nice to see you again." he said coolly.
"You broke my window." she replied coldly.
"No kiss hello?" Kurtis asked sarcastically, lifting both heavy brows.
"I'll substitute the kiss for a kick, if you don't mind. Let go of me." Lara snapped, jerking her arm from his powerful grasp. "What the hell do you think you're doing, trespassing on my property and breaking the windows? Don't you have something else to destroy?"
"Let me in the house. I want to talk."
"Yes, well I want to never see you again, but we don't always get our wish, do we? And did you really think sneaking around like a criminal and attempting to burglarize my library was the best method to persuading me to let you in?"
He smiled. "You can't keep me out."
"Try it." Lara said coldly, her hand flashing out of view so swiftly the human eyes could barely follow the lithe motion.
Shining steel gleamed before indifferent cerulean orbs.
At her back, the Glaive spun to life once more, descending to the knife she brandished mere inches from one of his beautiful eyes. A brief twist of its rotating blades, and he'd disarmed her again, the abrupt movement thrusting her hand forward into the chill night.
He caught her fingers in his larger ones, and gripped them a moment, mouth twisting sardonically again. Then he lifted her hand to his lips and gently kissed each knuckle, his mouth lingering warm against her flesh.
Lara felt her breath quicken despite herself, and struggled to maintain the dignified glare she'd trained on him.
He lifted his head a moment later, amusement flashing briefly in twin azure pools. "See you later."
And he dissipated into swirling darkness, as quickly as he'd emerged, leaving the irate brunette fuming in his absence.
* * *
"You look as though you've had a rough night, Lara."
Her lips twisted humorlessly as she set one slender shoulder against the dining room entrance. Absently, she tightened one fingerless leather glove, securing it more firmly around her small wrist. "Not so much rough as restless. Could you make me a coffee, Winston? I need a bit of caffeine to clear my head."
"I'll have it ready in a minute, dear." He looked curiously at her as he shuffled past. "What happened to the window in the library? Was there some trouble last night? My ears don't seem to hear as much anymore."
"No trouble. Just an...unexpected visitor." She paused a moment, nibbling her bottom lip. "Winston, was the man who came to see me last night a brunette with blue eyes? Around 5'10' or so, well-built, wearing a dark T- shirt and jeans?"
He quirked a gray eyebrow. "Yes. Was he the one who broke the window?"
"Yes he was. If you happen to notice him hanging around while I'm not available, please get rid of him."
"Will I need the assistance of one of your guns?"
"No, that won't be necessary. Don't hurt him. He's not an enemy. Just annoying." *And irritatingly sexy, and strong. Not too mention almost as stubborn as I am.* "Keep an eye on anything strange, would you? He's tricky."
"He won't get past the front door, Lara." the shambling old butler promised.
She smiled distractedly and lifted a hand in acknowledgment of his comment, then passed into the hallway. *Don't count on it. It wouldn't surprise me if the bastard had already found a way into the house. He's probably looking to ambush me right now.*
* * *
She reached the library only moments later, and shut the door swiftly behind her. The resounding click penetrated thick silence.
Both eyes trailed grimly to the splintered window pane, rage rising within as she pictured his face again, hair sodden and clinging to the slope of his forehead. His clothes, saturated by thrashing precipitation, had clung to the athletic hardness of his body, causing her throat to dry even now as she remembered. *He *would* be able to tempt me, even when I'm furious with him.* she thought with a scowl.
Exhaling audibly, Lara crossed to her abandoned laptop, crouching to retrieve the disk lying beside it. "If this is damaged, Kurtis..." she said aloud. Gingerly, she picked it up, lightly brushing carpet fibers from its surface. In her haste last night, she'd sent both computer and disk flying when she'd risen to greet the intruder skulking around her window.
*If I'd known who it was, I would have just ignored him. Typical man, just begging for attention.*
She felt irrationally angry with him, at the same time she wished he'd hold good on his promise to be back. She wasn't precisely sure of her reaction if she *did* see him again; judging from her current mood, he might either find a tongue crammed down his throat, or a boot thrust with every ounce of her strength into his groin.
*And why *did* he come back, anyway? I thought the decision to stay away from one another was a mutual one. After nine months, what interest does he have in me again?*
She had no interest in him anymore. *Well, that's not precisely true. I have no interest in *seeing* him again.* And that, actually, wasn't precisely true either. She had no wish to ever contact Kurtis Trent again, but at the same time, now that he'd appeared after all this time, she suddenly *needed* to see him, and straighten things out between them once and for all so she could move on with her life and forget his existence entirely. *Closure. That's all I need. Maybe I shouldn't have ordered Winston to keep him away. Then again, I doubt very much that a feeble old man could prevent Kurtis from entering this house, if he's set his mind to getting inside.*
The thought quirked her mouth in a reluctant smile. The man's stubbornness rivaled her own.
* * *
He pressed her close to his chest, holding his gun to her neck as his free hand slowly, seductively trailed the softly rounded curve of one hip. She stirred lightly against him, the movement sending an unexpected surge of pleasure throughout him. He stilled her motion immediately with a hard jab of his weapon's barrel, and cleared the gun she still gripped from her left hand. His fingers lightly grazed her own, whispering over her palm as his hand crept stealthily to the toned flesh of her stomach.
She shivered lightly in his hold.
Kurtis murmured something in slumber, and nuzzled his face deeper into the pillow his head rested atop, one strong arm flopping lazily across the vacant left side of the motel bed he lay in. The image of the Lourve, hovering with such startlingly clarity before him, vanished suddenly, replaced by smoldering dark eyes. They perused him thoroughly, her full, tempting lips curving in an alluring smile.
She crooked a finger to him, and disappeared.
He woke with a jerk, the dingy room snapping into focus around him. Inhaling deeply, Kurtis rolled onto his back, stretching languorously. He groped to rub the sleep from both eyes, trailing a hand over sleep-rumpled hair.
Drowsily, he rose, the bare flesh of his chest tightening beneath the loathsome touch of the room's chill. He shivered in the surrounding cold, and shuffled quickly to the bathroom entrance, reaching to flick the light on.
"Try it."
He smiled as her voice echoed inside his head, tinged with anger and sarcasm, even more sexy to his ears than usual. She'd presented him with a challenge last night, and he never liked to back down from a challenge.
*Ok.* Kurtis answered her silently, smirking at himself as he peered into grime-encrusted glass.
* * *
She dozed quietly before the crackling fire, her sleepless night finally having overtaken her. Her head lolled gently against the chair's back, full lips parted slightly in peaceful slumber. The shapely swell of her chest rose and fell with each gentle inhalation, a slender hand draped lightly over the chair's right arm.
He stepped quietly inside, and clicked the door shut behind him.
His gaze fell instantly on her prone figure, and he set a shoulder against the wall to his right, simply watching her a moment. *I told you I'd get in.* Kurtis thought, smiling a little. It had been no challenge at all to enter; he'd simply picked the lock and strolled right in the front door after taking a quick, furtive look around for any cameras or wandering butlers. From there, he'd stolen quietly along the immense hallway, cautiously opening various doors, exploring a little, until he'd stumbled upon the library, and the sleeping Lara Croft, even more lovely in slumber.
He paced forward a step, nearing her.
She sprang abruptly into action, lunging to booted feet, her gun trained on him before he even had time to blink. Dark eyes coolly contemplated him over the gun's sights, the intensity of her gaze settling heavily across startled features.
Slowly, lethargically, Kurtis lifted both hands in the air.
Her two-handed grip on the firearm never wavered. "That's called trespassing, you know."
He smirked. "Not bad, Croft. Haven't lost your touch."
"No I haven't. But you just might lose your head." She thumbed the safety.
Cerulean orbs widened slightly, shock flaring briefly in their beautiful depths.
"Take your gun off, and kick it toward me. And no funny tricks with your Chirugai, please."
"You don't trust me?" he said mildly, quirking one eyebrow.
"Do I have a reason to?" Lara returned, mirroring his expression, a slender dark eyebrow lifting slightly over one emotionless mahogany orb. "Weapons, please. Before I have to get nasty."
He smiled. "Come and get them." *And be as nasty as you want.* he added silently, smirking.
She eyed him warily, then crossed to his waiting figure, her weapon unmoving from his handsome face. Cautiously, almost tentatively, she released the firearm with one hand, and trailed a small palm over the hardness of his chest to the gun holstered at his side.
He stood quietly, almost docilely as her fingers skimmed his body, shifting only slightly under her meandering touch.
His Boran X thunked to thick carpeting, followed a moment later by the Chirugai.
She peered upward, into his eyes for a single moment, then looked hastily away, sheathing her weapon to search him more thoroughly, her lithe body pressed enticingly close to his larger frame. He felt her hands moving at his side, drifting agonizingly sluggishly over firm muscles.
Shooting another hard look in his direction, she crouched slightly, running both slender hands over his muscular legs.
He thrust an arm around her neck, spinning her around in a violent motion that crashed her backward against his hard body, the curve of her back pressed tightly to his front. She plunged an elbow into his abdomen, doubling him over with a grunt, then bent forward slightly, groping for his wrist. With an agile flick of her own hand, she flung him none-too-gently over one softly rounded shoulder, his body impacting the floor with a loud thud.
Swiftly, she moved to his side, and jabbed a boot into the flesh of his throat, effectively pinning him beneath her. Eyes flashing dangerously, Lara removed her gun, and ejected the magazine, the slender dark object bouncing to a reluctant halt at his side.
Empty.
A cold smirk curved full lips.
She holstered her pistol once more, unrelenting in her pressure on his neck. "You have a lot of nerve, Kurtis Trent. Breaking into my house, then assaulting me. Maybe I should have loaded it."
He stared apathetically up at her, those enthralling indigo eyes as blank as usual.
"Why are you here?" Lara demanded. "And please, no attempts at witticism. It won't impress me."
"It might be a little difficult for me to talk with you standing on my neck."
"You seem to be doing just fine. Speak."
He clamped a hand around her ankle, and swung the other hard at her knee, thrusting her forward with a muttered curse, both hands plunging out to halt her motion. Twisting, Kurtis rolled Lara onto her back and climbed atop her, straddling sun-darkened thighs.
He felt a brief flare of triumph, a moment before her hips thrust upward, flinging his weight from her small figure, the momentum carrying them both into a tangled roll. They wrestled briefly, intimately entwined as both struggled for the upper hand. She was surprisingly strong for a woman, though that hardly surprised him.
Still stunned, Kurtis let his guard slip a moment, and she took advantage of this to wrench a strong and toned arm behind his back, shoving his face into the floor with a vicious shove.
All motion stopped, both breathing raggedly now, their gasped breaths penetrating thick silence. "Bad Kurtis. This is my house, you play by my rules. Were you sent here after the disk?" she asked, crushing his face harder into the carpet for emphasis.
"No."
"Then why did you come all the way to England? You missed my lovely company?" Lara said dryly, giving his arm an extra jerk.
"Get off me...bitch." he murmured, his masculine voice muffled by carpet fibers.
"What did you just call me?"
Kurtis thrust a hand back, wriggling it from beneath where it lay trapped beneath his body, his fingers closing hard against the base of her skull. With a hard shove, he tipped her sideways, her body clearing his and landing heavily beside him. Moving surprisingly quickly for a man, he swung around, placing both hands on either side of her head, their perspiring faces dangerously close to one another.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now." she snapped, dark eyes blazing ominously.
"Because I'm lying on top of you and your weapon isn't loaded."
"I don't need a damn gun to snap your neck."
"No, but you do need two hands. And they're tied up for the moment." he said calmly, lacing their fingers together and driving her wrists into the carpet.
"How romantic, Kurtis. I never thought of you as the holding-hands type. Tell me: is this how you win over all your women? Trade a few witty remarks, then you disarm her and roll around the floor of her house?"
"You started all this." he responded.
"Oh *please*!" Lara snapped. "Let's not start that up again. And besides, I don't seem to recall breaking into my *own* house, taking away my gun, breaking my window, and then throwing myself on the floor and sitting on top of myself. You assisted in all that."
Kurtis smirked. "Just trying to help."
"Yes, well aren't you terribly useful?" she hissed, writhing beneath him. "Get off me!"
"So you can remove important parts of my anatomy? No thanks."
"I'm not your damn lounge chair! I told you to get off. Then escort yourself out my front door, and don't come back."
"You don't want me t-"
The door exploded open at that moment, pausing Kurtis mid-sentence. Winston surged inside, gripping a 30.06 in gnarled hands.
Its barrel spun to target Kurtis' head.
He froze, his gaze shifting from Lara to the angry butler.
"He hasn't hurt you, has he, Lara dear?" Winston demanded, keen old eyes unmoving from his victim. He thumbed the safety on his weapon. "Hands in the air. Remove yourself from Ms. Croft."
Lara smiled. "It's all right, Winston. That's not necessary. He hasn't harmed me. Close the door please."
"Lara-"
"Winston, I'm not concerned that a man of his limited brain capacity will be able to outsmart me. Don't concern yourself over me. We're just having a bit of a...debate."
He lingered a moment longer, with one last glare for Kurtis. Then, reluctantly, Winston slipped out, the door banging behind him.
Kurtis' grip on her hands slackened as his eyes bore into hers. She snapped her wrists free of his hold, and forced them upward, grasping fistfuls of his shirt. Then, smiling, she hooked a foot behind his right ankle, and thrust her hips up and to one side, depositing him neatly on his back, her waist cradled between his legs.
"Don't toy with me, Trent." Lara said, steel in her voice. "Tell me why you came, and then get the hell out."
"Curiosity." he replied mildly.
"Curiosity of what?"
"You."
She remained silent, digesting that, eyeing him coldly. Something flickered in her eyes, an indistinct emotion passing briefly through their depths. "Your curiosity wasn't satisfied nine months ago? What do you want to know?" she asked dryly, without releasing him. "Bra size? Social security number? The color and texture of my knickers?"
He smirked humorlessly. "Actually, I meant I was curious about what you've been up to. But throw in bra size, too, why don'tcha? I've always been a little interested."
"Are you interested to know what it's like to feel my fist in your face, as well?"
"No. I already know that, remember?"
Her lips curved slightly. "Yes, I seemed to have forgotten that."
"You mean your guilty conscience blocked it out?"
"No. My conscience is a better judge of what to feel guilty about than that. Now, let's move this on a bit faster, shall we? You give me a straight answer, and I refrain from removing important parts of your anatomy."
He smiled, the expression slightly devilish. "I think you'll leave any important parts of my anatomy right where they are. You might need them later."
"You think an awful lot of yourself, you arrogant American pig." Lara snapped, and hauled him to his feet. "I'll show you the door, just to make sure you don't get lost on the way. I'd like to say 'It was nice to see you again,' but I'm not a liar."
The library door slammed behind them, the echo reverberating all throughout overflowing bookcases.
________________________________________________________________________
Croft Manor
England, May 20th, 2004
She propped booted feet on the table before her, moodily contemplating the swirling depths of the steaming beverage gripped in a white-knuckled hand. Through the window, Lara glimpsed streaming precipitation, the tempest raging outside shaking the window pane with its ferocity.
She'd barricaded herself inside the library hours earlier, with express orders to Winston not to admit anyone. She didn't expect visitors anyway; there hadn't been many after Egypt and the following events in Paris. People feared her, she supposed, even after she'd been cleared of Von Croy's murder.
Her faithful butler, after expressing concern for his mistress and being waved casually aside, had left her to her own thoughts, disturbing Lara only for a moment to bring her a cup of coffee.
"I need to do some reading." she'd explained, fabricating some story about needing to research an important artifact which had recently been discovered in Antarctica. What she really mean by 'reading' was 'fume over an unexpected meeting with Kurtis Trent and sit staring blankly at a disk which might hold the answers to my past.' Neither seemed particularly appealing to her, but they were the only two actions she'd seemed capable of taking since arriving back at her home three days ago.
*Why did *he* have to show his face again?* Lara raged silently, picturing him for what seemed to be the millionth time in the past five minutes. They hadn't set eyes on one another in almost a year; and suddenly there he was, alive and well, precisely as she'd remembered him.
After her release from the hospital, Lara hadn't bothered attempting to track Kurtis down. She suspected the whole situation between them could be summed up as 'love at first sight,' as sappily Disney-like as that sounded. This realization, one she'd come to terms with a long time ago, displeased her to no end, and so she'd been more than happy to take her leave of Kurtis Trent, and forget such a man ever existed. Love had no place in her life.
She'd heard nothing from him in the long period of time they'd been separated. He'd either been killed in his quest to destroy Karel, or had no wish to contact her. She'd suspected the latter; he seemed too much of a resilient little dick to be killed by Joachim Karel.
He could have just as easily come to visit her, had he wished to; her whereabouts were not exactly secret. The fact that he hadn't revealed that his wishes exactly resembled hers; to just be left alone, a hardened, loner adventurer on their own with no constant companion.
*And that's the way I like it.*
Lara took a sip of the coffee, its burning warmth traversing her throat to settle hotly in the pit of her stomach. Restless, she set it aside, and retrieved the disk balanced precariously on one shapely knee.
She twirled it slowly before her, tense features reflected in the circular metal plate embedded in its center. With an effort, Lara banished Kurtis completely from her mind, returning to the problem at hand.
"Egypt." she sighed quietly. "What the hell happened in Egypt?" *A whole important section of my life is missing. Could this disk restore that? Could I use it to find out exactly what happened to me after the temple collapsed? What did Von Croy find out, before he was murdered?*
Full lips curving downward, Lara shifted, upholstery whispering over sun- darkened flesh. She absently fingered the gun strapped to a statuesque thigh, lovingly tracing sleek metal curves.
The disk hovered temptingly before her, gripped loosely between two slender fingers.
It rotated slowly, lethargically as she contemplated it from each angle.
Her dark gaze flicked swiftly to the laptop, lingering a moment, before skipping onward. A sigh parted sumptuous lips. Both eyes slipped briefly closed; then, standing, she set the disk aside and strode to the window.
A small palm touched cool glass, resting lightly against its comforting solidity. She squinted into driving rain, staring into ambulant darkness a moment, before shutting the curtains in an abrupt, savage motion.
* * *
In the blackness, a single light flared.
A lone figure hunched low against the raging storm, huddling against cold cement, dark hair clinging tenaciously to slick flesh. He glanced often to the light burning only a few feet away, its warm illumination piercing the gloomy night to softly paint muddy ground.
The cigarette bucked restlessly in numb fingers.
"Fucking pansy." he murmured, disgusted with himself. He knew the trembling was not due to the cold.
Croft Manor towered far above his dark head, the majestic building startling him when he'd first pulled up to the gate, even though he'd known of her wealth.
He'd arrived nearly an hour earlier, traversing the winding drive on his bike, throttling toward her home at low speed, apprehension thick in the pit of his stomach. Now he perched on her front step, saturated and miserable, moodily contemplating the past nine months. *The past nine Lara- free months. Do I really want her back in my life?*
At first, he hadn't intended to ever see her again. When they'd parted in the hospital, that was to be it. No more Lara, no more distractions. No more attachments to another human being. He'd learned better than that.
Their meeting five days ago changed everything.
Lara's unexpected appearance, once again, had managed to royally fuck up his life in her usual flamboyant style. When he'd cornered her, drawn his gun on her for the third time, then looked into those familiar chestnut eyes, everything else had fled. All other sounds, smells, tastes...only she existed, and he hated her for that. No other adjective could adequately describe the loathing he'd experienced toward her for enthralling him so completely.
He'd caught a plane to England, and broken speed limits driving to her mansion on his bike, only to find himself now too uncertain to knock on her damn door. Did he really want this? There was no legitimate reason to re- open the lines of communication. Karel had disappeared long ago, and Kurtis had busied himself working for semi-legal agencies who needed someone willing to go beyond desk work. He didn't need Lara's help, or her companionship.
*No. I don't need it. Worse; I *want* it.* he thought, and scowled.
Standing, Kurtis flicked the still-glowing cigarette butt into undulating shadows.
His eyes drifted again to the lighted room a mere six feet away.
Golden illumination flickered a moment as a slender figure passed before the window. Then it disappeared completely, obscured by the curtains thrust forcefully across rain-streaked glass.
He stared a moment longer, water traversing the handsome planes of his face, before turning and walking resolutely to his waiting motorcycle.
* * *
It struck forcefully, plunging deep into gleaming wood.
A brief smile graced full lips.
Satisfaction swirled in her dark gaze, both keen eyes coming to rest on the knife handle protruding from a pockmarked section of wall above one of the bookcases. *Funny how destroying things always makes me feel a little better.*
Crossing swiftly to the bookshelf, she leapt, pitting one booted foot against a bottom shelf and stretching lithely to retrieve the embedded weapon.
She dropped once more with a light thud, and tossed the shining blade to the opposite hand, flipping it idly from palm to palm as she retreated to her previous position.
The scored and ravaged wall served as a punching bag of sorts, an outlet for her frustration when she became agitated or needed to work out a problem in her mind. Throwing knives soothed her almost as much as handling her beloved guns, she'd come to learn, and since the weather was too nasty to be out in, much less attempting to best her latest time on the assault course, she'd turned instead to her blades.
Hefting the weapon in a slender hand, Lara gripped its handle firmly, and raised her arm to hurl it several feet across the library.
Her muscles tensed, then relaxed with the sudden fierce movement. The knife contacted with a satisfying thunk. She dusted her palms cockily, in a false show of bravado.
Truth be told, she felt downright shitty. Both Kurtis and Egypt nagged at her, ever-present thoughts she feared would never abandon her. * I'll never be able to sleep tonight.*
A headache raged just behind both temples, drumming fiercely inside her head, a pounding equivalent to a severe hangover. She lifted two fingers to delicately massage her throbbing brow, and draped herself with a breathy sigh over the arm of her favorite chair.
*Shit. Shit shit shit. I suppose I'll take another hot drink and then be off to bed. Maybe a quick dip in the pool will help me feel better.*
A fist thrummed lightly against the library door.
Winston's creased face eclipsed shining wood a moment later, his eyes seeking hers as Lara twisted to face him. "A man stopped by to see you. He said it was important."
"At this time of night, in this kind of weather, it would have to be, wouldn't it? Did you send him away?"
"Yes. I told him you weren't receiving any visitors. He left a minute or two ago."
"Good. Did he leave a name?"
"No. He departed without saying anything."
She smiled a little weakly. "Thank you, Winston. Have a good night. I'll be off to my room in a little while."
He looked fondly at her a moment, then softly whisked the door shut. She listened a moment to his retreating footsteps, their cacophony gradually fading as he retreated deeper into the immense house.
Then, inhaling deeply, Lara retrieved the pilfered disk, and powered up her laptop.
* * *
"Yes. I told him you weren't receiving any visitors. He left a minute or two ago."
Their words drifted muffled and slightly garbled to his waiting ear where it lay pressed against the library window. A smirk curved thin lips. "No he didn't." Kurtis murmured.
He slipped his fingers deftly to the window's sill, smoothing callused fingertips lightly along damp wood, seeking a small opening he might be able to use to break in. Finding nothing, he loosened his Boran X and curved a large palm around it.
Solid metal impacted heavily against shaded glass, the window frosting over in an intricate spiderweb with a resounding crack. Satisfied, he slipped his weapon back into its holster, and ducked to the side, just out of her view.
* * *
The monitor flickered before her, loading agonizingly slowly. She peered mesmerized at the disk lying in one softly curved palm. *I hope Werner left me some good leads. It was the least the old bugger could do after trying to kill me in Egypt, and then getting me framed for his murder. Though that last part wasn't exactly his fault.*
She shook her head, and ripped the disk from its protective sleeve, slipping it partially into the slot at the front of her computer.
The noisy shatter of glass rent the silence, thrusting Lara immediately to her feet, gun already in hand. Her startled gaze darted to the far window, sheathed from prying eyes by the curtain she'd closed earlier.
Her heartbeat accelerated, its thundering beat magnified in sensitive ears.
Cautiously, Lara approached the far side of the library, pistol out before her, stepping quietly as she drew near.
She nudged aside rough material with one hand, aiming her firearm with the other, its barrel pointed directly at destroyed glass. The window's exterior, once unmarred, now stood severely lacerated, the enveloping crack stretching nearly to the sill in a lazy spiral.
"Who the hell damaged my property?" she demanded aloud, and angrily flung open the window.
Only the reverberating patter of rain answered.
Hard-eyed, she peered outward, scanning the darkened landscape, squinting into lashing precipitation. She paced forward a step, keeping her pistol inside, holding it beside one ear as she pressed herself flat to the wall.
It skimmed agilely through the open space, whirling blades hooking the weapon from her hand and tossing it half-way across the library, chill steel lightly kissing smooth flesh. The Chirugai grazed so close to her she felt her heart freeze for a moment, the near brush flinging her with a muttered curse against the window sill.
Strong fingers clamped around her forearm, her unseen assailant jerking Lara's face into streaming rainwater with a savage jerk that nearly toppled her out the window.
He appeared a moment later, smirking.
Their faces hovered near one another, so close she might have angled her head to kiss him, had she not been overcome by the urge to bash his smug face into her knee.
"Nice to see you again." he said coolly.
"You broke my window." she replied coldly.
"No kiss hello?" Kurtis asked sarcastically, lifting both heavy brows.
"I'll substitute the kiss for a kick, if you don't mind. Let go of me." Lara snapped, jerking her arm from his powerful grasp. "What the hell do you think you're doing, trespassing on my property and breaking the windows? Don't you have something else to destroy?"
"Let me in the house. I want to talk."
"Yes, well I want to never see you again, but we don't always get our wish, do we? And did you really think sneaking around like a criminal and attempting to burglarize my library was the best method to persuading me to let you in?"
He smiled. "You can't keep me out."
"Try it." Lara said coldly, her hand flashing out of view so swiftly the human eyes could barely follow the lithe motion.
Shining steel gleamed before indifferent cerulean orbs.
At her back, the Glaive spun to life once more, descending to the knife she brandished mere inches from one of his beautiful eyes. A brief twist of its rotating blades, and he'd disarmed her again, the abrupt movement thrusting her hand forward into the chill night.
He caught her fingers in his larger ones, and gripped them a moment, mouth twisting sardonically again. Then he lifted her hand to his lips and gently kissed each knuckle, his mouth lingering warm against her flesh.
Lara felt her breath quicken despite herself, and struggled to maintain the dignified glare she'd trained on him.
He lifted his head a moment later, amusement flashing briefly in twin azure pools. "See you later."
And he dissipated into swirling darkness, as quickly as he'd emerged, leaving the irate brunette fuming in his absence.
* * *
"You look as though you've had a rough night, Lara."
Her lips twisted humorlessly as she set one slender shoulder against the dining room entrance. Absently, she tightened one fingerless leather glove, securing it more firmly around her small wrist. "Not so much rough as restless. Could you make me a coffee, Winston? I need a bit of caffeine to clear my head."
"I'll have it ready in a minute, dear." He looked curiously at her as he shuffled past. "What happened to the window in the library? Was there some trouble last night? My ears don't seem to hear as much anymore."
"No trouble. Just an...unexpected visitor." She paused a moment, nibbling her bottom lip. "Winston, was the man who came to see me last night a brunette with blue eyes? Around 5'10' or so, well-built, wearing a dark T- shirt and jeans?"
He quirked a gray eyebrow. "Yes. Was he the one who broke the window?"
"Yes he was. If you happen to notice him hanging around while I'm not available, please get rid of him."
"Will I need the assistance of one of your guns?"
"No, that won't be necessary. Don't hurt him. He's not an enemy. Just annoying." *And irritatingly sexy, and strong. Not too mention almost as stubborn as I am.* "Keep an eye on anything strange, would you? He's tricky."
"He won't get past the front door, Lara." the shambling old butler promised.
She smiled distractedly and lifted a hand in acknowledgment of his comment, then passed into the hallway. *Don't count on it. It wouldn't surprise me if the bastard had already found a way into the house. He's probably looking to ambush me right now.*
* * *
She reached the library only moments later, and shut the door swiftly behind her. The resounding click penetrated thick silence.
Both eyes trailed grimly to the splintered window pane, rage rising within as she pictured his face again, hair sodden and clinging to the slope of his forehead. His clothes, saturated by thrashing precipitation, had clung to the athletic hardness of his body, causing her throat to dry even now as she remembered. *He *would* be able to tempt me, even when I'm furious with him.* she thought with a scowl.
Exhaling audibly, Lara crossed to her abandoned laptop, crouching to retrieve the disk lying beside it. "If this is damaged, Kurtis..." she said aloud. Gingerly, she picked it up, lightly brushing carpet fibers from its surface. In her haste last night, she'd sent both computer and disk flying when she'd risen to greet the intruder skulking around her window.
*If I'd known who it was, I would have just ignored him. Typical man, just begging for attention.*
She felt irrationally angry with him, at the same time she wished he'd hold good on his promise to be back. She wasn't precisely sure of her reaction if she *did* see him again; judging from her current mood, he might either find a tongue crammed down his throat, or a boot thrust with every ounce of her strength into his groin.
*And why *did* he come back, anyway? I thought the decision to stay away from one another was a mutual one. After nine months, what interest does he have in me again?*
She had no interest in him anymore. *Well, that's not precisely true. I have no interest in *seeing* him again.* And that, actually, wasn't precisely true either. She had no wish to ever contact Kurtis Trent again, but at the same time, now that he'd appeared after all this time, she suddenly *needed* to see him, and straighten things out between them once and for all so she could move on with her life and forget his existence entirely. *Closure. That's all I need. Maybe I shouldn't have ordered Winston to keep him away. Then again, I doubt very much that a feeble old man could prevent Kurtis from entering this house, if he's set his mind to getting inside.*
The thought quirked her mouth in a reluctant smile. The man's stubbornness rivaled her own.
* * *
He pressed her close to his chest, holding his gun to her neck as his free hand slowly, seductively trailed the softly rounded curve of one hip. She stirred lightly against him, the movement sending an unexpected surge of pleasure throughout him. He stilled her motion immediately with a hard jab of his weapon's barrel, and cleared the gun she still gripped from her left hand. His fingers lightly grazed her own, whispering over her palm as his hand crept stealthily to the toned flesh of her stomach.
She shivered lightly in his hold.
Kurtis murmured something in slumber, and nuzzled his face deeper into the pillow his head rested atop, one strong arm flopping lazily across the vacant left side of the motel bed he lay in. The image of the Lourve, hovering with such startlingly clarity before him, vanished suddenly, replaced by smoldering dark eyes. They perused him thoroughly, her full, tempting lips curving in an alluring smile.
She crooked a finger to him, and disappeared.
He woke with a jerk, the dingy room snapping into focus around him. Inhaling deeply, Kurtis rolled onto his back, stretching languorously. He groped to rub the sleep from both eyes, trailing a hand over sleep-rumpled hair.
Drowsily, he rose, the bare flesh of his chest tightening beneath the loathsome touch of the room's chill. He shivered in the surrounding cold, and shuffled quickly to the bathroom entrance, reaching to flick the light on.
"Try it."
He smiled as her voice echoed inside his head, tinged with anger and sarcasm, even more sexy to his ears than usual. She'd presented him with a challenge last night, and he never liked to back down from a challenge.
*Ok.* Kurtis answered her silently, smirking at himself as he peered into grime-encrusted glass.
* * *
She dozed quietly before the crackling fire, her sleepless night finally having overtaken her. Her head lolled gently against the chair's back, full lips parted slightly in peaceful slumber. The shapely swell of her chest rose and fell with each gentle inhalation, a slender hand draped lightly over the chair's right arm.
He stepped quietly inside, and clicked the door shut behind him.
His gaze fell instantly on her prone figure, and he set a shoulder against the wall to his right, simply watching her a moment. *I told you I'd get in.* Kurtis thought, smiling a little. It had been no challenge at all to enter; he'd simply picked the lock and strolled right in the front door after taking a quick, furtive look around for any cameras or wandering butlers. From there, he'd stolen quietly along the immense hallway, cautiously opening various doors, exploring a little, until he'd stumbled upon the library, and the sleeping Lara Croft, even more lovely in slumber.
He paced forward a step, nearing her.
She sprang abruptly into action, lunging to booted feet, her gun trained on him before he even had time to blink. Dark eyes coolly contemplated him over the gun's sights, the intensity of her gaze settling heavily across startled features.
Slowly, lethargically, Kurtis lifted both hands in the air.
Her two-handed grip on the firearm never wavered. "That's called trespassing, you know."
He smirked. "Not bad, Croft. Haven't lost your touch."
"No I haven't. But you just might lose your head." She thumbed the safety.
Cerulean orbs widened slightly, shock flaring briefly in their beautiful depths.
"Take your gun off, and kick it toward me. And no funny tricks with your Chirugai, please."
"You don't trust me?" he said mildly, quirking one eyebrow.
"Do I have a reason to?" Lara returned, mirroring his expression, a slender dark eyebrow lifting slightly over one emotionless mahogany orb. "Weapons, please. Before I have to get nasty."
He smiled. "Come and get them." *And be as nasty as you want.* he added silently, smirking.
She eyed him warily, then crossed to his waiting figure, her weapon unmoving from his handsome face. Cautiously, almost tentatively, she released the firearm with one hand, and trailed a small palm over the hardness of his chest to the gun holstered at his side.
He stood quietly, almost docilely as her fingers skimmed his body, shifting only slightly under her meandering touch.
His Boran X thunked to thick carpeting, followed a moment later by the Chirugai.
She peered upward, into his eyes for a single moment, then looked hastily away, sheathing her weapon to search him more thoroughly, her lithe body pressed enticingly close to his larger frame. He felt her hands moving at his side, drifting agonizingly sluggishly over firm muscles.
Shooting another hard look in his direction, she crouched slightly, running both slender hands over his muscular legs.
He thrust an arm around her neck, spinning her around in a violent motion that crashed her backward against his hard body, the curve of her back pressed tightly to his front. She plunged an elbow into his abdomen, doubling him over with a grunt, then bent forward slightly, groping for his wrist. With an agile flick of her own hand, she flung him none-too-gently over one softly rounded shoulder, his body impacting the floor with a loud thud.
Swiftly, she moved to his side, and jabbed a boot into the flesh of his throat, effectively pinning him beneath her. Eyes flashing dangerously, Lara removed her gun, and ejected the magazine, the slender dark object bouncing to a reluctant halt at his side.
Empty.
A cold smirk curved full lips.
She holstered her pistol once more, unrelenting in her pressure on his neck. "You have a lot of nerve, Kurtis Trent. Breaking into my house, then assaulting me. Maybe I should have loaded it."
He stared apathetically up at her, those enthralling indigo eyes as blank as usual.
"Why are you here?" Lara demanded. "And please, no attempts at witticism. It won't impress me."
"It might be a little difficult for me to talk with you standing on my neck."
"You seem to be doing just fine. Speak."
He clamped a hand around her ankle, and swung the other hard at her knee, thrusting her forward with a muttered curse, both hands plunging out to halt her motion. Twisting, Kurtis rolled Lara onto her back and climbed atop her, straddling sun-darkened thighs.
He felt a brief flare of triumph, a moment before her hips thrust upward, flinging his weight from her small figure, the momentum carrying them both into a tangled roll. They wrestled briefly, intimately entwined as both struggled for the upper hand. She was surprisingly strong for a woman, though that hardly surprised him.
Still stunned, Kurtis let his guard slip a moment, and she took advantage of this to wrench a strong and toned arm behind his back, shoving his face into the floor with a vicious shove.
All motion stopped, both breathing raggedly now, their gasped breaths penetrating thick silence. "Bad Kurtis. This is my house, you play by my rules. Were you sent here after the disk?" she asked, crushing his face harder into the carpet for emphasis.
"No."
"Then why did you come all the way to England? You missed my lovely company?" Lara said dryly, giving his arm an extra jerk.
"Get off me...bitch." he murmured, his masculine voice muffled by carpet fibers.
"What did you just call me?"
Kurtis thrust a hand back, wriggling it from beneath where it lay trapped beneath his body, his fingers closing hard against the base of her skull. With a hard shove, he tipped her sideways, her body clearing his and landing heavily beside him. Moving surprisingly quickly for a man, he swung around, placing both hands on either side of her head, their perspiring faces dangerously close to one another.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now." she snapped, dark eyes blazing ominously.
"Because I'm lying on top of you and your weapon isn't loaded."
"I don't need a damn gun to snap your neck."
"No, but you do need two hands. And they're tied up for the moment." he said calmly, lacing their fingers together and driving her wrists into the carpet.
"How romantic, Kurtis. I never thought of you as the holding-hands type. Tell me: is this how you win over all your women? Trade a few witty remarks, then you disarm her and roll around the floor of her house?"
"You started all this." he responded.
"Oh *please*!" Lara snapped. "Let's not start that up again. And besides, I don't seem to recall breaking into my *own* house, taking away my gun, breaking my window, and then throwing myself on the floor and sitting on top of myself. You assisted in all that."
Kurtis smirked. "Just trying to help."
"Yes, well aren't you terribly useful?" she hissed, writhing beneath him. "Get off me!"
"So you can remove important parts of my anatomy? No thanks."
"I'm not your damn lounge chair! I told you to get off. Then escort yourself out my front door, and don't come back."
"You don't want me t-"
The door exploded open at that moment, pausing Kurtis mid-sentence. Winston surged inside, gripping a 30.06 in gnarled hands.
Its barrel spun to target Kurtis' head.
He froze, his gaze shifting from Lara to the angry butler.
"He hasn't hurt you, has he, Lara dear?" Winston demanded, keen old eyes unmoving from his victim. He thumbed the safety on his weapon. "Hands in the air. Remove yourself from Ms. Croft."
Lara smiled. "It's all right, Winston. That's not necessary. He hasn't harmed me. Close the door please."
"Lara-"
"Winston, I'm not concerned that a man of his limited brain capacity will be able to outsmart me. Don't concern yourself over me. We're just having a bit of a...debate."
He lingered a moment longer, with one last glare for Kurtis. Then, reluctantly, Winston slipped out, the door banging behind him.
Kurtis' grip on her hands slackened as his eyes bore into hers. She snapped her wrists free of his hold, and forced them upward, grasping fistfuls of his shirt. Then, smiling, she hooked a foot behind his right ankle, and thrust her hips up and to one side, depositing him neatly on his back, her waist cradled between his legs.
"Don't toy with me, Trent." Lara said, steel in her voice. "Tell me why you came, and then get the hell out."
"Curiosity." he replied mildly.
"Curiosity of what?"
"You."
She remained silent, digesting that, eyeing him coldly. Something flickered in her eyes, an indistinct emotion passing briefly through their depths. "Your curiosity wasn't satisfied nine months ago? What do you want to know?" she asked dryly, without releasing him. "Bra size? Social security number? The color and texture of my knickers?"
He smirked humorlessly. "Actually, I meant I was curious about what you've been up to. But throw in bra size, too, why don'tcha? I've always been a little interested."
"Are you interested to know what it's like to feel my fist in your face, as well?"
"No. I already know that, remember?"
Her lips curved slightly. "Yes, I seemed to have forgotten that."
"You mean your guilty conscience blocked it out?"
"No. My conscience is a better judge of what to feel guilty about than that. Now, let's move this on a bit faster, shall we? You give me a straight answer, and I refrain from removing important parts of your anatomy."
He smiled, the expression slightly devilish. "I think you'll leave any important parts of my anatomy right where they are. You might need them later."
"You think an awful lot of yourself, you arrogant American pig." Lara snapped, and hauled him to his feet. "I'll show you the door, just to make sure you don't get lost on the way. I'd like to say 'It was nice to see you again,' but I'm not a liar."
The library door slammed behind them, the echo reverberating all throughout overflowing bookcases.