A/N: So, what do you think? Still enjoying the show? We're moving into the realms of Turkey now, and I promise we'll get to an artefact next chapter… And shirtless Kurtis. :p
Teeny revision 11/07/08
A wave of heat washed over Lara as she stepped from the air-conditioned interior of Istanbul Airport into the open air. As her gaze swept the car park that stretched out in front of them, a slow smile spread across her face.
A portly man sat in the driver's seat of an ageing Jeep, immersed in a leather-bound book and seemingly unaware of the world around him. His lips moved silently as his eyes skimmed the text. Knowing he'd never spot them on his own, Lara raised two fingers to her lips and blew a piercing whistle. Absently, the man looked up, and the book fell to the passenger seat, forgotten. Indicating to Kurtis to follow her, Lara threaded her way through slow-moving traffic towards the vehicle in question.
"Lara! Bonjour, ma chere!" Scrambling out of the Jeep, the man proceeded to envelop Lara in a bear hug, which she returned just as tightly.
"Jean, it's so good to see you…" Lara stepped back, appearing more at ease than Kurtis had ever seen her. He couldn't help but wonder how they knew each other. Lara's eyes fell on him, and she appeared to collect herself. "Jean-Yves Montalier, this is Kurtis Trent, of Lux Veritatis fame. Jean and I took the same archaeology course in our twenties," she explained to Kurtis, "and we've stayed in touch."
Jean-Yves gave no outward sign of it, but Kurtis instinctively knew he was being sized up as much as he was examining the other man. It was almost funny – they were both seeking to protect Lara from ulterior motives and hurt. Introductions over, they piled into the Jeep, and Lara began to share their theories and details of the Cabal with Jean. Alone in the back seat, Kurtis thought back to how Lara had introduced him. "Of Lux Veritatis fame" was hardly, "This is my boyfriend, Kurtis", and on some level, that hurt. Common sense told him that technically, they weren't that committed yet, but the heart shuns logic more often than it accepts it. As Lara began to talk about the Lux Veritatis, he answered Jean-Yves' questions, but for the most part he was silent, thinking, wrapped around his pain as the Jeep flew down the road towards Jean's Turkish cottage on the outskirts of Istanbul.
An hour later, shown to his room, Kurtis began the task of settling in. A light tap on the door interrupted his thoughts, and Lara entered the room, pushing the door closed behind her. In such an intimate setting, alone with her, Kurtis felt his pulse begin to accelerate.
She perched on the end of his bed, eyes thoughtful. "I'm sorry," she told him quietly. "That Jean and I have been so cliquey. I'm not really up to explaining why just now, but I cut off contact with everyone I know two years ago, and this is the first time I've made contact with any of them since then."
Kurtis shook his head, grateful for the partial justification but still a little stung. "It's okay. You don't owe me an explanation."
She smiled then, amused. "Maybe not," she replied. "But in time, you'll get one." Her fingers slid over the bedspread, touched his. "Are you coming downstairs?" she asked, and Kurtis detected a teasing timbre in her voice. He smiled back, closing his own fingers over hers.
"Actually, I was thinking I'd go and see someone I know in the area," he answered.
Puzzled, Lara drew away. "I thought you said you'd never been to this region before," she said.
Feeling a pang at the loss of contact, Kurtis stood up. "I said I'd never been to Cappadocia. I have a cousin in Istanbul. She came here for a vacation, met a local man, and stayed with him. She's the only surviving family member I have left."
A flash of sympathy, along with curiosity. "Is she Lux Veritatis?"
He shook his head. "No. The Cabal killed them all just in case one of them was late coming into the power. Stephanie was already here at that point, and they never thought to look for her. She escaped the family curse."
Lara raised an eyebrow. "And you? How did you escape it?"
Kurtis decided that now would be a good time to clam up. Better not to reveal everything about himself while she kept her secrets. "I'm not really up to explaining just now," he echoed her earlier words back at her.
Lara nodded. "I'll see you later. Take care." She touched his shoulder briefly, and was gone.
"To Werner Von Croy." Lara raised her glass of water in a toast. Smiling sadly, Jean-Yves held up his glass of wine and echoed the sentiment. Lara was teetotal – she had given up alcohol when she had been unexpectedly ambushed years ago and had been unable to shoot straight due to inebriation. Jean had no such qualms, and over the last couple of hours of reminiscing had gotten what he called "pleasantly tipsy".
"Now, my dear, let us discuss your new beau." At her feigned perplexity, Jean chuckled. "Oh, don't think you can fool me, Lara. I've seen the way you two look at each other."
Stubborn to the last, Lara examined her fingernails. "Who two?" Not exactly grammatically correct, but Jean was too far gone to notice.
"Why, you and Kurtis, of course." His eyes twinkled good-humouredly. "I can barely remember the last time you were involved. How serious is it?"
Resigned to the upcoming conversation, Lara settled back in her chair. "When I figure it out, I'll let you know." Jean remained silent, expression encouraging her to continue talking. Almost welcoming the opportunity to sound off someone, Lara heaved a sigh. "I've kissed him. Once. I don't know." She shook her head, irritated. "I never get into something I'm not serious about. But I have issues, and he has issues he's not telling me about. And what if I let him in, and he dies?"
"What if you don't, and he dies?" Jean asked, eliciting a wince from her. "You see, my friend, sometimes it is better to simply follow your heart."
Lara opened her mouth to reply, but a slamming door interrupted her. Face set to blandly amiable, Jean reached for the bottle of wine he was polishing off all by himself, and they watched Kurtis approach them. "How was your cousin?" Lara asked, gesturing for him to sit with them.
Kurtis smiled, and Lara's heart kicked. "It turns out she's been to Cappadocia a few times. She has a friend there who might be able to help us." He passed Lara a slip of paper with an address on it. She nodded appreciatively, slipping it inside her backpack.
"I'll hold onto this. You men are always losing things." Her mouth twitched with the urge to smile as she teased him, and into Kurtis' head flashed a visual of himself, pulling Lara towards him and covering those suggestive lips with kisses. He blinked to clear his thoughts as Jean-Yves stood up.
"Come, come, Lara, be nice. You've lost a lot more than I have in your time. Now, I'm going to bed. I've had perhaps a little too much wine." Less than a minute later, Lara and Kurtis were alone on the terrace.
"What did you lose?" Kurtis asked, leaning on the railings and staring out into the still night. Lara joined him, standing so close that if he leaned just a fraction to his left, they would have been standing shoulder to shoulder. She shrugged.
"What didn't I lose?" she replied wryly. "Naïveté, friends… and a whole cornucopia of artefacts my competitors love to take from me." She glanced sidelong at him at the last.
"Damn, you mean I wasn't your first?" Kurtis deadpanned, referring to the Obscura painting he'd taken from her in the Louvre.
Her lips twitched again, and her liquid, russet eyes were teasing as she looked him full in the face. At this distance, the effect was breathtaking. Moonlight and the soft glow of lamps from the house illuminated her face, from the curve of her cheek to the long lashes that framed those striking eyes. She spoke, and he could just, barely, feel her breath caress his face with each word. "You weren't the first, but you were by far the most gentle." Kurtis could tell, by the faraway expression on her face, that for just a split second she flashed back to their first significant encounter amid display cases and paintings. She seemed more than happy with the memory.
Encouraged, Kurtis resumed his perusal of the darkened horizon, feigning a casual, cocky attitude. "Gentle. Not a word I'd use to describe you, I fear."
Lara tensed a little, taking the bait, and her eyes lit with the veiled challenge. "Really? Am I going to have to convince you otherwise?"
Kurtis shrugged, affected nonchalance still in place. Her amusement faded into anticipation as she leaned in close to him, and she let her lips move over his in the slightest of touches, one that sent shivers chasing each other up and down his spine. He began to bring his arms up to slip around her waist, but with light strokes of her hands she discouraged him, staying at a distance, the only flesh pressing against his the voluptuous lips that skimmed so carefully over his own. The lack of contact seemed to make the kiss more intense, and Kurtis ached to respond to her, but she would have none of it, moving back just enough to maintain contact every time he tried to deepen the embrace. He was forced to give up – Lara was in the driving seat, and he was beginning to realise that it was where she loved to be in all aspects of her life.
She moved down his throat with feather-light touches of her lips, halting briefly at his collarbone before making her way back up. She trailed restrained fingertips over his forehead, eyelids, cheeks as she met his lips again… and then, he could no longer feel her. Opening his eyes, Kurtis caught a flash of swinging ponytail as Lara's retreating back vanished through the door.
Alone, disappointment tempered by intrigue, he sagged against the railings and heaved a sigh. "Point taken," he murmured to the empty air.
Reviews, please! More of this? Less of this?