Feedback muchly appreciated on this part - introduction of a new...thing. I don't want to give it away!
As always, copyright applies etc. Enjoy!
Trent slowly raised his head from beneath his arms, lying prone as he was in the eerie silence that followed the gasoline explosion. It had taken out the front gates, most of the adjoining wall and pretty much all the surrounding foliage.
Lara was not going to be best pleased.
He eased himself into a seated position, brushing off the dirt and eyeing his wounds. Aside from the gash and ache in his shoulder from the attack, there was a sliver of glass imbedded in his chest, just above his scar, and some scrapes across his stomach from where he had flung himself to the ground. The heat of the explosion had singed his hair, and the soles of his feet didn't even bare looking at.
As he continued to pick himself up, a thought dawned.
Lara.
He stopped brushing gravel off his pants and froze. She'd said she'd gone out the back.
His blood ran absolutely cold, and fear gripped his gut mercilessly.
What if she was in the jeep?
His knees gave way in the sheer weight of dread and horror that rushed into his consciousness. Slumped awkwardly, he stared unseeingly at the still smoking form of the jeep, his breath rasping in the effort, but he was numb to the pain in his feet and the searing in his gut, as each second increased the terror in his veins.
"Fuck, no…" All his hoarse throat managed was a mere gasp.
He'd hauled himself upright and was about to sprint headlong down the extensive drive when he heard shifting of rubble behind him. He pulled himself up so sharply that he nearly toppled over, and turned to look, gun in hand.
"So much for being the hospitable host." Lara managed, as she clambered through the remains of her front door. Her top was torn, and one of the straps had fallen down around her shoulder. She was covered head to toe in dust.
Trent didn't skip a beat.
He dropped the gun and covered the few steps between them, flinging both his arms around her, holding her tight. Only then did he believe she was real.
Kurtis's relief quickly transcended into something sensual. He was far too busy feeling her skin against his to worry about the wreck of a house behind him.
Mildly surprised, Lara gave in to her own relief – when she'd heard the explosion she'd been positive Trent had had something to do with it, and for a moment she'd almost believed it had taken him with it. She relished the closeness to him, allowing herself to enjoy the comfort of another person, and especially enjoyed having his strong back beneath her hands.
Earth to Croft: he may smell delicious, but you certainly do not, and if Zip sees your little cuddle, you'll never live it down.
Sure enough, she detected shuffling in the foyer, followed by loud cursing, and she swiftly broke away from Trent, veiling the emotions in her eyes and extracting herself rapidly from his grip. She was very careful not to look into his face, or at his bare, scarred chest.
"What the fuck was all tha'?" Demanded Zip, as he emerged cautiously, confident now he knew the two explorers had removed all the intruders.
"Unwelcome guests.." Answered Lara, surveying the damage and carefully avoiding looking at Trent. "The audacity."
"You ain't half made a mess." Zip observed helpfully. "Winston'll have a field day." Lara smiled. Her home had been reconstructed so many times due to mishaps that the destruction, although inconvenient, was not the end of the world.
"We've dealt with this sort of situation before." She frowned at Zip. "We won't mention how they got past the security system." Zip cowered.
"Woops." He backed away a little.
Trent watched as Lara set Zip about assessing the damage, and he reflected for a minute. Worryingly, his spontaneous hugging hadn't been anything to do with the plan, or the promise. Nothing at all. And that was not a good sign.
You let other things get the better of you. You're just not prepared for this!
"Kurtis?" He woke from his reverie at Lara's question.
"Hm?"
"You need cleaning up." She surveyed the damage – he altogether did look a rather sorry picture.
"I've had better days." He answered, smiling that one sided smile of his.
"You go inside, and I'll fetch some bandages." Lara smiled. She was not going to let herself enjoy this.
Well…maybe a little bit.
When Lara eventually made her way back to where she'd left Trent – the only clean sofa, in the drawing room – it was not without a smile on her face. She had found that Winston had secured himself in the freezer for safety during the attack, but now he was happily sorting out the repairs. She'd spotted Alister emerging fearfully from the secret passage in the library, but she hadn't stopped. After all, she was on her way to bathing the rather muscular chest of a rather dashing man, and their disagreement was still fresh in her mind.
When she re entered the drawing room, Trent was staring into the distance, tracing his thumb mechanically over his thick wiry scar, tracing from under his left peck to just level with his belly button.
"How did that happen?" She asked conversationally, as she set down the bowl of salt water and the box of bandages and antiseptic she was carrying. She perched on the edge of the low coffee table so that she was directly opposite him, and able to reach him. Their knees touched disconcertingly as she sat down, and like a teenager she snatched them away the instant they'd made contact, already being far too aware of how close they were. She carefully focused all her attention on the scar she'd just asked about.
"Oh…that." He bent his head to look. "Nothing major, really. Just a case of mutant scientist…bird…bug thing that attacked me right after I sent you off with a certain painting." Wryly, he raised his eyes to hers, and she caught a haunted glint in his eyes, hidden beneath the charm. Seeing it was sensitive, she decided to veer off the subject. At least his answer gave her some understanding of what had happened to him. She nodded, and looked away. She had her own haunting memories of the Strahov to keep her up at night. And she had a horrible, niggling feeling that had arrived with the previous night's intruders - it was far from over.
"Which one hurts the most?" She asked.
"Not sure. Will you bathe that bit first?" He got a very naughty gleam in his eyes. "Cos if that's case, it's the one on my ar - "
"I'm not kissing anything better for you." Lara interrupted sternly. She knew exactly what he was going to say, and she did not want him to see her, the intrepid explorer, blush. He grinned, and she felt something punch her in the gut.
Crap. You're already falling apart. Get a bloody grip!
"Keep still." She demanded, taking up the flannel saturated with salt water. The unsympathetic tone in her voice was immediately contradicted by her relaxing and moving closer, letting her legs rest against his. She felt the solidarity of his strong thigh against hers and it made the same little creature punch her stomach again.
The instant the flannel touched the gash on his shoulder, he squealed.
"Fuck, woman!" He managed, jerking backwards. She smirked at the inflection his accent gave to the words.
"Can't the superhuman American handle a little salt water?" She asked innocently, laughter in her eyes. Kurtis' own eyes narrowed, and he darted forward and gave her a little shove. She instantly shoved back.
"I told you to keep still, Trent." She said, seeing him shift his weight in preparation for a second attack. She was feeling the frisson leap between them and she didn't want him to have any excuse to get any closer.
Because if he gets any closer, I may be tempted to give in…
Kurtis hesitated, then relaxed. She brandished the flannel again, and started to pay attention to the gash. It stung, but he could manage it. As she became intent on cleaning and dressing it, he watched her. Her clever hands busied themselves industriously with the task, and as she worked, she relaxed and came closer and closer, until her face was a hairs breadth away.
He soon became distracted from her face, however, as the same strap of her top that had been falling off earlier slipped off her shoulder and laid across her bicep, revealing a good couple of inches of bra. It also led him to think of other scenarios in which it might fall so…
Man, you need to run around the block and let off all this steam.
He cleared his throat abruptly and looked away.
Luckily, at that moment Lara finished and sat back a little, and the silence was broken..
"There." She turned her attention to the glass imbedded just below his collarbone. Although she appeared to be all business, her calm exterior was covering a very flustered Lara indeed. His proximity and her awareness of it left her skin a tingling, burning mass and the smooth skin beneath her fingertips was sickeningly tantalising. It didn't help that she could feel his smouldering blue gaze fix on her, and his now familiar smell pervade the air when she was close to him.
Trying to rise above it all, she reached out and attempted to pull free the glass shard. He reacted instantaneously.
"Shit, that hurts!" He jumped, making her retract her hand.
"It has to come out, or it will go septic." Lara said, pleased with how even her voice sounded.
"Oh, no. I'll be fine. Just don't touch it." He said, wincing and sitting back. Lara frowned. She was serious about the glass, and annoyance was beginning to override the other things scuttling around her head. And so she made her mistake; she looked up, and met his gaze.
And a preposterous solution came into her head.
She knew that if she hadn't looked into his face, she would never have considered it for more than a millisecond. As it was, she had already forgotten rationality. She told herself that it was the only way to get that dangerous glass out of his chest.
It's not like it would mean anything more than him not getting blood poisoning…yes, you can put it down to medical reasons. And the trauma. Of having your house blown apart, that is.
Trent, wound still stinging, noticed that as soon as Lara met his eyes, something shifted in her. Something he wondered whether he should be afraid of. He didn't have much time to think on it, though, as she leant across the space between them and in the next second he tasted her on his lips.
She kissed him desperately, urgently full on the mouth, and he met her force with his own. One hand wrapped around her neck and pulled her closer to him, and the other snaked around her waist and held her to him. He let the hand slide from her neck down to the shoulder he'd noticed before and relished the soft skin beneath his calloused hand. He felt her lips move roughly over his and his heavy breath escaped as he opened his mouth and softly slipped his tongue into hers. She responded headily, flicking her tongue over his. He could feel the heat of her and the burning in his gut, the taste of her and the feel of her –
And then a sharp pain in his chest area, and she was gone from his grasp.
By the time he opened his eyes and controlled his senses, she was no longer cradled in his lap, but standing before him, brandishing the piece of glass that had been in his chest.
"I told you it had to come out, one way or another." She stated, pretending to examine the shard. He didn't miss the croak in her voice, or the almost imperceptible shake in her hand. But it bothered him that she had done it just to make him keep still.
Or maybe that's what she wants you to think. Well. Two can play at this game.
"You don't waste any time, do you, Croft?" And it satisfied his still racing heart to see her blush, just a tiny bit, at the edges.
I'll write the next bit uber fast if you tell me what you think of the kiss scene. Yes, reviews are stimulation. Clicky below please!