"Follow your heart, but be quiet for a while first. Ask questions, then feel the answer. Learn to trust your heart."
They both turned their heads to the direction where the little noise came from almost at the same time, but this time there was no danger coming. A big tile stirred, rising a bit out of the floor. They could not see yet what was hiding under it, but it was definitely the next step they need to follow.
"I guess we need to keep moving." – Kurtis smiled at her, watching her with so much warmth that Lara wanted nothing else but to get lost in him. She had to force herself to recall that fat guy outside who threatened her friends, of the man with the mask who brought her here.
"Yeah." – she nodded, her voice low and throaty. It was painful to let him go, but it was a different kind of pain. More of a hunger not quite sated. She moaned inwardly, no sound leaving her lips when his mouth moved away from her, when his hands left her skin, when his body parted from hers.
"What do you need to find for this guy?" – Kurtis reached out, offering a hand to pull her to her feet again. Lara grabbed it.
"He said that the golden book of Egypt would be in here. This is supposed to be the lost tomb of Imhotep. And I start to believe it really is." – she explained, looking around in the little area they arrived to. Only now she realized it was the center of the maze. Just a small square room with empty grey walls all around. Lara leaned down, sweeping away the sand from the tile that moved out from the floor.
"Maybe this will help." – Kurtis turned on the flashlight that stayed in his hand when Lara had run away from him earlier. Squatting down next to hear, he helped her clean the sand away, but there was absolutely nothing on the tile in front of them. Kurtis looked up at her, shrugging his shoulder. "I guess that's the only left."
Grabbing the stone, they pulled it and with great difficulty moved it to the side. Kurtis pointed the flashlight at the dark hole and could see the bottom not far below them. "Do you think it's a trap?" – he asked wearily.
"I don't know." – Lara whispered. "I'll go and check it. You wait here." – but Kurtis grabbed her hand.
"Don't do this. We're in this together." – again that look in his eyes that made her weak in the knee. Why could she not say no to him although everything in her protested against letting him come with her? "Let me be with you."
He waited. Patiently. He did not force the answer out of her, he did not try to push her. Letting her fight with her own emotions, accept the feeling of letting someone close to her was the best he could do at the moment. Lara closed her eyes for a moment, and Kurtis could see, almost feel the battle inside her.
"Okay." – she said quietly. Without any further comment, or even looking at him, Lara jumped down into the hole. A small, satisfied smile appeared on Kurtis' face before he followed her.
"Do you want to talk about it?" – he asked, walking a few steps behind her while they followed the corridor that looked exactly like the ones at the beginning of the tomb. Empty walls covered with stones, sand on the floor.
"I'm not sure it's a good idea." – her answer was quiet, but in the silence Kurtis could hear the sadness in it very well.
"Did you love him?" – he repeated the earlier question he had not got an answer to. Kurtis was not sure he wanted to hear the answer, but he had to. The way she had kissed him before told him that Lara felt something for him.
"That's not as easy as you think." – she stopped and Kurtis did the same. He did not want to go closer this time.
"Tell me what happened. Please." – his voice sounded soft, understanding and Lara closed her eyes again. She did not want to talk about Alistair, but it was killing her from inside. No matter how she tried to convince herself that it was not her fault. How could it not be her fault? She craved hearing the words from Kurtis' mouth. The words that could bring her relief, even if just for a little while.
When she closed her eyes she could still see him standing there. On the other side of the glass wall. And between them it had been her standing… her reflection, her dark side. Those sparkling eyes, that evil look, the words she had told her later. Flaws, compassion, neither of them their own masters.
"I was hesitating. That's what killed him." – she confessed, maybe for the first time saying these words aloud. And a part of me, she added inwardly.
Why did she avoid the answer? Kurtis got more and more anxious about this. "I need to know." – he whispered softly.
"If I loved him? Of course I loved him." – she said without turning back. Her voice trailed off, and she slowly fell to her knees. Even if he could not see her, Kurtis was sure there were tears rolling down her face again. It was the hardest thing ever, but he did not run to her. He let her talk. "He was…. I wanted to save him, but she was too fast, too strong. I couldn't get there in time. I couldn't…" – she was not crying as he expected. Sad, lonely tears were running down her cheek. "He didn't deserve this… he was my friend… my friend." – she repeated and the word floated in the air as a redemption for them both.
Kurtis hated himself for the relief he felt. He could not help to feel happy about what he had heard. A friend, not a lover. Slowly, he moved closer to her.
When he touched her shoulder, Lara started lightly, but did not pull away. He knelt in front of her, gently brushing the tears from her face. "Please don't cry." – he whispered.
"Can't you see? I lost so many of them… I can't get through this again. I fear that more than anything else. And there you are… I lost you once, and there you are again." – she looked at him incredulously. There was fear, doubt, question on her face.
"I'm so sorry." – he cupped her face with one hand, gently stroking her skin as if not being able to get enough of her. "You have to know, I've never stopped thinking of you. It was your face I'd seen in front of me every night." – he inched closer, kissing away a tear from her cheek. He tasted the salty moisture on her skin, gently moving his lips further down. Slowly, softly gliding down to the corner of her mouth. "I want you to smile again and I want to be the reason for it." – his lips lightly stroked hers, until they parted under his touch. The kiss stayed calm, just the lightest of tasting and Lara moaned against his mouth. She loved the way he could calm her or arouse her with the same kind of touch. She yearned for him, for the feeling of relief he brought her. "Come on. Let's find that damn book." – he whispered in her ear and pulled her up from the floor.