Dear reader,

this is my first proper little story. I've poured my creative juices into this piece for many weeks and had great fun doing so. It is the first installment of an upcoming continuation trillogy that will be mostly focusing on Lara's and Kurtis' relationship. I appreciate any feedback you'd like to give greatly, so feel free to let me know what could be improved.

Also: I have a tumblr account called "lady-trent" where I post about chapter uploads, give visual references per chapter and there is also a playlist of music for this story. There are certain songs that inspired me to write some of the scenes, and some that just set the mood for a scene very well. I have provided notes about which songs to listen to at what point, but feel free to ignore if you don't need any music to set the mood.

Enjoy!

Chapter 1

July 21st, 2004, Athens, 8:30 pm

("Crush" - Cigarettes After Sex)

A soft breeze caressed her face as she stood on the little balcony, sipping on a glass of wine. The air, finally cooling down after an oppressively hot summer day, carried a thousand delicious smells of life and she could not help but sigh deeply at the view unfolding in front of her. The Acropolis of Athens stared back at her almost mischievously, illuminated in the semi-darkness of a midsummer dream. She felt as though humanity itself was winking at her from the other side of time and she almost waved back.A pair of hands, gently slipping around her waist from behind, pulled her out of her thoughts and into a tender embrace.
"I'm so glad you came" The whisper in her ear sent a pleasant shiver down her spine. She closed her eyes and leaned into the embrace.
"Thank you for inviting me here," she said as she felt her loosely braided hair being pushed back and a pair of soft, warm lips delicately planted themselves onto her exposed neck. She bit her lip and turned around.
"I have to admit I've missed this, Lara. That glorious, juicy ass of yours" A pair of hands suddenly pulled her even closer and squeezed her bottom, gently yet firmly. Lara could not suppress a grin. She gazed longingly into a pair of strong, glistening eyes and brushed aside a dark strand of hair from them before leaning in for a passionate kiss. The pair sunk into each other for a moment, and the gentle exchange slowly turned into an excited urgency. Lara felt her senses overcome with lust. She broke away from the kiss and with a playful smile and a provocative look, she grabbed one of the hands from her bottom and pulled them both back inside the apartment. Making her way to the bedroom she tossed her denim jacket in a corner and pulled her tank top over her head. Making sure those hungry eyes were following her every move, Lara unbuttoned her trousers and teasingly slipped them off her toned curves exposing a long, elegant pair of legs.
She got the exact reaction she was hoping for. In the blink of an eye, she felt herself pushed into the bed, growing hot and impatient for the touch of her lover. She sunk her fingers into the thick, dark hair and poured herself into the fiery kiss they were sharing. She felt her entire body vibrate with desire. Impatiently she tried to unbutton the miserable shirt left between their skins like an unbreachable wall, and in the effort, she ripped a few buttons that went flying across the room. Skin, hot and sweaty, touched skin, tanned and pulsating with urge. She wanted to feel it so bad, wanted to submerge herself and forget everything else around her.
The sensation of a warm pair of lips closing around her bare nipple sent her flying.
She did her best not to scream while a tongue circled around it, over and over, making her furiously lustful. She bit her lip and sighed deeply, madly grinning.
"I want you so bad, Lara" she heard a voice moan in her ear as she gently scratched across the bare back on top of her. She let her hands wander until she reached a particularly perky pair of cheeks, then pulled them towards herself making their aroused bodies press against each other. She felt a gentle nudge of teeth on her neck and giggled in delight.
"What are you waiting for?" she muttered provocatively. Pleased with herself she felt her panties being pulled down her legs and spread them open in front of her lover, teasingly slowly. A deep sigh escaped those sexy lips Lara enjoyed tasting so much. She watched those very lips place a kiss on the inner side of her thigh. Then another, a little further. And another. Lara tossed her head back in pure ecstasy, more than ready to receive, her thoughts getting lost on their own. She sunk one hand deep into those dark strands of hair. And as she felt a tongue split her lips and brush against her, a desperate moan escaped her.
"Oh, Kurtis…"
Lara suddenly froze and so did the tongue between her legs. With an expression of horror, her eyes widened, then she covered her face with one hand and let out a quiet sound of despair into the awkward silence of the bedroom.
"What?" a questioning pair of eyes stared at her from in between Lara's legs, accompanied by a raised eyebrow. The Brit didn't know what to say.
"I'm so sorry Kassandra," she finally uttered in a defeated voice.
"That's alright Lara," the woman chuckled.
"It's not like we're married, it's just sex. Don't worry about it" Kassandra continued and placed a reassuring kiss on Lara's leg. Then, scooching up a little, she asked with a curious look on her face
"So… who is this Kurtis fella?"
Lara sighed.
"Nobody. Just some idiot who doesn't know how to use a phone" she eventually responded seemingly lost in thoughts and Kassandra was left with no doubt that her British lover was somehow hung up on this guy, whoever he was.
"Hey, I've known you for what, ten or so years?"
"Thirteen, actually…"
"Yeah yeah, good enough. You can talk to me, you know I don't judge" She gave Lara a playful wink and smiled warmly. Lara chuckled and rolled her eyes.
"There's nothing to talk about, really. Not worth another thought" she said, but it felt more like she was trying to convince herself rather than the half-naked woman on top of her.
Kassandra raised an unconvinced eyebrow but decided to let it go.
"Ok then," the Greek woman said cheerfully.
"I can make you forget all about this Kurtis fella…" She leaned in and gently placed a kiss on Laura's neck.
"And the only name you will be moaning tonight is mine" she whispered seductively and pulled Lara into a salacious kiss once more.
Happy to have her mind taken off of the American besieging her thoughts, Lara allowed herself to sink into the woman's kiss. It took them mere seconds to pick up where they had left off.
In a sudden burst of desire, Lara grabbed Kassandra's waist and rolled them both over to land on top of her breathtaking partner. Kassandra was indeed breathtaking. The dark locks of hair framing her beautiful, sun-kissed face. The sparkle in her eyes, confident and almost bullish in nature. The tan lines on her delicate small breasts. Lara took it all in and felt her blood rush into all the right places at once.
Playfully she let her fingers slowly slide up Kassandra's stomach, watching her eyes roll back in anticipation. Then, without hesitation she cupped both her breasts with her hands, feeling the woman beneath her tremble. Lara bit her lip, pleased with herself for having such an effect on the woman. She bent down and gently licked her right nipple, listening with satisfaction to the moans escaping her lover's lips. Then, without hesitation she bent down and started circling Kassandra's nipples with her tongue, feeling the woman beneath her tremble. Lara bit her lip, pleased with herself for having such an effect on the woman.

( "Location Unknown" - Honne feat. Beka (Brooklyn Session!))
Hours later, it must have been way past midnight already, and Lara found herself lying awake next to her beautiful, naked friend. She watched her chest slowly rise up and down in a regular motion, fast asleep.
Though banished for a few hours, the American came back to haunt her thoughts at last and she could not help brooding. A tired sigh escaped her lips and she gently picked herself off the bed, so as to not disturb the sleeping woman. She wrapped a bed sheet around herself and quietly left the bedroom, picking up her backpack on the way.
"There we go," she whispered to herself when she found Kassandra's office in another room of the top-floor apartment. She didn't bother looking for a light switch, as the buzzing city lights illuminated the room more than enough. Anyone who considers New York to be the city that never sleeps has clearly never been to the enchanting city of Athens.
Lara's eyes scanned the piles of books and papers on the large mahogany desk. The typical mess of an antiquities dealer's workbench. Lara had met Kassandra during university fieldwork on the gorgeous island of Naxos, many years ago. They became friends instantly, developing a casual, physical relationship over the years. Lara was not at all surprised to see Kassandra thrive in art dealing circles. The Greek woman was blessed with incredible charisma, a fish would buy bottled water from her with glee. But what drew Lara most to her was her easy-going, fun-loving nature. She always managed to cheer Lara up, get her to lean back, and enjoy life for what it's worth, even if it was only a temporary charm that lasted mere hours.
The Brunette smiled absently, suddenly realising a strange similarity between Kassandra and the man who doesn't know how to use a phone.
Shaking her head to rid it of more thoughts of him, she opened one of Kassandra's brown paper files in front of her marked with the words Spain, catholic, 1700s. A photograph stared back at her from the open file. A golden circle, disc-like, delicate, and layered with the most intricate, decorative symbols, with five holes in the middle. It was the same photograph Kassandra had sent Lara the previous week, asking for her expertise in identifying this strange object's origin. The art dealer had a theory about the artefact possibly stemming from a Spanish convent some three hundred years ago.
"It could be an unusual type of candelabrum, wouldn't you agree? Either way, I would appreciate you taking a look in person. This and a few other things as well, we received a few new items recently. Why don't you come visit me in Athens next weekend? My boss is hosting this auction gala. We could catch up, have a couple of drinks and, you know, the usual. What do you say?" She had said on the phone a week ago. Lara would have said yes either way, but she was also grateful for Kassandra's theory about the artefact. This way she didn't have to lie to her. She'd merely agreed with Kassandra, leaving her in the dark about the real origin of the artefact, or as its creator had so melodramatically dubbed it – the Sanglyph. A dangerous tool, forged by a pony-tailed lunatic named Peter van Eckhardt, to revive an ancient race of angel-adjacent creatures known only by a selected few as the Nephilim.
Lara shivered involuntarily. With a quick motion, she closed the file and pushed it away from herself. She's been involved in this mess for months now, lost a dear friend over it, and caused many deaths of innocent people along the way, attempting to avert Eckhardt's plans.
She'd made her peace with much of it in the meantime, had forgiven herself for how she parted with her mentor and learned to let go of what was not in her power to be changed. But as long as this Nephilim business wasn't resolved, she would find neither rest nor peace.
No rest for the wicked, huh? she thought to herself with a bitter smile.
She pulled a notebook out of her backpack and settled into Kassandra's desk chair.
Upon opening the notebook she pulled out a simple postcard. It showed an image of the Bulgarian mountains, with a small monastery hiding between a range of awe-evoking cliffs. The corners were a bit worn and it seemed to have been folded in half at least once at some point during its journey to England. Stamped May 17th. She flipped it around.

Not much time for sightseeing, but the mountain air is amazing. Lots of ancient rocks, you'd love it here. -K

A gentle smile unfolded on Lara's lips. Kurtis too had this easygoing nature about him that Lara found incredibly appealing, as much as she tried to deny it.
She checked her phone again, for the hundredth time this week. No missed calls, no messages. A frown replaced the gentle smile. It wasn't like him to just ignore her calls.
Idiot, she thought to herself, putting the phone down.
It had been days since the last message she had left on his answering machine. Not enough time to be worried, but certainly enough to be displeased at the very least.
Come on, Trent. We're in this together…where the bloody hell are you?

The previous day, Charles de Gaulle Airport, 4 pm

(Continue with "Location Unknown" - Honne feat. Beka (Brooklyn Session!))

"...can you believe it? You should've seen the condition it was in. I would have given him a piece of my mind had he not started waving his bloody gun around like a lunatic. Anyway, looks like a dead end. But at least we got that out of the way. Let me know how it's going on your end." a short beep ended the message. The young man looked down at his flip phone, then checked his watch. There was plenty of time, no need to rush to the counter just yet. He dialled another time to play the next message, trying to tune out the busy chatter of travellers around him.
"Trent, I think I might have found something, call me back when you get this." another beep, the woman's voice sounded hopeful this time, almost excited. He dialled again.
"Ok, it looks promising, I think the hint is legit. I need to talk to you, asap. This is Lara by the way, in case you forgot" he couldn't suppress a smirk, he liked it when she got just a little bit cocky. Sometimes he would purposefully let her calls go to voicemail, so she'd record a few sentences. It pained his pride just a little bit to admit it to himself. But he would listen back to her messages every once in a while. He simply enjoyed the sound of her voice, the subtle changes in her tone when she'd go on a tangent, forgetting she was recording a voicemail, even the way she'd pronounce the word bloody. All of it.
He dialled one more time.
"Ok Trent, whatever bloody hole you crawled into, crawl out of it. This is not answering machine material and it can't wait. Call me" a long beep signalled the end of his recorded voicemail. He smiled, then sighed in defeat. His finger itched to press the green button on his phone, to call her back right this second. He didn't usually keep her waiting like this and was starting to feel bad about it. But he had no choice at that moment. Whatever she wanted to tell him could wait one more day. He knew all too well, if he called her now she'd get the news out of him and would insist on coming with.
And boy was it news. He'd been waiting months to hear back from any of his contacts, trying to track down the Sanglyph after the explosion and subsequent shutdown of the Strahov complex in Prague. Years spent in private military contracting had left him well-connected with all sorts of people and plenty of favours to turn in.
For that matter, he'd been waiting for months to hear back about anything relating to the Cabal or the Agency. It did surprise him to hear of the dangerous artefact sooner than the "secret order of sworn enemies to common sense" as his British collaborator liked to call them.
Won't be surprised if they show up for the party tomorrow, he thought to himself as he gathered his things and started walking.
I'm doing the right thing, not telling her. Right? , he questioned himself, finding it all utterly unconvincing at best.
I just don't want to put her in more danger than she needs to be in, and yet he had a feeling she'd not be amused when she found out he had gone solo on this one. He actually would have loved her company. He's met few people as competent in the field as her. Her wits and scrappiness impressed him from the get-go, even if he'd like her to make decisions a tad slower sometimes, less impulsively maybe. It sure would have saved him a bunch of trouble here and there. However, the thought of getting her into trouble or causing harm to her again by taking her with him was simply unacceptable. And that was it. The image of her unconscious body on the ground, bleeding, fire all around her when he failed to protect her in Lyon, pushed itself onto his conscience. She was fine in the end, but he'd been so worried. Whatever difficult feelings he had around her person, he would try his damn best to keep the shadow war away from her as much as possible, or her from the war if need be. Enough people's lives had slipped through his fingers because of his poor decisions, his trying to escape the conflict, flee the order and his duties, abandon his people, and his family. Only to find them dead in the end. No more.
I'll call you back soon, princess. I Promise.
"Bonjour monsieur, where are you travelling to today?" The woman at the counter greeted him politely, gifting him a bright smile.
"Athens, mademoiselle," he said and handed over his battered French passport.