Author's disclaimer: I don't own a thing belonging to Tomb Raider. Lara Croft and Sam Nishimura and Jonah Maiava belong to Square-Enix. Nothing to see here!
Author's notes: I like having my Tomb Raider stories in a series called Alpha Raiding. But I prefer the chapter option so this next title will continue under "Alpha's Rest." I hope you enjoy ^_^
"Alpha's Rest" chapter one
"Days after"
Continuation of Alpha Raiding
Lara snapped awake. Someone was moving around in the hallway outside her room. She had to take a few deep breaths to center her mind and push the cobwebs of dreams away from her eyes. She was not on Yamatai, hacking it through a wooded area. She had saved Sam, and they were both in Croft Manor.
But who was sneaking around in the manor at two am? Lara reached under her pillow and pulled the safety slide on her modded pistol back. Old habits died hard, apparently.
Lara slid her feet over the side of her bed and silently padded over the carpet to her bedroom door. When the knob turned and the door began to open, Lara forgot how to breathe. There was an intruder, there was someone in her house…. Then, the familiar scent of Sam wafted to her nostrils and her legs trembled so hard, she almost sat right there on the floor. Sam gasped in surprise when Lara's free hand settled on her wrist.
"Lara!" Sam yelped, almost jumping a foot in the air. Lara groped for the light switch and the sight of Sam, hair rumpled from sleep, tugged at her heartstrings.
"I'm here," Lara said dumbly. She sheepishly set her pistol on her bedside table as Sam shut the door. "What is it?"
The unspoken 'are you okay' hung between them, silent and cryptic. Sam ran a hand through her tousled hair, rumpling it further.
"I kept having dreams…..now I can't sleep. Can I sleep with you in here?" she begged plaintively, and Lara's heart ached. She knew she shouldn't encourage closeness, not without a start on therapy….but she couldn't help surrendering to her selfishness. For just a night.
"Yes! Yes. Lemme just…lock the door…" Lara reached past Sam to lock her bedroom door. She flashed a nervous grin to her old lover. "There, all safe."
'I promise you're safe,' Lara thought desperately. Sam took her hand sweetly and Lara tucked her into her bed and climbed in beside her. Sam giggled when Lara reached over her to turn off the bedside lamp. Both of them focused on the pistol on the nightstand before the room went dark. Lara tried to slow her breath, but her heart was hammering against her breast. Sam smelled so sweet, and she was warm beside her. How many times had she dreamed of this smell, of this feel, while she was roughing it in the cold of Siberia, in the humidity of Peru? The scent that made Lara feel wanted and safe, that she wanted to strip down and embrace for how many days were allowed.
Lara felt her face heat in the darkness of her room when Sam cuddled close, slinging an arm over her waist. Memories of their first joining in the ship, rescued from Yamatai sprang to mind. She swallowed.
"Sam, I…" she stammered. A ruffle between them and Sam pressed a kiss to her cheek awkwardly in the dark. She near missed as it was.
"Please…. We'll talk about it later, just let me be here…"
Lara took a few deep breaths and laid her hand over Sam's, warm under the comforter. "Okay…."
As Sam's breathing slowed, Lara shut her eyes and allowed her familiar scent to lure her to sleep.
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The next morning began awkwardly enough. Sam's sweet scent had caused her to half shift, and she'd shimmied out of bed, bunching her sweats in a way so as hopefully to avoid notice. Sam tried not to look, but Lara noticed her gaze falling to her waist.
Sam had opted to shower in the bathroom in the guestroom instead of her own and Lara didn't know whether she should be disappointed or not. At least she could take a cold shower and get ahold of herself.
Cook and the maids set up breakfast in the small dining room which was more intimate and cozier than the large dining room. Sam sat next to Lara and asked about her studies and travels while they ate slowly. Lara made herself chew at least ten times between each bite. Survival living had not been healthy for her eating habits. Sam leaned her head on one hand, trailing her fingers through her hair. Lara knew that tell. At least she was confident she had pushed all of Himiko out of her ex-lover.
"When is your first appointment?" Lara asked. Sam glanced at her phone, answering a text with her provider.
"Today….at eleven. At least we can complain about it over lunch," Sam tried to joke. Lara laid her hand over hers and squeezed.
"I know it'll be hard… can't talk about displaced spirits with them. But I'm here….whatever you need." Lara hoped her sincerity was showing through. Whatever Sam needed, she was here. She'd do anything to make her feel safe and secure again.
"This is a good start," Sam promised. Lara cleared her throat and took a sip of coffee.
"Do I get brownie points for saving your camera equipment?"
The look of happiness Sam flashed her stopped Lara's heart for a moment. "Well, yes! Thank you, sweetie."
Lara smiled gently at Sam. "Anytime…"
The maids cleared up the dishes and Lara had to stop herself from helping. Roughing it had given her manners where it was needed.
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Lara gazed at Sam's profile as they were driven back home. She'd offered to go and wait for Sam after her first therapy session, and the drive had been silent. Sam had given a reassuring joke or two, but Lara could tell she was off. She offered her hand and Sam held it idly, gazing out the window.
"Wanna talk about it?" Lara had murmured lowly so the driver wouldn't hear. Sam sighed and glanced at her.
"Yes. Not now," she'd said so Lara kept silent the rest of the drive back.
Home at Croft Manor, Lara led Sam around the side, through her old play area and the gardens, and into her father's museum building. She wove Sam around the statues at attention in front of the small doorway at the far end and Sam made to say something, knowing the purpose of this room.
It had once been Lara's mother's art room. Her old supplies, canvases and pieces still lay at attention, as if waiting for her return. Everything had been neatly arranged and dusted waiting for her…Lara swallowed and led Sam to the door further in. The little sunroom that waited was nicely tucked away from prying eyes. Only the sunroof was open to view from the outside, rays of sunshine scattered across the green tiled floor. A few potted plants basked in the sunlight, watered and kept by the maids.
Lara nodded with approval, scooting a settee, so low it had no legs, further in the corner. There were scattered large cushions as well that she picked up and tossed on and around the small piece of furniture. She took off her leather jacket and smiled, one arm spread wide. She patted the cushion and Sam finally smiled and slid in beside her.
"Staff knows not to bother anyone in here. Or in Mom's old art room. So, wanna talk?" Lara asked softly. Sam nodded, her eyes somewhat distant. But her voice was clear.
"I couldn't talk about Himiko with him. Dr. Shaw is good, but how can I explain that? Sounds like I have a personality disorder," Sam said. Lara traced her cheek with two fingers and Sam finally turned toward her. Her brown eyes warmed as she took Lara in.
"Talk about it with me. I know what happened," Lara said. Sam leaned against her shoulder, seemingly happy in her embrace. Lara resolved to keep it that way.
"After we came home…here, after the island," Sam said. "Remember our weeks together?"
Lara nodded. They'd come together and had enjoyed each other's company. And then some. With some strange occurrences that had slowly crept in. "Yes. I do."
Sam's cheeks slightly blushed. "Even when I was with you….I could hear her. Telling me to back down, trying to take me over. Then I could only see what she was doing….And then sometimes not even that."
This was very troubling. With what Lara had seen, heard and witnessed, it made sense. She sensed Sam could see some of what Himiko was doing, then times where Himiko was the only one behind her brown eyes.
"Sometimes it was like you were deeply asleep?" Lara asked softly. Sam nodded.
"Black out dead asleep. With my body moving about without my knowledge."
Lara winced. She'd had to tackle Himiko-in-Sam one dark and stormy night, before she'd called her parents with the news. Sam hadn't known that, but still….
"I'm sorry."
Sam blinked, confused. "For what, sweetie?"
"For one of those times…. when you were obviously not there. Himiko tried to run…you…. outside one night. Unhinged and…. naked. I had to tackle you in the foyer," Lara winced, remembering. Sam touched her face.
"Sweetie…it's okay."
"Now it is," Lara agreed. "We are, aren't we?"
"We will be," Sam murmured. As they watched the small dust motes dancing in the rays of sunlight from the glass roof, Lara wished fervently it were so.
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Sam had moved into her bedroom that night for bed and Lara didn't want to tell her no. Sam only insisted she read her more articles to wind down, instead of looking over her camera footage as she'd used to do. Lara had tried to urge her to do so, but Sam shrugged.
"I haven't filmed anything. Except thirty seconds of Winston and Cook," she said sheepishly. Lara laughed.
"Make a documentary of Croft Manor, why don't you. It'll be fun."
Some of Sam's old fire flared in her eyes. "On the hunt for how Lara Croft lives, with her staff, in her big old fancy house. It'll be fun!"
"Just don't shoot me in the bathroom," Lara pleaded. Sam leaned to kiss her cheek softly. Lara's face erupted in a blush.
"Oh, I won't. Go on, what's going on in Brazil?"
Lara cleared her throat and pulled one knee up to her chest as she read from the archaeology magazine. Sam leaned against her arm, then closer. Warmth bloomed in Lara's chest and expanded lower. She leaned slowly and kissed the top of Sam's head.
"You said you went to Kitezch….and Peru. Did you meet anyone?"
Anyone special, was what Sam had to mean. Lara blushed. "Uhm…"
Sam laughed and pressed closer under the sheets. "Dashing archeologist. It's okay…"
"Ask me another time," Lara pleaded. Sam nodded against her shoulder.
"Okay. Go on…."
Lara read on. Her pistol was on the nightstand and her bedroom door was locked. The dim lights helped them settle and Lara put the archaeology magazine aside when Sam's eyes fluttered close. Lara shifted down in the sheets and turned on her side toward her. Sam's warmth helped her fall to sleep and hopefully to peaceful dreams.
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Lara got a part-time position lecturing about relics at Oxford. She'd given Dr. Matsura the ancient Japanese jewels back, and while she wasn't late, he'd given her a look about the state of one of them. The one that had ejected Himiko's soul and healed Sam. It was half melted and Matsura had gone into a fit, demanding what had happened. Lara offered a sum of money to placate the Japanese government and Matsura had agreed.
He'd gotten her the job at Oxford, but once in awhile, Matsura seemed to avoid her. Lara couldn't blame him. But thinking of Sam, playing with her camera at home, made it all even to her.
One day, after coming home, Lara found Sam waiting on the couch in the foyer. One of the servants had put a fire in the marble fireplace there, and she set her camera down when Lara and her driver entered.
"Sam! How'd it go?" One of Sam's appointments had been that morning while she was at work. Sam made a face. She made a 'come here' gesture and when Lara reached her, Sam reached up to peck a quick kiss to her lips. "Okay, I hope?"
"It was…okay. But I keep seeing stone walls when I close my eyes. And flies. I can't stop seeing all that," Sam muttered. The driver moved through the foyer to the hallway beyond. She tugged Lara's hand. "From Her."
Lara didn't have to ask. And the way Sam had said 'her' certainly capitalized it. She pulled Sam to her feet. "Come on. We're going to the sunroom."
Sam happily went with her. It was becoming their secret hideaway and Lara looked forward to spending quiet time alone with her. They hadn't come together yet, but Lara knew it would be coming soon. She looked forward to pressing naked skin against Sam's, but when was appropriate? When was she healing? Would it help? So while they'd exchanged longing kisses on the settee in the waning sunlight drifting in from the glass roof, they hadn't proceeded further.
Lara left the sunroom door half open to her mom's art room. She knew they wouldn't be disturbed. Sam settled on the settee and when Lara joined her, reached to untie her tie. Lara smiled when Sam slung it over her neck to pull her down. They kissed shortly, then sweetly. Sam smiled when Lara kissed her brow once their lips had parted.
"Stone walls? What's that about?" Lara asked. Sam's eyes darkened somewhat. It had to be a memory from Himiko.
"She was laying in a stone room, inside a…. a coffin." Sam noticeably swallowed, her neck darting. Lara trailed two fingers down her pale cheek. "She was dressed richly…. but she couldn't move. I couldn't move. I was looking out through her eyes this time. And she couldn't move!"
Lara hugged Sam warmly. "You're not there. That was one of Himiko's memories, after her…death. She can't touch you again. I made sure of it." While Lara's words were spoken in a tone of confidence, her heart stuttered in her breast. This had to just be PTSD, right? No lingering ghostly fingers of a dead queen grasping onto her Sam?
"I know, I'm not. You're about the only thing keeping those memories away," Sam laughed nervously. "When we touch, she can't get near me."
Lara didn't need a further invitation than that to start another kiss. Soon they were sprawled on the settee, Lara's legs half off it on the tiled floor as Sam sprawled across her. "That's a fair proposition…. You're trying to take advantage, I think."
Sam draped across her, fingers trailing across her shirt front. "I'm not sorry for it."
"Sam…" Lara murmured. Her beautiful girl got a smile on her lips before leaning down to kiss her. She would keep her safe, and if she wanted to touch her, Lara wasn't going to stop that anytime soon. They hadn't gone further, but Lara had a feeling Sam had it on her mind. The way they'd woken up this morning more than indicated it.
Sam rested her chin on Lara's collarbone, draped over her. The late afternoon sunlight sent lazy rays across the both of them and the tiled floor. Lara shifted her stockinged feet back and forth, dragging over the tiles and half off the settee. As Sam was getting into a more comfortable position on her, causing Lara to think of more warm pleasant thoughts, there was a knock at the sunroom door, from her mother's studio. Lara froze under Sam who didn't get off her.
"Yes?" Lara called, hoping whomever wouldn't open the door all the way.
"Just wanted to know if you wanted tea, Miss Croft?" It was Rachel. She obviously was helping Cook out here. Lara coughed as Sam shifted on her lap. Dammit.
"Sure, just a pot. Please leave it in the art room?" And don't come in here…
"Yes, ma'am," Rachel called, and they heard her footsteps retreating to the museum hall.
"Hmm, tea," Sam teased above her. Lara sat up under her and kissed her.
"I'd rather taste you…."
"Flatterer."
Their kisses grew longer and when they parted from one, Lara's cheeks felt heated. Sam's face was flushed as well, and the slightly red patch of skin crew along her collarbone. Lara stared at it, fascinated.
"Are we….okay?" Lara asked numbly.
"Yes. I see warmth," Sam murmured. Lara shifted Sam on her side and went with her. She kissed Sam's cheeks, making her giggle.
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Sam came to her bed again that night as they dressed down for sleep. Lara wasn't about to tell her no anymore. But she did put on another pair of sweats over her boxers to keep any…amorous thoughts at bay.
"I'll be right back," Lara said at the door to her room. Sam was under the sheets, looking at her camcorder footage. She flashed a sensual smile and Lara's heart panged. She was wearing a tank top and boxers, and the curve of her bare leg made Lara's eyes drift.
"I'll be here," Sam said. Lara met with Winston downstairs, whose suit jacket was off, and was checking the front doors and windows in his shirt sleeves. She set the manor alarm as he locked up, and they turned out the foyer lights, retreating back to the stairwell. Winston told her goodnight as he made his way to the dim lighting of the kitchen toward the servant hall behind it.
Lara called out a good night after him and made her way back upstairs, turning off lights behind her as she went. Memories of creeping through dim stone halls panged behind her mind's eye and the darkness biting at her heels made Lara hurry. She kept one dim lamp in the hallway to her room on, and went in, shutting and locking her bedroom door behind her.
Sam looked up, curious as Lara caught her breath. "Just…..helping lock up. Turning off the lights."
Sam nodded, getting it. She pulled the sheets back and Lara padded toward her. She sat on the mattress's edge, tugging her socks off and angled under the sheets. Sam put her camcorder down on her nightstand and leaned close. A kiss was planted on her cheek and when Lara turned to tell her goodnight, Sam had caught her lips. She moved against Lara, hesitantly, as if fearing Lara would bolt. And with their careful maneuvering after the mental asylum, Lara couldn't blame her for being fearful. She turned on the bed and deepened the kiss softly. Sam murmured into her mouth and Lara would have smiled had her mouth not been busy.
Warmth blossomed between them, and Lara murmured when she felt Sam shift fabric beside her face. She leaned back and Sam yanked her tank top up over her head, tossing it aside. She was bra-less, of course, and her small breasts moved with her motions. Lara stared at the dark nipples that tightened in the somewhat cool air. She ran a hand gently over one, watching Sam's face. When Sam moaned, Lara slid closer, mouth going low to taste and suck. Sam's hands tightened around her head, nails scraping her scalp. Lara shivered around one nipple. All the warmth fell due south, and she shifted. Lara stopped trying to will it away, and let it happen. Sam's hands moved down her back, yanking on her shirt, and then pushing at the waistband of her sweats.
Lara moaned and fell on top of Sam. Her legs fell open and Lara fell in between. Half clothed, they ached against each other, kissing and touching. Lara lifted her head from another deep dizzying kiss.
"Wait….do you…." She began. Sam moved her hands down Lara's back, trying to grind against her shaft. Lara couldn't stop the shiver of pleasure when their cores met through three layers of clothing. Lara felt like her shaft was going to rip a hole through her boxers, sweats, and Sam's boxers.
Now, now could be a good time…. There wasn't an academic checklist for when love was right. When sex was off the table or on it… Lara knew Sam felt better when with her. So why restrain herself? A memory of Sam riding her came to mind and opening her eyes, seeing Sam's lust-filled eyes broke Lara's resolve.
"Yes…. Please, Lara," Sam murmured. Lara slung a strong arm under Sam's waist, pulling her up to sit in her lap. Sam blushed at the show of strength and draped her arms around Lara's neck. They kissed sweetly, then hotly. Sam's thighs pressed over her lean hips insistently.
"Okay, Sam…" Lara murmured against her lips. She shifted her weight, holding Sam on her lap as her shirt was pulled over her head. Sam's fingers trailed up and down her bare back and down between them to trace her breasts. Lara took her mouth in a deep kiss. She reached to turn off the bedside lamp, but Sam put her hand over hers.
"I want to see you, know it's you," Sam whispered. Lara leaned Sam down and shoved her sweatpants down her hips, taking her boxers with it. She pulled them off her lean legs and Sam's eyes were all over her, especially between her legs. Her shaft was fully erect, throbbing. Lara knelt between her knees, and almost shyly tugged at Sam's boxers. Her lover moved to help her and soon they were pressed hip to hip, bare skin heated. Lara kissed Sam's face, even the tip of her nose making her giggle. But Sam's humor turned to seriousness as she spread her legs beneath her. Lara focused on Sam's wet cave, making sure she was wet and ready before trying to slide the head of her cock in.
The first thrust was slow, but long, and Lara was amazed at how easily Sam took her. She was ready. About halfway in, Lara realized she wasn't wearing a condom. But she didn't want to ruin the moment, with Sam clutching at her back with her hands, her calves with her feet. As they moved against each other, Lara thought she could die happy. After almost dying again and again in dangerous situations with Trinity, she was home, in her bed, with her lover.
'I'd do it all again. To get this…' Lara thought as she pulled partway out to thrust again. Sam gasped against her ear and her lips trailed along her neck.
Coming home was in its own just reward.
End for now
End notes: I am not a psychiatrist and obviously have no idea when intimacy should be introduced, especially in a story that had a supernatural possession of sorts. We'll just have to go with it, as this is fiction ^_^ Please drop a review if you liked. Stay strong, my lovelies.
Sincerely, pen 4/4/2024