Tomb Raider: The Legacy

Chapter 20: Dreamcatcher

Dawn gave way to broad daylight slowly. Lara noticed it in the pristine light coming through the window. She blinked and then remembered what happened. She tried to move, but then she felt his weight on her body.

Kurtis lay on her, his naked body entwined with hers, his head resting on her shoulder, his huge hand on her flat belly. They were on the narrow bed of what had been his childhood's room, where they had come after what happened on the kitchen table, which had not been enough - neither for him nor for her. On that little bed in which barely both fit, everything had begun again.

Lara felt sore, both outside and inside, but it was a well-known, pleasant pain that she herself had required and accepted. The physical pleasure had been even stronger, but now it had vanished, while the pain persisted - a minor price to pay. That was how she liked it.

Silence invaded the house. Suddenly she realized, stunned, that Anna hadn't yet show up and that Marie lay dead in the next room. And they... they had simply been...

She moved again, slightly, and then Kurtis woke up. She heard him breathe deeply and his hand rose from her belly to her breast. Lara closed her eyes. It wasn't right, that desperate and hungry sex, much less when issues between them weren't quite solved yet, much less with their daughter missing and the woman who saved her life lay still and cold in the next room. But apart from indecent, that had felt hopelessly natural. Irremediably human. The pulse of life, which never stopped.

She noticed how he half got up and then, his mouth on her breast, her sternum, going up her throat, until he reached her lips. She opened them for him. Before she even opened her eyes, she knew that the blue immensity of his gaze would be on her. His fingers caressed her face.

Lara opened her eyes and looked at him. Yes, there were those eyes, wet, tired, reddened. She wasn't one for crying, but Kurtis seemed to ignore know how to cry.

He watched her silently for a few moments. She thought he wanted to tell her something, but then he changed his mind and started to get up.

Lara's thighs caught his hips, as she always did when wanting him to stay.

"No." She whispered. "Not yet." She didn't know why she spoke softly. But it didn't matter. He leaned on one elbow and stared at her, so beautiful, dishevelled hair, parted lips, panting suddenly. "Once again."

"Lara..."

"Once again. Please." She took his hand and put it on her breast. "Just one more time. Then we'll take care of the rest."

He hesitated a few seconds, then, he lay back on her.

(...)

Marie Cornel's death news spread like wildfire. Suddenly, many people gathered in front of the cabin, including the shaman, Hok'ee, who faced Kurtis furiously. "Your mother was dying, and you didn't tell us." He snapped. "She was as part of us as you. Tradition requires that our people doesn't die alone."

"She died in my arms, shaman." Kurtis replied bitterly. Beside him, Lara stared at the Navajo with a frown. "She had no one but me. The hell do you want now, Hok'ee?"

"I should've been present, as the shaman. Your mother has died defenceless, and all of you, your daughter and this woman, have been left without my protection, exposed to evil spirits."

"As if you know shit about evil spirits." Kurtis muttered. "And this woman is the mother of my daughter, so from now on you address her with respect or you leave."

He felt Lara's hand lean on his arm as Hok'ee straightened: "What will be your next offense, Hashkeh? Give your mother a Christian burial?"

"Stop." A voice was heard behind the shaman. A woman left the group of observers and approached them. "These fights are useless. Let's take care of Marie, which is the only thing we can do now."