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The Tomb Raider (lara) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2018-05-23 23:07:00

Who: Lara and Bo
What: Emotional discussions, depression
When: Recent
Where: Croft Manor
Status: complete
Rating: High for the end



To say that Bo was extremely horny and sexually frustrated was the epitome of an understatement. But regardless of how horny and frustrated she got, she would wait until Lara was ready for sex again. If that day ever came, of course. Bo knew it would be difficult for Lara to try and move past the whole having killed her thing.

It hadn’t been lost on Bo that during the fallout and recovery period, she and Lara had missed the anniversary of their legal marriage. She felt bad about it, but she didn’t know if Lara was in the mood for celebrating yet, so she hadn’t brought it up. Though at least Bo was physically feeling better. After Lara had used the dagger on her, the wound had healed. There was quite the scar remaining, and Bo somehow knew that scar would be there for the rest of her life. No amount of healing would ever take it away. But she could at least wear a bra again without causing herself pain. Though she still tended to put gauze over the scar so her bra wouldn’t chafe at all.

Bo was in the kitchen, one cookie sticking out of her mouth as she pulled a second out of the package they were in. She had a case of the munchies.

Lara felt guilty. Over letting the anniversary pass without comment, over the darkness she felt and the blood she still knew was on her hands. Bo was alive, Bo was recovered…

But that still didn’t change the fact that it had happened and Lara knew she wasn’t recovering mentally from it. It was like all her old wounds had opened, just a little. The mental ones. The PTSD. The part of her that was no longer human.

But she didn’t want to worry Bo, so she kept that to herself, even as she tried to not pull away from her wife.

Her dreams deciding to come back with Lara Croft Version She-lost-count? Wasn’t helping.

“Hey.” She smiled at her as she entered the kitchen, and moved to the fridge.

Just as Lara didn’t want to worry her, Bo didn’t want to worry Lara. There had been things in her dreams that she hadn’t told her, things that would just add to the crushing weight of Bo’s dreams. She hadn’t talked to anyone about Tamsin’s death or about her half-sister. Well, she had talked a bit about her half-sister to Veronica, but only in the capacity of the private investigator looking to see if Dagny existed in this life.

And if she did, she really seriously hoped that Dagny was no where near her biological father. If she was...well, Bo would go after her father, kill him and hope that Dagny wasn’t programmed to follow him.

But she wasn’t going to get ahead of herself. It was possible she didn’t have any half-siblings here, or if she did they could be far away from her father’s direct touch like she was. But thinking about that was a hell of a lot easier than thinking about dying and what toll it had taken on Lara.

“Hey,” she said, voice muffled by the cookie in her mouth. She pulled it out of her mouth. “How’s it going?”

Lara met Bo’s eyes, wishing she could say more. Wanting to say more, torn between that and just burying everything. She wondered when the last time Bo fed was, and furrowed her brow. “Do you need any chi?”

“Uh, no I’m okay right now.” Honestly, Bo couldn’t remember the last time she’d fed either, but she wasn’t feeling a dire urge for chi. She took regular hits from Lara, enough to sustain her. But there hadn’t been more than that in...when was the last time they actually had sex? Two months ago? It was hard to remember given everything that had happened between now and then.

“Okay,” Lara rubbed her eyes and sank into a kitchen chair. It felt like there was something hanging in the hair. A fog, a tension, something unsaid.

“Didn’t sleep well. I’m sorry if I kept you up.”

There was probably a lot that was unsaid, but didn’t want to worry Lara with her worries. She took a bite of a cookie, then moved closer to Lara. “It’s alright, don’t worry about it. Is everything alright?” She asked. Perhaps Lara could use the second cookie she’d taken out of the package more than she could.

Lara shrugged, unwilling to lie, but not willing to go into detail, not yet. She glanced over at Bo, something kind of clicking into place as she just gave up, “Why do you stay? Bo, why don’t you just...find someone else, worthy of you?”

“Because I love you, Lara. I don’t want anyone else. And I think I have some say in who’s worthy of me. You are worthy of me.” Had Bo put too much on Lara by having her promise that if her evil side took control and there was no other way to stop her, that she should kill her? She most likely had, and she seriously wished it hadn’t come to that, that her dreams hadn’t gone the way they had.

Lara felt like she was going in circles. This should have been settled, she’d thought it had been, emotionally, but now here she was again, sunk back into the mud.

“You’re the one with a pure heart,” Lara said. “Even if you were born from shadow, you’re still light.”

“Maybe, but it’s not without its challenges. And I’m not light, but neither am I dark. I am true neutral, half dark, half light. I am the balance.” As Bo said that, a rather sudden realization hit her. While it had been obvious to her for a while that she’d never been able to choose the light fae or the dark fae because she was both, and thus was neutral, she hadn’t thought about actually being a literal balance. But maybe she was like Lady Justice, bringing balance to the scales.

She was dark where light needed to be brought into shadow, and she was light where darkness needed to be illuminated. She was a dual nature, even if the dagger had taken the darkness Hades had put in her, she was still dark.

Lara managed a smile as Bo had an epiphany, and she knew it was right. That it felt right. And a little bit of her own weight lifted, the more the thought about it. Maybe Bo had been pulled too far to darkness. Maybe the blade had restored the balance. And maybe that meant she wasn’t a monster.

“Balance is a very good thing.”

“And here I thought it was just a coincidence that I was a Libra.” Bo said, shaking her head a little. “At any rate, I think that’s what I am supposed to be, a balance. Hades’ flaw in his plan was choosing a light fae for my mother. My destiny wasn’t to fall in line with what he wanted nor was it to fall in line with Trick. My destiny was to choose my own path, my own way of doing things.”

Bo reached out for Lara’s hand. “You are my balance. And I know what happened isn’t something that we can just get over because it was rather traumatizing. But you did do a good thing. I had been pulled too far to the dark, and you balanced me again. I can’t do this without you, and I want to be your balance.”

“I’m sorry,” Lara whispered, squeezing Bo’s hand. “I thought I could handle it better I thought I was. But I think I gave something up to stop your darkness, and I don’t know what it was or how to get it back.”

Her smile was sad, “It was more real than my dreams. Worse than anything I’d done in them. I’d kill a thousand men, rather than do that again.”

She squeezed Lara’s hand back. “It’s okay. I can help you figure it out if you want. But even if you don’t, I’m here for you, to help you when you need it. And maybe it’s my turn to give you balance.” Though she seriously hoped it could be achieved without having to stab or otherwise potentially kill Lara.

“I’m so sorry I put you through that. But believe me, that’s not an experience I want to relive either.” It was a mixed blessing that Bo had no memory of the actual stabbing or what had led up to it. All she remembered was the blade in her heart and felt her life quickly fading away. And that was bad enough on its own.

“We’ve put each other through so much, haven’t we? Since that first date.” She lifted her hand and kissed her fingertips. “I still want to find a way to be with you forever, Bo. I’m just scared that I’ve already lost the part of me you loved.”

And Lara actually sounded scared.

“Both the dreams and Orange County aren’t very benevolent. But I like to think that we both are stronger together than we are apart.” That was how relationships were supposed to work when there were obstacles in the way, right? As for the second part of what Lara said, Bo looked her in the eye.

“I love all of you, Lara, not just a single part of you. Whatever was lost, I believe we can figure out what it was, and even see if we can get it back.” But everything powerful came with a price, didn’t it? Clearly the dagger that Lara had stabbed her with came with a price. It was just a matter of figuring out what that was.

She nodded once, then twice, feeling like a little bit of shadows were lifting from her face. She took a breath, then pulled Bo into her lap. “I think… we need to do something about this.”

When Lara pulled her into her lap, Bo slid her arms around her neck, leaning in and pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Then we will do so. I’m here with you each step of the way.” She was assuming Lara meant what they were already talking about.

Pressing a kiss into Bo’s shoulder, Lara searched for the words to express what she wanted to say. “I … think I need help again. But I don’t want you to take the blame. It’s not your fault. And it’s not mine.”

“The person responsible for it isn’t here. But if you think you need help, then I am in full support of that. Though it may be easier to go to someone who dreams. Easier to explain things instead of lying about what actually happened.” Whatever Lara decided to do that would help her, Bo would support one hundred percent. She wanted her to be able to work through everything that had happened.

“They’d be less likely to arrest me for attempted murder,” Lara joked. “What if we went together? Some kind of couples counseling? Not that we have problems like that, but because of the dreams, and other things.”

Bo brushed her fingers through Lara’s hair, a little smile on her face. “I do prefer you not being in jail,” she retorted to the joke. “But I like that idea. There’s a lot to unpack from the dreams, and from what happened. And I’d be lying if I said I was perfectly fine. And that’s not just from the stabbing me thing either.” There were a lot of things that her dreams threw at her all in a row. She was still trying to deal with Trick and Aife being killed. Tamsin dying also left its mark, and she hadn’t quite begun to process that. Then there was everything with Hades, and everything that had happened here.

It was actually a miracle that Bo was as stable as she was currently. Most people would probably have locked themselves in a dark room and gone insane from dealing with all of that.

“Maybe we should stop being so very separate from other people,” Lara decided. She needed to talk to her friends more, instead of working and Bo being the only things she did anything about. Lara’s fingers danced lightly across Bo’s back. “I never was very good at being a friend.”

“That may also be a good idea.” Bo leaned into Lara, fingers of one hand still brushing through her hair, and she brushed the fingers of her other hand against the back of Lara’s neck. “I have a tendency to be a bad friend myself. But we should definitely try to meet people.”

“What do people do to meet people, anyway?” Lara asked, her tone light but the question serious. They couldn’t just dump on other people obviously, but just having a wider support network would help a great deal.

“Sometimes bars or other such places have a mingling kind of night? Or trivia night or something. We could always try something like that?” There were probably several other options to choose from as well, they just had to look.

“Trivia night.” Lara straightened. “you’d put up with trivia night?”

It was actually something she’d really enjoy, but she’d be terrible at pop culture. Other things though, she’d kick all kinds of ass.

“Of course I would. I’ve worked plenty of them already. I’ve got pop culture nailed down, but I suck at everything else. But I think you’ve got everything else covered.” Bo pointed out. They would make quite the team. Unless Lara wanted to compete individually, in which case Bo would be a lost cause in anything but pop culture.

“So what you’re saying is we’d make a hell of a team.” The tired shadows had receded from Lara’s eyes. She hugged Bo close, feeling as if she’d come close to losing her again. She could also feel a kind of hunger in her gut, so she kissed her throat.

“That is exactly what I’m saying, yes.” Bo confirmed. She hugged Lara back, some tension leaving her at the simple action. She’d missed this, just...talking and holding her wife. She hummed softly as Lara kissed her throat and she tilted her chin a bit, exposing her throat to Lara. She kept brushing her fingertips along the back of Lara’s neck.

“We always make a hell of a team,” Lara pointed out, her voice rumbling against the sensitive skin of Bo’s neck. Was it just her or was Bo wound up as tight as a spring?

“Yes, yes we do,” she murmured in response. Bo shivered a little at the sensation of Lara’s voice against her skin. And Bo was definitely wound up as tight as a spring, probably more like a spring that was about to snap from all the tension it was under. But she definitely wasn’t going to push anything.

“Sweetheart…” Lara lifted her head, peering at Bo’s face. Realization dawned on her own and she tried to do the math since the last time they’d had sex. Bo was probably the only person on the planet who could legitimately say she needed sex to live. Just taking hits wasn’t really enough.

“Yeah?” She asked, gazing back at Lara. Her eyes were brown currently. And sure, she did need sex to live, but she was more than willing to wait for Lara to be comfortable with it. Especially given the scar she carried that would no doubt bring back unwanted memories whenever it was seen.

And yet she was also just as ready to jump Lara’s bones and take her on the kitchen counter right then and there.

“Tell me what you want,” Lara said, suggestion in her voice. She knew exactly how to get Bo going, and she wanted to hear what Bo needed. She wasn’t in the mood yet, but she was… open to being in the mood.

Now, under normal circumstances, Bo had a hair-trigger for getting turned on. But right now? She barely had any trigger at all. Just the suggestion in Lara’s voice was enough that Bo’s on switch was slammed into the on position.

“Oh god,” she responded. Her eyes turned blue. “Are you sure? I can wait.” No, she kind of couldn’t wait, but she’d force herself to wait.

Lara leaned in and whispered into Bo’s ear, “I’ll be sure when I hear you tell me what you want.”

She made sure to add just enough gravel to her voice to hit all of Bo’s buttons. Besides, if there was one thing that got Lara in the mood, it was pushing Bo to the edge like this.

“Oh, fuck,” she groaned, eyes closing as Lara whispered in her ear like that. Her arms tightened around Lara. She was so close to just letting the coil snap. “I want to fuck and be fucked without mercy on the counter right here and right now.” Her own voice was a thick with desire.

“Fuck me then,” Lara commanded, dragging her fingers down Bo’s back, before she squeezed her ass. And then, she knew exactly what to set Bo off. “Fuck me raw.”

That was it. The coil snapped, and Bo more or less flung herself at Lara. She kissed her heatedly, one hand tangling into her hair as she pressed herself against Lara. There was almost a sense of desperation in her kiss, like she’d been starving for this. And, well, she had but she was going to enjoy this.

Lara laughed into the kiss, feeling a release of her own ripple through her as Bo’s desperation flooded through her - and flooded other places besides. She wished they had some kind of telepathic bond, so she could tell Bo to do what she wished without breaking the kiss, so instead Lara tried to guide her hand.

Bo wanted to do everything at once, but she physically couldn’t. So instead, it was taking things one step at a time. Even as Lara tried to guide her hand, Bo paused that motion to pull Lara’s shirt off. Because she wanted skin. And muscles. She broke the kiss so she could get the shirt off, and as she gazed at Lara, her eyes were still blue. She leaned back in, kissing her heatedly as her hands slid along the newly exposed skin, touching and caressing everything she could reach.

“Damn,” Lara breathed, as the sound of ripping clothing filled the kitchen. She was glad she didn’t like that shirt at all. Then their lips were crashing together again, and Lara was trying to get Bo’s shirt off without actually ripping it too.

At this point in time, Bo didn’t care if Lara ripped her shirt or not. It’d serve to turn her on even more. She groaned a bit, then broke the kiss again so she could help Lara get her shirt off easier. Once her shirt was off, Bo shifted off of Lara’s lap to stand in front of her. She parted her legs, grabbed her by the hips and pulled her against her, her mouth going straight to Lara’s neck as she picked her up.

Lara let out a low cry, wrapping her legs around Bo as she palmed her breasts with each hand. With Bo, her breasts were more than one handful each, but that was… probably fine. Actually it was utterly fantastic and Lara was reminded that she was really, really gay.

She groaned at feeling Lara’s hands on her breasts. She was rather well endowed in that department, but so was Lara. Bo set Lara on the counter, keeping her hips tight against her own as her hands slid to Lara’s breasts, caressing them as she licked and sucked along Lara’s neck and down to her chest.

Knowing how much Bo liked dirty talk (and lets be real, Lara kind of liked dirty talk too, just never, ever tell Sam), Lara gave her a challenge. “I want you to break me, I don’t want you to hold back. Take me as rough as you want.”

She growled a bit at that challenge. And being the succubus she was, her hands moved to get Lara’s pants off. There were still too many layers of clothes between them. And she was lamenting the fact that their toys were up in their bedroom. She wasn’t going to stop to carry Lara up there right now, though. “Fuck, you are so hot,” she practically growled, nipping along Lara’s chest as she started to get her pants off.

“You’re taking too long!” Lara slapped both of her hands on Bo’s ass, as if trying to spur her on. She noticed how hard Bo’s ass was and how much her hands bounced, so she giggled and did that again. This was somehow the one thing that could take her out of her depression.

She groaned and growled a bit as Lara slapped her ass. Bo pulled Lara’s pants off, tossing them aside, quickly followed by her panties. She made very quick work of her own pants and panties, kicking them aside before she slid her hands up Lara’s thighs, one hand moving between her legs as her mouth went straight for Lara’s breasts.

Her mind went momentarily blank, all her focus on Bo’s hand and her mouth and sudden shock of pleasure she was getting. Her biceps rippled as she gripped the table hard enough that the wood groaned.

She flicked her tongue against Lara’s nipple before she took it into her mouth and sucked on it. She started rubbing Lara’s clit just the right way to drive her crazy. Her free hand slid up Lara’s body to grope her other breast. God, she loved this woman, and she wanted to ravish her completely.

Lara laughed, stroking Bo’s hair. Sex wasn’t a fix-all, but with Bo Lara found that this kind of release was… well a release. As though everything was stripped away with their clothing, no pretenses. Just them.

This definitely wasn’t a fix-all, sex never was, but it was a release and it was probably something they both desperately needed after everything that had happened lately. She nipped at Lara’s nipple before she slid a finger along her slit, teasing her a bit while her thumb rubbed her clit.

Mind blanking out again, Lara whimpered. She was all lean muscle and scars under Bo’s touch and she relished the feel of skin on skin. Bo’s skin on her skin, always so smooth, so soft, so supple.

Bo smirked a bit, continuing to tease Lara a few moments longer before she slid a finger inside of her. She trailed her mouth back up to Lara’s neck, her free arm wrapping around her back and pulling her flush against her. “I love the way you feel against me,” she murmured against Lara’s throat.

“You are my favorite blanket,” Lara responded, her dull nails digging into Bo’s butt with surprising strength. Maybe 4 or 5 people in the whole world she was attracted to and she married the one who could set her off at a touch. Idly, she was so grateful that they’d met before Bo had become a succubus.

Though she happily reaped the benefits. “But you’re not fucking me hard enough.”

Bo groaned, which turned into a growl as Lara dug her nails into her butt. “We’ll see about that,” she responded, her eyes still very much blue. She added a second finger inside Lara and started sliding them in and out of her as she dragged her tongue along her neck.

It was probably a good thing that they weren’t using a toy, because even now part of Lara worried they’d break the table.

It wasn’t a cheap table!

But it would probably be worth it as she forgot anything but the moment. Fuck, she loved Bo, and Bo chased away the darkness. Bo might claim she was balance, but to Lara, she was the light.

Bo moved her fingers in and out of Lara a bit harder, curling them as she did so. She trailed her mouth around Lara’s neck until she found a good spot and started to leave a hickey. She didn’t care who would ultimately see it, or not see it, she wanted to leave a mark.

There were times when Lara hid the love marks, and times she didn’t. This would probably be a time she didn’t. She moaned softly, holding Bo against her as she felt the sexual energy course through her. “Sure you’re not a vampire?”

She made certain to leave a good hickey, smirking when she finally pulled away from Lara’s neck. “I don’t know, I haven’t sprouted fangs yet,” she responded, keeping her fingers working on Lara. She kept her free arm wrapped snugly around Lara’s back, holding her close against her. She gazed at Lara, her eyes blue, and her sexual desire growing with each passing moment.

“You’d make an attractive vampire.” So would Lara, but she wasn’t that desperate to live forever. Not yet, anyway. She met Bo’s eyes. She loved the brown, but there was something about that blue energy. It was electric. “I think you’re wanting something more right now.”

“So would you,” she responded. Though Lara drinking her blood would be a problem considering anyone who got Bo’s blood into their system would be enthralled to her. She’d rather avoid that scenario as much as possible. “You think so, do you? Perhaps I do.” She responded with a smirk. She pulled her hand out from between Lara’s legs, dropped to her knees and buried her face between Lara’s legs, her tongue taking a long taste of her.

Lara made a protesting sound when Bo pulled her fingers out, only for it to change to something wanton as Bo’s tongue moved on her. Her legs went weak and if she’d been standing she’d have fallen over. The thought brought back memories of one time Bo had done this to her while she’d been standing.

It was like she’d needed a reminder of what she had, and Lara tangled her fingers in Bo’s hair and pulled her hard against her.

Smirking at Lara’s reaction, Bo’s tongue went to work on Lara’s clit, stroking it in just the right spots to make her wife feel the most pleasure. She slid two fingers back inside of Lara, while her other hand slid up to palm one of her breasts.

She felt the most pleasure, and she felt like the most important person in the world. Fuck, before Bo she’d barely had a libido, but she’d met her and it was like there was an on switch and Bo had exclusive rights to it.

Just like she had exclusive rights to, well, everything she was doing right now as the table wobbled underneath them.

To Bo, Lara was the most important person in the world, and she was going to make sure that Lara knew it. She kept her fingers moving in and out of Lara as she pressed her mouth against Lara and groaned, letting the sound waves vibrate through her wife before her tongue went back to work on her. Her other hand continued with its groping.

Lara knew it. Her voice rose and her body shook. Somewhere around the house one of the cats scattered and knocked something over and she kind of laugh-moaned in response.

Bo didn’t hear the cat knock something over given her hearing was muffled by Lara’s thighs. She drove her fingers harder, her tongue doing some tricks against Lara’s clit.

Lara’s laughter got a little louder and a lot more moany, her thighs tightening around Bo’s head. If it was anyone else she’d worry just a little that she might break Bo’s neck, but this was Bo and it took a lot more to take her out.

She groaned against Lara again when she felt her thighs tighten around her head. She moved her fingers and tongue harder and a bit faster, wanting to drive her over the edge as much as possible. The fingers of her other hand rolled Lara’s nipple between them.

The thing Lara said was so vulgar as not to be printed here, but needless to say she approved, her body jerking as she cursed and screamed Bo’s name. “Oh god, right there!”

Bo groaned loudly against Lara again, that vulgar thing paired with the curse and screaming of her name sent a wave of arousal through her. She kept her fingers and tongue moving, continuing to hit the spots that had gotten that reaction.

Another orgasm ripped through her, longer and harder this time. It made Lara see stars and she very nearly ripped out some of Bo’s hair. Oh, she was going to get her back. Assuming she could ever walk again, as Bo seemed inclined to never stop.

And Lara wasn’t going to beg her to stop. Not yet.

Another growl came from her when Lara nearly ripped some of her hair out. She could do this all day and all night. She loved making Lara orgasm and react like this. She shivered a little, sliding her fingers back inside of Lara once her orgasm was finished and she held them in there, wiggling them a little. Her other hand trailed down Lara’s stomach and along her thigh as she very lightly nipped at Lara’s clit, curious how she’d respond to that.

Lara was positive her wife wanted to kill her, but this was a lot better than any number of deaths that awaited Lara, in her dreams or otherwise. The best kind of death. The little deaths. And she had another at the wriggling, and that was before the nipping. Lara bucked so suddenly she was momentarily afraid she’d broken Bo’s nose.

Bo was surprised when Lara’s hips bucked, but there was no damage done. Instead, she nipped again, and curled her fingers inside Lara, shifting them to press against a sensitive spot. She knew she was undoubtedly killing Lara, but she was loving every second of this. She loved making love to Lara, and taking her to new heights.

Was that new? Lara was almost certain that was a new trick, or maybe one they hadn’t done in awhile. Or it could just be that it had been awhile since they’d last made love. Whatever the reason, Bo was blowing her mind and it was probably a good thing they lived alone at this point, as the neighbors could probably hear Lara right now. She shuddered, groaning Bo’s name, and started begging her.

She groaned at hearing Lara starting to beg her. It was quite the turn on, so she obliged. She used her teeth a little more, then started moving her fingers in and out of Lara again. She moved them hard, keeping them curled and hit against Lara’s sensitive spot. She dragged the fingers of her free hand down along Lara’s thigh and back up. She didn’t use her nails, but she would if Lara begged her to.

What Bo was doing was more than enough. Lara’s toes curled, one of her legs hooking around her shoulder and her heel pressing into Bo’s back. She writhed and arched, screaming out again as her vision shattered and it felt like every bit of her had shattered as well.

Another groan came out of her as another shudder of arousal ran through her at the way Lara screamed. She kept her fingers and teeth moving until Lara’s orgasm finished. Then she decided she should let her wife have a breather, and she finally slipped her fingers out of her and pulled her mouth away from her as she gazed up at her. She then stood up, arms wrapping around Lara’s back and held her close. “Do you need a breather?” She asked in a bit of a purr.

And her eyes were still blue.

Gasping for air, Lara nodded, her chest rising and falling rapidly and her pulse moving like she’d just won a race. She leaned in close to Bo, burying her face in her chest. “Oh my god…”

How could Bo keep surprising her after over a year?

Smirking, Bo held Lara close, one hand stroking her hair. She loved blowing Lara’s mind like this. And she was definitely more than happy to keep surprising Lara. It wasn’t always easy, but sometimes it was a good thing to be married to a succubus. While Bo’s sexual tastes tended more towards the tame (at least she wasn’t into heavy BDSM type stuff?), she liked to throw a curveball now and then, see how Lara reacted.

“I love you,” she murmured, closing her eyes and pressing a kiss to the top of Lara’s head.

“I love you too,” Lara breathed, all but clinging to Bo. Something warm and wet splattered from her eyes to Bo’s chest.

She felt the warm and wet splatter on her chest, and she just held Lara tighter against her, stroking her hair and rubbing her back lovingly. It had seemed like it had been forever since she’d just held Lara like this.

It took all her willpower to not burst into tears more than she already was. Emotions were overwhelming, and she was filled to bursting with them. As though their heated lovemaking had brought it all to the surface.

“I don’t know what I’d have done if you hadn’t come back.”

That wasn’t something Bo liked to think about, but she had an idea of what Lara would have done if she’d stayed dead. Closed herself off and become a complete workaholic at the very least. Possibly a recluse.

“I’m glad I came back so that we both could live.” Because Bo knew Lara would have stopped living life had she died, even if Lara herself didn’t die. And Lara was someone who was positively filled with life and a yearning for discovering the secrets of the world. One of the things she loved the most about Lara was the light in her eyes that she got when she was talking about history. And she didn’t want that light to go out.

“I would have disappeared into some tomb,” Lara admitted. “And if I came out of that one, I’d have found another. And another, until the day I wasn’t fast enough or alert enough, and got buried doing the thing I love.”

Lifting her head, she met Bo’s eyes. “That might still happen some day, but at least I have reasons to live.”

She gazed into Lara’s eyes, pressing a hand to her cheek, caressing it. “And if you don’t come back from such a trip, you can bet that I’ll come after you to find out what happened.” And Bo would. She may not be the best at outdoor survival, but she sure as hell would try to find Lara if she ever disappeared and make it a point to bring her home. One way or another.