Following a Warm Trail

"I would never have guessed," said Elena, chuckling. "So with your criminology degree, or whatever, you ended up working in a bookstore. That's a bit of a dying breed these days."

Del smiled. "Not if I can help it. I'm committed to keeping Anderson's around. Anyway, my degree is in Psychology."

Elena shook her head in amazement. "You're like a bottomless well of surprises. Please don't tell me you were looking to become a therapist."

"No, I was thinking about career counseling, career change counseling, something along those lines. I did a bit of work with Dr. Lunt."

Elena had heard of him. "But you ended up as a PI? Jeez, Del, you could have been a real research psychologist. What happened?"

Del shrugged. "Life happened. I'll give you the short version. But then I want to hear your story, because I'm a bit tired of talking just about me." His eyes were teasing her now.

"Ok. That's only fair."

"Around the time I graduated, my uncle called me. He works for Metropolitan Mutual. There was a big art heist out east -- this was seven, maybe eight years ago. Met Mutual was on the hook for a huge payout. My uncle was leading the investigation and he offered me a job to be part of the team. We got a couple of quick leads, I did some surveillance on certain parties of interest, and we tracked down and recovered all of the paintings. I got 25 grand for that recovery on top of my salary. He intended for the position to be short term, but after the recovery I received an offer. So I joined the company."

He took another sip. "But that kind of sleuthing seemed so instinctive to me that after two years I left Met Mutual, got my license, and went out on my own. I never had another big payday like that, though, and soon after your husband's bullshit case I bailed completely. I was lucky enough to find the bookstore job a month later, and Sophie promoted me after only three months."

"Wow. So you never really used your degree, except maybe to assess people?"

"That's about it. And you?"

"I think I always wanted to be a therapist after I was 20 or so. That's when I was really immersed in the higher level Psych courses. I read numerous papers, even helped some of my college friends talk through their problems. But then something happened. I got married."

Del looked at her, eager to hear her side of that.

"That was fine for a couple of years, until I figured out that he was just never going to grow out of being a leering, boozing frat boy. I had been far too young to make such an important decision. Fortunately I was on birth control. He became even worse over time. As it happened, I managed to establish a successful practice in spite of a lousy marriage. The practice became my safety valve. I was frankly very surprised when he hired you to investigate me, but that turned out to be just another symptom of how he never really paid close attention to me or my career. Anyway your reports had no traction against me, for obvious reasons. I filed first, and the whole divorce was wrapped up in five months."

"Did you come out of it ok?"

Elena sighed. "Financially, yes. My practice is doing well too. But emotionally, let's just say I haven't been very eager to have another man in my life."

Del nodded. "I get that."

"What about you, are you seeing anyone?"

Del chuckled. "Well it's been much easier to meet women in the bookstore than it was on stakeouts. But so far, no one has really clicked with me."

"I hope you don't think I'm being terribly nosy, but I have to ask... Did you ever think about tracking me down again?"

"Yes, I did. But it seemed... unethical, and frankly, I wasn't sure what you thought of me."

Elena nodded. "You might have been taking a big chance on a bitter woman who had every reason to resent you."

"Or you might have moved away. The trail could have gone completely cold. But here we are now, so I'll ask you directly. Do you resent me, Elena?"

Elena looked at him. "I like you," she said softly.

Del raised his eyebrows. "That feeling is mutual. It's quite a relief to hear you say so."

He looked closely at Elena. She had her chin in her hand and she was smiling as she looked at him. She had made no move to end their informal date. In fact she seemed to be truly enjoying herself. It was time to go for it. He reached for her free hand, and she made no effort to pull it away.

She smiled at him again. "Are you assessing me now?"

Del nodded. "If we had met three weeks ago, I would have bribed someone at Davanti Enoteca or Steak & Vine to reserve us a table for two. But tonight it's Valentine's Day, and every decent restaurant around here is fully booked. I don't have a card, candy, or flowers." He paused. She was hanging on every word. "So here's my best alternative. There's a strip mall a couple of miles south of here with a decent Thai place that does carry-out. There's a first class liquor store next door. Why don't we order some food, grab a nice bottle or two, and go someplace quiet?"

Elena smiled again. "That's the best offer I've had in a very long time. My place is nice and quiet. So, Del Munroe, are you... asking me to be your Valentine?"

Del ran his thumb slowly over the back of her hand. Elena shivered a bit at the intimacy of the contact.

"Yes, I suppose I am. That's not too corny, I hope." He smiled into her eyes.

"No. It's truly kind of sweet and spontaneous." She felt herself pressing her thighs together; this complex, intense man was doing things to her. "If you know this Thai place well, then just order what you want and we'll share."

Del pulled out his phone and placed the order.

They left the coffee shop and walked to Elena's car. She unlocked it with the remote key fob. Del opened her door, then turned to face her. He suddenly couldn't restrain himself any longer. "Elena..."

Elena felt his arms pulling her tightly to him. She gasped at the sensations radiating right down into her core. Then they were kissing, reaching hungrily for each other. Del was stroking her hair with one hand and clutching her ass with the other. Their tongues sought each other. She was drowning, surrounded by him, shuddering with desire, her fist in his hair. Finally they pushed apart, panting, still holding each other.

"Oh," gasped Elena, lowering her head onto his shoulder. "Oh God, Del."

"I'm sorry," said Del. "That was a bit abrupt." He held her gently for a moment, then guided her into the driver's seat and closed the door. He rubbed a hand over his face as he went around to the passenger side.

Elena stared straight ahead as Del fastened his seat belt. "Please don't be sorry." Her voice was low but audible. "You haven't done anything wrong."

Del cleared his throat. "We'd better get to the wine shop, our food will be ready in twenty minutes." He looked at her elegant profile.

Elena turned to him briefly. She smiled. "Yes, we'd better get moving." She regained control of herself, backed the car out and pulled into the street.

*******

Part Five: Wine and Dinner

Del and Elena were browsing through the Italian white wines when Ann came over. She was the store's wine buyer, and she greeted Del as a regular customer. "Can I help you folks find something?"

"Hi, Ann. I'm hoping you have an Italian Viognier? A friend recommended that I try it."

"No, I'm afraid we don't. Our distributors don't seem to handle any Italian releases of that variety. You might be able to find an outlet online. Of course we have a few Rhone examples, as well as California, but I suppose you knew that."

"Are any of them available chilled?"

"I think the Guigal Côtes du Rhône is in the cooler."

Del walked to the small cooler of chilled wines and found two bottles. "Perfect!" he said, flashing Ann a smile.

After buying the wine they went next door and picked up their Thai order. The food smelled delicious in Elena's car as they drove away.

"God that smells so good! I'm starving."

Del nodded. "Me too."

"We're only a few minutes from my place. We'll just have to be patient." She flashed a glance at him.

Del noted her look. The double meaning echoed in his brain. He studied her profile without shame. She was truly gorgeous, with her cute upturned nose, soft features, lovely hair, and those hypnotic eyes.

He was definitely hungry by now.

*******

Elena brought out plates and they divided the Pad woon sen noodle dish, pot stickers, and egg rolls between them. Del braved using the chopsticks but Elena could not quite bring herself to try. For several minutes they ate in silence since they both were quite hungry. At last Elena looked up at Del.

"I know that I asked you a lot of questions over coffee, but I'm afraid that I have at least one more."

"Really," he said with amusement. "Maybe you should have been the investigator!"

Elena's mouth crinkled. "Is Del short for something?"

Del chuckled. "Brace yourself. I was born Desmond Laurence Munroe. Since I couldn't stand the thought of being called 'Des,' or even 'Larry,' I tried to get people to call me 'D.L.' But even that was eventually corrupted into Del. So, I stuck with that. I'm used to it by now though."

"It suits you." Elena's eyes studied him. "Focused and to the point."

"I should tell you why I have such a name, Elena. I come from a prominent family. I work at the bookstore because I love it and I love interacting with people. I missed that greatly in my former life. But I will eventually be the recipient of a nice trust fund set aside by my grandparents. It's almost certain though, that I'll leave the principal untouched and simply continue working at the bookstore."

"Why are you telling me all this?" Her eyes narrowed.

"Because I don't feel the need to hide anything from you. You're clearly not some superficial gold digger."

"You've been assessing me again." She smiled.

"Well, I don't think I'm wrong. You're a beautiful self-sufficient professional woman who's never been fully appreciated just for yourself. But I have a question for you, too. It's been bothering me for a long time."

"Oh?"

"How did you manage to bust me when I was tailing you? That was the only time I was ever caught."

Elena laughed. "Well, it was a bit of luck that I even saw you. I tried to sit in on most of the group sessions. They involved building social skills for people with Asperger's."

Del nodded. Elena continued, "But that day I just felt like having a coffee, and I wanted to see how Leo would do without me there as his security blanket. You were the only other person walking on the block, and I thought you might have just left your car. Then I saw the back of the car and knew I was right."

Del's eyebrows went up. "How could you tell my car apart from all of the other gray Priuses?" His surprise was evident.

Elena looked at him, amused. "There was a small sticker on the back. I saw your car one other time near my office and made the connection."

Del shook his head. "Well, aren't you a wonder. Most people don't even notice that sticker unless I point it out."

"Well, 'Botany or Death' was memorable to me! What is that about?"

Del finished off his egg roll. "That sticker was given to me by a fellow who has a YouTube channel on botany. I once showed him around two remnant prairie sites in the area. He recorded two videos while I stayed in the background, hung out with his dogs, and gave him an occasional prompt off-camera. He's an interesting guy. I'm a pretty fair amateur botanist, but he is way ahead of me in his detailed knowledge of plant systematics. He's largely self-taught. He is also hilariously profane in his videos. I'll send you a link to his channel." Del paused. "He's even more amazing in that he is so highly functional, probably even at genius level, with ADHD."

"Well, he sounds quite interesting! I'll have to check that out." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Del, I think you really have been using your degree."

Del shrugged. "Maybe you're right." A smile tugged at his lips.

******

Part Six: Your Valentine

After they finished dinner, Elena opened the second bottle of wine and brought their glasses to the living room. They both seemed very comfortable with each other but Elena sensed there was a certain tension in the room. Del put an arm around her on the sofa. She reacted to his closeness, the warmth from his body.

"I hope I'm not being too forward."

Elena kissed his cheek. "I don't think you're being too forward at all," she whispered. "After all, I'm your Valentine."

Elena was desperately trying to push any negative or cautionary thoughts from her head. Del had been so charming, helpful, considerate, open, and candid during their time together. And she found him quite attractive. There was positively no comparison with her immature, philandering ex. In any case, her body had seemingly made its decision already; she could feel the puckering in her nipples and the wetness between her thighs. Her arms reached for Del and pulled him down on top of her.

She whispered into Del's ear, and he felt himself responding to the heat of her breath. "There's no need to tail me any more, because you've found me. Now you just need to treat me right."

Del's lips pressed against hers. The kiss deepened as Elena responded to him, their tongues battling, their mutual hunger driving them. Elena groaned as Del's hand found and gently massaged her breast. He opened her top three buttons and nuzzled at the top of her breasts. Elena whimpered at the sensation. She felt his hardness against her and she pushed her pelvis into his to rub against him.

Del got to his feet and pulled her up. He reached under her butt cheeks and lifted her up as Elena moved her legs around him. She felt his muscles straining as she wrapped her arms around his neck. His voice was hoarse, urgent. "Where's your bedroom?"

"Some investigator you are," she teased as he staggered against the wall.

"Don't make me laugh or I'll drop you and ravish you right here on the floor." Then he was fiercely kissing her again.

Elena pulled away and gasped, "Second door on the right."

They somehow made it down the hall and Del lowered her to the bed. Then he unbuttoned his shirt and threw it to the floor. Elena pulled her top over her head. Then Del was with her again, tugging her bra straps down her arms and baring her breasts. He lowered his lips to her hard, straining nipples and sucked them in turn into his mouth. Elena gasped, waves of sensation reaching right down into her sex.

"Del," she panted, "undress me!" He pulled his mouth off her and she heard the soft sound. She could not keep her body still. Del pulled her pants down and ran his cupped palm over her sex, her arousal betrayed by a large wet patch in her panties. Then he reached behind her to undo her bra clasp. She shrugged out of the bra as Del quickly shed his own pants.

Del moved onto the bed and his face neared her breasts. "You are so beautiful..." He reached to toy with one nipple as he tongued the other. Elena felt her pussy weeping from the sensations that flooded through her. Del slipped his fingertips inside the lacy waistband of her panties, pulled them down and bared her sex. "You look absolutely amazing," he growled, as he moved his finger along her slippery opening. Her scent rose to him and kindled the embers of his lust into a roaring flame.

"Del, oh dear God, I need your tongue..."

Del moved between her thighs, gently stroking her labia as he blew his warm breath at her mound. Elena felt that she had never been so wet, so eager for a man. Then Del lowered his head and thrust his tongue into her glistening pink folds. She squirmed under him. "Oh my God, Del, lick me again, more, please, more..."

He continued to flutter his tongue inside her. Then she felt his finger on her clit, circling it, rubbing her moisture around it, until she thought she couldn't bear it any more.

"Please, Del... "

Finally he thrust his tongue deep inside her. Now his thumb and finger were rolling her clit as she gasped and trembled. Her toes curled as she clutched at the bedclothes. "Del, please, please..."

His voice rasped at her. "I want you to come for me, Elena, I want you to let yourself go..." Then her back arched as the waves reached a crescendo, she felt herself slipping away, and finally her contractions pulsed as Del's middle finger slipped deep into her pussy.

Elena wailed with pleasure and clutched at his hair. The orgasm washed over her, her legs shook with tremors, and she let out a long moan. "Del... oh God... Del... " Eventually her taut muscles relaxed their grip, her breath still coming in huge gulps. Her legs were still shaking.

Del slowly moved up her body and his lips sought hers. "Elena... my sweet." They kissed again and again. He stroked a fingertip gently along her jawline.

Elena finally found her voice. She reached for him and wrapped her small hand around his stiff shaft, which jerked in response. "I want you Del, I want you deep in me."

Del's fierce eyes roved over her. Elena's long blond tresses were splayed over the pillows, Her achingly hard nipples glowed crimson, her face was flushed. He lowered himself onto her body, feeling her heat. Del moved slightly to push his head along her slit. Elena gasped. "Ohhhh..."

Del put his hands under Elena's thighs and adjusted his hips. Then he felt her lips parting as he entered her heat and wetness. They both moaned at the sensation. Elena reached down to clamp her hands around his butt, urging him deeper into her sex. She felt him filling her completely, opening her to his manhood. "Del, ohh, that's so good..."

Del pulled her arms up and clamped her hands in his. He slowly withdrew, then fully penetrated her as she moaned with anticipation. "Fuck me Del, dear God, please fuck me!"

Del groaned. He hissed her name into her ear; he was lost in the sensual delights of her beauty, her wondrous body, the tightness and wetness of her pussy. He moved his hips to meet hers as he clutched her hands. She grunted and whimpered beneath him, consumed with passion. Their movements intensified as he drove deep into her again and again. She was caught in a vortex of carnal sensation. She felt the bed shaking beneath her with each thrust. Then he let one of her hands go. His hand slipped between them and he found her clit again. The waves were crashing over her now as she panted for breath. She was close, so very close.

Her wetness seeped down her thighs as she wrapped her legs around Del. Then his thrusts slowed... one, then another, and finally she felt him straining, then his hot liquid splashing into her as she clutched his back, holding him tightly against her. She climaxed again as he covered her face in kisses. They both cried aloud.

Del's gentle hands were caressing her back as she lay across his chest.

"Elena?"

"Hmm?"

"Have I managed to treat you right?"

"Mmm-hmm."

"Shall I do it again?"

She pushed herself up to look at him. "First, let's go have a quick shower. After that you can treat me right again. And again, and maybe then again... no one has ever treated me so right. It's safe, Del. I should have told you that earlier."

He pulled her against his lips. "You can treat me right too. I'm your Valentine as well."

She smiled into his eyes. "So you are, Del Munroe. So you are." She pressed her lips against his.

*******

Epilogue: Breakfast and Beyond

Del munched on a piece of bacon as he looked across the breakfast table. It seemed that Elena could not stop smiling at him. He reached across and tucked a wayward strand of her hair behind her ear.

Elena turned her head and pressed her cheek against his hand.

Del said softly, "You look wonderful."

Elena giggled. "You must be kidding me. I'm a complete mess. I feel like I need two more showers to be presentable."