Chapter 12: Darek - Pisces

Darek and Lizzy finished the puzzle and then put on some old movies that she and Robert used to love. Darek enjoyed the trip down memory lane with her and hoped that he would learn more about the amazing woman he was falling head over heels for.

He was finally willing to admit it to himself, and he knew that it was only a matter of time before passion beat out his common sense.

He busied himself cleaning the kitchen while Lizzy was at the other end of the house.

“I put clean sheets on the guest bed,” she said when she returned to the kitchen. “I’m going to take my old room.”

He noticed that she didn’t want to stay in the master suite, where no doubt Robert had taken his last breaths. “Thank you. That’s perfect.”

She nodded. “I know it’s kind of silly since we’ve shared a bed, but I know that went against your better judgment.”

“Yeah, but I don’t regret it. Do you?”

“No, but you’re right,” Lizzy said. “If you’re going to move up and start working at the Bureau, it’s best we’re not sleeping together.”

He agreed, but he wished to hell he’d kept his big mouth shut. But on the other hand, he was glad she was okay with it. “It’s bad timing.”

“Yes, totally.” She walked over and took the sponge from his hand. “You don’t have to clean up.”

“I don’t mind.” He took the sponge back. “It’s the least I can do. Besides, you made a mess with the soup. It looks like someone bled all over the stove.”

She laughed and then leaned in and gave him a quick peck. “I’ll be right out.”

He finished up in the kitchen, and while he wiped his hands, his neck itched. He tugged at his collar. The damned thing must have had something in it. He’d itched all damned day. He tried to ignore it and went to the study as the water came on in the shower down the hall.

Robert had a nice study with a big mahogany desk and lots of plaques from achievements throughout his life and time with the Bureau. Across the room, there was a pair of chairs, and between them was a small table with a stone top that was covered with glass. Inside were several hunting knives and a few merit badges with a lucky rabbit’s foot. There was a file cabinet behind the desk, and he couldn’t help but wonder if it was the old case files a much younger Lizzy had worked on.

He hated to snoop, but he just might find out more about Lizzy and her father. He had a feeling the asshole abused her, and if not sexually, then mentally and verbally. He’d noticed that throughout the night, no matter how many times he tried to ask about her parents, she’d steer the conversation back to Robert. Were her memories of home so painful that she couldn’t even speak of them?

The cabinet, along with most of the desk drawers, were locked, but he noticed a basket with a stack of old newspapers and decided to give them a look. Midway through the stack, he came to an article about Emily Johnson’s murder and Gough’s prison sentence. The papers were in fairly decent shape, and he wondered if Lizzy had forgotten she had them.

“Finding anything interesting?”

Darek looked up, and Lizzy was standing in the doorway wearing an FBI tee and a pair of yoga pants. Her hair was still damp and pulled away from her face.

“Sorry, I just thought I’d look around. I hope it wasn’t a big deal.”

“Not at all. Those old papers have been there forever.”

“And here’s one you might want to see.” He held up the old article, not thinking it could contain anything she hadn’t seen before.

She walked over, and her face fell as she looked at the write-up. “I’ll have to take this and add it to my evidence.” She tucked the paper up under her arm and then took Darek’s hand. “I’m going to bed. Thank you for an amazing day.” She kissed his hand, and he reached up and stroked her cheek.

“Sorry, it didn’t all go as planned. I know you were hoping to get a lot more from this trip.”

“Yeah, well, I guess it could have been worse. At least I got to see the lay of the land, and now, I’m even more convinced that somehow she ended up running into one of those boys. Maybe Tad Halston. Maybe someone else. He could have met her there when she got off work the night before. I don’t know. They are just so much closer than I even thought they’d be, so close that the Gas and Guzzle manager had to put up a fence to keep them from coming to his store.”

Darek shrugged. “You know kids. They like to go to those places and pick up a pop. That doesn’t make them killers.”

“It doesn’t mean they’re not, either.” She held up a finger to prove her point. “I’m going to bed.”

“Wait for me.” He got up from the desk and followed behind her. “You’re just next door, right? I mean, in case I wake up scared in an unfamiliar place?” He tried to be flirty, but she let go of his hand and walked to her door.

“I’ll be right in here.” She opened the door, and once she shut the door, he went into his room and did the same. He was just settling in bed when he heard a knock.

“Darek?” Lizzy opened the door, and he rolled over to see her, thankful that he’d slept in a white T-shirt and shorts and not bare-chested for her to see his Zodiac symbol.

“Hey, is something wrong?” he asked. The room was dark, but she didn’t bother turning on the lights.

“I guess being here is harder than I thought. I guess it got too quiet, and I started thinking too much.”

“I know it can’t be easy,” he said.

“He died across the hall. I was with him, holding his hand to comfort him. He was alert right up to the end.” She said the words in a monotone voice, and he held out the covers for her to join him.

“Come lay with me. We’ll practice our spooning.”

She crossed the room and sat on the edge of the bed. “You must think I’m weak.”

“No way. I think it takes an incredibly strong woman to not only take care of someone who is dying, but to hold their hand when they go. You shouldn’t feel weak.”

“Thank you. I just feel so silly for coming in here. I don’t want you to think I’m up to something.”

“I hope you are. It’s when you’re not up to something that I’ll start to worry.” He rolled over and pulled the covers back. “Come on, Lizzy. Snuggle with me. I’ll be a perfect gentleman if you want.”

She stretched out beside him, putting her cold feet against his. “And what if I don’t want you to be a perfect gentleman?” Her hand snaked around his waist, her nails grazing his back through his shirt.

“I’m afraid I’d have to oblige. I’m not really good at self-control.” Especially when it came to her. The woman drove him mad.

“That’s what I’m counting on.” She lifted her leg across his hip, and he rubbed her thigh and ass, giving it a squeeze as she moved closer and kissed him.

He deepened the kiss, and she closed the space between them, their bodies pressing close to one another, gyrating and working up nice, warm friction.

He could tell that the heat was getting to be too much and pulled the covers away from himself. Lizzy kicked them the rest of the way off, and he took the chance to move on top of her.

He made love to her lips and then trailed down to her breasts and lower. When he nestled between her legs, she placed her hand on his head and then ran her fingers through his hair.

“Darek?”

“Yeah? Fuck, Lizzy. I’m sorry. Is this okay?” He hadn’t really expected things to go this far, but there they were, working up enough heat that he was about to lose his clothes and peel hers from her, too.

“Yes, it’s more than okay.”

He pressed his hard cock against her center, and she moaned. “Are you sure?” he asked. He needed her to know what she was up against, and that even if it wasn’t the right time, and even if it was a huge mistake for the two of them to hook up, he wasn’t going to stop. The room was dark enough, and he’d keep his shirt close just in case, but he needed to feel her flesh against his own. He’d waited too long for something this real, and she’d been tempting him all fucking day.

“Yes, please, Darek. We don’t have to tell a soul. What Sam Reed doesn’t know won’t stop you from that promotion.”

“I’d tell the world if I could, but it wouldn’t do either of us any good. That’s why I need you to be sure you want this. I’m not going to be able to stop sneaking around with you, Lizzy. But that’s what it’s going to be. You know it, and I know it.”

“I know, and I don’t care. I’d rather sneak than not have you at all.”

He pulled off her shirt, and her hands went under him as he cupped her breasts and ground against her.

When he couldn’t stand it anymore, he stripped off her yoga pants and went down on her. He pressed his nose against her, his tongue darting out to taste her honey as his fingers dipped into her slick channel.

She hissed through her teeth and moaned, and he continued to work her through her first release, which soaked his palm. She was so beautiful, inside and out, that he ached for more.

He rose up, resting on his elbows, grinding his hips into her as she shrugged his shorts down around his ass. His cock sprang free and his heated flesh rested on her bare hip. He was inches away from being buried inside her, and once he took the plunge, there was no going back.

He didn’t hesitate. He moved to her center and rested his head just inside her, pushing it against her slit where the warmth and wetness were an invitation. He’d never liked to mix business with pleasure, but Lizzy was different. He was going to make her pleasure his business, at least for the next few hours.

He nudged his way inside her slick heat. “Fuck, you feel amazing, Lizzy.”

She closed her legs around his ass and pulled him toward her to encourage him deeper. “It certainly does. Surely makes up for a shitty day of investigating.” She cried out as he sank deeper, the pleasure-filled moan rolling from her throat only making him want to hear it again.

Everything about her was perfect, every whimper, every purr, right down to the way her smooth thighs felt around his waist. He settled deep inside her, sinking his cock balls-deep, and then grinding against her clit until she shuddered, settling around his girth. He gave her a minute to adjust and then pulled his hips back, thrusting slowly, building up his rhythm with every thrust.

Her nails went up his back, and before he knew it, his shirt came up, the cold air hitting his back as she pulled it over his head and tossed it to the floor. In the darkness, he didn’t even care. He needed to be real with her. To forget the awful past and all the lies. He felt like he could finally be himself, not Darek the detective, not Darek with the dark past. He finally felt free. However fleeting the moment would be, however little it would reveal about himself to her, he would not relent until they were both sated. He owed her that much; he owed it to himself.