Beyond the Lost Love v2

Many thanks for the reviews on my other recent works, it is very much appreciated. Thanks also for the constructive feedback and support. Thanks to my Beta MrandMrsPerryMason who allowed me to borrow her idea for the start of the story

I'd like to say this is another silly little drabble written just for fun but I'm not sure I've written anything as serious (or as spicy) between our two beloved characters. Hope it works Stay safe!

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Perry Mason & Della Street. The rights are the property of the estate of ESG. I'm just borrowing them again.

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Perry Mason loved to spoil Della Street. In their early years, it was dinner, dancing, reasonable and understated gifts, and getaways when the practice allowed. Now it was still the same, only more intense and the gifts more expensive. Eight years of rarely seeing each other had kept the flame burning on a low light, but it had taught him to cherish every second he now had with the remarkable and beautiful woman who had stayed with him no matter what. It was in this particular moment that confronted him; however, he clearly understood how precarious and rash his behaviour with Laura Robertson had been. On stepping outside the court building, he had expected to see his secretary, his companion, his lover, his reason for being. Only she wasn't there. She wasn't waiting. Della Street was gone.

The big lawyer jolted from his sleep. As quickly as he had sat up, he fell back against the pillows quietly gasping for air and sweat covering his chest which made his pyjama top stick like a second skin. He pinched the bridge of his nose. That one had been too vivid for his liking. It was also the dream that he knew in his heart had been the closest to what could have happened. Perry slid his left hand across the mattress and felt a huge sigh of relief when it met the lower back of his dream woman. He gently skimmed upwards and down marginally so it rest on the hip of Della, who slept soundly with her back towards him.

Perry stared at the ceiling and contemplated. Just a week ago, he had been lost deep in the case of Glen Robertson. He was hunting down clues, searching for answers, confronting hostile witnesses who practiced fake smiles and had vicious motives.

Six days since Della had worn the purple negligee to bed, and he had ignored the silent invitation.

Five days ago, the hearing was hurling towards a pit when nothing seemed to be going right in the case, but Laura still took every opportunity to drape herself across his desk, kiss his cheek, his face, and his lips. Five days since Della had worn the emerald green silk chemise to bed. His personal favourite. The one he loved to see her in. The one he liked to see her out of when he carefully opened her like the gift he knew she was. The one he pointedly ignored her wearing that night because he felt Laura needed his efforts and energy more. This left him sleeping at his desk in the large suite that had morphed into a makeshift office.

Four days ago, he had a breakfast meeting with his client Glen Robertson and a quiet and private lunch with his client's wife. Four days. Yes, just four days since Della landed the wordless knockout blow because he had failed to see what was right in front of him all along. Deceit, manipulation and betrayal of his trust. Had he blamed Laura for what she had done but kept quiet? No, he had laid the blame squarely at his lifelong companions' feet. Perry had known that was a stupid and ridiculous thing to do, but he just couldn't help himself. It had been another lonely night at his desk. The painful awakening had little to do with his screaming joints.

Three days ago, he ripped the mask off Laura Robertson once and for all. It hurt her. It hurt him. It hurt her husband enough for him to hate the lawyer even more than he already did. Della, well he knew at that moment, was the real victim in all of the sorry saga. Her hand on his shoulder gave him little comfort, but it was welcomed all the same. Quiet, graceful, ladylike Della took everything in her stride, or so it appeared in that instant, but this case had changed her. It had changed them.

In the two days he and Della had gone on to Aunt Mae's old beachside home, his world appeared to have shifted on its axis, and not for the better. They had turned the cottage into their ocean vacation getaway and were there trying to relax and have the talk they both needed to clear the air. Only as of yet, the words had failed to come. The thunderbolt that had been seeing the only other woman he had felt anything akin to love for, had thrown him for a loop. Time and distance were suddenly reduced to moments and a closeness he seemed to want to pull back in was all too real when Laura kissed him.

Swiping a hand down his face, Perry shook his head. He hated what he had instantly felt towards Laura when they met again. What he considered doing with her, as fleeting as the thought had been, betrayed a thirty-year loving relationship with a woman who had done nothing but love and support him quietly and with dignity from the shadows. Pushing those reactions away had become an instant priority, but what had always been when Laura was close, he had difficulty with his inner emotions. Time was no healer. Trouble was no matter how hard he had tried, Della could read him like a well-worn, favourite novel. As always, she said nothing.

Perry was brought from his reflections when Della stirred slightly. She rolled over to face him, eyes half open. He shuffled down the pillows more and lay himself on his left side to look toward her, her left hand cradled the side of his face, his right hand reached out to draw his companion closer to him in the centre of the bed.

'What time is it?' She asked softly.

'A little after seven. You should go back to sleep. You've had some restless nights these last few days.' His grip on her waist tightened.

Della put her hands together and rest her own face on them. 'You haven't had much sleep either.'

'I've had a lot to be restless about.' His eyes searched her face, but she was unreadable at that moment.

'Did you sleep with her?' Della was calm, but her question caught him off guard, and he hesitated. It was a question he knew she would ask but not at that moment in the day. When he didn't answer immediately, Della drew in a ragged breath. 'Don't lie to me Perry, I don't deserve that, no matter how painful the truth is.' Tears came into her eyes, but they didn't fall. Perry felt the sharp pang of shame in this chest.

'No,' he finally answered. 'No, I didn't.'

'Did you want to?' Della swallowed the lump forming in her throat.

'Perhaps. I'm not sure, 'he replied honestly.

'Did she want to?'

'Possibly…. most likely…. yes, I believe she did.'

'What stopped you?'

'You have to ask that?' Perry's eyes narrowed in confusion as if he didn't understand the tone or the context of the question. Then the last couple of nights of the trial, when they were in the suite came back to him. His rejection of her and their bed. A small wave of nausea washed over him as he finally grasped the understanding of what Della had been feeling emotionally, and the seed of doubt his refusal of intimacy meant to her. Mentally he berated himself, but he was cut off from doing that when the phone rang. Della had scooped up the receiver by the third ring.

'Hello?...Yes he's here. I'll ask him, just a moment please.' Perry smiled. Seven am and the model of professionalism. Della placed her hand over the receiver. 'It's the switchboard service from the office building. They have a demanding woman on the phone. She's been calling several times a day for the last two days insisting on speaking to you.'

'Two guesses who that would be!' Perry gave her a contrite smile. 'It's just after eight in Denver.'

'You want to speak to her right now?' Della's voice tinged with sadness, but she turned her attention back to the call. 'Mr Mason will speak to her. Please put her through.'

As Perry took the phone, he watched Della slip from the bed into a short silk robe with rose patterns. It stopped just above her knees and gave him a glance of two of his favourite toys in the whole world. He was brought out of his musings by a sharp, accented, and desperate voice on the other end of the line.

'Good morning to you too, Laura…No I was awake…What about the hearing?' It was the last thing Della heard of the one-sided conversation as she closed the door of the bedroom and headed for the kitchen.

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The kettle whistled on the stove as Perry walked to the kitchen. He watched Della silently from the doorway as she made tea for herself and coffee for him. It was only when she reached up to the cupboard for mugs and the robe inched higher exposing her thighs, did he sigh audibly alerting her to his presence.

'Coffee will be done in a minute.' The casual comment covered what she wanted to say about the telephone intrusion into her private world. Calling the office was one thing. Demanding to be put through to her home was quite another. With the stove turned off and the drinks made, Della handed the cup to Perry who remained standing by the table. Della crept past him and took her tea to the outside porch. It was there moments later he found her with her legs curled up on the lounger seat looking out at the ocean.

'She wants you to represent her.' It was a statement not a question.

'Yes.'

'When does the hearing start?'

'Monday, four days' time. Not a hearing though. The meeting with the ADA to thrash out a deal.'

'She's a lawyer. They say she was very good at making or forcing deals.'

'She's good at mergers, hostile takeovers, and acquisitions. That's what a good corporate attorney does. They don't however make good criminal lawyers, and anyone who represents themselves as the old saying goes, has a fool for a client.'

Della searched the waves for the right words and took a drink of her tea, warming her hands on the ceramic. 'I'm not going with you,' she said still not facing him. 'You'll have to hire a temp if you need a secretary. I can't go with you.'

'I can't operate at my best without you.'

'You'll have to. Besides, I'm not needed or welcomed around her when she's with you.' This time Della hesitated. 'I think I need a break.' The last words were almost a whisper and suddenly took on a whole new meaning.

'A break from work or a break from me?' Perry dropped into the twin lounger next to her and reached for the cup in her hand.

'I'm not sure, maybe both.' Perry pried the cup away from her, laid it next to the chairs on the porch, and took her hand in between both of his.

'You mean a break from me if I go back to Denver and represent her? Is that your subtle way of saying we're over if I go to her?'

Della shrugged. 'I told you I'm not sure. I am certain I won't go with you. I won't work for her.'

'You work for and with me, not her.' He absently stroked the long fingers of her hands. They were still immaculate after years of work. Soft, gentle, and young looking. He brought them to his lips and kissed the back of her hand.

'She still wants you after all these years. I'm not sure yet how much.'

Perry chuckled. 'You mean for my dashing good looks, my washboard stomach, and my slender hips?'

'Don't taunt me. I like you the way you are. I've always liked you the way you are. I only care about the weight you've put on because it damages your health, and your hips are still deliciously flexible at the right times. Besides that, you are still the most devastatingly, handsome man I've ever met. That's never changed, you just got grey that's all. You're still handsome dark or grey haired.'

'I'm not taunting you.' He kissed her hand again, allowing his mouth to linger. When he finally raised his eyes, she finally met his gaze.

'I've loved you forever Perry, but maybe I don't want to stand in the shadows of these more intelligent, wealthy, and beautiful women who think they can do what they want with you because I don't matter to them.'

'But you do matter Della. After all these years, I still don't think you understand that you are the one that has always mattered most to me. And let's set the record straight. I have never met a woman more beautiful and intelligent than you. Your wealth may not be in material things, but it's manifested more in your grace, warmth, and love. No-one has ever rivalled you in my eyes despite my stupidity around people like Laura.

Della sighed and turned back to look at the ocean. Perry tugged at her hand as he propelled himself to his feet.

'Come with me.'

'Perry, I don't want…..' He pulled her to him as she rose to her feet and cut her off with his mouth on hers. Any hint of resistance melted away as tongues battled for supremacy. When they finally parted to catch their breath, Perry whispered against her lips.

'I'm not representing her. I'm not going to Denver. I'm staying here with you.' Della pulled back slightly to look in his face with a puzzled expression.

'What do you mean?'

'What I've just said. I'm not going. I told her no.'

'So, what has these last few minutes of conversation been about?'

'It's been about us talking and being honest with each other. It's the conversation we should have had at least a week ago. It's the conversation, we've both been struggling to start.'

'You knew when you got off the phone that you weren't representing her, and you let me almost call time on us?' Della placed her hands flat against his chest and tried to push away from him, but he held firm.

'Don't be mad at me. I needed to know what was going on in your head about all this, and I just knew you'd never readily tell me, so I gave you a nudge that's all.'

'Oh you,…..you….' Perry smirked despite knowing it would raise her ire.

'I'm sorry Baby. It was a cheap trick. What isn't cheap is how much I love you. How much I've always loved you.' His face creased into a worried frown when she stiffened in his arms. Maybe he had really blown it with her this time. Perry was suddenly on edge that after forty years in each other's company, Della was now realizing she could do better than him. That she deserved better than him.

Perry gently squeezed her into his embrace a little tighter and placed his forehead against her. 'I'm so, so sorry about how I've made you feel Baby.' His voice barely rose above a whisper, but he hoped it would convey how he was feeling.

To his surprise when Della moved her head back slightly, she had a smouldering look in her eyes when she murmured 'This is the last time Perry.'

It was that liquid voice made huskier with raw emotion and pent-up passion that almost made him unravel there and then. Della searched his face as the thought flew across her mind that although brilliant in their daily life and chosen fields of work, men could be so dense sometimes. Women held all the power when they were attractively naked and seductive. Some may have realized that, but either Perry never did, or he never admitted it.

'About us if I did….'As Perry was about to make the mistake of challenging Della about the status of their relationship should he have chosen to return to defend Laura, Della smothered his mouth in moist, hot kisses. Perry's next verbal response was nothing more than a guttural groan from deep within his chest.

On parting, he prudently decided any further discussion could wait. The mere mention of Laura's name would clearly have the same effect as a bucket of cold water. Right now, he had missed Della, and she was evidently in need of his intimate touch as he needed hers. As she was embellishing every moment of what appeared to be the warm up phase of their encounter with a spectacular display of mouth and tongue work over his upper torso, his robe parted. He began savouring the wanton stimulation of her uninhibited explorations. With what sounded like a strangled cry, he held her away from him slightly to stop her ministrations.

'Oh Baby, as magical as that mouth of yours is, can we please take this inside?' Della stepped around him and back towards the kitchen door. At the portal, she looked back over her shoulder and shrugged off the robe and negligee before she disappeared back into the cottage.

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Once back inside the bedroom, they were both rendered naked with bewildering speed. Perry was quite unsure if he would last through the encounter, and at his age, he was pretty certain it would be hours, if not the following day, before he would be capable of performing feats of shameless stimulation with any other part of his anatomy other than his hands and mouth.

Della kissed the end of his nose to slow the pace down but planted tiny, pecking kisses across his cheeks and mouth. The beard still tickled her lips, as did the chest hair against her breasts when they rubbed together and elicited a delicious sensation for both of them.

All further questions and examinations about Laura Robertson and Denver would now have to wait. They could wait as Della's fingers searched downwards between their bodies. Every cell in Perry's body was on fire where she touched until eventually her light, almost butterfly touch landed on his full desire which was growing by the second.

'I love you Perry Mason,' Della whispered against his cheek. 'You drive me to distraction, but I do love you with everything I am.'

Any response Perry may have given was cut off when Della suddenly pushed him to his back and mounted him with surprising agility. Caught momentarily off guard, Perry gripped her hips to steady the frantic rhythm she had immediately settled into. There was nothing soft about his woman at this point. She was driving a savage point home to him lest he forget again in the future to whom he truly belonged.

The reckless rhythm resumed as Della raked her nails though his chest hair leaving red marks and a delightful pain on his skin. Faster and faster, she drove them as both groaned and squeaked out explosive lust on the complaining bed. Her thighs surged and writhed against him as her ecstasy peaked into an agonized pleasure that swelled and ended in a sweet flow of contentment. Seconds later with a loud cry, she felt her lover's cooling gush which signalled his own relief. She had been remorseless in draining him. Exhausted as he was after the stars behind his eyes had cleared, he didn't mind. No, he didn't mind one bit.

Laying back on the mattress, both stared up at the ceiling as their breathing calmed, and joints that ached began to ease. After long moments, Della pulled the sheet over herself as her skin cooled, but she made no move to Perry's arms as she normally would have.

'You have been dreaming that I left you?' she suddenly said still not looking at him.

'Yes. Outside the court building. You weren't there.'

'That's why you've been restless these last couple of nights, or was it something else?'

'Yes. That and how terrifyingly true it could have been thanks to my ridiculous behaviour towards Laura and you. Just before the phone rang, I realized you may have thought I had a guilty conscience because I'd done something with her I shouldn't have.' He pushed himself up on one arm.

'My nightmares have been about you not waiting for me. They never got past that because I woke up, but I would have hated if my dreams went beyond those steps, and you had also disappeared from our home…..' Words suddenly failed him.

'I felt neglected and lonely during this case Perry.' The almost angelic look on her face made his gut clench. 'You've always given everything to your clients, but this was different. I accept your physical distance during the cases, but your energy was directed at her, not your actual client. I wasn't sure if it was because you wanted what you had with her all those years ago.' Della gave a little snort that sounded like a short laugh. 'My nightmares this past week were of you leaving me for her.'

Perry failed to conceal his pained shock at that statement. He thought his behaviour, although overprotective had been at least professional as possible. How on earth could he had given the love of his life any other impression. Now he felt hollow inside and remorseful that he had neglected the only person he needed more than air.

Della allowed herself to reach out and let her fingers dance across the marks she had left on his chest.

'Is it all over?' She asked gently.

'The case, Denver or us?' Perry was afraid to ask but he knew he had to.

'All three I suppose.' Della's lips began another, more gentle attack on his face and throat.

'The case is dismissed. Denver is behind us for now along with Laura, who I guess we probably will see nothing of except at functions if she dares to show her face.' Della let her hand drift and encircle the means to their mutual pleasure. Half-hearted protests began to fall from Perry's lips as he wasn't sure if he was up to the task again. Before her head dipped to follow her hand, Perry blew out a breath. 'And us….Oh my good Lord…..Oh fu….' He mentally shook his head as he tried to ignore her hot, moist lips that were rekindling the flames at a surprising rate. 'Only death will part us, Della,' he ground out over dramatically though dizzying pleasure waves. 'Even then, I'll wait in eternity for you.'

When Della's mouth finally reached her goal and set about dousing the red-hot flames she had incited, Perry knew he had some work to do to get his lover to forgive him completely, but for the moment, and just a few moments, he would watch and appreciate her dazzling nudity and her private talents work their enchanted spell.

Fin