"If you're scared you can always sleep on my side of the bed."

It was an innocent comment. Although, knowing Castle, it was probably anything but innocent. But still.

Kate shook her head as she reached for the lights and flicked them off before leaving the bathroom, her nightly routine finished. Rick was sitting on his side of the bed, and when he heard her approach, he smiled and closed the book he'd been reading and placed it on his nightstand. Kate smiled in response as she walked around the bed and swung a leg over his waist, straddling him with their chests pressed together. Rick's arms instantly went around her waist and pulled her closer.

"I love the shells." Kate murmured as she kissed him softly. "Thank you."

Rick smiled as he kissed her back, sweeping his tongue over her lips. "You're welcome."

He could have mentioned Linus, or any of the other small changes he'd noticed around the loft since she'd moved back to New York. But while he was originally upset that she was trying to change his home, he'd realized that a few items moved here and there and a little less closet space was a small price to pay for having Kate Beckett in his life.

Rick was pulled back to the woman straddling his lap as she leaned her head in and nipped at the skin of his jaw in an attempt to get his attention.

"Where'd you go, Rick?" She asked softly.

Rick smiled at her and kissed the tip of her nose. "Nowhere important."

Kate smiled again, and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug.

"I still can't believe that kickass Detective Beckett is afraid of a picture of a lion." Rick teased, having changed his mind about mentioning the lion.

Kate pulled away with a glare. "I wasn't scared of the lion. I just didn't like having it stare at me all the time."

"It's ok to admit that you're scared, Kate. I'll protect you." Rick said with a goofy grin, and Kate couldn't resist the urge to kiss it.

"It's better than not liking my elephants." She said when she pulled back, slapping at his hand as it tried to slip under her shirt. "How could they have been creeping you out when you've got a picture of an elephant right there?" Kate asked as she pointed to the picture in question.

Rick looked sheepish. "I'll admit it wasn't my best bargaining tactic, but the elephants survived in the end."

Kate rolled her eyes but made no comment as she tried to remove herself from Rick's lap.

Rick's hands gripped her hips, however, and prevented her from moving away. "What are you doing?" He asked petulantly.

Kate rolled her eyes again. "I'm tired. So budge over so I can lay down."

"I don't think so, Detective." Rick said with an eyebrow wiggle.

"I knew that wasn't an innocent gesture. You won't even give up your side of the bed for you fiancée. I should have expected as much."

"I said you could sleep on my side of the bed. I didn't say I'd be moving."

Kate stayed silent, but her raised eyebrow said everything she needed it to. Finally Rick sighed and scooted over a bit, and moved Kate so that she was laying half on the bed and half on top of him.

"Really?" She asked.

Rick shrugged and smiled. "See, we can share. Hel, we don't even need a huge bed. We can just sleep like this every night."

"Are you honestly saying that you think we could have sex on a smaller bed? Rick, we use practically every inch of this bed."

Rick considered her words for a moment before nodding. "You're right. We'll keep this one. Or we could get a bigger one…"

"No." Kate said emphatically with a glare that was slightly ruined by her smile. "No bigger beds."

Rick nodded in acquiescence. "Fine. We'll keep this one, and we can just sleep like this every night."

Kate rolled her eyes again, but didn't answer. Instead, she laid her head on Rick's chest and curled into him, inhaling the scent that was so purely Rick.

"Are you sniffing me?" Rick asked with an amused laugh, earning an elbow to his stomach for his trouble.

"Shut up." Kate mumbled as she buried her face in his shirt, trying to cover up her blush.

"I don't think I can, Kate. You're sniffing me."

Kate smirked to herself as she lifted up onto one arm to look at him. "Maybe I'm just making sure that no one else has been invited into your territory." She said huskily.

Rick grew serious. "You know that I wouldn't do that, Kate."

Kate smiled softly and leaned in for a gentle kiss. "I know. You like my territory too much."

Rick laughed and kissed her forehead before shifting to give her some more room and lay down beside her. "I won't deny that. I especially like your holster."

Kate looked up at him, confusion clear on her face. "My holster?"

Rick nodded and his grin grew. "You know, for my massive-"

"Castle!" Kate cried, landing a half-hearted slap to his chest. "That's inappropriate."

Rick smiled and kissed her lips softly. "Yes, it is. But you love me anyway."

Kate smiled and kissed the dip at the base of his throat. "Indeed I do."

Rick smiled at her and gave her one last kiss before reaching over and turning off the light.

"Goodnight, Kate."

"Goodnight, Castle."

Blame the inappropriate comments on Jess. She came up with a bunch of them during last night's episode.

Follow me on Twitter AllyLobster and tumblr at allylobster dot tumblr dot com

Reviews are wonderful. You should write one. :)