MISTLETOE AND MUSE
Castle closes the door behind the last of their guests and with a sigh leans against it. His eyes are drawn to Kate, looking spectacular in her red dress and leaning her hip against the kitchen island as she observes him.
Alone at last, they smile at each other, a quiet, contented and conspiratorial one. He takes a step forward and holds his arms out. Kate puts her champagne flute down and takes a couple of steps towards him, feeling his arms come round to envelope her as her own slide round his waist.
White Christmas is playing in the background, probably on the second or third loop of Rick's compilation of Christmas music for the party. They sway quietly together, her head resting against his shoulder as he gently kisses her forehead, feet slowly shifting on the polished flooring.
He pauses for a moment, looking upwards and Kate follows his glance. She smiles on seeing that he has manoeuvred them until they are standing under the mistletoe, a gentle chuckle rocks her body and Rick looks down at her, laughter in his eyes.
"You know you don't need the excuse of mistletoe anymore, don't you Rick?"
"I know, but I still want to have every excuse I can to kiss you, now and always"
His head dips and hers goes up to meet him, lips touching, caressing, undemanding yet sure. She takes his lower lip between hers and pulls on it, letting it go and pushing her tongue into his mouth, meeting his own seeking tongue, feeling his arms tighten around her even more.
They pull apart slightly, bodies still joined as they continue swaying subconsciously to the music which is now playing Winter Wonderland.
"Do you remember the first time?" he asks
She pretends to not understand him "The first time …?"
He nods, "The first time we kissed"
She blushes slightly, unsure why the memory of that kiss has her reacting this way, it's not as if they haven't improved on it since then, but for some reason, recalling that first one always makes her colour up. So she deflects, the instinctive Beckett defences coming into play though she only uses them now to wind him up.
"I didn't kiss you, you kissed me!"
He gapes at her, "What?!"
"When you gave me the copy of Stormfall … and kissed me … just to deflect my attention from the fact that you'd pinched my notes!"
"Not what I was talking about, and you know that perfectly well!" he grins down at her
"Yeah, well …" she says, hiding her face against his chest as she smiles at the memory "… It was kind of … wow! … and all that"
He puts his finger under her chin to lift her face and smiling at her still slightly flustered look, kisses her lips again before quietly adding "It was more than wow! Kate, it rocked my world and sent it spinning off its axis, after that I couldn't think of anything else! … well other than how hot you looked taking that guard down!"
She chuckles, moving her left hand from round his waist till it rest on his chest just beside her face and gently strokes it in circles, "Yeah, well it kind of took my breath away as well, even if I couldn't admit it right then".
"Yeah, you were a tough cookie to please" he sighs in mock exasperation
"Was?" she asks, brows furrowed and mock glare directed at him
"Uhm … are … you most definitely are … but I wouldn't want it any other way!"
"Yeah, well, as I said several years ago, I've gotten used to you pulling my pigtails"
"Any regrets?" As once again they sway to the music of All I Want For Christmas Is You
She stops, looks at him with a slightly shocked expression "No! You?"
"Only the wasted time … though maybe it was meant to be this way"
"You saying it was destiny Castle?" and he can tell she's laughing at him
"Well, I had to fight for every inch … so I don't know if it was destiny … but if it was, she certainly owed me!"
"Hmm" she agrees as she wraps her arms round his waist again, pulling herself into his body, "I guess she and I both" They sway to the music a bit more, just content to hold each other and share their space.
"What about the first night? Did that live up to expectations?"
"Wow, did it ever!" he looks down at her and kisses her temple, "… blew me away in all sorts of ways"
She hums in agreement. Then frowns and pinches his waist.
"Hey! What was that for?"
"For making me hide in the closet when Martha came in!"
"Yeah …" he sighs, "… not my finest hour. Though we have made plenty of use of it since!" he grins.
She chuckles and shakes her head "Well if you will insist on crowding me when we're getting dressed, what do you expect!"
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! is now playing in the background and the two of them are still wrapped around each other, swaying to the music, feet softly shuffling across the floor as Kate hums along to the tune.
"So, time to open the Christmas presents yet Rick?" she asks knowing how much he enjoys those moments.
"Only one present I want to unwrap right now …" he rumbles into her ear, making her shiver as she pulls her head back to regard him.
"Oh, and which one might that be?" she asks innocently, eyes laughing up at him.
"She's all wrapped up in red and wriggles when I tickle her!" he says, swooping her into his arms and carrying her towards the bedroom, her squeal and laughter fading out to …
and The lights are turned way down low
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
AN: A very Merry Christmas to all and wishing you all the best