Playing Favorites

If someone had asked Kate yesterday, her answer surely would've been different. Yesterday, and for all the years she'd known him, Rick's eyes had been her unspoken yet categorical favorite. To her they were as exquisite as precious sapphires, as striking as the world's sweeping oceans, and he had no idea how they affected her, how they drew her in and unraveled her, how she longed to see them each morning before she rose and each night before she dreamt. Now, though, lying there beside him for the first time, she knew of his entire body, and in that knowledge a shift had occurred.

She woke before him, not that she'd had much rest or lamented that fact, and sleep, quite frankly, was the very last thing on her mind as she idled there in the slivers of early sunlight that seeped through the windows of his bedroom. She remembered shutting her eyes just an hour or two before with his naked body curled around hers, his warm breath tickling at her neck through her tousled hair, his hand fixed above her heart, the heart she'd come to give to him completely.

She faced him now, having shifted unknowingly at some moment or another, and wondered as she watched him sleep if it might all be a dream. How perfect it felt, and how far from just a day ago they were, and how could it be? Her eyes journeyed his slumbering face and she admonished herself for her rigid gaze, though she knew he was unaware. She couldn't help herself. The nearness of him, the newness of him, flooded her mind and body and it overwhelmed her, replacing the trepidation she'd carried for so long with a comfort and a desire unlike any she'd ever experienced.

Her fingertip traced the curve of her lip in remembrance of his intensive exploration, and she extended her hand for his as she had the night before, his body shifting with the contact and unknowingly brushing the bare skin of her inner thigh. It was slightest of unintentional gestures, but it struck her chord like a bolt of lightning and she nearly gasped for breath.

Rick stirred for a moment until his eyes finally opened, and, like her before him, he paused with uncertainty, hoping she wasn't some cruel trick of his mind. Kate drew her finger along his temple and down his cheek, and his doubt was quickly and powerfully dispelled. "God, you're even more beautiful in my bed," he said drowsily. "How is that possible?"

"Good morning to you, too," she replied. "Better be careful. A girl could get used to waking up to things like that." She moved in and pressed her lips against his, because that was something she could do now.

"I certainly hope so. Lucky for me, I'm well prepared after four years of saving up." His warm hand found the curve of her hip beneath the sheets and settled there. "How long have you been awake?" he said as he stretched some of the night's activity from his bones.

"Just a little while," she answered, her palm cupped at the side of his neck. "You looked so peaceful. I didn't want to wake you."

"You should've. I'm pretty sure I would've gotten over it - or maybe even over you," he teased, though recognizing she'd suddenly traveled somewhere in her mind. "What are you thinking about? Where did you just go?" He knew there was so much they still hadn't talked about, so much that'd happened between their argument and her knock at his door. He knew there was still so much inside of her he needed to hear.

A long moment passed before she realized he was watching and waiting for her to speak. "What?" she asked, clearly distracted.

He couldn't help but smile. "I just asked what was going on in that gorgeous mind of yours, that's all." She hesitated and he tried not to think the worst, not to imagine she was having second thoughts about what'd happened between them. "Are you…is it about last night?"

She felt her cheeks instantly flush with warmth. "I'm sorry. I guess it was," she told him, looking away. "It's silly, though, stupid." She kissed him a second time, lingering in the sensation.

"Unfortunately, I think you'd agree silly and stupid are right up my alley, so you should definitely tell me." He pinched playfully at the skin of her hip. "Come on," he said, not a whine but close.

She knew him too well. She knew he wouldn't let it go, and when he looked at her with those eyes, she also knew she had about as much chance of avoiding him as a moth could a flame. "Okay, wait a second, Castle, we're not going to do that thing, now, where we tell each other everything are we, because I'm pretty sure you're going to have some everything I won't really need to hear."

He cleared his throat in a guffaw of shock. "First, I can't imagine what it is you're getting at. And second, I wasn't asking for everything. I only want to know as much as you're willing to share. Well, plus whatever you were thinking about just now."

Kate rolled her eyes. "You never have any idea when to stop talking, do you?"

"Oh, you wound me so, Katherine. Kiss me and I might forgive you."

All she'd longed to do since she opened her eyes that morning was kiss him, over and over again, her assertion about not wanting to wake him every bit a lie. Four years without had instilled in her a voracious hunger for him, and her first true taste, absent any self-imposed restraint, had been like fuel to a fire. She huffed in faux protest and came for his lips, gentle at first, before losing herself in him until her lungs screamed for relief.

"Okay, you're forgiven," Rick exhaled breathlessly when she pulled away. "But one wrong step and-"

"Do you want to hear this or not," Kate jumped in entirely winded, "because there are far more important things I'd rather be doing." She slid her hand beneath the sheets and brushed over him with wicked purpose.

His body shivered and he inched closer. "Important things, please. Definitely important things. I'm absolutely listening," he assured her, his voice hitting an amusing pitch as her fingers traveled back up the other direction.

She already felt a thrill in the rush of his body's response to her, its inception the very moment he'd pushed her up against his front door and silently revealed himself. "Yeah, I thought so," she said, tucking some hair behind her ear. "I just…I just realized something this morning as I was watching you sleep."

"Ooo, that's sort of creepy, isn't it," he promptly interrupted.

"You sure you want to open that can of worms?"

"Point taken, continue," he said, propping his head up with keen interest as she prepared to resume her thought.

"I think I changed my mind about something - about you."

"You changed your mind about me?" he asked, audibly worried.

She had to sit up. It wasn't coming out right and she had to try to find focus. Lying next to him wasn't helping matters, either, especially since the sheets kept inching down his body whenever he moved. "No, not about you. Just one thing about you," she said, trying to help clarify, though she could tell by the look on his face he was growing desperate for a coherent explanation. "About your eyes."

"What's wrong with my eyes?"

She was beginning to wish she hadn't said anything at all. "There's nothing wrong with them, Castle. They're pretty amazing, actually," she told him, drinking them in for the umpteenth time.

With everything he had, he fought the enormous smile that attempted to hijack his face. He could see how flustered she was, how embarrassed she felt in her own clumsiness. "Okay, thank you, but?" he pressed.

She smiled coyly. "They used to be my favorite thing about you - the physical you, at least. But now I can't stop thinking about your hands." As the admission spilled from her, her brain flooded with flashing images of the previous night, like the spring storm that'd helped light their way. Her eyelids closed inadvertently as she welcomed their story, allowed it to play to her body's marked gratification.

Rick pushed himself free of the sheets and moved in close, softly cupping her face in his hands. It took a moment for her to open her eyes to him, not certain what to expect, but she braced herself for his ego's reply and finally relented. "Why do I get the feeling it pained you to tell me that?"

"You're very astute this morning, Castle, and you haven't even had your coffee yet," she joked.

His hands found their way to hers and his grin transformed into an expression more solemn. "Kate, I know this all feels really new, to me, too, but we've known each other for four years, and we've been through so many incredible things together. You shouldn't feel anxious or embarrassed to tell me how powerful, glorious, and life-altering my body parts are."

Of course, his response was absolutely everything she'd expected. "Geez, Castle, I can't imagine why I hesitated to share this with you."

He brought her hands up to his lips and kissed them both. "In all seriousness, I love that you told me. I love everything about this morning in this bed, and if I was to share all of my favorite things about you, physical or otherwise, we wouldn't be able to leave it for a very long time."

"Well, I have nowhere to be today. I'm game," she challenged with a smirk.

Rick took her by the shoulder and guided back down to the pillow. "Hmmm, where to begin?" he whispered to himself. "The top or the bottom?"