Toeing the Line
He was being gentle and sweet and loving. There were soft touches trailing from her jaw down the strong column of her throat. Kind words whispered into her ear.
But she didn't want gentle and sweet and loving and soft. She wanted to him to push her to the edge so she could forget about the grief and sadness of the case they had caught that day.
So when he bent his head down to brush a light kiss across her cheek, she bit down on his earlobe with a sly smile.
"Oh, so that's how it's going to be," he murmured once she released the bit of flesh.
Then he shoved her against the wall, her breath huffing across his face as it was forced from her lungs. She didn't have time to pull in more air before he was kissing her. Instead of tender, he was all teeth, nipping at her lips. His hands traveled down her arms, wrapping around her wrists, sweeping them out to the side, and pinning them against the wall above her head.
Just when she was certain she was going to faint from the sensory overload combined with the lack of oxygen, he pulled back. Like he knew her limits. "Better?"
No response. She was focusing on breathing, eyes closed, having a hard time with his nose brushing hers, his chest still pressing her into the wall, holding her there like a butterfly on a corkboard. It was a mistake to open her eyes only to be met with his desire-darkened blue eyes. Need shot straight to her stomach all over again.
Any logical thought disappeared as he let those dangerous lips go to the base of her throat, dipping into the valley created by her collarbone. Her head fell back against the wall on a strangled whimper, her hands jerking against his hold.
"Let… go…" she managed to gasp out, her eyes shut against the assault as if that would lessen the sensations.
He didn't. And he didn't stop his trail of destruction down to the fabric edge of her black dress. "You wanted this," he said, his words going through her chest to her heart.
But as much as she did want to let him drive her out of her thoughts, she also wanted control. Kate Beckett wore that like a second layer of skin and she clung to it as a lifeline. So when she opened her mouth this time, she tried to inject some steel into it. "Castle. Please." Even she could hear that it hadn't worked.
And so did he. His little chuckle rippled through the thin flesh over her collarbone and Kate had to bite down on her lip to hold in a choked sob. "Just let go, Kate." That free hand, the one not still holding her wrists against the wall, tickled down her side and she squirmed out of the way. Castle's fingers just followed her, dancing over her pale skin, pushing under the neckline of her dress and over the swell of her breast.
In one smooth move, he gripped her waist with the hand teasing at her breast, slid his knee between hers, and pulled her up onto his thigh. Her dress inched up and Castle pressed his fingers into the muscle, watching as her skin paled from the slight tan from the summer.
He swallowed her gasp but her head fell to the side with a muttered, "God."
Her toes were the only thing still on the ground, just barely, as his leg supported her weight. Kate bit down on her lower lip as he set his lips to the hollow of her throat. The high keening that she heard had to be coming from her since his mouth was otherwise occupied. She tried to hook her leg around his waist but Castle pushed it back down to the side of his thigh with a laugh.
"Please," she whined, all hope of trying to sound like she still had control over her emotion gone. The way he had her balanced on his leg was shooting lightning up her body and she had no leverage to rock forward like she wanted. Like she needed.
Castle nipped at the muscle of her neck as he snuck his hand from her waist to the space between him and her. His fingertips had barely brushed her when her head moved from the wall to the crook of his neck on a helpless whimper just moments before he slid a finger into her and she lost the ability to hold herself up on her tiptoes. He felt her lips moving against his shoulder but he couldn't make out the words as he tried to keep her hands still pressed against the wall over their heads as she broke.
When he felt her arms give out, felt the heavy breath through his shirt, he let go of her wrists, guiding them back down to their sides. He stepped back but kept his hands on her waist so she wouldn't slip to the ground against the wall. "You with me, Kate?"
She turned her head, giving him breathless kisses up the column of his throat until she reached his lips. "Yeah." With a hand that still shook a little, Kate cupped his cheek, pushing hers against the opposite side. "Castle? Let's go to bed."
He hitched her up, felt her wrap her legs around his waist weakly.
As he kicked the door to the bedroom closed behind them, he heard her whisper, her voice rough, "Love you, you know."
Castle placed her on the bed, an arm braced next to her head as he kissed her, back to gentle and sweet. "Love you too." He tugged her dress up over her head, dropping it at the foot of the bed before stripping down to his boxers. After he crawled onto his side of the bed, he let her curl up with her face against his chest. "Sleep well, Kate."
"Mmm… you too, Castle." He felt her lips flutter over his pectoral as she answered. "You too."