Title: A Tell or Two
Rating: M
Disclaimer: No where near the genius that is Marlowe & Co. I don't own anything. All rights belong to Andrew Marlowe and ABC.
Spoilers: N/A
Summary: Future-fic where Rick and Kate discuss a few things, skin to skin.
A/N: Often I have to cut scenes or I write random scenes as a result of my word games/ writing prompts for characterization. I thought I'd clean them up and share them with you since they are just sitting on my computer. Enjoy.
A Tell or Two
Legs: bare, long and sculpted for his touch. It was the first part of her body she revealed, just to rile him.
"My legs aren't going to tell you anything," Kate said.
"Not true. They tell me the story of you." Strong. Deadly. Confident. Yet beautiful, soft and tender.
He finally looked up, scanning her features this time. Lips: wet and pressed together. Eyes: discombobulating. Brows: one arced in triumph or allure, or both. Damn. She wasn't giving him anything.
Consequently, she hadn't been giving him anything all night. She had her reasons. Logical ones, especially after what happened in the interrogation room earlier that day.
"Stop stalling, Castle."
He straighten his posture. "I'm not stalling. I'm thinking."
"That's been known to take all night," she said dryly.
"You've lasted all night before." His tone was low with intent, hoping to rile her.
It worked. Her demeanor softened and Castle was rewarded. She sunk her teeth into her bottom lip, pulling it just enough in her mouth. Now he wished it was his lip she was biting.
Focus. He had to focus. Like a parched wanderer, he searched her face. He hoped for more from her and for a moment he thought he saw it. Her tell. But he couldn't be sure.
"You don't have it," he said.
"You can't tell one way or another. But I can." She brought her finger to her nose and gave it two taps.
Damn. Did his nose twitch? He couldn't remember. Castle threw a couple of cards her way, "Fine. Two."
She reached across the table, her hair had fallen to one side in waves of brown, revealing her neck. His gaze travelled up her arm to the exposed skin, remembering the caravan of kisses he had placed there the night before. Each time was novel to him and he never could retrace his steps. Even after all this time, her whole body was a fantastical journey, each time, for him as if to tell him 'I'm still a mystery, still an adventure.'
"One," she said.
One? Damn, again. He pulled the cards towards him and slipped them into his hand. As he revealed the suits and shapes, he knew this was no time for weakness. He'd just have to raise the stakes. He gave his nose a twitch on purpose before standing.
Castle lifted his grey T-shirt over his head and threw it to the pile where their jeans, their socks, and now his shirt made their home.
Kate started to undo the buttons on her shirt as she stood, staring him down in the process. Her gaze and hand faltered when she felt the pucker of her skin between her breasts. He'd seen it before. Many times. Ran his fingers, tongue and lips over it. She must know that it is not a mar on her milky skin, but an emblem for what she overcame. What couldn't divide them all those years ago.
"We have a couple of years before we will need to tell that story," Castle said.
She smiled and more buttons fell loose from their home. The dark blue fabric fall behind her back as a bra was revealed. Now, she was only wearing two items, both black and lacy. He, one.
Her chest rose and fell causing her breasts to push against their confines; more noticeable than two weeks ago. Castle didn't mind this change. He didn't mind any of the changes that were about to happen. They reminded him that this wasn't a mirage. Even after today she was real. Here. Almost naked.
Castle had to stop looking now. He wasn't going to last much longer and had to shift in his seat because of it.
Instead, he looked down at the contents in his hands again. He had it. Kate had dealt it to him. He could lay his cards on the table and she would have no choice. On the other hand, he had crossed a line today. A line they agreed upon. He should fold. Give it to her as a sign of contrition. Also, folding meant he would be free of his last item of clothing, which wasn't doing his lower regions any favours.
Rick met her gaze. With vigilance, he scanned her features again. Lips: full, wet, waiting. Eyes: still discombobulating as ever with a hint of drunken lust. Brows: even.
Ah, there it was. She told him so much with so little.
"Fold," he said as he shrugged his shoulders.
Kate gave her cards a look before placing them face down on the table. As she stood, the sound of her chair sliding back competed with the silence of the dimly lit loft. Slinking towards him from her position at the other end of the dining room table, she runs her finger along the surface of the table in tease until she is next to him. Graceful as ever, she lifted one leg over his lap until she was straddling him.
Castle stared at her stomach as she rested against the table. With his left hand on her hip, he took his right hand and slowly sailed over her stomach, stopping in the middle.
"You'll only get sexier." Was all he could manage as she placed her hands over his.
Rick looked at her. Her long lashes and undulatory hair couldn't hide her tremulous expression.
"Is this how it's going to be?" She asked as she moved one hand behind her back.
He leaned forward and placed a scattering of kisses on her stomach, "Always."
She brought his cards before him, "You knew I only had a straight."
He looked at his royal flush and smiled. "Even brow. Every time."
She reached behind her back again, placing the cards back on the table before leaning on her hands, staring him down at him with that all too familiar look. The same look she had given him when they had argued outside the interrogation room. The same look she had given him when she came home earlier that night. The same look when she got the deck of cards and placed it on the table, not asking if he wanted to play, demanding it.
"About today-" she started.
"I'd do it again."
She didn't like that and her eyes became a sandstorm of independence. "You overreacted. I wasn't in any danger-"
"That scumbag slammed the table against the interrogation room wall."
"I know. I was there," Kate deadpanned.
"It could have been you." He felt his chest contort at the thought of it. Castle tried to bring her onto his lap, but she stopped him with a hand on his chest.
"If Ryan and Esposito hadn't stopped you we would have blown our case. You acted like ...we talked about this."
"You acted the same way last week. Broke that guys nose because he threatened me."
"You keeping score again?"
He was. He wasn't following her like before. Not everyday, because of his obligations for his last Nikki Heat novel and because they were trying to stay true to their agreement that things needed to change. It wasn't just them they had to think about anymore. Not since two weeks ago. Now, he allowed that deep part of himself to spring into action. Protection above reasonableness.
Kate lowered herself onto his lap, pressing against his chest. She swayed her hips back and forth just enough to make his thoughts even more jumbled. Her movement became leisurely as she leaned towards his ear. His lobe found its place between her teeth.
Castle felt her tongue flick it before she whispered, "I know how to take care of myself. Take care of us. I won't risk what we have."
Rick wrapped his arms around the woman who had changed his life. He had almost lost her years before. A bullet to her heart and he had willed it to beat again because he loved her. Time healed that wound, his wounds, their lies, and now he had this. Her. Her love.
"I'll try to keep myself in check." That's as much as he could give at the moment.
She leaned out and he saw that the challenge was still there in her eyes, but she nodded in acceptance of his promise. This would be a topic that they would revisit, he was sure of it. For now, he could tell that she didn't want to fight anymore.
Kate reached her hand up her back. With a quick flick of her fingers she revealed her breasts. Her bra fell down her arms until it found its place on the pile of clothes. He didn't dare touch them yet; she would let him know when.
Kate ran her fingers through his hair and down the side of his face. "As for the cards..." she stopped, waiting for his hands to finish sliding up her thighs to her hips, steadying her movements that were becoming too rhythmic for him to concentrate at all, "don't ever go easy on me because you feel guilty, or you'll be on permanent diaper duty," she said in a husky tone.
She pressed kisses along his cheek and eventually made it to his mouth. Open, wet, tongue. Slow and deep, drinking him in. He drank as well.
Pure discombobulation and instinct followed. His hands wanted to roam a million destinations at once, imprinting his touch on her skin. One hand found her breast and he ran his thumb over her nipple. She gasped and broke their connection. With a final sway on her hips against his groin, she stood.
Once she was a stride away from him, Kate looped her fingers in the sides of her thong, sliding it down her legs. She flicked the garment with her foot, hitting his chest. "Let's see if you can last all night again."
Mesmerized by her retreating form and the sparkle from the light catching her wedding ring, he stood and took off the boxers that were causing him nothing but trouble.
He quickly caught up to her and let the name he only called her in the comfort of their own home roll off his tongue, "Oh, Mrs. Castle..." He kissed her until a small moan escaped from her mouth. He pulled back, waited for her eyes to open before adding, "For you, I can last for a lifetime."
As always, thank you for taking the time out of your day to read my work. Until next we meet.
Cheers,
Rini :D