Espresso Magico

The beast belches out a final puff of steam, as if to frighten us away, but retreat is not in the plan this morning. The extra strong coffee is our elixir of life, and the aroma alone makes my mouth water. With an unsteady hand, Castle passes me my cup of espresso and we walk like zombies in the dark towards our chairs. No, not dark; just a soothing absence of light. It really is obscenely early, and I'm having a hard time remembering why I'm even here – a homicide maybe, probably, but anything is possible. The bullpen is so quiet I can hear the wall clock tick. I peek at Castle and ask myself again, why did I call him? Why did he come? A guilty flush burns my cheeks. Covertly, I observe Castle's shapely lips as they curl around the edge of the coffee cup. He slurps, swallows and sighs; his shoulders relax, his eyelids droop and surrender to gravity. The liquid flows down his throat and into his belly like a hot, brown ribbon; I imagine caffeine molecules gurgling happily in his blood on their journey to infiltrate his brain cells and induce nirvana. A moment later, when Castle's eyes pop open and flick their contented, sleepy gaze on me, the simple act of breathing becomes almost impossible. More sips, and I wait with pounding heart for his tongue to dart out and lick up the stray droplets on his lips. Our eyes meet and lock over the cup rims; his brows do that crazy waggle and it feels so good to giggle. We both sigh; the cups are empty, and consciousness will surely follow, but I'm not ready for the world just yet. Instead, I lean back, close my eyes and drift above the earth in a soft, lazy balloon. Castle is up there with me, laughing and waving at the sky like a wild man. For us, up is the only direction and lost is the only destination.

"You're beautiful, Kate."

These simple words make me spring to my feet and drag a bewildered Castle up with me. Before I can even think, my arms are draped around his shoulders and we're wide-eyed with wonder just a hot breath apart. Our lips collide head on in a shared gasp of delight; his mouth is strong and confident, and I taste the fresh blast of coffee on his tongue. Entwined in the moment, the kiss lingers and crosses to the realm of fantasy. Strong arms hold me, a soft whisper brushes my ear.

"You taste good."

"Don't let me go."

"Is this a dream?"

"Let's find out." I cover his lips with mine and we go back up to the clouds.