Moments of peace

Sometimes she just wants to have moments – of silence and peace she cherishes as they come at random times. In her busy life, she rarely catches a moment to breathe, a moment to let her mind wonder. At these moments, she isn't thinking of gruesome murders and sneaky suspects. These moments belong to her.

Setting:The story takes place somewhere in 4th season. None of the secrets have come out and I will pretend they are not coming to the attention of either… at least not so soon. Keeping the theme light and fluffy.

Disclaimer:I don't own Castle – it's all Andrew Marlowe's field work.

Thank yous: I could have not done it without my three little helpers. Thank you Chris (ss-sunset), PenguinOfTroy and HippyDragonGirl. You rock, honestly. Best crictics and best ones to help their verbally impaired friend.

She just sits there, at her desk. Inhaling the scent of the vanilla latte that is on her table, the scent of papers and something that is familiar – distinctive to the 12th precinct. She doesn't know how to describe the smell of her workplace. It's a mix of everything – printing papers, old case files, something rotten, because somebody left the bathroom door ajar again. And there is a scent of men's perfume. Some years ago, it was only Esposito's very masculine deodorant hanging around between the desks. But now, she smells a different scent. It's light but oh so delicious. Its a mix of something old, something fresh and something new. Something that says high class but casual at the same time. The lingering scent that is only distinctive to him - Castle.

She smiles. She likes just to sit there, in the room filled with soft light from her desk-lamp. Inhale the familiar scents and she feels so good. She grabs her vanilla latte that has still lingering warmth in it. She raises it to her lips and closes her eyes, taking a deep breath before she takes a sip of that yummy goodness that is inside there. She didn't used to like the lattes. They were too weak, hardly gave any caffeine to her system, the sustenance she really needed to live through another day. But ever since he started bringing this delicious goodness to her, she has gotten used to it. She really can't imagine her day starting without her latte and without him. She swallows and opens her eyes. She looks in front of the murder board which is filled with many photographs of a gruesome crime-scene and suspects. She isn't really looking at the murder board though, but the man in front of the board.

He is sitting on the edge of her desk, deeply in thought. He looks a little bit tired; his blue eyes are half-way closed. His hair is messy like he had combed his hands through it, which he had probably done a few times. His black jacket is a little bit rumpled and his blue button-up has a little coffee stain on the collar. She smiles looking at him. His eyes are concentrated on the murder board, he doesn't see her staring at him. After all, she is sitting almost behind him. They had been both in deep thought for a while now, not saying anything for over 5 minutes. She loves those silent moments that give her an opportunity to breathe, to straighten her mind and calm it down. To give her a chance to have a break from her daily existence. At the moment, she doesn't think about the crime that they are supposed to be solving or the victims that were dismembered, their bodies modified in horrible ways. No, she doesn't think about those things. She is thinking of him. The feeling of him there with her, day after day. The scent of him that surrounds her daily; the scent that makes her feel at ease and comfortable. Thinking of his presence at the precinct and how it lighted up her day when he came from the elevator carrying their drinks. "Their…" now that was a thought for her.

She smiles. She likes the sound of it. Their. At that moment she feels his eyes on her and she raises her eyes to meet his blue ones. She smiles at him, giving a little shy one. His eyes, serious and sleepy before, turn into smiling ones, full of attention and sparkle. He gives her a smile back, small one, but full of care and attention. Then as she studies his features a question forms on his face and he asks out loud, disrupting the peace and quiet they had formed there.

"What are you thinking about?"

She stirs from her peaceful slumber as a serious look crosses her face before a smile creeps back.

"Nothing in particular," she answers, smiling back at him.

"There has to be some good thoughts there to make you smile like this," he continues with a glint in his eye and a smirk on his face.

A smile crosses her face when she looks at him and nods. She slightly shakes her head as she thinks of course he would not be satisfied with a short answer. He never has been, always needs to know more. She leans back in her chair and smirks again, going into a flirty mocking mode. She doesn't want to get back to the murder yet. She lets the bubble of peacefulness remain there for few more moments.

"Wouldn't you want to know," she answers back with a low voice and grin on her face, tugging her bottom lip between her teeth.

He inhales sharply.

"Oh, my dear detective, now I MUST know what you were thinking," he eyes her suspiciously with a smirk on his face.

She releases her lip, grinning at him.

"Nuh-uh, Castle, not gonna happen," she says and brings her eyes down to her almost empty coffee cup. She grabs the cup, trying to deflect the attention from his questions. She brings it to her lips and takes a small sip, finishing up her vanilla latte. She sees him shift his position, turning his whole body to her direction. She looks back to him again.

"Oh, it's happening, Detective!" he says with a note of certainty in his voice. "I definitely want to know the thing that makes you smile, like you did before."

She smiles again, looking straight to his eyes.

"Oh really?" she says with fake surprise in her voice. God, this man is not giving up, is he?

"Yes." He stresses the word. "Really." He continues to stare back at her. He lowers his voice. "If I knew what you were thinking about, I could use the information to make you smile again," he leans in to her. She inhales audibly when he gets closer. He notices it. He notices that she just stays there, not turning away, not backing up. Looking directly into his eyes, her stare almost daring him to do something.

She knows that she should say something… something that would end the flirtation and could get their attention back to the case. But somehow she can't bring herself to do it. His stare feels too intense this time, it feels like he sees through her, like he sees her soul. Her breath quickens a bit and she decides to stare back at him, almost daring.

"Wouldn't it get old if I am always smiling?" she shoots back.

He leans toward her more, slightly towering over her as she sits.

"No," he says, his face suddenly turning serious. Only the sparkle is left in his eyes.

"I wouldn't mind to see you smile all the time," he says with all seriousness.

She angles her head to the right, like trying to figure something out, and swallows. His stare gets more intense, their eyes locked. She cannot seem to move her eyes from his, it's hypnotizing and powerful. She tries to move back when he leans even more closer.

He feels her shifting under his stare, but she isn't taking eyes off his eyes. He sees her swallowing lightly. Suddenly he feels the need to look at her lips, her neck. He lowers his eyes to her lips which are now opened slightly. He can see her breathing a little bit faster. He lowers his eyes to her neck and he sees her swallowing again. Then suddenly he looks up again, into her eyes. He sees that they have gotten a shade darker, but the intensity of the stare hasn't diminished. He feels her looking at him, wonder in her eyes, trying to understand what he is doing.

As he gets closer she feels the urgency to back up a bit, to get away from his intense stare. But that intensity of their stare is the thing that stops her from moving. As they are looking at each other, she sees him lowering his eyes to her lips. She feels the sudden need for air as she opens her mouth lightly and inhales fast. His eyes are travelling to her neck and lingering there for a moment. She inhales audibly this time and swallows, her body doing it without her conscious permission. His eyes snap back to her eyes again. She sees his blue eyes are not so light blue anymore. His pupils are bigger and his blue eyes seem darker, deeper and more passionate than before. She feels him coming closer again. She can't bring herself to stop him. As he is only a few inches away from her face, when she unconsciously decides to close her eyes.

He is amazed at the intensity of their stare. It is so inviting, drawing him in. Her hazel eyes are like a black hole, drawing him closer, sucking him in. He is inching a bit closer again and sees her close her eyes, her mouth slightly ajar. Her tongue sneaks out as she moistens her lips for a second. He feels flares of arousal running through his body as he sees it. There she is, lounged back in her chair, eyes closed, lips so inviting, waiting on him to make his move. He doesn't need any other invitation. He closes the small distance remaining between them. Closing his eyes as his lips are suddenly touching hers, slowly and tenderly as a feather.

Behind her closed eyes, suddenly a flare of fear sparks. "What are they are doing?" her brain suddenly starts to work. She tries to moisten her lips before saying something. But before she can open her eyes and vocalize her concerns, she feels a soft touch of his lips on hers. Soft and tentative, like a feather ghosting over her lips. That small touch makes her lips tingle in excitement causing flares of heat to surge through her body.

He is mesmerized by how this tiny touch feels so good. He continues with light touches, feathery kisses across her lips. She stays still as he moves his lips over hers. The hands that are lightly positioned at her shoulders start moving – one behind her head, into her hair, the other travelling down from her shoulder. As he opens his mouth to taste her lips with his tongue he feels a sharp intake of breath from her and her hands start to crawl up his chest.

When his hands start to move from her shoulders she feels him breathing in sweet oxygen and opening his mouth. She feels the anticipation growing in her and she starts to lose the notion of where they are and what they are doing. At this moment she doesn't care anymore, she only feels – his lips ghosting over hers. So sweet and so warm, making her feel all kinds of things.

BING!

A sound echoes over the precinct floor. The elevator announcing it's arrival as they both freeze. He pulls away with a little jerk, both opening their eyes at the same time. Luckily the elevator doors are slow and he has time to pull away from her. He straightens up and sits back to his chair in front of the murder board. With his slightly flushed face he turns back to her, observing her actions.

At first, when she hears the BING!, she jerks back from his lips, opening her eyes and seeing dark blue ones staring back to her. Without thinking he is already pulling back and sitting down in "his chair" next to her desk. She is still under the influence of those feelings the little kiss had aroused. Her mind reeling and lips tingling, blood rushing everywhere in her body. With a flushed and confused face she raises her hand and combing through her hair, averts her gaze back to the murder board. She feels his eyes on her.

As the elevator doors open at last and they hear Esposito saying something to Ryan, with a tone that denies any argument. The boys step in to the room from the elevator as the doors open fully.

"How far have you gotten with the suspect list?" Ryan asks, when they get closer to Beckett's desk. Preoccupied with the paper in his hands Ryan doesn't seem to notice the two flushed faces in front of them. Esposito, on the other hand, seems to notice them almost immediately.

Kate feels her cheeks go even more red as the two men walk closer to her desk. He looks at Castle, who is still staring at her. His eyes seem to have a mix of surprise and amusement in them. She sighs and looks to Ryan as he is asking something from them. She isn't really listening him, her mind still preoccupied with thoughts of him and the kiss, so she misses Ryan's question.

They both are silent, both preoccupied with their red cheeks and their reeling minds, they don't answer. It seems more than suspicious to both male detectives. Esposito, looking from Beckett's face to Castle's, starts to wonder.

"What's going on with you two?" they hear Esposito ask.

A/N: I am sorry if I had any mistakes in this story. You see, English isn't exactly my language that I speak daily – that's why my story may have some weird sentences and some simple mistakes in it. Hope you don't mind. This is my first CASTLE fanfiction I have written, I really hope that you find it interesting at least. If you like the story, please give back some feedback to me, what should I do to make the story better.

I am not sure yet if I am continuing the story. I have some lingering ideas where to go with it, but if there is no interest – then I see no point. It depends on the feedback.

And to everyone who takes time to read my story – THANK YOU!