Note: This story was written after a challenge from a couple of other Castle fans. I had intended for it to be a light, sexy, game of (strip) poker. But, sometimes, the characters just go where they want to. So, I guess I'll have to write a follow up piece. Maybe even a whole series of Poker stories. Who knows? Anyway, enjoy.

Poker Night

By Dana Keylits

"Last hand, guys." Castle announced, shuffling the deck.

"Wha?" Espo checked his watch.

Rolling her eyes, "Castle needs his beauty sleep." Kate teased.

"Ante up," Castle barked, "We're playing with no blinds." He dealt the cards, two each, face down, starting with Ryan, seated to Castle's left, then Jenny, Lanie, Esposito, and finally Kate, seated to Castle's right.

They each tossed a white casino token at the center of the felt-covered table and picked up their cards.

Lanie squealed.

Espo shot her a dirty look.

"What?" She glanced around the table, a classic lanie-esque expression on her face, "I could be bluffing, you know."

"Ah, I think I'd know if you were bluffing." Esposito mumbled.

Lanie looked sideways at him, "Really?"

"Really."

"Cuz you sure as hell couldn't tell when I was faking..."

"Okay!" Castle interrupted, "Ryan, I believe it's your bet?" He shot a drop-it glance at Esposito who, if he were a cartoon character, would be crimson-faced with steam thundering out of both ears.

"I'm in," A yellow token went rolling towards the pile.

"Ooh, big spender, there, Kevin. A whole two dollars!" Castle teased.

"Yeah, well," Ryan reached for Jenny's hand, "We have to be frugal, you know? We're preparing for..."

Jenny shook her head willing him to stop talking.

Kate's eyes grew wide, a girlish scream tumbling from her lips, she leaped up, clapping her hands together, "You're pregnant!"

All eyes turned towards the pair.

Jenny held up one palm, "No, no, we're not pregnant," She smiled, glancing at Ryan, "But we are trying."

Kate sat down, her hands folded beneath her chin, a broad grin stretching across her face, "Oh, that's so great! I'm so happy for you guys!"

"Yeah, congratulations, bro!" Espo added, tossing a yellow token at the pile.

"Well, we're not there yet, but hopefully it'll happen soon!"

"And, if it doesn't," Castle interjected, dealing the flop, "You just get that much more time to practice." He winked.

Kate kicked him under the table, shaking her head.

"Ouch, hey!" He rubbed his shin. "That wasn't necessary."

Lanie giggled.

"Okay, ladies and gentlemen, we have the flop. An ace of hearts, seven of clubs, and two of hearts. Ryan? Still your bet." Castle instructed.

Ryan studied his cards, frowning. "No bet."

"Jenny?"

"Um, Okay." Another yellow token in the pile.

"I'll call," Lanie said, tossing her token in the pile.

"Me too." Esposito echoed, flipping his token dramatically in the air and letting it fall into the pile.

Kate bit the inside of her cheek, considered her cards, a three and five of hearts. "I'll see you're two bucks, and raise you five." She said, throwing in a yellow token, followed by a red. She crossed one leg over the other, nervously swinging it back and forth. Castle could tell she had the cards, but he wanted to make her sweat.

"Call!" He said, throwing in one each of a yellow and red token. "Ryan? You in, man?"

Ryan threw his cards on the table, "Nothing but slop."

"Jenny?

"I'm out, too."

"Well, I'm staying," Lanie said, adding her red token to the pile.

Esposito side-glanced at her. "Me too." He growled, throwing a red token at the pile.

"You know, just because I'm staying in, doesn't mean you have to, Mr. super competitive!" Lanie said, smacking her lips.

"What? I'm not..."

"Moving on," Castle interjected, again with the knock it off stare for Esposito who was raising his shoulders as if asking, what'd I do?. "Everyone ready for the turn? Ah, another Ace! This time of the spades variety. Could be an interesting round! Lanie, you have the bet."

"Hmmmm, I'm gonna see how this plays out. I'll bet..." She picked up a yellow token, then changed her mind and chose red, "...five."

A growl emanated from his throat as Esposito slammed his cards down. "Shit."

"It's okay, baby." Lanie teased, "Not everybody can play this game."

Esposito shot up, almost knocking his chair over, and excused himself to the kitchen, helping himself to another beer.

"Lanie, stop teasing him!" Kate gently admonished her friend.

"I can't help it. He infuriates me."

"Then why do you keep sleeping with him?" Castle asked, then jerked his head up, alarmed, "Oooh, did I just say that out loud?"

He got the death stare from Lanie while Kate kicked him again in the shin. "Ouch! Stop doing that!"

"Then stop saying stupid things!"

"How am I supposed to know if they are stupid things, until they come out of my mouth?" He asked, then looked puzzled. "Wait, that didn't come out right."

"Ya think?" Kate asked, rolling her eyes.

Jenny giggled, "I see what you mean, now." She commented to Ryan.

"I know, right? It's like this all the time with them."

Kate arched an eyebrow, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means, it's your bet, Detective Beckett, or are you deliberately stalling because you got nothing?" Castle teased.

The ace had done nothing for her, but she still had one more card to go. It was a risk, but since she had no intention of just handing the game to Castle, she was willing to take it. "Oh, I'm in." She tossed a red token at the pile, her eyes never leaving Castle's. She gave him a sideways grin and he smiled back in that adorable way he does. She'd come to think of it as his bedroom smile.

"I'm in too." He picked up a red coin, flipping it through his fingers playfully, before tossing it carelessly into the pile, his eyes holding her gaze.

He turned the last card, "And now, the river."

A four of hearts. Kate's heart quickened.

He could tell she had a good hand. Her leg was swinging back and forth, and her cheeks were flushed. Castle looked at Lanie, "Well, Doctor Parish? What's your bet?"

"No bet." Lanie said.

He grinned, and slowly turned to her, "Kate?"

Swinging, smiling, her heart pounding, she glanced at him from beneath the long fan of lashes that framed her eyes. She picked up her one orange token and tossed it in.

Lanie gasped, "Oooooh, fifty. Girl, you had better have a good hand!"

Kate playfully raised her eyebrows at Castle. "You in?"

"Oh, I'm in alright. I am so, totally, in." He leaned towards her and she instinctively leaned towards him, her eyes flittering to his lips, a kittenish grin creeping across her face.

Jenny poked Ryan in the arm, whispering. "Do you think we should give them some privacy?"

Ryan and Lanie laughed knowingly. Espo was still sulking in the kitchen, licking his wounds, but he was paying attention, especially since it appeared they were headed towards another showdown.

Kate and Castle were oblivious to anyone but themselves. Which happened a lot.

He tossed his orange coin, and then followed it with a black one.

"Whoa!" Ryan swallowed, scrubbing his face with both hands.

"I'm in and I raise you, one hundred."

Kate leaned back in her chair while Lanie quietly folded. She didn't have one hundred, and he knew it.

"Well, I'm all in, Castle, but I don't quite have enough. How about an IOU?"

That piqued his interest. "An IOU?"

"Yeah," She looked around searching for paper and a pen, She snapped her fingers at Ryan, "You got a piece of paper?"

As though startled out of a stupor, Ryan jumped. "Ah, yeah." He pulled out his notebook, a pen stashed in the coiled binding, and handed it across the table to Kate.

She scribbled across the paper, folded it, and handed it to Castle.

Their hands brushed as he took the paper from her and a current of electricity traveled up his arm. He unfolded the paper, a slow, sly grin spreading across his face. The corners of his eyes crinkling as he smiled. "Deal." He tucked the paper in his shirt pocket as she shoved all of her tokens to the middle of the table.

"Whatcha got, writer boy?" Kate teased.

"Writer man, Kate. Man." A twinkle, a smile, a soft rubbing of his stockinged foot up her leg.

She gasped.

Everyone in the room was watching with bated breath.

"We've been here before, Kate."

"Yes, we have. Don't bother throwing your hand, either." She challenged.

"Oh, I don't need to throw anything." He said, fanning his cards in front of him. "Read em and weep!"

Everyone leaned forward, including Esposito who was now standing behind Ryan, his nearly empty bottle of beer in his hand.

"Four beautiful Aces!" Castle declared, his face exuding victory.

Everyone exploded, Esposito whistled, Ryan slapped Castle on the back, and Lanie looked sympathetically at Kate, who was casually leaning back in her chair.

She picked up her glass of wine, drained it, set it back down and looked at Castle with complete amusement. She considered throwing her hand, but the smug look on his face had changed her mind. Just as his fingers began inching their way towards the large pile of tokens in the middle of the table, she picked up her cards and laid them, one at a time, for dramatic measure, face up on the table in front of her.

"Not so fast, hot shot." She chin-nodded at her cards, "That, my friend, is a straight flush!"

The noise in the room grew exponentially as everyone whistled and laughed and clapped their hands.

Lanie howled, "I know who's getting a new pair of shoes this weekend!"

If he was upset, Castle didn't let on. He just watched her with adoring, beaming eyes as she raked in her winnings, sharing laughter with her colleagues, even Esposito was now in good humor. He loved seeing her like this, so light, so liberated, so happy. A warmth rose up in his chest, spreading across him like a tepid summer breeze. She caught his eye and smiled. Then she leaned in and whispered in his ear.

"I'll let you keep the IOU, Castle. You can cash it in later."

He chuckled and growled at the same time and didn't pull away until Lanie cleared her throat, an obvious attempt to get their attention.

"Well, this has been fun and all, but I think my carriage is about to turn into a pumpkin."

Esposito pulled out her chair as she stood up, "Can I give you a lift?"

She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, "Mmm hmm."

"Night guys," Esposito waved, following Lanie out the front door.

Kate and Castle shook their heads simultaneously.

"Don't know why they can't just get it over with and be together, already." Ryan observed, cashing in his chips and pocketing the little cash he'd managed not to lose.

"Who knows!" Kate answered. "I've given up trying to figure that one out."

"Thank you both, for everything." Jenny shrugged into her jacket as Ryan held it out for her. "This was really nice."

"Well, Thank you for coming, Jenny. It's nice to have a chance to spend time with his better half" He jerked his thumb at Ryan, his other arm curved around Kate's shoulders.

She stiffened, then softened. They were still getting used to public affection.

Ryan smiled, betraying his happiness at seeing the two of them together. Finally, and openly, together. It made everyone happy.

Castle closed the door behind them, then spun around to find Kate standing in the foyer, a cheshire cat grin on her face. He inched closer, his lips curving, eyes shining. "That was fun."

She nodded, "Mmm hmm"

He slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him, crushing her body into his, inching one leg to settle between both of hers. He traced her curves with his other hand, starting low, then pausing at the dip in her back where he knew, that beneath the fabric of her jeans, her flesh arranged itself into two perfectly round, adorable, dimples.

"This is more fun." His mouth found hers, his tongue darting between her lips, searching for hers, playfully waltzing, twirling, roaming from her mouth to his, then back again. She nipped at his bottom lip, he sighed, completely, utterly, indelibly, satisfied. Her fingers raking carelessly through his hair, she grabbed a fistful and gently tugged. He moaned against her mouth while she pressed herself against his leg, gently rocking, seeking diversion for the growing tension there.

Inevitably, they needed to breathe, and so reluctantly, tortuously, they parted, though barely, their breath hot against each other as they panted, gasping for air.

"Mmm hmm" She replied. "This is more fun."

They smiled, still in an embrace, eyes shiny, hearts swelling, their bodies warm and humming. I could stay right here, in this spot, in his arms, in his eyes, all night, I won't need oxygen, or water, or food. Everything I need, everything I want, it's right here, it's him. She felt unbidden tears well up in her eyes, and she rested her head against his broad shoulders, her arms wrapped tightly around his middle. He instinctively cradled the back of her head with one hand, his lips pressed against her hair, his other hand roaming up and down her back, gently caressing her.

He waited. This had happened before. Her tears. It had happened to him a couple of times, too. He knew to just wait, to just be. To let her just be. The first time it happened, she'd been embarrassed, he'd been alarmed. He wanted to fix it and it tore at him when she'd looked up at him with red rimmed eyes, her lips trembling, her breath hitching with sobs, as she explained in a fragile, broken voice, that there is no fixing it. There is just, well, it.

Eventually, he'd come to realize that this wellspring of emotion was not out of sadness, or fear, or even happiness, it was just that sometimes what you're feeling is so big, so overwhelming, that the body needs a release or it will implode in on itself.

And so, they'd cried.

The first time it happened to him, he was caught unprepared, he was accustomed to, at that point, her spontaneous tears, but he had never experienced it himself, had never expected to. And then, 3XK had made his encore appearance, upending all of their lives, and after that, what was in him was so big, so powerful, that there was nothing he could do but cry.

They had been in her bed, a few days after he'd been cleared, they'd made love and were on their backs beside each other, naked, warm, satisfied, only their arms and hands touching. He was catching his breath, staring unfocused at the ceiling, when seemingly out of the ether, sudden, inexplicable sobs rose from deep within him, racking his body, constricting his throat, his cheeks damp with the tears spilling down them. He felt like a little boy as he tried to stop it, to shut it out, get a grip, but the more he tried to tamp it down, the more violent it got.

But Kate had known exactly what to do, how to be. She'd wrapped herself around him, gripping him with her legs, practically pulling his naked body on top of hers, one arm supporting his head as he buried his face in her neck, the other clutching at his back. He'd wrapped his arms around her, too, in much the same way she was doing now. And then they'd stayed that way for what seemed like hours, but was in reality, only minutes. She'd softly purred in his ear, telling him it was okay, to let it out, to let her in.

Castle wasn't usually one for profound sentiment, unless it involved Alexis, and he wasn't motivated to dig very deeply into his feelings. But after that day, after she had expertly, lovingly, ministered to his gigantic emotions, he knew that what he had inside of him was far richer, far deeper, than anything he'd ever known before.

And, it was because of her that it existed at all.

And so, he knew, as they stood in his foyer, holding on to her as she wept, that these tears would pass, and they would both be okay.

No, not just okay, they would be better.

She lifted her head, turning to look up at him, a gentle, tentative smile curving her lips. He framed her face with both hands, wiping her tears with his thumbs before pulling her in for a serene, tender kiss.

"I love you."

"I love you, too." She replied, grinning broadly now.

"Are you tired? We can leave the clean up for tomorrow. If you're wanting to go to sleep."

"Um, I'm okay, Castle. But, lets not do the dishes just yet."

"No?"

"No."

His eyes crinkled as he smiled at her, "Then, what should we do?"

She reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out the folded IOU. She held it up, her eyes glimmering with devilish suggestion.

"Really?"

She nodded, grabbed his hand, and led him to the couch where she shoved him roughly onto the cushions, his feet firmly planted on the floor. She knelt in front of him, rubbing her hands along his thighs before finding their way to his groin.

He was already hard when she rubbed him with the palm of her hand. She had risen up to kiss him, her hands flying over the buttons of his shirt, spreading it wide so she could feel the broad expanse of his chest against her hands. Then she'd let her hand travel down until she could feel him strain against her, struggling against the confines of his pants.

She unbuckled his belt, unbuttoned his jeans, and tugged his zipper down, then she drew at the hem of his boxers, forcing them down, too, his penis springing free, ready, eager, aroused.

She smiled and took him into her hand, gently stroking, teasing the tip with her fingers. He moaned and growled, shifting his hips towards her, his eyes closed, head resting against the cushions of the couch, his body turning pink with excitement.

She took him into her mouth, at first just the tip, she used her tongue to torment him, his hips bucking with need. Then she took in all of him, which required some concentration because he wasn't exactly a small man.

A slow, deliberate, sigh of purest ecstasy spilled from his lips as he reached out with his hand and placed it gently on the back of her head. She was picking up speed now, sucking, licking, coaxing him to the edge with her perfect lips, her sweet, warm mouth. She reached up with her hand to rub his chest, her fingers playing with his nipple as she continued her oral ministrations, until, in a wave of honest, organic pleasure he came, she took all of him into her mouth, sucking on him until he was done writhing, she swallowed.

He opened his eyes, looking down as she knelt in front of him, a satisfied grin on her face, her fingers softly rubbing her numbed, rose red, lips

"I was just thinking, Castle. It's a good thing I won that hand."

He lifted his head and looked at her, puzzled. "Why?"

"Because, if you had won, and actually cashed in your IOU. Wouldn't that make me a...?"

"No!" He interrupted, "No, it would not make you anything, except very generous." He guided her to his lap, where she curled up against him, her lips pressed against his in a long, slow, deliberately measured, kiss. "But, I do feel badly, I mean. It's only fair..." He unbuttoned the top three buttons of her blouse and slipped his hand beneath the fabric, sliding under her bra, taking one breast into his hand as their mouths met again in a more urgent kiss. He rolled her hardening nipple between his thumb and forefinger and a sigh tumbled from her lips into his mouth. Then, moving his hand from her breast, he found his way between her thighs, cupping her, she rocked against him, wrapping her arms around his neck as their kiss deepened, their tongues exploring in a crazy, frenzied, dance.

Suddenly, he flipped her onto her back and he was between her legs, coaxing her jeans from her body, her panties following. He dipped his head between her thighs, his tongue separating her wet folds, his thumb pressed against her hardened nub. She cried out, reaching out to grab his hair and gather it into her fists.

He expertly used his tongue to bring her to the edge, then he eased off, kissing the inside of her thigh as she caught her breath, when she started to wriggle her hips again, he returned his tongue to her clit, flicking it, sucking and teasing, until he could feel the tension building again, her body vibrating, she was getting close.

He increased his cadence, flattening his tongue against her, tasting the change in her as, in a crescendo, her body quickly seized up in a perfect, sudden, orgasm. He replaced his tongue with his hand, pressing firmly as she spasmed against him, and then, when finally she was still, he crawled up her wonderland of a body, and lay beside her.

She pried her eyes open and looked at him, her pupils dilating. "Wow. Castle, that was unexpected - and fast."

He laughed, resting his head between her breasts, she laughed, too. He could hear her heartbeat, it was racing.

"I'm really starting to like poker night, Castle. Waaay more fun than taco night!" She twirled her fingers lazily through his hair.

He chuckled, "And without the heartburn."

They lay like that, half-naked, wholly satisfied, for the next half hour, until, chilled, they decided to call it a night and crawl into bed.

They would leave the dishes for morning.

The End