Castle walked Beckett to the front door of his spacious apartment. While he wanted to be a gentleman, he couldn't help but notice how radiant she looked, despite what she'd been through the last few days and despite the fact that they had stayed up well past midnight talking. He wanted to spend more time with her, make extra sure she was okay, but he also didn't want to add to her emotional burden. They both stood by the front door, briefly not knowing what to say to each other. Thankfully, Beckett finally broke the ice.
"Thank you for last night, Castle. It was –," her voice seemed to catch in her throat and, for a moment, Castle thought he saw her eyes begin to tear up. But she fought it back.
"It meant a lot that you were there for me. More than you probably know." She seemed reluctant to let her eyes meet his. Finally, she glanced up at him when he answered her.
"You're welcome. It was my pleasure," Castle answered and grinned, hoping to cover up the fact that he was fighting to keep his own emotions in check. Beckett finally looked at him. Her eyes searched his deeply. What emotions were she fighting back, Castle wondered? He could tell she was burning to say or do something, but what he couldn't figure out.
"Did we just have a moment?" He finally said, trying to deflect the tension with some humor.
"I think we did." Beckett replied, nodding casually. Good, Castle thought, she's relaxing. He kept going.
"At least it wasn't one of those awkward moments, like after a date when you walk a woman to her door and you're both all nervous about whether or not to-"
Before he could finish, Beckett suddenly took a step forward, put her right hand on the back of his neck and brought his lips to hers in a strong, passionate kiss. She held his chin with her other hand as a small pleasured groan came from her throat. It felt like an eternity before Castle's brain registered what was happening. He had hoped for this moment for so long and now it was here. By the time he put his hands on her hips to pull her closer, she broke away, but still kept her hands in place.
"Thanks again," she said, collecting herself some. A weak you're welcome was all Castle could muster.
Beckett turned away from him and picked up her purse, then put her hand on the door knob and stopped. She turned and walked back to him, getting close so that her breasts nearly touched his chest. She looked deep into his eyes again as Castle could barely contain himself. God, how she confounded him.
"Tell anyone at the precinct that I did that, and I'll kick your ass into next week," she said in that characteristic playful-but-dead-serious voice and gently patted one of his cheeks twice. She then turned on her heel and left. Castle stood rooted to the spot and gazed at the door for a good minute or two after it had closed behind her. Wow, he thought. Kate Beckett just kissed me. The feeling he had coursing through him was like nothing he had ever felt with other women, even his ex-wives. He felt like a teenager after the senior prom, like a wonderful new world of possibility had just been revealed to him, one that he couldn't wait to explore. The sound of footsteps on the stairs broke him from his reverie.
"Good morning, Dad," Alexis called as she reached the bottom of the stairs and found him by the door. "Where's Detective Beckett? Did she go home?"
"Yeah, she did. She said to say hi and thanks for letting her stay."
"She didn't need to thank me. I like having her over."
"Me too," Castle answered and he couldn't help letting a wry smile paint his face.
Alexis studied him for a second and Castle waited for her to begin to quizzing him on what had really happened last night. Fortunately, she merely asked "Did she feel better? I mean do you think she'll be OK?"
"Yeah, honey," Castle answered. "I think she'll be just fine."