A/N: I thought for a while that my muse had left me. I just cannot seem to finish the next chapter for Ignition, my multi-chapter Castle fic that I should be writing for right now. Instead my busy mind came up with this One Shot. (I do not plan to continue this unless inspiration strikes unexpectedly.)
I hope you like it! I got this little idea for the movie date Castle and Beckett share right after the end of Law & Murder and it wouldn' t leave me alone until I wrote it. It' s fluffy, obviously! :D
Enjoy!
Her lips tasted just like the Junior mints she had bought.
Kate had eaten all of them within the first ten minutes of the movie. Rick knew because he had been looking at her the entire time. He knew the movie by heart, knew every word of the script, so there had been no need for him to watch the screen. Instead he had watched her watching the movie, had gauged her reactions to whatever happened on the screen.
He had admired the way her eyes had sparkled whenever Leslie Nielsen did something amusing, the way her lips had curved into a lush smile as J.J. Adams went on to fight for his life on the Forbidden Planet. Rick had wanted to reach out and trace the rosy skin with his thumb, run his hands through the soft hair that smelled like the cherry conditioner she used and that he had fallen for oh so long ago.
He had watched helplessly as she had tipped one mint after another against her lower lip, had flicked out her tongue to taste each one before sliding it slowly into her mouth.
She must have known how much it had made him squirm in his chair when she did that. She must have been aware of how much it teased him and how sensual her movements were, but she had never let on. She had never looked away from the screen, not once throughout the entire movie. She hadn't even looked down as her hand had found his. When she had laced her fingers through his he had been in shock, too afraid to say anything that might break the moment. After a couple of minutes, her thumb had started rubbing slow circles against his hand and he had squeezed his eyes shut.
Internally he had been fighting a battle of control and only once he had deemed it safe, he had opened his eyes again. Because watching her eat had been entirely too arousing, he had instead pretended to watch the movie.
When finally the credits had rolled down the screen, they had both been lost in their own thoughts, staring stubbornly ahead without actually seeing.
"What are we doing, Castle?" she had whispered as the theatre had started to clear out. He had turned his head in surprise.
"What do you want us to be doing?" he had replied after a silent moment.
"We can't" she had whispered and finally lifted her eyes to his face.
"Why not?" he had choked around the dry lump in his throat. This is important, this moment could define their future relationship, a voice had kept repeating in his head.
"Josh?" he had asked when she hadn't answered after a while. Something flickered in her eyes for a second and he hadn't quite known what it meant until she had spoken.
"We broke up last week" she had revealed and his heart had jumped a little.
"What's stopping you then?" he had whispered and moved closer to her side. The theatre around them had been empty then but for an employee that had been cleaning up the front rows, whistling along to the tune of his headphones as he swept up crushed popcorn and candy wrappers.
"I don't know" she had answered, barely louder than a breath, her face leaning in to his. Their lips had been a mere inch apart when he had stopped moving, wanting to give her an opportunity to stop.
"Kate" he had murmured and then she had surprised them both and her mouth had covered his.
Her lips had started to softly move against his, tasting and trying out and exploring. He hadn't been able to resist flicking his tongue out, tracing the edge of those deliciously soft lips he had started dreaming about the first day he met her. When he had finally gotten to taste them a couple of months ago during their undercover kiss, he hadn't slept for a week because every time he had closed his eyes he had found himself right back in that alley.
Her mouth opened under his touch, inviting him in and that's how he knew she tasted like Junior mints. He would never be able to go to a movie without thinking about her taste, the feel of her beneath his hands that had travelled up her arms and to the back of her head, lacing through her soft hair. Her tongue moved confidently, but slowly against his, the gentle kiss contrasting their heated first and second that January night in the alley.
After a luxuriously long moment that lasted not nearly long enough, she drew away. When he opened his eyes slowly, hers were still closed. A satisfied smile was battling with the worried creases between her brows. She was obviously debating what to do next and how she felt about what had just transpired between them.
Castle took the opportunity of her confused state to stroke her neck with his thumb and lean in again to press a kiss to her jaw line. Her eyes fluttered open, but she didn't move away.
"We should..." she started breathlessly as his lips moved up the side of her face and to her temple.
"Shhh" he stopped her and pulled her into his arms as much as he could with the arm rest of the comfortable theatre seats between them.
"I was just going to say that we should probably get out of this theatre" she murmured against his neck. He squeezed her and then released her from his embrace. Rick reluctantly pulled away, realizing that she had a point and glad that she wasn't running away from this.
He grabbed his coat and held out his hand while she searched for her purse under her seat. She came up and accepted his hand, locking their fingers together. She looked up at him, reassuring him with her eyes, expressing with her face what she couldn't yet with words.
He smiled back at her before turning away to make his way through the rows of seats, pulling her with him. Every couple of steps he looked back as if to make sure that she was still there and that he wasn't dreaming.
Outside of the movie theatre he stopped, unsure of where to go next. Their gazes met for a long moment, nobody making a sound. Finally Kate's hand that wasn't grasping his went up to rest against his cheek.
"I need time" she said with a shy smile he didn't often get to see. He nodded his head, completely understanding her and possibly needing time himself before he did something stupid or precipitant that ruined everything. He raised his hand to cover hers on his cheek and gently turned his head to kiss her palm.
Had he seen how her eyelids fluttered in a battle to stay open, he would have forgotten his resolve to give her whatever time or space she needed and kissed her breathless, but his own eyes were closed as he savoured the moment.
He reluctantly released her hands, first one and then the other, holding on to her fingertips until the last second. "See you tomorrow?" he asked, praying to whoever would listen or care that she would say yes.
He breathed out in relief when she nodded her head and smiled her most beautiful smile at him.
"See you tomorrow" she said, subconsciously bit her lip and turned away. He watched her go until she disappeared into the dark of the night and could have sworn that she had swayed her hips a little more than usual, just for the sake of driving him crazy.
A/N: I am not as happy with the end of this as I am with the beginning. Please tell me what you thought of it! Reviews make me happy and I will even reply to you if you are logged in! :D
!Attention - shameless self-promotion! Aaaaand in case you liked it, go check out Ignition, it' s fluffy as well but is longer and has a lot more plot! :P
To all mothers in countries that celebrate Mother' s day today: Happy Mother' s Day! You are loved!