She's yanked out of slumber by the distant ring of her cell phone. The sound seems so far away that for a second her sleep-addled brain wonders if she's underwater before she realizes the sensation is due to the writer sharing her bed, his heavy form currently draped over her body. She pulls her head out of the crook of his arm, wrinkling her nose and glancing at the clock - 5:06 am - before sighing and reaching out to grab her phone.
She angles herself as far away from Castle's heavy breathing as possible and answers the call from Ryan; getting the run-down of the murder scene and telling the detective to text her the address before hanging up and flopping back to her pillow. She gives in to the urge to close her eyes for only a minute more, taking a deep breath and turning on her side to give her partner a push.
"Castle," she grunts, trying to roll him over. "I'm hot, get up."
His lids flutter before opening, tired blue eyes regarding her hazily before he rolls his body towards her instead of away, hand drifting between them.
She barks out a surprised laugh, drawing back and swatting him away, ignoring the sudden flush that swipes through her at the brush of his hand across her abdomen.
"Not like that, big shot." She wiggles under him, trying to put distance between them and he squints at her in the darkness of the room, eyes still adjusting.
"What time is it?" His voice is rough with sleep and he rolls onto his back, draping his forearm across his eyes despite the lack of any light in the room.
"Little after five," she answers, stretching and reaching out to deposit her phone back on the nightstand.
"Then what did you wake me up for...?" He trails off, but she can hear the if not for sex hanging in the air and she grins, glad he can't see her in the relative darkness because she can't contain the happy relief after the night before and the inordinate pleasure at the fact that the two of them are at a point where that's actually a question.
"Oh I don't know, a murder?" She teases, bites her lip to prevent the smile from leaking into her voice. "Remember when I used to call you for those? The dead don't rest."
"Is that an actual expression? Because it doesn't make sense. They're resting at this very moment. In fact," he continues, arm still over his face, "everyone is resting right now. Unless they're doing something more interesting, but that's apparently not what you woke me up for, so..."
She rolls her eyes and hops out of bed, stooping to grab her discarded nightshirt off the floor from the previous evening, knows Castle will eventually follow as she pads into the kitchen. Starting the coffee machine, she grabs a piece of bread and sticks it in the toaster, drifts over to the table to scan the day-old paper sitting there as the smell of coffee seeps into the air around her.
There's suddenly a thump from the other room and Castle comes stumbling through the doorway, mouth agape with his palm flat against his collarbone.
"Look at this!" He removes his hand to display a small circle of purpling bruises, marks scattered across his skin in the perfect shape of her mouth.
"Well." She shrugs, biting into her toast to suppress her pleased smirk, wiping crumbs away from her mouth. "You have an excuse."
He looks confused, even though the mask of surprise is slowly becoming a leer, and she makes a motion across her chest. "Bikini seductress. You're supposed to be getting some."
"Oh no," he groans, face dropping. "My first hickey from you and I can't even brag about it."
He misses the pointed look she throws his way when he turns towards the refrigerator, peering at his hazy reflection as he attempts to use the stainless steel as a mirror.
"Good lord, though," he tilts his head back to examine the mark, rubbing at his skin. "I never knew you had such territorial issues. Is it easier for you if I just avoid all women? It would really blow our cover if you lifted up your leg and peed on me while I was speaking to Karpowski at a crime scene or something."
"If this is your way of telling me you're into some seriously weird kinky stuff, thanks for the warning," she says, making her way to the sink to brush her hands free of crumbs. "Because I'm out."
She turns to tell him to bring her a cup of coffee into the bedroom when it's ready but suddenly he's right there, crowding her space, pulling her hips into his and she can feel the heat of him and oh, he apparently likes her possessive display more than he's letting on. Leaning in as if he's going to kiss her, he swerves and goes for the soft skin under her jaw instead, lips gently sucking as his fingers trip up her sides.
"Castle, I swear to god, if you're trying to give me a revenge hickey..." Her threat trails off when she tilts her head to give him better access and she feels him smile against her skin, moving slowly down the line of her neck. She sighs, brings a hand up to cup the side of his head. "I was not the one found in flagrante with-"
"I was fully clothed," he says, head popping up to look her fiercely in the eye. "And as hot as you are when you're speaking tongues… no, I'll leave a mark."
She opens her mouth to protest but his lips are on hers before she can get a word out, tongue hot in her mouth as he starts to undo the few buttons she had fastened on her nightshirt. He pulls back when he parts the material open, cupping a breast and making her arch into his touch.
"Not a mark you'll be able to see." She feels the words against her skin, a hot trail starting from the dip of her clavicle down her chest, and she threads her fingers through his hair as her lips part on a wordless sigh. "Not a mark anyone else will be able to see."
His hands encircle her waist and she raises up onto her toes without prompting, gives him the leverage to hoist her up onto the counter.
"Just something to think about today," he says as he lowers himself to his knees, parting her legs with a hand on each thigh and coming to rest between them. "A reminder."
She's practically trembling as he keeps his mouth just an inch away from where she wants it and she raises one knee to hook it over his shoulder, begging him without words.
"I just want you," he breathes, an echo of her words from barely a month ago, and it vaguely registers how that moment in time already feels like ancient history before his mouth is on her and she's not thinking at all, hips lifting off the cool surface, pushing against the hand that comes to steady her.
One of her hands fists in his hair as the other goes to grip the side of the counter and everything is lost to his lips and tongue and the scrape of teeth against her hipbone when his fingers replace his mouth. A mewling sound spills out when his tongue returns to flick against her and he hums in response, the vibration sending a shockwave through her entire body.
Her hips are rocking into him, both legs over his shoulders now and both hands resting behind her on the counter as she arches her body, pressure building in her abdomen, and just as she's about to tell him to hurry because she's so close, his mouth seals around her and sucks and her head flies back, release washing over her as she cries out.
He gentles his mouth as she comes down and continues to lie back, breathing heavily and gazing blindly at the ceiling as his palms coast up and down her thighs. She closes her eyes, reveling in the quiet morning moment and then-
"Do you have any tinted moisturizer?"
She blinks, finally bringing her head up to find him down on one knee, looking at himself in the fridge again as one hand continues to massage her leg. Huffing out a laugh, she sits up fully and runs a hand through her hair, in disbelief that the same mouth that just did… that is attached to the man on her floor right now. Gathering her nightshirt together again, she hops down on shaky legs and uses his shoulder to steady herself as he rises up from the floor.
"Maybe Ryan would bring me Jenny's if I texted him now?"
"Are you still talking about this?" She shakes her head. "Just button your shirt all the way up, no one will even see it."
"But then how will I distract you with my broad expanse of manly pecs?" He pushes his bare chest out towards her, hands on his hips, ruining the image with the pout on his face and she purses her lips through a smile.
"I think my resistance can handle a day. Besides," she says, curling the fingers of one hand into the top of his boxers and leaning in, pressing a kiss to his front before looking up at him. "I get the pleasure of knowing all of it is there."
She snaps the elastic against his waist and grins as he yelps, turning to saunter back into the bedroom.
"Now come on, Castle. We got a body."