A/N: Thank you to Kylie, Kellie and Ky for the encouragement and to Jo for the beta and convincing me to post this.
You ladies not only make me smile on a daily basis but also encourage me to challenge myself and grow as reader, beta and writer and I am so thankful for each of you.
Ideas and mistakes are all mine, the characters are not.
Kate rouses slowly. She stretches and looks around the room with still sleep heavy eyes. Seeing the light streaming from the windows, beyond the office to the rest of the loft, Kate wonders vaguely what time it is. She feels oddly invigorated in the way that only comes from a solid eight hours... She can't remember the last time she'd had the chance to indulge in sleep like that. There had just been so much going on lately - her team's never ending caseload, Kevin and Jenny's new baby, planning Castle's and her wedding, living between their two homes and trying to maintain some semblance of a social life have all taken their toll.
It had been late when she'd gotten back last night. The case she and the team were working had been grisly and had stretched long into their weekend, and Kate was glad it was finally over and she had some time to unwind.
Kate finds the sheets beside her cold, indicating that Castle has been up for some time. She yawns and makes her way out of the bedroom, finding Castle sitting on the sofa, clicking away on his laptop. She smiles, realising that he'd obviously been making an effort to be quiet to allow her to sleep in.
She leans over the back of the sofa, kissing Castle softly on the cheek.
"Mornin'. You let me sleep in."
"Mmm," Castle answers, still engrossed in the screen." He types a few more keystrokes before continuing, "I figured after everything that's been going on you needed it."
"Thanks, I did."
Castle saves the file, puts the laptop down and rises from the sofa to greet Kate with a kiss.
"So are you hungry? While you were stuck doing boring casework yesterday I hit the farmer's market and got some great produce."
Kate looks at Castle. It feels like days since she's seen him, let alone had any kind of intimacy with him and it startles her how much she truly has missed him. She lets her eyes roam down his still pajama clad and sleep rumpled body and is sightly distracted when she answers, "Yeah, I could eat." She trails after Castle into the kitchen.
"So what do you feel like?"
"Anything is good with me. I'm easy."
Castle chuckles, "Nothing about you is ever easy, Beckett."
Kate arches one of her perfectly manicured eyebrows, "You might want to revise that statement; babe?" She bumps Castle with her hip to emphasize her point.
Castle's eyes light up, the corners of his mouth turning upward into a devilish grin and he raises his hands admitting defeat. "Okay, okay." He pauses before continuing, "So what do you say we just skip breakfast altogether and go back to bed?"
"I think that's a great idea" Kate replies, inching ever closer to Castle until finally their lips meet in a passionate kiss, her hands slipping beneath his sleep shirt, intent on removing it.
Castle pulls Kate against him, his hands roaming along her body. He deftly unbuttons Kate's pajama top, sliding it off her shoulders and letting it fall to the floor. Kate begins to walk Castle towards the bedroom when he finds the pulse point on her neck and she starts, causing them to stumble against the counter.
The sound of voices coming from outside the front door causes them to pause. They hear a high pitched laugh along with the sounds of someone fumbling for their keys. The sound of the key scraping in the lock finally breaks Kate free from her haze of lust and she realizes what day it is. Sunday. And that she has plans. And with whom.
Kate quickly stops Castle in his tracks, scanning the room, urgently trying to figure out if she has enough time to rescue the items of clothing haphazardly strewn across the room.
She looks at Castle, slightly panicked. "Shit! I promised your mom and Alexis that we'd have brunch and make wedding plans." Accepting her state of undress, she decides to bolt back to the bedroom forgoing the clothes on the floor, Castle hot on her heels.
They make it back to the bedroom just as the sound of Martha's voice rings out, announcing her and Alexis' arrival. Castle looks at Kate who is hurriedly trying to find some clothes to wear, pulling a t-shirt of his own back over his head, "So you want eggs?"
Regaining her composure, Kate looks back at Castle with a smile, "Eggs would be great."
She goes to turn back to her task of choosing a sweater to wear before thinking the better of it and grabs Castle instead, engaging him in another kiss.
"And this-" Kate gestures between Castle and herself- "is to be continued later…"
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