Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Castle.
A/N: This is a story for the best little sister in the world - Happy Birthday Baby Girl!
Candlelight Moonlight
- By MegannRosemary
It was a dark and stormy night, a rarity in early summer. Thick clouds covered the moon and a murky fog surrounded the cabin. Wind whipped branches against the roof, an erratic melody over the steady staccato beat of pouring rain.
A particularly loud clap of thunder later and the cabin went dark, the two lovers on the couch gasping with shock. Their steamy kisses came to an abrupt halt as they looked around.
There wasn't a light to be seen, no stars and no city lights.
"Castle," Kate murmured, her voice still husky from the heated moments a few minutes earlier. "Let me up, so I can find some candles."
He scrambled off the couch, holding out a hand to help her up.
She didn't take it, not being able to see it of course, and she stumbled into him as she rose to her feet.
They chuckled lightly, holding each other, as they friction of their bodies elicited new pleasure.
He pulled away from her then, as she clutched at his arm to keep him close. He smelled like pine and clean and man and she could hear his breath against her hair.
Their senses were heightened by the lack of light, their sense of sight compensated by touch, smell and the ability to hear the smallest noises.
Castle being Castle slid a hand into his pocket, pulling out his phone and lighting up the flashlight app.
She saw him grin in the dim blue white light, "You think you're so smart don't you?"
It was the wrong thing to say and his face fell.
"I'm not, I'm sorry Kate, this was supposed to be perfect." He turned quickly to light their way.
Worried that she'd be left behind, she slipped her hand into his back pocket to follow him to the kitchen.
Two months earlier...
She on the end of the bed in a sleep shirt and shorts, her hair piled on top of her head.
Papers were strewn about her, spreading out from a folder much like the one she used for work. However, within the leather leaves of this particular folder, one would find pictures of wedding dresses, flower arrangements and catering menus tumbling in organized chaos.
Errant tendrils escaped from her messy bun and she swatted at them with irritation when they tickled her neck or her ears.
"Lilies or roses?" She asked without looking up, tapping her pencil against her thigh.
"You pick," A low male voice mumbled from the head of the bed.
"Chicken or salmon?" She tried again.
"You pick," Came the offhand reply.
"Individual tea lights or taper arrangements," She hummed thoughtfully, glancing up at the man she was going to marry.
Marry.
Richard Castle.
The Richard Castle in question typed furiously and silently on his iPad, brow furrowed in concentration.
"You pick," He replied without a glance in her direction.
"Castle!" She shook with exasperation, a few more curls escaped the confines of the elastic and tumbled prettily down her back.
"What?" Tap. Tap. Tap.
"Do you even care at all?" She hated that her voice trembled with so much emotion, she hated that she cared so much and she hated that even now she could feel so vulnerable around him. "It's our wedding."
He looked up then, shock playing across his features, "Kate, of course I do. I just want you to have a perfect wedding."
"It will be," She glanced around at her plans, carefully plotted out on sheets of lined paper. She stuttered, "It's just were a team, we do things together."
"Kate," He breathed out her name in a delicious whisper.
She shivered, hating herself for the effect he had on her. She shook it off, let her anger reign over her next words, "Fine. Whatever. Do I have to pick the honeymoon myself too?"
"No," He set the iPad down and leaned forward to stop her hand that was furiously y scribbling notes. "Kate stop, I actually have it planned. It's perfect. Trust me."
She looked up again and got caught in his eyes. They were blue, so blue, and so full of love and sincerity. She shivered again, feeling the tension and the frustration melt away with his gaze, "Always."
He pulled her to his side then, kissing her hair when she laid her head on his shoulder. He flipped through her folder, checking her notes and the magazine clippings she'd saved. "Kate..."
The tone of his voice made her raise her head again, look back into those blue twinkling sapphires.
"I want your wedding to be perfect, I want you to have everything you ever dreamed of."
"That's you Castle," She breathed.
He groaned teasingly then, seriousness never lasted for this man. "Good," He laughed, "Because my mother and her wedding planner are going to try and take over."
"Castle!" She shrieked, slapping his arm.
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding," He protested, holding his hands up in surrender, but then adding, "Sort of."
She wrinkled her nose, " I suppose with Martha, that's to be expected."
He nodded, shutting the folder carefully and setting it aside.
"In that case, we'll have a perfect honeymoon that you planned and an...interesting wedding that your mother planned." She giggled softly to herself before leaning forward to press a promising kiss on his upturned lips.
They lit all the candles they could find and placed them all over the small cabin, there was everything from tea lights to tall elegant tapers to handmade beeswax candles. A pineapple shaped candle that smelled like tropical punch sat on the table as their centerpiece to their collection.
Cabin was soon filed with a flickering glow, casting small shadows across the two lovers as they lay on the couch again.
Kate curled against his wide, warm chest, her finger tracing nonsensical patterns on his button down.
He brushed a hand over her curls, murmuring softly, "I'm sorry it turned out this way."
"It's perfect Castle, truly." She dropped a quick kiss on his pouting lips, "This cabin it special to me...in relation to you I mean."
He stayed stoically silent, allowing her to continue.
She took a deep breath and began, "I read my first ever Richard Castle novel up here, after my mom died...Then, the weekend after we first worked a case I came up here. I was over the moon, knowing I had just met my favourite author, a man who had helped me so much in the past. I couldn't stop thinking about you, wondering if I'd ever see you again."
He kissed her forehead, "And did you see the ruggedly handsome author again?"
"Who said he was handsome?" She ignored his protests and continued her trip down memory lane. " I came up here the long weekend a year after we started working together, when you went to the Hamptons with Gina. "
"Ouch, I'm so sorry Kate."
"It doesn't matter now. After I got shot, I came up here and let myself heal to accept your love and love you back like I knew I wanted to," She looked fiercely into his eyes then, hoping to communicate everything she couldn't find the right words to say.
"Wow, quite the threesome we have going here."
"Castle be serious, I love that you brought me here. It's a perfect circle... and the perfect place for our honeymoon, "She giggled, "Albeit in the dark. "
"You really think so?"
Kate nodded, "I love that you know me so well."
"And I just love you," Castle teased.
"I love you too."
"Always."
"Always," Kate agreed with all her heart.
In the flickering darkness in the cabin in the woods, the two lovers moved together once more, their bodies dancing to the silent song of the candlelight.
A/N: I haven't written Castle stories forever, quite literally a lifetime ago, so I hope this was alright. Thanks for reading! Reviews would be lovely but it would be even lovelier if you go say Happy Birthday to detcaskett on tumblr!