Frozen In Place
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"Castle" and its characters are the property of Andrew Marlowe, ABC Studios and ABC. No Copyright Infringement is intended.
Frozen In Place
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"Frankly, I never though I'd tell a woman she shouldn't be wearing leather."
Detective Kate Beckett gave Richard Castle as dirty a look as possible between bouts of shivering. He was right; her leather jacket wasn't suited to this environment. They were trapped in a huge freezer tucked away in an abandoned warehouse. If they didn't freeze to death in here they'd likely be collateral damage from the dirty bomb they'd discovered. "Next time we're facing death by deep freeze. I'll ask for your fashion advice."
"What about taking the jacket off our murder victim?"
"Lanie would kill us even if we were dead for messing with her evidence."
"You're probably right." Rick glance at the body, "Besides, I'm guessing he's been here awhile. I'm not sure it would come off him."
"If it did, it would take forever to defrost on me."
"Don't underestimate yourself, Detective. You give off a lot of heat."
"I'm famous for my Heat." Kate bent double and wrapped her arms around herself contemplating what her alter ego Nikki Heat might do. Kate thought about running in place but couldn't work up the energy. Her mind started to fog up as she tried to figure out how long it would take before hypothermia set in.
Rick wasn't shivering yet. However, his body trembled at the sight of Beckett in distress. He moved to her side aligning his body with hers leaving barely an inch between their sides. "Are we agreed this is a desperate time?"
"Requiring desperate measures? Go ahead, Castle bring on the drama."
"It's a cliché; still clichés have to be true to be around long enough to reach cliché status."
"Castle! Focus!"
He wrapped his arms around her. "Fine. We share body heat until we're rescued…"
Off her growl of discontent he amended, "…discovered, I mean discovered by our team who even now is following clues we left behind."
Kate hadn't slid out of his arms or broken those arms in a fighting move. He made sense. She needed to weigh how to tell him that without giving him the wrong idea or overinflating his Grand Canyon sized ego. Aw Hell, she was too cold to play games. "Castle, strictly in the name of science and survival."
"Of course, Det. Beckett. I expect you to keep this aboveboard, to keep my virtue intact."
She snorted, "That battle is long over. Let's get to it, maybe a corner under the lights would also help."
Rick kept his arm wrapped around her shoulders. They shifted a large, low sturdy box into a corner to avoid the cold floor. His overcoat was long enough to cover the box when he perched on it, legs akimbo.
He opened the coat watching Beckett bite her lip and reconsider the situation. "Beckett, this is a limited time offer. Get in here before my arms freeze in this position."
Kate shivered once more from the top of her head to her toes. That settled things. She dove down onto the box and Castle's chest. His solid, warm, silk shirt covered chest. The coat and his arms enveloped her. The shivering ceased and a sigh escaped her lips before she could catch it. "Thank you, Castle."
Castle was momentarily tongue tied and could only nod. She fit perfectly in his arms with her hands splayed on his chest. Kate Beckett even smelled good in a life and death situation.
The silence grew oppressive. Their bodies were warmer together but tense because of it. He had to say something, "I'm making mental notes…."
"…as befits a mental case."
"Nice." His voice was close enough to her ear to warm it when he continued, "This has to be in the next book."
She didn't need further clarification. 'Book' equaled the next Nikki Heat novel. She silently applauded his usual optimism. Castle believed they'd survive this dire predicament. "I can see how you'll tell it—Rook and Heat will probably escape because they figure out a way to have sex and it melts the ice or sets off an alarm."
"That's brilliant, Detective. I hadn't thought that far ahead. That Jameson Rook, he's extremely resourceful."
Kate unknowingly rubbed her cheek on his chest. "No way. Nikki Heat is the survivor. It would be her idea."
"Like it was your idea right now?" His hold tightened around her.
"Don't go there."
"Maybe we should test the theory."
"I am not having sex with you in a freezer for the sake of research."
"Let's make it for the sake of passion. We could die in here."
"Nice try, Castle."
"Is that your final word, Beckett?"
"Ask me again when the Grim Reaper's scythe is nearby with icicles hanging off of it."
"Okay, that means you're not definitely saying no." That was enough for Richard Castle. Even if nothing else came out of it, he had the long limbed and lovely Kate in his arms. And it felt damned good. It was he decided a preview of things to come.
Kate chose to ignore Castle's words and simply wrapped her arms around his back to burrow deeper into the warmth. If they survived this and the bomb, she'd consider the emotional damage left behind by admitting she needed him. At the moment it didn't seem like a bad thing, just somehow inevitable.
Okay, inevitable could be good.
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