Disclaimer: All the characters belong to Andrew W. Marlowe, though they have found their own way into my heart.
She was still knocking on his door when Castle opened it wide and stormed out past her, headed for the elevator.
"Hey, hey!" she exclaimed. "Stop right there, mister."
He froze in his tracks and slowly turned back around to face her, pure innocence written all over his face. Curling a long finger, Kate motioned a 'come over here'. Her other hand went to her hip, getting into her role of all-Detective-Beckett-mode, looking bossy, unwavering, and so sexy. Castle pulled a sad face and pouted his lips. She arched a brow and lightly shook her head. Sighing in resignation, he hunched his shoulders, gazed down at the floor and shuffled his feet back to where she was standing.
"Get in," she said firmly, canting her head toward the inside of the loft.
Castle frowned but did not oppose her will, slowly walking back into his home. Beckett followed him inside, closed the door behind her and moved past him at a swift pace, crossing over to the sitting area.
When he got to her side, she ordered, "Sit."
He did as told, falling onto the middle of the sofa. She sat down on the short end of the L-shaped couch, her body half turned toward him.
"Kate, we already—"
"Nuh-uh-uh-uh-uh," Beckett shut him up as if she was lessoning a five year old. He opened his mouth to object but she pointed a steady finger right at him. "No." She brought her hand to her mouth and pretended to zip her lips while arching her brows meaningfully at him. He immediately slumped back against the back of the couch and Kate smiled to herself; she loved the power she had over him. "Let's go through them one. more. time," she punctuated the last three words, staring deep into Castle's eyes. He sighed again, the corners of his lips turning downward almost miserably.
It was their first day back in the job after her 'suspension-resignation' and she didn't want to take any chances by giving Gates the perfect excuse to keep them apart. No one knew she and Castle were an item now and she planned on keeping it that way for a while, 'till things calmed down a bit.
"First," she held up one finger. "You will call me Beckett or detec—"
"—or detective," he said in unison with her, and then continued in the same breath. "I will not call you Kate or honey, nor sweetie or babe, or any other romantic nickname," he mumbled, dragging out the words a little.
"Okay… Two." Of course, she added a second finger. "We go to work separately. If I happen to stay here, or you spend the night at my place, you say I picked you up and gave you a ride."
"Like we've done for the past four years," he muttered under his breath.
She fixed her scowling gaze on his face and he swallowed. She held up a third finger. "Three?"
"No skin contact," he answered. "No hand holding, no brushing, rubbing or stroking. No caresses, no kisses or hugs. No getting handsy under the table or around a corner at the precinct…" He paused for a second before he grunted, "Am I allowed to look at you?" She maintained her authoritative stance, her face not showing the smallest hint of hesitation. "No sign of affection at all," he finished in a low tone.
"Fourth and last?"
He leaned his elbows on his knees and laced the fingers of his hands together, fixing his eyes on the rug underneath his feet before answering.
"No meaningful looks, no dirty comments, no insinuations or any reference to romantic relationships…" he murmured in a monotone voice.
She relaxed a bit and bent forward to pat his cheek twice. Letting out a long puff of air, she finally smiled a big, sweet and loving smile.
"Alright, come on." She rose and started towards the front door. She had taken a couple of steps when he stopped her by the wrist and spun her to face him.
"Don't I get a say in this?" he said. She looked confused. "If I am to follow all of your rules, I want something in return," he demanded in a steady and presumptuous tone.
"Excuse me?" she said in a high pitched.
"It's called a compromise?" he mimicked the sound of her voice.
"Uh," she huffed, "And just… What is it that you want, exactly?"
"Mmm…" His eyes darted around the room for a second as he pondered and then settled on her face again. "Okay… The days can get pretty long at the precinct so…" he trailed off.
"Sooo…?" she pressed him.
"So, I do want a kiss every day." She started to lean into him but he held her back, putting both his hands on her shoulders. "During work hours," he clarified. She fell back on her heels. "You want me with you, don't ya?" he asked.
She took a moment to think. After four years she'd grown used to his presence around her. He made the work easier, made her laugh and he had good hunches. He did help solve cases. She might be able to work without him for a few days, but for a long period of time? From now on? No, she could not. He was her partner, she needed him and… she wanted him by her side.
She was quiet for so long, he thought she was gonna decline, so in his favor, he added, "I don't care if we have to sneak out, do it during lunch time or in our way to-" She put a finger to his lips.
"Okay," she murmured softly and his brows turned up in surprise. "One kiss during work hours." He smiled sweetly, his blue eyes glistening with happiness. "So… What's your next condition?" she asked expectant.
"Uhm… Nothing," he shrugged.
"That's it?" she said incredulous.
"Yep, that's it!" he nodded and flashed his teeth.
"I would have given you one more kiss," she mumbled quietly under her breath.
"I'll take it!" he immediately exclaimed.
"Nuh-uh! You just asked for one," she said smugly and a triumphant smile spread on her face. The corners of his lips turned down and he lowered his head. Taking a step closer to him, she put a finger under his chin and lifted his face so their gazes met.
"Tell you what," she said in the gentlest of tone. "Let's see how today goes, how the first week goes and we may be able to… renegotiate the points of our agreement, mmh?"
"'kay," he muttered, with the hint of a smile tugging up one corner of his mouth.
"Okay," she whispered. She still had her finger under his chin so she quickly grabbed it and pulled his lips to hers. Without wanting to, the kiss deepened, a frenzied passion taking over their control. Before she knew it, they were gasping for air. She rested her forehead against his, their short warm breaths mingling between them. "Let's go, or we'll be late for work," she whispered.
"That one didn't count, right?" he asked, worried that she'd played him and he wasn't gonna get his kiss later after all. She chuckled once and lightly shook her head.
He walked past her, heading for the front door, and as he did she playfully slapped his ass once.
"You let me know when you want that kiss detective," he called over his shoulder.
"We'll work a code sign or something," she chuckled and followed him out the loft.
The morning had gone well. Castle had not misbehaved once and, though Kate had noticed Gates observing them through the blinds of her office more often than before, there was nothing she could be suspicious of.
At lunchtime the bullpen was empty except for the two of them. Ryan and Esposito had gone to grab something to eat and Captain Gates was in a meeting at 1PP and wouldn't be back for another couple of hours. Beckett sat on her chair reading the prelim from the ME's autopsy report on the victim. Castle stood leaning against her desk and facing the still very empty murder board from their very new case. She tossed the report onto her desk and, tilting her head back and closing her eyes, she let out a loud sigh. He turned at the sound and looked down at her.
"What is it?" he asked softly.
She opened one eye and found his face close to hers. She sat upright and looked around.
"There's nothing in this report that can help us identify our victim or tell us something, anything, about his killer," she groaned.
He knelt down next to her. "Do you remember our…" he flicked his brows up, "…from this morning? How about now?" he suggested in a low murmur and a small smile curving his lips. "You could use a short break and I could certainly use—"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," she cut him off nervously, muttering under her breath. "I get it. Okay… uh, follow me."
She stood up and headed for the stairs. They climbed to top floor where the precinct gym was. She led him down a wide corridor, past some closed doors and past the doors to the gym. He caught a glance of the deserted wrestling mat through the small windows in the double doors. She finally came to a halt in front of an old wooden door. Checking over both her shoulders to make sure there was no one around, she took a key hanging from a rusted hook, at shoulders height and next to the frame, and opened the door with it. She pushed him inside before walking in herself and then quickly closed the door shut.
"Beckett, it is pitch black in—" he started saying and she flicked the switch on. Two small light bulbs, hanging from a low ceiling, lit the room dimly.
They were in a medium size storage room filled with old dusty exercise equipment. "Charming," he said sarcastically.
"Shut up," she muttered. "It's private. No one ever comes here." She looked around the room for a second before looking at him. "Okay, do your thing so we can go back downstairs before anyone misses us," she murmured, stepping even closer to him and tilting her head.
He stopped her lips inches from his mouth. "No, no. Wait a minute, I wanna do this right," he said and her brows arched up almost mockingly. "Hey, you agreed to this so respect your part of our deal."
"Fine," she sighed. "Do it your way."
"Okay," he took in a deep breath and then he rolled his shoulders and neck.
"Oh, come on!" she muttered low under her breath, rolling her eyes.
He gently backed her up until her shoulders touched the wall. Suddenly, his gaze locked with hers, his blue eyes piercing into her hazel ones. He pressed himself to her and brought his right hand up to lightly stroke her cheek with his fingertips, his thumb brushing over her slightly parted lips. His other hand rested firmly on her hip. Without breaking eye contact, he slowly leaned in until their lips were only a breath apart and he held still for a moment.
Her eyes fluttered shut by instinct. "I love you," she heard him whisper right before he closed the distance between them and touched his mouth to hers.
His right hand moved to the side of her neck, his thumb caressing her jaw. The moves of his lips were slow but intense, his tongue deliberately teasing hers. His left hand moved to the small of her back and he pushed himself more firmly to her, crushing her against the wall, and every part of his body pressed flush to every part of hers. Her arms instinctively wrapped tight around his neck and it wasn't long before she found herself catching his bottom lip between her teeth and then soothingly sliding her tongue over it. It wasn't until a minute later that he finally pulled his mouth off hers with a wet 'pop'. They remained with their eyes closed, their foreheads touching and both breathing heavily. She had to grab him by his arms just to make sure her knees wouldn't buckle and give in on her.
"Wow! ...Now, that was a kiss," he panted and then, a moment later, he said, "Thank you."
He let go of her and started towards the door. Her hand moved of its own accord, her fingers wrapping tightly around his arm and stopping him.
"Beckett?" he turned to her, one brow arched in question.
She had her gaze fixed on the hand wrapped around his strong arm. Her heart hammered against her ribs, pounded loudly in her ears. She couldn't think clearly. Her mind was fogged with…him. He had awakened the fiery beast inside her. The blood boiled in her veins, stirring alive every cell in her body. A powerful current of passion ran through her, blocking all good judgment and making her forget about everything. Everything but him…, him right here and right now.
In a split second, she roughly spun him around until his back hit hard against the wall. He saw the fierce look and burning fire in her eyes the moment before she crushed her mouth to his. He reacted automatically and pulled her to him at the same time that she pressed herself to him. Mouths devoured mouths and lips nibbled lips, hands tangled through hair and fingers fumbled with buttons and zippers. The burning fire coursed through their bodies and consumed them. They let the pure desire, frenzied passion and heated lust take absolute control as they melted into one another…
"I can't believe we just did that… Argh," she growled frustrated with herself as she ran her hands through her ruffled and tangled hair.
"You started it yourself," he murmured amused, tucking his shirt into his pants.
"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" she asked accusingly as she fastened the last button on her blouse. "Kissing me like that."
"Yep!" he said smugly. "And it worked so much better than I expected."
"Well…, don't think this is gonna happen every day," she scowled in a low, harsh tone.
"You look so cute and hot when you're bossy."
Thank you so much for reading!
P.S: I hope you didn't find any mistakes, if so, please forgive me :)