Title: a gentle hand will guide you home
Author: applesandcherries / phoenix-cry
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, I'm just taking them out to play. I'll put them back when I'm done.
Pairing: Castle/Beckett/Hunt, but not really?
A/N: Just to be perfectly clear: my shipper heart belongs to Castle and Beckett. Those two idiots seriously need to get their acts together. That being said, if Castle were out of the picture (Gods forbid), Colin Hunt and Kate Beckett would make gorgeous, gorgeous babies. Just sayin'.
Summary: After taking Hunt up on his offer for a drink, Kate finds that things don't end up the way she envisioned them - but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Will this night out be what she needs to finally confront Castle?
His lips slid against hers, soft but insistent, and she moaned when she felt his tongue gently prod against the seam of her lips. Opening her mouth to his silent request, she tangled her tongue with his, just as her fingers tangled themselves in his hair. The press of his body against her chest and the solid pressure of the wall at her back had her pulling at his neck, needing him closer still. The music of the bar thrummed through the wall and into her back, sending delicious tingles down her spine. His hands followed the invisible path the music traveled through her body, intensifying the feel of electricity on her skin. Breaking away from her lips, his mouth sought the long column of her neck, warm lips and wet tongue doing their utmost to drive her crazy.
Gasping, as the tip of his tongue flicked against that one spot that always managed to make her knees go weak (God, how did he know that?), and her hips jerk closer to his, she tugged on his hair and brought his mouth back up to dance some more against hers. Her other hand, not currently busy with making a mess of his hair, caressed its way down his muscular back until it settled on his hip. Using its new vantage point, she urged him closer. He heeded her call at once, gently sliding one of his legs between hers. She moaned when he pressed against her, just where she needed it most. Kate knew this was not the place to let this go any further – even if the dimmed lights barely reached the darkened corner they had found themselves in, this was still a public bar – but the adrenaline and frustration of the day made her bold. Pressing down onto the thigh he had wedged between her own, she let him swallow another sound of her approval with his hot mouth, wondering if he could already feel the wetness pooling at her center, even more so when he pressed against the small of her back and urged her closer against his obvious excitement. The hand on his hip sneaked further around his toned (oh, was it ever – she had a hard time forgetting, ever since he gave her that sneak peek. Eh, who was she kidding – she definitely got more than a peek of him) body and wriggled her fingers between his shirt and his waistband, suddenly desperate to feel his skin.
"Kate," he breathed into her ear, "slow down, darling."
His accent washed over her, simultaneously managing to drive fire through her veins and dump ice water down her back.
Wrestling with her body's reactions and her heart's desires, she leaned back as far as she could, in order to catch his eyes. They were practically smoldering with desire, making her shut her own eyes against that knowledge, shame and guilt beginning to consume her body. But why? She asked herself. Why should she feel bad about this? Her...partner – even in her mind, the word was dripping with sarcasm, longing, frustration, anger and love – had made it abundantly clear that she was not worth the effort anymore. The thought alone send a sharp stab of pain through her heart. In fact, he was probably doing much more right now, than making out against a wall in a dark corner of some seedy bar. Blonde-Bimbo-what's-her-face was surely seeing to that.
"Kate?"
Her eyes snapping open, she stared into the handsome face before her, his brows currently drawn with concern, his fingers delicately stroking her cheek. "What's wrong?" he asked, barely loud enough to reach her ears over the beat of the music, but his worry was clear. She shook her head slightly, wanting to dispel his concern for her. She didn't deserve it.
"I'm sorry, Colin...I just...My head's not fully in the game tonight. There's so much going on up there. And I don't know how to handle any of it right now. It's just a whole bunch of confusion."
He smiled softly at her and leaned forward to press a kiss to her forehead. "This is about Castle, isn't it?"
Without her permission – and much to her embarrassment – her lower lip started trembling with just the mention of that man's (that stupid, stupid man) name. Squeezing her eyes shut in an attempt to get her emotions under control, she was mortified when Colin's soft whisper of "Oh, darling" against her skin wrenched a sob from deep in her chest. Strong arms encircled her trembling body and pressed her against his chest.
Then the dam broke.
Sob upon sob tore itself free, only to be muffled against the soft cloth of his shirt; hot, wet tears spilling from beneath her eyelids, only to be soaked up by that same fabric. He whispered nonsense into her ear, his voice trying to wash away her pain, just as much as the gentle stroke of his hand against her back served as an anchor against the torrent that threatened to drown her.
"I'm sorry!" she gasped out, as soon as she managed to catch her breath again, several long moments later. "I'm so sorry! Please forgive me. I didn't mean for you to get tangled up in the mess that is my love life. Or lack thereof." Not having the energy to lift her head off his shoulder, she hoped her mumbled words managed to reach his ears nonetheless.
"Hey," his fingers under her chin urged her to look at him and she sniffled when all she saw was understanding in his eyes. "I had my suspicions that there was something going on, but still I asked you out for a drink. My suspicions were confirmed when you declined. You were not exactly subtle with the look you threw back at Castle, you know?" he said, but his words held no sting, just gentle teasing. "I accepted your change of mind for what it was – a chance to spend more time with you. I do enjoy your company, Kate. You're one of the most compelling, most intelligent and certainly most stunning women I've ever had the pleasure of crossing paths with. I would've been a fool to pass that up. But still, I was under no illusion that we would ride into the metaphorical sunset together. So, don't worry about me, darling. I just don't like to see you hurting so much. And whatever happened between Castle and yourself, that man is a bloody idiot for choosing that blonde doll over you."
She gave him a watery chuckle. "You know, if I weren't so crazy about another guy, and dear God is he driving me crazy, I would not waste another minute, but take you back to my place and chain you to my bed, never to be released again. The woman that will some day capture your heart better know how lucky she is, or she's answering to me."
Hunt laughed softly, sympathy and adoration swirling in his eyes. "Look at us, what a pair we make." He pressed one more gentle kiss to her still swollen lips, before stepping back to give her some room to breath – and give his body a chance to cool down. That woman probably did not know the full extent of the power she held over the male species. He smirked at his thoughts. Probably quite a large number of females as well.
Kate laughed with him, not aware of his thoughts, while trying to dry her cheeks of the damp tracks her tears had left on her face. Rummaging in the breast pocket of his suit jacket, he thanked his lucky stars that he always kept a clean hanky in there. You never knew when you would need one. Dabbing gently at her cheeks with the soft cloth, he helped her get rid of the evidence of her breakdown, still thankful that he could be there to help her through it. She did not strike him as the type of woman to openly show any sort of perceived weakness, so this was the least he could do to repay her.
When he was sure that she had her emotions back under control – and he his bodily reactions to her, he spoke, "Come on, then, let's get you home. Or maybe we should stop at Castle's place so that I can punch him in the face." He added, only half joking.
Kate laughed, a full laugh this time, and he knew that he could become addicted to that sound very quickly. Oh, he was in trouble.
"Thanks for the offer, but I think I have to deal with him another way. First, I have to figure out what I did wrong. I have a feeling he's not the only one at fault here. Even if he's been a stubborn jackass and refused to talk to me," she admitted, her brow furrowing at the thought of Castle's too perky and too false smirk and the back of his head every time she tried to talk to him.
Wrapping his arm securely around her small waist, Colin lead her through the crowd and out onto the sidewalk. The wind was chilly and she was glad for his warmth at her side, while they waited for a free cab. He gave her shoulder an encouraging squeeze as he saw one pull up and turned her to face him. His lips ghosted over her forehead one last time, a goodbye and a good luck wish all in one. "Just don't give up. Love is worth fighting for, or so I've heard," he grinned at her and she couldn't help grinning back. In another life, she could easily see herself falling for this man. In this life, however, her heart stubbornly refused to belong to anyone but the man currently in the process of breaking it.
"Thank you, Detective Inspector Hunt. Take good care of yourself. And...don't be a stranger, if you're ever back in New York?"
He opened the cab's door for her and half leaned in after she had climbed into the backseat. "I promise I'll get in touch then. Be safe, Kate Beckett."
And as he watched her cab merging with all the others, he truly wished those two would be able to work out their problems.
(And if not...well, he would surely visit New York again. After all, he never got any sightseeing done.)
~fin (?)
A/N2: Do you guys want me to continue this? Let me know if there is any interest in a second chapter. Thanks for reading! :)