Disclaimers: Nope, not mine.
Title: Already Really Good Friends
Summary: Follows the events between 'After the Storm' and 'Murder, He Wrote.' Kate and Castle learn how to become a couple as all of their friends eventually find out about their relationship. Rated M because, well, they are a new couple.
A/N #1: I'm now on Twitter. My username is Caskett1960. Please follow me.
A/N #2: The title for this story comes from a line in one of my favorite movies. At the end of 'Tootsie,' Dustin Hoffman tells Jessica Lange that becoming a couple should be easy, since they're already really good friends.
Chapter 1: I'm Not Ready to Share You, Yet
"I have to serve out my suspension, the same as Esposito," Kate told Castle as the two of them entered the elevator at the 12th precinct.
"So, what are you gonna do in the meantime?"
"Oh, I'm sure I'll think of something," Kate grabbed his crotch, causing him to suck in his breath.
It was after midnight when Kate Beckett and Richard Castle walked through the door to her apartment. Castle couldn't believe that it had only been a couple of hours since he'd awakened to find Kate gone. He'd known instantly where she was going and knew that he had to stop her before she did something to irrevocably ruin her life.
"So, what happened?" He asked after she'd closed and locked the door.
"I confronted him," she answered simply. "Well, at first, I had my gun on him and I thought about shooting him. Leaving him to die like he ordered Coonan to leave my mother. But then I realized that if I did that, it didn't make me any better than him. So, I punched him in the face instead."
"Did it make you feel any better?"
"No, not really," she admitted.
"I was terrified when I woke up and you were gone. Kate, you took an awful risk confronting him like you did."
"I wanted him to know that I'm around, Castle. I'm around and now I've got the upper hand."
"So, what did Gates say besides telling you that you have to serve out your suspension?" He asked, changing the subject.
"Nothing much. She said that she appreciates our loyalty to Roy. She said that she hopes that someday we'll show her the same loyalty."
"Is she going to open an investigation?" He asked, fearing what tarnishing the late captain's memory could do to Evelyn Montgomery and their children.
"No," she shook her head. "I think she knows that if she were to do that, she'd find out more than she wants to know at this point. I just wonder when it's all going to end."
"You're going to get him, Kate," he walked over and enfolded her into his arms, feeling her settle against his chest as he held her. "I don't know how and I don't know when, but it's going to happen."
"Do you remember when I told you that I'd never be safe?" She reminded him of her words after Mr. Smith had mysteriously died. "Well, right now, I feel perfectly safe with you."
"I'll do my best to make sure that you keep feeling safe."
She pulled away from him with a slight smile playing on her lips. A smile that he couldn't help returning. "In the meantime, I do have a suspension to serve. You did tell me a couple of days ago that you also have some days off."
"Well, I have to get some writing done eventually, but since I'm not shadowing my favorite detective, I do have a fair amount of free time," he bent down and gently kissed her.
"We can spend that time getting to know each other a little better," she slowly unbuttoned his shirt.
"Kate, we've known each other for five years," he reminded her. "I think that we know just about everything there is to know about each other."
"Not what I'm talking about, Castle. You see, it's like this," she bit down on her lower lip seductively. "In two days of sleeping together, I've noticed that you sleep in boxers. I've noticed that you like it when I reach down and very lightly touch you," she unzipped his jeans and demonstrated, feeling him instantly get harder in her hand.
"I think getting to know each other better is an excellent idea," he fought to breathe as she continued her light touch on him.
Early morning sunlight was streaming through Kate's bedroom window when Castle opened his eyes the next morning, looking at his partner soundly sleeping beside him. Sometime during the night she'd gotten up and dressed in a pair of shorts and a long-sleeved shirt. He couldn't help but notice that she slept on top of the covers, her long legs bare to his admiring gaze. He propped himself on one elbow while he continued watching her. As if sensing that she was being observed, she rolled over and sleepily smiled at him. "Hey, Castle," she breathed as his mouth came down on hers for a long, tender kiss. "Are you watching me sleep? Because if you are, it's a little creepy."
"Why'd you get dressed?" He asked, ignoring her comment about him watching her sleep. To her it was creepy; to him it was a favorite pastime.
"I don't like to sleep naked," she told him. "I mean, if there's a fire or a knife-wielding maniac in my bedroom, I have to be dressed."
"So, you never sleep au natural?"
"On occasion, but usually, no," she smiled.
"I think I'm going to take a shower. Care to join me?"
"You obviously haven't seen the size of my shower," she made a face. "I think I'm going to take a long bubble bath instead."
"Would you like some company or are baths a solitary thing?"
"You want to take a bath with me?" She was amused. This was a first. None of the other men she'd been with would even consider such a thing.
"Is this a problem?"
"No," she smiled. "Come on."
Kate's tub wasn't as large as the one in his bathroom at the loft, but they made it work. He sat at one end of the tub while she sat at the other end. "So, what do you want to do today?" He asked, settling her legs over his as she lay back in the hot water.
"I don't know. We could spend more time getting to know each other," she grinned at him.
"I knew it! I knew all of this time that you were just after my body!"
"Yeah, right. Dream on, Castle. Who was always checking out whose ass?"
"Hey, I saw you checking me out on multiple occasions," he told her.
"Name one," she challenged him.
"When Cujo ripped my pants! My ass was hanging out, but I noticed you checking me out."
"I couldn't help it! Your pants were half torn off of you. Where else was I supposed to look?"
"Oh, I don't know. The ceiling, the floor, anywhere but at my ass!"
"I have to admit that I enjoyed the view," she bit down on her lip, causing the blood to head to his groin.
He moved toward the middle of the tub and pulled her closer to him, groaning when he felt her wrap her long legs around his waist. "You did, did you?" He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tighter against him. "So, has the unclothed version of my ass lived up to your expectations?"
"The unclothed version of everything has lived up to my expectations," she nibbled on his bottom lip, forcing his mouth open, swallowing his groan when she darted her tongue inside to taste him. "I still can't believe that we're here, like this," she rested her forehead against his when they came up for air.
He didn't say anything as his fingers traced the healing bruises on her arms and ribs, the result of a near fatal fall from a rooftop just days before. The day that had changed both of their lives. "Kate, what happens when everybody finds out?" He had to ask.
"I don't know. The only thing that I know for sure is that Gates can never know. If she finds out—"
"I know. What I'm asking is do you think that we can maintain two different relationships? A working relationship and what we have here, with us?"
"We have to, because I'm not ready to share you, Rick. Not with anybody."
"Same here," he gave her that irresistible grin that she could never help but return. She tightened her arms around his waist before kissing him again.
She sighed when his lips traveled down to her neck. Every time his lips touched her neck, it took her back to that first night when she'd been pinned against his wall as his lips had blazed a trail down her body. She could feel his arousal pressed between them, begging her to touch him. He groaned loudly at the feeling of her hand wrapped around him. "Let's get out of here," she pulled away and looked at him, desire burning bright in her eyes.
After getting out of the tub and drying each other off, she took his hand and led him back into her bedroom. Pushing him down on the edge of the bed, she sank to her knees in front of him, continuing what she'd started in the tub. He closed his eyes at the feeling of being in her mouth. He thought that he was going to explode when he felt her humming around his hardness. After several minutes, she released him from her mouth and pushed him over so that he was flat on his back before climbing up on the bed beside him. "You're good," he told her, smiling as she blushed and bit her lower lip.
"I know," she kissed him. "But, if memory serves me from . . . I think it was round number two on our first night together, so are you."
He couldn't wipe the huge grin from his face as he wrapped his arms around her and rolled her so that he was looking down into those gorgeous green eyes. Capturing her mouth with his own, his hand reached down to caress her breasts, feeling her nipples harden under his palm. She whimpered in disappointment when he left her mouth, but that disappointment faded to joy when she felt him close his mouth over her breast. His other hand kept up his teasing of her other breast before he switched sides. She twined her fingers into his hair, massaging his scalp as he continued his slow assault on her senses. Usually Kate liked things a little faster, but she decided that this slow build-up was very nice. Very nice indeed. It was like savoring a wonderful meal. Why rush things?
She felt him lightly stroking the long scar below her ribs and flinched slightly. "Are you okay?" She heard Castle ask.
"Yeah, it just feels strange having you touch it," she admitted.
He traced the puckered line of flesh with his tongue, feeling her quiver beneath him before he made his way further down. He could feel her stomach clench in anticipation of where he was heading. But he decided to keep her anticipating for just a little bit longer. He moved down to the end of the bed and lightly kissed the backs of both of her knees before gliding up to kiss her inner thighs. Finally he opened her legs for his questing fingers, lips and tongue. He reveled in the taste of her and in the sounds that she was making as he caressed her with his mouth.
Kate had had oral sex hundreds of times, but she'd never had anyone who spent as much time pleasuring her as Castle did. He took his time truly worshipping every single inch of her. She cried out when she felt him enter her, first with his tongue and then with two fingers, curling them up and pressing into her as she came with a scream that she didn't recognize as coming from her throat. Her last coherent thought was of being glad they'd stayed the night here instead of at the loft where his mother and daughter would hear everything that they were doing. She continued crying out at the feel of Castle's tongue still gently flicking at her swollen nub. The sensitivity was starting to become unbearable. "Castle," she groaned. "Stop. Please? I can't take any more."
He made his way back up her body, pulling her close and kissing her as she reached down to touch him once again, loving the pulsating feel of him in her hand. She swung one leg over his hip as she reached down to guide him into her, gasping at the feeling of him filling her still extremely sensitive core. He pulled her tighter into his arms as they began to rock slowly together, gradually moving faster, nearing their peak. She clamped her mouth down on him, kissing him hungrily as she rolled him onto his back without breaking their connection, moving faster astride him before taking his hands and guiding them up to her breasts, crying out at the feel of him tweaking her nipples between his thumb and forefinger.
"Kate," he growled out her name, feeling his climax hurtling into him. He moved his hands from her breasts down to her hips, guiding her while he thrust up into her. "Kate, are you close?"
"Almost . . . there," she panted, grabbing one of his hands and placing it between her legs. "Touch me, Castle. Hard," she panted again, feeling his fingers began to rub that most sensitive part of her body. "No, Castle! Harder!"
He followed her instructions, immediately feeling her tighten up around him almost painfully, which pushed him over the edge. She put her hand over his, guiding it as she threw her head back and continued crying out. After several minutes, she felt herself finally beginning to come back down to earth. She was still breathing hard when she felt Castle smiling up at her. Biting her lip again, she leaned down and kissed him, feeling his arms coming around her as she felt him slip out of her. She cuddled into his chest, feeling him throw her comforter over the both of them. She fell asleep just like that, on his chest with his arms tightly wrapped around her, feeling cocooned and safe.
When she awoke a couple of hours later, she felt slightly sore but very relaxed. "This is nice," she heard Castle whisper, his fingers lightly stroking her back. "But I need coffee."
"Me, too," she agreed, swinging her leg over his hips and sliding off of the bed. She pulled her clothes back on before padding barefoot out to the front of the apartment.
She had just finished pouring coffee for the both of them when Castle came out of her bedroom, his feet also bare and his shirt unbuttoned. "Thank you," he smiled when she handed him a cup of coffee. "So, what're you thinking about? I can almost see the wheels turning."
"Castle, do you remember what we talked about the morning after—?" She looked across the counter at him as he nodded. "When we both said that we're onboard with this. With you and me," she pointed between the two of them. "Do you really think that we can work?"
"Yes, I think that we can work," he got up and came around the counter, taking her cup and placing it on the counter before wrapping his arms around her. "It's not going to be easy. Nothing worth having ever is. But Kate, we've done the hard part."
"The hard part?" She loved looking at him. She didn't know why it'd taken her so long to realize just how much she enjoyed looking at him.
"Yeah. We're already really good friends, so now we can become a really amazing couple," he gave her his trademark Castle grin.
"Amazing, huh?" She reached up and draped her arms loosely around his neck. "I like amazing."
A/N #3: This story is only going to be three, maybe four chapters. Much shorter than my last story. Please read and review.
A/N #4: The boyfriend and my worst critic complains that Kate Beckett bites her lower lip easily as often as Anastasia does in '50 Shades of Gray.' Hmmm, I'd never noticed that before. Thanks Chuck for pointing that out.