"Clang!"
With a crash of heavy metal the iron plated door to their small cell shut with a blunt metallic thump.
Watching this from his viewpoint, slumped in the old wooden chair, his hands tied behind him to the thick wooden rails and his feet to the chair legs. Back to back with Kate who was in a identical condition to himself
"Well Shit", Rick thought to himself, they had rarely been in worse situations than this before.
They had been undercover, the suspect for their latest homicide case was a suspected gangland drug lord, high up the criminal food chain. Because of the circumstances it was going to be impossible to find the evidence to convict the killer the normal way, the criminals were too experienced at evading the law to be caught out in the usual ways.
They decided that their best option was to get in close to the suspect, wear a wire and hopefully record the evidence needed to put the drug lord away for good.
Through one of Ryan's old narcotics connections they learned that the suspect was going to be attending the grand opening of a new casino just outside the city limits. An old crumbling theater had been renovated and reopened as a high class, high rolling only, extremely luxurious and exclusive casino.
Though already the rumors had spread that it was operated by and used as a money laundry by organized crime.
To get on to the guest list they had to use the Castle's old credentials as the playboy author and Beckett as his glamourous escort. So dressed up in tux and gown respectively, with a wire each, under their clothes, they had climbed out of Castle's ostentatious Ferrari and arm in arm walked down the red carpet.
The plan had almost worked, as previously agreed they had split up and gone looking for their suspect, Kate caught sight of him first, she quickly hid in the crowd at a roulette table where she could observe unobtrusively. He was sitting down, at a back table half hidden in shadows, two other men were sitting with him and all three were deep into what looked like a heated debate. A group of much larger men, their posture screaming danger stood around the table, maintaining a vigilant atmosphere. Bodyguards if Kate had to guess.
Spotting Castle approaching from the other side of the room, Kate surreptitiously waved him over to her. As Castle reached her, the three men at the table finished their conversation, stood up and shook hands before the other two men left, walking into the main gaming area and disappearing, taking several of the bodyguards with them. Their suspect finished his drink, reached over and whispered something to the bodyguard standing closest and started to walk off with the remaining bodyguards trailing. Castle and Kate followed at a safe distance, keeping him in sight until they witnessed him entering a side door marked private. The bodyguards following him through.
The writer and detective quickly decided that they had to go in after them, that this was their big chance to collect the evidence that proved his guilt. The plan was to wander in and if caught act as if they were just some very drunk, confused party goers.
Pretending to stumble and sway they swept through the door, and started searching along the corridor for where their target had gone. Trying the first several door they found only led them to storage rooms and old rehearsal rooms. Rick's footsteps echoed while Kate's heels left much sharper clicks against the polished concrete floor. Walking slowly down yet another corridor, the old buildings myriad floors, staircases and corridors turned the place into a rather effective maze in which the two were rapidly becoming lost. Rounding one more corner, Rick straightened and turned to Kate.
"Look theirs no way we'll be able to find the guy, I don't even think i'll be able to find the way out." he said.
"We keep going." replied Kate. "This is the only way we'll be able to catch him, besides whats wrong Castle? Not afraid are you?" She added with a small smirk.
"That's easy for you to say", thought Castle, "after all your the one with the gu..."
Suddenly a huge stunning impact to the back of his head erupted. With a crashing flash of white light and buzzing in his ears, he fell to his knees, the pain seeming to sink up his body, as if his head was in too much shock to actually register the pain correctly.
From his knees he fell to all fours, still seeing black and white spots and doing his best to keep his stomach under control as it tried to rebel and bring up the lunch he had eaten earlier, as pain incapacitated him completely. From his prone position near the floor he was dimly aware of the sounds of a struggle above him. Trying to get his neck muscles to obey his commands he slowly twisted it up and to the right, blinking crazily as the fluorescent light fixture blinded him.
Four large men, dressed in black, wielding what looked like batons and with radios on their belts had ambushed them, as they had slipped around the corner. Two had attacked Kate, while the other pair had gone for him.
He saw Kate duck a poorly aimed punch to her head, dipping down and and around the fist before counterattacking in a viscous elbow strike to her assailants nose. She moved swiftly to the side and delivered a snap kick into the man's inner knee, causing a sickening crunch and a scream of agony from her victim.
Rick saw all of this as if seen in slow motion, the light behaving oddly to his eyes, before his attention was summarily returned to his own situation as a heavy boot connected to his side, slamming into his ribs and flipping him over onto his back, all of the breath leaving him, in a great gasping heave.
The pair of men who had attacked him, split up, one guy keeping a watch on Rick while the other went to assist the sole remaining guard assaulting Kate.
Out of the corner of his eye he witnessed Kate shouting something but his ears didn't seem to be working properly and all he could focus on was the paralyzing pain coming from his chest. She was reaching down her dress and lifting the hem on the left side, going for the hidden thigh holster she had placed there previously. But before she reach and draw it, the man who had originally attacked her dove at her in a full body tackle, grabbing her around the middle, he brought them both down on to the cold concrete floor. He smothered her with his much larger body but not before Kate had gotten several sharp blows to his face and sternum. Blows that left him limp on top of her, unable to further attack, but impeding her movement with his bulk nonetheless, slowing her down sufficiently that the third attacker had enough time to reach her and taking something from his belt kneel and press the device to the back of kate's neck, instantly rendering her limp and unresisting.
Kate couldn't even scream, couldn't breathe, could hardly even think as the taser on the back of her neck sent electric agony through her body. Her limbs shook and she couldn't do a single thing but try and stay aware as the shocks raced across her form. Finally after what seemed an age the pain stopped, and she dimly realized that the guard must have withdrawn the device from her skin. She was even more surprised to realize that she had gone fetal, her legs brought up to her chest and her arms wrapped around her torso as if keeping everything from flying away. Her arms and legs still refused to work correctly for her but she managed to turn her head to the right by a few inches and croak out a half statement half question.
"Castle?" the name, ached from the her lips.
A groan of pain then.
"Here" was her reply from her partner.
Shifting to her left she saw the guard with the taser in his left hand speaking into a radio with his right. She couldn't hear the words but from his expression and gestures to the two attackers she had incapacitated she could guess at the direction of the conversation.
With feeling only now starting to return to her fingers and toes she knew she'd be useful in a fight and essentially helpless for now, and from what Castle sounded like he would probably be in the same condition.
The only thing they had going for them was Ryan and Esposito were listening in on the wire and had heard the sounds of the struggle and had probably already called in backup and gone in charging themselves.
But the building was a rabbit warren of old corridors and uneven floors and even seemed to extend into the neighboring buildings without stopping. It would take the Ryan and Esposito some time to get to their position if they could find it.
"Urgghh!", with a groan from screaming nerves, two bulky guards had lifted under her shoulders and pulled her up. She realized that in her distraction, more guards had arrived, these had picked up her up and were currently half carrying half dragging her through the corridors by her shoulders. The sound of someone retching behind her indicated that the same treatment was being given to Rick. She just hoped that wherever they were taking them, that they stayed together. She would never admit to anyone and hardly admitted it to herself but her feelings for her partner, Castle, no Rick, had been heading steadily away from professional and were rapidly approaching territory which she was afraid to think off.
She didn't know how she had gone from being annoyed and exasperated by the man, to feeling the sort of friendship, respect and perhaps most importantly trust that she knew she felt for him now. That she was inches away from falling into the sort of relationship that she hadn't dared to go near since her mother's death.
How had this permanently optimistic, man child with his crazy theories and giant ego, got through the walls she had erected to keep people out, to keep herself safe from the sort of hurt she knew that loving others could bring to you.
Yet he had, and she didn't know what to do next, sure Castle had made flirty comments, constant innuendo and the awkward compliments. But that was just what he was like with any half way attractive female that crossed his path. She was just the broken, sarcastic cop who didn't really a social life outside work and was obsessed with her decades old Mothers murder. Not really glowing recommendations for dating.
While Castle was the warm hearted, friendly, helpful guy that everyone couldn't help but like, a great Dad, a wonderful son and just someone who deserved better than what she could give him.
At the moment though she would put these thoughts out of her mind and concentrate on getting out her and Castle out of here alive. Maybe, possibly then she could explore these feelings more then. This thought kept her centered as the her body still racked with occasional aftershock from the taser, had feeling slowly return to her muscles. Dangling between the two hulking men, her feet dragged backwards and high as she was led down a steep dark staircase. Water stains on the walls turning it gloomier and quite dank. As they reached the bottom the guards had to step over a raised doorway, where upon her left shoe caught on the metallic doorjamb. With a sharp tug by the men, the high heel pulled off her foot and was left behind as she was carried into the murky basement room.
Rick did not know where the two massive guys were carrying him but as long as he was following the beautiful back of Kate,being shown off magnificently in her backless gown, he was okay with it. His head was still spinning from the blow that had felled him in the ambush, but more and more his thoughts were returning to make sense. His eyes had stooped hurting as much and the sound had returned back to the world, he still had a terrific ache in his neck and head but he was rapidly being restored to full mobility, and his captors were not so much dragging him but frogmarching him behind Kate.
Looking ahead he saw some more movement from her, and a part of himself he didn't realize had been terrified for her let out a long breath. She could be the most stubborn and infuriating woman imaginable, and yet he would follow her practically to the end of the world if she asked. Not that she ever would, he resigned himself to glumly. Kate Beckett was a woman in a million and he was a old, twice divorced single parent, who made absurd money from making things up while Kate was the hard working, decent woman who devoted her life to helping others. What could he offer her in return, she deserved someone incredible in her life. Not that he wouldn't be insanely jealous of anyone who was with her, as long as it wasn't another jackass like Josh. God he been so envious of him, had actually hated him, for something as simple a touch on the arm or face. He'd always had to leave when he'd seen the two of them together, lest he snap and say something stupid.
But as the two mountainous guards marched him down a flight of stairs that had seen better days and towards a basement that he really didn't want to know purpose for, he internally resigned himself to watching Kate from afar.
For while he knew that she was out of league, that didn't stop his traitorous writers imagination from coming up with scenario after scenario of the two of them together, from the simple taking her for an ice cream or a walk in the park to the downright explicit fantasies where the two of them did every single possible dirty, sexy, insanely hot fucking thing he could think of.
Crossing the threshold of the basement room he was marched into the center of the room. A high ceilinged empty concrete basement. Dark, dirty grey walls, a few pipes running laterally across the ceiling, and in the center of the room two old wooden chairs. Farmhouse style, similar to rocking chairs without the rockers, made of dark oak, blackened by age and made as hard as iron. They sat back to back in the center of the room, their surfaces pitted and scratched by history and in certain areas deeper cuts that could only have been caused by blades. Most disturbing was the dark brown stains and spatter patterns at the base of and around the chairs.
"Why are here?"
The question came abrupt and swift, shacking Kate back into focus, she could worry about her relationship problems later, for now she just had to concentrate on getting out of here alive.
Their suspect, a dark haired, mid forties man, wearing an expensive suit and black leather shoes, looked almost too normal to be the murderous criminal they knew him to be. But upon closer inspection, when Kate looked into the bleak, grey, empty eyes within the average features of his face, she could see the killer looking back at her.
His question to the two of them was answered with silence, and as the seconds passed, Kate could see the ever so slight flare of his nostrils and the shadow of something pass across his eyes.
"Fine." The one word statement, while seeming innocuous, held the same chill as a block
of ice.
"Dimitri, Tomas, search them." he indicated the two of them with gesture.
The two guards he had named, sprang from their slouching positions against the door. They quickly and efficiently, began patting down the two of them, while their original attackers held them steady by their sides.
Kate tried her hardest not to show her revulsion as the hands of the thug patting her down lingered on her body. When the man's hands crept up her inner thigh, she couldn't hold back the small shudder she experienced. He smirked at her, his hand coming into contact with the gun and holster she had secured to her thigh. he left there a bit too long before with a loud ripping noise he tore it from her leg, hard enough to leave a bruise.
When his hands swept up her chest they, found the wire taped just under her breasts, and looking into her eyes the whole time reached down her dress to grab and pull it off. Kate knew how much he was getting off on this and refused to give him the satisfaction of how much this was affecting her.
She glanced over to see the other guard, pulling an identical wire from the side of Rick's chest.
Finished the two guards returned to the side of the their employer, handing him the two wires and gun.
"I see that you obviously came her to listen to something you shouldn't." he said, fingering the wires.
"What are you?" he asked. "Cops, Cartel, FBI?"
"Or maybe I know exactly what you are, two people who are in for a very, very unpleasant time. " he said.
"That is unless you tell me now, who you are, who you are working for, what you know and why are you here." he said.
"If you tell me all that right now, without making me wait. Then I will consider making it quick." he chuckled.
"But if you don't then rest assured, it will be worse off for you. I always make them break, it's just a matter of time. And then your end won't be quick at all, in fact it will be very long and very messy." his chuckles stopped. The dead look in his eyes replaced momentarily by something alive and hungry and infinitely worse.
She tried to hold back the flinch, but he caught it nonetheless, looking over at Castle, he saw his grey pallor and slight shake in his posture, but when their eyes caught, she saw the same defiant glint she knew were in her own. They may be on for a rough time, but Ryan and Esposito and the whole might of the NYPD were coming and they could hold out until then.
"I don't know Castle, what should we tell him?" she asked in a shaking but unbowed voice.
"I'm not sure, maybe he could shove it up his ass, or choke on it, or go to hell, or even go fuck himself. Which do you think Beckett?" he answered in an equally steady tone.
"Well I haven't got your writers vocabulary, but i'll have to go with go fuck yourself." she replied to both of them.
"What she said." Castle quipped after her.
Kate laughed, the sound echoing loudly off the bare walls. She would never admit it, but his big mouth and sense of humor were some of the things she found most attractive about him. And in the situation they found themselves in they needed all the laughs they could get.
He couldn't believe her, here they were about to be tortured and possibly killed, and she laughed. She really was one the most courageous person he knew, internally he was terrified. He didn't want to die, he wanted to be able to go home to his daughter and his mother, to explore wether anything could ever happen between him and Kate. So he tried his best to follow her example and hide his fear behind the bravado, to be the type of man Kate deserved to be with, a man able to stand up next to her.
"Ok then, the slow way it is." Said their captor.
Walking forward he came to stand close to Kate, and let his hand drift through the hair at the back of her neck.
"To be honest I was hoping you'd take that option, it's not often I get the opportunity to." At this he paused as if savoring his words. "Enjoy such a beautiful woman in full."
Rick saw Kate jerk in a convulsive upward direction, trying to land a knee into the suspects crotch. But she was blocked by the guards tight grip on her shoulders and was pulled back a step before she could make contact.
"Sit them down and secure them." He told the guards. Then suddenly back handed Kate across the face in a explosive swing.
"That's just the start." he snarled, as the guards dragged himself and Kate towards the two chairs in the center of the room.
One of the guards grabbed both of his hands and cruelly yanked them behind his back, then a sensation of rope against the skin of his wrists, made him realize his hands were being tied behind his back. Once they were extremely tightly knotted and already circulation was feeling slowed, he was harshly pushed back and down until he was sitting on one of the wooden chairs. Another guard went behind and linked his already tied hands to a bar connecting the two chairs, while a third guard kneeled to tie his ankles to the two front chair legs.
When they finished with him and he couldn't move more than a quarter inch in any direction. They left him and moved over to repeat the process with Kate, tying her in the chair stood back to back with his. As her tied hands were being secured with the bar between them, he felt the skin of her hands against his fingers and awkwardly straining, he pulled his hands painfully against the bonds until he held her fingers between his palms. The skin contact wasn't much but he felt better now he could feel her presence with him.
When they finished tying Kate to her chair, their Captor leant over them. His whole demeanor signaling his obvious enjoyment of their circumstance.
Rick felt his breath against his cheek as the man slowly leaned in and spoke quietly into his ear.
"This is what's going to happen, your going to sit there, unable to move, helpless to stop anything and listen to me slowly beat your partner to death. Then when she's not quite dead yet, i'm going to start on you and repeat the whole thing over." he said whispering.
He strained with all his might, the images the man put into head were horrifying and if he just get an arm free then he could perhaps try something, anything.
Smiling as if he knew what exactly what thoughts were going through Rick's head at that moment. Their captor stepped back. Turning he reached a hand out and waited for one of his underlings to place a small rolled up leather satchel into it. The kind that craftsmen use to store their tools in. Opening the clasp with a click, it unravelled to the floor and with a shudder, Rick saw the long line of blades and other implements held by thin leather straps to the roll.
Their suspect examined the line with connoisseur eye, before casually picking a out a scalpel blade, all gleaming steel and razor edge.
"Now to begin." he said walking slowly towards Kate.
The horror intensified in Rick's mind, his breathing spiraled out of control and he began to shake against his restraints, struggling with all his might, to break free. He couldn't just sit and listen to what was about to happen, he'd break, he'd go mad. There was no way he would be able to withstand the mental torture.
She would not make a sound, she would not cry, she would not scream. These thoughts kept cycling through Kate's head, as the average looking man with a scalpel blade advanced towards her. If not for her sake then for Castle's. She'd dealt with pain before she could do it again. But as he got closer she closed her eyes, her heart racing with adrenaline, she couldn't watch that slow walk towards her. Knowing that this was going to happen, that she would be cut and made to bleed and scream. No, that wasn't the type of woman she thought she was, if this was going to happen she would do her best to not give him the satisfaction.
She slammed her eyes open and watched their captor, the man who held them at his leisure approach her with the devil in his gaze.
But just as he stepped into her personal space, just as he brought the scalpel down to circle a ear. Running footsteps echoed down the stairs outside the door and a guard, his breathing heavy jogged into the room.
"Boss, there's police outside, they've just come in through the front." he gasped through his breath. Panic evident in his voice.
Her breath thundered through her ears, Ryan and Esposito, had arrived, she could have wept but kept the emotions that were threatening on spilling out of her within. She couldn't see Castle but thought she may have heard the faintest moan of relief from him. When they got out of this she was going to kiss both of them.
"Right, then plans must change." their captor said with a sigh, stiffly rising out of his bowed position.
"We're leaving right now, leave everything unessential. Retrieve the records and the new shipment, ditch everything else." he ordered.
The guards jumped to obey, quickly running out of the room and back up the stairs, leaving the room empty except for their suspect and them.
Her heart clenched inside her chest, what did he mean by ditch everything else. Did that mean them? Were they going to be simply killed now or left behind in the evacuation.
"It seems the events have transpired to leave us without the ending I desired." he said mournfully.
"Look upon this reprieve as only a extension of your lives, if I see you again i'll finish them." he spoke softly.
"Just know that the only reason I am leaving you alive right now, is that I do not have the time to deal with the mess cleaning up the bodies would generate." then he continued.
"Though wether you will remain alive anyway is debatable, when I leave i'll close the door behind me and trust me once closed it's extremely well hidden and soundproof too I may add. I doubt your friends outside will ever find in this rabbit warren maze of old rooms." he said with relish.
"So i'll take my leave but wether you'll ever leave this room, well your disappearance's will be interesting to read about in the news." he said walking backwards towards the door.
And as his final words rang out in the empty room, he stepped out of the room, turned and shut the door with a clang.
"Clang!"
With a crash of heavy metal the iron plated door to their small cell shut with a blunt metallic thump.
Watching this from his viewpoint, slumped in the old wooden chair, his hands tied behind him to the thick wooden rails and his feet to the chair legs. Back to back with Kate who was in a identical condition to himself
"Well Shit", Rick thought to himself, they had been in worse situations than this before.
He could think of a few, but hardly any were they had been this vulnerable and only luck and good timing had saved them.
"Kate! Are you ok" he shouted, twisting his head to one side behind him. His heart thundered in his chest, if she wasn't alright he didn't know what he'd do.
"Yeah Castle i'm fine." the response he heard made him let out a massive sigh of relief. They were both ok so far, he could breath easier for now.
"Well this is a fine pickle we've found ourselves in." he said, trying to raise the mood with humor.
"You could say that." she replied sardonically.
"For a second there I though that we were going to be having a very bad evening." his voice still slightly shaky from the close call they had.
"Yeah I know what you mean." her voice went soft, and his heart jumped as she squeezed his hands behind his back.
"I'm glad your ok." he said his voice equally soft and squeezed back. The words threatening to choke in his throat as the emotional seesaw they had gone through caught up with him.
"Don't worry, no two bit drug lord was going to able to finish me off." she joked, her tone light and he recognized it as her going into Cop mode, shunting her feelings to one side until the job was over.
Knowing he had to the same, when it was over he could let it out, but know he had to focus, had to help Kate.
"Do you think he was serious." he asked. "You know about the whole soundproof room, hidden door thing."
"I think he was" she replied. "I think that he was dead serious, you didn't see the look in his eyes, as if the idea of us dying down here was fun for him."
"But how well do you think this room could be hidden, I mean if Ryan and Esposito know we're somewhere in this building they'll tear apart brick by brick until they find us." he said
"That's not what i'm afraid, sure if Ryan and Esposito thought we were in here, they'd never stop searching. But when they go through the building quickly and don't find us they're just going to think we were kidnapped by the criminal gang and left with them." she said somberly.
"But...but...Shit!" he cursed. "That does make sense." he admitted.
"Face it, we've probably got four days before we die of thirst and two until we're too ill to achieve anything." she said.
"Right and their most likely not going to realize we're still in the building in that time." he said.
"No." she answered.
"Then it's up to us to get out of her." he said trying to remain positive.
He had to get out here, it wasn't just him he was responsible for, he had to get out for his daughter, for mother, had to try and get Kate out too. His thoughts raced as he tried to come up with different scenarios of escape.
"Come on Beckett, look at the bright side, if you have to be stuck with someone, you're lucky your stuck with me. Who else could keep you entertained for days." he joked to her.
"Keep me entertained or drive me crazy you mean." she said joking back. Then her tone changed.
"But seriously, if I had to stuck with someone then i'm glad it's you Castle." she said.
"Me too Beckett." he told her back. Trying to keep his tone equally casual, even though on the inside he wanted to tell her that there wasn't anywhere that she would not be his preferred company.
Why did she say that, it had been a sappy thing to say, Kate thought and way too close to her true feelings, to risk saying something similar again.
"Ok Castle, we've got to get out by ourselves, and the first thing to do is to get out of these chairs." she said, determinedly putting the previous topic behind them. "Have you got anything in your pockets we can use." she asked. The dress she was wearing very obviously didn't have pockets.
"Nothing I think." he said. "No wait! There's a pair of keys in my back pocket, I forgot about them because I only store my keys there when I wear dress trousers, they might be able to saw through the ropes." he said excitedly.
"Try and reach them." she said quickly, hope blossoming in her chest.
Listening to the sound of struggles behind her, she could only pray that this was their lucky break.
"Fuck!" the sharp curse came from Castle as he stopped moving.
"It's no good, my hands are tired to this bar and from that position there's no way I can get to my back pocket." he said dejectedly.
Kate could almost cry, so close to actually getting free and blocked by something so simple. But she drew herself back together, she wouldn't die down here.
"Lets think about this logically." she said aloud. "Cutting the ropes is the only way we're getting out, the keys are the only way we have of cutting the ropes, and the problem we have is reaching the keys."
"But if I can't reach them, then what do we do?" asked Castle.
Who said that you reaching them is the only way of us getting." she said, an idea beginning to form.
The idea quickly came together inside Kate's mind, once she made the intuitive leap that it wasn't only Castle that could get the keys, it had seemed to strike her at once. Looking down then up over her shoulder she calculated distances and her strength, before checking the bindings on her wrists the best she could from feel.
"Castle, I may have an idea." she said.
"Ok what is it." he asked.
"I could reach the keys." she said. The idea already catching her enthusiasm.
"Umm, I don't think you'd be able to reach with your hands, in fact i'm certain. Sorry Beckett." he said with a sigh. "It was good idea though."
She almost wanted to scream in frustration, god the man could be patronizing sometimes.
"I know that I can't reach them like this." she told him. "But if I moved my position I think I would be able to reach them."
"What position could you possibly get to, that would allow you to reach the keys?" he asked.
"Sitting on you." she promptly replied, then quickly back tracked as she blushed hotly and heard sounds of choking from behind her.
"I mean resting on you." she said, still blushing madly, extremely glad that he couldn't see right now.
"Right... but how the hell are you going to do that?" he asked astounded.
"I think I can get my feet free, the stockings I'm wearing are pretty slippery and the i've already lost one shoe. If I pull hard enough I think I can get the other one to pop off. Then I could slip both feet through the bindings and get them free." she said, testing the friction of the stockings against the rope.
"Ok, but from there how are you going to get umm... on top of me." she heard the pause in his voice.
"Did I ever tell you that I was on the gymnastics team at school and college." she asked.
"No, but i'm starting to get a hint of what your saying." he said.
"I was, and the horse was my speciality. And I still remember some of the moves. Once I get my feet free, all I need to do is get my hands under me then push off and go into a vertical handstand, then slowly drop over your back to land on you and from there my hands should be a good position to reach the keys." she said in a long breath.
"Well you make it sound simple." he replied in a impressed tone.
"Just let me get my feet free then we'll see ok." she said.
She slowly stretched out her shoeless leg and pushed it taunt against the ropes at her ankle until they bit in harshly to her skin. Then with monumental heave mixed with a kick, she pulled upward until with a mixed grunt and scream she pulled her ankle through the ropes. It left a bloody friction burn against the skin over the protruding ankle bone but she was free or least half way to being free. Hissing a breath between her teeth she flexed, bending and straightening the limb until she was certain she had full mobility.
Wincing a bit at the next part, Kate took a couple of seconds to gather herself. Sometimes when she had a physical task like this to perform her mind cleared and she could put all her concentration towards achieving her objectives. She felt doubt for a brief moment that her shoe would come off at all, but then the steady presence of Castle at her back reassured her. He was relying on her to do this, and she would rather do almost anything else than betray his trust.
She wrapped her free leg around the chair leg it had been tied to previously. This time she would have to break the small clasp on the shoe and get her ankle through the rope. With another mixed scream and grunt she heaved, and then had to bite her lip until it bled to stop the scream of agony from getting out of her mouth, as the bones in her foot complained loudly and the rope refused to relinquish it's hold on her ankle.
"Kate, what happened, are you ok?" came Castle's anxious question.
"Fine." she stated grimly. "Just let me try again."
This time she took a bit longer to prepare herself, she also committed to use her maximum strength, no matter if she hurt herself badly, she had to get free. With a small flex to gauge the slack, she tightened the muscles in her leg and again exploded outwards trying to break free.
With a small crack, the clasp on her shoe broke and it flew off along with the shoe itself as her foot slid through the rope. She had to again clench her teeth shut, but the pain was manageable and she had the use of both legs.
"I've got both legs free." she called to Castle.
"Great, just the small matter of a impossible gymnastic move that normal people like me have no hope of ever doing." he snarked.
"Oh yea of little faith." she said with a huff, slowly bringing both feet up and resting them on the edge of the seat.
"I'm going to attempt it now ok, try not to move." she ordered. "To get to the handstand, i'm basically going to have to use my legs to flip me up and over but hold it at the apex. It could go wrong so prepare for anything.
"Will do." he said, trying his hardest to look around at her.
"Right here goes nothing." she thought to herself as she readied herself, her hands were gripping the rear edge of the seat, and her feet rested on the front with her body bent like a bow between them.
Then with a swift hard push she twisted and drove upwards...
What the hell were the noises behind was Rick's main thoughts as Kate prepared to throw herself over him. It pained him to be so useless, to have the literal key so close yet be unable to reach them. And then Kate somehow managed to get both legs free, during which the sounds of her obvious pain tore at him. Then now she getting ready to do something that he was sure only trained athletes could do, not that she wasn't in shape, god from what he saw of her, Kate was in the best shape anyone could be, her body lithe and powerful, it made stopping himself from running a hand down her back, when she wore dresses like the one she was in now extremely hard.
Again he tried twisting his head to get a better look but all he saw was her crouched down in her seat, with her feet underneath her.
Then explosively out of the corner of his eye he saw Kate, somehow push off and twist so her legs were pointing straight upwards as balanced on her hands. With this movement he could see much more clearly what she see was doing and how it might work.
But then something happened which neither of them had anticipated. Her beautiful dress, a deep purple colour which had clung in all the right palaces as it fell down to just below her knees, ever so slowly slipped and pooled until with one last slide fell down around her waist.
It happened in slow motion, one minute he was bending his neck to get a look at how she was doing then in a slow waterfall like movement her gorgeous dress fell down to below her waist and he treated to the view of Kate Beckett's absolutely stunning rear. Clad in the thinnest of black silk thongs, he had a totally unimpeded view of the sexiest, most tempting ass he had seen in his life.
He knew he should look away, knew he should respect her as a person and friend and look away, but he just couldn't. He could only stop and stare at the alluring derriere and the sensual and tantalizing underwear that adorned it.
The blood rushed straight to his groin, he couldn't help it, the woman he had been fantasizing about for years was before him in one of the most provocative poses he could imagine, and he thickened and started to harden involuntarily in his trousers. He may or may not have left out a small groan, but he suddenly noticed that Kate herself had stopped all movement and was stuck unmoving in her unusual stance.
"Ka-" he croaked but tried again when his voice broke halfway through. "Kate?"
"Yes Castle." came the very quiet reply from her.
He tried to say something to reassure her, but for one of the few times in his life words failed him. He couldn't think of anything to say, but he started to try again and then Kate interrupted him.
"I know what this looks like but could you try and ignore it and I'll try and complete the move ok?" she asked in a voice that had only the slightest of pleading tones to it.
"Sure, sure." he almost rushed out to answer her. Turning to check on her again, he let out another sub vocal groan as he saw that on both ass cheeks she had developed spots of pink in a pale blush. Again he felt another rush of blood to his groin, his cock already half hard from the situation, twitched and bobbed against his leg.
Very slowly she started to turn on her hands, rotating a full hundred and eighty degrees, until it was her crotch that faced him. He still couldn't see her face as the dress fell to cover it from his angle, but the view that he was getting of the rest of her was just as good as the previous.
Her thong slipped between her cheeks and rose to cup her pussy and mound in front of his eyes. It was a deep black and hinted at the flesh hidden of view behind it, in a sultry and erotic ways.
He could tell she shaved or at least kept things tidy, and it was overall just as desirable as the rear view. His cock twitched repeatedly now, begging for his attention.
"I'm going to slowly bring my legs down over your shoulders now, I'm aiming to stand on your knees to start with. So if you could spread your legs a bit and hold them steady ok." her almost whisper broke him out of his reverie. He nodded his head before remembering she couldn't she him and replying
"Yeah sure that's fine." he said, just a little bit of shake in his voice.
Very carefully, taking her time and being sure she was on track she brought first one leg down to just above one of his knees before in a graceful move planting the first foot and simultaneously the second onto his knees.
She now stood, her feet on his knees, the rest of her body bowed over his, her back arched forward so that her arms could still remain in contact with her tied hands. Unfortunately this position thrust her groin especially close to his face and he breathed in sharply at her close proximity.
He could see every detail of her thong and of the appealing flesh beneath it, and the same gasp of surprise at her closeness also brought with it the faintest musk, the very essence of her to his senses. She smelled divine and he knew that if he just tilted his head forward an bit, took his tongue and licked every inch he could reach, she would taste the same.
His cock which had been hard before, was now like iron in his trousers, he could feel it move with his heartbeat. He tried to control his arousal, letting a slow breath blow out through his pursed lips, and was rewarded with the rapid spread of goosebumps he raised over her skin all around her thighs and inbetween. He was a dead man once Kate sat down and realised his reaction to her unintentional strip tease.
Why hadn't she thought this through, was the main thought in Kate's head, as her delicate stance, with legs pointing up resulted in her dress falling down over her waist to rest just beyond her chin.
She was completely on display for Castle to see, and while that gave her a certain thrill, she didn't want it like this, like she was forcing herself on him. Well thank god at least she had decided to use her good lingerie today. She knew she looked good in black silk, and it was a relief that she didn't have to be more embarrassed.
When Castle called her name, she knew that no matter how mortifying this was, she had to try and be professional, she replied and gave him his instructions, and as she ever so carefully turned and prepared to fall forwards on to his knees, she didn't really think of the next step, all of her focus being on completing the maneuver.
So when she brought her left leg down over his right shoulder she didn't anticipate the feel of his 5 o clock shadow scraping up her calve over the end of the stocking and against the bottom of her thigh. The sensation made her quiver, the barely there touch sending shivers up her spine and making it very difficult for her to land her foot down on his knee. But she did, and in the next instant landed the other foot on the left knee.
That is when it hit her, the location of where exactly her crotch was, an inch away from Caste's face. Her body bent over his, her hair trailing down to mix with his, her arms resting over his shoulders and her pussy a hairs breath away from his mouth. Her dress had remained bunched up around her waist in the shifting motion, and now she was basically a touch away from sitting on his face.
Then she felt the faintest breath against her inner thighs, a slight exhale that left her a shuddering mess above him, she felt her skin pimple and goosebumps erupted all over her lower half. Her nipples tightened in their bra cups and she felt them rub just a little bit harder against them. She also found herself start to get a little bit wet, and knew that if she stayed there, it wouldn't be long before it was obvious to him, and she wasn't ready yet for that humiliation.
The very erotic imagine they presented at that moment, struck her very hard. Her dress bunched up around her waist, her small black silk thong and stockings the only things covering her lower half. Bent over Castle with her crotch pushed in his face. She shivered again, knowing that if they made it out of here, then this moment would be heavily featured in her fantasies, on the nights when she felt the need, her mind wandering to Rick and her hands and fingers to elsewhere.
Before she could get too aroused and lose control of herself, if she hadn't already, she decided to move on the next stage in getting the key. She gave a small hop off either knee and slid down his body, her breasts pressing deliciously against her chest, her legs going astride his waist until with a small gasp her crotch was thrust against his groin by the weight of her body.
There, with her arms around him, her chest pressed against his, her nipples hard, her legs either side of his waist, she knew that he had felt some affect of their situation. The bulge in his thin dress trousers was long and thick and pressed perfectly against the thin material of her thong. She tried to hold back a small moan, but couldn't help as she wriggled in his lap for a better position. All she achieved was to press themselves even more firmly against each other.
By now she was well beyond a little wet and she felt her pussy lips slide stimulatingly against each other inside the the thong as she moved. She knew that if this carried on much longer then she would start to leave a wet patch through her thong.
Her arms moved down towards his backside where, the keys were. To do so she had to press her chest even closer to him and again had to hold back a sound, as her nipples massaged themselves against her bra. They were as hard as she could ever remember them being, almost painful in their sensitiveness.
With their current positions, she couldn't quite reach the keys, the back pocket was trapped underneath Rick, he would need to lift up a touch for her to get at them.
Leaning back as far as she could for the moment, Kate tried to look at Rick. He had his head bowed, and his eyes on the floor, his breathing was quick and ragged. The bulge that was obviously his cock was as hard as ever and impossible to forget in the way that the slightest movement from either of them, resulted in the most amazing friction against her pussy.
"Rick." she tried to get his attention. But could get hardly get his name out before he intervened.
"I'm Sorry! I'm so sorry, I honestly didn't mean for it to happen, it just did. Well I mean you were half naked and... I mean your a very attractive woman and it was just a reaction to that. I don't mean anything disrespectful. Please don't hurt me." he babbled on at her, keeping his head down.
"Rick, Rick!" she shouted to get his attention.
"It's ok, I'm not mad, I know it's just a natural reaction, that you can't help it. Honestly i'm flattered more than anything. It's ok, don't worry." she spoke softly to him.
"Oh, you are?" he said, his eyes lifting to catch hers. His posture becoming more hopeful.
"Yes I am." she said. "But I think that it's best that we ignore it, and just get out here."
"Right, your right." he replied.
"So I'm going to need you to lift up a bit so I can get to your back pocket." she asked.
He didn't reply, but instead lifted his hips to allow access to the keys in his pocket. He surged upwards against her, lifting his hips up and out, so that she could reach underneath him. The unintentional consequence of this was that the bulge produced by his extremely hard cock, was driven against her thong in a delicious manner, that drew a loud gasp and moan from the previously circumspect detective.
The feel of him, hard and long, against her there, left her in a almost daze, she trembled, and tightened her arms around as the pleasure caused her to provide a vocal response.
She didn't move for a moment, enjoying the friction that continued to send sparks of desire traveling up her spine from her core. She was so wet now, she could feel it starting to drip down past her thong.
"Kate? The Keys." Rick's voice brought her back to the point. She had been stationary, enjoying the thrust against her pussy, and had momentary forgotten the reason for the thrust in the first place.
"Of course, on it." she said, reaching around to his back pocket, her hands stretching against the rope. She purposefully didn't meet her his gaze. Even though from his tone she guessed that he had caught the small moan and shudder she had released, and worked out the reason for it.
When she asked him to lift his hips up for her, he had done it quickly as he could, desperate to move on from the conversation they had just had. He didn't want to spend any more time talking about his obvious attraction and reaction to her. In other situations the intense embarrassment may have made him lose his erection. But this was Kate, and no matter the environment, having her sitting on him so intimately was going to make him as hard as stone.
So when she asked him to move, he leapt to it and gave a sharp inhalation as the full length of his cock, only restrained by thin dress trousers, ground against her. The sensation was incredible, but the slight moan that he heard from Kate, made his heart thunder.
"Was she getting off on this too?" he asked himself, his mind going blank for a second.
He then became aware of the very minor shudders that, she was making on top of him. Suddenly clued in, he recognized the ragged panting and clenched muscles. When she then brought her arms around, reaching for the pocket he felt the two hard points pressing into his chest and realised that her nipples were hard.
Her gaze didn't meet his, and he didn't push the issue, if they both felt something from this, then they could talk about it later, they had to try and get out of here first.
It became even harder to ignore though when her hands dipped into the back pocket and started to fish for the keys. He felt the small circular, almost imperceptible movements, that she was making against his crotch, and he moaned this time. It felt so good, she was perfectly situated against his cock, moving up and down and around in those tiny circles that were driving him insane. As was the knowledge that Kate was enjoying this too, that she was into this too.
She was a tall woman, and it meant that their heads were resting on each others shoulder, and he was trying his hardest not to stare at the neck and collarbone with the perfect pale skin displayed there. The hair on the nape of neck stood up as her breath ghosted over it.
He couldn't help it, his hips started to match the small movement made by hers, his cocked ached for more contact, he was certain that if he could look that there would be a small wet spot from pre cum in his boxers.
They stayed there, both making minuscule movements against the other, their breathing getting heavier and their base urges starting to take control. Her hand abruptly found the key and pulled it out of his pocket.
Kate leaned back, the key grasped tightly in her palm. The action caused a new type of sensation between them, and this time she let a whimper, the fresh motion causing his cock to split her pussy lips and slide over them to rub slickly over her clit.
She didn't want to look at Rick, didn't want to him to see her this out of control. Keeping her eyes closed, she murmured.
"I'm going to try and use the thread of the key to try and saw through the rope around you hands." she said.
She hadn't stopped the small circular hip thrusts she was making and neither had Rick she could feel. It was wrong she knew, but all the pent up sexual tension she had contained was driving her actions now.
"Ok." the single word he replied with, was said with note of someone trying to regulate his breathing.
Manipulating the key with both hands, she switched hands with it until it was held between the thumb and fore finger on right hand, with the thread held down tightly in contact with the rope around Rick's wrists.
Ignoring how her own body felt like it on fire, how she was so wet now, she could smell it and knew Rick could too. How his cock was perfectly placed to rub the tip across her now swollen and sensitive clit. She started to saw through the ropes.
It was torture, the small back and forth motions, necessary to cut through the rope, was making her squirm and wriggle in the exact way for her press her thong covered pussy against the his cock outlined by his trousers and move up and down rapidly.
She tried, oh god she tried, but this time she could not hold back. She let out the loudest moan yet and did not stop, could not stop, the noises coming from her mouth. The whimpers and sighs competing with Rick's deeper groans and curses. He too was moving with her, his breathing becoming ragged and panting.
Her body curled even tighter to his, her breasts compressed against his firm chest. Her nipples felt like small pebbles, so hard and taut, they yearned for more touch but all she could do was try and squeeze them harder against Rick.
She knew she was losing her self restraint, but she never had it in the first place when it came to Rick. And now all that mattered was moving a little bit more, thrusting again and again, just making the incredible sensations that were overwhelming her continue.
All he could focus on was Kate, Kate and the astounding, amazing things she was making him feel. His cock had never been harder, it was like an iron bar in his trousers, an iron bar that, the hottest, sexiest, most erotic woman he had ever known was sliding up and down on.
When she started to saw through the ropes, the already intense friction, that was making him lose his mind, built up to the most aroused and lustful sensations he could remember. God he had had full on earth shaking sex with some women which had not come close to the things that Kate was making him feel with their clothes still on.
He could hear her moans and whimpers and they just turned him on more, he was making her make those noises, he started to groan too. His cock was throbbing now, was nearing completion, he could feel his orgasm start to build deep in his balls.
He bucked harder against her, desperate for more friction, for more touch. He was beyond reason now, all he could do was rut against her, he was close so close. His cock was pulsating, his ball tightened against him, and all he could was keep going.
Kate was bucking and writhing on him too. The moans and whimpers that she had started with had turned to mewls and sobs. His instincts took over, as she bucked into him once more, he leaned forward and clamped his mouth around the pulse point on her neck and sucked, feeling the thrumming blood below the skin.
Kate went completely still.
Kate had never felt this out of control. She had started to move harder and faster against Rick, all she could think of was the orgasm that was building deep inside her like a volcano, the sawing was long forgotten, all that mattered was the bestial urge to fuck, to grind her soaked pussy against her man and to cum.
She was drenched, had soaked completely through her thong and had started to saturate Rick's trousers. But she didn't care, in fact it heightened the feeling. His cock was thrusting more firmly against her. Her clit was being stroked on every down thrust and caressed on every up thrust.
Her orgasm was close, so very close, she could feel it growing in her center, getting bigger and bigger, but she was unable to reach that final hurdle.
Then Rick bit her.
It hit her like a tidal wave, seeming to travel up from her core along her spine to smack into the base of her skull with an incandescent burst of pleasure. Kate went totally still, then gave a hoarse scream as her eyes rolled back in her head. She quivered on Rick's lap, as her pussy contracted, the muscles inside fluttered, as it tried to hold on to something that wasn't there.
Below her she felt Rick give one huge buck, and heard him shout her name loudly, but she could hardly concentrate on that at the moment. Her orgasm continued to play out, her shaking slowed and stopped as she slowly came back to her normal. Her heartbeat carried on racing and breathing was uneven, but she felt both returning to normal.
She wallowed in the golden after glow, her limbs felt heavy and a sated feeling filled her, she quietly fell against Rick, her whole body limp and unresisting as she lay on him.
When he bit her, her body seized up, but for only for an instant then she screamed in a way he had never heard from her. Her shudders along the length of her body set him. The physical response mixed with the mental knowledge that he had made Kate cum, was a irresistible signal to cum.
He thrust up in one last huge buck, and yelled her name, as he seemed to cum for an age. He looked up to see Kate, her back arched, eyes rolled up and mouth open, and seemed to spurn him on to an even greater pleasure.
His cock exploded, emptying his balls in pump after pump. He had never cum so much in his life. It seemed to travel from his toes to the top of his skull, an never ending wave of heat that sent him into rapture.
Afterwards, Kate lay limp and still on his chest, their breathing returning to normal together, their breaths mixing in the hollow below his chin.
He brought his arms around her to hug her to him, her back warm and slightly wet with sweat. It was only several seconds after this that he realised that he shouldn't have been able to do this, that his wrists were supposed to have been tied behind him.
Letting one hand stroke her back, he spoke to her.
"Umm...Kate, my arms are free." he said softly into her ear.
"What?" she replied, sitting up as far as she could.
Their eyes didn't avoid each other, and they didn't talk about what just happened, but somehow they both able to read in the others eyes a promise to discuss this more at a more approbate time.
He lifted one hand in front of both of them and they saw the frayed remnants of the rope circling his wrist.
"You must have sawed through them earlier." he said with only a slight blush.
"Yeah must have." she said. "Well don't just sit there Castle, untie us." she ordered, the return to using his surname, a reminder of their overall dire straits.
"It's time to get out of here."
