Into the Woods
Chapter 1
Rick all but skipped out of Gates' office he was so thrilled with himself. Less than five minutes he'd been inside and somehow he'd already managed it. He'd managed to convince her to schedule the trio of detectives out that Friday, together, a feat with an imagined success rate so minute, it'd been worthy of a bet between Javi and Kevin that the former, the instigator of the wager, would soon be paying dearly for losing.
"Roll up your sleeping bags and skewer your marshmallows, boys, we're going camping," he beamed. "Friday, 9AM, my place, be there with your better halves for two days of bliss in the great outdoors." He tossed a reciprocal smile at Kevin, but quickly swallowed it, taking note of Javi's sullen expression. "What's that look for, Esposito? Come on, I just scored you a day off. No high-five?" he asked, his hand just an inch or two from Javi's face.
"He's not a very happy camper right now, Castle, so to speak," Kevin said, stifling a laugh. "He didn't think you could pull it off, and now he's pouting because he lost our bet."
"You guys made a bet? What, that I couldn't convince Gates? Please, I'm still riding high with her after that whole bomb thing with Beckett last week. Just the other day, she didn't ask me to leave her office until after I'd actually already said something." He shook his head disapprovingly. "Against me, Espo? Rookie mistake."
"Shut up, Ryan," Javi barked, though he hadn't said a thing. "And I'm no damn rookie, you got that, Castle?" He took an aggressive step towards Rick, who nearly toppled over onto Kevin's desk with his hasty attempt at retreat. "Good luck convincing Beckett to go, by the way," he snickered over his shoulder as he turned and walked away from them both.
"Beckett doesn't know about the camping, Castle?" Kevin asked.
"Well, no, not yet, I thought it would be a fun surprise. But, really, she'll love it. I mean, who doesn't like camping?"
Kevin patted him on the arm and pulled out his chair to sit. "Yeah, good luck, Castle," he said. "Be sure to let us know how that goes." Rick couldn't see it, but Kevin's smile was there.
xxxx
Rick sat at his desk in his office that night and searched the internet for optimal camping packing lists, his last outing in the woods more years ago than he could recall. He already had the campsite reserved for the six of them at Cheesequake State Park, about an hour outside the city in New Jersey, and while it offered all the amenities he'd deemed necessary for the excursion, he'd only chosen it, among many others, because of its silly name. He doubted anyone would find that surprising.
"Hey, handsome," Kate said, leaning against the doorway, her eyes saying far more than her words. "What does a gal have to do to get noticed around here?" She'd been standing there watching him for several minutes, but hadn't yet managed to win his eye.
His head sprung up from behind the glow of his laptop's screen. "Well, hey yourself, gorgeous, and I'll be happy to answer that once you discard your weapon." He surreptitiously closed his search window and push from his chair, moving towards her as she waited where she stood. "I hope you have a lot of time and a fresh pen, because I have many, many great suggestions for you." He tugged her at the waist possessively and her body came. "Each of them is guaranteed to secure my undivided attention, among other things."
She wet her lips and pushed her fingers through the tiny hairs at the back of his neck. "I'm sorry I missed you at the precinct today," she said. "I know we were supposed to do that thing in our spot, but I got stuck down in records forever. When I got back, Espo said you'd already gone." Her gaze dropped to his mouth and she leaned in for a taste of what the day had so cruelly robbed her of. They hummed in unison at the contact, a tacit pledge of more to come, as she reached down and unsnapped the holster settled beneath her arm.
Something had happened after those hours Kate found herself standing atop that ticking bomb a week ago. As a cop, she understood how quickly a life could be altered, how fragile each moment truly was, but as a woman in love with a man as she'd never been before, the extent of the sacrifice Rick had made to willingly stand by her side through an ordeal had never hit her harder. She'd promised herself in the aftermath that another day would never pass where she didn't show him how much she wanted him, physically, emotionally, in every way.
"I thought a lot about that thing we didn't get to do today, and I'll absolutely let you make it up to me tonight," he told her, "but, first, there's something very exciting I want to talk to you about. Well, I think it's very exciting, and some other people think it is, too, and I also think you will, so I-"
"You're babbling, Castle. That doesn't usually instill a lot of confidence," Kate jumped in, releasing her hold on him and bracing for who knew what.
He exhaled an unintelligible sound and then paused to reconsider his plan. "You know what? I think it can wait until later, actually. Mother is out and I just bought a fresh can of whipped cream." He pulled her back into him. "I'd much rather see what kind of trouble we can get ourselves into first. I mean, if you're up for it."
Kate let her jacket slide from her arms and drop to the floor, her holster quick to follow. "If I'm up for it? I know I'm a cop and not a science teacher, Castle, but I believe that's your job." Making sure the back of her hand brushed him below the belt as she drew it downward, she found the button on her jeans and plucked it open. "So, if you're ready to get to work, go grab the can and get back here." She angled for his ear as she stepped around him. "And don't forget, it's my turn to be the cherry on top this time," she purred.
xxxx
"I love it when we eat dessert before dinner," Rick said, grazing his tongue across a faint remnant of cream that dotted the inside of her thigh. "Maybe we should skip our thing at the precinct more often, because that was incredible."
Kate managed to twist and reach down to grab a fistful of his hair. "Is that really what you want? I thought you liked putting my knee over-"
"If you finish that sentence, you better be prepared for the consequence," he interjected in playful warning. "I just need, like, ten minutes. Then, watch out, Detective." He bit her skin playfully and rolled onto his back with a contented sigh. "God, I do love your knee."
"And that's my favorite kind of threat," she replied, following his body's shift onto her side, her hand on his chest. "So, are you going to tell me your very exciting news since we have a few minutes to kill?"
Rick felt a nervous pang jolt his insides. "Oh, right, that," he said, as though he'd at all forgotten. "Well, um, I've planned a little something, a fun weekend, and I wanted it to be a surprise."
"Does it involve a ridiculous sporting endeavor like the last one, Castle, because you're barely out of the leg brace from that surprise," she teased.
"I'm going to assume that was some sort of roundabout thank you for always trying my best to impress you, and I'm going to continue." She kissed his shoulder and he went on. "Anyway, I had a chat with Gates when I was down there, today, about Friday."
"And what's happening on Friday?"
He cleared his throat, not of need but in preparation. "What's happening on Friday is the six of us are going camping for the weekend - you, me, Esposito, Ryan, Lanie and Jenny. I actually got Gates to release you guys from shift, if you can believe that." He sounded all at once proud and amazed.
"And how exactly did you get her to agree to that?" Kate asked, shocked enough to let the reason for his request lie for more details as to his success.
"Sexual favors, naturally," he replied matter-of-factly. "But, I promise, I made it clear that I save all the really good stuff for you."
"Really good, huh?" Kate quipped.
"Hey, be nice. Remember, Detective, I know about that spot and what it does and I'm not afraid to go there."
She pushed up onto her elbow, inched her leg across his thigh. "Promise?"
"That's more like it," he praised, clutching her beneath the thigh to hold her in place. "And, if you really must know, I promised her, well, okay, I promised I'd stay away from the precinct for a whole week if she let you guys go."
Kate released a hearty burst of laughter. "That's some pretty impressive power you wield, Castle. Careful how you use it." He didn't say a word, and she could tell by the look on his face the hubris he'd felt just a moment before had dwindled. "And that power kind of turns me on, so I'm going to kiss you for a while," she said, swiftly earning his focus, "and then you're going to explain to me why the hell it is you thought I'd ever want to spend my weekend camping."
Before he could summon a reply, her lips were on him.
xxxx
Lanie and Javi piled into the backseat of Rick's car that Friday morning, the tension floating in the air undeniable. "Castle, honestly, there wasn't a nice spa somewhere for us all to go to?" Lanie said. "We're proper ladies, here. We do not belong in the dirt." Kate looked over her shoulder and gave a supportive nod. "You couldn't just drag the boys out to the woods?"
"I'm sorry, 'drag'?" Rick asked incredulously. "Camping is an American pastime, Doctor Parish, a way to commune with nature and friends at once, a perfect way to ring in summer. Besides, Espo said you were really excited about this weekend."
"Oh, did he now?" she hissed in Javi's direction. "It's funny how often I say one thing and he hears another."
"So, Ryan and Jenny are meeting us there?" Javi said, trying to stop the bleeding. "That's cool." Lanie gave him a look and he stopped talking.
"You know, maybe you and I should share a tent, Lanie," Kate said, knowing precisely the effect her suggestion would have on both men, Rick in particular. "That way, the boys can have their fun, and we can have our own."
Rick's head pivoted instantly. "Wait, what? No," he whined in objection, while Kate did her best to swallow her grin. "I bought us a two-person sleeping bag and everything."
"You're too easy, Castle," Lanie chirped from the back. "And, sorry, Kate, but Javi's going to be making this up to me all night long. You're on your own." Javi sat there with a grimace until the implication in her words actually hit him, and then his smile practically lit up the entire car.
"Yeah, sorry, Beckett, but I'm going to have to man up and face the music on this one. Maybe Jenny will bunk with you. Ryan's always doing something to get himself in trouble."
"You guys, why are you…she's not bunking with anyone but me," Rick protested. "I have the tent and the sleeping bag and everyone's going to have a fun damn time this weekend and that's it."
"Don't hold your breath, Castle," Javi ribbed.
Kate glanced sideways at Rick with overwhelming frustration that they weren't alone, that she couldn't tell him to pull off the road so she could do to him what her mind was taunting her with in relentless flashes. He was so beautifully innocent sometimes, despite how mad he drove her, and she adored that. Still, she relished the opportunity to press his buttons, especially when he presented them so plainly. "Yeah, don't hold your breath, Castle," she mumbled just loud enough. And she knew he heard every word.
