There's a lovely Castle Anon floating around on Tumblr, popping these prompts into the ask boxes of a few writers. With his/her permission, I took one of them and made it into this short fic. The first four lines are written by the Anon. Thanks, Anon!
He wants to catch her again when she sneaks a look at his lips, when her own lips part and her tongue peeks out to sweep across them—quick, wet—when there's no other reason she could be watching him, except to watch him and wonder.
He wants to catch her again so he can lean in and send her eyelashes fluttering, brush his thumb across her cheek so her mouth goes dry, make her melt into his touch and savor her sigh of his name against his lips.
He blinks, and in a moment, her eyes have flitted back to Esposito, mouth closed and all traces of lust suppressed, almost as if he'd imagined the whole thing. He startles at the look on Esposito's face—curiosity mingled in surprise—and realizes that she wasn't nearly as subtle as either of them seems to think. As if she could pop a bite of Kung Pao chicken into her mouth like her face hadn't been inches from his moments early.
Yeah, real subtle, Katherine Beckett.
"You okay, boss?" Esposito asks, raising an eyebrow.
She wrinkles her forehead in confusion as she picks up a bank statement from the pile. "Yeah, Espo. Why wouldn't I be?"
"I don't know. You just seemed a little…" he trails off, flicks his eyes to Castle and back to her. "Preoccupied," he finishes.
She laughs. "I was trying to show Castle that he's got soy sauce on his lip, but I don't think he got the message," she teases, throwing Castle a look.
Oh. He wipes his mouth quickly and, sure enough, he does have soy sauce on his mouth.
Damn.
He clears his throat. "I knew that," he lies.
She rolls her eyes, doesn't believe him for a second.
He suppresses a groan and excuses himself to get his bearings. He clenches his hands as he leaves the two detectives together to discuss a hole in their suspect's financials.
Had he really imagined the whole thing—her mouth, her tongue? He swears it was much more erotic than she made it out to be.
But then again, he'd been dreaming about her a lot lately. More than usual, in fact. The dreams started not long after she'd started dressing softer—in more pink, purple, and blue—and letting her hair fall naturally at her shoulders. She'd been…well, less button-upped. He couldn't help but notice the subtle changes in her, even as something as slight and insignificant as her wardrobe.
All he really wants to do is splash some cold water on his face, but the bathroom's occupied by a couple of uniforms, so he opts for simple privacy in an interview room instead.
He sits down, rubs his hands over his face. Maybe he should take a couple of days off, work on his writing and spend some much-needed time with his daughter. He was starting to get restless hanging around here, especially with the last batch of murders that hadn't been even remotely exciting.
He'll just take a couple of days and be back as good as new, ready to work and ready to…
Well, keep waiting.
"There you are," she says, placing her hands on his shoulders from behind. He tenses immediately, shrugging gently out of her grasp. He stands, forcing a small smile. She raises an eyebrow at his discomfort.
"Yeah. Just needed a few minutes of quiet," he says softly.
She takes a step closer, cocking her head. "You okay?" She reaches up to brush a piece of lint from his shoulder. His breath hitches. "You seem out of it."
He shakes his head. "I'm fine."
She takes another step towards him, placing a hand on his chest. His eyes flit to her hand and back to her face, surprised. She slides it up to curl around his neck. "Nothing I can help you with?" Her thumb slides to brush around the edges of his jaw, sending tingles down his spine.
He hums in the back of his throat, shaking his head.
"Just one second. I think you've still got some soy sauce on your chin," she says slyly, leaning in to brush her mouth over the stubble on his chin.
He closes his eyes at the sensation. "I thought you said it was on my lips," he rasps.
"Oh, did I?" she mutters, her lips caressing his cheek. He lifts a hand to her hip, clutching the satin of her pink button-down in his hand. Her mouth travels to the corner of his lips, her tongue swiping gently. "My mistake," she breathes before pressing a soft kiss there.
"Christ, Kate. What…" he trails off breathlessly, the tips of his fingers lifting the edges of her shirt slightly so that he can dance across the slip of skin he finds there.
He groans as her fingers scrape through his hair. "What was that, Castle?" She looks at him with wide, innocent eyes, a grin playing on her lips. He narrows his eyes before letting his hand brush against her lower backside slightly. Her grin slips slowly from her face as she closes her eyes, breathing just a little heavier.
"Hmm," he hums as he lets his lips hover across her forehead. He slips his warm palm beneath her shirt, pressing it into the curve of her back.
"We shouldn't do this here," she says without conviction, her body bowing into him.
"You started it," he murmurs as his other hand slips beneath her hair to brush against the curve of her neck.
She sighs, lifting her head so that her lips hover over his, breaths mingling. He sucks in a breath, feels his control quickly sliding away from him.
"And now I'm finishing it," she rasps before attacking his mouth. He groans, slides his hand to the back of her neck, fisting her curls. His other hand curls around her hip, pulling her closer to him.
"Oh, Rick," she sighs, her body melting into him. He smiles into the kiss, lets his tongue brush against hers as she hooks a finger into his belt loop. His hand slides over the curve of her backside to grip the back of her thigh gently.
Castle hears a voice clear loudly behind him. Kate releases his lips with a soft pop, briefly ducking her head. She brushes her hair behind her ear and smoothes her lips with her fingers.
Castle looks up to find Esposito staring at them, eyebrow raised.
"Soy sauce, huh?"
Castle smiles sheepishly.
"What've you got, Espo?" Kate asks, bowing her head towards the file in his hand.
Esposito pauses, his eyes lingering on their slightly disheveled forms. Kate rolls her eyes, raising an eyebrow.
Esposito startles, clearing his throat. "Ryan found an offshore account in the Caymans with our missing money."
"Great. Can you track it?"
Esposito scoffs. "Piece of cake, boss."
"Great. You've got point on this one," she says firmly.
"I—you're giving me point?"
"Yeah. Think you can handle it?" she teases.
He makes a face. "Handle is my middle name, Beckett."
"Funny. That's what Lanie says, too," she quips, leaving him speechless. She smirks before turning back to Castle.
"Ready?" she asks.
"F-for?" he splutters.
"You're cooking me dinner," she says.
He frowns. "But we just ate."
He watches as her tongue darts out to wet her pink lips for the second time that night, taunting him.
"Dessert, then."
Complete.
Enjoy your weekend. Try to survive '47 Seconds'.
Olivia