Better late than never, right? This is a very light M-rating, but I figured I'd better play it safe just in case. Thanks to Andy for the beta!
Disclaimer: I think it's been firmly established that they're not mine.
Invincible
"When two hearts meet after being apart for a time, the world fades away as they meet and share
the purest of loves. They are invincible at that moment..." – Unknown
He tears the heat-sensing goggles off of his face, mouth dropping open at the stunning sight before him. She's so beautiful. He's always known that but he's reminded again now as she stands before him. His eyes roam her figure and she bites her lip shyly under his gaze. Yet her posture remains tall, confident even in her tentativeness.
He knows he's staring, knows he should probably stop, but he just...can't. She's stunning. And she's here with him, wearing only his diamond ring on her finger, and they have the whole night to themselves, and what the hell is he doing sitting on the bed when she's all the way over there?
He scrambles to his feet, already fumbling with the buttons on his shirt. Kate takes a step towards him, then another, meeting in the middle. She gently bats his hands aside and curls her own slender fingers around the next button, dextrously sliding it through the hole. Castle slips out of his pants and boxers while she works, allowing them to pool around his ankles before kicking them to the side. Next, the flaps of his shirt fall apart, revealing his strong chest underneath the fabric. He's a little worse for the wear after his disappearance, muscles less defined and the fading remnants of a few bruises still marring the soft skin. But Kate doesn't seem to mind, simply lifts her eyes to his as she pushes the shirt off his shoulders and allows it to slide down his arms and fall to the ground.
Castle kisses her then, hands rising to frame her face. It's so soft and tender and full of everything he's been missing for the last two and a half months, and he finds himself suddenly overcome, has to choke back the lump rising in his throat.
"Castle," Kate murmurs, soft and a little broken. Her hands come to rest over his heart while his slide around to cup the back of her head, fingers weaving into her hair.
"I know," he whispers, understanding her perfectly even in this near absence of words. How much they've both missed this. How much they very nearly lost.
Castle takes a step backwards then, bringing her along with him. Another few steps and the back of his legs hit the bed. He slowly sinks down and Kate steps between his legs. His arms trail down her neck, across her shoulders and come to rest on her lower back, guiding her to him. Castle buries his head in the soft warmth of her stomach, relishes in the familiarity and comfort afforded by this simple moment.
He presses a kiss just above her belly button, feels her responding shiver.
"I've missed this," he murmurs into her skin, the words rough with emotion. He knows it's nothing compared with what she experienced during those months he can't remember. But even since he's been back they've been so careful, so tentative around each other, and he's been craving this intimacy. "I've missed you."
"I know."
"I'm so sorry," Castle whispers. It's not enough but it's all he has to offer.
"I love you," Kate assures him.
He echoes her earlier words. "I know."
Kate pushes lightly against the front of his shoulders then, nudging him onto his back. He slides up the bed as she lowers herself on top of him, bodies aligned, skin to skin for the first time in far too long.
Castle wraps her tightly in his arms, fear of losing her again weighing heavily on his mind. But she simply relaxes into his embrace, draping herself over him and burying her face in his neck.
He tilts his head, presses a kiss to her hair, feels her smile against the corner of his jaw.
It's a slow, languid exploration that follows; hands tracing angles and curves, the shapes and motions permanently committed to muscle memory despite the time apart. It's familiar and comforting to have her in his arms again, feels so right as he gently rolls them over and settles on top of her.
When he finally slides into her, it's like their first time all over again. Except this time there's less anger and desperation. It's slower and gentler, soft and tender, and filled with a deeper sense of love than ever before.
It's not enough. It will never be enough to make up for the time they've been apart. The days and nights in each other's company that they've been forever denied.
Castle isn't sure how they'll ever move past this. How they'll come to terms with this time that has been taken from what should have been the beginning of their forever.
But as he gazes down into the beautiful, deep, shimmering eyes of the woman he loves, his hips pressed tightly to hers, body lovingly cradled in her embrace, he thinks that this…this just might be a place to start.
END