A/N: This story was inspired by Cora Clavia's absolutely terrific "Stolen Sky." If you haven't read it, you should. Seriously.
Disclaimer: I claim no ownership to these beautiful characters
"A Moment Suspended"
She's standing in the threshold of his bathroom, leaning her bare shoulder against the cool wood of the doorjamb, arms crossed as she watches him move around his bedroom.
He hasn't noticed her yet. Hasn't seen that she's already shed her dress in favor of the tank top and yoga pants she keeps at the loft. Removed the bobby pins from her hair so that it's framing her face in soft ringlets and deposited her heels… somewhere.
She savors times like these. When she can stare freely knowing that he's unaware. Not that she can't stare when he is aware – she can do that now too – no, it's the candidness of these moments that she loves. The little nuances that she observes. She understands now why it has been his favorite past time for as long as she's known him.
She watches as he toes his shoes off and leaves them in a haphazard pile at the end of the bed while he shrugs out of his suit jacket and tosses it over the back of his chair, making his way over to the dresser. Kate takes the time to drink him in as he wrestles with his shirt cuffs.
Her gaze travels from his shiny, gel slicked hair down his neck to the broad expanse of his shoulders, tracing the lines of his back muscles with her eyes. They seem more pronounced tonight. She can clearly make out the lines of his shoulder blades through his white dress shirt, the way they ripple around – are those suspenders?
Kate brings her furrowed brow back up to look in the mirror he's standing in front of, meeting his leering smirk.
Oh. So he's caught on.
"See something you like?" He gives a wiggle of his eyebrows.
Kate uncrosses her left foot, toes curling one last time into the chilly tile of the bathroom floor, and pushes her shoulder off the doorjamb to pad across the room to him.
"You were wearing suspenders all night? At the benefit?"
He looks down his chest to regard the suspenders as he turns and faces her,
"Oh, yeah. Under my suit jacket. They make me feel like Clark Kent."
He lifts his grinning face to her and catches the tail end of an eye roll, but her lips are curved up into an amused smile.
She takes a second to really look at the suspenders. The black cloth stands out against the stark white of his dress shirt. They hug his pectoral and abdominal muscles in all the right spots, attached to his slacks by polished silver clips.
"I didn't know you had these."
"Alexis gave them to me a while back. I think they were a Christmas gift."
He grudgingly adds in a mumble, "Something about helping me to move on from a particular Halloween costume that I was very attached to."
She arches a skeptical eyebrow at him, as if he's incapable of letting things go.
"What? Space cowboys are really cool!"
Kate shakes her head and reaches her hand up to finger the strap at his shoulder. She runs the pad of her right forefinger along the material. Huh. It's softer than she would have thought.
Castle watches as she wraps her fingers around the strap and lets her thumb run up and down the cloth. The scratch of her nail along the basket weave fills the air and sends tiny vibrations through her arm, making goose bumps erupt on her flesh.
"Uh, Kate?"
He sounds a little confused, so she tilts her head up and looks into his eyes while she slowly drags her fingers down the Oxford cloth. Feels the contrast of the suspenders at the pads of her fingers and his cotton shirt at her knuckles.
She also feels the shiver that runs through his body and sees his eyes darken when she reaches the waistband of his slacks. His voice comes out low and probably more gravelly than he means it to,
"So this is working for you, then?"
"Hmm," she hums noncommittally. With a mischievous twist of her lips and a twinkle in her eye she lays both palms low against his stomach and rasps, "Let's find out."
Kate starts a slow and torturous slide of her hands up his torso. She spreads her fingers wide and lets them sweep back under his suspenders. She drags her nails lightly over his shirt and pulls another shiver and slight gasp out of him when they graze over his nipples.
When she reaches his shoulders Kate hooks both her thumbs around the straps and pushes them off the side, letting her palms run down the length of his arms as the suspenders fall, her eyes never leaving their path.
She takes both his hands in hers as the straps come to a rest against his legs. Castle seems jarred out of his state of awe at the contact of her warm skin against his and he brings his hands up to bracket her waist. He leans down and captures her lips in a tentative kiss.
Kate smiles into it at the fact that she can still catch him off guard with the way she wants him. Breaking the kiss she brings her arms back up between them and reaches around to pull his shirt out of his pants.
Castle gives an impatient grunt and pulls her hips against his. She can feel his growing arousal straining through the layers of clothes that still separate them. Kate doesn't let this dissuade her though, and she continues to take her time with his buttons, sliding each disc carefully from its slit.
As she nears the collar of the garment she can hear Castle's breath coming a little faster and feel the way his chest expands and contracts against hers in short bursts. As she slides the last button free of its constraint she slips her hands under his shirt and lays her palms flat against his chest, leaning in to place an open mouthed kiss to the hollow at the base of his throat.
Kate finally pushes the shirt free and Castle releases his grip on her waist to let it fall to the floor. She can feel the muscles in his arm flex as he balls his hands into fists to contain himself. She's grateful that he's been so willing to play along, but it's time for him to be an active participant in this.
She wraps her arms around his neck and surges up on her toes to plant a bruising kiss on his mouth. She opens up to swallow his resulting moan and replaces it with her tongue. With a nip to her upper lip Castle pulls back and paints a line of wet kisses along her jaw before pulling her earlobe between his teeth.
His hands set fire to her skin as he drags his palms up her sides, separating his lips from her neck just long enough to pull her tank top over her head and deposit it on the floor with his shirt. Kate lets out a breathy sigh as Castle sucks hard on her pulse point.
Cradling the back of his head and neck with her hands to hold him right where she wants him, she lifts her thigh and drapes it over his hip. He takes the hint and doesn't waste any time in hoisting her body up against his.
She immediately wraps both of her long slender legs around his waist and grips his shoulders as he spins her around and deposits her on top of the dresser. She lets out a soft oh as Castle's thumbs brush the underside of her breasts and he continues the assault on her neck.
When he reaches her collarbones he runs his chin over the protrusions and lets his stubble abrade the soft skin there. As his hands travel up her thighs and his fingers find the waistband of her yoga pants she moans his name.
"Ca-stle," her breath catches in the middle as she feels him tracing faint circles low on her abdomen.
She tries again, this time with more force behind it.
"Castle. Want you. Now." She grunts it out between gasping breaths and wraps her fingers around his ears to yank him off her and send him into action. He seems a little dazed when his lust clouded eyes meter hers, but he shoves his hands around to cup her ass and lift.
Kate pushes her pants over her hips and Castle releases her with a thud, freeing his hands to drag them the rest of the way down, letting them mix with the rest of their clothes on the floor.
He straightens and pops the button on his own slacks, dragging the zipper down between his thumb and forefinger. When he goes to unclasp the suspenders and push his pants down Kate leans forward and knocks his hands away.
"No." Her slim fingers dart out and wrap around the straps, forcefully tugging him back between her knees. It comes out in a dark growl that even she wasn't expecting, "Leave them on."
The smooth glass of the mirror attached to Castle's dresser feels cool against the sweaty nape of Kate's neck as she slumps against it, panting. Her eyelids are heavy and she's wearing a satisfied smile as she runs her fingertips up and down Castle's spine.
She can already see the blood pooling underneath his skin in the divots that her teeth left on his shoulder when she pulled a suspender aside and bit down.
Castle still has his body draped over hers, head resting on her shoulder, when he turns his head and feathers his lips across her neck. A shiver runs down her spine when his breath comes out in soft stutters across her ear and she twines her fingers into his hair.
"Remind me to tell Alexis how much I loved the gift. Maybe she'll get me a few more pairs."