Title: Games of the Heart
Summary: Castle and Beckett have made a bet and a small competition takes place to determine the winner.
Disclaimer: I don't own most of the characters I write about. If you recognize a name, odds are it isn't mine. But seeing as this is a fanfic website, you probably knew that already.
Thanks again to Sunshiny-Kate, the best beta a writer could ask for!
"Oh, Castle!"
"Shh, Kate. Mother and Alexis are upstairs." He said quietly.
"Sorry." She responded with a hushed tone. "You surprised me."
"I surprised you?"
"Yes. I didn't know you were so close to the end."
"I'll make sure you know when I am about to finish next time." He replied with a grin.
"You won't need to. I'll be finishing first next time." She crossed her arms as she spoke.
He stared at her unashamedly. From across the room the muted television was casting a bluish light on them, and he was entranced by the way it highlighted her features. Her dark eyes reflected each flicker like a mirror, and her hair looked as if it were a dozen colors. Somehow, blue Kate was even more breathtaking than normal. He sighed contentedly when she smiled at him.
"Wanna go again?" She asked him.
"I'm game if you are."
"Then let's do it. But let's go somewhere else. As you are well aware, I kept falling off last time."
"Well, it's not just your lack of skill. It does get slippery after a while."
"I have plenty of skill, thank you very much."
"You could've fooled me."
He wasn't fast enough to get out of the way of the pillow she swung at him. Luckily for him though, he liked really soft pillows.
"Okay, okay. Sorry." He put his hands up in surrender then looked around at their options. "What about we go there?" He asked, pointing to the other side of the room.
She followed his finger with her eyes to where it was pointing and thought for a moment.
"That looks as good as any other place." She nodded.
A few minutes later they were settled in for the next round and it didn't take them long to get going.
"It's not as hard this time." She said.
"Yeah, that happens the longer you play with it."
She rolled her eyes and grinned. Neither spoke for a while, they just focused on what they were doing. As they continued, Castle noticed that her breathing was getting a little faster. The tip of her tongue was visible between her lips, which he knew was a sign of her concentration. As they both grew close to finishing, soft grunts were escaping from her mouth.
"If I'd known you'd be so vocal, I'd have opted to do this during the day." He said as he paused.
"Hey, don't stop! That's not fair." She huffed out. He smiled and began again. "And we can't do this during the day. We have to work. Or at least I do."
"Not all day." He said as he lifted his eyebrows.
"Stop trying to distract me." She hissed at him, making him laugh. Suddenly she jumped up, nearly knocking him over, and threw her hands in the air in a victory pose. "I win!" She said in an excited whisper.
"You really are super competitive, aren't you? No matter what activity you're doing." He chuckled.
"Only when I'm with you, Castle. I just don't like losing to you."
He stood up and positioned himself right in front of her, so she had to look at him.
"Did you just admit that you have lost to me before tonight?" He asked, his voice soft and gentle.
She swallowed. He was intoxicating when he was this close, this demanding, but she didn't want him to get the better of her.
"No." She lied. "I only admitted that I don't like losing to you, not that I had lost to you. I merely meant losing to you would suck, because I am better then you at everything."
He scrunched up his face and stared at her, like he was trying to analyze every word she'd said.
"But I was the first to finish just a few minutes ago. Ergo, I beat you."
"That was a fluke. Trust me."
"Well then, in that case, how about we go best two out of three?" He challenged.
"You really think you can take me again?" She dared back, stepping closer to him.
"I can go all night long, Detective."
She grinned a devilish grin that made his breath hitch.
"Bring it on, bookworm."
"Oh, it will be brought."
They sat down next to each other and started over at what felt like a blinding pace. Only a few minutes later Kate was smirking at him as she finished. Both were panting slightly, because they'd been so intent on what they were doing that they'd both held their breath as they neared the end.
"Say it." She said.
"I don't want to."
"You have to. It was part of the bet."
He sighed and looked at her.
"Kate is the best at everything and I'm not."
She had to practically chew on the inside of her bottom lip to keep a smile from forming.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome." He cocked his head to the side and studied her for a moment. "You know, you were pretty good. You weren't lying to me when you said you'd never played Mario Kart, were you?"
She opened her mouth as if she were shocked.
"Why would I lie to you?"
"Because the loser had to proclaim the winner's greatness and clean up the mess from dinner."
"Okay, well, yeah, that would be a good reason to lie. But no. I really have never played the game before." She yawned and looked at her watch. "Wow. It's nearly nine. Maybe you should get started on the kitchen?"
"What are you going to do?"
She stood and stretched, then turned back to him. She grabbed his hand and pulled him up so they were only inches apart.
"I'm going to get ready for bed and read some while I wait for my husband to finish cleaning the kitchen."
"Wait, if your husband is going to clean it up, then why do I have to do it?"
"Ha ha. You think you're so funny." She said before leaning in to kiss him briefly.
She was about to walk away when he wrapped his arms around her waist and he drew her in even closer.
"I bet I am better at one thing." He said.
"Oh yeah? What's that?"
"Cleaning the kitchen."
She threw her head back as she laughed, then put her hands on both his cheeks.
"Rick, that is one thing I'll let you be better at." She kissed him again and he let her go. "Hurry along, dear. I'll be waiting."
He smiled as he watched her go through his office on the way to their bedroom. He turned of the television and the game console then headed into the kitchen. And hurry along he did.