She takes my hand and leads me on, and I'm helpless. It feels so unreal, and I'm begging myself not to wake up, not yet, not until flying monkeys start tearing the place apart or my feet get caught in treacle and I can't move. But none of that happens, and I'm still following her, docile, into the bedroom.
Once there, she turns to me and slowly, deliberately, undoes the rest of her shirt. I think my breathing just hitched up a notch and I'm grasping for every breath. This is amazing. She is amazing. She leans up for another kiss and I'm in no mood to refuse her anything.
I'm sinking into it, intoxicated by her taste, by the feel of her soft lips so urgent against my mouth, like she's afraid I'm going to pull away. I'm not going to pull away. I wrap my arms around her, running one hand down her spine, resting in the small of her back. I break the kiss to trace kisses down her graceful neck.
"You know, we really ought to get you out of those wet clothes," I say into her neck. I think I can hear her smile.
"Sure Castle. Why don't you help me out?"
OoOoOoOoOoOoOo
We're lying together, sated and a little out of breath. I run a lazy hand from her shoulder down her arm. As I do, I notice florid markings appearing on her torso. Looking closer I see some around her neck.
"What the hell happened?" I ask, putting out my hand to touch her wounds.
"We fought. You shoulda seen the other guy," she says.
I press my lips together, looking into her eyes. "You're really going to let this go?"
"It's gone, Castle. I resigned," she tells me. My eyebrows raise and I let out a little whistle.
"That's huge. Wow," I say, and it is, it's huge. She's let go of almost everything that defined her.
She's here, she's really here. I put a hand on her stomach just because I can. She's not leaving, is she? She's lying here, so beautiful, so real I can hardly trust my senses.
"I love you Kate," I tell her. It needed saying again.
"I know," she replies. It's enough.