Worth the Wait
Rick watched as her eyelids grew heavier with the passing seconds and fell gracefully shut, Kate's lips still glistening in the sliver of city light peeking through the window behind her with the evidence of where his had just been. The world outside was blanketed in the bitter cold of winter, but its reach remained far removed from the two who now lazed warmly in the afterglow of the evening's passion.
Rick's fingertips inched aside a band of errant hair that'd dropped across Kate's forehead and his body responded instantly, a surprise to him given their many previous hours of play. He couldn't help but smile softly at the undeniable effect the slightest contact with her body had on him. It was unlike anything he'd ever experienced with another, and something even the depth of his writer's vocabulary could never sufficiently articulate.
Their bodies remained just as they'd fallen amidst the rumpled sheets, the skin of Kate's right arm and leg exposed for Rick's consumption. His eyes traveled the length of her in a deliberately prolonged journey, the shadows of his bedroom no match for his unassailable memory of her every inch. He'd been there and there and there, he reminisced, pausing as he reached the untidy fold of the blanket at her breast. He lingered there, at his most treasured spot, where her heart beat peacefully below. That was the part of her he'd always wanted most, the part of her that'd forever changed him in ways he'd never imagined.
Rick's eyes began to blur from the intensity of his gaze and, perhaps, from the hour, the clock reading long past midnight. They'd already decided the plan for the day ahead would be to move through it without a plan, to relish the little time off she could get away from the Twelfth, and their marathon session that had bled from the gray of afternoon into the black of night had been a celebration of that. He gently pushed his body from the bed and backed into his office, unclothed and unfazed by it, his mind still too alive to even consider sleep.
The air around him was utterly silent, broken only by his breath, and he wandered towards the tall windows at the far and of the room, pulled there magnetically by the alluring hue of the night sky. Rick often stood in that spot and took in the height of the city, imagining the cast of characters behind the windows and walls around him, his novelist hat never far from reach. It wasn't until a long moment later, when his eyes finally adjusted to the light, that he saw it coming down softly beyond the glass. The sky had finally relented after its days-long threat and the first snow of the winter was falling, unbeknownst to the slumbering masses, including Kate.
Rick stepped up as close as he could to the windows without fogging them over with the heat of his breath and he watched the flakes tumble in their erratic patterns. It was mesmerizing, really, transfixing in its abstractness and effectual in its swift evocation of buried memories. Many first snows past came rushing forth into his mind and he welcomed the flood. Those were always special days he shared with Alexis, his love of them outdone only by hers - laughter and play until they were both deliciously exhausted from joy.
Rick felt immense joy on this night, too, and nature's exquisitely timed show was only a fraction of it. Steps away slept the woman he loved, the woman who just a few hours before had shared that very sentiment with him for the first time, and he would now and forever believe he couldn't ever, even as a world-famous writer, pen words more powerful. On a stormy night just months ago, she'd knocked on his door and transformed an ending into a beginning with her kiss, and now, tonight, with her declaration of love came the magic of snow.
With his mother and daughter away on a spa weekend and, therefore, no one to catch him roaming about the loft sans clothing, Rick crept quietly upstairs to the hall closet to find a hat and mittens for Kate. He hadn't been up to his building's roof deck in as long as he could remember, but everything about this night felt right - the view, the company, the circumstance. Love.
He made his way back into the bedroom to find Kate had rolled onto her side, the curve of her hip unveiled and bare. Rick dropped the pile of winter wear at the foot of the bed and leaned over her, pressing his parted lips first against the skin at her waist and moving upward little by little until she whispered something he couldn't quite make out. "You say something?" he asked playfully. "I was kinda distracted by the gorgeous, naked woman in my bed." He moved to her neck and brushed aside her hair for access.
Before Kate could formulate another word, a soft hum of pleasure escaped her. "I was just...I just..." She lost her breath as his lips parted against her neck and the soft tip of his tongue met her skin. "God, I love your mouth," she whispered hungrily. She tried to reach for him, to pull him down over her, but he resisted. "What's wrong?" she asked him, more disappointed than concerned.
He crouched down beside the bed. "Absolutely nothing." He took her hand in his. "Everything's perfect. I, uh-will you come with me somewhere, Kate?"
"What time is it?" she wondered aloud, attempting a roll towards the nightstand clock.
"It's our time. Come on." Rick stood and reached for her clothes. "Put these on while I go get mine." He moved around the bed for the closet. "This is a monumental moment, by the way. You should remember this day in history as the only one during which I ever encouraged you to put clothing on," he said before disappearing inside.
Kate exhaled a sleepy chuckle and did as he asked. She knew he'd give her no other choice. "Okay, now what?"
Rick stepped from the closet in a sweatshirt and jeans, his hair still adorably mussed from his bed and Kate's hands. "Now you close your eyes and let me lead. No peeking."
"You and your kinky sex games, Writer Man," she teased.
He came up behind her and curled his hands around her waist to guide her. "Now it could be that it's the middle of the night and the fog of ecstasy has taken over my brain, but that doesn't sound like the voice of someone opposed to said games. I mean, if they actually existed, of course."
"Guess you'll just have to wait and see." Kate turned her head and he kissed her cheek. "Now let's go so we can get back here and take these clothes off again. I like you much better that way."
"Good to know," he said as he encouraged her body out of the bedroom towards the front door. "I'm just going to put the finishing touches on your ensemble, if you don't mind." Rick pulled the wool cap over her head and ears, the mittens over her hands and helped her into her coat. After donning just a coat for himself, they stepped out into the hallway and through the door to the stairwell.
Kate shivered once and he leaned into her. "You OK? Your eyes are still closed, right?"
"Yes and yes," she answered, "but I miss bed," she added with a faux pout.
"Geez, some patience, Detective, would ya? I guarantee you I'm a sure thing, so there's really no need to rush." He stopped her as they neared the top step out to the roof and he moved around her to access the door. "Besides, I promise I'll make the wait worth it." With that he quickly kissed her lips and pushed open the door.
"Damn right you will," she muttered as the rush of cold air hit her face and she heard the door click shut behind them. "What-" She could feel it before she could see it, but the sensation was unmistakable. With her eyes still closed and awaiting permission to open them, she smiled and leaned her head back. "Rick..."
"Open your eyes," he said as he watched her enjoy the moment of realization. He spun around in a circle, his arms outstretched, not for balance but in embrace. "Isn't it incredible, Kate? The first snow of the year and it happened tonight, of all nights."
He watched reverently as the flakes drifted silently downward through the minimal light of the neighboring buildings. Kate closed the gap between them and tucked herself into his body. She stood for a moment, her eyes on him, his eyes on the falling snow. "What do you mean 'of all nights?'"
"It's just-" Rick began before a pause to try and collect the thoughts he already knew wouldn't come out right, "you made me the happiest man in the world tonight, Kate, and now this." He raised his arm toward the sky. "Magic," he sighed, the blanketed world quiet enough for her to hear it.
Kate pressed her head against his chest and took him in - every ounce of his palpable bliss. "I do so love you, Richard Castle," she told him again, somehow feeling it even more in that moment than in the last.
Rick kissed the wool of her cap. "I do so love you, Katherine Beckett." He squeezed her shoulder. "Now, come on, it's cold out here. Let's get you back inside. I believe I owe you some more of this spectacular body of mine."
"Geez, some patience, Writer Man," she quipped, stealing his earlier feigned objection. "I want to enjoy this with you a little bit longer." Kate rose up onto the tips of her toes and put her lips to Rick's ear. "I promise you I'll let you make it worth the wait."