Disclaimer: Nope.
A/N: The second chapter for Sav's birthday present. :D TOMORROW IS YOUR BIRTHDAY BY THE WAY...Ya know, in case you forgot.
The second time it happens, it's her doing. It's her choice to interject and steer the conversation and she's planning it before she ever strips.
She's pushing her sock covered toes into fur, stroking them down as she balances on one foot in the bathroom. The dog raises it's head, presses it's nose into the arch of her foot as she bends to tug the sock off. Curious blue eyes watch her, head tilting and Kate finds herself smiling and scratching her fingers over soft ears.
"Hey, girl." A rescue. Seemed fitting for them.
A canine with nowhere to go, nowhere to call home, scared and alone. That's the one that got Kate's attention. The last cage with the skittish Husky, the untrusting blue eyes. She fell in love. One look and she'd tugged Castle's hand, told him that she wanted her. And in two short months, the shy companion has become a loving, outgoing, playful man's best friend. An integral part of their family. Neither one of them would know what to do if anything happened to her.
Kate doesn't even want to think about. Not when she's had a relaxing day and has been looking forward to this since she pulled herself out of bed this morning. The softness of fur beneath her fingers, the nose that nudges into her own when she crouches down, bumping her head softly against the dog's. She presses a kiss between her eyes before she's standing, divesting her body of the clothing that covers it.
The door opens when she's tugging her shirt over her head. No knock, just Castle poking his head in but that's her fault for not locking it.
"Hey, you seen - oh. Should have known she was in here with you. C'mon Nik, food time." Two words that their girl likes to hear. Her collar jingling as she paws her way out of the room, heading for the kitchen and the bowls that rest in the floor. Not even glancing back. "She does love..."
The words drop off, becoming nothing but silence when Kate unhooks her bra, lets it drop. His eyes lock on her breasts and her body heats at the darkening in his eyes, the exhale as he shuts the door. Maybe it's pushing it, teasing and taunting but as soon as she steps out of her pants, pushes her panties down after them, she gives his tub all of her attention. Pretends he's not watching her every move - or when she's bending to turn the tap on, she pretends he is.
She knows how this usually ends. Her writer - her husband - can only take so much before his hands will wrap around her hips, gripping tightly. His breath will be hot against her ear, words like daggers of arousal that pulse between her thighs. But today it seems, he's not giving up his control just yet.
"You just planning to stand there, Castle, or are you joining me?" She adjusts the hot water, watches the bath start to fill and it's a matter of seconds before she hears the first article of his clothing hit the floor.
She adds bubbles as he drops his pants, knows that he doesn't care for the smell they leave on his skin. The rather girly lavender that lingers but he toughs it out like a champ, doesn't complain all too much. Even now, he only grumbles once when he moves around her, hand hot on the back of her thigh as he steps in, lowers himself.
It only takes the press of his fingers into the back of her knee and she's following, dipping her toes in before she decides the temperature is just right. She's careful, cautious when she eases herself back into his frame. A sigh on her lips when her back seals to his chest, head dropping to his shoulder. The kiss he plants against her temple as they wait for the water to rise.
"Feels good." He's right. It does but she shivers as the heat passes her navel, a chill racing through her upper half. One that has him chuckling against her and raising his hand, thumb flicking over her nipple playfully. "Cold?"
"Don't be an ass."
"I just think it's cute."
"Hush."
"The way you shiver every time before your body adjusts." It shouldn't affect her but it does. The words rumbling in her ear and his hand palming over her breast, squeezing until she sucks in a harsh breath. "Might wanna turn the water off, wouldn't want a repeat of last time."
She digs her elbow into his ribs as she leans forward. It's not her fault that his hands are distracting or that they almost flooded the whole bathroom because her eyes were clamped shut, chest heaving, his fingers dancing between her legs. It's his fault, not hers.
She silences the water, sinks back into his arms as her gaze settles on the bubbles around his knee. She bumps it with her own, playfully tangling her leg around his, toes pushing into the top of his foot. She loves this time with him. The time alone with no case between them, no precinct rules or prying eyes. Just them, like this. Being married and in love. She's not the detective here and he's not the famous author. They're just them. That's always been her favorite part of their relationship - when they come home and the day melts away or on the days she doesn't have to work.
But she thinks maybe it's time for another change. A bigger one. Something she's been thinking about for quite awhile and she wraps her fingers around his thigh, stroking them beneath the water, over his skin. Her heart starts to beat faster, the rhythm beating out against her ribs and she's not nervous, not really. Just excited. That's what pushes the words from her mouth, makes them tumble out in an ungraceful rush.
"You remember the night we talked about getting Nik?" She knows he does. It's a stupid question but she doesn't really know any other way.
"Yes."
"I've been - I've been thinking and I don't really know what to say so I'm just going to throw it out there but I want that." She feels him tense, feels the muscles beneath her tighten and she knows he's holding back, not jumping to conclusions and this is the one time she really wishes he would.
"Kate,"
"I want kids. I want a baby, I want to have a baby, Castle. I want you to get me preg-" He swallows the rest of her sentence, the angle awkward and wrong but she turns into it, palm flying up to his jaw with a slosh of water trailing behind. Her lips parting beneath his, body reacting to the swipe of his tongue, hot and wet. It becomes impossible to kiss him back, a smile breaking through and him matching it with his own, eyes opening to meet.
She's known that he wants kids since that night a couple months ago - she wasn't worried about him changing his mind but it's still a swell of excitement in her chest. A bubble of relief and an impending fear of what's to come.
"We're really doing this?" An echo of the words he spoke at their wedding. And she gives the same answer, one single nod. "We're gonna have a baby."
"Easy there, stud. I'm not pregnant yet." It's the groan that tumbles out, the swell she feels against her hip. "Is this doing it for you, Castle - the thought of me being pregnant?"
Maybe it's a little cruel of her to slide her leg over, to turn until she's straddling him, rising above. But the predatory gleam in his eye, the way his fingers slip beneath the water, gripping her hips, pulling her forward - it makes her realize she's not as mean as he is.
"How could it not?" She can't argue against him. Not when she's feeling it too. Not when he's already hard between them and dropping his gaze to her mouth. And certainly not when he shifts beneath her, hips rocking, water rippling around them.
She's the first to lean in, stopping only to rub her nose against his in an eskimo kiss.
"We could start now." A whisper of promise, a husk in her tone. This time, she's the one to start it. To press her mouth to his, one hand already slipping down between them, seeking his length, palm itching to wrap around him. The water is warm but he's hot, boiling. A brush of her fingers to his flesh and she's sucking the moan from his lips.
But when she gives him a stroke, just a flick of her wrist, she's the one to tear her mouth from his, to pant against him when his hand tightens in her hair. It's a gentle tug as he rocks into her palm, one she rewards with a squeeze. She doesn't notice the water anymore, the way it sloshes dangerously close to the brim of the bathtub. Her mind is elsewhere. On him. On the burning ache between her thighs.
Because if she's honest, the thought of her being pregnant is a turn on for her too. It'll be his baby. Theirs. And she doesn't even want to tease anymore, doesn't want his fingers to slide down, pinch at her nipple - even if it does draw a ragged breath from her lungs - doesn't want the continued path, the tease of his touch beneath the water. The dip of his pinky into her navel, she doesn't want it.
She wants him. Inside. Buried.
"Castle," He's already on the war path, unable to do anything more than nuzzle against her neck and slip his fingers through her folds. She jerks against him, hips rocking, water tipping over the edge to splatter against the floor. His teeth pulling at her skin and the pant of 'no' as she gives one last hard stroke before grabbing his wrist. Making him stop.
He abandons her unwillingly, her grip tight on his wrist as she cards a hand through his hair. Thumb caressing his ear, fingers wrapping around it, giving a gentle twist until he pulls back, opens his eyes. It always sucks the air from her lungs, the dark hooded gaze that greets her. If she'd known the topic of babies would turn him on this much, maybe it wouldn't have taken her so long to bring it up.
She keeps him captive. Doesn't let him look away as she lifts herself, both of their hands playing a part in positioning before she slides over him, encasing him. Wrapping around him completely, water rippling in gentle waves, bubbles tossing when she's the first to move, to rise and fall. She clings a little tighter when he follows, sets the pace with one thrust.
He keeps her slow, easy, a steady rocking that builds, tightens uncomfortably in her loins. The grip of one hand on her thigh, the push of his fingers into her spine, the press of his mouth when he eliminates the space between their lips. She clutches him, surrendering control when he fills her again, pushes inside with a rumble from the back of his throat.
And she understands. She does. She knows why he's suddenly holding her as if she'll break, why her grip on him tightens the moment he slides his hand up her back to cradle against her neck. He's thinking the same things she is. Baby. That's the only thing in her mind as he's the only thing inside her body. Both invasions welcome.
It's the twist of her hips on a downward stroke that has him choking against her, heaving for breath and she does it again, loving the way he retaliates with a hard quick slide into her. Drawing a gasp from her, muscles tightening and releasing, preparing. No words exchanged until he chuckles against her cheek, hand slipping between them to ghost against her, make her thrash. Water hitting the floor and a low moan escaping her lips.
"Keep that up and there won't be any water left." She tugs at his hair, his thumb stroking against her, rubbing circles against her clit that has her clenching. "Jesus, woman."
"Stop talking." Her body flushes, heat reaching the point of boiling, the coil in her abdomen tightening until she's straining against him, heart hammering in her chest. Breath coming in heaves with every thrust of her hips. She knows he won't. Knows the moment she feels his lips on her ear and the sharp jerk of his body into hers.
He whispers to her, so many things. Soft things, words like a lullaby. Beautiful. Sexy. Extraordinary. I love you. Wife. That one still gets to her, has her desperate for more. Faster. Harder. Something but he grips her too tightly, doesn't let her.
The strained voice, the easy glide of him filling her, and her name becoming his mantra. She stills against him, shattering with only a stuttered gasp. Body tensing, walls fluttering around him. Tight and unforgiving, harsh. The very thing that pushes him over the edge. Makes him groan into her neck and halt the drive of his hips.
Seconds tick away, her muscles slowly relaxing, becoming useless and she's limp against him, arms loosening their hold and fingers easing the grip around his ear. She shivers, hard, the cool air settling over her wet skin and he holds her closer, gentler, a softness in his touch when he slides a hand down her spine. She doesn't move, doesn't pull away. She stays with her cheek to his head, her words floating softly into him.
"I hope he has your eyes." The fingers sliding over her back still, water droplets forming rivers over her skin.
"You want a boy?"
"I guess I just always pictured us having a son. Besides if we have a girl, you are so very outnumbered in this family. Alexis, your mother, me, Nik - I think you need someone on your side."
"We could have a little girl with her mother's looks." She smiles, leaning back to press her mouth to his skin, anywhere she can find. The kiss lands beneath his eye and she feels him shake his head. "Nope. I take it back, I don't think I could handle another girl."
"Alexis too much?"
"Yes. I couldn't raise another little girl without giving into the temptation to lock her in a tower somewhere boys don't exist." Kate stifles a laugh against his cheek, letting him turn to smudge his lips against hers. "Water's getting cold."
"And Nik is waiting for her evening walk, I can see her nose under the door."
"You coming with us?"
"Let's take her to the park for a little while. Let her run." She pushes herself off of him, pulling the plug before she steps out. "We can get ice cream too."
"It's getting late."
"We have a few hours to spare, c'mon Castle." She tosses a towel his direction, hitting him in the face as he climbs out and almost slips on the wet tile.
"Alright, let's go play fetch with our girl but I swear, Kate, one laugh or quip from you about my skills and no ice cream."
"However will I survive."
a/n: The next chapter is the final/epilogue. This was a three day birthday event, the chapters were pre-written and since tomorrow is her birthday, it shall also be the end of this little ficlet. I would like to thank every person who has reviewed or added this to alerts. I'll be replying sometime after the third chapter is posted.
