Her eyelids flutter as her mind slips from dream to reality, though last night the two had collided. When her eyes do open, Kate Beckett is greeted by the sleeping face of Richard Castle.
At first she waits, waits for the soreness of her bruises and the uncomfortable heat of the scratches to surface on her skin; they don't. At least, not noticeably.
Their foreheads touch lightly and his arm is slung loosely around her waist, the silk bedsheets tangled around only the lower half of their naked bodies. She brings her hand from where it rests on his firm chest, the faint, slow beating of his heart at her fingertips, and trails it up to his ear. She plays with the hair that grows just above it, pulling lightly to test the depth of his slumber.
After a particularly sharp tug, his mouth twitches and he lets out a small groan. "Go back to sleep," he whispers, his eyes remaining shut, much to Kate's dismay. Though he can't see it, she adopts a sly smile and lifts her head up an inch or two from the pillow. Her soft lips form an 'o' as she blows a sharp breath at Rick's face. The hair around his forehead lifts and falls back, his eyes squeezing shut tightly in reflex.
Kate giggles, and then brings the hand from his ear to her mouth to stop them. Now his eyes open slowly, immediately locking in on her and giving her a stern look. She laughs again, and this time his face relaxes and he laughs lightly with her.
When their laughter falls and eventually dies out, the two lay completely still and watch each other closely. Kate finally lifts her hand to Rick's cheek and trails her fingers lightly against the smooth skin.
The plumpness of her lower lip is caught by her teeth and she moves her hand to brush a few strands of short, dark hair from his face.
"God, you're beautiful," he sighs. The arm on her hip tenses and pulls her towards him, her shifting with him to curl against his chest.
She slides her leg to run her toe up his leg, eventually just resting hers over his at the knee. "You're not so bad yourself," she says playfully. Her hand grazes down his neck and comes to rest back over his heart again, and she taps her fingers in sync with the slow pulse.
"How are you feeling?" he asks slowly.
"Like it didn't even happen. If I couldn't see them, I would swear the bruises aren't even there," she assures him. She adds a kiss to his chest, just to be sure. Kate tilts her head up towards him and moves her face in closer to his. "Do you think we broke the front door?" she asks quietly, and the corners of her mouth pull up into the most beautiful smile Rick has ever seen.
He closes the small but daunting distance between their eager lips. It starts slow, feather-light kisses, but Kate's lips fight and after a minute they are in a fierce battle for dominance. Rick feels her tongue tracing over his bottom lip, and he gives in to her control, accepting that the competition would never end without her victory.
Now taking the lead, Kate's leg slides up higher until it is across Rick's waist and they are almost as close as humanly possible. The hand on his chest slides up and holds tight to his shoulder, using it as a leverage point to pull herself on top of him, their mouths still latched together.
Both his hands are on either side of her waist now, and her other hand moves down in between them to guide them together.
When they join, they both let out soft moans into the other's mouth. Kate rocks forward, her hand flying up to tangle her fingers in his hair.
Their bodies are always moving together, the ebb and flow of their very own waves crashing over them. The soft murmurs and gasps of their names are almost unheard, lost between their lips and the noise of their ragged breathing.
Kate's nails dig into Rick's scalp and back as their mutual ends near, and with a final thrust they both gasp and Kate collapses onto him.
They lay against each other for several moments, waiting as their heartbeats slow and their breathing evens out.
Kate lifts her head from where it fell to Rick's shoulder and presses her lips against his. His arms wrap around her waist as hers rest on either side of him, her elbows against his upper arms and her hands on his cheeks.
As her lips lift away and her eyes meet his again, he responds to her forgotten question, "I think the door will survive."