Kate Beckett was scared, beyond scared to take that leap & listen to her heart instead of her practical head. Castle already invaded her mind and thoughts too often…He was ALWAYS there for her… he was in her space, in her business; he was too distracting, too charming for his own good. It frightened her to think about that last defensive wall crumbling down and him having FULL control of her heart. It would destroy her if it didn't end up working out. She knew she wouldn't survive it. And yet each and every case up to this point had been slowly pushing her in his direction… And with his magnetic force pulling on her at the same time, she knew she didn't stand a chance. They were inevitable…Her crush on the flamboyant author had turned over the years into a slow burn that caused her to ache for more with him. Lately though, that burn had become a raging inferno that she knew only he could satisfy.

And after today's events, being locked up in the warehouse, waking up to him…She knew she wanted to experience that again. It was such a sweet shock to wake up next to him and hear his sleepy, dreamy voice say, "Don't get up yet. Stay in bed - Kaate hi." Saying her voice like a prayer…It had sent tingles up her spine. It also felt so comfortable, so natural, so right, waking up to Rick Castle.

When he touched her lower back looking for the needle mark, a jolt had immediately jumped through her skin. It made her feel on edge so she hurriedly asked him to put her shirt back down hoping he hadn't seen her reaction to his touch. And then…having him position himself behind her & align his bottom half so perfectly with her ass, pressing himself into her butt and upper legs while trying to get some leverage to move the freezer…She had laughingly said to him, "You better not be enjoying yourself," when it was so glaringly obvious that he was turned on…Kate flushed.

'God, he was amazingly hard and in just a few seconds.' She could feel that his zipper was straining uncomfortably. 'He is definitely all-man,' She smiled at the memory. She knew they would fit together perfectly. . . like 2 puzzle pieces, like their bodies were made for one another.

Kate suddenly pictured herself nude, lying over the arm of the couch, with Castle's large hands massaging her ass, whispering tantalizing words to her, & then opening her up for his…

Her lace panties were suddenly wet and she vaulted off the couch.

'Get a hold of yourself, Kate. What's wrong with you? You've never acted like a sex-deprived, hormonal woman before…' She could blame part of the reason for her fantasies of late as it had been 6 months since she'd had sex, but she knew deep down, that it was a specific author who had her all flustered and wanton. She was only craving him.

She couldn't stop thinking about those gorgeous, blue twinkling eyes that seemed to stare straight into her soul. She teased him about his 'creepy staring,' but in reality, she was extremely flattered that he found her as fascinating as he did…And those fathomless eyes of his seemed to undress her on a daily basis.

'Would he hurriedly rush to undress me, ripping buttons from my blouse, too anxious to finally see me in the flesh?…'or would he slowly use those creative hands against my skin and gently peel off my clothing, kissing a trail along the path his hands had chosen to mark?'

Kate's abdomen suddenly clenched in anticipation.

She jumped when the text came through…It was from Castle, short and to the point.

'I'm coming over. Cancel all other plans. Your night's mine. "

XXXXX

He was as nervous as a 14-year-old going on his first date…just as nervous as he was 18-years ago waiting in the hospital halls for Alexis's birth. He, a wealthy, famous, boy-toy, couldn't control his perspiration just thinking about taking one delicious Detective for the ride of her life.

Now for his master plan…but wait…he didn't have one.

Kate was not your typical woman. She didn't swoon over flowers. She didn't giggle during chick flicks. She didn't respond to the chivalrous guy treating her like a lady.

God, he'd tried to impress her through the years… making sure she had her vanilla late just right - the perfect taste, texture and temperature to make her happy…And Oh, that thought brought up his fantasy of dripping the warm, vanilla coffee right into her belly button and him jabbing his tongue into that sweet orifice - licking the coffee greedily into his mouth, and then dripping some more onto her petite areola where he takes his lips & sucks hungrily like a sleep-deprived man needing his caffeine fix.

'Way to go Rick, now when Kate opens the door she'll SEE just how happy you are to see her.' He laughed to himself as he got in the elevator to head up to Kate's apartment.

And what about the other things he'd done to try and impress her?... giving her the signed cast photo of 'Temptation Lane,' (that gift came at a high price when the Producer of the show demanded that Rick do a book-signing at his favorite gay-bar) He'd created the Johanna Beckett fund (his personal favorite) and of course, he'd based his primary character on her in his recent novels. Every page spoke of his devotion to her through Jameson's words…the latest one declaring his love in the 'Acknowledements' section where he wrote, 'Detective Kate Beckett has shown me how to make sense of songs.'

'There's nothing more you can do to show her how much she means to you and how badly you want her to be a permanent part of your life,' he thought.

Now, all he had to do was pull a few tricks out of his notorious-how-to-seduce-a-woman, bag.

'Shit. I'm in over my head.'

He stood outside Kate's door for a solid 5 minutes trying to gain some composure.

'Hey,' he thought sarcastically, 'if she hasn't shot you before now in the last several years that you've been her annoying, plucky sidekick, chances are good that she won't shoot you tonight.'

He grinned a devilish grin, 'But then again, she has no idea of my agenda tonight…I'm going to have to make sure I hide her firearm,' he thought as he rapped soundly on Kate's door.