A/N: I really didn't plan to post another chapter today, but i just had all those images in my mind and I had to write them down, so her you go with chapter 3 :) Enjoy!


The cab driver takes a sharp bend yelling something at another car and they are both surprised when their hands suddenly land upon each other. Neither of them shows the slightest inclination to pull away, both waiting for the other's reaction. Nothing happens and so they stay as they are, feeling a familiar warmth settling in their stomaches.

The minutes pass and when they finally arrive in front of Beckett's building Castle is the first one to speak again: "Uhm, I guess we're there..."

Kate nods. "Yeah... well, thanks for the coffee"

"Thanks for your time..."

She smiles softly. "So, then see you tomorrow?"

"Sure, see you tomorrow."

They both look down on their still interlaced fingers and as he realizes that he should probably let her hand go, he squeezes it one last time before drawing his own away.

It's just when she closes the door after herself and turns around to take the short way to her door, that he lets out a sigh and burries his face in his palms.

"You know it's funny, when I saw you two, I would have bet that you were a couple.", he hears the driver say in an amused tone. Castle can't even explain why he's telling him about it, but it feels good to get it all out to someone he doesn't know. "Well, yeah... no... it's complicated. She drives me nuts, one day it feels like our time eventually came and the other one she just pulls away and hides from me. We aren't really good at talking about this, it seems like we just can't put ourselves together and dive into it. Actually, I'm ready, I think, but I don't know if she is. This whole thing is one big mess..."

The man in the driver's seat nods, thinks for a moment. "Is it complicated or are you simply making it complicated by thinking too much about possible consequences? If you ask for the advice of an old man, I'd tell you: Go, get the girl!"

Castle pulls some money out of his pocket and reaches out to hand it to the driver, before throwing a Thank you! back at him and leaving the cab, that hasn't even gotten half way to the next corner.

Lucky as he is, Kate is still rummaging around in her bag, trying to find her keys, when he arrives behind her.

"Castle?"
Looking up from her bag, she gives him a questioning look, one of those eyebrow-lifts that appear to be solely reserved for him. Only one of various facial expressions that she seems to have developed just to make him feel special. That realization hits him and floods his body with a wave of adoration.

"I forgot something."

Before she has a chance to get her what? out, Kate feels the soft pressure of his lips against hers and as soon as she wakes out of her paralyzation, his mouth is gone, the kiss still ghosting over hers.

"Well, I'm glad you remembered, I wouldn't have wanted to miss that."

"I thought so." The smile on his lips is mirrored by his clear blue eyes, the joy in them so honest and pure, Kate hardly can take it. She didn't even notice, that her fingers were still fumbling around in her purse until they are finally fishing out her keys. Opening the door, she doesn't turn around to check if he's following her. She knows he is. He always is, as well as he always has her back.

The ride up in the elevator is filled with a comfortable silence, both of them grinning like they are about to unpack the biggest present under the Christmastree. And they are. An adult kind of present. The moment he closes the door after them she's on him. Her mouth placing hot kisses on his, her tongue sliding over his bottom lip asking for entrance. But instead of opening for her, he grabs her hands off his neck and holds them in front of him.

"Before... before we do this... I think there is something we need to talk about.", Castle starts after catching her gaze. "If we go there, we can't go back. And I don't want to. I don't want to hide anymore, I want us to do this together, because I know we can do this together. Okay?"

Kate thinks about telling him. About remembering him telling her that he loves her. She decides now is not the moment. She wouldn't be able to take the pain in his eyes, the way his voice would probably break, when he tells her, that it is okay, that he understands. She wants him to get mad at her, to let his anger come out. Just not right now. Right now is for building a fundament, that will stand the storm.

So she nods. "Yes." It's a yes to him. A yes to them. To life. To love.

Castle takes her wrist, pulls her to the middle of her living room. They stand there for a second, just watching each other watching the other. He wishes he could extend the moment to infinity. Then his big strong hands are on her, starting to make a big project of slowly undressing her, layer by layer. With every piece of fabric that hits the floor, her newly exposed skin is arching more into his touch and every time his hands follow the lines of her naked shoulders, arms, chest, waist, hips they set her on fire, burning marks of need remaining.

Soon, she's wearing nothing but her underwear, matching bra to the black panties.
Damn it, if it not already completely does it for her, how his eyes hungryly scan every inch of her carefully unwrapped body, how his undying lust and the urge to patiently memorize every detail of their first time together have a litte fight inside his head.

A shiver runs through her as he traces small open mouthed kisses over the line of her jaw, down her neck and her clavicle, before finding his way between her breasts.

Then he stops. Kate knows that this is the second he reaches her scar, the small bullet-seized proof of what had happened to her. And with her, what had happened to him. She suddenly feels terribly uncomfortable and ugly in her body, the need to cover her bruised skin rising deep in her chest. As if he can read her mind, Castle whispers softly: "Shh, I know, it's okay. Hey. Look at me," he lifts her chin, so she has to look in his eyes, "Kathrine Beckett, you are the most beautiful woman, that I've ever seen, and there is nothing, do you hear me, nothing you need to be ashamed of." Rationally, she knows that. Normally, she is not the kind of woman that complains about her body. But now, standing here with him, she feels all at once complete and perfect and yet also as if she's not enough for him.

Big arms close around her small shoulders, pulling her to his chest. His heart beats heavyly under her ear, she fists her hands in his shirt, when a few silent tears move down her cheek. Gently rubbing his hands across her back he places a kiss on her shoulder.

Castle knows, that she's alright, when he feels her unbutton his shirt from bottom to top, letting her palms follow it's sleeves along his arms, until it joins her clothes on the floor. His muscles tense under the soft touch of her fingertips running circles over his chest, wandering down to rest on his belt. Pulling herself up on her toes she rises her head to find his eyes dark and dangerous as she has never seen them before. They are so full of lust and need, that she can barely breath. And that doesn't get any better, when their mouths are finally locking together again. Soft groans escape her but are immediately swallowed by Castle.

He supports her weight by placing his hands on the undersides of her bare thighs, when she wraps her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, she's literally climbing him. "Bedroom" is all she can manage, it's more like a sigh than a spoken word, her mouth next to his ear, playfully biting the soft flesh right underneath his lobe, just to ease the pain with the tip of her tongue.

He carries her towards her bed, where he lays her down, spread in front of him on the cool sheets. A smile manages it's way over his lips at the sight of this wonderful woman. "You're so perfect."


A/N: Probably one more chapter to go. Raitng might go up, I don't know yet ;)