(SAME CHAPTER, JUST ADDED A DIVIDER)

Eyes on the Prize

Kate Beckett is stunning: knees stradling his legs , strong slender thighs leading to reddish brown silk... Even those horrible black, blue and purple bruises running down her side only highlight the golden light glow of her skin. The macabre necklace tattoo of handprints around her throat, more visible as her hair dries more into it's natural curls, can't destroy the sheer perfection of her breasts... Her voice is sexiness itself, a natural huskiness that makes every word seem like her bedroom voice. Only now he knows her bedroom is softer, breathier. The sound melts over him...the sound? Rick meets Kate's eyes, her sweet, adoring eyes (terms he never thought he'd be applying to Kate Beckett, but that he's has seen alot of tonight.) and tunes in to her words.

"... I should be the proving how much I want you."

"Kate you have -"

Her long, slender fingers curl around his shoulders. She's bracing herself as she leans into him.

"nothing to prove."

Soft Beckett lips against his, but then she's sliding away, kissing his neck,his shoulder, his chest, taking time there, long sucking kisses that are sending his blood speeding southward. Then, hands on his thighs she places light dotting kisses down to his stomach.

Too late he realizes she HAS been sliding, gently shifting her knees backwards,

so it's easy to push his legs apart, drop on her belly between them and -

"Oh God, that's amazing! "

Rick's head slams back against the bed's headboard as his hips jerk upward. Kate Beckett's mouth is on him in a way that is from his deepest fantasizes - and it's better than he's ever dreamed. Warm, wet, perfect suction, her grip on his base is firm pressure as her lips work down his length to where she grips, and then slowly back up, her tongue is wicked, swirling around the tip. He hears himself whimper, and FEELS her chuckle, the vibration making him pant and thrust. How the hell, given it's round three, could she bring him so close so fast? As if she heard him the warmth surrounding him leaves, and a strong thin jet of her breath hits him where her tongue had just been. The air tickles and burns so that he cries out.

"You like that, Castle?"

Oh, the knowing in that voice. He looks down and sees the mischief in her now. chocolate drop eyes. He nods, because she's too much of a vision her hair, her eyes, the curve of her shoulders the slope of her back...

Her back.

Her back is a mottled array of black, purple, blue, angry red, and even a few touches of green.

He gasps, but then can't speak. Kate has gone back to engulfing him in her mouth, and her other hand is cupping him underneath, doing gentle rhythmic squeezes and feather-like strokes with her thumb.

He's going insane. He can feel the pressure building fast, everything getting tighter, and her eyes, God, her eyes are bright and sparkling. She's enjoying it, and the specter of her back is fading. The pleasure is overwhelming, as is the love he senses flowing through her as she watches him. He's moaning and gasping, and, unbidden, his hips jerk forward.

"Close..."

He's warning her, not every woman... Oh...she sucking harder, speeding up, and her tongue is dancing against him as she does.

"Kate!"

He catches a glimpse of her eyes, and she's fucking AMUSED. Then his own eyes slam shut as fire races through his body and white stars flash before him. A groan, and then pulsing whiplashs of pleasure that tear something between a scream and a growl from his lips.

When he opens his eyes Kate is smiling up at him like the Mona Lisa.

"I knew you'd be amazing."

What? Kate Beckett just - and HE'S amazing?

She's up on her knees again, shifting off him. He scoots his butt down the bed so that he's lying on his back and Kate can snuggle against him. She doesn't though. Instead she sprawls on top of him like a blanket, the top of her head brushing softly against his chin. He wraps his arms around her, feels her flinch when he presses against her lower back.

That's when he remembers.

"Kate -"

"- It's not as bad as it looks Castle. The pain meds are wearing off some, that's all."

He doesn't quite believe her. The part about the meds makes sense, but...

"Did you goto the hospital?"

"Didn't need to. Paramedics said nothing was broken. Just some bruised ribs and vertebra. "

"Just? Those are still serious and damn painful, Kate."

"Not when you're pumped with adrenaline. Trying not to fall to your death tends to flood it through your system."

FALL TO HER DEATH?

He's horrified and angry and ashamed all at once. She could have died. She'd told him so when she'd shown up, but the specifics...damnit if she'd just LISTENED to him... Then again, he's also learned tonight how it's possible to know something beyond a doubt - only to later find out just how completely wrong you were. He'd been wrong about her reaction to his first "I love you;" wrong about Demmings, wrong about opening her mother's case in the first place.

"Castle."

"Yeah?"

"The sex endorphins help even more."

She's trying to distract him, make him smile. He can see that. He sees it because it's not working.

"Did they give you any pain medication you can take?"

There. He can sound calm, even reasonable. No need to allow the terror of what almost was to engulf him, betray the conflicting desire to hold her closer and sob and that of wanting to get up yelling about her insanity.

"In my jacket, but I'm way too comfortable right here to bother with it."

Since she's essentially got him pinned he can't go get it either.

Pain meds. Almost falling to her death. Bruises everywhere. She'd been somewhere where she'd gotten soaking wet in the rain. Yet she'd showed up at his door. Sorry she hadn't listened? Sorry she'd put her mother's case first. Hell, he was sorry he'd ever opened the damn thing. Sorry she'd spent a year in silent fear they'd come after her again. While she been hiding that she'd heard his words, he'd been hiding that she could be safe. Maybe...

"I'm fine, Rick. Stop thinking."

Her voice is sleepy, laced with humor. Her breathe is gentle breezes against him as she speaks, and it brings him back to the moment. Kate Beckett, the love of his life, is lying in his arms, naked. The hair he's always wanted to run his fingers through is feathered across his bare chest, the softness of her breasts press against him. Those incredible long shapely legs that he's literally seen stop traffic (she can deny it all she wants) have been wrapped around his hips, and are currently laying atop his own.

"Rick."

"You're the amazing one, Kate."

At that she shifts: props up on her elbows, links her fingers and rests her chin on the back of her hands.

"Do you remember the first time you asked me out?"

Really? He chuckles.

"Believe me, it's burned into my brain - and you were right. I definitely had no idea how good."

"That's how long I've been imagining that last little tryst."

He can't help it, his jaw drops open as he stares at her. She's doing that sexy Beckett eyes thing, with a tiny smile, as though she's reminiscing...

"Of course, I was imagining it in terms of of a way to shut you up."

He can't help but grin - Kate Beckett is still HIS Kate Beckett.

"Oh, that would have stopped conversation."

That makes her laugh. He so loves her laugh...only now she's stopped. Her eyes a soft spring green go serious As she briefly bites her lip.

"I knew that watching you - if I were to do what I was thinking - would be amazing... You're not the only one who's wanted this, Rick. I've always noticed you."

"I was a bit of a jerk then."

Yep, up go the eyebrows.

"You were pretty much being an absolute jerk, but..."

She takes one hand and her long slender fingers caress his cheek.

"It's not who you are now...I don't think it ever really was, you were just...hiding."

A soft, sweet, brush of a kiss touches his lips, her hair tickling the sides of his face.

"I'm sorry -"

"No more apologies, Kate."

He's shocked her. He didn't mean to be so forceful. He deliberately softens his tone.

"Kate...nobody is perfect. We've both made mistakes, misjudged... We hurt each other, and yea, it hurt, but we're here now - that's what matters."

"No, living in the past isn't good."

Her voice is so quiet as she speaks, She's holding his gaze and he sees the weight behind her words, all that she'd held on to, and has let go. He sees to that she really has. She's done with hunting. Completely done.

Before he can really puzzle out what he sees in her eyes, she drops another kiss on his lips and pushes up off him.

"Kate?"

Standing up she gives him a brief smile.

"Just gonna take those pain meds."

He watches as Kate finds her jacket, and pulls out the pocket a small silver strip of pills.

"I've got cups in the bathroom if you need water"

He points to the door leading to it and is rewarded with another smile.

"Thanks."

Her walk is slower than usual and worries that second time he'd gotten too rough,

Kate doesn't even turn around.

"Not your fault, Castle"

How she manages to sound sweet, melodic, and reprimanding all at the same time is another one of those mysteries he's never gonna solve and he feels his emotions welling up. The words fly out to her.

"I love you."

He stretches out the word love in a sing-songish way, trying to keep light.

"Right back at you, Rick."

His feels his eyes widen, even as the small knot of tension in his stomach relaxes. She loves him. Yes, he's felt her love for him all night, knows he hs her "one and done." Still, this is a bit more concrete. She loves him. She just somehow has a problem with the words.

Eventually, he knows that wall will also come down...and if not, well...all things considered, he'll be more than happy to live with it. Because words or not, she loves him.

End of Chapter Three

I know, I know - why doesn't she just say it already? I think she has her reasons (I'll be getting to that) but I think her actions Always, and the ones I've made up, really emphasize that she DOES love him. I have no doubt about her feelings, but she does have issues with words and direct emotions. That's going to take awhile to overcome. No one changes completely overnight, even after having an epiphany.

Thanks for all the reviews, favs and alerts. They are much appreciated!