A Very Castle Christmas
Chapter Three
Castle steps off of the elevator Monday morning and walks over to Kate's desk, where she sits with her head bent over an open file. She looks up and smiles as she hears him approach. He hands her the coffee he brought her, letting his fingers slide against hers as she slowly takes it from him. This has become their new 'good morning' ritual. Sometimes he brings the coffee and sometimes she does, but they always take the opportunity to touch as the coffee changes hands. It's such a small gesture, a way to connect without being obvious to those around them, but it amazes him every time at the sensuality of that brief contact. It's no different today, and he feels a small zing of awareness as his skin touches hers.
She takes a drink, and his eyes drop to her mouth, staring as she slowly licks the foam off of her upper lip. He swallows hard and quickly raises his eyes to meet hers. He can tell that she is very aware of what that small movement did to him and he's tempted to drag her off to the nearest storage closest and kiss the sly smile off of her face. Instead, he sits down in the chair next to her desk. He reaches over, takes her hand and rubs his thumb slowly across the inside of her wrist.
"I've missed you," he says and grins when he feels her pulse jump in response.
She pulls her arm back and picks the file back up. "If you missed me so much," she says without looking up, "then maybe you should have come over last night. You did take Alexis back to school yesterday, didn't you?"
"I took Alexis back to school last night and it was late when I got back. And I would have come over, I wanted to, but I knew that you had to get up early today." He leans closer until his mouth is just an inch from her ear. "Trust me, Kate, if I would have come over last night, you wouldn't have gotten any sleep. I promise I'll make it up to you. Tonight. Forgive me?"
"Yo! Beckett," Esposito says as he walks up to the desk. "Uh, sorry. Didn't mean to interrupt," he says sheepishly when he sees the way they both move apart quickly. "But we might have just caught a break on the case. Ryan was able to hack into Thompson's work pc. Looks like our vic may not be quite as innocent as he first appeared."
He hands Kate a piece of paper with a name and address on it. "This guy's been emailing him for the past three months. Last one was two days ago. Asking Thompson to meet him at that address. Thompson never makes it." He pauses, looking at Castle then Kate. "You know, if you two are…busy… Ryan and I can go check it out?" He says it with a straight face, but can't quite keep the amusement out of his voice.
Kate shoots him a glare. "We're not busy. You two go and interview Thompson's co-workers. I doubt if he was working alone, so see if anyone stands out. Castle and I will head over to this address and see what we can find out. Call if you learn anything new." She stands up and grabs her leather jacket off of the back of her chair. Flinging it over her shoulder, she walks briskly towards the elevator. Castle stares after her, admiring the view of her backside swaying in time to the clicking of her heels on the worn tile of the precinct floor. He looks away only when Esposito grabs his arm. "You better watch yourself, Bro. If Gates saw what I just saw, no way is she gonna keep buying the whole 'just friends' thing."
"That obvious, huh?"
"Oh yeah," Esposito says, nodding his head.
"Castle! Let's go!" Kate is standing in the elevator, her hand braced against the side of the door to keep it open. Castle walks quickly to the elevator and steps in. He turns around and smiles at Esposito as the doors close softly.
The second the doors shut, Castle grabs her. Knowing he only has a minute before the elevator reaches the ground floor, he pulls her close and kisses her hard. His senses explode the minute he tastes her and he pulls away just a bit to let his tongue mimic her earlier move, trailing gently across her lip. He groans loudly when the elevator dings, warning him that their time is up and by the time the doors slide open, they are both standing innocently apart.
A quick look around tells him that they are alone and when they step off the elevator Castle wraps his arm around her waist and smiles as her hip bumps against his as they walk to the car. As soon as they are seated, he reaches for her hand, entwining her fingers with his as he rests them lightly on the console between their seats.
Several hours later, Kate arrives at home. It had been a frustrating day in many ways. They were no closer to solving the case than they had been that morning. Hopefully the autopsy would show something, anything, because at that point they had no more leads. No leads always kept Kate a little on edge. And Castle certainly hadn't helped. All day he had found little ways to touch her. It started with him whispering the promise to 'make it up to her', his mouth so close that she could feel his breath warm on her cheek. Then kissing her in the elevator, holding hands in the car, brushing up against her as he reached for the marker at the murder board, rubbing his leg against hers as they sat at her desk... At first it was sweet, then it was amusing. But as the day wore on she began to feel the strain of having him so close but not being able to do anything about it. And those looks he kept sending her when no one was looking! She could feel his hungry stare all the way to her toes. By the time her shift was over, she found that even meeting his eyes was almost too much. Just knowing that he was coming over that evening had left her a bundle of nerves and her body was literally tingling in anticipation.
She is in the bathroom getting ready to jump into the shower when there is a knock at the door. Not expecting Castle for at least an hour, she rushes over to the door. Whoever it is, she plans to get rid of them fast so she can finish getting ready. She opens the door and is almost knocked over as he comes barreling in. Kicking the door shut behind him, Castle grabs her face and leans in to kiss her. Before their lips meet though, she pulls out of his arms.
"Castle, what are you doing here? You're early."
He frowns at her almost angry tone. "I know. But I didn't want to wait. Why? Is it a problem?"
"No, it's not a problem exactly. It's just…" It's just that she wanted to get out of her work clothes and take a hot shower and put on the black lace cami she had laid out on the bed. She wanted to chill the wine and light the candles…
She reaches for him and kisses him softly. "No. Of course it's not a problem. But I do want to get a quick shower and change. Is that okay?" she asks as she is walking away, not giving him the chance to answer. She smiles to herself as she adds an extra sway in her hips as she walks away, knowing that he is watching. She is sure that he wouldn't mind at all if she skipped the shower and they went straight to the bed, and while a part of her- a big part actually- feels the same way, she really wants to make their night special.
She walks into the bathroom and turns on the water. As she goes to shut the door she sees Castle come in and sit down on the edge of her bed. Her mouth goes dry when he reaches over and slowly runs his open palm over the cami that is draped over her pillow. He looks up and meets her eyes. The look on his face almost makes her change her mind and she shuts the door quickly.
She steps out of her clothes and into the steamy shower. Her body is already aroused as she thinks about Castle waiting for her in the next room. She is just taking the shampoo off the shelf when she sees the shadow fall across the opaque shower door. Before she can react, it slides open and Castle steps in. He doesn't say a word, just takes the shampoo bottle out of her hand. Moving to stand behind her, he pours a generous amount in his hand and proceeds to rub it into her hair, working it into a thick lather before pushing her gently under the shower spray, allowing the water to wash the shampoo out of her hair. When the water runs clear, he reaches past her to retrieve the body wash and the large bath pouf hanging on the wall. Even over the sound of the rushing water she hears his sharp indrawn breath when his body brushes against her back. She closes her eyes as he slowly runs the pouf up one arm, across her shoulders and down the other. He runs it down her back, stopping just above her hips before slowly sliding it around to her belly. She holds her breath as his hand slides up her body dragging the rough fabric over her breasts, crying out when it brushes across her already aching nipples. He responds by slowly trailing the pouf back down her body. Her body tenses as his hands travel lower. When they meet the apex of her thighs, she grabs his wrists.
"Castle, wait," she says, afraid her body can't take much more. He ignores her breathy request, dropping the pouf before reaching between her legs with his hand. He slides one finger inside her and she explodes, collapsing back against him almost sobbing as the release rushes through her body. They stand there for several minutes, letting the water wash away the remaining body wash, while Kate fights to catch her breath.
Finally she turns in his arms and he lowers his mouth to hers, kissing her deeply. He pulls away and takes her hand, leading her out of the shower. Wrapping her in a large towel, he picks her up and carries her into the bedroom. Kate feels small and protected as she rests her head against his bare chest, a feeling that she is not used to, and one that is surprisingly pleasant. He pulls down the covers and lays her gently on the bed. Reverently he unfolds the towel, his eyes traveling slowly down the length of her body before lying down next to her. When his lips graze her neck, she is amazed to find body once again coming alive under his touch. She lets out a small moan of pleasure and pulls him on top of her. Their bodies merge urgently and both reach their climax almost immediately. Castle barely manages to drag the comforter over them before she falls into a deep sleep, snuggled tightly in his arms, a satisfied smile on her lips.