A/N: Once again I didn't get the chance to reply to every review, but Every. Single. One. made me happy. Thank you. Thanks Kylie for the beta read-through and the inspiration for some of the dialogue ;) And thanks Rachel, for answering my Upstate NY questions!
"What do you want to do today?" Kate asked when they were seated, cross-legged, on the pier after breakfast.
Castle shot her a knowing look and she smirked at him.
"Not that." Her reply was automatic- a Pavlovian response to the knowing looks and flirtation that had been between them since they'd met. But after this morning she couldn't really think of any reason to… not. In fact, glancing at him and casting her gaze onto his mouth, she was still in a haze of confusion, wondering why she'd been so resolute on putting a stop to their daybreak… activities. Hot tent, she reminded herself.
She sighed; the man could certainly kiss, and there was a part of her that was dying to see what else he could do. An acutely insistent part of her. She was hanging on by a thread, here, trying to hold it all together and restrain herself from throwing herself at Castle before they'd even finished their second cup of coffee.
Not that she thought Castle would mind; he was looking at her with a strangely predatory look that, if she was completely honest with herself, turned her on more than she could have imagined. Besides, she and Castle had been working together for over a year; in her head she didn't see any reason normal dating rules should apply. So there was no reason to wait, but there was a part of her that was glad she hadn't let their desire take control this morning in the tent.
Castle shook his head, apparently coming out of his reverie, his expression softening. "Hey, we can, uh- wait. As long as you want. I didn't come here to… you know."
Kate grinned. He really was awfully sweet when he wasn't being annoying. "We don't have to wait for anything," she said. "I mean…" She rolled her eyes. "Castle, I meant what I said, that this wasn't a one time camping thing and- ugh." She shrugged in frustration.
How could she explain to him that all she wanted to do was jump him, but her head and heart were waging a war inside her, and something was holding her back? Mostly she wanted it to happen at the right moment, organically, and if she dragged him back to the tent now she would feel it was somehow staged.
"It's okay," he assured her again, and she smiled, leaning into him and resting her head on his shoulder, letting the hand that wasn't holding her coffee cup come to rest on his thigh. A dangerous move, she realized, when she became conscious of her fingers brushing a path along Castle's leg, moving higher, until she snatched them away.
He chuckled, pressing a kiss against her hair, apparently more in control of himself than she was, and she smiled wryly, standing and taking his empty cup from him.
"Let's wash out the cups, get dressed, and maybe hike a little further round the lake. There's something I want to show you, if it's still there."
"When you said we'd walk a little further around the lake I didn't think you meant this far," Castle complained, and Kate narrowed her eyes at him.
"I told you we were bringing our swimsuits and lunch with us, and I asked you to find the trail mix and fill our water bottles. Surely you knew we were walking for more than twenty minutes?" She shrugged. "Besides, we're nearly there."
"I guess," he grumbled.
Kate slowed her pace, taking his hand and smiling as he threaded his fingers through hers. "Look around," she encouraged him. "Isn't it beautiful here?"
"It is," he agreed, slowing his stride and forcing her to stop. "Beautiful." She glanced at him to see that his gaze was fixed on her, and she let him pull her closer, until they were standing facing one another, mere inches between them. He took another step closer, dipping his head and bringing his mouth to meet hers, and she smiled, kissing him back, hard, letting her tongue tease his.
"Wow," she managed, pulling away for a second and letting her forehead rest against his. He released her hand, moving to grip her waist, sliding his fingers beneath her shirt, beneath the day pack that was loose around her shoulders. His fingers splayed against the sharp jut of her hipbones, and she smiled as she tilted forward, helpless to stop her body's reaction to his determined touch.
"Wow," he agreed, pressing his mouth to hers lightly before stepping back regretfully and releasing his hold on her, taking her hand again. "Can you please tell me where you're taking me?" he asked.
Kate shook her head, unable to trust herself to speak, lest she tell him the only taking she wanted was for him to take her, right here, right now, against the closest tree, and she put one reluctant foot in front of the other, leading him further along the lake.
"Maybe Rook should take Nikki hiking," Castle mused, and Kate wrinkled her nose, secretly intrigued. The idea didn't sound like it had the makings of a best-seller, but Castle didn't talk about the characters to her very often - or ever - and she was curious.
"Wouldn't it be the other way round? Nikki taking Rook?" she asked, unable to resist pointing out what, to her, was obvious.
Castle shook his head, a dreamy smile on his face. "Nikki could be stranded in a forest and Rook could rescue her."
Kate rolled her eyes. "Somehow I don't think that would sell quite the same way Heat Wave did."
"We're nearly here," Kate announced as the path cut away from the shore of the lake again, up through the tree line, and Castle peered through the forest, trying to see where she was taking him.
"That's awesome," he breathed, as they rounded the corner and the tree house came into view.
Kate nodded. "My parents and I built it over a couple of summers, from the time I was about ten until I was thirteen." She cocked her head, walking toward it and looking more closely at the structure. "The first year it was just a platform, we added in the walls and roof later."
"It's in good shape for something you guys built all the way back then," Castle pointed out.
"Exactly what I was thinking," Kate said. "Maybe my dad came out here and did some repairs?"
"Does anyone else know about it?"
She nodded. "We're actually still on our neighbors' property- so obviously they know about it. Tyson and my dad spent ages trying to find the perfect spot for this."
"So maybe Tyson fixed it up?"
Kate shook her head. "I don't think so. But it's possible." She grinned at Castle. "I haven't been over here in years. I didn't even know if it would still be standing, and I thought if it was it might be falling apart." She indicated the ladder with a tilt of her head. "Want to have a tree house picnic?"
"After you," he told her, standing below her as she climbed, and she wasn't sure whether it was to do the gallant thing and catch her if the ladder gave way, or if he was just looking for an opportunity to check out her ass.
"This is awesome," Castle said, happiness spilling from him as he beamed at her.
"What, lunch?" Kate teased, packing their food away now that they'd finished. "Because I know how hard it was for you to walk an entire hour here."
"Lunch. Tree house. Beautiful girl. All of it's good," he agreed, shifting his weight and moving so he was no longer reclining against the wall of the structure, but instead sitting closer to Kate. He leaned in, kissing her softly. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to be able to just do that," he admitted.
Kate considered his statement. Going over the opportunities they'd wasted in the last year wasn't going to achieve anything, so she pushed the thought from her mind. "Me too," she said, kissing him back.
Castle edged closer still, his hands finding their way to her shoulders, and Kate shivered, pressing against him, then letting him lay her down on the blanket they'd picnicked on. "Tell me if this isn't okay," he whispered, lying beside her and tangling his hands into her hair, his fingers against her scalp.
His mouth found hers again, kissing her lips before he moved to her pulse point, and she wrapped her arms around his back, pulling him closer.
His hands traveled down, edging underneath her shirt, and running confidently across her waist before making their way up. Kate gasped as Castle's fingers skimmed her ribcage, before moving further up to her breasts, and she pulled him to her, so that his leg nudged between hers. She sighed at the sweet pressure and let her own hands venture underneath his t-shirt. She tugged it over his head and bent forward to press open mouthed kisses across his chest before pulling back to allow him to return the favor and divest her of her own shirt.
Castle moved to unbutton her shorts, and Kate closed her eyes, shivering in anticipation before tilting her hips to allow him to ease them off, leaving her in only her bra and panties.
"Kate," he breathed, looking at her reverently. The dappled light filtered through the leaves of the surrounding trees as the sunshine made its way through the tree house's open windows, and she smiled up at Castle, biting her lip and reaching to pull him closer to her again.
Kate leaned her head against Castle's sweat slicked chest, smiling. Finally. It had been more than a year in the making, but even on a picnic blanket on the uneven floor of weather wearied structure, it had been worth every second of the wait.
"Well, uh- I've never done that in a tree house before," Castle managed, and she laughed.
"No, me neither," she assured him. "I'm sure this wasn't what my parents had in mind when we built this."
"I'm never going to be able to look your dad in the eye again," Castle said, and Kate smirked.
"What, the man who claimed the second tent was torn and that's why I couldn't find it?"
"No!" Castle leaned back to look at her, his expression one of shock. "He was lying? Really?"
"I don't know. I just know that he's been your biggest fan since long before he met you two days ago."
"Really?" Castle asked again. "How would he know anything about me?"
Kate averted her eyes. "I guess I've talked about you sometimes," she admitted, blushing. Yeah. Now that she thought about it, most of her conversations with her dad had included mentions of Castle, and she knew she'd been speaking of him less and less as an annoyance, and more and more as her partner.
"Detective Beckett, confessing she talks about her love life with her dad. Nice. I like it." Castle grinned, earning himself a swipe across the shoulder.
"I do not," Kate grumbled, shifting her weight. Okay. Maybe now the floor was getting a little uncomfortable. "Your name just came up a few times." She shook her head, realizing there was no coming back from her admission; anything she said now would make it worse. Time to change the subject. "We need to clean up," she told him.
"Swimming in the lake?"
She nodded. "Yeah. And then we'll hike back to our camp, okay?"
"Okay." He moved closer and kissed her softly before standing and pulling her up, and Kate's cheeks reddened as he swept an appreciative glance across her body.
"Come on," she said, making for the ladder to climb down. "Race you to the water."
"You don't- uh- need your swimsuit?" he asked, and she bit her lip, shaking her head.
"I don't think I need it, do you?"
