A/N: I am so excited with all the hits, but I sure hope to see more reviews soon :) I hope you like this chapter, it's shorter than most of mine, but I think it's fun. Lots of excitement coming in the next few chapters, stay tuned!
Chapter 7- All In?
Kate was the first to arrive at Castle's, and was relieved to have a few minutes alone with him. They managed to talk for a couple of minutes by the door before he pinned her against the back of the door for a kiss. too bad for them, it was cut short by a knock. They pulled away quickly. Once castle was sure they had both regained their composure, he opened the door.
"Ryan should be right behind us. He was pulling up as we caught the elevator," Esposito announced as he and Lanie entered.
"Hey, Lanie, how's it going?" Kate called from the other room. Lanie followed the voice and found her friend.
"Hey girl, you beat us all here I guess. Usually we have to wait on you."
"Yeah, well figured I'd break my late streak," she said nonchalantly.
"How are things, I haven't talked to you much lately outside of work. You seem to have been awfully busy lately. Anything I need to know about?" She asked, a mischievous glint in her eye.
"Nope, just busy I guess. Not really sure what I've been doing though."
Luckily for Kate, the guys came in before she had to try to make up what she had been so busy doing. "Looks, like every one's here, let's play," she announced, way more eager than she usually was when they got together to play cards.
"I call," Ryan said.
"Me too," Esposito concurred.
"Castle, you in or out?" Kate asked. Lanie had folded a few minutes earlier.
Castle checked his cards, he had a good hand and was pretty sure he would take the pot. "I call too. What do you have Kate?"
"Full house, Queens over Nines."
"Beats my three sixes," Ryan called.
"Oooh... 666, not such a great combo. Beats my two pair, Ace high," Esposito conceded.
"Well, read 'em and weep Beckett. Full House, Kings over fours."
"Dang Castle, this would be why no one wants to play with you," Esposito said.
He was too busy raking his winnings together to bother with a response. They had been playing for a little over two hours, and the chatter had died out a bit.
"Who's up for another game?" Castle asked, all too excited having won the last round.
"Last game for us," Lanie said, indicating herself and Esposito.
"Same here," Ryan added.
"Ok, last hand, Ryan, your deal, your game."
"Ok, Texas Hold 'Em, no limits."
The first round of cards are dealt and betting ensues. The three flop cards were dealt. Lanie took one look and folded.
"You always fold early," Castle said.
"Well, I'm only here because I was dragged, you all know I'm not the one into the cards. You all continue, I'm going to go to go powder my nose."
The rest of the group placed their bets and the turn card was set out.
"Ouch, I'm out too." Esposito announced, more than a little irritated at his luck.
"Same here. Guess it's just the two of you." The level of intensity in the room raised significantly. Unbeknownst to the rest of the group, a little wager had been made between Castle and Beckett before anyone had arrived. There were a few certain favors that would have to be performed by the loser.
The plop cards were a six of spades, eight of diamonds, and a nine of diamonds with a turn card of a Jack of clubs
Kate was holding a seven of clubs and a ten of diamonds. Castle had a seven of hearts and an five of hearts. They both had a straight, but Kate's was the high hand.
"All in," stated Castle as he slowly pushed all of his winnings to the center of the table. There was a quiet gasp. They didn't play for the big bucks at this table, that was for when Castle played his rich, writer buddies. Still though, an 'all in' suggested some serious confidence. Castle's blue eyes bored into her emerald greens.
Kate recognized that the true challenge here had nothing to do with the game.
"So, what's going on?" Lanie asked as she returned to the room.
"Well, Castle here just went all in. We are waiting on Kate to decide if she's in or out." Ryan explained as the tension mounted.
Kate took one last look at her cards. She peered into Castle's eyes and slowly moved all of her chips to the center. Suddenly, it was as if they were alone in the room. Everyone else faded into the background. "I am definitely all in." She emphasized the final two words and by the slight twitch of his lip, she knew he understood.
"Read 'em and weep. Straight, nine high."
"Oh," she let her face fall for a moment as he reached for the pot of chips. Then a slow smile came across her face. "Straight...Jack high. Looks like I won!"
The exchange must have lasted longer than either of them thought. They snapped back to reality as their friends began gathering their things. Everyone caught the looks, everyone suspected something, but no one dared make any reference to what they had just witnessed.
"Thanks for a fun evening," Lanie said as she hugged Castle and Kate.
"Yeah, thanks for hosting again man," Esposito said as he shook Castle's hand and gave him a pat on the back.
"Night Kate. Night Castle," Ryan said as he slipped out the door not far behind. The two waved from the door, then Castle closed it.
As soon as the door latched closed, Kate backed Castle against it. "You do know what this means don't you?" She asked in a sultry tone.
"Oooooh yeah. It means that you, my lady, are all in."
"I was hoping you caught that." Her lips were mere inches from his, her tone, sexy. "And, I won, which means, I ownyou."
"Well master, what now?" She kissed him deeply...passionately.
They walked to his room, never breaking the kiss. "Alexis?" She asked against his lips.
"Gone," came the reply.
"Martha?"
"Gone."
As they entered his room, they quickly found the bed. He spent the rest of the night obeying every order she gave.
The next morning he woke first. He couldn't have been happier than he was at that moment. She was asleep on his chest, neither of them were wearing anything. There was a chill in the room. He pulled her in closer and began running his finger across her back. He remembered a game he and Alexis would play when he would rub her back as he was putting her to bed when she was little. He used to write on her back and she had to guess the words. He knew Kate was still asleep, so he began writing words, hoping the subliminally they would work their way into her mind.
I...L...O...V...E...Y...O...U, he began.
M...Y...O...N...E...A...N...D...O...N...L...Y.
M...A...R...R...Y...M...E.
M...O...V...E...I...N...W...I...T...H...M...E.
"I'd love to," she whispered into his chest.
He froze. Oh my god, how much of that did she figure out."How...much...did..."
"Enough," she replied before he could stutter out the full question. She lifter self up on her arms so that she could look him in the eyes. "Did you mean it?"
"Of course, with every ounce of my being." Still unsure of what she had responded to for sure, he didn't really know what else to say.
"I wouldn't want to get rid of my place just yet, but I can't think of anywhere I'd rather be than with you each night. But, I want you to talk to Alexis first. This is her home and I don't want to invade it." She got out of bed and began finding her clothes amongst the items strung across the floor.
"This time, I want you there with me."
"No problem, you name the time and I will be here." She quickly began dressing, she knew she didn't have a while lot of time before she had to be to work. "I had better get back to my place though. It's been slow at the precinct for a few days, so I'm sure it's just a matter of time before we get hit. You coming in today?"
"Where else wouId want to be? I'll see you there." They headed to the door. He leaned in for a quick kiss. "See you in a bit."
"Ok, bye Castle." She started out the door and turned for a last comment. "Oh, by the way, I love you too." She grinned and quickly left. He stood at the door slack jawed. He hadn't said I love you to her today. Then her froze, remembering he had written it across her back. And if she was awake when he wrote that, then she was also awake when her wrote...He jambed his knuckle into his mouth biting down. He never meant for her to know that was on his mind, but he was caught.
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