Ok, seems like smut AND substance wins the race. Hopefully people like this... Always nervous about writing these scenes so any feedback appreciated. Also, it's long. R & R!

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

The lights were off in his room, the only illumination coming from the open curtains and the glare of the city from below and the moon from above. The bed had been tidied since this afternoon, presumably he had come home this evening and tied up a few different loose ends.

She smiled as he pulled her close to kiss her softly, his tongue mingling with hers, his hands coming up to frame her face, thumbs grazing her cheeks, she thought she might die right there and then such was the tenderness of his kiss.

Slowly he moved his hands down her arms onto her hips and found the hem of her top, tugging at it and pulling it up and over her arms, this time revealing a lace white bra. He kissed her again, trailing his lips down her neck to her chest, placing a soft kiss over her scar as he had done last night. He grinned against her skin when he felt her hand in his hair, tugging him back to her lips.

Her hands had begun to work on his shirt and she quickly fumbled open the buttons the whole way down to his waist. She pushed it off his broad shoulders and grinned as he crushed his chest against hers, the feeling just intoxicating as it was last night. They were here, alive and skin-to-skin. He groaned at the thought of it. He quickly toed off his shoes and socks so that they were now on equal footing in terms of clothing but she moved immediately to further undress him.

Her hand ghosted over the bulge in his pants and he swallowed back a moan.

"Kate..." he said in a warning tone as her hands unclasped his belt buckle.

"Rick?" she said innocently and he couldn't help pulling her into another mouthwatering kiss. She whimpered in his mouth as his hands found the sides of her jeans and pushed them down off her hips, catching at her thighs because they were skin tight. He growled and kissed his way down her body, dropping down to his knees to pull the denim fabric the rest of the way down her legs. Grinning up at her, he kissed the inside of both her knees before picking her right leg and ghosting kisses up the inside of her thigh.

Her knees felt week, he could hear her breath trembling above as he got closer to where she wanted him, a place which was, at the moment covered by a matching lace thong and nuzzled his nose into her placing a soft kiss on the fabric where her clitoris would be. He felt her hand in his hair again, tugging him back to his feet so he complied.

Her hands moved quickly to unbuckle his jeans and they fell away to the floor, revealing Superman boxers which made her laugh happily. He grinned before feigning a scowl.

"You know laughing at a man in this situation could be construed as killing the mood..." he said in a mock injured tone. She stepped closer to him, her hand reaching behind her back to flick open the catch on her bra.

"Well let me see if I can bring it back to life..." she grinned before letting the piece of fabric fall away to reveal her bare chest, breasts perfectly sized to fit comfortably in his huge hands which was exactly where he put them while leaning to kiss her again.

"Yep, that'll work..."

He would never get tired of this. Pinching her nipples, he moved down her body to find the waist band of her thong and without any hesitation pushed it down her legs, letting her step out of it, never breaking their kiss as he did.

He stepped back from her then, sitting down on the edge of the bed, pulling her into the V of his legs, his face exactly where they both wanted it but Castle wasn't quite ready yet to give in.

"I do believe you mentioned a map earlier..." he said grinning, pressing a kiss into her naval, smiling when her hands slid into his hair. He loved that feeling and worried that if she ever did it in public in future he might just come right there and then.

"I did, didn't I? Unfortunately I forgot to draw it..."

"Tell me where it hurts," he said simply, looking up and imploring her with his eyes. He wanted to do this, wanted to take all her scars and bruises and run his hands and tongue over them. There was something so insanely caring about it that she couldn't even begin to protest, just nodded her head. His hands around her thighs anchored her to him and he smiled at her, waiting.

"My ribs," she said softly, "and solar plexus..." She gasped as his hands softly ghosted over her ribs, followed by his mouth and tongue, nipping, tasting, sucking. His hand trailed down the centre of her stomach, stopping just above her centre and his tongue followed, her hand in his hair again as she sighed and moaned contentedly above him.

"Where else?" he whispered across her skin.

"My neck and shoulders," she said, grinning now at the attention he was giving her. He stood up, dropping a soft kiss on her lips before moving to her shoulders again nipping and tasting, smoothing over them with his hands. He was drinking her in, totally concentrated on what he was doing and she'd be lying if she said it wasn't making her feel ten times lighter.

"Anywhere else?" he asked breathlessly against her ear and she sighed out, "My back, no one place, just the whole damn thing," and he kissed her neck under her ear.

"Lie down," he whispered and she did, face down while he moved to lie beside her, hand trailing down her spine onto her ass. He leaned across her and planted a soft kiss on her spine at the base of her neck. She shivered so he did it again and slowly worked his way down her spine to the small of her back where he found her tattoo - two black Chinese symbols one on top of the other. He kissed them both, his hand roaming down her body behind.

"What does it mean?" he asked, working his way back up to the back of her neck, replacing his lips with his hand as he gently moved to turn her onto her back.

"Truth," she said simply, "Seems a little cheesy now. I was...going through a bad patch at the time," she said quietly, as though ashamed. In reality she was. The only thing she was glad of was that she hadn't got something with no meaning to her. He smiled.

"Actually it's perfect, despite the contradicting problem of you lying to me for a year..." he trailed off, smiling at her. She shook her head.

"Castle..."

"Kate I was joking," he said, quickly pulling her into a kiss and she smiled against it.

"I'm sorry," she said again and his lips found hers again, his arm trailing down her body as he moved them both further up the bed so her head hit his pillow. Somehow he managed to pull back the sheets and deposit them both just under them, while he settled himself between her legs, continuing to kiss her. Suddenly he stopped, a confused look on his face.

"Castle?" she said, a hint of worry in her voice. He looked at her.

"I forgot something," he said quickly and she looked at him, eyes widened wondering what on earth he was about to tell her.

"Castle, you're kind of scaring me..." she trailed off as he swallowed, seemingly still thinking. He looked at her, pressing a kiss to her mouth.

"Nah, no I'm sure it's fine. But let me just check anyway..."

She frowned at him and sat up slightly as he moved away from her face and just as she was about to wonder what the hell was wrong with him, she felt his hand find her centre beneath the sheets and his mouth trail kisses down her chest and stomach. She laughed in relief and swung a playful smack to his head as disappeared beneath the sheet.

The laugh changed to a gasp when she felt his breath over her clit and his tongue dipping out to taste her wetness.

"Oh my god..." she whimpered as he did it again, then again. Her hands clenched and unclenched beside her and her head snapped back in extacy when he took her clit in his mouth, rolling his tongue over it softly at first, then faster.

He grinned against her as he felt her hips rise off the bed. He brought his arm up to rest across her stomach, effectively holding her down before he dipped his head lower and tasted her properly, smiling to himself as he heard her strangled cry above him. He brought his free hand down, resting his thumb on her clit, circling it in time with his mouth as he slowly brought her towards her release.

The sensation of his tongue inside her and his thumb on her clit brought her over the edge. She ground out a scream, turning her head into the pillow so as to muffle it, not wanting his mother or daughter to hear firstly and secondly not wanting his ego to expand even further. She lay panting as he made his way back up her body, grin illuminating his features in the dark, hands trailing over her skin, causing her to convulse almost all over again.

"Castle, if you don't stop touching me, I might never function again," she said warningly and he smirked, kissing her deeply, the taste of her on his lips. It seemed to reignite her, all question of recovery time gone out the window as she brought her leg over his to roll him onto his back. He grinned up at her, sitting up to kiss her again, his knees slightly bent to anchor himself. He realised only then that he still had his boxers on and he reversed their positions again so he was back on top and could remove the offending item. No sooner had they gone than she had put him back on his back again and he laughed happily beneath her. She leaned forward to kiss him and he pushed forward, sitting up again, holding her body tight to his, the tip of him brushing against her teasingly.

They had come to this bridge last night and had briefly discussed protection (I'm on the pill and I'm clean - me too - what? - the clean part - ok) so it wasn't something that came into the equation tonight. As he pushed inside her, her head tilted back and he took the opportunity to suck at her pulse point as he slowly slid inside of her.

They both moaned at the feeling, still getting used to the idea of having each other's body so responsive to them. She pulled her head forward and kissed him soundly as she slowly began to move over him, their breaths and tongues mingling with each movement. He matched her thrust for thrust and soon was mumbling incoherencies into her shoulder.

A few more well timed thrusts and he could feel her beginning to convulse around him. He moved again, dipping his lips to her chest, taking a nipple into his mouth and sucking hard on it as he thrust again. Her short, shrill cry told him he was just about there so he sped up and grinned as he felt her tighten and fall around him, her breathing ragged, small cries and whimpers coming from her. When she whispered in his ear that she loved him he came as well, hips bucking erratically into her until he simply stilled holding her tight to him before falling back onto the bed, out of it.

He grinned as she shifted off of him, moving to lie next to him, folding herself into the crook of his arm, both of their breathing starting to return to normal level. He grinned at her and kissed her sweetly, his hand cupping her face. He swallowed.

"Kate, can I ask you something?"

"It was lovely Castle," she said with a mischievous smirk on her face that she couldn't hide.

"No, not that...hang on, lovely? Just lovely?" he asked in mock outrage and she smiled back at him, twisting to wrap an arm over his stomach.

"Well...I could say it was mind blowing but I figured your ego was big enough that it didn't need anymore stroking..." she said flirtatiously and he grinned back at her.

"Are you sure you're talking about my ego?" he quipped and she slapped his chest playfully. He chuckled, tucking her into his arm and kissing her forehead.

"Seriously though, I want to ask you something," he trailed off, waiting for her to agree. She nodded.

"What Esposito said earlier today...about you bring ok with stepping away from the case, leaving it alone... Kate, you're not ok with it, are you?" he said softly. It wasn't inquiring or accusing. It was a simple statement and he could see on her face that she wasn't going to lie to him on this one.

"No Castle, I'm not. Of course I'm not. But I can be and I will be. I promise you," she added in a slightly panicked tone, her arm over his chest tightening as she did. He smiled at her and kissed her forehead again.

"I'm not going anywhere Kate. I know it's not going to be easy for you, I know that for a while, maybe for longer it'll play on your mind. But think of what your mom would want - you to have a life, to be happy. And I'm here. Whatever you need, I will do. Except let you lose yourself again." he added firmly and she smiled up at him.

"You know, your mom was right." she said, kissing him softly.

"I always get worried when someone says that phrase to me," he smirked and she smiled back, tucking her head on his chest and closing her eyes.

"You really don't know how to let anyone down," she said sleepily and he smiled down at her, planting one last kiss to her forehead before drifting off to sleep beside her.

CASTLE. CASTLE. CASTLE.

I had trouble deciding on the tattoo. I the end I went for something which might be a bit cliched but I think it works ok. For anyone interested it's here: .com/albums/qq111/spacey6000/?action=view¤t=&newest=1

If that link doesn't show up just type Chinese symbol for truth and photo bucket.