He walked her up hand in hand to her apartment door. Both trying and failing to contain the grins on their faces.
"Well, here we are," he said stopping in front of her door and admiring her face. With her heels on they were almost the same height. Their mouths would align perfectly, he thought as he glanced at them.
"Rick, thank you. I had a really great night."
"Well, I hope that means we will be having more great dates together."
"I think that can be arranged," she smiled.
Kate leaned back against the door, and slowly bit the side of her lip looking, oh so sexy, and it was as if she was beckoning him to her. He felt powerless against her pull and wasted no time stepping forward into her body. She ran her hand up the length of his arm, enjoying the feel of his full bicep, wondering how it would feel to have so much strength above her, to have his body weight pushing her down into the bed. She continued her motion until she reached the tiny hairs on the back of his neck and ran her fingers through them.
A hum of pleasure escaped his throat right before he spoke, "I've been waiting since last night to do this again," he said as he let her draw his face closer to hers.
He brought his hands to settle on her hips as he reached his mouth forward to finally capture her lips. Her eyes closing in pleasure at the softness and warmth of his against hers. It didn't take long for Kate to deepen the kiss, opening her mouth to let him in and coaxing his tongue to join hers as a groan escaped him.
He slid a hand up to her neck, changing their angle and bringing her closer, deeper. The hand at her hip couldn't help but tighten momentarily before moving to wrap around her body and bring her chest flush with his. Her breasts pushed against him sent a wave of heat coursing through every inch of him. A delicious throbbing beginning to pulse between them.
He sucked her lip in between his teeth and bit down gently before soothing it with his tongue. The sensation sent ripples of desire from her mouth all the way to her toes. She could feel the warmth filling her cheeks and knew they must be pink by now. Her whole body thrumming with electricity everywhere they were touching. He kissed his way down to her jaw, continued as he reached the softness just beneath her ear. His breath tickling her skin and adding to her pleasure.
A low moan flowed out of her lips followed by her sweet voice, "Castle, hmm," she said between rapid breaths, "Rick, come inside. Stay with me tonight."
The words were everything that he wanted to hear in that moment. Nevertheless, he slowed his kisses and exploration of her. He rested his head where the meeting of her neck and shoulder created a sweet valley, one that was filled with the gentle scent of her floral perfume. He was quiet as he worked to catch his breath. Her fingers running through his hair, caressing his scalp, doing nothing to slow it. Every inhale he took, pushed their bodies just a little bit closer together. Kate was also struggling for breath and he loved that he had the same effect on her that she did on him.
After a moment he'd calmed somewhat and lifted his head to look back up into her eyes. The normal hazel of them had turned into a deeper brown now, arousal obvious on her face and he assumed his own face would reflect the same feeling.
"Kate," he husked out, "I would love too. You have no idea how much, really, but I, I think we should wait."
She looked surprised and maybe a little hurt at his words so he tried to quickly shake the lusty haze that her nearness caused him so he could find the words to explain.
"Listen, I want you, Kate, no doubt about it, but I know that you were very hesitant to give us a try. I want to show you what you mean to me. I don't want to rush this and risk you regretting any of it. So, I think it's best we wait. At least a little while."
His eyes were so large and convincing. The sapphires staring back at her with obvious desire in them and so much sincerity. Seeing him take her seriously and push aside his own physical desires to show her how much he cares for her, really just made her want him even more. Her heart was drawn to him, even more so in hearing his words. Deep down she desired this. A real relationship, someone to dive in with, someone who could truly love her and that she could love back and even though her body protested in this moment, her heart was exalted. It beat rapidly in her chest, this time from the emotions bubbling inside and not just her physical desire.
"Alright. We'll wait," she responded quietly, eyes still locked with his. "For now."
"I think then, that I should say goodnight," he said reluctantly. "I'll see you tomorrow, bright and early OK? I'll swing by the shop with coffee," he said giving a quick kiss to her cheek before slowly backing away from her.
"Ok, see you then. 'Night," she said at last, walking into the apartment and slowly closing the door behind her. It was not going to be easy to fall asleep tonight.
He didn't disappoint the next morning. She saw him stroll in with two coffees a mere half an hour after she'd arrived. He handed hers over, making sure to brush her fingers with his as he did. He glanced around quickly and seeing they were alone, leaned in for a deep kiss.
"Good morning," he said smiling down at her after he'd parted from her lips.
"Good morning to you too," she said and after taking a sip of her drink added, "thank you for the coffee."
"My pleasure. And, this way I didn't have to wait so long to see you again."
He was so sweet and the butterflies reemerged in her stomach at his words.
"So, I was thinking," she said as she resumed work on the floral arrangement in front of her, "I want to plan our next date. Maybe tomorrow night?"
"I'd love that. What are we going to do?" he inquired with excitement.
"It's a surprise. Just dress casually," was all she responded with a twinkle in her eye. She'd come to find that while she wasn't big on being on the receiving end of a surprise, he was even if it wasn't a big production.
"Sounds great. I wish I could stay for awhile, but I really do need to get some writing done today. Talk later?"
"I'll give you a call when I get home," she replied and he leaned in to give her a quick goodbye kiss.
"I have to say, I love kissing you Kate."
She's sure she was blushing as she responded that she did too.
She picked him up at this loft the next night. She'd wanted to take him out for a ride on her motorcycle but it was almost Thanksgiving and the wind was a little too brisk to enjoy a ride this time of year. Maybe in the spring she thought and then smiled to herself as she realized she was making future plans in her head for them. She didn't usually allow herself that level of investment in a relationship, thinking that far ahead. It was so different with Castle.
He answered the door almost as soon as she knocked. He must have been waiting near the door for her. He was dressed in a dark pair of jeans and a blue plaid shirt, his hair just slightly tousled.
"Hey," he greeted her, allowing her to enter.
She pulled out a bouquet of calla lilies from behind her back and presented them to him. She knew it was untraditional for the woman to bring flowers, but flowers is what she did now. His smile bloomed back at her as he took them from her hand.
"Wow, thank you," he said in what appeared to be a mixture of awe and surprise at her gesture. "No one has ever given me flowers before," he said holding her gaze.
"Well, it's what I do, what I love, so I thought I'd share," she said simply. "Plus I know a couple of women who live here that might enjoy looking at them as well."
He stepped in to give her a sweet kiss and a squeeze of appreciation to her hand.
"I'm just going to put these in some water quick."
When he returned and was bending to get his shoes, she couldn't help but stare at his ass as he bent down to put them on. Though she avoided outright telling him, as he could often be slightly vain, she found him incredibly sexy.
"So, I hope you're hungry because we will be making a stop at our favorite Chinese place before our next destination," she said looking away before he stood again so he wouldn't catch her perusal of him.
"Starving! I was hoping you'd say we were going there. It's like you read my mind."
"Or, it's like I know you eat there every week and haven't been yet this week," she teased.
"You know me so well," he smiled back.
"Let's go," she said taking his hand and heading out the door.
"So," she said after they'd enjoyed their meal and were getting out of a cab at the still undisclosed location, "I thought that I could give you some hands on experience on a part of what it's like being a cop. Maybe it would help you in your writing."
He was confused for a moment until it registered with him that they were at a gun range. It appeared to belong to the police department as their insignia was on several of the walls. Looking around he not only saw a gun range, but what appeared to be a training or obstacle course.
"Kate, this is awesome! I mean, wow. Do we get to do this?" he asked referring to the training course.
"Yes, I may have resigned from the force, but I still have my connections," she said just as she was greeted by some uniform officers passing by who recognized her.
A minute later they were greeted by a detective that Kate obviously knew.
"Rick, this is Detective Javier Esposito. We worked on the same team for many years at the 12th. He's one of the best partners I've ever had," Kate said as the two men reached out to shake hands.
"Nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you," Rick said taking note of the man.
"Likewise," Esposito responded. "It's great to see you to Kate," he said turning back to her and enveloping her in a quick hug. "We haven't seen you much lately. I'm glad you called."
"It's great to see you too Javi," she said a warm smile filling her face. Rick could tell the man was fond of Kate. He looked at her like a brother would his sister. She'd shared stories of the man and antics from her time on the force and he was just as she'd described him. Rick felt the importance of this moment. She was letting him into another part of her life. She'd shared enough with him to know that her partners were basically family.
"I do have to I tell you bro," Espo said turning back to Rick, "You hurt my girl here and you answer to me."
Kate swatted him in the arm as a look of panic quickly came and left Rick's face at the other man's words.
"Not to worry. I have no plans to hurt her, ever," he added for emphasis. Deciding he believed him, Espo continued on.
"So, I understand you have a little training in mind for tonight?" he asked Beckett.
"Yeah, thought I'd show him the ropes. Let him take a few shots," Kate responded.
"Ok, let me get you two set up and I'll let you be. Don't want to get in the way of such a romantic evening," the detective teased her.
"Shut up Espo," she responded and then added, "Thank you."
