Her Name Was Elena by Oldest Man

Chapter 9

Castle's Summer Home
The Hamptons, Long Island

He sent Elena up to soak in her tub of near-boiling water (her preference, or so she said) while he cleaned up the disaster she'd made in the kitchen. The food had been superb, a total surprise but the mess she left – wow!

Wiping down the granite countertops was the last step in his routine. He wasn't a neat freak, he just didn't like coming down in the morning to clutter left from the previous night. He turned on the dishwasher and then walked into the living room and poured two large glasses of Vodka and set the alarms and went upstairs.

Castle knocked lightly at the partially closed bathroom door and pushed it open when she said 'it's about time. I need your assistance. Open your present and bring it and yourself over here.'

He tore open the plastic bag, imagining all kinds of weird things, and laughed. Inside was a rubber duck floating bath toy and a woman's plastic handled razor and a 'specially-formulated shaving crème just for women' or so the label read.

"Elena, you do know that I'm 40 years old, right?" He squeezed the rubber toy and it rewarded him with a authentic-sounding 'quack'. She started with her trademarked snicker that segued into an escalating series of giggles, chuckles and finally, full laughs.

"Here. Vodka. Blame it on the Vodka, right?" All he could see was her head above the bubbles, her hair twisted up into some loose arrangement on top, out of the water. She'd raided his linen closet and found bubble bath and used it. He was surprised and disappointed.

"Come. Remove your clothes and join me. It is large enough for 3 or 4 to be comfortable. Is this where you conduct your orgies that I've heard about?" She snickered again and took a healthy sip from her glass.

"No. We usually use the hot tub. That way no one is overlooked." He tried to be serious but failed.

"Rick, I want you – I want you to please shave my legs. It is difficult for me to reach some spots and I have not waxed since activating my mission and I feel like an ape. Please?"

"I'll be right back." He turned and left the bathroom and he heard Elena call to him, "Where are you going, Rick Castle?"

His reply spoke volumes. "To get another bottle," he replied. He stopped just inside his bedroom and looked down at his hands and noticed a slight tremor. His imagination provided him with a flash of a scantily-clad Elena, bare-legged – and covered with little bits of toilet tissue each place he'd nicked her.

'You've faced nasty divorce lawyers – twice - shootings, freezings and bombs. Running several strands of razor sharp steel across the smooth and bare thighs of a woman who wants you should be a snap, a cinch, a slam-dunk, a grand slam, a Hail Mary, a walk in the park, a – ENOUGH – just get on with it!'

Sometimes even his subconscious rebelled against his festinating.


Kate & Lanie – Girls' Night In [Continued]

"Let's recap what we know so far, Kate." Lanie wasn't exactly thrilled with all this but was putting on a good front hoping to coax Kate to face some harsh realities confronting her.

"He's with her right now, at his place, and they're probably naked and sweaty and going at it like rabbits. Probably going for a third or", Kate glanced at her father's watch, "or a fourth round."

Lanie glared at Kate with her time-tested 'I'm gonna smack you' look.

"That's not quite the picture I was hoping for. I meant, let's analyze the situation and examine why it exists and what can be done to improve it to your benefit. You do want Castle in your life, in your bed, right? It's not just a 'she has him so I want him' thing? 'Cause if it is, I'm going to find Esposito."

"Yes. I want him in my life and all that implies. I need him, Lanie, not just want him. He's my other half. He's strong where I'm weak and we complement each other. He has to be part of my life. We're partners."

"You're sure it's just not a jealousy thing? You made him feel small and insignificant and now he's found someone who thinks he hung the moon and seems to be taking your place. See what I mean? He was all those things you said while he was sitting beside you at the Precinct so why didn't you do anything about it then or were you just using him to 'complete' yourself?"

"Yes, I'm jealous! Wouldn't you be? We've been together three years and she's only been here what, a damned day, and they're off together for the weekend." She, of course, was blissfully ignorant of the facts of the couple's earlier meeting and fascination with one another for the month afterwards.

Lanie rolled her brown eyes and then fixed Kate with a glare. "You were NOT together in the way most people use the word. You worked together. You spent time together on cases and occasionally with him at the loft but you never had an acknowledged emotional relationship. That is a fact, Kate, and you ignored Castle in an emotional way. You have never been together with Rick, never. He's always been on the outside."

"Rick? Since when do you refer to Castle as anything other than 'WriterBoy, WriterMonkey, Castle', should I go on?"

"I try always to call him Rick or Castle when we interface at work. It's only when his back is turned that I use those other terms. Thinking out it, that's kinda hypocritical of me or at least unfair. The guys do it as a man-thing indicating good-natured humor. You do it as a dig, a way of diminishing him in your eyes and in those around you. I think I'm gonna stop saying that."

"Well, since he's no longer my annoying shadow…"

"See? That's exactly what I mean. Words mean something and to a man like Castle who makes his living using them, what you say hurts him more than it would others because he sees the meaning behind the word."

"Oh, please…"

"If he's annoying, why are we here instead of out in the world of single men, trying to find and hook up with Mr. Right – or in your case, 'Mr. Right Now But It's Only Temporary'?"

"But Lanie – "

Lanie picked up her drink and downed it and then turned to Kate. "Kate, that's it. You're a walking poster child for denial, for emotional constipation, for pig-headedness. I'm out of here. This is a waste of my time and I'm going to find Javier and show him the exact opposite of what we're talking about here. That boy is nevah gonna get the smile off his face. You call me when your mind is right but not until, Kate Beckett."

Kate was confused. 'What the hell just happened? I'm not emotionally stunted, and I don't demean him to make myself feel better. Do I?'


Castle's Summer Home
The Hamptons, Long Island

"Elena, I don't know if this is such a good idea. What if I cut you?" 'What if I lose all self-control? What happened to 'going slowly'?'

"You mean 'what if you do not stay the gentleman that you are and cast off the promise to 'go it slow?' Correct?" She had a strange smile on her face and then she sighed.

"Fine. Leave the razor and the crème and go do something for a little while. I cannot believe you won't help me. Of all the men I meet in America, I end up in the tub with the only one…never mind. I will do it myself. Leave, please. I do not want you to see me struggling."

He didn't understand what she meant but he did hear the embarrassment in her voice and it moved him to act.

His clothes were in a messy pile on the tile floor and he eased himself down into the very hot water. "I didn't know the water could get this damned hot!"

"Quit being a baby. Your skin will not bubble and slip off the bone like a chicken in the pot. Now, please sit down and begin. This is very much the right time to 'go slowly'."

Castle was thinking exactly the opposite. Get her shaved and then get out of the tub. Do not think, just make the razor – just make the razor glide over those smooth thighs…arghhh…

She lifted her right leg and pointed a surprisingly dainty foot at his face and said, "Begin please. Use the gel and do not worry so much, my darling man, if you nick me. I have been through worse. Please. Begin."

His hand encircled her ankle easily and for just a brief second he had an image of 'Olga on the Collective' standing by her beloved tractor – Olga who weighed almost as much as her tractor – big feet, big bones, just big.

"What is it, Rick? Is something wrong?" She knew it. She'd pushed him too hard, too quickly, and now her chance was gone.

"N – No. I just – your ankle is so feminine and almost – dainty but your calves are well muscled. I was just noticing."

"I trained in classical ballet with a subordinate company of the Bolshoi until I was 17. I am well conditioned, and will not break, Rick. Now, please continue before the water gets cold and icebergs appear."

The woman was a mass of contradictions. He was thoroughly lost and he knew it.

It was a big tub. He moved up in the tub and sat tailor-fashion and placed an ankle in the crook of his neck and smoothed the gel on her calf. Her skin felt like silk and he felt no evidence of 'nubs or stubs', just a lot of smooth silken skin. She shivered.

"Cold?"

"No."

Rick drew the razor slowly from the back of her knee down to her ankle and then repeated the process until one leg was done. He washed off the remaining gel and then repeated the process with the other leg.

"There. All done."

She snorted and fixed him with a playful glare. "Oh, please, Rick, surely you know that hair grows on the thighs also. Do you wish me to stand or…"

"Quit being a tease, Elena. You have no idea how hard – Whoa!" Her foot had slipped along the bottom of the tub and run up the inside of his thigh.

"I think I do, Rick. So stand or should I sit on the side of the tub? Hmmm?"