I adore Mardi Gras. I LOVE it. It's like a weeklong Halloween for adults! What could be better?
Beckett held on fiercely to Castle's hand as they plunged through the crowd. To say that the streets were busy would be a gross understatement; every square inch of pavement was filled with dancing, laughing, half-drunk revelers bedecked with cheap necklaces and colorful shirts. Banners, streamers, and beaded strings of purple, green and gold hung from window to window, over the street, dangling from cart covers and balcony railings. Cajun bands played on every corner, moving people to spontaneously dance to the music, as everything from modern rap to Zydeco blared from radios placed in open windows above. It was a madcap swirl of alcohol, color, music and laughter.
The rebellious part of Beckett, the bad girl that still resided deep down inside of her, nudged her towards the parades and dancers, the drinking stalls and carnival games. And if they were there for vacation, she would have. She would have dragged her all-too-eager boyfriend around until there wasn't a narrow, winding street in the city they hadn't covered. But they weren't there on vacation. They were there on business; business that was, annoyingly, extremely difficult to do at this moment.
It could only be the work of a darkly humorous God that made it so their informer was here, at this place, at this time. Beckett was half-certain that somewhere above the stars a big old guy on a golden throne was laughing his ass off.
"Why the hell did this Mama Odie have to be in New Orleans during fucking Mardi Gras?" Beckett grumbled – well, shouted, really. It was the only way anyone had a chance of being heard over the collective racket.
"I think it's fun." Castle grinned. "Besides, it's kind of obvious; there's lots of money to be made for people like her with all the tourists around. Come and get your fortune told by a real Cajun mystic…" He intoned in a deep voice.
Beckett slapped him playfully. "Cut it out. Now, the necklace seller said that her shop was on Sheldon Row, just after Queen's Boulevard…"
"Which we are on now." Castle pointed out.
"So it should be around here somewhere!" Beckett growled in frustration.
A group of college students, clearly plastered beyond belief, staggered past, pushing Beckett into Castle, who stumbled and nearly fell, but managed to keep his balance while holding Beckett out of the way of the inebriated young adults.
It ended up being a fortunate turn of events, however, because Beckett was facing Castle and looked over his shoulder behind them. She frowned.
"Castle…" She said slowly. "Don't look like you're looking, but I want you to check out that guy standing by the hat stall. He's wearing a bulky brown-and-blue jacket and blue jeans."
Castle turned slightly, inspecting the back of his pants like he was afraid someone had spilled something on them. He turned back to Beckett. "The one with the five o'clock shadow who looks half-African American?"
Beckett nodded, smiling in case the guy could see her expression. "He was with us back when we were talking to the necklace seller, and I think I saw him near the Palmist stand, too."
"Do you think he's a part of the Jaguar Triad?" Castle asked.
"I think we're being followed." Beckett replied. "He must be watching to see if we're headed to Mama Odie's."
"Then let's not go there. Shake him off, convince him we're just here to have a good time." Castle responded. "If he thinks we're just another party-hardy couple, he'll back off and we can find our all-seeing enchantress later."
Beckett rolled her eyes at his description of the fortuneteller, but nodded. "Okay." She took a deep breath. "Convince him we're just here to have fun."
Castle nodded, grinning again. "It's Mardi Gras, Beckett; what else are people here for?"
With that, he pulled her in for a kiss. Beckett melted against him, letting him press her close and stroke his tongue along hers, nuzzling her when they broke apart. "C'mon, Kate." He whispered. "Let's have fun."
They tried some fritters and funnel cakes, sipped Mint Juleps, wore cheap beaded necklaces and took in the sights. Castle pulled Beckett in to dance at one point, and spun her around until she was giddy and lightheaded and felt like she was sixteen again, young and carefree, no dead mother, no cop duties, just her and the cute boy from school having a good time. It was more liberating than she cared to admit.
After about an hour, Beckett forgot about their mission. She forgot about everything. Castle always had a tendency to make her do that, but with the frenzied celebrations going on helping them out, Beckett completely left her detective self behind. She was wild and carefree. And she hadn't even had a beer yet.
She decided that she wanted to have a little more fun.
Pulling Castle down an impossibly tiny alley, Beckett began to kiss him. Castle stiffened and protested, saying something about work and all, but Beckett ignored him.
"Is that guy still following us?" She asked.
"Uh… well… yes." Castle stuttered.
"Then let's give him something to watch." Beckett winked. "Up the ante," She kissed his pulse point, "Make him absolutely certain that we're just here" She sucked at his collarbone, "To have fun."
Castle couldn't argue with that. He pressed her against the wall, his hands skimming up and down her sides. Beckett hummed appreciatively and nipped at his neck. Castle shuddered, his body immediately waking up as Beckett continued to keep him pressed up against her. Castle growled and grabbed her wrists, forcing her to release her hold on his shirt. He pinned her arms up above her head and pressed his mouth against hers, drawing her tongue into battle. Beckett lifted her hips to keep as much of their bodies connected as possible, making a sound of protest at her inability to move her arms.
"Castle…" She hissed warningly.
"What? This is fun for me." His trademark impish grin was firmly planted on his face as he licked his way down her neck.
Beckett's eye rolling was interrupted by a gasp as Castle's hand slipped under her shirt. "God, Castle, your hands are freezing!"
"Well then you should warm me up." He responded. Her skin was certainly warm enough to do that – she felt feverish all over, trembling and hot, burning even, shaking with pleasure as Castle's hand slid over her skin.
"Rick…" She breathed. She wanted to be wild and reckless, the way she had when she was nineteen. Only this time, she was doing it right. She was going to do it with someone she cared about, someone she trusted, someone that would be as out of control and crazy as she was, but would be there for her in the morning.
"Mmm…" Castle buried his nose into the crook of her neck, inhaling deeply. "Love the way you smell…" He murmured.
"Castle, could you please just…" Beckett couldn't finish her sentence. It was not fair, it was just not fucking fair that he could wind her up in ten seconds like this!
"Getting there." He assured her, slipping his leg in between her thighs, allowing her to rock against him and give her some relief. He released her wrists so that he could use run both hands over her body, the touch of his skin against hers only making her fever rage all the more. Beckett's hands gripped his shoulders fiercely, digging in her nails and rocking against his thigh.
"C'mon, Castle…" Beckett said coyly. Castle stopped creating hickeys and looked up at her.
"Don't give me that look." He warned.
"What look?" Beckett feigned innocence.
"The one where you purposefully try to seduce me. It doesn't work." Castle stated.
"Really?" Beckett ground against his thigh again, tipping her head back against the wall and smiling.
With a growl, Castle stood up to his full height and kissed her again, removing his hands from her body to undo his pants. The fever in Beckett's body reached new heights, like flames reaching for the sky, crackling and roaring with rage at the loss of contact. She fumbled with her own pants, her hands shaking too badly for her to accomplish much. Castle helped her out, and then they were both free. Beckett clawed at his back, pushing him up against her, trying desperately to feed the inner flames.
Castle's movements betrayed the frequency with which they performed this maneuver. Beckett groaned, finally feeling her fever begin to shift. It mutated, no longer a raging wildfire but a star, a ball of flame all focused on one particular point, pulsing and raging and bubbling until there was nothing left but instinct. The instinct to move, the instinct to touch, to feel, to be filled with him in every way possible, be it by touch or sound or sight or taste or smell.
And still the fever raged, consuming all, taking everything and demanding more until she couldn't give it more, there was nothing left to give, and she was burning up, burning like the sun, melting and crackling and nothing but pure heat until…
One burning point; on final, glorious moment of pulsing heat and then the fever began to abate. A feeling of wild beauty, of raw euphoria, replaced the previous fire in her veins. Her skin cooled deliciously, as refreshed as if plunged into a waterfall, and her every nerve sang with pleasure and release. She was giddy and exhausted, but the ache in her bones was a good ache, a wonderful one. She felt like a forest reborn after a storm of fire.
They carefully detangled themselves, Castle's breathing slowly coming back under his control. His t-shirt was stuck to him in places, as was hers, and their hair was properly disheveled. Beckett loved it. She didn't even bother fixing herself up as she put her pants back on. Let the world know what they'd been up to – it wasn't any different then what fifty or so other couples had done, or would do, that evening, and she was still feeling a little wild. Judging by the look on Castle's face, he wasn't opposed to prancing around New Orleans as-is either.
"Is he gone?" Beckett asked breathlessly.
"Yup." Castle chuckled. "Pretty sure he cleared out right around the time you started riding my leg."
Beckett groaned, leaning her head against his shoulder. "Thank God Ryan and Espo will never know about this." She laughed.
"For twenty bucks they won't." Castle joked.
She hit him.
"Ah, apples! You know I wouldn't tell about this." He reminded her.
"Of course you won't; you value your life too much." Beckett grinned.
She was never going to get tired of seeing him smile.
"C'mon, Castle; let's go find our witch doctor." She winked, leading him back out into the whirling, swirling, crazy crowd of revelers.
Anyone catch the Disney reference in there? I was going to have this whole case part, about how they needed the fortune teller to identify a possible gang member for their murder case and blah blah blah, but then the smut just became SO much more important and really, who cares about whodunit anyway? There's sex to be had, people!
I sound like such a whore. Oops. *insert winky face here*