Rick fisted his hands on the lapels of his coat, but he wasn't cold; he was much too excited to be cold.

The text she'd sent said to wait for her in the alley on the left side of the 12th precinct. The alley he was in right now. He assumed she would get him in through one of the emergency exits, since the main door had to be locked at - what time was it now? Oh, half past ten.

An emergency exit. How cool was that?

She was going to sneak him in like a secret agent, like a-

As if on cue, a door opened a couple yards away, a stern grey door that creaked as Kate slid her slender body through the opening, cast a look around.

He jogged towards her, knew he was beaming but couldn't help himself, not even at the slightly hesitant look on her face. Her hair was mussed, liked she'd had a long day and run her hand through it more than a couple times; it was completely adorable.

"Hey," he said brightly, bouncing up the couple steps that led to the door she was holding for him. He didn't let himself think about it - he leaned in to press a quick, sloppy kiss to her lips, noticed the surprise in her wide eyes before he turned to walk into the precinct.

The corridor was dark, the only light coming from the emergency exit sign, and hell - he was loving this. When the door slammed, Kate came to stand at his side, her face bathed in that pale green light, the angles sharper, cheekbones standing out, her eyes unfathomable pools. All he wanted was to kiss her again.

"Where's that sexy uniform of yours?" he asked, realizing she was wearing plain clothes instead of the blue he'd found so appealing earlier.

"I changed," she said, like it should be obvious. "I usually do when I'm off duty, Castle. My uniform's not exactly the most comfortable thing."

"But it's hot," he pouted, couldn't help picturing himself taking it off her-

"Yeah, well. Sorry to disappoint," she said, her voice short, a little strained. "So, Vice floor's empty. I checked. We can start there," she offered, so matter-of-fact, like she was actually a freaking tour guide about to give him the history of the place.

No, no, no. It wouldn't do. It wouldn't do at all.

Rick fully turned his body to hers, stepping forward, and his mouth stretched into a smirk when he realized she wasn't moving back. She wasn't looking at him either, but he could see even in the faint light how shallow her breathing was, could see the lovely curve of her throat as she swallowed.

Oh, she had it pretty bad, didn't she?

He threaded a hand into her hair, curled his fingers at her nape so he could orient her face towards his, and he slanted his mouth over hers. She parted her lips immediately, so hot and responsive, all of her lifting up into him, tongue and breasts and hips, that gorgeous body so tight against his.

Shit, forget about the tour - he just wanted her.

He pushed her against the wall and she growled against his lips, sexy and dark, making his blood pound with need. Her fingers were fisted at his coat, too many layers away from his skin, but he couldn't think clearly with her tongue in his mouth.

He slid a hand under her shirt and was pleased to find she wasn't wearing anything underneath. Apparently she didn't need any more layers; the city cared enough about their protectors to keep the precincts warm in the deepest of winter.

Castle had no issue whatsoever with his tax money being spent that way.

He skimmed his fingers over Kate's ribs, felt her shiver against his hand, arch into it. She was so very, very hot-

"So, how - safe - is this corridor, exactly?" he murmured against her mouth, his palm brushing over the cotton of her bra. He pushed his thumb against her skin, slid it under the cup, got a breathless moan for his troubles.

"Ah - pretty - pretty safe," she panted, teeth grazing at his lower lip. Her hands had dropped to his pants, hooked at the waistband, but they were not moving.

"No chance of one of your colleagues finding us down here, arresting us for public exposure?" Oh, that would have been rich - arrested inside the precinct itself-

"No," she breathed out, shivering when he licked a hot trail along her neck. "They all - they all get out the other way."

The other way?

"What are you saying?" he asked, feathering his lips over her jaw in between words. "This is your secret entrance, Kate? You sneaked me in using your secret passageway?"

She made a low, needy sound in response, hips canting into his, her hands working again - she was tugging his shirt out of his pants, reaching for his zipper.

Shit, she was so hot. He pushed a kiss into her mouth, ruthless, loving the way her tongue came up against his, fought for control. She gave just as much as she took, and he loved that about her.

He dropped his left hand to her thigh, palm spreading over the denim before he curled his fingers underneath, felt the ripple of muscle as he tugged her leg up; it wrapped willingly around his own thigh, the sharp dig of the heel like a lovely signature move.

"Haul me up," she urged, speaking into his mouth, not even breaking the kiss.

Her fingers were in his hair now, tightly wound, and he had to roll his lips at the delicious tension, the spark of pain mixing with the pleasure.

"Castle," she moaned, an edge to her voice that got his attention. "Grab my ass and pull me up."

Oh. Yes.

He did as he was told, all breath squeezed out of him when she adjusted her legs around his waist, the heat of her pressed just where he needed it.

"Oh yeah," she sighed against his cheek, her mouth open, the scrape of her teeth. "Oh." She rocked against him, her body so smooth, burning under his palms, and he crushed her into the wall, couldn't get close enough, not with their clothes on.

"Kate," he pleaded, not sure what he was begging for, just-

"Yes, yes," she chanted in his ear, caught the tender flesh of his lobe between his teeth.

Fuck, he needed to - he was not doing this again, not with the clothes-

He managed to squirm a hand down between their bodies, found the open fly of her jeans, wriggling his fingers under the fitted material - jeez, he loved her tight clothes, but they were entirely unpractical. And if she could just stop undulating those damn hips-

Oh, here he was. He grinned smugly, pushed two fingers down into her panties, felt the slick lace, the wet heat of her parting for him. Kate was gasping at his neck, her body suddenly gone still, as if in expectation of what he was about to do to her; he turned his head to brush a kiss to her temple, then slid a finger inside.

He could feel her inner muscles gripping him, could feel just how tight and ready she was, just at the edge; he would get her to fall.

"You feel amazing," he murmured, because it was true, and he had a feeling she enjoyed being talked to. The long shiver of her body against him encouraged him to go on. "So soft and wet, Kate."

She mewled, a tiny, tiny sound, her eyes shut tight like she couldn't take it, couldn't take the sight of him speaking the words.

"I want," she breathed, a sob, a tiny puff of air.

"What?" he nudged, his voice a caress. He added another finger, moved them slowly, slowly, out, and in again. "What do you want, Kate?"

"You," she said between clenched teeth. "You, Castle. Not - not-"

"Oh, you'll have me," he promised, smiling at her cheekbone. "You'll have me. But this first."

And he started rolling his hips again, in time with the rhythm of his hand in her panties, faster and faster, twisting and stroking until she was breathless, breaking against him, her body jerking, her moist, red lips frozen in an O of pleasure as she came.

He let her catch her breath, a hand around her neck, dropping light kisses over her eyebrow, her nose, her chin as the haze slowly dissipated. Kate gave herself a moment to feel again, revel in all those exquisite points of contact that sparked fire in her veins.

Then she opened her eyes, turned her mouth into his as her hand traveled down.

She felt him jolt against her palm, gasp into her lips, and she smiled.

Hmm, she had her legs around him, and there was no way she was moving them to get his pants off. But if she just unbuckled his belt, finished sliding that zipper open-

Surely that would be enough space.

She needed her other hand to work at the belt, because her fingers were still trembling; Castle laughed, but it was so shaky and tense a thing that she couldn't really take offense.

When she reached the soft silk of his boxers, she groaned in displeasure, so annoyed at the extra layer she had forgotten about. The boxers had an opening too though, thank god, and she carefully guided his erection through it. Her fingers slid over the delicate skin, the heated throb, wrapped around the base.

"Ah, Kate," he growled, his hips thrusting faintly into her hand.

It was exhilarating, the power she had over him.

And he didn't try to hide it, he didn't try to take back control, he just - lay it all out, his eyes closed as he enjoyed her ministrations.

Intoxicating.

She squeezed, once, twice, then let her fingertips run over his length even as her left hand cupped him. He was sucking air like a drowning man at her neck, sharp, desperate intakes, and she so wanted to press the flat of her tongue to him-

Some other time.

"Stop," he managed to get out, his voice thin, strung out. "Kate, stop, stop."

She stilled her hands, but didn't let go.

"Condom?" she murmured, since he had been so insistent the previous times.

"Oh. Yes. In my coat, inside pocket-"

Huh. Had she managed to make him forget about his precious condom? Kate smirked, so very pleased with herself, and felt for his coat pocket. His wallet was inside, a few condoms stacked in a carefully-closed compartment.

"Don't wanna lose them, uh?"

He didn't answer, just reached for the condom she'd taken out, ripped the package open with his teeth. Heat flared in her belly, flamed up, and she let his wallet fall to the floor.

"Wait," she said, staying his hand as he moved to sheath himself. "Let me."

She'd never done this before. The boyfriends she'd had all seemed convinced that dealing with the condom was the man's role, his preserve, and she held her breath, curious to see what Castle would say.

He didn't even argue. He surrendered the condom to her with a raw sound at the back of his throat, his eyes sliding shut at the gentle work of her fingers. Kate pulled her lip between her teeth, arranged the thin protection as slowly as she could; just doing that, being in charge and able to feel the way his breath caught at her touch-

It so did it for her.

She curled a guiding hand around him, but the angle was awkward, not enough room; she needed him to move back. "Castle," she whispered, her control wavering. "Scoot back."

His eyes slowly opened again, the blue drowned in dark arousal, his face so carefully held together that it made her ache for him.

"Just an inch," she told him. "Just a tiny bit-"

He put his hands at her waist, holding her in place while he shuffled back, and yeah, that was perfect. The tip of him at her entrance, just right-

He pushed inside slowly, never stopping, splitting her apart, and Kate had to fist a hand to his bicep, her whole body still, wound with how good it was.

"Fuck," he moaned against her temple when he was all the way in.

She arched in answer, wanted to feel every possible inch of him.

"Yes, please," she murmured in his ear, and she heard his laugh, a strangled, garbled thing, before his first thrust.

He took her by surprise, moved faster, harder than he had until now, and she couldn't help crying out, struck all over again by just how amazing it was-

"Gotta keep quiet if you don't want to get arrested," he panted into her mouth, but she couldn't tease back, she couldn't think of anything to say except his name, his name.

"Cas- Castle," she begged, whined, her head hitting the wall when he slid out and rocked back into her. Oh, oh, yes-

"You like it rough, Kate?" he asked in her ear, and shit, shit, his words coupled with the harsh reality of the wall at her back, the wet heat of the slides, how well he fit inside her-

He thrust once more, so hard, so good, and it was all she could take; her body clutched him, her head thrown back, her legs clamping over his waist as her inner muscles milked him, squeezed and squeezed and squeezed, never ending, his teeth at her shoulder barely registering amidst the white wash of her orgasm.

He couldn't hold himself up; he had to spin them around, then slide down with his back to the wall, Kate cradled in his lap.

His heartbeat wouldn't slow down.

Her chest was rising and falling against his, in time with his too-fast, shallow breathing, and they just stayed like that for a long moment, her forehead resting against his cheek, his hand loosely curled at her back.

He was still wearing his coat, he noticed inanely. No wonder he was so hot.

Right. They probably needed to get away from this corridor before they ran out of luck and someone found them. He rested his head against the wall, gathered as much willpower as he could find.

"Hey, Kate?"

She let out a long sigh, as if waking from a dream, and carefully pushed herself off him, setting her knees on both sides of his legs.

"Yeah, I know," she answered, pushing her short hair back with a hand. "How about we start the tour with the gym, uh? It's on this floor and we can use the bathroom to..freshen up."

Shit, her voice was so hoarse still. Gorgeous. And he'd done that.

"Gym, uh? Is that where you train that hot body of yours?"

The flash of her eyes at him, startled, aroused again.

"Yeah, Castle," she dropped, the corner of her mouth curling up into a smirk. "And I can take you anytime."

"I demand proof," he said, grinning, watched her as she got to her feet.

So tall, so sexy. She didn't even stumble on the heels, didn't look at him as she zipped up her pants, redid the buttons of her shirt.

He had to get up too, he realized, but he could feel his knees protesting the very idea.

"I'll give you all the proof you need," she said, lifting an eyebrow at him. She took a few steps to her right, then turned back, her eyes finding his.

"You coming or what?"

"Think I just did that," Rick grinned, but even as she rolled her eyes he was already scrambling to his feet in his eagerness to follow.

The gym was pretty basic, white brick walls and an equipment that looked more than a few years old, but just the knowledge that Kate used this place to keep in shape was enough to make it utterly interesting to him.

He snooped around while she used the bathroom, hurt his fist against the sandbag (damn, these things were hard), managed to do one pull-up before his feet hit the floor again, his shoulders burning.

Okay, so maybe he needed to start exercising a little more often.

Kate was taking a long time; he went back to the door she'd disappeared behind, hovered near until she came out. She gave him a surprised look.

"Could have come in, you know. Plenty of space."

He opened his mouth, not sure what to say to that, not sure if the way she meant it-

But she held the door open for him and he could see what he'd taken to be a bathroom was actually a long room with lockers, stalls, sinks and...

"Hey, you even have showers!"

She smirked at him, her eyes dark, too much knowledge on that face. "Don't hold your breath, Castle. Our showers are hardly fantasy material."

He bypassed her and went in, curious to investigate; but he was disappointed to find that she was right. More than right.

"Ew. No way I would shower in that," he winced, inspecting the no-longer white tile, the tiny space. "It's got to be a health hazard."

"Well, maybe you wouldn't be so regarding if your clothes were covered in blood," she threw rather off-handedly, making his head jerk back to her.

Oh. He - yeah. He was the type that looked at the brighter side of things, the glass half-full, and so when he thought of being a cop... He saw the awesome things, the gun, the getting to drive past the speed limit and run the siren.

He hadn't really wanted to think of the rest, not in association with Kate, young, beautiful, fascinating Kate.

"Did that...happen to you?" he asked, couldn't help the way his voice caught in his throat. "Your clothes covered in blood?"

Idiot, he thought the moment he had formed the words. She was a cop - of course it had-

But she didn't tease him for asking, didn't shrug off his question; she just leveled a long, thoughtful look on him, one that made him feel like she could see right to his heart.

"Yeah, Castle," she said softly. "Happened a couple times. Most of those it wasn't my blood, though," she added with a tiny smile, as if that should comfort him.

But it didn't; it did the opposite. He had to struggle to suck in a breath.

"Have you ever killed someone?"

Her face darkened, her eyes a sad, cloudy grey. "What do you think being a cop means, Castle?"

But she was so young.

"Who was it?"

She broke eye contact, dropping her gaze to the floor as she took a long breath.

"A guy who was dealing drugs in the street. We were going to arrest him nicely, but he - reached for his gun unexpectedly, had it trained on my partner's head, and I-"

"You did what you had to do," Rick murmured, feeling a swirling rush of guilt for making her tell him this.

After a pause she looked up at him, weary but confident still, unwavering. "I shot a couple people, you know. That guy's the only one who died so far, but there's bound to be others. I warned you. Not someone you wanna get to know-"

He cut her off with his mouth, lips working gently over hers, nothing like the frenzy from before. "As far as I'm concerned," he said quietly, holding her chin between two fingers, "maybe that drug dealer would have tried to sell to my kid someday. And maybe she'd have said no, and he'd have gotten his gun out anyway, and she'd have been the one shot dead in an alley. Don't think I'm not grateful, Kate. And I might not look like I do, but I realize how much it must have cost you."

He felt the little sigh she let out, a flicker of warmth over his lips, and then her hand was sliding up his chest, curling at his neck as she kissed him back, a long drink from his mouth, slow and deep and mind-numbing.

"I think we've seen enough of the gym, uh?" she whispered against his chin when she let him go, eyes opening again with a mesmerizing sweep of her dark lashes.

"Mmm, definitely," he answered, brushed a kiss to the corner of that beautiful mouth. "I wanna see the Vice floor now. You promised."

Something like surprise crossed her face, but it was followed by a smile, however faint. "I said maybe, Castle. That's not a promise."

"Sure it is," he said happily, tugging her from the wall, and towards the door. "You said maybe you would text me and give me a tour. You texted me, thus engaging to give me the promised tour."

She huffed a laugh, shook her head at him. "Your mind is twisted."

"And yet you love my novels," he shot back, lifted a smug eyebrow.

She swatted his chest, hard enough that he actually opened his mouth in protest - but she wouldn't let him. "That better be the last time you use this against me, Richard Castle," she warned. "Or next time your ear will be the one to suffer. And it won't be pretty."

Ohhh, that was scary. But kinda hot.

Kinda really hot.

She was waiting for an answer, her pointed gaze resting on him, and he nodded eagerly, would have done pretty much anything to please her.

"Now can we go see Vice?"

She laughed, all of her stern cop look melting away, and he just really loved that glimpse of teeth he got. God, she was stunning.

"Fine," she said. "But expect to be disappointed."

She lead him away with two fingers loosely threaded into his, her hips swinging in those tight jeans, and he wasn't sure how to tell her that he could never be disappointed by a place she was showing him into.