Sitting on the couch with Mari Foster, Julia was playing with Stephanie Welsh's puppy. They were helping it stand up on its back legs, before they pet it, uncurling its tail to watch it curl up again, which the puppy seemed to enjoy. She was watching Mari trying to keep the puppy from licking her face and laughing when someone sat next to her. At first she didn't pay the person any attention, guessing it was either her mother or Castle.
"That puppy is pretty cute," Brian Bay said to the little girl.
Tensing up immediately, Julia looked at the man and scooted over closer to Mari, taking the puppy from her. She didn't say anything, just pet the Pug and let it lick at her cheek before she buried her face into its fur, hoping he would leave her alone.
"You know I'm trying to talk to your mom," Brian said gently. "How about I go with you to talk to her?"
Julia didn't say anything then, but merely gave Mari the dog before she slid off the couch and ran away as fast as she could. She had no idea where she was going, but when she reached the family room she wove her way through the guests, and grabbed someone as tightly as she could.
"Excuse me for a second," Castle said quickly to the people he was talking with. He picked Julia up and carried her to the stairs which were empty of any guests at the moment. "What's wrong?" he asked the little girl who was shaking a little.
"He wanted to get my mommy," Julia whispered. "He wanted me to get Mommy."
Castle tensed up at that, and quickly calmed her down, knowing her fear wasn't an exaggeration. With everything she had been through, she seemed to sense when something was wrong a lot faster than most kids her age; especially when it involved a man. "Okay, then why don't we find your mom, and go home?" he asked her, not surprised when she nodded her head furiously. "Let's go look for her together," he said, trying to set her down but she wouldn't let go of him. He relented, and walked over to the dining room and kitchen, trying to find Beckett and hoping Violet's brother; who he knew already had scared Julia; wouldn't find her first.
As Julia was running off to find Castle, Beckett was standing with Rebecca Foster in the library where they'd ended up meeting after talking with Violet and Dylan Welsh. They were talking about their holidays, and Beckett was giving her basic information, until Rebecca suddenly nodded to her necklace.
"That's pretty impressive," the woman said.
"This? I bought it-" Beckett said.
"I don't think that's going to work," Rebecca said with a smile. "I know already about you two. So was there a ring to go with that aquamarine."
"You… how did you guess that?" Beckett asked in shock.
"You've been running your thumb along the bottom of your ring finger," Rebecca said as they both looked down at Beckett's left thumb doing that at that exact moment.
"Is it that obvious?" Beckett sighed, giving up then, having picked up that habit since she'd first started wearing the ring.
"Not really, I don't think the others here really care what's going on with you," Rebecca said. "Certainly not Fiona Jacks," she said in annoyance as she took a sip of her wine.
"That I noticed," Beckett said. "Is she always that… aggressive?"
"You don't care that she is?" Rebecca asked in surprise at her tone of voice.
"I know Castle," Beckett said. "He likes when women flirt, but not when they use really stupid overtures that she was saying."
"Well, you sound like you're pretty lucky," Rebecca said with a smile. "What about Julia?"
"He asked to adopt her," Beckett said simply, knowing that the woman had actually been asking if Julia was okay with the engagement. "We had to kind of assure Julia that it was a good thing; as was the engagement; but she's fine with it now."
"Then congratulations," Rebecca said. "I think right now though I'm in the mood for something sweet."
Beckett smiled after the woman, and turned to the shelves next to her before she headed towards the back of the room. There she found the fiction books, and she looked through the titles, not surprised to come upon Castle's books when she reached the C authors. She heard the scuff of a shoe on the floor, and she whirled around.
"Sorry," Brian Bay said, walking up to her with a smile that looked more like a smirk on his face. "I'm checking to make sure my sister's guests are enjoying themselves."
"I am, excuse me, I could use some more wine," Beckett said, her heartbeat speeding up a little as she remembered that they were alone. She tried to walk past him, when he took her wine glass from her and took her arm a little hard again.
"You don't seem to really want to talk to me," Brian said in a silky smooth voice. "I swear I'm not Jack the Ripper, I just want to get to know you a little better. My room-"
Just as Beckett was going to slap the man in the face, a voice from the door called, "Kate."
Turning rapidly, Beckett saw that it was Castle, and he was holding her daughter. She wrenched her arm from Brian's hand saying, "Excuse me," as icily as she could, and walked out, her shoulders squared as she tried to calm herself down. She didn't say anything until they were outside the room and at the landing of the stairs, turning to him.
"We need to go home," both spoke at the same time.
Looking a little confused, Beckett said, "Why do you need to go? I can take Julia back if you'll let me use your car."
Shaking his head Castle said simply, "I find myself not so much in a partying mood anymore."
"Oh, then I guess we should tell your mother and Alexis and go," Beckett said simply before Julia whimpered a little.
Nearly at the same time, Castle and Beckett turned and saw Brian at the top of the stairs. Putting his hand on her back, he ushered her down the rest of the way saying, "He's not going to bother you anymore."
Beckett was a little confused at first, wondering if he was talking to her or Julia. But they began to look for Martha and Alexis, so she was distracted until they had left the house after making their excuses to their hosts and saying goodbye to those they knew. All the time while Violet's brother was hovering around them, looking angry from Beckett's very obvious rejection. As they were walking to his car, Beckett asked Castle, "What happened?"
"We can talk about that later," he said simply. He got Julia in her car seat for Beckett, and when he was in the driver's seat, looked back at the little girl.
"I think she's alright now," Beckett said simply, looking back at her daughter with him. "Let's get back to the house though."
The drive back to the beach house, while short, was silent, Castle and Beckett trying not to mull over what had just occurred and Julia nibbling on the sleeve of her coat. When they were back inside the house, the little girl looked up at them and asked, "Do I have to go to bed?"
"No," Beckett said. "Since we didn't stay that long at the party, we can watch something together."
"Ooh, can I pick?" Julia asked, looking a little happier.
"How about Wingspan?" Castle suggested. "Your mom said it was alright to watch." When Julia nodded he then asked, "How would you like some dessert?"
"Yes please," Julia said immediately, almost before he had finished saying dessert.
"Go ahead and wait for us then…" Beckett began to say when Julia suddenly shook her head no furiously, grabbing her skirt before she held out her hand for her daughter to hold.
"I think I better tell you what went on with her," Castle sighed, having wished he could push the incident aside. He explained how Violet's brother had tried using Julia to get to her, and he finished saying, "So basically he saw trying to suck up to her as getting you to notice him."
"Then he's more of an idiot than I thought," Beckett said angrily. "Sweetie," she then said, kneeling slightly so she could be somewhat face to face with her daughter. "You did the right thing going to Castle, and I'm sorry I wasn't downstairs when you needed me."
"It's okay Mommy," Julia said earnestly. "I know Castle will take me to you. Did that man hurt you?"
"No, I'm fine," Beckett said, standing up. She jumped slightly when Castle raised the right sleeve of her dress and said, "He didn't hurt me."
"Are you sure? Because it looked like he had you in a pretty good grip," Castle said, though he didn't see any discolored skin.
"I was going to slap him before you came in," Beckett commented as he let her go. "I really should have kneed him, but you coming in was good enough. It got the point across."
"And without any possible assault charges from him," Castle said, shaking his head. "Since that's finished, why don't we get her dessert and start Wingspan before she needs to go to bed?" he asked, indicating Julia who was watching them closely.
"I don't know, sweetie, what do you think?" Beckett asked her daughter.
"I want dessert Mommy. Please," Julia said firmly. She smiled when her mother laughed slightly, relieved that she was alright. She giggled a little herself in response as they followed Castle to the kitchen, and while they were getting some coffee and hot chocolate made, she spun at the entrance to the room, wanting to watch her skirt bell out around her.
"I have a surprise for her," Castle said, sliding his hand very carefully over Beckett's waist, wanting to see if she could be okay with that.
Smiling; as she had quickly guessed what he was doing; Beckett turned to him and said, "And what is it?"
"Julia," Castle said, gently squeezing Beckett before he let her go. "Come here."
"Is my chocolate ready?" Julia asked, hurrying over to him.
"Not yet, but you didn't ask what we were going to have for dessert," Castle said.
"Oh, what are we gonna have?" Julia asked pleadingly.
Castle smiled at that, and stood up straight, going over to a cabinet where he pulled out some candy bars and a bag. "I've been saving these for a while… well, I forgot about them but just remembered. Sorry," he said quickly before Julia reassured him it was alright. "But they're from England," he then handed them to the little girl, holding back the bag.
"They are?" Julia asked eagerly, looking at the bars.
"They were made by Cadbury," Castle said. "And these," he told her, shaking the bag. "Are jelly babies."
"They are?" Julia asked again with a gasp. "They were George's favorite; they threw them at him here when they were singing. Oh, but they weren't babies."
"Jelly beans," Beckett said with a smile, guessing her daughter was trying to remember. "But how did you get these?" she asked Castle.
"A little shop on Lex, very small, with a lot of British stuff; actually from all over the UK and Ireland," Castle said. "I'll have to take you there when we're back in the city."
"Pick one thing for dessert sweetie," Beckett then told Julia. "The rest we'll save for another night."
"Kay, these," Julia said, pointing to the bag.
"Go ahead and set up the movie," Castle told them. "I'll take care of the drinks."
Beckett ushered her daughter to the family room, and started the movie before putting it on pause as they waited for Castle. As she sat next to Julia on the couch she cuddled her close and kissed her temple asking, "Are you okay sweetie?"
"Yeah, I wanna see Paul," Julia replied, hugging her back.
"You will right now," Castle said, coming up behind them. "Go ahead and start."
Julia jumped up and down until her mother started to read the words that came up on the screen for her. She clapped when Paul first appeared with a woman interviewing him, and whispered to Castle, "That's Mary."
"I know," he whispered back, smiling at her enthusiasm. He glanced at Beckett and reached over to her and brushed his finger tips along her neck, watching as she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, reaching up and squeezing his hand before looking ahead at the TV again.
"And did you see Paul riding the horsie? Linda was riding too," Julia was telling Castle eagerly as she started to jump up and down on her bed.
"I saw," he replied as he was waiting for Beckett to bring her daughter some water before tucking her in.
"It was like you and Mommy riding horsies," Julia said. "I wanna ride a horsie," she sighed deeply.
"When you're a little older," Beckett said, coming inside the room. She handed the glass to Julia and once she had taken a few sips she took it back, setting it on the nightstand before she saw her daughter was jumping up and down. "Okay, tomorrow you can ride your horse, right now though you need to sleep," she said, grabbing Julia and stopping her to her giggle.
"Good night Julia," Castle said as she walked unsteadily on the bed to him. He hugged her tightly and kissed her cheek as she kissed his, and he picked her up, cradling her in his arms before he slipped her under the covers.
"Did you have a nice time at the party before we left?" Beckett asked as she covered Julia securely.
"Yeah, I liked seeing Mari again, and the puppy was cute," Julia giggled. She then grew serious and asked, "Can't we have a puppy Mommy?"
"I wish we could, but we're not home that much, so it's probably better if we don't," Beckett said; having had to answer that same question a number of times already. "But remember, you do have Kauai."
"Is he okay?" Julia asked.
"Definitely," Castle answered. "He's probably enjoying having your room to himself; it has to feel like a mansion he's so small."
Giggling at that, Julia nodded and said, "Do I have to sleep?"
"Yes, but tomorrow before Castle and I leave we'll do something together okay? Just us two," Beckett said, leaning down to hug her daughter tightly. They shared a kiss and she pulled back saying, "Sweet dreams Julia, I love you."
"Love you Mommy," Julia said with a wide smile though it was a little sleepy. "Night Castle."
Waving from the doorway, Castle watched as Beckett kissed her daughter's forehead, and then walked over to join him. They watched Julia for a moment, then he reached around her to turn off the light before they left the little girl to sleep, Beckett closing the door behind them. Waiting until they were going down the stairs, he asked her, "Any plans for now? Still early."
"I was thinking about watching another of the movies you got for her," Beckett said, gesturing her hand to Julia's room.
"Great, which one?" Castle asked.
"The Anthology series," Beckett said easily as they entered the family room. "I saw you looking at it the other day. You don't have this?"
"It wasn't really something I thought of buying, or watching," Castle said as he took the first disc and went to put it in the player. "But when I was looking around for movies for Julia that was one that popped up."
"I've never seen this either, so it should be interesting," Beckett said. "I'm really wondering though if she'll be able to watch this right now."
"We'll soon find out," Castle said, playing the first episode on the disc before he went to sit next to her. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and as they were watching he couldn't help but remember seeing her with Brian Bay in the library of the Welsh's home. It also didn't help that he couldn't stop himself from stroking her upper arm, right where the man had grabbed her.
"So if this follows the same path as the first two episodes," Beckett said, sitting up once the second part of the show was finished almost two hours later. "I really don't think I can let her see this until she's much older. Which is a shame, I know she'd love seeing them."
"She does have their first two movies," Castle commented, standing up to put the disc away. As he did so, he turned to Beckett and said, "You're okay?"
"What, you want me to be screaming in terror, demanding charges be brought up against him for attempted assault and solicitation?" Beckett asked, confused that he was bringing that back up.
"Solicitation? What the hell did he say to you?" Castle said, startled to hear that.
Beckett sighed, knowing she couldn't really lie to him at that point, and said, "He mentioned his room down the hall. That's it, it wasn't anything serious and you cut him off when you came to the doorway with Julia."
"It's still solicitation," Castle said angrily.
"It's not, I was kidding Castle," Beckett said, surprised at how irate he'd become. "It was a pick up line, and an epic failure at the same time. So don't start running back to the Welshes and start trying to start a duel with him."
"That's not what I'm going to do," he told her. He threw the DVD case down on the coffee table and said, "But you're just going to let him go without-"
"My rejection of him is the only thing that will get to him," Beckett said, standing up then. "If I had screamed for help, or tried to fight back it would have made things worse."
"Then it was a good thing I got there in time," Castle said.
"I would have been able to handle him," Beckett said, trying to control her own anger. "Or what, you think I would have just swooned at his feet and been powerless to do anything else."
"No, but you didn't even try to fight back," Castle said.
"Do you think I was asking for it," Beckett asked, her heart twisting sickeningly at the realization of that. "Do you think I invited his overtures, his… touching me? Are you out of your mind?"
"You didn't do a thing to stop him before," Castle said, his voice rising in volume; as had hers. "You could have easily told him you were taken."
"That was pretty obvious because for a while I didn't go too far from you," Beckett said. "I thought he realized that and I did want to talk to Rebecca Foster. Did you want me to scream out that I'm going to eventually be your wife? Or call for you to help me?"
"Yes," Castle said simply.
"I can't believe you, Castle, I'm not going to listen to this because you're being ridiculous," Beckett said, shaking her head. "I can take care of myself and I don't think I need to hear this macho spiel from you. Especially when I thought you were better than that. I'm going to bed, and I'll be taking the extra bedroom. Goodnight." She had never felt so angry at Castle before, having thought he admired her strength. But as she reached the doorway and took one step out into the hall she stopped abruptly, turning to him. "This is about Harris isn't it?" she asked as she saw he had his face buried in his hands.
"Yeah," Castle said, his voice hoarse as he looked at his hands. "I'm sorry about that Kate," he said, suddenly standing. He wanted to go over to her, but hesitated, not sure if she would want him to. "But seeing him, the way he was with you, it brought back the report about what happened to you in Queens."
"You would think we'd be over this," Beckett said, walking over to the couch and sitting down, motioning for him to do the same. She was a little dismayed when he sat, and there was a space between them. To correct that, she turned, so their knees were touching.
"I know you could have easily, very easily taken care of yourself with him," Castle said quickly. "But seeing the way he was touching you…"
"You got jealous too," Beckett supplied.
"A little," Castle said honestly. "I couldn't really help it; you don't really have anything to tell other men you're not exactly… single."
"I would say being engaged means I'm definitely not," Beckett said, smiling slightly. She felt a slight sense of relief when he smiled briefly back at her, and she said, "But I know I'm not single Castle, and if I don't wear the ring, you should consider this as good as an engagement ring."
"The pendant?" Castle asked, seeing she was tapping her finger on the aquamarine. "You make a good point," he said.
"Of course I do. But I'm being serious, I'm going to remember very easily that I really don't want to find someone else, I'm happy where I am," Beckett said simply.
"That'll be what I'm thinking too, whenever I see this," Castle said, holding the pendant up against his fingertips.
"Copy-cat," Beckett teased him. She smiled when he frowned at her, but it quickly slid into a smile as he took her hand. She was a little surprised when she suddenly felt the cool band of the ring sliding down her ring finger, and she looked down at it as she squeezed her hand around his.
"I'm sorry Kate," Castle said, not sure how else to word that except as simply as possible.
Hearing the very earnest tone of his voice, Beckett nodded and said, "I know. But are we set now with this? Harris and us?"
"For the moment," Castle nodded. "I think though that we're always going to have some… tension with that, it seems to be the way we are."
"True, but it makes things a little interesting," Beckett said with a smile. "Although I could do without the fights. But," she shrugged. "Good luck with that."
"Yeah," Castle chuckled softly. He leaned over and brushed his lips against her gently, slowly, trying to see if she was okay with it. He was a little startled when she threw her arms around him, and he was suddenly lying back on the couch. But that was enough for him, and he deepened the kiss, feeling her fingers sliding up his neck, nails raking, and making him shudder in pleasure.
When they pulled away, Beckett wasn't too surprised when Castle grabbed her hand, and took her upstairs to their room. Inside, she went to the bed, sitting at the end of it while he closed and locked the door. Crossing her legs, she smiled as she watched him turn on the fire before coming over to her. She was going to stand, but when he knelt in front of her she stopped herself, waiting to see what he would do. "You do know I took your apology right? I forgave you," she said quickly when he picked up her right foot and proceeded to unbuckle the strap on her shoe.
"I'm aware of it," Castle said simply as he pulled it off, letting his hand slide along the bottom of her foot. He did the same with her other shoe, and once they were off, kissed at her ankle before he slid his lips up her leg. He could easily hear the sound of her breathing, growing a little faster, and from time to time suddenly pausing. He went up to the point where the hem of her dress began, and began to slide his hand underneath it when she grabbed him.
Moving his hand away easily, Beckett stood and walked over to her side of the bed, knowing he was following her. She tensed for a moment when he grabbed for the zipper on the back, and she hurriedly turned around, kissing him deeply to distract him.
A little in shock when she suddenly pulled away, Castle recovered quickly, toeing off his shoes as she slid his jacket off his shoulders. He followed her onto the bed, trying to slide his hand under her dress again. But she stopped him, pulling his arms to wrap around her waist as she kissed him deeply again. He wanted to get her undressed at the very least, but as they were touching each other, he decided he could let it wait; if only for a short time.
As Castle moved to lie on top of her, Beckett found herself having to push or move his hands away from her. She had a feeling he still wanted to in some way make up for what he had said during their argument, but she wanted something completely different. She arched her neck as his lips moved over it, and she felt his hands under her, unzipping her dress. She was able to realize what he was doing, and she quickly stopped him by running her hands over his neck before slipping one under his shirt.
"Kate," Castle groaned against her lips as he was forced to grab her tightly. He had managed to get the dress open enough to slide it down her shoulders a little, but since the entire dress was incredibly tight, it wasn't enough for him. He still kissed around her collarbone, down as far as the neckline had gone, a little annoyed when he discovered it stopped from exposing her breasts. So he went back up to her lips, and kissed her hard, reaching down to try; yet again; to get under her skirt at least.
Grabbing his hand, Beckett entwined their fingers together, finding it easier to control him doing that. She gasped and pulled away from their kiss as he suddenly moved, rolling onto his back, his lips all over her neck. But she could feel his free hand on her back, sliding down it and spreading her dress further apart. To quickly regain control, she moved away from him, lying on her back as he hurriedly moved to follow her.
"Let me…" Castle started to say, trying to grab the sides of her dress to start pulling it down. But when she took his wrists and pulled them away he quickly took them from her grasp, and slid his hands underneath her, trying to content himself with just touching her skin. He wasn't too surprised when she kissed him, and he was swift to respond before he reached up and grabbed the short sleeves tightly in his hands.
Holding onto his wrists again, Beckett opened her eyes as he pulled away from her. They stared into each other's eyes, for what seemed like an eternity, before he took her lips with his own, and hard. She let him, as it allowed her to get him to let go of her dress. She ran her fingers through his hair then once he had relaxed his grip on her, and she became a little unsure of where his hands were until he pulled away slowly, their breaths mixing in between them.
"Kate, please," Castle said, not really caring that he was outright begging her. He was too excited and needed her too badly to waste time. He was surprised when she pushed him up off of her slightly, thinking for a second that she was angry at what he'd said. But as he watched, she managed to make her way out of the shoulders of her dress, and he reached down immediately, pulling the bodice from her chest.
Cupping his face in her hands, Beckett drew him to her lips for a careful kiss. She was relieved when he didn't try to force her to hurry, and to reward him in a way she took his right hand and drew it down in between their bodies. As his hand palmed her breast, she shook for a second, the sensation like a jolt of energy in her that made her entire body react. She wasn't surprised when he moved down then, replacing his hand with his mouth. She almost smiled, as that had calmed him down more than anything else she could have done, but the pleasure that she was getting from him stopped her.
Sliding his hand up Beckett's neck as moved up, Castle kissed her deeply before pulling back and watching as his put his hand on her abdomen, under her dress. He felt her tense but very quickly relax, and he pushed the black fabric down, checking to make sure that she was alright with it. When she didn't move or protest, he decided he didn't want to go slowly anymore, and he hurriedly pulled it off the rest of the way. He helped her with his shirt, before they seemed to be in a race to undress each other. He laid her back as soon as they had finished; helping her with the rest of his clothes since she had been wearing far less than him; and he moved to cradle his hips against hers, not entering her yet, wanting to see what she would do.
Nearly smiling, Beckett was careful not to let her frustration show up on her face, and instead she reached up in between their bodies. She touched his chin with a light brush of her fingertips, then slid them down his neck and to his chest. She let him kiss her as she wrapped her leg around his waist, and allowed the other to bend slightly at the knee. When he pulled away; and realized how she had positioned herself; she watched him move carefully. But before he could get close to entering her, she easily stopped him by placing her hands on the small of his back.
Groaning as he realized what she was doing again, Castle finally couldn't control himself, and though he knew he was taking a risk, he grabbed her wrists, and placed her hands flat on the bed next to her head. He kissed her hard, feeling the bruising pain in his lips as he shifted his body slightly. He nearly groaned again, and held her wrists with one hand above her head before he thrust hard into her, hoping that he wasn't hurting her as he was doing so. He let go of her then; since there was no reason for her to stop him; and he began to move, any idea he'd had earlier of taking his time and going slowly flying out the window with how far she had pushed him.
Beckett held on to him tightly, easily moving with him since she had pushed herself as well with how she had held him off. But she found that the wait had been well worth it, and she turned her head, kissing him, trying to find a way to express to him what he was making her feel. Her body was burning, and he was making her almost writhe under him in such a short time she wondered if they were really going to be able to hold off what they were making one another feel for very long. She tried not to think about that, instead letting herself focus on how he felt, moving very rough and quick against her. His lips and right hand were moving around her upper body, and she had to stop him, wanting to draw things out further to keep feeling what he was doing to her.
Looking down at her, Castle suddenly flipped them around so he was lying back where she had. But it didn't last long as she sat up, pulling him with her while he held on tightly to her back. He let her lead him to breasts, but before he went to them, he teased her, kissing around her skin above before finally taking pity on both her and himself. He kissed and nipped at her skin, hearing her reactions as she would let out a short gasp. Pressing his hands on her back, he pulled her tightly against him as he took her nipple into his mouth, and felt her nails dragging along his scalp in response. He wondered if he might have had a little too much to drink at the party; and her as well; as they were moving even faster than they had before.
Feeling herself faltering a little as the rhythm she had initially set up was starting to become too hard to keep, Beckett was relieved when Castle moved them again, laying her on her back. That time she wrapped her arms and legs around him, kissing him before he roamed over her lips, neck and chest, before he once again switched their positions. He kept doing that; what she knew was a way to keep focus off the intense pleasure generating from where they were coupled together; and she had a hard time remembering if she was on the bed or sitting up with him. She kissed him hard when she was lying beneath him, feeling their tongues drag against each other before they pulled apart. She didn't let him get too far; only long enough for them to get a quick breath of air; before she crushed her lips to his.
When they needed to breathe, Castle pulled back, but only enough to bite her lower lip in his teeth. As she cried out at that, he proceeded to lightly nip at it, feeling her nails digging into his skin in response. He pulled back enough to look at her, seeing her lower lip was heavily swollen. He couldn't stop himself, and he kissed her harder until he had to wrench himself away, gasping for air. He pressed his lips to her neck, going down to her collarbone, nipping at that before he pushed himself up off her enough so he could reach her upper body.
Feeling Castle taking her hands, Beckett allowed him to, and felt his hand grasping her wrists tightly. She opened her eyes and looked at him then, seeing his eyes were staring intently into hers. She almost couldn't breathe for a moment, and she tried to take her hands from his grip. But he wasn't letting them go. She tried to move, tried to get him to let go of her, but he wasn't helping her. She let her frustration out in a heavy moan of his name, and was startled when he immediately let go of her. Before she could react though, he was kissing her, his right hand cupping her breasts and caressing them intently to her cries of joy.
Out of the blue, Castle suddenly stopped moving, putting his hand on her hip to stop Beckett from doing so too. When she looked up at him in bewilderment for a moment, he couldn't blame her; the abrupt ceasing of the very rough and sharp thrusts of their bodies against each other was a shock. But he wanted to try and add to what she had started earlier. He leaned down, kissing around her neck before working his way up to her chin and to her lips where he kissed her slowly, sensuously before pulling back. "I'm-" he began to whisper.
"No," was all that Becket could say before he began to thrust again. She arched her back, knowing they were not going to last, unless he stopped again, and she hoped that he wouldn't, she was tired of fighting it, trying to push back their inevitable climax. She took his hand then, and slid it in between them, a little startled when he ran it over her stomach, making her whole body burn from his touch. But he managed to reach in between them, and at first teased at her the swollen nub between her legs. "There… please," she whispered heavily.
"I love you," Castle said against her lips before he kissed her again. He felt her stroking his hair before hooking her hands onto his shoulders, and he moved a little faster, deciding they'd wasted enough time dancing around the end. When he moved down to the junction of her neck and shoulder, he felt her turn her head and duck down before she was suddenly biting on his ear lobe before she began to nibble at it.
Pressing her lips against his lobe, Becket whispered, "I love you Castle," before something inside of her broke, and she was letting out what she guessed might have been a shout, but the sound of her heart beating in her ears was so loud, she couldn't tell exactly if that was it or not. It didn't matter though, a sense of ecstasy rushed through every inch of her, leaving her almost delirious, and she held tightly to him, trying to keep herself anchored to that moment for as long as it lasted.
Groaning out her name loudly, Castle moved harder against her than before, just barely hearing the sounds of their hips smacking into each other. But he knew she was enjoying it, and he didn't try to think or consider what they had done until everything stopped, which felt as if it took forever, and felt as if it was an instant at the same time. But finally he was able to turn his head, and he kissed her sensuously again, wanting to enforce what he had told her, as he took her hand, entwining their fingers tightly.
"So," Beckett said when they had finally pulled away to breathe. "We're finished with the argument, you've apologized, I forgave you and we're set with that right?"
"Almost," Castle began hesitantly as he lay on his side next to her and she turned onto her side, facing him. "Well, I don't know if you'll slap me in the face for this, but I can see why you were being stared at so much tonight. You looked stunning."
"Stared at by Bay?" Beckett asked.
"Other men too," Castle said. When she looked at him questioningly he said defensively, "What? I couldn't help notice, and it was as I was looking away from you that I noticed those guys not looking away."
Shaking her head as Castle's voice became angry at the end, Beckett said, "Thank you for your compliment, actually that was the only dress I had that was clean with me."
"Yeah… I'm wondering, how did you get into it, that thing was tight," Castle asked, stroking the small of her back.
"I got out of it didn't I?" Beckett asked with a slight smile. She couldn't help but smile even wider when Castle shuddered at that and she leaned over, kissing him. "You know I didn't-"
"I know," Castle said quickly, knowing she was going to say something about how she hadn't wanted the men at the party to ogle her. "In the end though, I went home with you, so that must tell them something."
"Isn't it the other way around?" Beckett asked in amusement. She tensed slightly when his hand slid from her back to the side of her breast, his thumb sliding up and down her skin and making her shiver.
"Cold?" Castle asked, not really realizing it was his touch that had made her do that.
"A little," Beckett said, watching as he sat up and pulled at the covers. While he was covering himself she said, "Before I had to deal with Bay, Rebecca Foster and I were talking in the library. She was able to guess this," indicating her ring.
"How?" Castle asked, though he wasn't too surprised the woman had been able to do that.
"She saw the necklace, and remember when we saw them in the restaurant I didn't have it, she guessed it was a gift. And apparently I've picked up the habit of rubbing my thumb along my ring, I was doing it still even though it wasn't on," Beckett explained
"She's smart, David too," Castle said. "He congratulated me when we were left alone in the dining room once Fiona Jacks got off my back," he said, rolling his eyes as he remembered the woman who hadn't left him alone for a while. "Though I'm sure Rebecca guessed I might propose around Christmas."
"Like you said, she is smart," Beckett said. "She seems to guess what I'm not saying when we exchange e-mails. It's a little unnerving to tell you the truth, but she's a good friend so I'll allow it."
Castle merely nodded at that, his hand was back on her side, his thumb lightly running across the side of her breast again. They were quiet for a while, he finally said simply, "Earlier."
"What about it?" Beckett said. "And how early are you talking about?"
"You should really consider becoming a dominatrix," Castle said. "You were teasing the hell out of me."
"I was, but here's the thing, I wasn't humiliating you," Beckett said simply, reaching up and moving his hand down to her waist. "I have other ways to do that; but here I prefer to be slightly equal."
"Slightly?" Castle asked, pulling her closer to him.
"I have to do something to keep you in line once in a while," Beckett said, smiling as she leaned in to him.
"I think," Castle said before moving to kiss at her neck. "This is one of those times," before he covered her lips with his, kissing her deeply as he rolled onto his back, taking her with him.
"Is it?" Beckett asked when they had stopped. She was going to speak, but was cut off slightly when Castle's hands began to run over her back. "Maybe you're right," she said quickly. They kissed each other passionately at the same time and she pulled Castle up with her as they very easily slid into their lovemaking. Taking their time, they seemed to forget that he had essentially given her control as they were making love as they had before and sharing that control.
Some time later, Castle slid his hand over Beckett's abdomen as he lay behind her, kissing the back of her shoulder. "I don't think you really need any extra effort to make me behave when we're like this," he whispered into her ear.
Laughing slightly, Beckett nodded and said, "I don't think so either, which is nice to know." She reached down, and squeezed his hand before they entwined their fingers at the same time. She glanced back at him, kissing him gently before he moved to deepen the kiss. When they parted, she felt him getting comfortable, and she closed her eyes, falling asleep to her lips still feeling the echoing touch of his.