Four of a Kind
By
UCSBdad
Disclaimer: The Castle that I don't own is zero to the infinite power. Rating: M Time: In the very near future.
Chapter ten. We meet again.
Castle was standing in a tub contemplating what it would be like to be beaten to death by his wife when Kathleen brushed her lips against his.
"That was wonderful, Rick." She said in a low, sexy voice. The smile on her face faded as she suddenly noticed Kate, Kaitlin and Kay looking at her. "Jesus and Mary!" She cried. "I'm so sorry. He's your husband and I just…" She started wading towards the stairs, but Kate caught her arm.
"Kathleen, please remember that you are our sister and you're family to all of us. Don't do anything foolish. We want you with us for as long as you want to be with us." Kate looked past Kathleen at the other two women and narrowed her eyes. The women agreed that Kathleen should stay.
"Thank you all so much. But I should go back to my room. I'll see you tomorrow."
Castle tried not to watch her naked body leave the tub, water dripping off of her and all of her bouncing nicely.
"We need to go to our room as well." Kate said coldly.
They grabbed towels and robes as they left. As soon as they were back, Castle turned to Kate. "This was all my fault. Kate, I would never cheat on you, but there were three other yous. I was…I was…" Castle stopped. There was no use trying to talk his way out of this. All he could do was take his punishment.
Kate nodded. "I don't blame you, Rick. I can't imagine any male not being physically aroused by four women at once. And I was one of the four women." Kate kissed him softly. "I love you, Rick and I know that in an odd way that no one has ever experienced before, you love the three of them, or the three of me, or the four of us, or whatever it is."
She turned and faced the other two women. "I don't blame Kathleen, either. She's been abused for years. I've dealt with battered women before. They're so terrified of the man in their life that they'll do anything for him. But, I will have a talk with her."
Kaitlin stepped forward. "This is my fault. I actually…jumped Rick. I sexually assaulted your husband. Whatever punishment you want to hand out, I accept it."
"It's not all your fault." Kay said. "I was there, too. I'd have jumped him, too, if I could have, and I did my best to get off on Rick. I'm at fault here, too."
Kate nodded. "On one level, I'm beyond enraged about this. But, I remember we're essentially undercover. We're here on this Earth because we've been sentenced to death and are hiding. I know that the other Meredith said they have no monitors on this Earth, but she could be lying or maybe she doesn't know as much as she thinks she does. We're Rick's wives here and we should act like that in front of Kathleen and in front of strangers like the maids tonight. And you're me, and he loves all of us mes, if that makes any sense. So, I'm not going to make an issue of it. As long as it never happens again. Understood? Hugs and kisses are okay if necessary, but that's it. This will never happen again, do I make myself clear? Never!"
"I'm sorry." Kaitlin said. "I just lost control. I was so sad and lonely for so many years. And then your Rick somehow came into my life and I felt something between us at once. When he was shot he said he loved me and I knew I loved him as well, but when he recovered, he had no memory of me or anything that had happened. In the short time we had before I got…taken to another Earth, we became no more than acquaintances. We weren't partners, friends, lovers, or man and wife. Kate you're married to your Rick, and Kay and her Rick are in love, but I don't even know if I'll ever see my Rick again, or if he'll even want to see me. But I swear, I'll never do anything with your Rick again."
"Me either." Kay added.
"We should go to bed." Kate said. Castle was happy to get the night over with. But when he slipped into bed next to Kate, he found that she had slipped out of her nightgown. She reached for him and stroked him. "Ready for another round, lover?" She whispered.
"The other two are right over there." He whispered back.
"I know."
When they came down to breakfast the next morning, the conversation stopped and then resumed. There were a lot of hushed conversations and furtive looks at the Castles.
Phineas Finn was dining with his wives and waved them to his table. "Mr. Castle, you are indeed a man among men. I heard that last night…" Finn noticed he was looking at four grim faced Castle ladies. "Perhaps this isn't something gentlemen should discuss." He finished lamely.
Ryan joined them for breakfast and soon the two Irishmen were talking finance to Rick and the ladies.
"You're a wealthy man, Rick." Phineas said, "But you need to invest your money. The interest the local banks pay is not that much."
"What's there to invest in?" Rick honestly hadn't seen a lot in Mohawk Town that you could invest in. Most of the businesses were small, mom and pop type operations.
Finn thought for a minute. "This is not Europe where a man can invest in a factory, or a trading expedition to far lands. Why, in Europe they have limited stock corporations so you don't risk more than your investment. If you invest in trade, you don't invest in one ship, you put a little bit of money into twenty ships so that is one is lost, you don't lose your whole investment."
"What can we invest in?" Kate asked.
"Real property mostly. There are fine farms up river. And some wineries. You might look into investing on several of them. I know several honest estate agents. I can give you their names. You can find others, I'm sure."
"I can identify the ones that aren't honest." Kathleen said in a low voice, looking away from Rick. "Mohawk Town isn't that big. When I was with Tom, I was…" Kathleen blushed furiously. "I can be useful." She finally said.
"Thank you." Rick said, reaching over and squeezing her hand.
Hugh O'Donnell claimed to be descended from one of the ancient High Kings of Ireland. He was a tall, heavily built, florid man who looked like he knew which end of the bottle the whiskey came out of, but Finn, Ryan and Kathleen swore he was honest.
O'Donnell looked down his very red nose at Rick. "Nothing but the best, that's my motto, Mr. Castle. We'll be taking the Oneida Belle, a steamship, by the grace of God, just like they have in Europe, up the river. And, your wine can come down river on her and your goods can go up river faster than any canoe or bateau can go."
Castle and his three wives stood by the rail of the steamboat and watched scenery the likes of which no man had seen in their worlds in several hundred years. "The shore on both sides is almost deserted. Just some farms and the occasional small town." Rick said.
"Of course." Kathleen said. "What would you expect?"
The others said nothing, of course. And shortly O'Donnell and Ryan went inside to the bar. Kate noticed that Kathleen was staying apart from the others. She reached over and took Kathleen's hand. "Stand next to me, sister of mine. Stand with me and my husband."
Kathleen blushed furiously, but moved next to Rick. After a few minutes, she rested her head on his shoulder.
Rick figured they were somewhere around West Point when they got off the Oneida Belle. O'Donnell had a handsome carriage pulled by four black horses to take them the short ride to the winery Rick wanted to inspect.
O'Donnell stood inside the well appointed brick house that came with the winery and described the many acres, the well trained workers and the servants that came with what was obviously an estate, not just a winery.
The estate agent walked to the large front window to point out the houses for workers when he was thrown backwards and the air was split by the rattle of an automatic weapon.
"Get down!" Kate screamed, drawing a pistol from beneath her dress.
"Jayzus!" Cried Ryan. "What was that?"
Kaitlin and Kaye pulled out their pistols, as did Castle.
He noticed that Kathleen was down, and barely moving. "Kathleen! Are you okay?"
Her answer was drowned out by the roar of a long burst of fire.
"Kathleen!" Rick cried, crawling to her. "Are you hit?"
"Yes. In the chest. Don't worry about me. Help your wives."
Kate risked a look out the shattered window. "I can see him. It looks like he has body armor on and I'd swear he has an AK 47. Where the hell did he come from?"
The black clad form moved around a tree and loosed another long burst into the house. As the occupants ducked for cover, he ran to a tree closer to the house.
As he rose to fire, Kate shot and him square in the chest. He staggered back, but fired another short burst. "You hit me, but those toys of yours won't penetrate my armor." He laughed. "I hear you killed another one of me, but now I get to kill four of you and your writer buddy."
"Coonan?" Kate and Rick said together.
Rick nodded. "There are lots of us, so there must be lots of Coonans out there."
"Kaye!" Rick yelled as the writer ran for the back door and on out of the house.
"I didn't expect that." Kate said.