What is that sound? Kate is so not awake enough for this. It can't be past 2 am by the way her body feels and yet there is a clicking sound permeating her subconscious, trying to rouse her from her peaceful dreams. Seriously where is that coming from? Why won't it stop? I'm never going to get back to sleep.
Opening one eye just to narrow down the suspects Kate takes in her surroundings. She's still in her bed, good sign after waking up drugged with a tiger in the next room. That was not a pleasant way to wake up. Though being handcuffed to Castle wasn't as bad as she had led on. Castle! When she went to sleep a couple hours ago he was spooning against her. Now where was he?
Rolling over she is met with cold sheets and a pillow that only has the scent of him. They've only been dating a couple of months now but she's grown used to waking up with him in her bed or her in his. His absence in her bed feels like a part of her is missing. A feeling she is not used to. She has always thought of herself as independent. Past relationships have proven that. When left alone at night she would be able to fall back asleep. But without Castle in her bed, cuddled against her she knows she won't be able to go back to sleep. Checking the time on the alarm clock she confirms her suspicions. 2:15 am. Time to find her boyfriend and bring him back to bed.
Suddenly the sound returns and Kate is scanning the room for the culprit. The faint glow coming from underneath her closed door tells her the sound is coming from out there.
Pulling on Castle's discarded dress shirt, Kate takes a second in inhale his scent. Even the traces of it that linger in the fabric cause her heart rate to quicken. Silently padding from the bed she steals herself before easing the door open.
Using her cop training and ninja like reflexes she slips up the hallway making no noise. Rounding the corner into her living room the sound grows until she spots him.
Sitting at her small kitchen table, back to her Castle is pouring over his laptop. Fingers moving at lightening speed over the keys causing the rhythmic clicking sound she heard in her sleep. She's not quite sure how any of the words coming out of those magical fingers make sense as fast as he is moving but he flows with ease. Years of practice hard at work.
Kate has never seen him like this, been privy to this side of him. Sure he has spent years watching her work but never has she been allowed to return the favor.
Taking in the full sight of him she notices his sleep rumbled hair, tousled from the many times his hands have run through it. Only wearing the boxers she pulled off of him earlier he sits completely at ease at her small table. His bare shoulders slightly hunched over the table showing the expanse of harden muscles his jackets and shirts kept hidden from her for years. Muscles she has come to map and trace with fingers, tongue and teeth.
He is so wrapped up in his words that he hasn't noticed her. Leaning against the wall she watches, time passing without her realization. She is mesmerized by him, his presence in her life. They are finally here, together, in this for real and it has opened up a whole new world for her. Love she never thought she would feel, an openness she fought so hard to have with anyone, a partner in every sense of the word and so much more.
There is something about watching him write. Knowing that the words on the screen have so long been his love for her, requited or not. She knows what the words mean to her, what his words have meant to her long before she knew him. He got her through so much more than he knew with those words. The same words that flow from his fingers like water through a stream. Seeing him writing in her apartment for the first time fills her heart with more love than she thought she could know.
Overwhelmed with the emotions rising in her chest Kate pushes off the wall, padding quietly up behind him. Sliding her arms over his shoulders, hands clasped together against his chest she lowers her lips to his ear. "Hey handsome."
Without looking up from the screen Castle leans back into her, head resting against her shoulder. "Staring is creepy Detective." She can't help the smile that forms on her lips as she replies "Turnabout is fair play, Mr. Castle. I've never seen you work before. Just think of it as payback for years of watching me do paperwork."
He chuckles as he comes to a stopping point, saving the file before turning his face to hers. He brushes his lips across her gently before pulling her around him into his lap. Another chaste kiss quickly deepens causing them both to break apart when air is desperately needed. "Hey beautiful. Did I wake you up?"
"There was this strange sound coming from somewhere and I had to see what it was. Nikki wake you up?" She runs her fingers through his hair as his run up and down her exposed thigh. He whispers in her ear "Let's just say my girlfriend sparked some ideas that needed to come out."
He captures her earlobe in-between his teeth, biting down gently before soothing it with his tongue. Arching into his chest, Kate can't stop the moan that is pulled from her throat. Moving from her ear to her neck he nips and grazes her warming flesh. Her hands roam the planes of this bare torso digging into muscles as her mouth meets his shoulder. Pulling his chin up she captures his lips in a searing kiss, quickly asking and receiving access into his mouth, tongues dancing.
Snaking his arms from around her waist, Castle closes his laptop and pushes it out of the way. Gently rising from the chair he turns Kate so she is seated on the table in front of him standing firmly in the v of her legs. Lips never separating he unbuttons her shirt, slowly pulling it off her shoulders lips meeting flesh as it goes. She leans back against the table, pulling him with her until they are both flat against the hard surface.
"If I knew you would have this reaction to watching me work I would have let you watch me sooner." She laughs as she runs her hands down his back gripping his backside pulling him to her. They are soon lost to the passion that swirls through the room, twice. When they finally lay next to each other, hands clasps, bodies spent, Kate rolls onto her side facing him.
"You have no idea how many times I have fantasized about that. But most of them were on your desk at the loft."
"You have no idea how many time I have fantasized about doing that on your desk in the precinct." He grins at the memory of the fantasy.
"Is they why you watch me do paperwork?" She playfully slaps his chest, pulling herself closer to his side. Resting her head on his shoulder, tangling their legs together she lets out a sigh of contentment.
"Feel free to watch me work anytime Kate. As long as I get to do this with you afterwards I would be happy to let you watch." He wiggles his eyebrows eliciting a roll of her eyes before kissing her quickly.
"I love you Rick." The words slip out of her mouth before she can stop them. She has known how she has felt since she showed up at his door that rainy night but has never allowed herself to say it out loud. This moment, this new connection they have pulls the feelings from her without her normal filter. The words are out there now and the smile on her face says she couldn't be happier about it.
His heart stops. There is no other way to put it. Hearing those three words that he has been dying to hear from her lips stops his heart. He has known her feelings were deep, known that they were on the path to something more but he didn't know how close they were. She has always been a mystery and this new piece is almost more than he can handle. Fighting back the emotions that clog his throat he tilts her chin up to look her in the eye before he whispers back "I love you too Kate. So very much."
The tears flow freely from both sets of eyes. Happy tears stemming from years of wanting, waiting, loving and caring pent up now released. They were finally opening up to each other, revealing small parts of their souls trusting the other to hold them forever.
He stands slowly from the table, taking her hands in his. Guiding her back to her bedroom he steals kisses, touches, caresses as they walk both on a cloud of happiness. The rest of the night is spent showing each other their love. Taking their time to explore it and all its new facets.
As the sun rises, streaming small rays of light through the curtains Kate turns back to Castle looking him in the eyes as she says "I love you." Tracing the contours of her cheeks, the slope of her lips with his fingers he replies "I love you too."
A/N: I won't be for reviews but I will say thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. I enjoy writing these and as long as there are people out there to read them I will keep writing them.