Just a little something to tide us over until Castle tonight ...
Rick's entire body froze at her declaration of love – his brain momentarily shut down, and even his heart missed a few beats beneath her cheek. Kate slid her hand beneath his collar, as though willing his senses to regain life at her touch. Her pulse pounded frenetically in her chest, waiting, wondering, fighting the urge to take back what she'd just said. And then his voice, soft and strained, broke his stunned silence.
"Just to make sure I'm not dreaming or having a seizure, could you say that again?"
She edged away, still in the circle of his arms, just enough to scan his face, startled to see moisture brimming in his eyes. Reaching up with her hand, she used her thumb to capture a renegade tear that had spilled down his cheek and found herself suddenly unsure of how to proceed. "Do you have seizures often?"
Okay, maybe not the best thing to lead with … but it was all she had at the moment.
"Never," he shook his head. "But that's not what you said."
Biting her lip, she grinned and locked her hands behind his neck once more, letting her weight rest against his hold at her back. "Do you dream a lot?"
"About you? Always." He returned her grin, his features visibly relaxing, but uncertainty still lurked in his gaze. "Please, Kate," his eyes grew serious, his expression earnest. "Say it again. I need to be sure I heard you."
"You heard me," she whispered, emotion lodged in her throat making her voice thick and hoarse – but her eyes shone steady and true. "I love you, too."
He acted so fast she was unable to react, but in an instant she was spinning through the air, caught in his elated embrace, barely registering his laughter that pointed to a man who had just been relieved of a large burden heavy on his shoulders. Deciding that hanging on tight was her best recourse, she pressed her lips to his ear and did just that. After a few breathless moments, he set her back on her feet and proceeded to steal all the air from her lungs once more – this time with a kiss that quite literally curled her toes.
His hands lifted first to her cheek, then glided to thread through her hair and tilt her head for better access to the depths of her mouth. Paying homage to the profile that drove him to distraction in both his waking and sleeping hours, he traced her jaw with trembling fingers, following close behind with his lips – sucking, nipping, soothing, until Kate feared she would melt to the ground in a puddle of need. Her neck became his next target, his kisses trailing across the column of her throat, branding her as his without leaving a mark.
"Do you have any idea how long I've waited to hear you say that?" Rick murmured against her skin, absorbing her shivered reaction with his own frame. Rising to meet her eyes, he shook his head in wonder. "I just went to go get dinner…What changed?"
Kate dipped her chin and chuckled. "Believe it or not – your mother."
Eyebrows shot to the ceiling. "I can't wait to hear about this. And remind me to thank her. But later." The last two words left his mouth on a hungry growl, and he lowered his head to capture her lips again. This time, she gave as good as she got, and the food was quickly forgotten in a tangle of limbs, lips, and sighs of desire.
"Kate," he breathed raggedly when an eternity (or maybe just a few minutes) had passed, coming to his senses long enough to take in his surroundings.
The woman he loved – the woman who loved him back – was cradled between his body and the island, one bar stool kicked across the floor for having the audacity to be in the way. Her sweater was bunched under his hands, exposing the smooth toned skin of her abdomen. Suppressing a groan, he pressed his hips forward, the intimacy of their position heightened by the fact that Kate's legs were wrapped tightly around his waist. He wanted her. Wanted her more than he'd ever wanted another woman on God's green earth. Or in outer space. Or anywhere else a woman could be. He wanted her more than all others.
"All this stuff we're not talking about?"
"I hate that stuff," Kate groaned, resting her forehead against his with an irritated whack.
"Can we just pretend – just for tonight – that we've talked about it already?"
She laughed softly and crooked her head to the side to let her gaze lazily drift across his face. "That depends. Can you pretend tomorrow that these things aren't still here?" She waved a hand in the minimal space that existed between their bodies. "Between us?"
"I want to," he moaned, pressing his lips to her brow. "How about this – I acknowledge the 'I love you' that you said to be a helluva start in talking about all these things… and I abandon my previous protests about needing to talk about all of them before we make love."
"Castle?"
"What?"
"You talk too much."
Her hands on either side of his face, she dragged his lips to hers and kissed him with a wild passion that told him how much she'd ached for him, how much she craved his touch. "Bedroom."
Stumbling to navigate their joined-but-for-clothes bodies through the great room toward his suite, Rick paused at the door. "Are you sure, Kate?"
"Castle, I swear. If you don't take me to bed right now, I will get my gun and shoot you."
He needed no further encouragement, merely thankful that he had the presence of mind to shut the office door and the subsequent bedroom door behind them, lost as he was in her intoxicating kisses. As Kate tumbled to the bed, sinking into its pillowy softness, she reached out her arms to him and felt the breath leave her as his weight covered her.
"Rick – I'm sure. 100%. I love you."
She kissed him. "I love you," she whispered again.
One more kiss. "I love you."
His lips possessed hers, silencing her, and her back arched to get as close to him as their clothing allowed. Her murmurs of love mingled with his own groaned declarations, and it wasn't long before both lost the ability to form words, their voices fading into moans, caught up instead somewhere between the primal and the sacred.
As they lay together afterward and struggled to regain their ability to breathe smoothly, Kate whimpered in sated contentment and traced idle patterns against Rick's chest. He in turn ran a hand up and down her arm, his mind stripped as bare as his body, a smile plastered (permanently?) across his face.
"That was so worth the wait," he sighed. When Kate mmm'ed in agreement, he let his hand drift toward the scar below her breast – the scar that had painfully twisted his heart with memories when he'd laved it with kisses during his careful (and thorough) exploration of her body. His fingers tracing the puckered outline, he grazed the top of her head with a kiss and whispered the words he'd been the first to say.
"Kate… I love you." His palm cradled the scar protectively as he added, "I love you, Kate."
Her eyes closed against the recollection of his voice beckoning to her from the darkness from that day, and she curled into his side, seeking the warmth and safety he offered. "I love you, too."