AN: For this one, we're finding ourselves in season four; set after 4x14 'The Blue Butterfly.'

#12 Learn to Fly

Okay, so he knows that he really, really shouldn't just assume when it comes to Kate Beckett but…

The evidence is becoming more and more irrefutable by the minute, and he tries to curb it, he really does; after all he might be wrong and he's not sure how he'd even handle the disappointment if it turns out not to be true but- he just can't deny the excited little flip of his heart when he considers the only seemingly logical possibility...

Is she taking him out on a date?

He surreptitiously shifts his eyes to the left, stealth observant ninja, glancing at her while she drives but her eyes are focused on the road, her face composed, not giving anything away, her fingers relaxed around the steering wheel.

It's all just rather… curious. It's not overly rare that she'd drive him home after a day at the precinct, or even that she'd offer… But it's also not that common.

And this is most certainly not the route to his loft.

"Staring again, Castle?" Her mouth pursed adorably, she gives him a quick glance, but her eyes are smiling.

"Just wondering why you're kidnapping me."

"Is that what I'm doing?"

"Well," he starts ticking off facts by his fingers. "Current evidence has you driving me to an unknown location, without my former consent …"

"I did ask you earlier today if you had plans for the evening," she interrupts distractedly, hitting the blinker and checking her mirrors to merge onto the interstate taking them further north.

"Oh really?" His eyebrows rise at her unintended confession and he bounces gleefully in his seat. "So that would make this… a date?"

"No…" But her voice is too breathless to make her denial plausible and he forges on, thrilled by this turn of events.

"On Valentine's Day?"

She actually blushes, a pink hue spreading from her neck up to her cheeks and he thinks this might be the most adorable she's ever looked.

"You know, if you wanted to ask me out, you could've just asked. I'm easy prey. No need to kidnap an innocent, unsuspecting man…"

"If you don't shut up right now, we're not going."

He shuts up.

The humidity settles over his skin like a warm caress, damp as it soaks into his jacket and the strands of his hair. Lush greenery lines the paths, large flat leaves and fingered branches that encircle them, dotted with the vibrant colors of tropical flowers that fill the space with a sweet, exotic fragrance.

And all around them, the air is alive with the hum and buzz of thousands of flapping wings. Butterflies of every form, size and color flutter and circle around them, enlivening their opulent home, gently settling onto plant leaves and flowers, dispersing in vivacious bursts with each disturbance.

Castle slowly turns a full circle, enraptured by the wide space of The Dancing Wings Butterfly Garden, a vibrant indoor rain forest with its glass ceiling and foliage reaching high and wide, the chirp of birds and the flittering dance of the vibrant butterflies everywhere. It's lush and breathtaking and just so alive that his heart thuds powerfully in his chest.

"You coming, Castle?" She calls for him, glancing back at him over her shoulder, voice and smile so tender, so unassumingly inviting that possibilities he hadn't dared to hope for in months, maybe years, suddenly seem within reach, and he stumbles after her, all his words jumbled in his head, stuck in his throat.

"It got to me too, you know," she admits over the roar of the waterfall, her hands wedged into her tight jeans pockets. "Their story."

He's not surprised by the fact, merely that she admits to it; he'd seen how Vera and Joe's story had captivated her too, had seen the shimmer of sadness in her eyes when they thought the two had died, and her widened eyes and breathless smile when they sat across the elderly couple as they told their story, still so obviously in love.

A white butterfly lands softly on a palm frond before them, its span wider than both his hands and they watch it settle, lift and then rest its wings, and their hips almost touch as they stand side by side, the warmth of her body alluring.

"Made me think about all these things in life that are worth fighting for… Things that maybe you shouldn't put off…"

He watches her profile, the way her teeth graze her bottom lip, the way her eyes reflect the glare of evening sunlight that bursts through the glass roof, like liquid amber. "Is that why we're here?"

She turns, mouth opened in startled surprise and looking so vulnerable, almost fragile that his insides seem to contract with it, the blood pulsating beneath his skin. Silence hangs between them, charged and breathless and he aches to cradle his palm over her cheek, run the pad of his thumb along the tender, warm flesh of her bottom lip.

A butterfly flutters between their faces, the jumpy beats of its bright red wings startling them before it settles on his shoulder. A soft smile stretches her lips at the dazzling insect.

"Just thought you might like it here." Her fingers gently reach out, as if she wants to pet it; the butterfly startles, flies off but she leaves her fingertips resting on his shoulder for a long moment, her touch impossibly soft, burning through the fabric of his coat and shirt. She blinks and their eyes meet.

"You seemed to have developed a sudden hankering for blue butterflies."

She hooks her middle finger around his just past the turtle pond, tugging him along with her as if it's the most normal thing in the world.

He kisses her underneath the high arch of a palm frond, with butterflies in her hair.

They stepped into a thick swarm, the colorful bursts of wings all around her and she stands stock-still, her eyes sparkling, her smile widened in surprise, astounded as the insects calm, rest on her coat and in her hair; so breathtakingly gorgeous that his heart aches and there's no other thought, nothing else he can do but reach for her.

He curves his arm around her waist, cradles her face with his left palm, pulling her to him in one fluid motion as the butterflies startle and crowd them and his lips sink over hers. She's warm and soft, tastes familiar yet startlingly new, and then a small whimper escapes her mouth and she sinks into him, mouth opening to the seeking foray of his tongue. He finds her eager and ready, her back arched as her hips press into his, her arms looped around his neck; as she kisses him with abandon, playful and passionate and achingly sweet.

When at last he pulls away he's breathless, his knees weakened, his pulse thumping rapidly in his neck. Her lips are kiss-swollen, her eyes shining brightly, stunned arousal swirled with delight and he slides his thumb along the sharp rim of her cheekbone, caresses over the warm, damp curve of her lip, watching her as she melts into his touch.

"I definitely like it here."

.

Late though it may be on this Valentine's Day, I'm sending out love eyeballs to all my wonderful readers and followers, reviewers and cheerleaders and friends. Thank you for your support and the joy you bring me in this fandom.