Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one.

So I went on holiday and was all set up to publish as I was away, I even roped in people to help accomplish this…then the second night I am there…I go for a drink in this bar and there was a band playing…Needless to say it was all very inspiring and I had to do some rewriting. Plus side, I think I got three chapters out of it :D sorry for the delay!

Chapter Thirteen.

Pushing off from the wall, her hand is harsh behind his head for barely a second before she's moving through the masses. Kate's fingers are still tight at his belt loop and she tugs fiercely, making him come with her.

"It's hot in here." He states flatly, obviously, shrugging against the thick leather and her arm falls away.

Shit, so not what he meant.

"Drink?" He asks, as if that will help with the heat. A little fire through his veins probably the last thing he needs but Castle knows it will make him loosen up.

It's stupid really, not like they've never done this before, but there is some indefinable cloying sense of malice laced through with inevitability and it's not sitting right with him.

She slips off her dark denim jacket and thrusts it at him, head tilting and lips kinked to one side. "Sure." Kate smiles, her hand trailing his shoulder, fingers curling around his neck as she leans in close, "No shots." Her eyes flash to his before she pulls away, smile sliding from teasing into downright dirty.

Oh, two can most definitely play at this game, and Castle trails his fingers over the warm stretch of skin from her elbow to her wrist, his thumb dragging across the thudding pulse before drawing it slowly through her palm, fingertips brushing as he lets her hand fall to her side.

"Too much for you Kate?" He questions gruffly.

She lifts her lids slowly, and though they stand in shadows her eyes are darker than they should be, menacing almost. And her fingertips snag his retreating hand, "Maybe it wasn't enough ." She hums.

Then she's gone.

Castle feels every inch of his skin tingle at the loss of contact but Kate swivels, turns on the spot and beckons him with a crooked finger, over her shoulder, to follow her through the crowds.

To the ends of the earth...to hell and back...and with that sultry lilt and sway she may as well be calling him to her bed.

"Got a visual?" He asks, elbows to the bar.

He leans, but he refuses to sit, and every time he turns, his face just skims her shoulder. He's taken up the protective stance thinking he has easier ability to defend her, she's not stupid, but every time he turns...

The crackle of an almost touch is somehow so much worse now Kate knows how easily she could close the distance.

And for once, she does.

Gates orders and...

Licking her lips, dropping her palm to the bar, Kate shifts subtly, shakes her head at Castle and lifts her other hand over him to Mick. Holding up two fingers to get his attention before pointing to herself and Castle, the barman quirks an eyebrow, inclines his head.

But Kate just nods hers back, supposedly in time to the beat of the music.

For a second she's not sure if Mick's querying her call for actual alcohol or if he's shocked by the gesture that allowed him to register Castle's presence.

Either way he lets it drop.

When the man moves off to get their drinks, the gentle bobbing of her head should stop.

But it doesn't.

Something about the steady pounding rhythm is catching her a little lower down than it should, sparking deep within her. Kate tilts forwards, her hand falling to Castle's shoulder so she can coil her body over his, drop her lips to his ear and whisper, "I got nothing here Castle."

Whether she knows she does it or not Castle isn't sure, but the hand at his neck starts to move, thumb sliding until her entire palm is tapping in time to the drum beat.

He swivels, shifting from one arm to the other so he can stare up her, perched on the bar, her foot on the stool in front of her.

"I gotta get eyeballs on him." She states distractedly, hand still moving, foot tapping in time.

"Is he even here yet?" Castle hums, ducking further under her arm to watch her.

"Gotta be." Kate's head snaps back, eyeing Mick as he approaches with their drinks, "He's a regular, same time every night."

"How can he be a regular?" Castle grumbles, the place hasn't been open that long and he puffs out his annoyance, reaching for the glass, raising it to her in mock salute before tipping it to his lips and downing it in one.

The way his eyes flash open wide tell Kate he was clearly expecting water, same as the night before, and she smirks, one hand on his shoulder as she jumps off the bar.

Smacking him hard on the back when he draws in a ragged, alcohol burnt breath, she steps past him, "I'm gonna do a quick sweep," Her hand trails across his shoulder blades until she has his attention, "Make the rounds, get a little noticed."

Castle swallows, gulps really, past the fire of alcohol searing its way down his throat, the fire of Kate in his chest, as he watches her go.

There is a shift in the atmosphere, the lights dimming or maybe it's just his narrowed field of focus, because the moment she sets foot on the dance floor everything else ceases to exist.

The music kicks harder, a heavier beat that makes her smile, and though she was walking away from him, as if struck by inspiration, she turns on the spot, dips her hips low and wide, before flinging her hand high above her head.

Oh, fuck.

Castle's eyes widen, when she lifts her other arm to snake through her hair, dragging the curls slowly away from her face, her neck arching when she tips her head back.

Taking another step in his direction she swings her hips again, the hand in her hair falling, sliding past her neck, ignoring the strap of her top as it slips. Her hands fist in the material, lifting it away from her skin as if she's too hot...

She is...

Kate lets her eyes roam the room, misty and quaking, her limbs tight and everything...everything dripping with a claustrophobic need for release.

She wants to be loose and free, more relaxed and able to play her part to better effect, because she keeps telling him to get his head in the game, but her mind has been tangled in Castles sheets ever since he trailed his lips across her stomach.

She needs to focus.

But how is she supposed to do that when she is thrumming through, head to toe, with this awareness. A magnetic need that repeatedly pulls her towards him, tantalises and teases her to distraction before thrusting her away, aching and frustrated.

And she comes back every time.

She needs to get over it.

Or give in to it.

Kate knows she is powerless to resist, one hand in her hair as she hits the dance floor she drags her fingers low, growling her own annoyance at herself. Lost in the feelings of heat and longing.

The blatant lust she is still trying to deny.

Then that low down, almost dirty, filthy base kicks in and hits her just right.

A primal beat naked, open, seeking and curling it's way around her body like smoke. The hum of an electric guitar fills the air, collides with her heart and ricochets up and out in static spirals through veins.

Is her blood on fire? Kate wonders as she turns on the spot and finds his eyes across the room.

Is her hair standing on end and crackling with the electricity?

She doesn't care and it doesn't matter, her arm shoots high above her head and she sways to the beat, eyes locked with Castles and yes...Oh...this is what she needs to get loose.

Lifting her hair away from her neck, dragging it up above her head, Kate tries to cool down. Too much heat, internal, elemental , all radiating from the man who stares like she's the only other person in the room...the world.

Kate could close her eyes, shut it out and just dance.

But she can't escape, she won't.

She needs this.

And even if she wanted to, when she lifts her eyes again and finds Castle staring back, pupils huge and black with unmasked want, whatever fire had been sparking to life before boils over into a raging inferno.

Blazing through her.

It's all him.

All his fault, and she drops her hand from her head even as her hips dip and lift in time to the beat, and she points at him. Kate lets him know that she blames him wholeheartedly for the state she's in.

Lust, belief, anger, desire.

Every feeling and every sensual sway of her moving hips is because of him, for him she realises, but it's so much more than that.

The volume increases and they aren't even touching.

Kate can't help but wonder with this much between them now, parted, looking, what would happen if she just reached out her hand...

Kate lets her hair fall around her shoulders and she drops her hand from her neck unable to resist any longer.

Lifting, she thumps her fist down heavily on her thigh keeping time with the music, that weighty thud that laces through the meat of the song, squeezing her heart, echoing up and pounding through her skull.

Her hand collides with her thigh, over and over and over again.

Too much.

Never ever enough.

She finds herself transfixed, her feet moving on their own as she heads for him. The need to touch him, slide her fingers under his leather jacket, drag at the shirt until the buttons pop, ripped apart as she skims her hands over his skin, it's all too much.

She has to...

Is he as hot as she is? Kate wonders, taking another step, he can't be, he should be. She drops down low, tilting forwards as she bounces on her bent thighs, letting her hair sweep the dirty dingy floor, before raising herself up...slowly.

She wants him burning too.

Is his skin slick with sweat? Does he ache on the inside with this...need to touch her?

Taking another step towards him, pondering if he wants her as much as she wants him, Kate catches his curled fists and the way his eyes are darting.

Something's off.

She misses the beat of the music then.

Shit, subtle, she thinks, but continues to stride towards him. He looks worried, his eyes on her but over her shoulder too and she can't turn, can't be obvious, not good, and she misses the beat again.

Giving up all pretence Kate launches herself at him, bar slut in desperate need of her man and Detective in need of her partner, glad when he reacts and catches her in his arms. Kate slides a hand around his neck curling into him for whatever fraction of privacy they can steal, her lips hot to his ear as she asks "Problem?"