"Mommy, Castle, what's this?" Julia was asking as she watched them walking up to her and Alexis on the pedestrian path for the Golden Gate Bridge.

"It's… a cable for the bridge," Castle said a little absently, reading the plaque that went with the piece of cable. "Well, it's what it looks like."

"It's really big," Julia commented.

"It has to be," Alexis said. "Come on, are you ready?"

"Yes, I wanna see it now better," Julia said, scrambling to grab her hand. She and Alexis set off ahead of her mother and Castle, since Alexis had been there already.

"All the times I've ever seen this bridge," Castle was saying to Beckett as she held onto his upper arm. "And now I'm actually walking on it, it's amazing." He then slowed Beckett down enough for their daughters to walk ahead a little more and said, "It's a little sobering though-"

"When you consider the suicides, I know," Beckett said with a sigh. "But still, it is a beautiful bridge."

Nodding, Castle tried to get the negative thought out of his mind, and he hurried with her to catch up with Alexis and Julia who were waiting for them. "How far are we walking? I can't believe I didn't ask," he said when they were walking again.

"I figured as close to the middle as we can," Alexis said, glancing at Beckett.

"I think that will work if she's not too cold," she said quickly. "Sweetie, are you?"

"No Mommy, my cheeks are, but I have my coat, I am warm," Julia said happily as she held her stuffed giraffe tighter in her free arm.

"What're you going to call that?" Alexis asked as they came to the first tower of the red-orange bridge.

"Dunno," Julia said, looking down at it. "But I will have a name for you," she said, addressing the stuffed animal her mother had bought her at Ghirardelli Square before kissing it.

"We stopped here," Alexis said, halting and turning to her dad and Beckett. "For some pictures, since you know, the city."

"That is nice," Castle said, not surprised when Julia gave her giraffe to Alexis and went to him. He picked her up and said, "Shoulders?"

"Not that high," Beckett quickly said as Julia looked afraid.

"Okay, I'm glad because it's pretty windy, you'd get too cold and then your mom would make us turn back," Castle said as he held Julia on his hip. He watched her take some pictures of the city and then said, "Have you been having fun here?"

"Yeah, lots and lots and lots," Julia said in a kind of reassuring tone. "Did you?"

"I did, but we're not done yet," Castle said before she motioned to the tower. He walked over to it and watched as she took a picture looking straight up. "That should be a good one," he commented. "You know we have tomorrow…" glancing at his daughter.

"All you get is the Academy of Sciences," Alexis said in a low voice. "I like surprising him."

"And me too?" Julia asked, holding her arms out to her.

"And of course you," Alexis said, kissing her cheek as she took her. "Excuse me," she said to another tourist who was walking by. "Could you take our picture?"

Beckett let Castle lead her to the railing, and they stood with Alexis and Julia as the woman took their picture using Julia's camera. She took it back and looked at the screen, showing it to Castle who was looking over her shoulder.

"Not bad," he said, nodding his head. "Alexis?"

"Stay with me," the young woman said as she set Julia down. She took the camera, and waited for her dad to stand back against the railing with Beckett before she took another picture. "How many different combinations can we have?" she asked jokingly as Beckett switched places with her.

"It happens," Beckett said simply. "And really, we have never done this before, so why not document it?" She laughed then as Alexis switched places back with her and said, "The wind isn't even bothering me now."

"It is us, you guys are getting all the exercise," Castle said. "My turn," he said teasingly as he handed Julia to her mother, and ushered Alexis to them, taking a picture of them. "Okay, we can go… you too?" he said with a laugh as Julia ran to him and pushed him back to Alexis and Beckett. Once she'd taken the picture of them he scooped her up, making her legs fly out in the air to her squeal. "You're getting a lot of good pictures this vacation."

"Yeah, Mommy, I have to make a big book," Julia said, looking over Castle's shoulder.

"That fine," Beckett said simply. She then looked at Alexis and saw the young woman was looking out at Alcatraz. "Okay?" she asked in a low voice since they were close to Julia.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine, I was just thinking about what happened out there to you guys," Alexis said, glancing up at the little girl who Castle was talking with so she couldn't hear them. "And how we didn't even know what was going on with you while we were at the museum. I'm just really relieved that you're both okay."

"Believe me, we are too," Beckett said, following her gaze to Julia and Castle who had stopped at the railing, looking out at the city together.

"I have names now," Julia said as she looked up at her mother who was walking by her.

"And what are they?" Castle asked, standing in the doorway to the room Julia and Alexis were sharing, watching Beckett look at the purchases from their time at Fisherman's Wharf for her daughter.

"I'm calling him James," Julia said, indicating her stuffed koala he'd bought for her at the zoo. "And I'm calling him Soky."

"Soky? Where did you get that name from?" Alexis asked, coming from the bathroom where she'd changed into a sweater.

"From vysokiy, it's how you say tall in Russian; Mommy said," Julia said, setting her animals on her pillow.

"Those are cute names," Beckett said, picking her daughter up from the bed. She kissed her cheek and said, "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, are we going to the BART?" Julia said eagerly, kissing her mother's cheek in return.

"Right now," Alexis said, putting on her coat. She smiled when Julia leaned over to her and she took her, leading the way out of the suite. Down on Powell she took them down to the stop by the mall entrance she'd shown them before, and as they were on the train heading for the stop closest to the Ferry Building she said, "I hope my choice is alright," talking to all three of them.

"We left this up to you," Castle said. "And when we went there the other day the restaurants we saw really piqued my interest. You're choosing where we have dinner."

"But I would like to go to that bookstore first," Beckett commented as the train stopped then. They hurried to get off and she then said, "I want to see if they have more San Francisco themed books for Julia."

"I get more books?" Julia asked eagerly, hearing that as they went up the stairs. "What's that Alexis?" she asked before anyone could answer her first question, pointing to a train on the upper level of the station.

"That's the Muni Metro, it's another kind of subway though it goes outside too," the young woman answered. "I don't really go on that too much, mostly the BART."

"And your mom and I will buy you some more books," Castle said, going back to her first question. "Can never have enough of those of course."

"Of course," Beckett said as she let him take her hand since their daughters were walking together in front of them. She looked up at the clock tower on the Ferry Building as it began to ring the half hour; five thirty; and said, "I feel kind of bad."

"About what?" Castle asked while they waited to cross The Embarcadero; the street directly in front of the building.

"Not inviting Diana to join us," Beckett said. "Actually, what I would have loved to have done more was have dinner with her family and May's; something we set up as a thank you for everything they've done for us."

"Maybe we can set something up for lunch Saturday," Alexis commented as they crossed. "I'll call Diana and see what they're going to be up to."

"Do that," Castle said. "It would be interesting to sit down and talk with everyone, but we couldn't figure something out for dinner?"

"Unless we invited them to lunch at Boudin," Beckett said idly as she remembered his mother was going to be with them that day. "Call and see what they say," she directed to Alexis.

"Sure, but in the meantime, the bookstore is this way if you remember," she commented, leading the way.

Inside the bookstore, Julia was allowed to run to the kids' books, and she picked up three before showing them to her mother and Castle. While they were paying for them, she went over to the windows looking out at the pier and watched a ferry boat leaving. "Where does that go?" she asked Castle as he'd walked up behind her.

"Alexis?" he said, turning to his daughter.

"That's the Sausalito ferry," Alexis replied, looking at her watch. "Yeah, I took one at this time, it's a pretty nice ride, except when it's windy and the water's choppy."

"Like today?" Beckett commented, joining them.

"Pretty much, I don't envy them at all," Alexis commented. "Are we ready to go?"

"Yeah, I wanna go take pictures," Julia said, holding up her camera.

"More? You took some last time we were here," Beckett said as Julia took her hand.

"But different ones this time Mommy," Julia said before she made her mother stop. Raising her arms up to her, she wrapped them around Beckett's neck as she shared a kiss with her. "I love you Mommy," she said seriously.

"I love you too sweetie," Beckett said, a little concerned as she headed out to the southern shops. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I was happy I got to be here and take pictures," Julia said. "I'm not sad."

"I'm glad to hear that," Beckett said with a smile, setting her daughter down so she could take pictures. She glanced back and saw that Castle and Alexis had stopped at a store selling cooking utensils. She caught her fiancé's eye and when he nodded she gave him a quick nod back, following Julia into a bakery.

"Mommy, look at the little desserts!" the little girl was saying. "Can, can I take pictures please?" she asked the worker behind the display case.

"Go ahead," the man said. "Would you like any samples?"

"No thank you, we haven't had dinner yet," Beckett said, talking more to Julia at the end as she looked eager. "But they are beautiful pastries. Did you get enough pictures?" she asked once she was sure her daughter had enough shots of what the bakery sold.

"Yeah, can't we get and eat later?" Julia asked.

"We had dessert already," Castle said, walking up with Alexis then. "But we can have some hot chocolate later after swimming," he said quickly as Julia pouted.

"What did you get?" Beckett asked.

"A set of bamboo cooking utensils," Castle showed her, taking the set out of the bag he had. "I needed to replace mine and they look pretty sturdy."

"Bamboo like pandas eat?" Julia asked.

"Let's eat dinner since we're here," Alexis said, indicating the restaurant they'd come up to.

"Yeah, the same bamboo, you can make stuff out of it," Castle then said to Julia after he and Beckett agreed they should eat. "As you can see," he said as he let her look at the spoon of the set.

While Castle and Alexis were waiting for their orders, Beckett sat at a table with Julia on her lap, the little girl still looking at the bamboo utensils that he'd let her keep holding. "Are you tired?" she asked when her daughter leaned back against her.

"No Mommy, I want to swim," Julia said with a sigh. "Why don't we know what to do tomorrow?"

"You'll enjoy the Academy of Sciences," Beckett assured her daughter. "And really, Alexis is having fun surprising you."

"Oh, thank you," Julia said, looking up as Castle and Alexis came over with their food.

"You're welcome, also like I said before I'm having a fun time surprising him," Alexis said, indicating Castle. She then winked at Julia and smiled at the little girl's peal of laughter since it was an inside joke from the night before. At some point they'd talked about how surprised Castle had been when they'd seen May's work, and also how he would act in general when he was surprised. She had imitated her father a little bit, and then made Julia promise not to tell him she'd done that, winking at her after the little girl had promised.

"What's the joke?" Castle asked. He was surprised when Julia and Alexis started to laugh and he looked at Beckett, who merely shrugged. "Well, dinner is here, so if you two are busy laughing…" he said, reaching out towards Alexis' sandwich.

Julia giggled when Alexis quickly slapped his hand away and said, "You have to eat yours."

"Oh, not yours?" Castle asked, smiling when she shook her head no. "Or your mom's? Shoot," he said, snapping his fingers to her giggle.

"Just eat Castle," Beckett said, setting Julia onto the fourth chair. "So what did Martha have to say?" she asked then.

"Is she having fun?" Julia asked quickly.

"A lot," Alexis said. "She and her friend went to the spa, got manis and pedis while Dan went for a tour at another winery. And they love the wine; she's already sent back two cases of red and white wines. But she says she misses going around with us."

"I hope you told her we do too," Beckett commented.

"Of course," Castle said. "But she's happy to hear we're still having fun. And that she's looking forward to checking out Pier 39 now I've told her about it."

"I can't wait to go again, and see the sea lions," Julia said excitedly after she ate a bite of her sandwich quickly. "I wanna bark like they do. Can I learn how to swim like they do? I wanna hop up out of the water."

"I don't think you can," Beckett said with a smile as the little girl tried to imitate the sea lion bark. "But you sound a lot like them."

"Tell you what," Castle said. "When we go swimming back at the hotel, I'll help you jump through the water like they do… or dolphins. Was it dolphins?"

"Sea lions can," Alexis said.

"Then like that," Castle said, looking back at the little girl.

"Ooh, thank you," Julia said, giggling as Castle tugged one of her braids playfully and she squeezed his hand tightly. "I can't wait to swim now," she said eagerly, smiling as the other three agreed with her. She went back to her food, wriggling on her chair before Beckett stopped her as she smiled up at her mother before they shared a quick kiss, going back to their meal.

"Alright, jump, but please make sure I'm ready this time," Castle said as he stood in front of Julia who was standing on the edge of the pool. She didn't say anything, just jumped in, and he was quick to pick her up after her head went under the water, kissing her cheek as he settled her on his hip. "I'm surprised you're not tired," he said as he went over to where her mother was sitting on the top step watching them.

"I'm excited," Julia said simply, smiling widely. She stood next to her mother and said, "Where's Alexis?"

"In the Jacuzzi," Beckett said simply. "Which is where we're headed to next."

"Are we done?" Julia asked in disappointment.

"It's almost eight," Beckett said, laughter in her tone. "And I know you said you're excited, but it's starting to get late." She left the pool, carrying Julia to the Jacuzzi where she let her daughter step in on her own.

"What's the place like we're gonna go to tomorrow?" Julia asked as she stood on the bench as her mother and Castle got in.

"It's a lot of fun," Alexis said. "And there's a lot of stuff to see, and I'm pretty excited too actually, just thinking about what I'll show you guys there. Especially you," she said, tickling the little girl to her giggle.

"What do they have?" Castle asked.

"Oh no, you're not getting anything from me," Alexis said. "Not until we go."

"You'll see it soon enough you two," Beckett said, watching Julia walk over to her. "Along with everything else. Will we be able to fit it in before tomorrow night's events? Including ours which we still know nothing about."

"You'll see," Castle said, laughing when she splashed him at that. They were quiet as they watched Julia and said, "Any time to watch anything?"

"Not tonight," Beckett said. "Sorry sweetie, but by the time we get back to the room and I give you a bath it's going to be too late. But tomorrow we are staying up late I think."

"We are, so she's right, you should go to bed earlier tonight and then tomorrow you'll get to stay up late and you won't be tired," Castle said.

"Can we go now?" Julia asked.

"Do you mind?" Beckett asked Alexis.

"That's fine," the young woman said with a smile as Julia was already climbing out of the Jacuzzi.

Following the little girl, they all dried off and walked back to the other building of the hotel. In the suite, Beckett took Julia to give her a bath as she'd said, before she let her go out to where Castle and Alexis were watching TV.

"All set?" Castle asked.

"Yeah, Mommy says I have to go to bed and to say goodnight," Julia said.

"Goodnight Julia, I hope you had fun today," Alexis said as the little girl hugged her around the neck. She kissed her cheek after Julia kissed hers and said, "I'll see you in the morning."

"Night Alexis," Julia said before Castle stood up and took her hand as she led him to the bedroom.

"So we'll see you tomorrow morning," Beckett said as Castle lifted Julia to place her on the bed.

"Kay, and then we go?" Julia asked.

"Pretty much, we're apparently going to have breakfast out tomorrow, so we'll pick you two up and Alexis will take us wherever," Castle said, waiting for Beckett to finish tucking her in. When she had he leaned over and hugged Julia as he kissed her cheek before she returned it. "Sweet dreams until then Julia, I love you," he said.

Nodding, Julia let go of him and hugged her mother as she sat next to her. "Night Mommy," she said before they shared a kiss.

"I love you sweetie, goodnight," Beckett said gently.

"Love you Mommy," Julia said before her mother made her lay back. She did so with a sigh and held onto her Stitch doll before closing her eyes as Beckett and Castle watched her.

"I guess she was tired," Alexis said, turning to the two as they came out; Castle sliding the door closed behind him.

"She was, we did a lot of walking," Beckett said. "So you want us to be here at nine?"

"Is that too early? It's just that these places I want to go to… open early. Well, the Academy of Sciences does, it opens at nine thirty tomorrow," Alexis explained.

"That's fine, we need to get everything we can out of this vacation," Castle said. "But I'm having a cup of coffee with her before we come over," he said, pointing to Beckett.

"That's fine," Alexis said, shaking her head. "You don't want to watch a movie or something?"

"You can," Beckett said to Castle. "I think I'll head to our room. I'll see you tomorrow Alexis."

"Night," the young woman called. She watched her dad then and smiled slightly when he watched the door, though Beckett had left through it by then. "You don't have to stay," she said to get his attention.

"Are you sure?" Castle asked.

"Yeah, and we couldn't watch any scary movies anyways, not with Julia right there," Alexis said.

"Okay, but once you come back home, you and me are parking in front of the TV and watching a Saw marathon," Castle said.

"Deal, night Dad," Alexis said, smiling slightly at his serious tone.

"Night," Castle said before he left. "Beckett," he called once he was out in the hall, seeing she was opening the door to their suite, walking down quickly to her.

Hearing the door to the bathroom open, Beckett looked up as Castle walked out, running his hand through his wet hair. "Better?" she asked with a smile.

"Yeah, that woke me right up," he said as he looked at her. "And you?"

"I'm obviously still awake," Beckett said, setting aside a magazine on the city the hotel provided. "Want to watch something?"

"Sure," Castle said, slipping under the covers with her. "I'll let you decide, just beg you not to choose a chick flick."

"Who said I was going to watch a movie?" Beckett said simply.

"Okay, then what show since it sounds like you're picking that," Castle said. "Or do I have to guess?"

"I've narrowed it down to two things," Beckett said. "How I Met Your Mother," she said, seeing him hesitate to speak as soon as she said that. "Or Ghost Adventures," she continued, speaking slowly.

"You… really?" Castle asked in surprise. When she nodded he put his hand on her forehead and said, "You're delirious, it was way too cold walking back from the station."

"Stop," Beckett said, rolling her eyes as she slapped away his arm. "I just felt like choosing something you enjoy."

"Okay," Castle said. "Are you sure though?" She nodded, and he said, "Awesome, I know the episode I want us to watch. It's from the first season, but we haven't gotten to it yet…" He trailed off as he was searching the Netflix option on the room's TV. "Why have you been watching this with me? At this point we've gone through a good chunk of the episodes and you don't really ridicule it like I thought you would."

"Because I'm enjoying watching you watching it. You start out trying to make sure I watch every last piece of 'evidence' they get, and eventually you forget about me and you're so involved in the show I might get jealous if I was that type of woman," Beckett simply explained.

"I'm glad you're not," Castle said, realizing she was right. "We don't have to watch it if you're not enjoying the show itself."

"I am, Zak isn't half bad looking, or Nick for that matter," Beckett said, obviously teasing him.

"Well, you and Alexis have a lot in common if you put it like that," Castle said. "Okay, so despite that, I'll make you a GA fan yet."

"Not for the reason you're thinking of. So come on, what's the episode you want me to see?" Beckett asked. She looked on as he didn't reply to her and saw the episode he selected. "Really?"

"Are they family?" Castle asked. "It's in Massachusetts."

"Not as far as I know, my mom's father's family came over to New York, whenever it was, it's too far back to track," Beckett said. "But interesting coincidence with the name."

"So you're partially…" Castle began as they waited for the episode; taking place at Houghton Mansion; to load.

"Mostly Irish," Beckett said. "We never talked about this have we?"

"It's not something that comes up in conversation," Castle said.

"True. But I'm Irish, British and a little bit Belgian, my mom's father's mother. My great-grandmother. But mostly Irish, since my dad is half and my mother was half too, her great-great grandmother came over from Cobh apparently," Beckett replied.

"Interesting combination, does Ryan know?" Castle asked.

"He does, but, I never grew up knowing the culture as he did," Beckett said with a shrug.

"That might explain why Ireland has such an allure to you," Castle said.

"And Spain?" Beckett asked.

"You never know, you could be Spanish somewhere in your family's past," Castle replied. "Spaniards ended up in Ireland after the Armada in 1588."

Beckett only smiled at that as the episode began and she leaned against him while he turned off the lights; wrapping his arm around her. "Always in the dark," she commented as the opening credits played after the intro.

"That's the best way to watch this," Castle insisted. He watched her, forcing himself to do so the whole episode, until it finished and he stopped it. "Well?" he asked.

"The tunnel wasn't really that believable," Beckett said, smiling as she sat up. They usually talked about the evidence after watching an episode, more because Castle was trying to make her admit it was legitimately supernatural. "Do you know how many animals could be in there?"

"Fine, I'll agree… kind of," Castle said. "But what about the house itself."

"Not talking about the lockdown, the accident was horrible to hear about, I can't blame Mr. Houghton for being devastated," Beckett said. "And Mr. Widders as well, but…"

"Still no? Everything we've seen, the hand at that New Jersey hospital, the brick in the movie and you still can't admit there's something? What about-" Castle began before he closed his mouth hard.

"Alcatraz," Beckett finished for him. She looked up at the ceiling and said, "I still can't say that was a spirit that grabbed my hair. But remember, I do agree with the Evil Island moniker, because there's something there that's… it isn't a place conducive to being happy. I'm just glad Julia didn't pick up on it, though I'm sure she probably hates it now." She looked at him and said, "I am sorry though."

"No, there's something… admirable about your stubbornness," Castle said. "I'd be dead or in jail right now if you weren't."

"You make a good point," Beckett said. "Okay, let's set aside ghosts for the night and focus on something e-e-lse. Castle! That's not what I meant," she said, stuttering in her shock and reaction to his hand sliding up her side under her shirt. "How did you have that fast of a turn around? We were just talking about Alcatraz."

"I remembered that from the waist up-" Castle started to say as he moved his hand over to her breasts.

"And you're a guy, I forgot," Beckett sighed, stopping his hand. She took it out from under her shirt and said, "Not that I don't mind that, but the lights."

"Oh, of course," Castle said, turning to get the switch for both lamps. "Though I just realized that could go either way."

"True, but I want to ask, do you remember how you owe me?" Beckett asked.

"I do, for this morning… oh, you're calling it in now? Great," Castle said, leaning into her.

Beckett let him kiss her, but didn't let it continue for long before she pulled away. "You didn't ask what I want," she told him as he looked frustrated.

"Okay, what do you want?" Castle asked simply. He was a little startled when she pulled back enough to take off her shirt, and he looked on as she finished undressing, getting the feeling she didn't want him to join in. "You-" he started to say when he was cut off by her pulling his shirt.

Not too surprised Castle quickly recovered, Beckett smiled slightly as he tried to kiss her as they worked to undress him. But she kept pulling away from him until he was naked as well and she finally allowed him to press his lips hard to hers. She stopped him when they pulled away; since he was beginning to drift to her neck; and said simply, "I want you to watch," feeling a little shiver of anxiety going through her as they'd never done that before.

"You… okay," Castle said, looking at her. "Is there… any way you'd like to do this?"

"Just watch, don't touch anything," Beckett said, a little taken aback when he laid her down. "Me or yourself."

"So that would be the owing part," Castle commented. When Beckett merely gave him a slight smile, he leaned over and kissed her, feeling her immediate response. "I don't know if I can do that, but I promise to try," he said when they had parted.

Beckett didn't reply, since it wasn't a shock he'd said that, and reached up to cup his cheek with one hand while the other slid down over her stomach. She faltered in her breath slightly as she found where she was seeking between her legs, not surprised it had been as easy as it was since undressing had been enough to begin to excite her. She watched Castle as his gaze went from her face down to her hand, and she let him go to concentrate on herself. She had to wonder why she wanted to do that, but the question was quickly lost as she could feel the intensity of his gaze though his eyes weren't on her face.

Swallowing hard, Castle moved down the bed slightly, hoping she was okay with that. But when he glanced up at her, he saw that she wasn't even looking at him, instead her eyes were closed tightly and his mouth watered as her neck arched up with her body. He was tempted to kiss her, and to touch her, but he tried to remind himself what she had asked of him, so he grabbed the bed sheet under them tightly, to keep his hands where they were. But his own arousal was getting stronger, and he had to wonder if she'd had in mind to torture him when she'd told him what she wanted.

A little lost in her rising pleasure, Beckett opened her eyes a while later to see Castle had moved from further down the bed. "You-" she started to say, panting a little as by then she was too close and her body was showing her exertions.

"I know, you said not to touch you, but I have to Kate," Castle said, almost begging in his tone as he wrapped his arms around her tightly, laying next to her.

"Just… don't…" was all that Beckett could get out before her body tensed for a split second and the next she was moaning as she felt him holding her tightly against him.

Breathing hard and not sure how he was keeping his self-control, Castle watched her, her body moving, undulating as her face was masked in pleasure and he couldn't stop himself. He kissed her deeply, but it was a brief kiss, as she broke away from him, moaning hard before she went limp in his embrace. He kissed her temple, then lips, just brushing his lips against her, and said, "You enjoyed that."

"That's… I'm pretty sure that's obvious," Beckett said, glancing at him as she was getting her breath back. "I'm sorry if that was a little much for you to watch."

"Well, I think now I can say with certainty that you owe me," Castle said. "Not even able to touch you…" he said as he cupped her breast with his hand.

"You… now?" Beckett asked, a little surprised. But even as she said that, she was reacting to his touch and she bit her lower lip as he stroked her before going down her body.

"Too much?" Castle asked as he stroked between her legs, being very careful.

"You bastard, you knew I was getting excited again," Beckett said, though she smiled slightly before letting out a moan at his touch.

"I'm that good," Castle said. He was surprised when he didn't get a reaction to that, and he moved, deciding she was ready. He made her get up, straddling him, before he grabbed her waist and was going to help her when she moved, and he was suddenly inside of her. It was a shock, but he was able to hold off his climax just in time. "You're pretty good yourself, I think I need to say," he groaned as she moved slightly.

"I know," was all that Beckett said as she began to raise herself. She soon set a rhythm, feeling Castle's hands on the small of her back, holding her tightly while he met her pace easily, since she was going slower than they'd been that morning and the night before. His hands were suddenly sliding up, and it was little surprise when one went for her breasts, the other in between her legs again. She sighed in pleasure as he fondled both, and she let him, as she knew she was going to need more time to get to the end than he would.

Feeling his fingertips growing damp, Castle suddenly sat up, and kissed Beckett deeply, groaning when she wrapped her arms around him tightly. He could feel her against his chest, and he shuddered, a little confused. He knew he should have finished long before that moment, but then wondered if he wasn't just trying to wait for her. He reached up with one hand, stroking her hair, letting his fingers tangle in her locks before he pulled away from her. "I love you," he said suddenly, watching her.

"I love you too," Beckett replied simply, leaning down slightly so she could kiss him. That kiss was a little tenderer, and she was slipping her tongue into his mouth to brush against his before pulling back. She cupped his face in her hands, stroking his lower lip before she led him down to her breasts, wrapping her arms back around him as he immediately began to suckle at her right nipple. She could feel her pleasure rising, and faster than she had expected, making her pull him tighter against her in her excitement while trying not to thrust too hard as she was enjoying the rhythm they had with each other.

Moving to in between her breasts after he had been going over them for a while, Castle brushed his lips over her scar, feeling her shudder instantly in response. He straightened up as she bent down to kiss him, and their lips met, making him hold her tighter to him as she slid her fingers through his hair. He groaned slightly when she scraped her nails against his scalp, and that broke off their kiss before he was sliding his lips over her collarbone.

Breathing harshly by then, Beckett waited for Castle to raise his head before she turned her legs enough to drape them over his thighs, her feet in between his legs. She hissed as he groaned, holding her securer against him with her next thrust as she had abruptly become tighter. She could feel him starting to move faster, so she stopped moving, a little surprised to find it wasn't that she wanted to; like Castle did; but she needed to. But it didn't make it any less of an annoyance, and she could see that on his face as he stopped as well. "Sorry," she whispered.

"No, I… you're not there yet," Castle breathed out, slumped against her chest.

"Well," Beckett said, thinking for a moment. "Maybe this will help." And with that she moved her legs back to how they'd been, and took his hand, kissing his fingertips. She was going to move him herself, but he slipped his hand from her grasp, and she stiffened with a pleasured gasp as he rolled the tips of his fingers around her swollen nub, the sensation shooting through her like a rush of electricity that spread through her entire body.

Kissing Beckett at her reaction, Castle slid his tongue into her mouth, deepening the kiss as he continued; his other hand on the small of her back again. He groaned heavily when she moved in response to him, and he wasn't able to remain unaffected with that. He finally moved his fingers from in between them, and grabbed her with both hands as they began to thrust towards one another at nearly the same time. They then pulled apart, and he leaned up enough to kiss at her neck, brushing his lips down to her shoulders.

Feeling Castle gripping her a little desperately, Beckett didn't hesitate, just began to move slightly faster, enough for him to feel the difference. She was holding onto him as well, and she slid her hand from his back to the back of his head, tilting it up to kiss him. She was feeling her body losing the battle to try and take things longer, just enough for her to feel the fires they spread through her at his touch and him inside of her. But before she could try and slow down, to keep herself from catapulting over the edge, his hands were tightening on her frantically and she let go of that momentary desire to stop; watching him closely through her daze of ecstasy.

Though he had tried to stop himself, Castle knew he was too far gone to do anything that would have any kind of effect. He held Beckett to him as he pressed his cheek to hers, and groaned out her name as his climax didn't seem to stop. He knew she wasn't with him yet, but was dimly aware when he began to slow down that she was digging her nails into his back, and her body had lost its steady rhythm. He stopped before she did, and he held her tightly still as he felt her riding through the last waves of her pleasure, shuddering slightly at her moans.

Breathing roughly, Beckett had no problem letting Castle move them around so she was lying back on the bed again. Once he was next to her, she lay on top of his arm he held out, and reached up to entwine her fingers with his. "I'm surprised we were able to do anything," she commented idly as they stared at their fingers. "With this morning."

"Seems like a long time ago," Castle said. "But I know what you mean. However… you're very tempting, especially when you take off your top."

"So not before that?" Beckett asked teasingly.

"Not what I said," Castle said quickly. "You know what I mean though. How am I supposed to resist a half naked woman asking me to watch her pleasure herself? And commanding me not to touch a thing? And that it's you saying all of that?"

"You were able to for a while," Beckett said with a smile as she looked up at him.

"It wasn't easy, it's why I eventually broke," Castle said. "But I enjoyed that, a lot."

"I thought you would," Beckett replied idly. She reached up then and caressed his face saying, "It was kind of a reassurance."

"Yeah, for me too," Castle said, knowing she was talking about the reason they had made love. They were quiet for a moment, and after a while he finally looked at her, and seeing she wasn't asleep said, "But we do have more to go."

"I know," Beckett said. "It'll be sad to head back."

"I really was serious about coming back here," Castle commented. "But I've enjoyed seeing you becoming nostalgic."

"That's happened a lot," Beckett said with a smile. "May took me to a lot of places when she could. I never mentioned; I actually forgot until now; but we had a little East Coast, West Coast argument. It wasn't a serious one, but she was trying to get me to admit that it was just as good here as in NYC."

"Did you ever settle it?" Castle asked.

"Couldn't, she had never been to the city, so it was a little lopsided," Beckett said. She laughed softly and said, "Which she took to mean that she had won the argument. She's absolutely crazy sometimes." She turned over onto her side and reached up to Castle's cheek, caressing it. "But the times I'm not remembering I'm enjoying too."

"Times like right now?" Castle asked, hearing the tone of her voice significantly changing and his heart began to beat a little quicker in response.

"Right now," was all that Beckett said, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him deeply as he was quick to respond.

Sliding his hand along her side, Castle pressed it to the small of Beckett's back, and when they were coupled together again, he laid her on her back on the bed. He kissed her more passionately as they proceeded to make love, neither of them realizing the sounds from that were mixing with the light rain that had started to fall outside. Drops slid down the windows as they became easily lost in each other for a second time that cold night, the heat from one another enough to chase away the chill.