Author's Note: Thank you everyone for your continued support with this one. I've never tried to write so many words in such a short time, but all of the lovely encouragement makes it so much easier.

Chapter 21

A trail of kisses up the ridge of her spine. Warm breath on her skin.

Kate sleepily smiles into her pillow, releases a relaxed sigh as the kisses change direction, following the sharp line of her shoulder blade. She can almost sense him above her, propped on his elbows and knees, the warmth of his body filling the space between them.

Kate blinks open her eyes in the early morning sunrise, rolls onto her back beneath him.

"Mmmm, morning," he murmurs, ignoring morning breath and capturing her lips in a long kiss.

She lazily lifts a leg, wraps it around his thigh, tugging him down over her. She loves being on top, and she knows he loves when she's on top, but there's nothing quite like the feeling of his body over hers, pressing her solidly into the bed.

Castle settles in above her, lips leaving hers to trail across her jaw, and she melts into the pillows, allows the feeling to overtake her, the love that exudes from his every caress.

His name escapes her on a whimper as his lips close around her ear lobe, biting gently before soothing it with his tongue. Kate loops one arm around his neck, the other hand sliding into his hair, holding him close.

It's a blur after that, his lips and hands and teeth all over her skin, sliding down her body, leaving a trail of fire in his wake. She's writhing beneath him almost before she knows what's happening, and the next thing she's cognizant of is the tremors wracking her body as she floats down from her orgasm, body cradled delicately in Castle's arms as she comes back to herself.

He's gazing down on her with a mixture of pride and tender love, and she smiles softly, can't contain her feelings for this man, overwhelmed by how much he loves her. How much she loves him. She's fallen so much farther than she ever thought possible.

Kate sinks back into the pillow, closes her eyes, brain hazy with sleep and lust and the aftereffects of his expert ministrations. Castle still looms above her, propped on his elbows to avoid crushing her, but their hips are firmly pressed together and she can feel him against her, hot and hard pressing into her thigh. His head rests in the crook of her neck, lips against her skin, hot breath sending ripples of arousal cascading through her. It's a long moment before she opens her eyes again but somehow Castle senses it, lifts his head to seek her gaze. But she's faster, catching him completely off guard as she flips them, rising above him as he suddenly finds himself flat on his back in the giant bed.

Kate sends a saucy smirk his way, hips dropping down onto his, rolling back and forth, but before she has the chance to take him inside of her, he's teasing right back, pressing up into a seated position, legs beneath hers, pelvis coming into sharp contact with hers. Her head drops back as a wave flutters through her, firm pressure against her already stimulated core, and she clings to him, fingers digging into her shoulders as she fights for control. His hands settle on her hips, gently guiding her up onto her knees, and she lifts up, taking him inside of her as she sinks back down. She tips her chin forward again, forehead coming to rest against his as Castle wraps his arms around her lower back, holding her to him, chest to chest.

Her arms loop around his neck and she brings him in for a hot kiss, tongues tangling, lips locking as she begins to move above him.

She rises slowly, allowing him to almost slip out of her before sliding back down, sheathing him inside of her once again, a low moan escaping her lips at the feeling. Maybe it's the angle, or maybe it's the closeness, the feeling of his skin against hers from hips to shoulders, or maybe it's the way they move together, rocking back and forth in synchrony.

Whatever it is, Kate feels her walls begin to flutter, traveling through her body in waves every time their hips come into contact. From his stuttered breathing, she can tell Castle isn't far behind her, and it's not long before they're falling over the edge together, trembling bodies moving together, coaxing the last vestiges of release from one another before collapsing into each other.

Eventually, Castle falls backwards and Kate follows, plastered to his chest as he settles into the pillows with her sprawled on top of him. The sun is rising over the water, glinting off the tips of the rippling waves, the pattern mesmerizing in its repetition, and Kate finds herself drifting off to the distant sounds of birds chirping and the water gently crashing into the shore.

Castle feels her go limp above him, limbs heavy and sated as she relaxes into him. He wraps his arms around her more tightly, hands spreading to span the skin of her back, tracing patterns up and down the exposed flesh.

Beautiful view outside, beautiful woman sleeping naked on top of him. Castle sighs happily, eyes drifting shut as a blissful sleep pulls him under.

Best morning ever.

The weekend passes far too rapidly, a combination of sun and sand and a near complete lack of clothing. They even manage to skinny dip this time without being rudely interrupted by a dying man ("I had the pool drained and thoroughly doused in bleach. Multiple times," Castle promises.).

They spend their days on the beach and their evenings sharing delicious home-cooked meals. Kate has never considered herself to be clingy, and surprisingly, Castle isn't either. And yet they spend very little time apart. Between sleeping in each other's arms, eating meals with their ankles twined beneath the table and their fingers linked on the wooden surface, snuggling on the beach, and multiple long, hot, showers, they're together almost constantly. Maybe there's still lingering insecurity on both sides from their recent fights, or maybe it's just the excitement of being back on solid ground once again.

But whatever it is, Kate can't shake the feeling that it's too good, too perfect. That they've fallen back into the trap of lots of sex and not enough words.

She doesn't want to slide back into their previous pattern, tries hard to resist it. But then Castle comes walking out onto the beach clad in only low-slung swim trunks, or he drags her into the shower, or he steps up behind her as she watches the moonrise, hugs her to his chest, and all coherent thought vanishes from her mind.

It's making her crazy. He makes her crazy.

And she's seemingly powerless against it.

It's Monday afternoon before things finally come crashing down around them. They're getting ready to head back to the city, their departure already delayed by Castle's sexy proposition that Kate join him in the shower. A shower that ended up being nearly forty minutes long.

Now she stands in the bedroom clad in a robe and her undergarments as she searches for something comfortable for the ride home. Castle steps up behind her clad in only his boxers, reaches around and slowly unties her robe, begins to strip it from her body. She swats his hands away but he persists, leading her to whirl around, hands on her hips, robe hanging partially open over her torso.

"I thought we were getting ready to head back," Kate points out. It's already five in the afternoon and she has to head into the precinct in the morning.

"We are," Castle answers sultrily, loosening the tie the rest of the way until the garment hangs completely open, and he slips his hands beneath the fabric to settle on her hips. "But not until I get you naked one last time in our bed."

Kate freezes, entire body going rigid beneath his tender touch, and Castle senses the change, halts his motions. "What?"

"Our bed?" she repeats.

"Well, I mean, we're living together now, right?"

"In Manhattan."

"What's mine is yours?" he states, though it comes out as more of a tentative question.

She whirls around. "Castle."

"What?"

"This place is huge," she exclaims. "And it's yours. I could never..."

"Kate..."

"No," she protests with a shake of her head. She's not after his money. She never has been. Her parents were well off and she's managed to do fairly well for herself too, but she's no millionaire, and she's not interested in co-owning a mansion.

Hell, she's pretty sure she can't even afford a month's rent for the loft, but that's a whole different conversation.

Castle grabs the edges of her robe, tugs her towards him. "Come here," he deflects, sliding his fingers beneath the edges of the fabric and guiding it off of her shoulders.

But Kate halts him, shrugs the robe back on. "Stop."

"Kate, please," he begs. "Can we just...talk about this later."

Never would be preferable, but as that's not a viable option, she'd rather get it out of the way now. The sooner he understands her feelings about this, the better it'll be for both of them.

"No."

He sighs, crosses his arms over his chest, and she's momentarily distracted by the definition of his biceps, the way it feels to be wrapped up in them. "Fine. Talk."

"This is your place," she begins. "I can't...I don't want..." she stammers, not even sure how to say this. "I'm not rich, Castle. And I don't want to be. That's not what I'm after."

"I know," he assures her. "And I've always appreciated that about you. But we're starting a life together, Kate. And that means we share things. Everything."

She shakes her head vehemently. She's just come to grips with moving into the loft, with the ring that sits in a small velvet box in the nightstand on her side of the bed. But this...she doesn't even know how to process this.

"What if I don't want that?" she asks finally.

"Look," Castle says, tugging on her robe again until she steps forward. "Obviously this is something that's going to take some thought. But it's not something that needs to be dealt with right now. We can talk it over later, maybe with my accountant. Get some outside advice. But, Kate, I'm not trying to force you to be someone you're not. I want to share these things with you."

"I know," she concedes. She believes him. He has a generous heart, and it shouldn't surprise her, really. But it's also not something she's going to come to terms with right away.

In less than three weeks, she's gone from dating Castle to moving in with him and agreeing to marry him some day in the future. She feels like she's gone from zero to sixty in about three seconds, and she's not sure she's prepared for this.

She's not sure she ever actually will be.

Thoughts?