Hello, first of all I want to thank you for your birthday wishes. Thank you very much! And thank you as well for continuing to read, and of course for your interest in the story.

I want to also thank my more-than-beta for her birthday greeting. I loved it, and I want to thank you also for offering that day the best decision I've made since I started writing this crazy story.

Thank you so much! A thousand thanks to you all.

The characters are not mine ...

Idea from Lizcecilia6CECIFILLION

Translator: Thanks to all of you who sent PMs or comments regarding the rating. I will be marking any M-rated portions of upcoming chapters with [*M*]. To maintain the T rating, simply skip over the marked portion. I will arrange it so that it will not disrupt the story to skip those parts if you choose. Any chapters containing any M-ish material will have a chapter header warning.

Content warning: Quite a bit of suggestive teasing in this chapter. T+.

Chapter 25

RICK'S POV

I got ready for the party, dressing myself in the white pants and shirt I had bought at the shop. Then I put on a white baseball cap that I thought hid my illness pretty well—or at least it hid the baldness of my head.

I was a bit tired from the long day, but I was eager to see the dress that Kate had chosen for the party tonight. I had just finished pouring a glass of water when I saw Kate leave her room. I nearly choked when I saw her. If I still had any questions after the earlier event in the shower, this settled them, leaving nothing to be desired, except ... wow, I couldn't wait for bedtime.

"Castle. Are you okay?" she asked, completely ignoring the incident in the bathroom.

"Yeah, yeah, it's just the water went down the wrong way," I said coughing.

"What? Are you still nervous?" she asked with a mischievous smile.

"I ... no, of course not …. You are so mean, Beckett," I said drawing near. "You know, you're incredibly sexy, Kate."

"You're just saying that because you're thinking with your ... you know," she laughed. But she was right, my little buddy was starting to perk up. Fortunately, the pants were loose enough to obscure what was down below.

"You're not helping much," I said gathering her next to me, and we went out with our arms around each other's shoulders. I wanted to enjoy this night—this one and any one that life let me have with her. I would've liked to have spent the evening alone with her, but I understood that she needed a little time to clear her head and not spend twenty-four hours a day alone with me. It had to be a little bit exhausting for her, though for me it was like being in heaven.

When we arrived, the party was in full swing. Steve and Gabrielle immediately came to greet us, both of them perpetually smiling. I couldn't understand how it was that they always seemed so happy. They had to be on drugs or something.

"Hello neighbor! Kate. What's with the baseball cap, buddy? It doesn't really suit you," Steve said, trying to take it from me.

"Hey! Leave it. It's that I have a bad haircut, and I prefer the hat to ... you know."

"Always so concerned about your looks, Rick. Goes hand in hand with being such a charmer, I suppose. Let's get you a drink. Enjoy the party and don't pay any attention to my husband, Rick. You're handsome no matter what you're wearing," Gabrielle smiled, and gave her husband a nudge towards the bar.

"Why won't you tell them?" Kate asked in a whisper.

"I'm tired of seeing people's eyes change once they know."

"It's a normal reaction, because they care about you."

"Yeah, but I hate to see how they look at me ... I'd rather not."

"Do you want to leave now?" she asked, worried about me.

"No, I just ... I need a drink." I saw how she looked at me, and added, "Not alcohol, I just need something refreshing. It's too hot." I left her there while I went to find something to drink. I needed refreshment of mind and spirit as much as physical refreshment.

A while later, I was wandering around amongst the people looking for Kate, but couldn't find her anywhere. I was starting to consider going home to see if she had already decided to leave, but then I saw her sitting alone down by the beach, away from all the other people.

"You've never really liked crowds," I remarked, sitting beside her and handing her a glass of tropical fruit juice.

"I just ... needed to be alone," she answered pensively.

"Ah! I'll go away, if you want—" I said, starting up.

"No, it's fine," she said smiling and taking my hand to stop me.

"If you didn't want to come because—"

"I ... it's just, I guess the pressure to be sure that you're happy, falling only on me, is just a bit too much for me right now."

"Kate, I'm happy just because you're with me. But I understand that you need your space. You don't have stick to me like glue twenty-four hours a day, I'll settle for twenty-three," I jokingly told her, making her laugh. "Seriously, Kate, I don't want you to do anything you don't wish to do. If you want to, you can go back to the City—"

"Don't say such a stupid thing, okay? It's just that in recent times, I've been used to spending too much time alone. I wanted to run away from it for months, except you can't exactly run away alone to get away from being alone."

"I don't want you to feel like you're under pressure ... I want this to be something we both enjoy. I don't want you to feel tense all the time because you don't know if I'm happy or not—I am, Kate, and I don't want you to doubt that for a second. But I need you to relax, so we can enjoy the sun, the sea, and each other's company."

"Thank you, truly. You have real problems, and here I am complaining," she said looking at me with that smile that made me forget everything.

"Come on, let's go home," I said, getting up and pulling her hand to help her up. We walked back to our house with our fingers intertwined, holding hands and barefooted, right along the edge of the beach, letting the waves caress our feet. Anyone who saw us would think we were a real honeymoon couple.

When we got home I sat on the sand facing the calm water. Kate sat beside me resting her head on my shoulder. We were silent for several minutes until she pulled away.

"May I … may I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"Why don't you want to meet your father anymore?"

"Because I've dreamed so much about him, and no one could measure up to that. And if he were to appear now, I would always have doubts as to whether it was because he actually cared about me or if it was only out of pity."

"You ... you've thought that about me."

"Yes, a lot. It's normal to have doubts. Before this, you hated me, and suddenly you're doing this. You wouldn't have done this if I were healthy." I stared off into space.

"Maybe you're right, but I didn't do it out of pity. I'm doing it ... for ... I'm doing it for love," she stated, and my eyes immediately snapped to hers. "There are many kinds of love, Rick, as the mayor said when we married, and I feel that I do love you, and that I would have loved you before if you had let me really know you. I think if you had done that, maybe ..."

"Maybe what, Kate?"

"Maybe I could love you in other ways," she said looking down at the ground.

"What are you trying to say?"

"That this Rick—the real Rick, that you kept so carefully hidden—I could have fallen in love with."

"Then it's a shame I didn't let him out before," I said smiling. After those words of hers I could not help but look into her eyes, and I leaned in closer until I felt her warm, moist lips on mine. A light touch, and I needed more. I caressed the side of her face with my hand and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss until our tongues danced together in a perfect pas de deux. We withdrew slightly with our foreheads touching, gazing into each other's eyes.

I don't know if it was some kind of insanity that her words provoked in me, or that wonderful kiss so full of tenderness and affection. But I got up and started pulling my clothes off piece by piece.

"Rick, what are you doing? Are you crazy?" she exclaimed, looking frantically up and down the beach.

"No! I just think it's time to fulfill another one of my wishes." I smiled as I removed the last bit of clothing. Kate immediately covered her face with her hands and blushed as red as a peony.

"Rick, cover yourself, please! I don't want to get—"

"Come on, you've already seen me just about naked! Now you can do it without having to sneak into the bathroom when I'm trying to cool my blood." I smiled, turned, and ran into the cold water of the sea.

KATE'S POV

I couldn't help but peek between my fingers. He had a magnificent backside, I could never deny it. God! Just thinking about it was enough to make my body thrum with heat. The truth is that right now I could use a nice cold shower, like the one he took in the afternoon before the party. This was not normal—we were married, we both wanted it, and yet here we were, both acting so stupid about it …

"Come on Kate, the water's nice!" Rick shouted as he swam about.

"Yes, and by your tone of voice, it must be a very brisk sort of 'nice'," I laughed.

"Come on, you have to help me fulfill my wishes."

"You're already doing it. You don't need me for this one."

"But without you, it's just not the same," he pouted like a cross child.

"I don't want to go skinny dipping," I called back to him.

"Well, if you'd rather, just come in with your clothes on. I don't care. But come on, the water's great."

I was very doubtful, but I saw Rick was enjoying the water, and I thought of a little scheme that we might both enjoy. I bit my lip hard trying to make up my mind if I should do it.

"Turn around, Rick."

"What?" he asked surprised.

"I asked you to turn around."

"But Kate, I've already seen—"

"Turn around or I'm going home!" I threatened.

"Fine, I'll do it," he grumbled as he turned. "Can't see a thing, I promise," he said. But I knew that he had a big smile on his face, nonetheless.

I undressed as fast as I could, without letting him out of my sight, in case he cheated and looked over his shoulder. He was right, he had seen most of my body naked, but this was different. The two of us were going to be entirely naked, and this time, Little Ricky was awake ... and apparently unimpaired.

I charged down the sand into the water, which was of course completely freezing, and naturally I immediately was covered with goose-flesh, hard points sticking up from my skin.

"It's freezing!" I exclaimed, giving him a chuck on the arm to turn him towards me.

"Yeah, yeah it is a little," he smiled and opened his arms to give me a hug.

An even better way of avenging myself on him for luring me into such cold water suddenly occurred to me—the frosting on the cake of my little scheme, as it were.

"You could help me get warm," I teased.

"How?" he gulped.

"Yes, you know how," I purred, placing my hands around his neck and bringing our bodies closer together. I felt like my body truly did get warm next to his. I wasn't sure I could put a name on what it was he made me feel, but I was sure that it was something wonderful. His afternoon display of wedding tackle had opened the gates to new ideas; now it really was possible to consummate our marriage …

He looked at me dumbfounded, and for a moment I thought I would lose control, but with an effort I focused again on what I intended to do.

"We could do it…"

"Do what?" he whispered hoarsely, still seemingly incredulous that we were both naked and so close.

I kept my composure as well as I could and brought my lips to skim lightly over his, and when Rick tried to kiss me back, I turned away from him. I kept playing with him until I had him completely discombobulated, then grabbed his head and dunked it underwater. My revenge was complete.

When he resurfaced, sputtering indignantly, I could not stop laughing. Rick swam after me trying to catch me. We had a good time there, between the games and the light "unintentional" caresses that did not go unnoticed by either of us.

"I'll go get a couple of towels," he announced, leaving the water, and I could not avoid looking at him in all his splendor. Lanie was right, he was totally hot. "Do you like what you see?" he teased, picking up clothes from the sand. I thought I would die of shame—he had caught me red-handed.

A little while later he returned from the house. He was wearing a towel wrapped around his waist and held another one open for me.

"Not looking," he announced, with his eyes shut tight and head averted.

I raced out of the water to where he stood waiting to wrap me in the towel. Then we stayed there a moment, our eyes saying sweet things to each other in silent dialog.

"Thanks for helping me fulfill another dream," he murmured in perfect happiness.

"It's been a pleasure," I smiled back.

We collected the rest of the clothes and went back to the house, calling it a day. The truth is that I had no complaints, not with what we had done, and even less with the company.

TO BE CONTINUED…

This is starting to get good—it seems that both of them are already a little tired of waiting. Can they hold out much longer? I think not! lol. Well, as you know, I'll see you again soon with a new chapter. This week you're going to have lots of "I learned to love you."

Thank you all for your messages, and have a great day XXOO

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