We're well out of Disneyland in this story. This is rated M for its language, communication and the fluff. This chapter wraps up, and next chapter will move onto Always Buy Retail. Kind of having fun working this story into the series. Not sure how far I will go but please let me know if you want me to keep going. So far, I've written to the end of season 1 and start of Season 2 and redrafting all that.

Chapter 28

The urge to take a leak woke Rick at roughly six the next morning. He reached out with his right arm to find the warm flesh of a woman but what he got was an empty bed. Kate was gone. He sighed, somewhat disappointed. He grasped the pillow her head had slept upon, dropped it over this face and breathed in the scent of Kate an unconscious moan of pure want escaping him. The same pillow had been pressed over her face last night to suppress the noise she expelled when she climaxed, so she didn't wake his family. He pushed off the pillow and stared at the ceiling, recollecting with a great deal of fondness, how many times had he physically invited her to orgasm. Each time she'd accepted the invite, and had then keenly rolled into impressive climaxes.

He'd lost count somewhere between the Oh my Gods and I'm coming. His mouth and tongue had worked their magic. Her lean, responsive body had writhed up the bed, moaning, sighing and swearing, her mind transported to another place. Each time she'd escaped his reach, he'd dragged her ass back to his mouth that had covered her swollen, sensitive and sopping clit.

Rick groaned, roughly rubbed his bare chest with a palm. He loved the pain when she clenched her fingers on his shoulders. Every time had an orgasm, she cried out senseless words and phrases. She would blindly find his hands and grip them as her body shuddered through it powerful orgasms. It was only after she had begged him to stop, shared that her body spent and exhausted, that he'd penetrated and brought on her last peak. Kate was a thief in his bed. Without knowing it, she had stolen his ability to send her on her way like he did most women. By this stage in their relationship he would have broken up with her. He couldn't bear the thought of not seeing Kate every single day.

He sat up on his elbows and sleepily gazed about his immediate surroundings, using the available light. It wasn't quite sunrise. The bottle of water on the side table was empty and tipped over. He was thirsty, dry mouthed thirsty. The bed was a mess. The fitted sheet had come away from the mattress at her corner and the bedding was haphazedly thrown over the bed. Pillows were on the floor, along with the towels they'd used when they showered. He swung his feet out of bed and stood up. Body stiffness evidenced he'd certainly enjoyed a good work out. He really needed to get to the bathroom.

"Kate Beckett," he said aloud, the scent of her strong on his lips, his hands. "The woman's gonna kill me." He muttered, thoroughly liking what he was feeling inside about her.

A few minutes later, he wandered to the vanity to assess just how rough he looked that morning. His head was like he'd been on the alcohol for most of it. He needed to shave. He ran his fingers from his unshaven jaw, down his throat, to his strong chest, as he turned to face the mirror. There, in the middle of the mirror was a pink kiss. He smiled, because as it happened his body, standing fully upright, was positioned so that the impression of her lips was right over his heart.

"Cute, Beckett."

He picked up his phone from the vanity, opened the camera app and took a selfie. Once he saw the photograph was taken perfectly, so she saw what he did in his reflection, he sent it to her. Before he had a chance to put the phone down it received a reply text. She'd written.

Over your heart. Hey. Aren't you the sexy guy who fucked my brains out last night?

He smirked. He wrote back.

Ruggedly handsome, but I'll accept sexy.

He waited.

Can you stay there? I'll be back in ten for another round.

He furrowed his brow, glanced down at his junk. "I don't think I have the strength." He muttered. He wrote back. He smirked.

Hurry up then.

Too soon he received another text.

Wow. It's a hot photo of you Ricky, but wats with the bruise?

Rick searched himself via the mirror for the bruise she'd seen. He soon found a circular bluish mark below his right nipple. He found two more over his ribs. He tapped back.

Correction. Three bruises. Does that count as abuse?

She wrote him back.

LMAO. Dunno. Do the ones between my thighs count as abuse?

Rick let out a wicked chuckle, recalling when he held her down and had sucked and nibbled at the soft flesh at her inner thighs. The moans and girlish squeals she'd released, the way her fingers had gripped, how her body had curled up, had driven him going crazy with want. He sent her a final text.

Not sure, but I fucking enjoyed putting them there. I still smell of delicious you. Us. CU soon, babe. I won't be long.

He saw Kate had showered before she'd left the loft. He took a shower. They had pre-arranged to meet at the victim's old apartment before the current tenant left for work so he needed to be out the door soon.

Roger stood in the middle of his living room while Beckett and Castle examined the apartment. He'd given them ten minutes to do what they needed to do before he had to leave home for work. He watched on in confusion at the banter going on between the lady cop and the writer.

Roger interjected, "They told me he was shot in a mugging. And now you're telling me, he was killed here, in my apartment?"

Castle answered, "Not him. His wife."

"His wife? What kind of family was this?"

"That's a good question, Roger." Castle replied. He stopped in the middle of the living room, aware time was quickly ticking by and so far they'd found nothing. They needed play act it out. Beckett happed to come to a halt a few feet in front of him. He looked at her and said, "Alright. So, you and I are married."

Beckett looked aghast, "We are not married."

Castle frowned, somewhere disappointed in her strong reaction, "Relax. It's just pretend."

Beckett typically responded with, "I don't want to pretend."

Castle thought about that and for some reason, he couldn't resist asking, "Scared you'll like it?"

Beckett entirely paused to process what he'd said. Her eyes widened momentarily then she took a deep breath, obviously conscious she was presently under scrutiny. She sighed, relaxed her shoulders, re-engaged, "Okay. If we're married, I want a divorce."

Roger's head went from side to side between the cop and writer, like he was at a tennis match, "Are you two like this all the time?"

Castle and Beckett replied together, "Yes."

Castle pressed on because they had time constraints, "Alright. We're not married, but they were. Let's say the doorman's right. Melanie gets home about four o'clock."

"She'd have to make dinner for the kids." Beckett offered and the pair hurried through a doorway into a small kitchen.

Castle then said, "Then Sam comes home."

Beckett said, "Banker's hours. Around six o'clock."

Castle nodded and added, "Figure, kids have already eaten."

"So, they're what? Um... Watching TV in the bedroom."

Roger asked, "In my bedroom?"

Castle waved him off and said "Shhh. We're on a roll."

Beckett suggested, "They have a fight."

"About the affair."

"About Philadelphia," Kate offered.

Castle moved closer to Beckett his eyes trained on hers, "Things get heated."

"And she turns her head..."

"He whacks her with something." Castle said and they instantly search about them. They grabbed cooking implements. Rick a frypan, Kate a saucepan.

Beckett said, "A pot." She looked at the pan Castle held near her head, "Or a pan."

Castle exploded "Bam! Fractures her skull. It's over."

It startled Kate who jumped in surprise, then she said, "Except the kids are still in the bedroom. He's got to figure out a way of getting her out of the apartment without them seeing."

Castle suggested, "Hallway bathroom." They hurried past Roger to find the bathroom they entered. "He needed to buy time."

Beckett looked about them in the small bathroom and said, "Okay. So he, um, he puts the body in the tub, closes the door."

Roger began, "Wait..."

Rick shut the bathroom door with a good push.

Beckett carried on, totally into this playout, "And... he tells the kids that Mom went to the store."

Castle replied, "Which, according to the case file, the doorman was never able to substantiated."

"Okay. So, no car. How does he get the body out of the apartment?"

Roger opened the door and suggested, "Maybe he hailed a cab."

They both turned their heads to look at him then looked back at each other.

Castle said, "Yeah. Maybe the cabbie and the doorman helped him stuff the body in the trunk."

"How much do you tip for that these days?" Kate asked.

Castle lit up, "The doorman."

Beckett said, "Castle, I'm joking."

Castle asked, "What if the body was already in the freezer when he took it out of the apartment?"

"Freezer? He'd have needed a truck," Roger replied.

Castle said, "In my building, if you have something picked up or delivered, you have to sign for it."

"Yeah. Here, too. Delivery that big, you have to sign the ledger," Roger explained.

Beckett asked, "The ledger?"

"The doorman's ledger downstairs." Roger finished. "I have to go to work guys."

"We're done." Rick said then held out his arm for Kate to leave the bathroom ahead of him.

Outside the building Rick said, "Follow me."

"Where?"

"I'm starving. All the sex is working up my appetite."

Kate stopped on the pavement unable to go any further, she laughed so hard. Rick stopped and turned about amused by the sight of the straight laced detective barely holding it together. He waved a hand at her.

"Shit, you're really losing it, Honey. You need food more than me." He smiled as she caught up.

"I was thinking the same thing, Castle. I don't remember being this hungry after sex." She caught his arm when she wobbled a little on the uneven ground.

"Me neither. Don't fall of those sky high heels. How the hell to you run in them?"

"Practice when running from boys, Castle." She giggled.

He shot her a look. "Have you had coffee yet?"

"Nope. Water. I was really thirsty when I woke up. Scratchy throat."

"I wonder why." He said recalling the generous use of her vocal chords last night. "You are noisy."

"Well, you caused it, Rick."

"And proud of it." Rick opened the door to a French bakery, the first place he'd sighted that sold food. He waited for Kate to go in ahead then followed her inside almost shunting her to the counter where there was a display of all types of pastries, breads and sweets. They ordered mugs of coffee and croissants. They found a table in a spot people wouldn't really notice them, and placed their table number by the wall in wait for their meals to be delivered.

Kate sat, crossed her legs then leaned forward, slipping her arms out of her unbuttoned coat, but left it draped over the chair to sit on. She reached over the table and took his hands in hers. He immediately looked down at their hands then to her face giving her a cautionary expression they risked being spotted. But like her, he only saw regular people going about their business, not interested in them. His eyes returned to hers and he leaned across the table resting his elbows. His hands adjusted until they closed snuggly around her smaller digits.

She smiled. Overnight, something had changed in her emotions. Her chest ached for him so much she had the urge to cry. In the presence of other people, she knew she could continue to give him a hard time, but alone with him, she wanted to be physically closer. She stared at their hands, now tightly entwined, his grip firm enough to tell her he was feeling it to. What she genuinely thought about him was gaining strength and tugging at her heart. Nobody had ever done to her what he could do, how he made her feel when they made love. The desire to be with him was stronger than her appetite for food. It was a passing thing, that the passion and lust would gradually fade away but at the moment, it exhilarated and frightened her. The desire for more of it kept her faith in the relationship working.

The coffee and croissants arrived, which caused them to momentarily break hands while the waitress placed their order on the table. Once she was gone they settled back in, their hands sliding over the table until they resumed the position they had been in. For a little while Kate stared out of the window. She was hungry but she needed this moment with him. She eventually turned her eyes to his.

"Castle?"

"Mmm?" He smiled, his lips remaining closed.

"I'm experiencing things I never have."

He nodded, his thumbs giving her hands a caress. "Stronger now." He said.

"Strong, powerful emotions." She swallowed, and gently pulled her hands away, looking down at the warm croissant. The smell of the pastry wafting up spiked her hunger.

"Hungry?"

She smiled, "Yes. I'm starving." She gently pulled the hot pastry apart with her fingers.

He reached over and touched the side of her face. She looked up as she began to eat.

"Your heart is on a dime." Rick said. "A fine line."

She gave a nod, looking back at her food, no longer able to maintain a visual of him. She swallowed, flicked her fingers of crumbs, then looked at him once again, "We can't crash, Rick," she calmly whispered, "We're travelling at warp speed. It will hurt if we crash and burn."

"We're peaceful, Kate. We're doing okay." He carefully took a mouthful of coffee, raised his eyebrows when he tasted it. "Good coffee."

"Smells terrific," she replied and tried some of hers.

"Kate, I don't want you to be scared." He said, fell quiet a few seconds then asked, "Are you scared?"

"Yes and no. What you make me feel in here." She touched her chest. "It's so strong it hurts. This little bubble will burst and I will shatter."

"It's gonna be okay." He took her left hand in his. "You are so different, so gentile."

"Not the tough Detective everyone sees me as, huh?"

Rick shook his head, while he ate. He swallowed then said, "To the contrary. But I like seeing you play out the detective. You are strong, you are bold, and I like that, but I am rather fond of this other side of you that you allow me to see. Its lovely."

And she blushed. Huddled into herself a little, "Thank you, Rick."

"Always. Now eat, you're famished."

She laughed and nodded. "Starving."

They ate their breakfast mostly in silence, and not in a hurry to leave. As Kate had already clocked on and there was almost an hour before the boys would be at the Precinct that had time to chill out. With their second cups of coffees half consumed they sat holding hands, both aware that things between them had shifted into another higher gear. Rick rolled with it, but he knew Kate's fears caused her to partially resist progress and that resulted with her acting a little confused and vulnerable. Right now, he was not able to figure out why letting him in caused her to be emotional.

"You know." Rick begin, and took a sip of his coffee.

"Mm?" Kate encouraged leaning closer to hear him over the crowd. He had that expression on his face that preceded one of his story telling session. She loved him telling her stories.

"There's things, information, quirks, intimate things that you have given me, unknowingly given me that will one day be weaved into my stories. Only I will know where they originated from. Things you can only experience with life, a flash of a moment, a memory of making love and then share it in a way that's a little from reality but skating on the edge of truth. Why I write better as I get older."

"How? How have I given it to you? An example."

He shrugged his shoulder, turned the mug about on the table, "The way your body rises when I kiss your mouth, the way it quivers beneath my touch. How sensitive and highly tuned you are to your body, to me. How you huddle, like now. How fragile you are, especially how fragile you are." He put his hand to his chin, stared into her eyes, unable to say anymore for fear he might get upset. He loved her more than anyone in the world but he was frightened that saying it to her would terrify her. The walls would shoot up and she would run. He couldn't say it aloud when he was alone, but he certainly felt it all. He rubbed his chin, pushing away emotions. He suddenly sat up and lightly banged the top of the table.

"It's time we went." He said instead, picked up his coffee and finished it.

Their hold broke so Kate could dress in her coat. She too stood, and followed him out of the bakery to return to the car. Outside on the pavement, she pulled him to a stop. "Hey Castle?"

"What?" He asked, not able to maintain eye contact.

"What happened in there?"

Rick looked past her into the distance.

"Nothing, its good." He looked back at her and gave her a smile, "It's okay."

"Okay." She smiled uneasily and straightened the collar of his shirt. For the entire walk back to the car, she held his right hand her body against his arm. He found comfort in it. She was exceptional at showing her feelings physical.

The sun was well down in the sky when Beckett, Castle and Montgomery met in the Captain's office. They were relaxed, admittedly a little weary and ready to wrap it up for the day, but had come to the point of the day when they needed to update Montgomery. Kate didn't have the time or energy to write and submit a written report. She sipped a coffee Rick had made.

"I have a copy of the ledger page." Kate began. "Five years ago, Deloris Marsh who has an apartment in the same building as the victim, allegedly ordered a freezer to be delivered to her apartment. She said to Castle and me that she told the doorman she'd never ordered a freezer, that the doorman had gotten the wrong apartment."

"Delores said the delivery guy brought it on up. He loaded it on the freight elevator while she was talking to the doorman." Castle said.

"Yeah, and by the time she got back upstairs, the guy was gone." Kate glanced at Rick then to her Captain as she continued to speak, "She must have told this to Detective Sloan, but when the victim disappeared, but it's not in Sloans notes nor was it followed up in the investigation."

Montgomery said, "I don't get it. If Sloan had that woman's report, why didn't he just follow up?"

Beckett replied, "He wasn't looking for the story. He'd already written it."

Rick shrugged, his eyes on Montgomery, "So that lead us to Mueller Bros Delivery Service yard. We asked Charles Wyler to come to the Precinct for a chat."

"And?" The captain inquired.

"He said that Sam called him that night. He said he needed Wyler to go over to the apartment right away. When Wyler got there, the kids were asleep and Melanie was in the tub in a garment bag. He said she came at him, and he just snapped." Rick said.

"Wyler arranged for the truck because he said it could never be traced back to Sam. They sent the freezer to the old lady. Wyler rented out the storage space. Because he knew the cops would look at Sam." Beckett said.

Rick added, "Sam gave Wyler cash to make the storage rental payments."

Captain asked, "Why did he stop paying?"

Kate shrugged, "He didn't think he needed to keep paying for the rest of his life to hide her when Sam was dead."

Surprised, Montgomery shook his head and said, "Her body gets dumped because this guy Wyler didn't pay a bill? That's..." he trailed off.

Castle replied, "You can say it, Sir. Pretty cold. Ironic that such a selfish act ultimately revealed the truth."

Beckett said, "There were people who knew the truth all along. They just chose not to come forward."

"Still, karma comes back and puts a cap in her husband's ass, so all is right with the world," Montgomery said with some sense of satisfaction. "Good job. Gets some rest and I will see you both in the morning."

Beckett and Castle stood and left the office. Back at her desk Kate started to pack up her stuff for the night. They saw Montgomery leave.

Beckett looked at her watch and saw it was getting late. She turned to Castle, who was nose deep in the file. She said, "I'm going to phone Melanie's parents. Let them know how this shook out. You want to wait?"

Castle spoke as though he'd heard nothing she said, "The woman with the freezer delivery told us she talked to a cop."

Beckett replied, "Yeah. Sloan. Like we said before"

Castle said, "Only he didn't list her name in his report. She didn't say what cop."

"I know. We know that. Sloan didn't feel that it was important. After all, he didn't believe he was looking at a murder."

"Right. So, if you're not investigating a murder, why would you talk to the neighbor about a freezer delivery, Kate?"

For several seconds, Kate thought about Rick's comment, then glanced at the time. It was still early enough to knock on a door. "We need to go talk to Delores again." She said and grabbed her jacket.

"We sure do." Rick rushed after her.

Esposito picked up on the first ring.

"Beckett."

"Hi Esp. We're leaving Deloris Marsh's apartment. She gave us information that might break this case wide open.
"What is it?"

"She said that Ben Davidson …"

"Melanie's father."

"Yep. Last year she said he came by her place asking her questions about a freezer she never ordered."

"Where you at now?"

"On our way up to Davidson's place. Its him Espo."

"Ok. I'll call the uniforms so they meet you there."

"Thanks, Espo. Call you later." Beckett hung up

Beckett and Castle sat in the car she had parked a house down from the Davidson house. From their position, they can see through the large dining room windows. The curtains had not been drawn so they had a clear view of the two young girls playing with their grandfather.

After a long period of silence Castle quietly said "You could just leave it like this. Sam's dead. The Captain's happy. Those kids look pretty happy." He was aware the cop was weighing up her options. The result of her banking on Davidson's front door would lead to a major disruption in the family unit. The consequences were potentially catastrophic to the children who had already experienced more than enough disruptions.

Beckett looked at his eyes as she calmly replied "That's the difference between a novel and the real world, Castle. A cop doesn't get to decide how the story ends." She opened the car door as he gave her a nod. He didn't have agree with her morally but he understood she was legally bound to follow the laws regardless of the consequences.

Castle watched her walk to the door. The two uniformed police fell in behind her. She must have hesitated before finally knocking. Through the windows, he saw Ben Davidson send the girls to their grandmother, then he went to open the door.

Rick saw Beckett and Davidson face to face for several moments then she stepped aside as the Uniformed Police took over. Davidson would ride back to the Precinct in the marked car.

That evening, Kate decided to commit herself to finish the paper work.

Ben Davidson had been arrested.

One dark night he'd followed his daughter's murderer, when he'd been sure no other people would be around. He'd confronted Sam with a gun he'd brought back from the war many year before. Held at gun point, Sam had admitted he'd been overcome with rage and had struck Melanie, killing her.

Davidson never confessed to killing Sam. Police reports had it recorded that Sam was shot in a robbery. Kate hoped the lawyers would have enough evidence for court. She wrapped up her notes, listening to Rick's voice coming from the break room. She couldn't hear what he said but he was on the phone to someone he liked a lot. He used the same tones when they were alone chatting.

With the paper work wrapped up, Beckett sat at the edge of her desk and stared at the driving license photo of Melanie she'd just taken from the white board. Castle rounded the corner, on the phone. She placed the photo in the evidence box.

"No, sweetie, I just wanted to make sure I said good night. … You got it. Strawberry happy face pancakes on me. Mwah. Later." He hung up the call then sat next to Beckett. She looked at him.

"Everything okay at home?" She asked.

"Alexis missed me."

"How did you know?"

"Spidey-sense."

Beckett said and sat back in her chair, "Hmm. By the way, it was my mother, not my father."

Castle didn't say a word and waited for her to continue. Every morning that they woke together, he saw her take the watch and the necklace from her jewelry box, but he'd decided to wait until she was ready to tell him about them.

Beckett said "We were supposed to go to dinner together, my Mom, my Dad, and I, and she was gonna meet us at the restaurant, but she never showed. Two hours later, we went home, and there was a detective waiting for us. Detective Raglin. They found her body. She had been stabbed."

"A robbery?" Castle softly asked, captivated by how young she sounded when she spoke.

Kate gave a small shake of her head. "No. She still had her money, and purse, and jewelry. And it wasn't a sexual assault, either. They attributed it to gang violence. Random wayward event. So, just like in Melanie's case, they couldn't think outside the box. So, they just tried to package it up nicely. And the killer was never caught."

"Why do you wear the watch?"

"My Dad took her death hard. He's sober now. Five years. So, this is for the life that I saved. And..." She reached inside her shirt and pulled out the necklace with the ring on it. "This is for the life that I lost." She forced a smile. "So, I guess your Nikki Heat has a back story now, Castle." She gave him a mild smile

Castle dwelled on that a second or so, kept it light, "I don't know, um..." He scratched his head, "I did kind of like the hooker by day cop by night thing. But, uh, I guess a heavy emotional angle could work, too." He smiled, glanced at the time and stood up.

Beckett said "Well, don't bewilder your audiences with substance on my account, Castle." She stood up to leave for the night.

Castle said, "Until tomorrow, Detective."

Kate stopped and turned back to him, "You can't just say 'night'?"

"I'm a writer. Night is boring. Until tomorrow is more hopeful."

Beckett said softly, "Yeah. Well, I'm a cop. Night." She walked towards the elevator pulling on her jacket.

He watched her walk away and out of ear shot of everyone he murmured, "Night, my love."

Esposito entered the archives room, followed by Castle who looked about the extensive area full of floor to ceiling metal shelving, most of which was full of numbered cardboard boxes.

Both of them serious and somber, Esposito led him past rack after rack of file boxes, until they came to a cross aisle a fair way from the entrance. He searched, reached up and pulled down a box. He opened it. After flipping the files, he pulled out one and handed it to Castle.

Esposito didn't let got of the file as he said "Remember, this never happened. I was never here."

Castle nodded just the once, "You have my word. Thanks."

Esposito cleared his throat then warned, "If you tell her I did this, I'll make you bleed."

Once again, Castle nodded and seriously replied, "Understood."

Esposito said, "Good luck." He left the writer alone. Before Rick started, he read a text that his phone had received during the walk to archives. It was Kate's response to his earlier text. They'd decided to spend the night together. She wanted him there with her tonight. It was the first time she asked him to keep her company. He wrote her back.

Ok. C u soon.

He the phone on the desk.

The name on the file read Johanna Beckett. Castle took a seat at a small reading desk as Esposito left. Lit by the light of the desk lamp, Castle stared down upon the closed case file very conscious he might be making a huge mistake. Can of worms came to mind. He took a deep breath, and opened it. He had about ten minutes to read the file before he had to leave to pick up take away dinner to eat at his girlfriend's home.

It was late when Kate secured her gun in the bedside drawer. She put her father's watch, and the necklace with her mother's ring into the jewelry box then closed its top. She touched the photo of her father and mother in happier times. She went to the bathroom to prepare for bed. Five or so minutes later she reappeared in pink pajamas and a light blue hoodie, her Police phone in her hand. She crawled over the bed to Rick who paused his reading, giving her a smile.

"Hey," he murmured, "You look cute."

"Thank you." She gave him a smile and a kiss. "We get to sleep in. Two days off."

"We do. Don't wake me." He said.

"I won't." She replied, "I'm thinking of growing out my hair again."

"Again? You had long hair?"

"Right down to my waist."

He looked over her face then at her little pony tail, "Grow out your hair." He requested, "I would love to see you with long hair."

Beckett sat at the head of the bed, close to Rick.

"I'll call my Dad," she said. "He just texted me."

"Mm." He rested his hand on her bare thigh and continued to read, as she picked up the phone and dialed.

Waiting for the call to connect she snuggled right in close to Rick. The call connected, "Hi Dad."

Rick slipped his arm behind Kate listening to her talk with her father. He closed his book, shifted a little against the headboard so he could accommodate her body. While she talked, he thought about the file he'd read before he'd come to her home. He thought about her scent that was pleasantly filling his senses. She always smelt nice, a combination of hair products, soap, deodorant, perfume and herself. She had an innate awareness of what products complimented her chemical make up. Nothing she wore was over powering. He pressed his lips to her bare shoulder and saw her head shift enough to see his face and he heard the smile in her voice when she updated her father. His hand slipped around her right hip to her pubic mound. She swatted his hand but he stayed there.

The conversation with her father last about ten minutes. He relaxed, holding her. Listening to her converse with her dad was the same as he was with his daughter. When she hung up the call, she left her phone on the bed and curled up against Rick.

He stroked her back. "I'm proud of you," he said.

"Proud?"

"You followed that case to the end. You got justice."

"I have to."

"And I'm proud of you for that."

She smiled, kissed his cheek, "I'm tired."

"Let's sleep. How about we get in the car tomorrow and go somewhere for the day?"

"Mmm.. " She stroked his hair. "My Dad asked if I was seeing someone."

"Really. Why?"

"He said I sound happy."

"You are happy." He opened his arms out as Kate rose and lifted her leg over his body, facing him. She sat upon his pelvis.

With her hands in his hair she smiled, pressing her lips to the side of his head. "You make me happy." She whispered.

"Same goes." He muttered, starting to nibble at her shoulders, unable to resist her attention.

"Want you."

"Show me."

With his eyes closed he silently slipped his hand beneath her bed shorts, his middle finger down between her lips. She was moist. She quivered. He released a groan of content, recognizing his own lust in his tones. He felt her hand that softly rested on his shoulder, press on him a little harder. Unsure of whether she pressed him to stop or slide in further, he circled her being. She released a sigh, kissed the side of his mouth. Her mouth covered his, her fingers touched his chest. It was the slight tilt of her pelvis seconds later that gave him the sure answer. He slowly proceeded, the idea of toying with her somewhere appealed to him. She was way ahead of him with her arousal. Her hips rolled over his engorged organ, her chest pressed against him. Begging him, exhibiting her body to him, watching this woman seduce him was his most favorite activity. There was no mercy in her method. She might climb upon him like a cat wanting attention from its owner as she did now, or she would strut about in front of him giving off subtle signs she wanted him. By night fall his hunger to have her would be insatiable as it was now.

"Castle," she whispered, pleading.

"Thought you were tired."

She smirked, kissed him, whispered seductively, "Ricky."

His finger tip found what she wanted him to touch. A tiny knot of nerve endings no larger than her little finger nail. A spot that stimulated and ignited enough would have this woman writhing on the bed begging him not to stop.

She relaxed into his hold, spread her thighs, her ankles hooked over his thighs.

The silkiness of her folds aroused him.

He gasped, opening his eyes when her left hand molded to the shape of his hardened cock. She gave a little laugh.

"Want you. Now." She stated firmly.

"Yes, Beckett." He looked to his left to the pink chair nearby the bed. It had a pink cotton throw rug over it. Kate's gaze followed his. "Wanna move this party to the naughty chair?"

Kate bit her lip, contemplated. "Mm. I think it's time the chair got used again."

"Just make sure you're naked by the time you get to it."