Disclaimer: The wording is mine but the characters aren't

OOOOOOOOO

"Nice place."

"Hmmm," she noncommittally, leaning back into the shelter of his shoulder but placing her hand on the knee closest to her.

He paused mid-swallow to raise his eyebrows at her. The way she was curled into him she had to look up a little to meet his eyes, but she hoped he could read the order for him to go with it. She began running her fingers over the knee in set squares, hoping the feeling would make it through the thick pants.

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36.

"Stevens is at the pool tables here," she pressed briefly at a spot inside the square she had been tracing. "I saw the leader, Carrik, at the booth at the back," she drew a line from the pool table to booth at the far corner of her square.

Castle nodded, his head lowered to catch her soft words. Then he dropped it further and placed his lips on the far side of her cheek, right next to her ear.

"He was watching me when I came in," he confirmed, his lips tracing a pattern of heat beneath her skin.

"You made eye-contact?" she murmured. Her voice was soft but he knew if they were anywhere else she would have clipped him around the head as she said it.

"It was completely acceptable," he defended himself. "As a seasoned traveler, it would be routine to assess the place and see if they were stranger-friendly."

"You're assuming Carrik is a 'seasoned traveler'."

"No," he moved his lips to the line of her throat and she heard her breath hitch. "I'm assuming he's too lazy to get up and start something just because I looked at him."

What happened to her epitome? Balancing Castle and work? "Did you happen to see Daniels and his girlfriend?" she turned her head to look at him squarely, cutting off his access to her neck. She felt the loss of contact immediately.

He collected her hand in his and moved them to the diagram of the room she had drawn on his knee. He retraced the outline of the room, cradling her hand and using her finger as a pen. "They're in the closest booth, here." He indicated the booth closer to the bar. "She's facing us and he's opposite her. Not very couple-y."

"Couple-y?"

"Lovey-dovey, united, adoring, amalgamated," he was getting closer to her ear again and she pulled away before he saw the flesh raised on her neck. "In love," he summed up.

"Thank you, Webster."

"Oxford, please," he scoffed. "Webster is old."

"You set yourself up for that one but I think I'll save it."

"My ego thanks you."

He pulled back a little and she took a sip of her beer to ease her dry mouth.

"Not a very social lot are they?" Castle commented.

"We just got here, give it some time."

"We could go and mingle."

"Mingle?"

"What? We're not here to eat steak." He looked happy with his code. She was surprised he didn't use a vampire reference. Steak? Come on, it wasn't even the same word. Stake. Maybe working with him had spoiled her because she wasn't going to accept that extremely lame use of language. He was a writer. Whatever the case, it wasn't going to happen.

"That was pathetic."

She expected theatrics but he just grimaced. "Yeah, it was pretty bad. But what do you think?"

"Castle, we are not going over there." She wasn't going to budge on that one.

"Fine," he sighed. She was left in peace for almost a minute while he ignored her, and when that didn't change her mind, took a swallow of his beer. The face he made as he swallowed it was so woebegone, she couldn't prevent the chuckle from slipping out.

A crooked smile shone over his face, big enough to be seen from across the room if they were still being watched. He was still holding her hand against his leg, almost absently as if he had forgotten it was there so she took it back. Predictably his face fell.

"You're grinning like a fool," she had a fixed smile on her face.

He frowned. "Sorry."

"Just don't do it again."

He dropped his head down to hers again and turned his face away from the room. "So what is the plan?"

She could smell the beer on his breath but it was weak, masked by gum? Since when did he chew gum? No wonder the beer tasted bad. Other than being non-alcoholic.

His nose traced her ear. "Beckett?"

"There's not a lot we can do until we get them talking." Steady voice? Ten points.

"No one is going to talk to us here."
"You don't know that." His eyes filled her entire vision and she reminded herself she had to keep some awareness of the room and their marks. He was not going to hypnotize her.

"Basic principle. Divide and conquer."

"You're suggesting we split up?" She could use a little space right now: just to clear her head. Lanie's 'training' only got them so far.

"Not right away," he began rubbing circles between the delicate bones of her hand. "We have to show we're friendly first. And I was thinking more of dividing them, not us."

She forced herself not to pull her hand away; she was not going to be the first to flinch. But he was going to regret it if he didn't stop playing this game. "And how do you suggest we do that?"

He took her earlobe between his lips and she couldn't prevent a little gasp.

"Castle!"

"I challenge you to darts." He removed his mouth to talk but then let his teeth graze her neck. Her hand closed convulsively around his knee.

"What's the matter, Beckett?" his voice was rough on her name and she blinked rapidly, realizing she had tilted away, giving him better access. "You said you could handle me."

The double meaning of his words was glaring.

"Castle," she kept her voice quiet. "Stop it."

She actually jumped a little in her seat when his tongue flickered out to taste her pulse. "Why should I do that?" The release of his breath over the sensitized spot on her neck had her scrambling for a response in her sandy mouth. "You're mine, aren't you?"

His. She wouldn't have thought she was one for labels, but that one? She wanted it. And not just his friend. His partner.

His hand pulled away from hers and moved to her knee.

If he kept that up she would be his murderer.

She used her hand to apply as much pressure as she could to either side of his kneecap closest to her. His startled gasp blew into her ear and her whole body erupted into goose bumps. His knee jerked forward as his reflexes took affect and propelled the leg away from her hand with a large crash into the supports under the table.

"Smooth, Castle," she snorted, barely having enough air in her lungs to manage that.

She took the moment he spent in confusion to try and collect herself. She knew she couldn't do anything for the flushed cheeks, but she desperately tried to damp down the fire thrilling from her toes to her fingertips. The last thing she wanted was for him to be able to look at her and see how much of an effect he had on her.

She watched him clench his hand in his jacket, fighting the urge to reach down and rub at his shin. She had to appreciate the effort he expended to keep his face as smooth as possible. A quick glance over his shoulder told her that the music and chatter had masked the crash. Thankfully he hadn't upset the bottles.

When she returned her attention to him he hissed "Hey! You can't use your ninja skills on me, Beckett!" His indignation shone like a beacon.

Her body shook in the sudden effort of keeping her laugh hidden from the other side of the room.

"It's not funny! I think you just gave me a bruise!"

"Come on, Castle," she gasped a lungful of air. "You didn't hit the desk that hard."

"I wasn't talking about my shin. When I take these pants off tonight I'm going to have to have two bruises on my knee. I can't believe you gave me a horsey-bite."

"Baby." She chided him, chuckles still threatening to make an appearance.

The image of him peeling off leather pants wasn't appealing. The thought of him getting ready for bed and catching sight of the two small bruises on either side of his knee when he was in his boxers however, held too much appeal. She could picture him in a T-shirt and some ridiculous pair of boxer-shorts. The scary part is that she could picture herself in a matching overlarge T-shirt and sliding into the other side of the bed.

His grumbling broke off abruptly and was replaced by the widest smile. "You just called me baby."

Her mouth dropped. "No. No I didn't."
"You can't take it back now. Even Ryan and Esposito heard it."

She froze. Oh god- the wire. Ryan and Espo had heard everything. And Castle had just announced that their conversation was being listened to.

…