They walked along the beach, hand in hand, until they were out of sight of the restaurant. Kate shivered, and although it was more due to excitement than cold, Rick immediately draped his jacket around her shoulders. She smiled – it was warm from his body, and it smelled like him. He put his arm around her shoulders, and still he didn't speak. He was looking into her eyes, searching for something. He knew it wasn't her to tell him she loved him too – especially when he hadn't exactly said that to her. Well, he had. But he hadn't said the specific three words that somehow had a different meaning than anything else.
She was looking back at him just as hard. They both knew that anything that happened tonight wouldn't be a rushed one night stand, or a frenzied kiss in the disabled toilet of an art gallery. It would be real. And although they were both desperate for it, neither of them knew exactly how to start. They found themselves standing right by the sea, the waves lapping at their feet. The moonlight was reflecting beautifully off the water, and Kate realised just how romantic it was.
As though fate had been listening, with the next step she took, she slipped and landed on her ass in the wet sand. She laughed – and so did he. They couldn't help it; the sudden break in the intensity was too strange to be ignored. Kate stayed where she was, knowing the water was soaking through her shorts, but too bemused to get up.
"Well something had to ruin it," she said, when they had stopped laughing. Rick winked, and knelt down in front of her.
"Who says it's ruined?" he asked, leaning towards her. And she knew why she hadn't kissed him before. It had been too over the top, too intense, too perfect. What she and Rick were was fun – of course, their feelings ran as deep as could be – but their banter and jokes was what made being with him so wonderful.
"I would slide my hand round to your butt," he said as she knelt up to meet him, "but it's all wet and gross-"
She cut him off with her mouth, almost giggling as she kissed him. She let him pull her even closer, and slide his hands under her blouse. She reciprocated, and soon his shirt was in the sand, despite the evening chill. She felt him push against her, and she let herself fall back, enjoying the way the moonlight lit up the muscles on his chest. They were dancing. She rolled them over so she was on top – and he helped her off with her own shirt. He touched her scar again, but she moved his hand onto her breast, her eyes teasing him. She lowered herself down onto him, tasting the salt on his lips from the sand and sea. She grinned.
"Sand gets everywhere, doesn't it?" she whispered. He undid her bra.
"Yeah. But we might as well go with it – too late now..."
They rolled again, and his kisses weren't restricted to just her mouth. She gasped with pleasure.
"You haven't lost your touch," she breathed.
"Well, there were plenty of elephants to practise on in Africa – one of them reminded me so much of you it was uncanny."
She laughed. "Poor elephant."
They continued to kiss, but were cautious not to go too far. Kate shivered again, and Rick reluctantly got up, pulling her with him.
"You need a hot shower. Come on, we should be getting back."
Kate sighed, but nodded. She slid into Rick's jacket – it was the least wet and sandy of everything they'd discarded. She buttoned it up, and he laughed.
"Yeah, because no one'll know what you've been up to now. You might as well just walk in topless."
Kate laughed. "No one's going to see. Anyway, you're doing the topless bit for us."
He took her hand, and they walked slowly back to the house. It was dark and quiet – they crept through to the bathroom, and locked themselves in, dropping their wet things in a heap on the floor. Rick slid out of his sandals and jeans, and Kate watched him shamelessly.
"Is it as good as you remembered?" he asked, grinning.
"Better," she said, smiling to herself. She sighed. She knew her body wasn't the same after childbirth – but she hadn't wanted to share it with anyone before. He noticed she looked sad.
"What's up?" he asked, taking a step towards her. She was still wearing her shorts. She slid out of the plimsolls.
"You've improved," she said, stroking his stomach muscles. "I've definitely gone downhill."
Rick put his hands on her shoulders, and looked down at her.
"Bullshit," he said simply. He hooked his thumbs into her waistband, and tugged her shorts down. He kissed the shiny white stretch marks on the sides of her abdomen, and slid his hands up her long, elegant legs. He stood up again, and saw that she was biting her lip.
"I never thought I'd see Kate Beckett not confident in her own skin," he said gently.
"Never say never," she muttered.
"You are more beautiful now than you have ever been. We all have our scars," he said. "And you aren't bothered by mine, are you?"
Kate looked at his smooth, tan skin. He was right – now she was looking for them, she could see several marks on his chest, arms, and legs. She had barely even registered them.
"No," she said, shaking her head.
"Then stop moping. You're so hot – my lovely yummy Mommy."
Kate couldn't help but laugh. Rick turned on the shower, and kissed her again. She bit his lip instead of hers.
"That's more like it," he said into her mouth as they stepped under the running water, locked together in an embrace that wouldn't be broken for hours.
Kate woke up later than she'd woken in years, her naked body still tangled with Rick's. He was just waking up too – the sun was shining into his bedroom; it was already early afternoon. She sat up, a grin spreading across her face. He smiled at her, and sat up too, leaning on the headboard. She scooted back to lean on his chest, and he laughed.
"I don't know if you should be allowed to cuddle, after you held out on me last night."
Kate laughed. "I wouldn't call that holding out."
"Then you and I come from very different schools of thought."
She smiled up at him playfully. "No, I mean, obviously. But, we did plenty."
"You can say that again," he said, smiling wickedly. "And I guess, this way, we could still be described as taking it slow."
"Do you mind? I just... I actually don't know how I managed it. But-"
"It means a lot. You don't want to rush it. And no, I don't mind. I don't want to rush it either."
She laughed. "I wonder where the others are..."
"They'll have gone out. My mother hinted that she would make sure we were left to it this morning."
Kate grinned. "I'm sure she can read minds."
"I wouldn't be at all surprised. But I can read minds too."
Kate raised her eyebrows.
"It's true. Right now, you want three things. You want me to kiss you again – but sadly, that's lowest on the list. Second place is food. And I'll be going down to make you breakfast in just a moment. But most of all, you want to use the bathroom – you don't want to say so, because you don't want to get out of bed, but you really, really have to pee."
Kate hit him with a pillow.
"You only did that because I'm right. Go on," he said, and to his delight, she jumped out of bed and padded to the bathroom, letting him enjoy the view as she went. He got out of bed too, pulled on some shorts, and went to make the breakfast. Kate appeared downstairs in a few minutes, dressed in one of his t-shirts.
"You got anything on under that?" he asked.
She winked. "That's for me to know, and you to find out."
He laughed. "I'm looking forward to it." He pointed to a note on the table.
"They won't be back until after dinner – they're on a boat trip."
"Now I'm jealous," she said, looking at the note for herself. Rick tipped some pancake batter onto the griddle he had been heating, and Kate sauntered up behind him, sliding her hands around his waist.
"Don't distract me too much or I'll burn your breakfast," he teased.
"That wouldn't be the end of the world," she said, but her rumbling stomach gave her away. She let go of him to make some coffee, and slice some strawberries. She went round behind him again, and popped one into his mouth. He ate it, and then sucked the juice off her fingers.
"Ooh, last-night flashback," he joked. She kneed him in the back of the leg.
"What? I was just enjoying it again – what's wrong with that?"
She laughed. "Nothing. I just wanted to show you who was boss. Again."
He laughed with her, and flipped the last of the pancakes onto the griddle. She poured two mugs of coffee, and they sat down on the kitchen barstools to eat. When they were done, they washed up, then sat down on the couch with refilled coffee cups.
"Well, we're on to item number three," Kate said, showing him another of her best smiles as she put her cup down on the coffee table. Rick put his to join it, and moved in to kiss her, brushing her hair aside to get to the sensitive spot at the base of her neck. She shivered, and gripped his shoulders with her hands. She felt his hands slide under her shirt, well, his shirt, and enjoyed his gasp as he realised.
"You had nothing on underneath it?" he said in wonder.
She grinned. "I never have anything on under my clothes."
"That's very, very, old," he said, punctuating the phrase with kisses that moved down her body as he tugged at the neck of the shirt. She took it off, far more confident than she had been the night before. He noticed with pleasure, but didn't comment.
Their consciences finally drove them to tidy up the bathroom and bedroom upstairs, and get dressed to do something with what remained of the afternoon. Kate wore little white hot pants that she'd brought solely because they didn't take up much room – she hadn't worn them in years, and she hadn't really been planning to, and a vest. Rick made a face when he saw her.
"I hope you don't want to keep this, ah, thing, a secret, because I will not be able to keep my hands off you!"
Kate grinned. "I'm tired of secrets. And maybe I don't want your hands off me."
He laughed. "For that," he said, "I'm not even going to try and button this up." He left the Oxford shirt he had put on open, and stretched, purely for her benefit. She threw a balled up pair of socks at him, which he caught, to her surprise.
"Your reflexes have improved," she said, laughing. He threw them back at her, and she caught them inches from her face.
"And that would have been a good shot, too," she said, grinning.
"I actually played baseball," he said.
"You did? You do realise we're going to have to have a game now?" she said.
"I'll take you on any time," he said cheerfully. "But how about my game first, since we lack teams right now."
"Poker?"
"You know me too well, detective."
"Bring it."
"What will we bet?"
Rick frowned. "Favours – chips are favours. Or dares. Our choice."
Kate laughed. "I like the sound of that."
I hope you enjoyed that. This is not the end - after a little more fluff, I may have to stamp on the 'perfection' - alas, there is still more drama in their future. As always, thanks for reading - I am overwhelmed with all the amazing reviews I've been getting! Please continue to review, and yeah, you rock! Loads of hugs and loveballs, Z xxx