A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews, guys! I really appreciate it!

Bright, winter sun filtered through the blinds, harsh against his unaccustomed eyes as he woke to the sound of muted humming.

Use your mentality, wake up to reality. But each time I do just the thought of you makes me stop before I begin because I've got you under my skin.

She was singing. In the shower. Kate was singing in the shower again. He grinned, unable to remember the last time he'd woken to hear her lovely voice vibrating off the glass and tile of the shower walls. Most days she barely had time for a shower, and on the rare occasion they were afforded a lie-in, she was usually so tired and beat from working a case that the shower was only of a functional purpose.

Stretching against the sheets, Castle listened as long as he could, and when he could stand it no longer he slipped from the bed and entered the bathroom. He watched from the doorway for a moment, appreciating the show as her body swayed enticingly under the spray as she crooned the next verse of Sinatra.

"Room for me in there?"

She paused and turned. "Castle, it's a double stall and there are two shower heads."

"Two shower heads just makes sense. And who would want a tiny shower they could hardly move in-"

Kate cut off his sales speech. "Not the point I was making, Rick." She crooked a finger and beckoned him in, meeting him at the sliding door with a kiss.

"Morning."

"Did you sleep well?" Castle asked as Kate passed him his bottle of shampoo.

She hummed a yes, soaping his chest for him, one of her hands sweeping over his shoulder and around to the back of his neck.

"Only woke up because of the birds," she mumbled, pressing her lips to his other shoulder where she'd yet to cover him in suds. "I think there was a gull on the roof right above the window. You slept right through it, of course."

"You should have woken me. I'm more than happy to be up with you."

She arched an eyebrow. He waggled his own in turn and let go of the unused bottle of shampoo to sling his arms around his wife's midsection and rest his palm on her butt, tugging her in close as the bottle clattered and rolled around their feet.

"I thought I might go for a run," Kate said as she descended the stairs, already wearing running tights and a windproof, thermal jacket.

"You don't want the pancakes I made?"

"Pancakes?"

"Well, it's tradition. The perfect way to say thank you for a great night, remember?" She could hear the jokey lilt to his words before she saw him smirking. "Or a great morning?" His eyebrows danced up and down his forehead. "And," he added, drawing out the word, "There's no Jordan Show, Ryan, Esposito or body to disturb us this time. You could go running along the beach this afternoon when the tide's out and it's warmed up a bit?" he enticed and, taking his entreaty a step further when she didn't give in straight away, he picked up the plate of fresh pancakes, wafting them under Kate's nose.

"Okay, okay."

Sliding sideways onto one of the breakfast bar stools, Kate pulled a plate towards her and held out her hand for first dibs on the pancakes Rick still carried.

"Do you ever wonder what Jordan's up to?" Castle mused part way through breakfast.

"Not about to burst through the front door and disturb our vacation, I hope."

"She didn't burst through the door," Rick pointed out with a laugh. "That was the body, remember? I don't think I'll ever forget. It practically fell on me when I went for the paper, which reminds me, I never picked that up." Hopping out of his seat, Castle drained his glass of orange juice before weaving between the counter and cabinets until he disappeared from view in the hallway.

Kate heard the click of the lock and the second, quieter tick as the latch drew back. "Is there a body out there then?" she called, smiling to herself.

"You'll be relieved to know that it was just the paper," Castle answered, flashing the front of the newspaper at her, "Though I have yet to check that a cadaver didn't stagger into the pool overnight."

"I think that was probably a one-time thing, Babe."

"It better be a one-time thing," he muttered, grimacing as he remembered the way Randall Franklin had fallen into his swimming pool. Even after numerous cleanings and changes of water, he still often thought about the blood that had seeped out of Franklin's body and spread through the pool.

When he was done with the newspaper, Rick left it folded over on the kitchen counter should Kate want it, before disappearing into his study with his laptop to get some writing done. The last month or so of fear and disruptions had wreaked havoc on his schedule and left him with only two months to finish off Deadly Heat.

Kate had wandered off somewhere after breakfast. He hadn't checked, but he guessed she was at one of the windows with her book, attempting to get some serious reading done while she could. He still had a picture of her sat in one of the bay windows from the last time they'd been up to the house sitting on his desk that he looked at while waiting for his laptop to boot and connect to the internet. He had the great pleasure of researching how hot a fire had to be to burn a body but not incinerate it. He could have found the information in the Gordon Burns autopsy report had they been back at the precinct but he rather enjoyed worrying his internet service provider with his odd and concerning search history.

"Okay. Nikki be kind to me," he muttered, cracking his knuckles and wiggling his fingers in preparation.

"You think talking to her is gonna help?" The amused lilt to his wife's voice had his head shooting up to find her standing in the office doorway in her coat and scarf. "We're almost out of coffee grounds so I'm just gonna head into town to pick up some more. You want anything?"

"I'm good," Castle assured her, returning his attention to his laptop as Kate swung around the doorframe and left the house. But ten minutes later, he was out of his seat, in dire need of a muffin or something, anything to give him a brainwave of where to take his characters. He'd forgotten what Kate had said about the coffee until he pulled open a cabinet and lifted out the almost empty bag of coffee grounds. "Damn it." There wasn't even enough for one cup. Sighing, Rick resigned himself to a soda and mooched back to his study with the can cooling his palm.

"Jesus!" Castle jumped as a set of slim hands slid over his shoulders and squeezed. Whirling, he found his wife standing with a sheepish grin.

"Brought you a coffee," she said. His gaze dropped and noticed her picking a steaming mug off his desktop to hold out before her like some meek peace offering.

"You could have just have said something." His heart still thumped against his ribcage, fright racing through his veins. One of Kate's eyebrows quirked and her lips ticked up at one side. "Oh. You did, didn't you?"

She nodded. "When I got back, when I asked if you wanted a coffee, when I brought it in here. You were in the zone."

"Sorry."

Kate waved him away and brought her own mug of coffee to her lips for a sip. "So, Nikki's treating you nicely now?"

He screwed up his face.

"Oh I get it," Kate said through a laugh. "You're sticking a wrench in Nikki's plan."

"Something like that," Castle mumbled, flicking his gaze back towards his laptop screen where he'd left his last sentence – and his characters quite literally – hanging.

"Well, just came to bring you that." She nodded at his coffee. "So I'll let you to get on." Squeezing his shoulder one last time, Kate backs away from the desk and leaves her husband to continue with his writing. She has plenty to keep her occupied, like unpacking the rest of the groceries she picked up in the town. The Hamptons house never was well-stocked unless they picked stuff up on the drive up, and all Castle had done the previous morning was take some things from the fridge back at the loft and stick them into a cooler bag which he then stuck in their suitcase. Now they had enough food for at least the first week of the mini break stocked in their kitchen and she could twist open a bottle of lemonade and pour it over a glassful of ice cubes for a refreshing drink out on the patio.

The wind was calm, the sea in the distance barely seeming to make waves. But it meant the sun was a gentle, warming caress on her face and her hands as she looked into the horizon and imagined holidays in the future. The pitter-patter of tiny feet running across the sun-heated paving slabs echoed in her mind with high-pitched peals of laughter and, "Daddy, No!"s as water splashed around her ankles and someone bombed into the pool.

It couldn't come soon enough.

Sighing, Kate turned her back on the view. She really needed to go for that run.

The next morning, Kate woke to the bristle of Castle's unshaven face against her shirt as he nestled in against her, one his thick thighs shifting further between her own legs. Instinct drove her body back into his, pulling him from his own sleep.

"Mmm, Kate." She felt his mumble against the shell of her ear just as clearly as she felt his arm tighten around her middle, bringing their bodies fully flush against one another. "You can't tease me this early in the morning."

"Who said anything about teasing?" Kate asked breathlessly, unable to help the tight circle her hips moved in.

She'd been pinned beneath his frame before she knew a thing. His bruising kiss had her arching into him, giving his nimble fingers the space to push the large t-shirt she'd appropriated from him for sleep back off her body.

"I'm exhausted," Castle complained from his back.

Chuckling, Kate patted his face before shifting off the bed on admittedly wobbly legs. "Guess I'm making the pancakes this morning then?"

"I ca-"

"-It's fine. You make the batter too runny anyway."

Wounded, Castle clutched his chest. "I do not. I'll have you know that I have the perfect recipe-"

"-Oh yeah? From where?"

Castle was grudging as he admitted, "The internet."

"Uh huh. Just wait till you try my mom's recipe for orange spiced pancakes." She winked and ducked down to retrieve her clothes, pulling the faded grey shirt down until its hem rested against her thighs. Dressed once more, she only waggled her fingers at him before stepping out the door and down the stairs. Of course, she was only just pouring milk into a measuring jug when he came downstairs himself, his face following his messy hair in popping out of the neck of his t-shirt.

"Just getting the paper," he said as he bypassed the kitchen door.

He reappeared with a copy of the New York Times and was quick to seat himself with the book reviews to wait while she finished frying the pancake batter. He was so engrossed in reading the critic's tearing apart of E L James' latest attempt at literature that the first thing he knew about his breakfast was when it was pushed around his open paper and the mouth-watering smell of fresh oranges wafted up to him.

"You know, this seems like an awfully summer-y breakfast," Castle told her, trying to talk down the plate of food. "Can't really eat it outside when the weather's like this." He pointed at the window, but Kate didn't follow his digit to the grey sky.

"You should just gracefully admit defeat. My pancakes are better than yours."

He gave her the stink eye, only breaking the contact to look down at his plate and take up his fork, being methodical as he used the edge of one of the prongs to cut a wedge of pancake. He inspected the fluffy cake, pretending he knew what he was doing, before he finally placed the piece in his mouth and moaned loudly, profanely. Kate smirked in response.

"Told you."

"I still wish I could eat them outside."

This time Kate did follow his gaze to the kitchen window and the rain that dribbled down the glass. At least it wasn't snowing, she thought to herself. Rain, she could run in. But snow?

"Spiced orange is a winter flavour, Castle," she murmured, grabbing for her own plate as she walked to the window and looked out to the stormy surf beyond.

The sea's surface was a jiving mess, hitching and rolling, waves crashing and slamming into each other as much as onto the shore. In the dark clouds and screen of rain, it was almost impossible to see the tide breaking on the shore. Had she blinked, Kate would have missed the two figures on the beach, one dragging the other through the sand.

"Castle? Something's happening on the beach."

Her urgent tone had him forgetting about his pancakes and leaping from his seat.

"We have to get out there!"

Biting wind and rain buffeted him every step of the way. The only way to see anything, the even breathe, was to turn his head to the side so the wind couldn't steal his breath. Even so, he was forced to lip read everything Kate yelled to him. The clatter of rain onto the hood of his raincoat was just too loud.

"Over here!"

Castle followed his wife, or rather he followed Kate's footprints in the wet sand, as she led them over to what looked like a clump of rocks perhaps but soon turned out to be a woman deathly pale and unmoving. Kate squatted, fingers searching the woman's rain-covered neck for a pulse and finding none.

"She's dead."

"Really? Again?" Castle complained, unable to help glancing over his shoulder. He almost expect to find the Grim Reaper right there, because it sure seemed like death simply followed he and Kate wherever they went.

A/N: Thanks for reading guys! I've got two more days off from work this week so I hope to write and get the next chapter out to you soon.