FACE TO FACE
CHAPTER 2

A/N: Just a reminder that this is still a Caskett fic.

Rick had been right about one thing, Kate mused several weeks later, as she lay next to her sleeping boyfriend.

Ever since the party, their sex had been amazing.

Gone was the staleness of their pre-party sex life, the routine movements that did little more than serve their purpose. They surprised each other, and had purchased a large mirror that they occasionally propped up next to the bed to watch themselves. She even surprised him at work once, and he'd bent her over his desk, pounded into her until they both shuddered with pleasure.

But still, despite their sex - and overall relationship - improving, Kate sometimes found her thoughts wandering to another man. A specific man with bright blue eyes, a deep chuckle, and a thick cock that had her seeing stars.

Kate glanced at Chris, fast asleep next to her, and turned to her side. Her hand slipped under her panties, and she let out a soft gasp when she brushed a finger against her swollen and sensitive clit. She didn't want to wake her boyfriend, knew he had an important meeting early the next day, but she was horny. Thinking about Rick had aroused her, and as she slid her fingers through her wet folds, she rolled her hips into her touch, allowed her middle finger to tease her entrance.

She couldn't go as deep when she was on her side and didn't have the same coordination with her left hand. So, with a quiet, frustrated groan she slid out of bed, careful not to jostle too much, and padded down the hall to the bathroom. The light was bright and blinded her for a moment, but her eyes soon adjusted, and she climbed into the empty tub.

She still needed to be relatively quiet, but at least she could move, and soon her hips were rolling wildly against her hand, one leg draped over the edge of the tub to open herself wider. She and Chris had fucked there just a few days before, water spilling all over the floor, but it wasn't that memory that had her gasping in pleasure.

She sat up and stripped off her tank top and underwear, the cold porcelain against her back reminiscent of a cool wall in a dark basement. The hand not buried between her legs drifted to her breast, and she brushed against her nipple, gasped when it shot a spark straight to her core. A new wave of arousal covered her hand, allowing her fingers easier movement, and she twisted so she could add a third finger.

The additional digit reminded her of Rick's cock - it was still thicker than her fingers, she mused. But she spread her fingers slightly, trying to imitate how he'd stretched and filled her so completely. She wished she'd grabbed her favorite vibrator, but she was too far gone, couldn't stop even if she tried. She was close, so close, just needed something, anything, to push her over the edge.

She bent her leg more, shifted so she was more upright, almost sitting instead of lying down. She was able to thrust deeper from this angle, and she choked out a sob, her other hand hard against her clit as her vision went white and she burst. Her inner walls clenched around her fingers in uncontrolled spasms, and she felt her juices coat her hand, finally collapsed against the tub when she couldn't coax out any more.

She laid there for several minutes, heart pounding, her breath slowly returning to normal before she was able to stand. Her legs were unsteady, but by the time she washed her hands she was able to walk back to the bedroom with relative ease.

She quietly grabbed a fresh pair of panties and, after noting that Chris was fast asleep and lightly snoring, fell asleep with a certain author on her mind.

"Babe, I'm home!"

"In here," Kate called out from the kitchen a couple weeks later, opening the oven to check on their dinner. She'd managed to leave work at a decent hour, thanks to a last-minute settlement, so she'd stopped at the store on the way home. It had been weeks since she'd been home before eight, so if Chris was surprised, he hid it well. She glanced up when she heard him approach. "Hey."

Chris smiled as he loosened his tie. "Hi. Good day at work?"

"Yeah. You?"

He shrugged. "It was fine. Hey, I was talking to Steve today," he continued as he went to the bedroom, "there's another party this weekend. You wanna go?"

Kate hesitated. Things had been good between them since the first party, and although the initial frenzied and adventurous sex had waned some, she didn't think it was at the stale point from before. But still, the party had been exciting, even had the encounter with Rick not happened. Being in that charged environment, watching Chris with other women...watching various couples and throuples and more...having sex with a relative stranger...it was certainly tempting.

She wiped her hands on a dish rag and went to the bedroom, where she found Chris in the middle of changing pants. She sat on the bed and grabbed his hand as he passed by, and she caressed the front of his boxers, smiled as she felt him grow beneath her hand.

"Let's do it."

The advantage of going to the party again, Kate thought a few days later as she sipped a vodka tonic, was that some of her initial hesitation had faded. She still felt a bit out of her element, but she was more prepared for the onslaught of sights and sounds.

She and Chris had parted almost immediately after changing into their robes; he went downstairs, and she opted for a drink first. She'd make her way to the basement before long, but first, she needed to prepare herself for a potential encounter with Rick. The possibility of seeing him again was part of why she'd agreed to come, although she reminded herself that he had a girlfriend, that they attended just to spice up their relationship. Plus, there was a very real chance that he wouldn't even be there, and Kate was okay with that. There were plenty of attractive men.

She finished her drink quickly, then moved towards the door before she could lose her nerve. The familiar sounds of quiet music and moans of pleasure greeted her first, and as her eyes adjusted to the dim room, she could make out the various combinations of men and women. She spotted Chris but he didn't notice her, instead concentrating on the woman bent over in front of him, his hand on her back as he took her from behind.

Kate felt the familiar stirring in her core; she was on edge, ready and willing for whatever was in store. Several people were watching Chris, and although Kate didn't immediately recognize any of them, she approached one of the men anyway.

Hours later, as they drove home, Kate had to ignore the disappointment that Rick hadn't been there. It was silly, she knew, especially since she'd been with others - as the ache between her legs could testify - but the sex with him had been different. And their brief conversation over drinks had been interesting. She'd be lying if she said she didn't want more.

"Hey. You good?"

A hand on her knee drew her from her thoughts, and she looked over at Chris, slid her hand under his. "Tonight was fun," she admitted, threading her fingers through his. She leaned across the center console and pressed a kiss to his cheek, caught the faint smell of sweat and sex. They'd cleaned up as best as they could before leaving, but Kate knew they'd both need to shower.

Separately, she thought, squirming in her seat. She was too sore for anything else.

Chris glanced at her with a smile, then turned his attention back to the road. "Yeah, it was fun," he agreed. "It was nice to see different faces."

Kate chuckled. "I wasn't really looking at faces, but I know what you mean."

Chris pulled his hand away from hers so he could use both hands to turn the steering wheel. "Sure you were," he said, pulling into their building's underground garage. "You were totally scoping the guys out. Looking for the most attractive?" He parked and shut off the engine, then turned to grin at her. "Or looking for someone in particular?"

Kate feigned surprise. He was right - she'd spent much of the night looking for Rick - but was she that obvious? "Why would I look for someone?" she shot back, realizing how defensive she sounded. "We're there to have sex with other people. If we happen to fuck some of them more than once, then so be it. I wasn't looking for anyone specific."

Chris raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, alright, I get it. No need to bite my head off."

But later, as she lay awake, Chris dozing beside her, her thoughts drifted back to his words. He was right; she had been looking for Rick, and his absence was disappointing. She'd still had a great time, let loose even more than before, but she had wanted to see him. She just hoped that she'd have another chance.

The headline caught her eye just a few days later. It was clickbait, she knew that, but Kate didn't care.

Author Caught in Sex Scandal

Her mind raced as she waited for the article to load. Did a reporter find out about the parties? Were they at the parties? She didn't recognize the picture next to the byline, but most of the partygoers' faces were a blur.

Kate skimmed through the article and let out a sigh of relief. No mention of the parties. And in fact, Rick's girlfriend caught cheating was hardly a scandal, considering how often she saw adultery in the divorce paperwork she filed for clients.

She looked at the picture of Rick and his now ex-girlfriend, Meredith according to the caption, and she realized that she recognized her from the first party. Meredith was the redhead that Kate had seen with several people and had appeared to be very popular.

Rick's words about the parties "spicing things up" echoed in her mind, and she couldn't help but wonder just how spicy things got. If the article was to be believed, then Rick himself found Meredith with another man. So she had to have expanded outside the parties. Kate wondered what their arrangement had been. Fuck who you want, but only there?

She shifted, clenched her thighs together. Just the mere mention of Rick's name aroused her, but she was at work. So not the time, Kate, she chided herself, willing her face to remain neutral as she closed the browser and grabbed a client file. She had a divorce hearing to attend the next day, and if she was going to do her job well, she needed to forget about Rick Castle.

"Kate, have you seen my phone?" Chris called from the bedroom a few days later. "I'm gonna be late."

Kate walked into the bedroom, Chris's fully charged phone in hand, and slipped it in his back pocket. "It was charging in the kitchen." She tucked her hand in his other pocket and squeezed his ass. "Try not to miss me too much."

Chris groaned when her hand slid across the front of his pants, and he took her hand, pressed a kiss to her palm. "That's not fair," he said in a low voice. "I don't have time."

Kate shrugged and pulled away from him with a sly grin. "Well, now you have something to look forward to when you come home. Have fun!"

While he was at a bachelor's party for the night, Kate was planning on a quiet night in: a long bubble bath, a fresh bottle of wine, and a brand new book. She'd had her eye on the release date for the latest Derrick Storm novel, and when she'd realized that it coincided with Chris's night out, she'd been thrilled.

She already had Rick's next book signing on her calendar for the following week, and she was looking forward to seeing him again. As her mind wandered away from the action in the book and back to the action in the dim basement a couple months before, she set the book aside and slid her hand below the water.

Slicking her fingers through her folds, she gasped, the arch of her back and roll of her hips disturbing the water. She managed not to splash too much when she climaxed, and as she sank back down into the still-warm water, she smiled and reached for the book again.

She saw the moment Rick spotted her in line, watched as he forced his gaze back to the woman in front of him. He smiled and said a few words, stood for a picture, and then there was just one person between them.

Kate had her eyes on Rick as soon as she could see him, had been watching him interact with close to a dozen fans before he noticed her. He smiled for each fan, men and women alike, a smile that seemed genuine to most. But the more Kate watched, the more she realized that it didn't quite reach his eyes.

He was attentive the whole time, focused on each fan, even hugged a woman who burst into tears as soon as he greeted her. The women around Kate grumbled at that, whispered their jealousy, a couple of them even claiming they could cry on cue if it would get them a hug.

Kate just smiled to herself. Sure, a hug from Rick would be nice. But they'd all drop dead of a heart attack if they knew what she'd received from him.

His tongue flicked out to wet his lips as she approached with her book, and as he took it from her, their fingertips brushed together.

"Who am I making this out to?" Rick asked, his voice rough, her arousal singing through her veins.

"Kate." She leaned slightly against the table. "You can make it out to Kate."

Rick glanced up at her, his eyes dark, and Kate wondered if he could smell her on the book. If he could tell that she'd taken a week to read it just once, that every time she picked it up she was overwhelmed with desire, had pleasured herself more times than she could count with his face in the forefront of her mind.

But he didn't say that, just repeated her name and wrote her name in the book. "You know, Kate, you look familiar. Have we met before?"

He was being coy, she could tell by the slight lilt in his voice, the twinkle in his eyes when he looked back up at her.

Kate just smiled, trying to keep it sweet. "Just at signings," she said, pouring as much innocence in her words as she could. "I come as often as I can."

Rick tensed at her words, her slight emphasis on the word "come," and she could see him shift in his seat as he wrote a few words. "Well, I'm glad you made it today," he replied, extending the book back to her. Their fingers brushed together again when she took it back. "I'll see you next time, Kate."

She was glad that the apartment was empty when she got home, because she didn't have to explain why she was so flushed, why she shoved her hand down her pants as soon as she locked her door, why she didn't even wait until she was in the bedroom to touch herself.

And she didn't have to explain why Rick's name slipped through her lips when she came.

It wasn't until much later that she opened the book cover and saw what he wrote. It was short, just a few words, innocent to most but full of meaning to her.

Kate-

I hope to see you again.

Rick Castle

And, below his name, a phone number.

She felt her face flush.

Rick Castle gave her his phone number.