FACE TO FACE
CHAPTER 8
Judging by the look she got upon their arrival at the diner the following Sunday, Kate was going to get an earful.
Lanie stood from the booth and extended her hand towards Rick. "I was going to give you a hard time about being late, again," she added with a glance at Kate, "but I'll let it slide."
Rick grinned and shook Lanie's hand as Kate slid into the booth first. "It's my fault," he insisted. "I'm usually very punctual, but my hair wouldn't cooperate."
Kate's cheeks burned and she busied herself with the menu. That was a blatant lie; he woke up determined to give her the best orgasm of her life - which he did - and they lost track of time when she was returning the favor. She felt a foot kick hers under the table, and she looked up to see Lanie staring at her from across the table, her eyebrows raised. "What?"
"I'll forgive you for lying about why you're late if you explain why you forgot to mention that the Rick you've been seeing-" She jerked her thumb at the man in question. "-is Rick Castle, author extraordinaire."
Kate opened her mouth to argue, but her mind went blank and she closed it with a shrug. "I thought I did."
Lanie smirked, but before she could respond, the waitress arrived with coffee, and took their orders. When they were alone again, Lanie folded her hands in front of her and leveled her gaze at Rick. "So. Tell me about yourself. And not your official biography bullshit," she added. "I want to know everything else."
"Oh. Well-"
"Like, what are your intentions for Kate?"
Rick's eyes went wide and he shifted in his seat.
Kate nudged his knee with hers in an attempt to reassure him. "I'm right here, you know," she said to Lanie.
Lanie waved her hand in a gesture of dismissal. "You're not part of this conversation." She focused on Rick again. "I don't know what happened between you guys to make Kate sulk around and snap at everyone for a month. But judging by the satisfied look on her face and your presence here, you and your magic dick are making it up to her."
Kate almost spit out her coffee as Rick sputtered next to her. "Oh my God, Lanie!" she finally managed.
Rick turned to Kate, a smirk on his face. "Magic dick?" he teased.
"Don't flatter yourself," she muttered. She glared at Lanie. "I didn't sulk around and snap at everyone," she argued, curling her hands around her mug.
"You did, but I forgive you." Lanie looked back at Rick. "Again, what are your intentions for Kate?"
Rick reached out and slid his hand down Kate's arm until he laced their fingers together. He lifted their joined hands and brushed his lips along her knuckles. "To make her happy, for as long as she lets me," he said in a quiet voice, his soft gaze on hers.
Kate felt her cheeks flush, and her breath caught in her throat. Aside from agreeing to take their relationship one slow step at a time, they hadn't talked about their future in any detail. She knew she wasn't going anywhere, assumed that he felt the same way, but hearing him say it out loud felt different. Big. Like that statement could define their relationship.
All she knew at that moment was that she'd had a five-week preview of life after him, and she had no desire to repeat that experience. So she smiled at him and squeezed his hand. "Right back atcha," she rasped.
As soon as his lips touched hers Lanie made a gagging sound, and Kate pulled back and took a sip of her coffee.
"Am I going to have to put up with PDA all the time, now?" Lanie whined.
Kate chuckled, but she didn't answer, just let go of Rick's hand when their food arrived.
"I like her," Rick announced after brunch, once he and Kate were on the subway. He squeezed her hand. "You were right, she can be intimidating."
Kate grinned at Rick's shiver, presumably because he was remembering Lanie's very serious threat to remove a certain part of his anatomy if he ever hurt Kate. "We look out for each other," she explained, tucking their joined hands in his coat pocket. She hadn't worn gloves, and although the train was warm with the Sunday afternoon crowd, her hands were freezing.
Rick chuckled. "Do you also threaten her boyfriends?" he teased, his head bent so he spoke almost directly in her ear.
She leaned into his side. "Yes, but neither of us have needed to go through with the appendage removal." She lifted onto her toes and pressed a quick kiss to his mouth. "Yet," she added, chuckling when he whimpered in horror.
He wrapped his free arm around her waist and tugged her into him. "Well, I don't plan on being the first." He glanced up when the train slowed, and he stepped back, tugged Kate towards the doors. "Come on, let's walk through the park," he suggested.
She tightened her grip on him when the train came to a hard stop, and she furrowed her brows at his suggestion. She'd been looking forward to going back home and giving him as much pleasure as he'd given her that morning. Her brunch sat heavy in her stomach, though, so maybe taking a stroll would be good for her digestion - and other activities.
Once they emerged from the subway station, he offered his arm, and she grinned up at him, hooked her elbow through his.
She sighed as they wandered through the park in a comfortable silence, arm-in-arm, dodging locals and tourists alike who seemed to have the same idea as them on that early fall day. They moved without a timeline or a plan, the sounds of the surrounding neighborhood fading into a dull hum, the park offering an oasis of solitude that she rarely felt.
As they approached a row of artists selling their creations, she sighed again and leaned her cheek on Rick's shoulder. She felt him shift beside her, and his lips pressed against the top of her head.
One of the artists waved them over, and although Kate was wary at first, Rick immediately turned in his direction.
"I couldn't help but notice you two," the older man said, picking up the canvas in front of him. "You look so young and in love, you remind me of my wife and I when we were your age."
The man's words echoed in her mind - young and in love - but when he showed them the canvas, she couldn't help but grin.
"That's amazing," Rick told him from her side, his words laced with the awe that she felt.
She immediately recognized the park, with the leaves beginning to turn colors and the overcast sky. On the path in the middle of the park he'd painted a couple. Although the faces had no features, she could easily tell it was supposed to be her and Rick, arm-in-arm with her head on his shoulder.
She opened her mouth to say something, to tell him how incredible it was, but no words came out. Somehow, the artist had managed to capture the sense of calm and comfort - and, yes, perhaps love - that she'd felt all morning. He didn't even know them, and yet, she believed him when he said they reminded him of him and his wife.
Rick shifted beside her, and she glanced at him, saw him opening his wallet. "I'd love to buy it from you."
The man shook his head and held out the canvas. "Please, take it." He smiled at the two of them. "It's my gift to you. I don't often see couples like you, so content in each other's company."
She and Rick glanced at each other and she felt her face flush at the tender look in his eyes. She squeezed his arm and turned back to the artist, and took the painting from his outstretched hand. "Thank you, Mr.-"
"Tom," he said. "Just Tom. I hope you two have a long and happy relationship."
Kate looked up at Rick to find him gazing at her with a soft smile. She returned his smile. "Me too," she husked, reveling in the darkening of his eyes.
Rick tucked some cash in Tom's tip jar and, painting in hand, they turned away to go home.
"I don't know if that can stay in my room," Kate tells him later that evening, her head resting on his bare chest and her eyes on the painting, where it leaned against the wall. "A painting of us in the same room we have sex is kinda weird."
Rick chuckled, his chest shaking under her cheek. "To be fair, we have sex in every room," he pointed out, trailing his fingers along her arm. "Magic dick, remember?"
Kate pinched his side. "That's not my point," she muttered. She sighed and squeezed her arm around his torso, pressing herself closer. "Maybe I'll put it in my living room, or my kitchen. Oh!" She lifted her head so she could see his face. "You should take it. There's no reason you can't have it at your place."
Rick lifted his eyebrow, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Or we could share it," he teased. "Joint custody. Every other week and alternating holidays."
Kate smiled and brushed her lips against his chest. "Hey, um, speaking of the painting," she began. "He seemed pretty convinced that we've been together for a while."
Rick curled his arm under his head and looked down at her. "Yeah, he did."
"He also said that we looked like we're in love."
"He did." Rick smirked. "I noticed you didn't correct him about anything," he pointed out, tracing his fingers along her jaw.
Kate propped her chin on his chest and gazed up at him. "Was there anything to correct?" she asked before she could chicken out.
Rick gave her the most brief lift of his lips. "Not for me," he admitted. He shifted so he was propped up on his pillow, and Kate sat up and joined him.
She found his hand under the covers and laced their fingers together. "I don't know if I've ever been in love," she admitted. She shrugged. "But what I do know is that those five weeks without you were terrible. I don't want to feel like that again."
Rick smiled, but before he could say anything, she continued. "I'm not saying I'm ready to move in together or anything. It's too soon for that. But someday?" She shrugged. "Maybe."
Rick squeezed her hand. "Well, I don't know about you, but I can't imagine being with anyone else. When I'm with you, the rest of the world fades away. And when I'm not, I feel like a different person." He smirked. "It's like you complete me," he teased.
Kate rolled her eyes, but chuckled nonetheless. It was corny, but she knew what he meant. And he put into words almost exactly how she felt. "I guess that settles it," she said with a shrug. "I guess I'm in love with you." She shifted her gaze to the bed between them, allowed Rick to tilt her face up with a crooked finger under her chin.
His eyes were dark as they examined her, and he trailed his finger along her jaw until he cupped her cheek. His thumb tugged at her bottom lip, and she opened her mouth, kept her eyes on his as she drew his tongue in her mouth and gently sucked, mimicking the suction of her mouth around his cock.
"Oh my God," he mumbled, the words coming out in a strangled groan. "You are so hot."
She giggled as he nudged her to her back and settled between her thighs. She gasped when he swiped his fingers through her folds, spreading her arousal, and used her slickness to slide two fingers inside her. "Fuck," she swore, lifting her hips into his touch, curling her fingers around his biceps. He added a third finger, stretching her more, preparing her for him, and circled his thumb around her clit, smiled as she spasmed around him with a cry.
"I love you," she breathed, panting, the stars in her vision slowly fading.
He continued to stroke her velvet walls even as she trembled with aftershocks, and he rolled his hips, rubbed his hard cock against her thigh.
One of her hands left his arm and found his erection, and she stroked him with slow, steady pumps. Her fist quickened, and he grunted, pushed himself into her touch. She could tell he was close, his breath coming in short pants, but she didn't want to just stroke him to release. So she let go, ignoring his quiet whine of protest, and pushed him onto his back.
He gripped her hips as she sank onto him, and she threw her head back in pleasure as he stretched and filled her. "I-" He grunted when she braced her palms on his chest, leaning forward and changing the angle. His fingers dug into the mattress and he pushed himself up to a sitting position, and he wrapped his arms around her, pressed his forehead against hers. "I love you," he gasped, gripping her ass and encouraging her to move.
Her hips rolled as he slammed into her, and suddenly, despite her being on top, he was in control. All she could do was lock her arms around his shoulders and hold on as he thrust, his cock hitting deep, her orgasm quickly approaching.
When he dropped his mouth to her shoulder and sank his teeth in her collarbone, her vision went white, and she shattered around him. Even through the haze of her pleasure she felt him jerk and he drifted his mouth to her neck, panted into her skin as he groaned and spilled inside of her.
They didn't move right away, instead remained joined, wrapped in each other's arms until she felt him slip out. She leaned back and traced his jaw, pressed a soft kiss to his mouth. When she pulled away his eyes fluttered open and his lips lifted.
"I love you too," she whispered, smiling when his face brightened at her words. She kissed him again. "Will I ever get tired of saying it?"
He chuckled and squeezed her ass. "I hope not," he rumbled, "because I won't."
She didn't take long in the bathroom, but when she emerged she found Rick in the kitchen, rummaging around her refrigerator. She quirked a brow at the sight of his bare ass sticking out, and she gave it a light tap.
"You're not going to find much in there," she informed him, leaning against the counter. When he straightened up and turned around, she covered her mouth with her fingers to stifle a chuckle. She hadn't noticed it at first, but now she grinned at the pink gingham apron that had belonged to her grandmother. She didn't wear it often - not that she had much occasion to - but when she did, it barely hit her mid-thigh.
On Rick, it was even shorter.
Her gaze trailed down his body and she lifted her brows. "I mostly eat takeout," she told him, ignoring the urge to comment on the lack of coverage by the apron.
His eyes darkened and he covered the distance between them in a few long strides. "I prefer to eat out, too," he almost growled.
She felt a familiar tingling between her legs at his words, but before she could give in to temptation and have him prove his statement, her stomach interrupted them with a loud growl.
He grinned and backed away from her. "Message received. What are you in the mood for? Food, Kate. Actual food," he clarified when she smirked.
They settled on Chinese food, and as they lounged on her couch and ate directly from the shared containers, Kate found herself more relaxed than she had been in weeks.
Tom the painter had said they looked content, and as she settled into the couch, her legs draped across Rick's lap and his fingers lightly stroking her skin, she couldn't help but agree.
She was in love and content. Their initial meeting had been less than conventional, but their future was filled with nothing but potential, and she wouldn't have it any other way.
A/N: This is the final chapter, but, surprise! There will be a (short) epilogue posted on Monday.