A/N: Apologies for the break in transmission; I took a short vacation. Thank you for your kind and thoughtful reviews to the last chapter.

Slow Burn

Chapter 6

Previously...

"I don't want easy," she repeats as she takes his face in her hands, leaning in to nuzzle her cheek against his, sliding her nose alongside his, closing her eyes because his skin on her skin is electric and she feels so close to him. A tear rolls down her cheek, and she finds his mouth with her eyes still closed. Her fingers feather along his jaw and the back of his neck as she arches onto her tiptoes and kisses him softly but firmly. She moans into his mouth, a needy, desperate sound, when his arms band tightly around her body and he kisses her back, ardently, groaning as he claims her with everything he has. They're all out of air when she finally eases back just a fraction to whisper her truth against his damp, kiss-swollen lips.

"I don't want easy, Castle. To hell with easy. I just want you."

Their eyes are still closed, their heads pressed together resting temple-to-temple as they work to get oxygen back into their lungs.

Someone curses in wonder - it must be her - and Castle emits a chuckle that zips right to Kate's core. When a barge plows past on the night-darkened Hudson blasting on its horn, neither of them moves. Everyday life is held at bay somewhere outside this perfect bubble they have created for one another, and Kate wonders how long this feeling of elation can possibly last.

She clutches onto him, whispering, "Rick," and her voice breaks over his name. Need and grief, guilt and sorrow mingle with love and joy in that single syllable and they wrap their arms more tightly around one another, squeezing with silent desperation, and there's so much meaning, so much longing expressed in this single gesture. Years to get here culminating in a unifying sigh of "finally."

This moment of high emotion is broken when Hoodie One wolf whistles like a longshoreman from a nearby bench, louder than any human whistle Kate has ever heard, while Hoodie Two yells a surprisingly childish, "Yo! Old people? You disgusting. There be little kids watching, man. Get a room!"

Their leather jackets squeak in protest as they draw apart a little. Kate throws her head back, expelling joyful laughter that quickly turns into a slightly crazed, happy sigh when she buries her face in Castle's neck. This affectionate gesture only makes him hold her more tightly. One of the teenagers shouts something lewd, and Kate flips him the bird behind Castle's back as she opens her mouth against the warm skin in front of her to tongue his Adam's apple. When she scrapes her teeth over his throat and feels him grunt and shudder, she blanks out the kids and shifts her attention back to her partner's mouth, so dizzy with the taste of him, worshiping their newfound closeness with kisses that last until her brain screams for air.

Somewhere in all of this, Castle slides his hands down from her hips to cup her ass. The hooded duo finally loses interest and departs. There are still plenty of people about, though neither of them cares enough to bother with faceless strangers. They are adrift in their own corner of New York, lost to the rest of the world, floating in this together.

When Castle slips his hands into the back pockets of her skin-tight jeans, Kate thanks God and whoever invented the 2% elastane in her 7 For All Mankind skinnies because there is no room in there and his hands are on the large side – boy has she noticed that over the years but never more so than right now as he wriggles his sturdy digits further down and down, attempting to get more of a handful of flesh. He squeezes her buttocks and she forces herself to break the hottest kiss she's ever experienced.

She's panting when she exclaims, "Fuck! Where have you been for the last four years?" before burying her grin in his collar and doing a little ass squeezing of her own.

"Four years…I've been right here, Kate. Just waiting and hoping for this…this moment," he confesses, trying to keep the worst that this truth has done to him out of his voice, at least for tonight.

She drops her forehead against his jaw, holding herself there, so high on physical sensation and wave after wave of emotion that she needs a timeout to catch her breath. Before long she's on the move again, exploring. She kisses him lightly on the side of his mouth, tiny butterfly kisses of apology that shoot bolts of electricity from her body into his. "I've been an idiot, Castle," she whispers, nuzzling his cheek. "I'm sorry it took me so long," she says, long fingers tightening around his ribs as if trying to imprint her apology into his skin.

But Castle shakes his head and kisses her hair in a wordless gesture of forgiveness. "We made it, Kate. That's all that counts at the end of the day. We made it."

Finally, Kate stands up a little straighter, loosening her hold on him as she tries to shake the fog of lust swirling around their little corner of the Hudson. She tugs on his jacket and says, "Hey, come on. It's getting late. We should go home."

But Castle holds her fast, drawing her hard against him once more so that he can kiss her again, demanding, ardent, persuasive, almost furious in his intention, one hand locked in her hair and the other still on her ass, fusing their hips together with an urgency that makes her heart beat right out of her chest.

Kate gives herself to him, responding in kind because she can't stop herself anymore; she knows she doesn't want to. When her arousal threatens to peak and her senses clamor for release or calm, she squirms to loosen his grip, laughing helplessly when he whines like a child, "But I don't want to go home."

She kisses him softly, slipping her tongue into his mouth, enjoying him, languid in a way he cannot fathom when her arms are still wound so tightly around his neck.

She teases him with the tip of her tongue, sliding it so slowly and sensuously over his, giving rise to such a flood of sensation that sparks fire behind her eyes and goosebumps rise all over her skin.

Eventually, she breaks the kiss with a heaving chest and a great deal of regret.

"Hey. Hey, look at me," she says, angling his face towards her so that she can see his eyes and he can see hers. "You and me? This…relationship? We exist outside of this spot, Castle," she promises the fear she can see etched into his features. "Might take us a little time to figure out how to do that, but we'll make it. Now…let me take you home."

By the time they pull up in front of his building, her body is on fire. If he held her tightly on the ride out, his hands seemed to be everywhere at once on the short journey back to the loft. When Kate dismounts, her legs are trembling. She pulls off her helmet and shakes out her hair to find Castle grinning at her as if he can read her mind.

She lets her eyes flicker up the front of his apartment block to the top floor where the large windows are softly illuminated. The view is enticing, but she steels herself and says, "You should go in. I've got an early start tomorrow if I'm going to clear the decks by lunchtime."

Castle nods as if he expected her to say something of this nature, but he's unable to keep the dark lurk of disappointment completely from his eyes.

"Text me as soon as you clarify things with Alexis, okay?" she says to offer him some crumb of reassurance since it's quite evident that he still needs this from her.

"Oh, take that as read," he insists, waving his hand dismissively. "She is off the team." He hooks his fingers through her belt loops, bringing her to him. "You and me, Kate. We are going to this wedding together or not at all," he says emphatically.

Kate rolls her eyes and shakes her head. The sentiment is flattering, and she loves his fierce, impulsive drive when it comes to them, but this tack will do nothing to help her soured relationship with the young redhead. "No. Your daughter comes first. Ask her. I'm not going with you unless you do this properly, Rick."

He plays with the zipper on her leather jacket, pulling it up and down. The vibration that spreads out over her already sensitive nipples is driving her nuts. "Keep calling me Rick and I'm dragging you upstairs to my bed and never letting you leave," he threatens.

Kate laughs at this display of possessive masculinity and gives him a playful shove. "Caveman routine? Really, Rick?" The click of his name on her tongue drives him crazy she can see, until it suddenly gets too much and she catches the glassy sheen of tears glittering in his eyes. The time for kidding is over.

She takes his hand. "If Alexis still wants to go, we'll all three of us go together. At the end of the day, none of this matters. We'll know. Okay? We're going as partners, right? Ride or die, Rick Castle. You with me?"

When he smiles at her, she marvels at her own ability to chase his sadness away; it feels epic, like a suddenly discovered superpower. She plans on doing a lot more giving in future; he's been putting her first for years.

They finally part on a kiss that is as lingering as it is sweet. "Tomorrow," she whispers, patting his chest. "Either way, I'll come pick you up," she offers. "Oh, and wear the blue shirt?" she turns back to ask, blushing under the streetlight as she makes this personal request. "The one with the⏤"

"I know which one," he assures her, stroking his thumb along her jawline, watching her eyes darken with lust that is for him alone and feeling his heart swell with love for her.

Kate parks her bike in the garage and walks home feeling as though she is missing something, and this time it's not her cherished motorcycle. When she gets back to her apartment, she is exhausted but still so wired that she knows there is no way she will sleep. So she takes a long shower in an attempt to tame the arousal licking at every part of her body. She lingers under the flow of hot water and steam as she explores the delicious yearning Castle has stirred in her tonight. It takes almost no effort for her to feel Castle's hands moving over her skin instead of her own; her body still burns in every place he touched her over the last couple of hours. When she finally comes, it is with a sudden, violent shudder, his name dying on her lips and the memory of his mouth moving over hers, and for once she has no need of his writer's imagination, needs no story to tell herself, no pretty words. Because they are real now, all of it is real, and they will only make better stories together from now on.

She slips beneath the covers, sated and sleepy, and immediately reaches for the light switch. As she lies in the dark with a smile on her face letting sleep come for her, the bedroom ceiling is lit up by the sudden glow from her phone.

His text reads:

- We got permission! We're going to a wedding. Just the two of us! Sleep well, detective. Until tomorrow, Rick xxx -

Kate hums to herself as she types out a reply. She was hoping for Alexis' blessing, but permission is a start, and maybe they'll need her blessing for other things in time, who knows. She bites her lip at the secret thrill this thought gives her.

She writes back:

- It's a date! Pick you up at one sharp. Sweet dreams, Rick. -

She takes a deep breath before she adds: - Love, Kate xxx - to the end of the message and presses send.

They both fall asleep with smiles on their faces, destined for dreams that are sweet indeed.

TBC...