Chapter 8

"Well, I'd say congratulations on another job well done, but that feels a bit like gilding the lily."

Kate chuckled as she strolled down the hall fresh off another suspect confession and her partner began walking at her side. She'd invited him into the interrogation room with her so that he could have a front row seat to the collar of a suspect he had all but hand-selected, but he had declined, wanting to watch from behind the two-way glass instead. As fun as it was to have him with her, Kate didn't mind this break from tradition, particularly since it gave her full run of the suspect and, in the end, a successful case closure.

"Yes, Castle; you were instrumental in this case. Thank you once again for your keen insights."

He grinned at her. "Always happy to be of assistance, Detective Beckett. So," he continued, lowering his voice slightly, "any chance you'd like to join tonight me in celebration of another successful case?"

As the grin began to spread across Kate's face, she didn't even bother to try and hide it. "I'd say there's a definite possibility of that, yes. What did you have in mind?"

"Well, Mother is having her costars over for a pre-opening-night soiree—her words not mine. How about I make you dinner at your place? I'll bring the wine, the groceries, everything. You don't have to do a thing."

"Ooh will you clean the kitchen, too?" she replied, teasingly.

He lowered his chin and gazed at her in a way that made her spine tingle. "If you're asking for me to be your slave—I think we can come to some sort of arrangement."

She decided to side-step the obvious sexual nature of his response as they had not yet crossed that bridge since that night would only be their fourth official date. Castle was being exceptionally patient with her request to ease into their relationship, which she appreciated greatly. Not quite two weeks had passed since their first kiss and, much to her delight, she had found their transition from friends-to-more quite seamless. Though it was still slightly unnerving to think that she had a boyfriend for the first time in a time nearly equivalent to half her life, she also felt happier and more relaxed than she had in years, particularly when he was by her side.

"I was kidding—dinner sounds great. I'll text you when I'm leaving work?"

"Perfect." Then, he gave her arm a gentle squeeze, turned, and made his way out of the precinct. She watched him go, then she sat down at her computer to begin the more unfortunate part of her successful case closer: paperwork.

"You know," Kate began as she snapped the lid on the plastic container with the leftovers and slid it into the fridge, "you really are too good at cooking." Their flavorful and complex meal had been as delicious as any she'd ever had from a professional chef. She'd eaten Castle's cooking before, of course, but he had definitely pulled out all the stops for this meal. Once again, her partner continued to surprise her in the best of ways.

Hovering near the edge of the kitchen, he gave a casual shrug of one shoulder. "I enjoy it. Helps me write."

"Does it?"

"Yeah. Cooking is easy and uncomplicated. When I'm focused on something mundane like chopping vegetables or stirring a part, my mind is free to process scenes I might be stuck on or alternate plots that might be better than the ones I planned out."

"Interesting."

"Sure. But let's not talk about me anymore." With that, he swept into the room, placed his hands at her waist, and dipped his chin so he could kiss her. "Hi."

She laughed and looped her arms around his neck. "Hi."

His hands still at her waist, Castle spun around so that his back rested against the countertop. He then pulled her forward so that their bodies were almost flush against each other. "For the record: I'm kind of loving this—us."

"So am I."

He grinned so wide that the corners of his eyes crinkled in that adorable way that made her heart flutter. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Good." He kissed her again briefly and then brushed his thumbs across her sides at the bottom edge of her ribcage. "So, um, I know you wanted to ease in to this whole relationship and that's great; I'm glad that we're doing what you're comfortable with, because I would never want you to be uncomfortable. I was wondering, though…how easy were you planning on taking it?"

She grazed her teeth over her bottom lip at how adorable he was being though it was not difficult for her to catch his implication. "Well you certainly get points for not outright asking if I'm ready to have sex yet."

"I am a gentleman."

"Mm." She hummed in response, staring up into his sparkling blue eyes for another few seconds before giving her official ruling. In all reality, she'd made the decision on the way home from the precinct that evening. They were at her apartment—alone, where his mother or daughter could not walk in on them. He was preparing her a lovely meal to cap off a date that would be the fourth in a series of lovely dates. If he hadn't brought it up, would she have been the one initiating the increase in intimacy between them? Well, maybe not, but since he had broached the subject she knew it was time. She cared for him, she wanted him in so many ways. And it had been fifteen years after all.

Picking up his left hand with her right, she took a step back and gave him a little tug towards the edge of the kitchen. "C'mon."

He hesitated momentarily. "You sure? I'm really not trying to pressure you."

"I know," she responded genuinely. She continued to lead the way for three more steps before all of a sudden she felt him scoop her up from behind. She yelped out, "Oh! Castle!" but she had no need to worry; his grip on her was firm.

Castle carried her into her bedroom, which wasn't all that far since her apartment was small, and dropped her onto the mattress. She landed on her back and was about to sit up, but before she could his body descended down over hers in a cat-like move. His hands came to rest on either side of her head and his knees were astride her hips. He gazed down at her, dipped his chin so he could scan her torso, and then met her eye again with a knowing smile. "This position seems familiar."

"Does it?"

"Yeah…only there's no dumpster here, which I appreciate."

When she caught his implication, she rolled her eyes. "You're ridiculous."

He ignored her comment and instead rearranged himself so that he lay beside her on his left side. He used his right thumb to brush over her cheek before skimming it down over her jaw and letting it rest against her pulse point for several moments. Then, moving his hand to her shoulder he asked, "Can I ask you something about that day? Did I really fluster you?"

Knowing her cheeks would be showing a little bit of pink, she confessed, "Yes. I was…I think I was still trying to process everything from you being my kind-of partner to the book you're writing to you actually being in my life at all. I hadn't yet gotten to realizing that you were an attractive man until you were on top of me and I felt…"

"Aroused?" he guessed.

"Not quite that, but definitely moving in that direction. It…it startled me. I didn't…I think that was in the cards for me again."

"Why?"

She gave him a pointed look. "Well you may have noticed: there aren't many men in this city."

"But you're an incredible, beautiful woman. The ones that are here should have been lining up around the block for you."

Feeling the urge to disappear beneath the bed, she covered her face with her left hand and moaned, "Stop."

He gently grasped her wrist and moved her hand away so he could look at her. "I'm serious. That's why I consider myself very, very lucky to be here."

Kate felt her heart flutter at his sentiments. While she appreciated his feelings very much, she also believed their situation to be entirely reversed. No matter what he said, the true reality was that the men in her age bracket were few and far between. Even among those that had survived, the number of single men was ever-dwindling. Having a mate was a rarity that she did not want to take for granted, particularly not when the mate was as incredible as the one lying beside her.

Kate lifted her hand so she could press her palm down against his cheek as she spoke. "No, it's me. I feel like one of the lucky ones every time I look at you."

Castle kissed her inner wrist before rolling half on toping her and bringing his lips to hers. She skimmed her hands over is shoulders and onto his back while his traveled down her side until it reached the bottom and he snuck his hand underneath. When his fingers squeezed at the cup of her bra, she gasped and pulled back, feeling momentarily uncertain. "Ah, Castle?"

"You okay?"

"Yeah just, um, remember its been about fifteen years so maybe…take it a little easy with me?"

He smiled, bumped his nose against hers, and skimmed his fingers against her rips in a delicate way that made her skin tingle. "Don't worry Kate," he said, just before he lowered his lips to hers once more, "You're in good hands."

Kate opened her eyes and blinked slowly as the world came into focus. She was laying on her side her in bed, her right hand was tucked beneath her head and if she was not mistaken, another, larger hand rested against her right elbow. Her body felt relaxed, but her head a little bit fuzzy, as though she'd been interrupted in the middle of the best nap of her life. When she focused her eyes, she saw a dopey grin reflecting back at her and she could not help but smile in its reflection.

Oh, right. She was in bed with Castle, and the fact that they had just made love was not even close to being a dream; it had all been very, very real.

"Have a nice nap?" he asked gently as he brushed his thumb over her forearm.

She yawned and mumbled, "How long was I out?"

"Only a few minutes. You okay?"

She smiled and moved her hand from its position beneath her head so that she could grip onto his and bring it closer to her lips, so she could kiss his knuckles. "Okay" seemed a rather insulting descriptor for how incredible she felt, but in her sleepy, sated state, she couldn't think of a better one, so she went with it. "Yes. We're going to need to do that about a thousand more times."

He laughed. "Well you won't hear any complaints from me."

She hummed and stuck out her leg to thread through his so as to bring them even closer together. "Mm good." She shut her eyes again and relaxed against him not sure what was more of a relief: finally being intimate again after a decade and a half, or having a new lover who was talented in the best of ways.

"Not to sound too much like I'm fishing for complements but: better than you remembered?"

Kate half-groaned at the memory of the incident she did not like to remember. As she had only been sixteen—and only been sexually active for a little more than a month—the quality of her sexual activities had definitely been limited. That particular final incident was not at all a pleasant memory—not that any had been outstanding. In fact, the moment she and Castle had just shared together outpaced the others several times over.

"You could say that. The last time…well, it was right as the outbreak started. My boyfriend, Sorrow, was-"

"Stop." He interrupted her, holding his right hand out in between their faces. "Stop it right now—you did not have sex with a man named Sorrow."

"His real name was Tyler. I was in a rebel phase and he played guitar in a band."

"Do you have a picture?"

She blinked at him, slightly incredulous. "Really? I'm naked and you want to see my seventeen-year-old boyfriend's picture?"

"When his name is Sorrow? Absolutely."

Huffing out a breath, Kate rolled away from her companion and tossed back the bedsheet. Though she did not wish to leave their cozy cocoon, she also knew her new boyfriend very well, and when he fixated on something, he did not easily let it go. Besides, from an objective standpoint she supposed she could understand the fascination with someone who chose to call themselves Sorrow; since she had only known him as such, it seemed almost normal to her.

She scooped up her panties and shirt from the floor, put them on, and then went to her closet to find the box that contained her yearbooks and high school memories. "Anyway, everything was so crazy then—so much was happening so I didn't even think we'd see each other, but…my father started showing symptoms and I…I guess I just couldn't face it, so I went over to his place. He had family members staying with him and so there wasn't much privacy. We ended up doing it in his bedroom closet that smelled very strongly of feet."

After she finally found the right book, she pulled it from the box, and turned around to see that her companion now sat up in bed, the sheet bunched around his waist.

"That's terrible," he commented.

She gave a little shrug, as he was completely correct. "Well that was only the sixth time I'd ever done it; it was never going to be great," she said as a way to deflect the conversation away from the reality of the situation. By that point in the chaos, it was not yet known how that the survival rate for anyone who became sick was almost zero; however, they did know that falling ill was very dangerous and very serious. When her father returned home looking pale and feverish, only to faint in the bathroom half an hour later, she had been so terror-struck she didn't know what to do with herself. She shouldn't have left her mother, she knew that at the time, but escaped anyway. She'd just wanted to get away, and not think about the pain she was about to face. She hadn't wanted to have sex either, but when Sorrow suggested it she agreed if for no other reason than it would provide a ten-minute distraction.

"You weren't with anyone other than—I'm sorry I literally cannot call him by his dumb band name."

She cracked a slight smile when she finally located Sorrow's picture in her yearbook. God, he was even more horrifying looking than she remembered. With slight reluctance, she turned the book so he could see and she tapped her finger just below his picture. "C'mon. he even had a Mohawk."

"Oh my god. Really?" he responded with a mixture of amusement and horror.

"He had a guitar, wore eyeliner, and my father hated him—it was all I needed at sixteen."

"Well, at least you've matured."

"Oh, definitely." Even if everyone hadn't fallen ill and died, she knew she eventually would have moved past that phase of her life. Would it have taken longer? Certainly. Would it have lasted into college? Possibly, but she definitely would have outgrown it. In hindsight, she knew she was just testing boundaries, and definitely had no real interest in being a grunge band groupie for life.

"I don't know what would have happened if everyone hadn't died but I doubt this phase would have lasted too long."

Handing the yearbook back to her, Castle asked, "Wait—did he end up dying?"

"No, he got really sick, recovered, and then broke up with me. And to answer your other question: I wasn't with anyone other than him." She added as she returned the yearbook to its resting place and then pushed the box back into her closet with her foot. Despite the mediocre experience it was, Kate did not regret her time with Sorrow. He had been a weird kid, but he was nice to her and cared as much as a seventeen-year-old who dreamed of a fabulous career as a musician could.

"I am so sorry that you're only other sexual experience was with someone named after a feeling."

Though she laughed at his wording, Kate did straighten her mouth quickly and point out, "Well I'm sure you have regrets from when you were sixteen," before the conversation focused too much on teasing her and not him, the man who had put a cow on the roof of his high school.

"Oh, dozens. And some day I'll tell you about some of them. But right now," he paused to reach out and snag her hand. She let out a small yelp as he yanked her onto the bed so that her body was half laying over his. He moved his hand down to squeeze and then caress her ass before whispering, "Let's start chipping away at those thousand more times."

"Now?" she asked, slightly taken-aback, as she had never had sex back-to-back before. Then again, she had never not had sex in an apartment owned by a parent.

"Yes now. Or we can wait a bit. I'm not going anywhere."

Her heart fluttered as he lay back against the pillows. "You mean…you want to stay tonight?"

"If that's ok with you."

She grinned at the prospect of her first adult sleepover and hummed out an affirmative answer. In response, he grabbed her waist and rolled them both over so that she was once again underneath him. He began to place kisses against her jaw, but when he kissed his way to her ear, he whispered, "By the way, I'm changing my name to Exuberance."

She gasped and smacked his arm. "Castle!"

He lifted his head to display a shit-eating grin. "Or perhaps…Jubilant?"

"How about Jackass?"

"No that's not an emotion."

She grumbled and shifted uncomfortably underneath him. "You're not going to let this go are you?"

His response was downright gleeful. "Not for several weeks at least."

"I hate you."

He appeared unfazed. "No, you don't."

Gazing up at him, Kate felt a crushing amount of joy spread through her chest. Yes, he drove her to the brink of sanity, and yes he could be extremely irritating, but he was kind, thoughtful, and he made her laugh—he made her happier than she ever thought possible. She could not fathom how she had become so blessed for a man—let alone one as wonderful as him—to come into her life, but she was so grateful for it. In that moment, she felt dozens of emotions swirling in her chest, but not one of them was negative. Lifting her head, she pressed a kiss against his bottom lip and whispered, "You're right; I don't," before pulling his body down over hers once again.

A/N: There are (2) more updates to this story - one chapter & an epilogue, but once again i will skip tuesday's update in lieu of posting my new years kind of crack!fic i've been working on, so ch 9 will be posted a week from today. thanks!