AN: Merry Christmas everyone!
Thanks to everyone who has read, followed, favorited, or reviewed. Special thanks to Mark C, I love getting your reviews. They're so encouraging! Also special thanks to melindaWRITER, cause I still love LOVE. ;o)

Will I ever get a beta?

Chapter 11

They were running out of time.

Or...time just seemed to be flying by.

They were now two weeks into their holiday vacation and even though things with Kate were going swimmingly—he felt like they were running out of time.

Castle tapped his finger absently against his thigh. Time. Time. Time. Time. He was suddenly struck with a vision of a song from a movie Alexis had watched as a child. "Time is a gift, given to you. Given to give you the time you need, the time you need to have the time of your life." Something about a singing dog? He shook his head to clear it. Leaned his head against the back of the couch and closed his eyes.

They were running out of time.

Not that he knew the endgame precisely. It would be presumptuous for him to assume that Kate would play directly into his hand. For now, he just wanted her to love him...and acknowledge it. Even if her unconscious ramblings counted. And they soooo counted. It would still mean the world to hear it (again) from her lips to his ears while she was looking him in the eyes. Now was not the time to be planning a marriage. Marriage? Where did that thought come from?

But he knew. It was one of his favorite fantasies...daydreams...of the variety that didn't involve Kate naked...but then sometimes they did anyhow. Rick Castle didn't have visions of sugar plum fairies dancing in his head this Christmas, he had visions of waking up to Kate Beckett every morning for the rest of his life. Of coming home to her, of her coming home to him.

He needed to step up his game. Enliven things a bit.

It was December 16. That meant that tonight was...perfect.

He needed...karaoke.

Kate closed her eyes, flared her nostrils, and inhaled deeply.

She'd spent some time outside while she'd been here, but this was really the first time she had stopped to appreciate the things she really loved about it. She could smell the snow (Castle swore it had a smell to it and she was inclined to believe him), smoke from the wood burning fireplace (one of her most favorite smells), and hmm...her absolute favorite smell at the moment. Her eyes opened just as his arms wrapped around her and he leaned down to kiss her cheek, puckered from the smile she wore.

"What's got you in such a good mood?" he asked as he sat in the rocker next to hers on the wrap around porch.

She inhaled again. "Mmm," she hummed, "Snow, fire, and you."

"I get lumped with snow and fire? Is that a good thing?"

She laughed. "Those are my favorite smells here," she explained.

"Are you saying that I smell?" He lifted his arms as if to sniff and frowned. "I swear I took a shower this morning."

"I know," she said in a low voice, eyes dark. "You smell like soap, and fire, and...you. My favorite smells..." she trailed off.

He, too, inhaled deeply. "Alright, I'll give you snow and fire, but the third thing that smells so good is you. Peppermint? Did you switch shampoos?"

"I ran out and had to borrow some from Alexis. She told me that this was more festive." She shrugged, but was secretly pleased that he'd noticed.

"Oh. Well, I like it. Mostly because it's you who's wearing it. You smell like peppermint and you. A York wrapped Kate." He licked his lips suggestively. "Mmm...I need to try one of those. That might be my new favorite candy." He grabbed her hand suddenly and pulled off her glove, licked her finger and sat back closing his eyes. Savoring. "Yeah. Favorite." he parroted.

He didn't let go of her wrist. They were running out of time.

Kate tugged to loosen his grip on her, but he refused to release her. "Castle it's cold outside. Give me my hand, and my glove, back."

He tossed the glove back to her lap, but brought her hand to his mouth. He breathed slowly upon it and rubbed it between his own. The warmth from her hand leaked into the rest of her body, into her gut and down to her toes.

"Better?" he asked and she could hear the smirk.

When had she closed her eyes? "Mmm, yes," she agreed. "But it is cold out here. Perhaps we should move this party inside where there's a nice fire. I'll make you some cocoa."

Kate Beckett in his kitchen making him cocoa. He'd take it. He was standing and pulling her up before she thought he'd even heard her. He pulled her to his chest, their thick coats providing somewhat of a fluffy buffer between them, and kissed her before she could protest. Not that she would. He had noticed a peculiar thing about Kate over the past week or so. She seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time around the mistletoe that still hung just inside the front door. At least when he was around. Which was a lot. She said that she respected tradition. What had for so long been but a kiss to the cheek from his mother or daughter to mini make out sessions with Kate was fast becoming his favorite tradition. He was even considering installing permanent mistletoe at the loft for year round practice.

A tug to the front of his jacket had him stumbling after her in thought. She stopped just inside. Looked up with questioning eyes."Tradition?" she asked.

His most favorite tradition.

"Sit. Sit. Let me get that for you." Martha shooed Kate out of the kitchen and back into Castle's (slightly disappointed?) waiting arms. "I may not be very adept at many things, my dear, but cocoa is one of my talents.

"She's right, you know." Castle laughed. "You've only been privy to our regular everyday cocoa thus far, but Mother's cocoa has that extra special...something."

"Something? Sounds promising."

"Hey, don't knock it until you've tried it."

She nodded her acquiescence and picked up the hand spayed on her thigh. This was something that Kate never saw herself doing. Never quite understood between couples. But she found it increasingly more and more difficult to not touch him, even as she was practically sitting on top of him. So she'd taken to playing with his fingers a lot lately.

She loved his hands. His long fingers. His wide palms. Sometimes when she traced along between his fingers he would twitch for a fraction of a moment, but otherwise his fingers remained pliable in her hands. His fingers which tapped out novels and, more recently, read her body like a book (not as intimately as she wanted quite yet, but he was good...sooo good). She liked to feel each individual knuckle. To trace the lines in his palm. Sometimes she wanted to lick them, but wasn't sure that it would be well received. Someday, perhaps. She straightened each finger and then bent them each in turn along each joint, smoothing them back out and kissing the pads as she finished and moved on to his other hand.

Kate could tell that he enjoyed it maybe as much as she did. His eyes would slip shut and his breathing slowed, but he wouldn't sleep. She could tell by the upward curve of his lips, the minuscule muscular twitches, the fact that his foot nearly always ended up caressing her calf...he liked it. And she loved that he liked it.

She kissed his open palm and placed it back in his lap as she accepted a mug from Martha. After a tentative sip her eyes rolled to the back of her head. More of the liquid entered her mouth and she let it swirl around her tongue. Heavenly.

"Martha...this is..." she didn't even know how to begin trying to describe it.

The older woman smiled and patted her shoulder. "Years of practice, darling, and I finally perfected it a few years back. Finally found the perfect balance of ingredients."

"It's the alcohol that makes it better." Castle chimed in before downing half of his.

Kate raised an eyebrow at Martha who just smiled and spun abruptly to clean up in the kitchen. "Best to use what you already know!"

Kate took another sip. Swished it. "Bailey's?"

Martha beamed. "And a little bit of vanilla. Good?"

"Very." She bent her head again to drink deeply. So so good.

Following some running water, clinking and clanking, closing of cabinet doors, Martha breezed back through the room and announced that she was leaving as soon as she changed. Before they knew it she was up the stairs and giving Alexis a five minute warning.

"Where are they going?" Kate asked setting her empty mug on the coffee table.

Castle collected their mugs and took them to the sink to wash them. "They're headed into the village to start setting things up for tonight."

"Tonight?"

"Yes, tonight."

He hadn't told her what they were doing tonight. She had (mistakenly apparently) assumed it would be more of what they'd been doing the past few nights: snuggling by the fire, kissing a little or a lot depending on where they were, and just relaxing. Her silence encouraged him to expound upon his statement.

"Tonight is the annual 'Karaoke for Kids' night."

Her face revealed nothing. He decided to continue digging his hole...

"We...uh...I started it about seven years ago. There are a fair number of kids in the village. Most of the people who come are mountain folk and villagers. We just hold this event to raise money and give the kids a good time."

Kate regarded him. Watched his face for clues. "Raise money? And how many benefactors are there contributing to this little shindig?"

His face darkened a shade or two. "Um...technically...three."

"And do two of them share a last name?"

"They might."

"And did one of them used to share a last name with the third mystery person?" she continued.

"Perhaps."

"Castle."

"Kate?"

She met him at the counter, took the mugs from his hands and placed them in the cabinet. He didn't move a muscle. She took his hands and placed them on her hips, wrapped her arms around his waist. Leaned in and kissed him long and hard. His palms traveled up her back to her neck landing on the back of her head anchoring her to him.

"You are too much, you know that?

"Nothing wrong with a healthy ego." He pecked her again. "Besides, they deserve it. Plus it's always a lot of fun. maybe more for me to watch them having fun. Anyone who wants to can participate... You can sing any song, but Christmas songs are usually what people default to. Though this one year this old guy got up and sang the National Anthem. Sang his heart out. It was really very moving."

"So you're expecting to get me to sing?" A hand went to her hip and she shifted her weight to one side.

He was almost virtually backpedaling. "My dear detective, I may hold out hope, but have learned by now—I like to think—that it is not always in my best interest to assume. You are free to do as you wish."

Her lips curled into a smile and she leaned in as if to kiss him. He stood stock still waiting in anticipation, but she stopped just short of his mouth. She licked her lips, her tongue brushing his ever so lightly. Such a tease.

"You know what they say about assuming..."

He nodded almost imperceptibly.

"And if I don't sing?" Her words filled his mouth and he swallowed hard.

"You're here, I could hardly ask for more."

Those were the correct words. And he meant every last one of them.

He was nervous. She could tell. He was like a bundle of energy that couldn't decide what to do next.
They walked to the hidden garage. Martha and Alexis had taken the truck. That left the car they'd ridden up in, the ATV, and a snowmobile. Kate automatically headed for the car only to have her wrist caught mid stride.

"We're not taking the car." He said as he shook his head.

"Castle, it doesn't make sense to take the ATV or snowmobile with two people all the way to the village. Much as I'd love to hold on to you, my face would not love to be frozen. Plus then I couldn't kiss you until I defrosted."

He smirked. "We're not taking the ATV or snowmobile either, miss smarty pants."

"I don't see another vehicle in here." She gestured to the rest of the space.

"Ah, but just because you can't see it doesn't mean it doesn't exist." He produced a mini remote out of nowhere and pressed the single button in the middle of it. A hidden door opened and he beckoned her ahead of him.
"No. Freakin'. Way."

He loved to surprise her. Loved it.

She turned on her heel causing him to crash into her. She put her hands up to steady herself and smacked him on the chest. Not out of anger, but rather...excitement.

"You have a Batmobile!"

AN:Another update soon. For Christmas, I'd love it if I got at least 20 reviews. That would be amazing. A record.

But don't feel pressured. Only do if you want to.