Christmas Story Chapter 18, a castle fanfic

Chapter 18

"Is the blindfold really necessary? I'm barely awake. It's still dark. We're in the woods in an area I don't know..." The hand he was holding went up in a half shrug as he kept them moving at a steady pace. Steady, but slow enough that she wouldn't stumble. An injured Kate was not in his plans.

He knew exactly where they were going.

Exactly what time it was.

Exactly how long before light would hit the trees above their heads.

It was December 18. A few days before Christmas, but not too close. This was not a gift.

Really.

He just wanted to surprise her. Keep surprising her. The thought made his smile grow wider.

"True. But this is more fun. Don't you know that having one sense taken away enhances those remaining?"

She shivered. From the cold? Or from anticipation of experiencing those other senses?

"Castle, I likemy sense of sight!"

Oh. Not good enough at all.

He rounded on her causing her to stumble into him. Took her hands in his to steady her and began an assault on her other senses.

He leaned in and exhaled slowly so that his breath would tickle the little hairs on her ears. His hands found their way up to her neck (really the only place aside from her face that was uncovered). He let his fingers dance lightly over the skin just below the collar of her jacket. Her shivers in response were a good sign.

He released her without warning and she teetered for a moment.

"Castle?"

He grinned, not three feet from where she stood. "Listen." He whispered just as a breeze rustled the tops of the trees that surrounded them. She heard. He could tell. Then she started playing along.

"Listen." It came on the wind. A barely there command. Gentle. Unassuming. Guiding. She could hear many things. One of which was not the expected sound of Castle bumbling around in the snow. It must have been killing him to keep both quiet and still.

Alright. She could play this game. Her other senses he said?

Kate inclined her head just slightly and sniffed experimentally. Wow. Castle was right. She wondered briefly if it had anything to do with the fact that her brain was focused more on smelling rather than seeing. No matter. Another breeze whipped through above their heads and it carried on it his cologne.

Cologne?

Castle didn't usually wear a lot of cologne. In fact, she preferred it when he smelled like soap and a little sweat and...him. And sometimes a little cologne to enhance it all. He must have put a little extra on to help her in this little experiment.

She breathed in a little more deeply and turned her head as she did so. Ah. There he was, the sneak. But she didn't want to spoil his game so soon. Kate crouched and felt the ground beneath her for roots or twigs. Nothing. Using her gloved hand she swiped at the snow and leaned down with her ear almost-but-not-quite to the ground. Smiling she stood, blindfold still in place, and walked forward stopping two inches from where he stood.

"I see what you mean." He would have to appreciate her choice of words there.

"Funny woman."

He did.

Kate angled her head and leaned in shooting to kiss his mouth...and missed. Instead she caught his jaw, but he quickly compensated winding his arms around her waist and drawing her to him lips seeking hers.

Ohh this was the good stuff. She could understand the taste aspect too. And feel? Her fingers couldn't stop playing along his spine, his shoulders, neck and dancing through his hair. And it wasn't just her fingers that felt more. The way his chest was pressed tightly against hers, the feel of him against her tongue, his hands on her waist, back, shoulders, tangled in her hair...it was a feast of feeling.

Another breeze swept through a little lower and they broke apart breathless. "Please tell me you didn't wake me up at an ungodly hour to drag me out into the middle of the woods to have a make out session." Kate tried to slow her breathing. "Because we could have done this inside. With a fire in the fireplace. Possibly naked."

"I promise you if this were it, I'd be begging your forgiveness. But it gets better." She could hear the smirk in his voice. As he no doubt could probably see her eye roll behind this stupid blindfold.

Seeming to prove his point he grabbed her wrist and tugged her forward a few feet. "It's close. Just a few more minutes and you'll see."

"Will I?"

He squeezed her hand. "You will."

True to his word they stopped after what she could only assume had been a few minutes. He squeezed her hand again and whispered, "Don't move. I'll be right back."

To say that Kate was struggling with the temptation to not rip the blindfold off would be a massive understatement. Fists clenched at her sides she closed her eyes beneath the covering and tamped down the desire. He said he'd be right back. Somewhere out in front of her the light changed and her eyelids went from looking black to pink and greenish. He must have flipped some kind of switch for floodlights or something. Had he brought her back to the helicopter pad? If so, why hadn't they taken the ATVs again?

His gloved hand lightly touched her elbow letting her know of his presence. He pulled her back against his chest and rested his chin on her shoulder. "Ready?"

"Ready."

He slipped the blindfold off but his hand was still shielding her eyes. Slowly he withdrew it revealing that while not yet at the top of the mountain, they were standing near some sort of hidden precipice. At the edge of the small wood surrounded cliff a bridge fashioned out of wood and rope lead to a structure that looked like it had jumped out of the pages of a fairy tale.

"You have an actual castle on your mountain?" It came out a whisper of disbelief. The bridge ended at the front door of a miniature castle that had been built in the middle of four trees that stood in the middle of the drop off area. On the other side of those trees the mountain climbed towards the sky again. It was almost as if a giant had punched a hole in the ground and set up his doll house smack dab in the middle of it.

But that was ridiculous.

But that was definitely a castle.

To be fair it wasn't really a castle.

Not an actual castle anyway.

"I had this built when Alexis was seven. It was my gift to her that year."

"I thought gifts had to be simple. Bought in the village or made by the giver. Weren't those the rules? Rules, by the way, that you neglected to tell me..."

"I'll have you know that I invented the rules, therefore I alone may break the rules. However, this particular gift, while perhaps bordering on the extravagant side of things, was built by locals. They even let me help!"

"Handed them nails and screws did you?" The teasing lilt in her voice was so very hot.

He grinned in the darkness. "And water and hot cocoa. Had to keep them hydrated."

"So you built your daughter a castle for Christmas?"

He rubbed her shoulders. It was pretty cold just standing there, but he didn't want to show her the inside just yet. They still had a few more minutes and this story would probably go over better looking at it from the outside anyhow. "She'd always wanted a tree house. The loft is obviously not built for that and no matter how many forts we built in the living room, that desire for a tree house remained. I looked into doing it in the Hamptons, but zoning restrictions kept that from happening. So I made it a Christmas present. Got locals involved. It was a great experience."

"Did Alexis get to have any influence on what it looked like..."

He laughed, his mouth next to her ear. "She was the one who convinced me to not have it be reachable only by helicopter."

Kate turned to see his face, visible as her eyes had probably long become adjusted to the dark. His boyish grin widened at the incredulous look on her face.

"She, the then six year old-I presented her with the idea and had it built before we returned the following year-reminded me that I wouldn't be able to get to her as quickly if it were only reachable via helicopter. She'd picked this spot before lunch the next day. And she was right. It was perfect. Is perfect." He shrugged. Not long now.

Castle grabbed her hand and tugged her across the little bridge, stopping just before opening the door, "Would you mind putting the blindfold back on for a minute? I just don't want you to get distracted by the inside just yet. I'll let you explore later, I promise."

"Awful lot promises I hear coming from that mouth, Mr. Castle." Her smile reached her eyes. Set them sparkling in the dark air. That was one of his favorite smiles.

"I'm good for them. All of them." He held up the blindfold and she turned so that he could place it back over her eyes and secure it in place.

And just like that she couldn't see once more. She turned back around slowly, his hand at her elbow, and reached for his face. He came willingly enough and met her mouth in a quick but sensual kiss.

"Lead on O Keeper of Promises."

Kate felt him push her a little and stop as he unlocked and then pushed the door open. The first thing she noticed was that there was heat coming from the inside of the tree house. The second thing she noticed was the fact that her boots weren't hitting a hard floor. "Castle?"

She heard him chuckle behind her as he guided her forward a bit more. "She was the only kid who had a tree house with central heating and carpet. Step up."

She stepped up and found herself on a short ladder. With Castle at her back she climbed the seven steps until she felt a flat surface in front of her. She moved her hand around and discovered that it was a kind of landing so she climbed up and sat on her haunches until Castle had climbed up behind her. His fingers pulled the blindfold off and he directed her face gently with his hand until she was staring at the wall.

"Ready?" He sounded excited. Even for his usual excited self.

"Ready."

Castle reached up and yanked a cord that hung from the ceiling. The thick curtains covering the wall jerked back and revealed a view that took her breath away. The sun was just breaking over the tree tops, the sky a rainbow of color reflected off of the few scattered clouds.

Her hand flew to cover her mouth. "Oh! Castle, it's beautiful." Great Kate. Drop the sensual and just act like a little girl. That will certainly turn him on. "I mean-"

He chuckled beside her. "I know what you mean. The first time I saw that I cried. Literally, I cried. Alexis was nine. We'd spent a week staying trying to time it just right and finally got it on the eighth morning. She was so concerned about me that it took me ten minutes and a strawberry pancake breakfast to convince her that I was actually happy. Of course now she likes to tease me about it, but I think that's fair so long as I didn't traumatize her."

"Pancake breakfast huh?"

"With strawberries."

"Whipped cream?"

"Alexis didn't get any, but if you're good..."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Rick Castle, you know I'm good."

He waggled his eyebrows at her. "Whipped cream it is. And if you're lucky, you may even get some on your pancakes."

When he'd had the tree house built for Alexis to use as a mini getaway he never considered that she might one day return the favor. Even when they'd been planning this year's Christmas vacation it hadn't occurred to him to even ask—although to be fair he hadn't been one hundred percent certain that Kate would agree to join them. They'd been getting closer, sure, but Beckett seemed to move at a pace all her own and he hadn't wanted to assume (bar sharing a bed) that she was ready for more just yet.

Alexis must have sensed that too, but was willing to give him the tools to push-just a little bit, if needed-in privacy. She'd been the one to bring it up to him:

November 30:

"Dad, do you think she was serious?"

Castle looked up from the dish he was toweling dry to regard his daughter. "Who? With what?"

Alexis shook her head, smiling. "Detective Beckett. About seeing our Christmas traditions...she seemed a little more comfortable with us at dinner and I was wondering..."

His beautiful daughter. His fantastically brilliant beautiful daughter.

The grin that spread across his face seemed to relieve her of any fear or trepidation she'd been harboring over asking that question. The slump came out of her shoulders and the grin caught on her own mouth seeming to encourage her to keep talking.

"I mean, you were going to invite her along, right? I was just thinking that if you get out there and need privacy or something...I could make sure the tree house is...I mean...what do think?"

He'd agreed, of course. It had been a little weird having that kind of talk with his still teenage daughter, but her thoughtfulness was touching. So he'd taken her up on her offer, not knowing whether or not he'd have a use for it as there was no way to predict where things would stand with Kate or even if she'd agree to come along.

And then she had.

And they'd been making progress. Great strides that he still wasn't sure were real or dreamed. When they'd arrived at the cabin on that first day he'd given Alexis a look. A hopeful look. And she'd understood right away. She would prepare the tree house as discussed and if things looked good... Well, he'd stocked the perishables himself once he was pretty sure he could get Kate out here. But Alexis had done a really good job of making sure the place was clean. Having the heat running so it wouldn't need time to warm up. The décor was different than it had been when she was a child, but she had redecorated a few times as she'd gotten older. This particular look was new to him though. More grown up. Actually, it kind of reminded him of Kate's taste a little bit.

Huh.

"I have never been in, let alone seen, a tree house with its own bathroom." Kate came waltzing back into the main room and settled on one of the overlarge floor pillows next to him. "This place is amazing. I can only imagine what it must have felt like to a seven year old. Seriously Castle, major cool points on this one."

He had to smile. She had just given him cool points.

"To be honest it's gone through several decorative revisions over the years, but the construction has always been the same. I just didn't want her to be out here—or me to be out here visiting her—and not have a bathroom if needed."

"And the working kitchenette doesn't hurt either."

"No, in fact it has worked in my favor at least twice now." He smirked and raised a forkful of pancakes. Shoved them into his mouth purposefully getting whipped cream all over his chin.

Kate leaned forward and licked her lips. "You ah..."

Oh yeah. She was going to get it off for him.

Her fork made its way to his chin and she scraped the fluffy cream off before licking it off of the metal tines.

"So. Not. Fair." He crossed his arms and pouted. "I set you up. That was perfect."

"I know you did. See what trying to force my hand does? It forced my hand."

He narrowed his eyes in an attempt to make her squirm. "Don't mess with me Kate Beckett."

Her glare was more convincing. "Don't give it if you can't take it." She took another bite and a small tuft of whipped cream landed at the corner of her mouth. Before she realized it he leaned forward, tongue darting forth to clean it away.

"I'll take it." He grinned.

"Yes, you will." She grinned back. "But only because I give it."

"You do?" He was on his hands and knees before her, their little breakfast picnic on the floor forgotten.

She leaned forward just barely, noses brushing, and licked her lips, tongue grazing his. "I do."

He wasn't trying hard enough.

No. That wasn't right.

He was definitely trying if the fact that she was standing in the bathroom of a giant castle shaped tree house was any indication. A freakin' tree house. With running water.

Hell, he was trying too hard.

She finished washing her hands and picked up the nearly too soft hand towel to dry them. She'd left him in what was essentially the living room area of the tree house. They'd snuggled a while up in the tower before finally climbing down to see about breakfast. When she'd excused herself he had been setting out plates filled with pancakes and strawberries.

"I have never been in, let alone seen, a tree house with its own bathroom." She went back out into the main room and eased down onto one of the overlarge floor pillows next to Castle. "This place is amazing. I can only imagine what it must have felt like to a seven year old. Seriously Castle, major cool points on this one."

His smile was worth it. Yes, she had just given him cool points.

Daddy?

Whoa Kate, slow down.

"And the working kitchenette doesn't hurt either."

That was certainly true and warranted another smile. "No, in fact it has worked in my favor at least twice now." He smirked and lifted a forkful of pancakes to his mouth purposefully getting whipped cream all over his chin. So transparent.

Kate leaned forward and licked her lips. "You ah..."

His eyes grew dark as she leaned closer. Hers probably a mirror of his.

Her fork made its way to his chin scrapping lightly against his jaw, her tongue along her bottom lip, as she drew it across his light scruff scooping the fluffy cream off before licking it slowly off of the metal tines.

"So. Not. Fair." He crossed his arms and pouted. Perfect. "I set you up. That was perfect."

Yeah he did. "I know you did. See what trying to force my hand does? It forced my hand."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Don't mess with me Kate Beckett."

She leveled him with her best detective glare. "Don't give it if you can't take it." Took another bite of her pancakes. Before she realized it he leaned forward, his tongue darting forth towards the corner of her mouth licking gently.

"I'll take it." He grinned.

"Yes, you will." She grinned back. Time to give him permission, though he really already had it didn't he? "But only because I give it."

"You do?" He was on his hands and knees before her, his hair falling across his forehead. Utterly adorable.

She leaned forward just barely until their noses brushed, and licked her lips, tongue grazing his. "I do."

"So Alexis just up and said to you one day, 'Gee Dad, if you ever feel like playing house with Beckett you can feel free to use mine?'"

The sun coming in through the window spilled across their bodies warming exposed skin as they lay stretched out on the floor. His head was propped against her stomach, rising and falling with each breath that she took. One of her hands twined in and out of his hair, pulling locks, twisting and combing alternately. Her other hand was trapped in his as he tasted each fingertip. Licked along the lengths and kissed each knuckle.

Her skin was so soft.

"Not exactly. It was more along the lines of 'If you are somehow able to convince Detective Beckett to join us and you find yourself in need of more privacy than the cabin allows, I can make sure the tree house is in order.' My daughter is quite generous."

"She really is." Kate's voice was tinged in a kind of sad longing that caused him to pause in his adoration of her right hand and angle his head to look at her.

"What's wrong?" He hoped his voice didn't sound as desperate and vulnerable to her as it did to his ears.

Her eyes surprised him. Laid bare before him and glistening in the morning sunlight, she stole his breath again. Over and over. Had done so more times than he could count, really, and it always caught him by surprise.

This was a look yet uncatalogued. He'd seen mere peeks at something similar cross her face since they'd been on vacation—never before—but to see it in its purest form...

"Kate?" Her name barely tumbled past his lips a whisper.

But she didn't respond. At least, she didn't respond vocally. Instead the hand he'd been worshiping curled around his chin and slid down to his shoulder tugging until he had rolled over to his stomach. She rolled onto her side so that they were face to face. Forehead to forehead.

Breathing the same air.

It was all hers anyway.

Her answer, he supposed, was that nothing was wrong. Her tongue languidly slipped past her lips, moistening them along the way, to skim along his. Her lips followed and it was all he could do to remember how they'd gotten here.

He pulled away reluctantly. Gently. "Kate?" A gentle prodding.

"Truth?" How she'd gone from sad to breathless was beyond him. No..it really wasn't.

"Truth."

"You are such a good father to your daughter. I guess it just surprises me sometimes when the thought jumps out from nowhere and I'm reminded of what a good man you are. The kind of daddy you were and are and will be."

Wait. Will be?

And great. She's gone an stuck her foot in her mouth.

Will be?

Maybe he'd think she meant to Alexis as she continued to grow up. Judging the shocked and then awed look the crossed his face before he was able to school his features to look nonchalant, that wasn't what he'd thought.

"Alexis has a good dad." She paused, trying to convey her thoughts without saying them. Sometimes he was good at that. He was certainly staring at her hard enough to be able to pick up on it.

They hadn't talked about children yet. They hadn't really talked marriage. They weren't at that stage yet. He knew it. She knew it. But they were getting closer to it with each day.

They'd been laying in silence for a while. Content to just be. Be in the presence of one another. No agenda. No stress, when Kate suddenly shot up off of the floor startling him. "What! What was that? Can't a guy get some warning?"

She looked at him apologetically. "I'm sorry. Alexis is taking me into the village today. I almost forgot. You're a very good distraction."

It was true. He was, if nothing else, a GREAT distraction. Still... "And you needed to give me a heart attack to let me know?"

She bent and ran a hand through his hair. "Sorry Castle, but I need to go back and shower and change clothes. But we can definitely come back out here later if you want."

Oh. He wanted.

He definitely wanted.

AN: Hey everyone. I didn't want to tie up the beginning of the chapter with an author's note. ;-)
First off, thank you everyone for your kind words. My grandfather is at peace and no longer in pain. I really appreciate the support. I'm going to try to update soonish, but am going out of town and then my brother is getting married and I may find that I have less time than I would like to sit down and write over the next couple of weeks. I will do what I can, but please know that I am going to see this story through to the end. It still has a ways to go if you can be patient with me.

Thank you all so much.

Please review if you will.