A/N: SOME MATURE THEMES. A prompt I saw via castlefanficprompts a while back. Beckett blames it all on the drinks…but he knows her tolerance better than that. He knows she's sober. This didn't go as I thought it would…Somewhere in season 2? I don't know, whenever works better for your reading pleasure.

A night of partying was exactly what everyone needed. Friday night, celebrating Lanie's birthday, Beckett, Espo, Ryan and Castle trekked to a hall she rented on the farther end of the borough. There they met up with Lanie and her other friends under the flashing lights and beats, unleashing their drives to dissolve their stress from the past week.

Drinks were a must. All of them occupied one end of the bar, lining up shots in rows, throwing them back one by one. By the third shot, everyone shuffled towards the dance floor, giggling as they pushed their way through the crowd.

Castle trailed behind, watching everything come together. He eased his way in, scoping out the room, of course, looking for her. She was well out of reach, lost in the rhythm of the bass. Her hair swung around her, eyes closed, body swaying, immersed completely. He enjoyed it, in more ways than one. For a fleeting moment, he met her eyes across the expanse of the crowd, but it cut short when a woman passed through, urging him to dance with her.

He entertained it, unsure how else to react, and inched his way onto the floor. This brunette was definitely sexy, judging by the way she moved on him. She probably passed as borderline violent too. The way she grinded on him, getting as close as she could. She made an impression. However, not just on him, but Beckett too.

After watching them for a mere few minutes, she slid through the crowd towards him, landing a hand on the farther shoulder, and effectively shooed the woman away. The face she returned to Beckett conveyed such disgust, Castle couldn't help but laugh, sustaining a grin when Beckett met her face with him.

"She hounded you like she was gonna jump you," she breathed against his ear. Her voice stunned him for a few seconds, paralyzing his thoughts the second her breath caressed his skin.

"Thanks for looking out, partner," he mumbled back. She made eyes at him, smiling all on their own as they continued to dance. Occasionally her hand would slip down to his side, or he'd grab a hold of her hips. She'd turn around to hold him from behind, her fingertips raised to his cheeks, and the pads lightly pressed against them, while he barely held her waist, moving her to the motions of the songs. They played off each other well into the night, grabbing drinks together between breaks.

Everything stayed playful and harmless until a single impulse drove her to bend his head down into her neck–which he didn't fight. She kept him there, leaving him to begin kissing her there, brushing his lips from behind her ear, all the way down to her clavicle.

The surge left his lips and radiated throughout her body, and shortly after she escorted him off the floor. They escaped outside a back door, and entered an alley, narrow in its space. He knocked her back and into the wall, but paused a moment, brushing the hair away from her face, assessing her eyes, her coherency. The same beautiful hazel gems looked back at him, expectant, waiting for him to charge.

She knew exactly what she was doing.

Without further hesitation, he plunged into her, a hand on her neck and the other under her thigh, bringing her closer to him. She kept her hands at the back of his head, fists tight around his hair. The night was a cold one, but they couldn't feel the effects.

They experienced different kinds of shivers.

In a few minutes, it almost became a competition–edging each other out, into moans and groans. At first they used lips, but he broke the boundary when his hand slipped from her thigh, and closer inside her. She gasped, and her legs reflexively wrapped around his waist, rocking up and down with her hips as he slipped in and out. The rush of everything took so much out of her, she started to lose the battle. She choked out her gasps for so long before he offered his thumb, like he knew she was about to need it. She clamped down her teeth in release, convulsing against him, embracing him tighter with her arms and legs.

She rested her forehead against his, and he touched his lips to hers again. She held on for as long as she could, before collapsing in his arms.

"I'm tired Castle…" she dragged out in this little voice. Unsure of what to do, he fixed up her clothes first, along with her shoes, before standing her up against the wall.

"You wanna go home, Kate?" he asked. Her eyes stayed closed, but she nodded lazily, holding onto him for support. Holding her up with one arm, he called for a cab, and walked towards the front in wait.

He tried to keep her conscious as long as he could, but when they entered the cab she passed out completely. In the cab it was okay, but when they got out, he couldn't wake her.

Determined to not waste any time, he carried her out and hoisted her for piggy back, taking her all the way up to the apartment. Setting her down by the door, he fumbled around looking for her key. Grabbing it out of her pants pocket, she woke up for a second, slapping his cheek before falling under again.

"Oh now I'm getting too touchy? You had no complaints earlier. Actually you were very vocal about–" he cut himself off, realizing how useless his efforts were.

Inside, he rested her on the couch. He took off her shoes and covered her with the blanket throw, curling up her legs to make sure all of her stayed warm. He sneaked one last kiss on her head before dipping out back into the night, the taste of her residing on his lips until the next day.

–

"So what happened with you and Beckett, huh?" Ryan asked the next day. Everyone got called in for a case, having to simultaneously mend their headaches from the night before.

"We had fun, Ryan. That's all. She told me she wasn't feeling well, so I walked her home."

Ryan and Espo exchanged looks of disbelief, but Castle extinguished them with a refined look and gesture of the hand conveying to leave things be. "I wouldn't make a move if I she wasn't aware." Before they could tease him any longer, they all stopped when they heard clicks, Beckett strutting toward them. She glanced at Castle and forced a smile, then returned her attention to the boys.

"Ice pack and trail mix, both of you, now," she directed at them. Her tone sent them moving with no hesitation, going for her hangover aides while she could talk to Castle.

"Hangover?" he asked. His tone, though subtle, teased her, almost questioning if it was true. She tended to her head by rubbing her temple, but she still managed a cracked smile at him.

"I think so. Probably attributed to why I don't go out as often as I could."

"You've built up a tolerance though, seemed okay last night. Do you remember much?"

"Um…I had fun. I remember that." Thinking on it more, she remembered to ask. Did you take me home?" He just nodded. "Thank you. I really appreciate that." Memories of the night flashed through her mind, and she couldn't help but smile, bowing her head in embarrassment. He smiled back, knowing she remembered, feeling the motions again, just waiting for whatever she had to say next. "That damn tequila, huh?"

"Mm," he nodded along. He stood up and started walking towards the break room for their coffee, eyes still locked on her. "We had a good time though, right?"

He turned away smiling, but she suppressed hers with all of her might.

They had a damn good time.