A/N: I totally meant to post this chapter earlier on this morning but I AM STILL FREAKING OUT OVER LAST NIGHT'S EPISODE OF FRINGE! If you guys aren't watching, you should start (and catch up) 'cause the show is awesome and it's getting moved to Fox's death slot (just like Firefly was...). /fangirl out.

You can read on now... sorry for the slight distraction. ;)

Chapter 5

(Lying to their brains is easier than acknowledging their hearts.)

He tries to believe it's nothing, really tries, but when they solve their latest case, she is upset and he notices. He's sitting in his chair and she's sitting in hers. It's 8 o'clock on a Friday night and almost everybody else has dashed off to get a jumpstart on the weekend. Of course, she is still working, filling out reports. He, on the other hand, is studiously trying to highlight an entire piece of paper green.

"My mother has apparently gotten over Chet because she has yet another new boyfriend," he says, casually.

"Uh huh," she mutters.

"She's been staying at his place this week," he continues, "And Alexis is sleeping over at a friend's house tonight."

"That's nice."

"I'll have the house to myself." He says this pointedly.

A look of understanding passes over Kate's features and her eyes flick up momentarily from her paperwork to see him staring right back at her. It's gone a second later and her eyes are once again focused on her work. She ends up retorting, "Are you scared of being home alone, Castle?"

"Only when I'm watching a horror movie." He quips. He finishes colouring over the last strip of white and caps the highlighter. "Well," he declares, "My work here is done."

She rolls her eyes. "You realise that you've just wasted an entire piece of paper, right?"

"You can still use it," he says, "It's now a perfectly good sheet of green paper."

"Good bye, Castle."

He touches her shoulder lightly as he walks past her. "Until tomorrow, Detective."

.

It's just past midnight. He opens the door for her on the first knock.

"I hated having to arrest her," she says, exhausted and defeated. He wraps his arms around her.

"I know, Kate, I know." It's always Kate when they're alone like this.

They end up in his room and he manoeuvres them onto the bed, pulling the covers over their unclothed bodies because her hands and feet are freezing.

They've still never kissed each other on the lips, as if that would be too intimate somehow and they would really be cheaters if they did. So, he finds other places to kiss her.

His mouth touches her cheek and his tongue licks the unshed tears away. Her eyes close as she tilts her head back and he traces the line of her neck with feather-light kisses. Her heart rate rises as he works his way down her body and when his lips touch the inside of her thighs, she trembles.

Almost immediately, his face is back hovering over hers and he sidetracks her enough that she gasps in surprise when his finger, first one – then two, pushes into her. Castle watches her writhe under him, his fingers deftly working their way deeper; he's already figured out just where to curl his fingers in order to make her groan.

But, it's not enough for her tonight. Kate pulls him down urgently in order to feel the weight of him on top of her. "Make me forget," she whispers into his ear.

She urges him into her and it hurts a little as he enters but it's a physical pain she relishes over the emotional pain of her week. His movements above her start off achingly slow. She is hot and wet all around him but he's not nearly deep enough. Rather than asking for it, she wraps her legs around his waist and her back arches up to meet his next thrust. He groans, partly in surprise at her action. The next time, though, he pushes into her harder and her moans confirm it's what she had wanted from him. She pants as he moves faster, her head dropping back on the pillow when one of his hands snakes down to rub her clit.

It's an extreme pleasure she hasn't felt from anybody other than him and she tightens around him instinctively every time he rocks into her. Her nails scratch the skin of his back and another moan escapes her when his free hand blindly finds her breast, tugging and rolling the hard nipple and exciting the last of her nerve endings.

Their bodies burn as they approach climax, his movements becoming less rhythmic as her muscles clench, stimulating them both at once. One last push drives them up towards orgasm and Kate bites his shoulder when she comes. He stills above her afterwards to recover but remains coherent enough to register the after-effects of her muscles still contracting slightly around him. Knowing from experience how hypersensitive her body remains after an initial orgasm, he slips out and replaces his penis with fingers, pleasuring her again by rubbing his thumb against her clit. Kate's eyes widen before flickering shut as his fingers increase pressure.

"Oh," she gasps. He watches her whole body flush, her hips involuntarily bucking against him. He gets pleasure out of hearing the sound that escapes her mouth when she contracts around his fingers violently and releases for that second time.

She exhales shakily when he slips out and then they both just lie there on the bed, side-by-side, not touching.

She moves first. She always does.

"Kate." He grabs her wrist. "Stay."

She's sitting on the edge of his bed. Her back is to him. "I can't," she says.

She picks up her clothes and disappears into his bathroom. Ten minutes later, she's gone.

A/N: (Yeah, a second one...) Extremely sorry for the short chapter but it just seemed to be the proper place to end it! Also, thank you so much for your amazing constructive criticisms on characterization; I've remedied some of that in later chapters (re: Castle being a loyal guy deep down and some justifications for cheating…) but you'll just have to keep reading to find out when exactly those things play out…! Also, yes, Lanie will be making an appearance but she'll be playing a larger role (much) later down the line…

…And I'll leave you guys there. Keep reviewing, please!