"Kate, you're stalling," the detective accused her reflection, exasperated with herself. She studied the vision in the mirror and knew that it was the reason she was hesitating. The Kate of almost a decade ago would have found her reflection 'awesome!' or even 'totally hot!' But the Kate of today wondered what she'd ever been thinking and was bemoaning the fact that she hadn't gone bathing suit shopping in several years now. She was surprised this one had even held on as long as it did, considering all the metal pieces.
The bikini was made to look like black leather, but was much stretchier than anything that was not spandex. The wide bands around her ribs and her hips, as well as the edges of the triangle cups, were studded with little silver pyramids. The long sleeve, black fishnet dress she wore over the suit hid absolutely nothing, but at least gave her the illusion of cover.
Kate tried to be objective as she studied her reflection and a slow smile transformed her worried face. She may not have the same taste in clothes that she used to, but the look was still great on her. She quickly pulled her hair into a high ponytail and darkened the make up around her eyes. Even if she did go in the water, the smoky cosmetics added to the look and she thought Castle would be impressed… or scared, and Kate would be happy with either scenario. When she finally headed outside, she was walking the way her modeling coach- a hundred years ago- had taught her and wearing the sexy/pouty/pissed look that she'd been too young back then to pull of convincingly.
Castle was standing in the water, facing the shore and watching for Kate. And all her efforts paid off when she saw him freeze at the sight of her- at the same time that a large wave struck the backs of his legs and sent him stumbling forward; he was completely distracted by the vision of her in a swim suit.
She sauntered over to the chairs that Rick had set up near the water, and waved to him. Then she turned away, while Rick stood and watched the way her body arched and moved as she pulled off the cover-up and dropped it on the foot of her long chair. She sat and grabbed the bottle of sun block Rick had been thoughtful enough to provide. And then, Rick just stood there staring even longer as she began rubbing the thick lotion into her skin. When the front of her body was covered, Kate looked up and even from several yards away, Rick could see her smile. She held up one hand and beckoned him over with a single crooked finger. Rick wondered if there wasn't anything he wouldn't do for her when Kate smiled at him like that. The thought almost made him uncomfortable, but he reassured himself that there was no reason to let her know just how tightly she already had him wrapped around her finger. However, when Rick moved toward her, Kate's smug smile told him she might already know.
So Rick did what he was good at and made a joke- however ill-conceived. In a deep, creepy voice he said, "It puts the lotion on its skin."
Kate gave him an incredulous look of disgust. Rolling her eyes, she said, "In that scenario, I'm the chubby girl at the bottom of a well, and you're the serial killer transvestite planning on making a suit out of my skin. And we both know at least one of those things isn't true."
"I know," Rick said, sitting on the end of his chair, facing her. "The transvestite look does not work for me. I wore a dress once, on a dare… it was not a pretty sight. Although, the breeze felt nice on my-"
"Castle!" Kate shook her head at him as she gave him a weird look, like someone who was trying to figure out whether that sheep really had two heads, or if the extra one had been added by some 'clever' farmer. Finally, she gave up, plucked Rick's sunglasses off the table between them and sat back in her chair. "And here I was, about to offer you the opportunity you've been panting for since you invited me on this vacation." To clarify her point, she held up the bottle of sun block and tipped it mockingly back and forth in his face. "But you totally killed the mood there, Ricky," she added, tossing the bottle to the foot of her chair.
Then she watched warily as Castle stood and moved to sit on her chair, facing her. The joking mood fell away as he lifted his hands to gently remove the sunglasses from her face. Kate watched his eyes, hypnotized by his gaze, as he reached around her, pulling the back of her chair forward. Her breathing sped up when she glanced down and saw how close her breasts were to his bare chest.
Kate finally noticed how strong he must be to have such a hard looking body. In that moment, she recalled how often she seemed to be carrying her this weekend- and how easily he had accomplished the feat.
Before she could react to his nearness- apart from accelerated breathing and heart rates- Rick was lowering the seat back and Kate was moving away from him. The chair never stopped until Kate was flat on her back, staring up at Rick and vaguely noticing how much her chest seemed to be moving, especially once Castle's gaze stuck there.
"Turn over," he told her, his voice low.
Feeling a bit of wickedness bubble up, she said coquettishly, "Yes, Ricky," before rolling onto her front.
Kate heard him groan and say, "I could get used to hearing you say that."
Laughing huskily, she assured him, "I'll be sure not to say it too often then." Kate could picture him shaking his head at her, but all she could see from her new vantage point were Rick's knees and a hand as he reached to put the sun block on the table.
Before she could even protest, the thick ties of Kate's suit were suddenly unraveled and Rick was saying- quiet disingenuously, Kate thought- "Oops!"
Kate gasped, shocked and outraged, like she was supposed to, but seconds later was reaching for the tie behind her neck and informing him, "You missed one."
Kate thought she heard him gasp then, but it could have been the wind…
"You should arrest me for negligence," he teased, slowly beginning to rub lotion into Kate's skin. It was feeling more like a massage than a sun block-assist, though Kate was not stupid enough to complain.
"You just want me to cuff you, don't you Ricky?" Kate teased lazily, enjoying the feel of his hands on her skin.
"Only if you promise to be gentle with me, Katie," he teased right back.
"Mmm," she mumbled indistinctly on a sigh. Stretching her arms above her head, Kate readjusted, settling in to relax and enjoy Castle's attentions. He really did have a very soft touch.
Rick's hands spread out on her back then, his fingertips sweeping down along her sides and Kate shivered in pleasure. On a second pass, his touch swept even lower and Kate was forcefully reminded that she was essentially topless under Rick's hands. Kate took a sharp intake of breath when a single fingertip traced the outermost curve of her left breast.
"What's this?" Rick murmured.
No matter how frustrated, aggravated, annoyed, irritated… or aroused Rick made her, Kate loved the myriad opportunities he afforded her to tease him. She couldn't even remember another guy who made her laugh as much as Rick did- even if she did hide the laughter from him most of the time. So now, Kate smiled and teased him, "If you don't know by now, you've been doing something wrong all these years." She heard him chuckle and he began tracing a very specific pattern over her ribs, sometimes looping up onto her breast. Pulling herself together, Kate sighed sadly, adding, "And I was really hoping you would know what you were doing when we finally…"
Rick lightly slapped her rear end to quiet her, but he wasn't prepared for the death- glare she gave him when her head snapped up because of it. "Put you head back down," he told her. "It didn't hurt."
"I'll hurt you if you do it again," Kate threatened even as she did as he told her and put her head back down on the chair.
"I'm sorry; did you just say you want me to do it again?" Rick teased.
"Just try it, Ricky," she said in a dangerous voice. "I dare you."
He chuckled, but instead of pushing his luck and possibly ending up missing his favorite hand, he gently squeezed her rear end. "I love it when you threaten me."
"Truth," Kate muttered, and Rick thought he saw her eyes rolling.
"But you're not going to distract me." The hand that wasn't on her butt went back to her ribs to trace the pattern there again. "What is this lovely bit of ink?" He moved then and Kate could feel his breath on her ear as he whispered, "And yes, I do know what a breast looks like- from all angles- and I know exactly what to do with them." His tongue touched the curve of her ear for the briefest moment and suddenly he was gone.
Kate was tempted to turn over and look up at him- maybe pull him down to kiss her- but she remembered just in time that even though it seemed like she was alone in her own little world with Castle, there were in fact other people on the beach. She had to clear her throat before she could say, "It's a rose."
Rick's hands were removed from her body and she heard him take a deep, calming breath. Kate was satisfied to note that when he spoke, there was definitely a bit of strain in his voice, even though he tried to sound normal and unaffected by their nearness and conversation. "Yes, I can see that it's a rose, but what does it mean? What does it symbolize?"
"Maybe it's just a rose," Kate said, becoming uncomfortable. She really didn't want to let him know- just yet- what it did stand for. "Maybe I just like roses."
Rick pulled his chair closer to hers, slid back over to it and relaxed in his seat. Kate could see his face now as he scrutinized her. "We both know you don't do anything without meaning. Especially permanently marking your body. It has to mean something to you to be important enough to etch into your skin." He gave her a smug look then, daring her to contradict him.
But Kate knew it was true. She sighed and Rick barely heard her mumble something as she closed her eyes in annoyance.
"What was that?" Rick asked, and then frowned when Kate awkwardly reached behind her back and began tying her top back in place.
When everything was properly rearranged, Kate sat up and snapped, "'A Rose For Everafter'!"
"What does my book…" He began confused, until understanding lit his face with a smile. "No!" he gasped delightedly.
"It was the first book of yours I ever read," Kate confessed, though she definitely did not seem happy about having to admit it. "And after my mother died, it was the book I read the most- to help me just escape my life for an hour or so."
"Oh. Wow." Rick wasn't sure- for once- what else to say, but he did know he wanted to lift her sudden sad mood. So he did what he was best at and teased her. "So, where are your other tattoos?"
She glared at him and asked, "What makes you think there are more?"
"This morning you said 'the rest of my tattoos'- plural. Meaning there are more than just those two."
Holding onto her annoyed mood, she said, "You'll have to get me naked to see them. And at the moment, I don't think your chances of that are very good."
Rick smiled happily at her anyway, and watched as she stood and walked down to the water. Her graceful, willowy silhouette gradually began to disappear as she waded into the water up to her waist. And Rick enjoyed the beauty of her movements as she raised her arms and dove under the next wave that approached. He held his breath as he waited for her to reappear above the waves, and when he saw her again, swimming farther away from the shore, Rick decided she looked lonely out there in the ocean by herself. Rick stood and jogged into the water, hurrying to catch up with her.