Kate yawned, stretching, and glanced around. Seven AM? She marveled, surprised and confused. What happened to Castle?
Kate thought back to the night before and frowned. She'd waited as long as she could, wearing the one piece of sexy lingerie she'd managed to sneak past Castle's watchful eyes. But she must have drifted off waiting for him.
Glancing at the clock again, she was beginning to get a little worried; she was sure she'd made her invitation clear last night and if Castle hadn't taken her up on her offer, something must be wrong with him. Trying to convince herself she was overreacting, she took only long enough to brush her teeth and hurried out of her room, still wearing her lacy 'nightgown.'
The living room, kitchen and office were all empty and she hesitated to just walk into his room; no one likes 'personal space invaders.' So she knocked loud enough that he'd hear if he were awake, but quiet enough that he would sleep though the noise if he wasn't. When a minute passed and there was still no answer, Kate slowly turned the knob and opened the door. Just to make sure he's in there, Kate defended herself.
She peeked inside and then she smiled; half his bed covers were kicked to the floor, Rick's big body was stretched across the bed and he appeared to be wearing nothing but a sheet to cover the essential parts. She was just about to close the door when Rick moved, straightening a bent leg and snagging the sheet covering his abdomen. She watched, entranced, as the sheet slipped lower down his body, exposing one hip. Kate caught herself holding her breath, hoping that the sheet would continue to slip, even as she scolded herself for peeping.
As she studied his body, the muscles covering his chest, his stomach, his thigh… a small spot of color caught her attention. Forgetting to be embarrassed for peeping, Kate moved closer to his bed to get a better look at his hip. Tiny tips of an ink design were just visible above the hem of the sheets. Castle has a tattoo! Kate marveled. The little brat didn't tell me, even though I told him… I even showed him a couple!
Kate moved closer, reached out and lifted a corner of fabric just enough to get a better look at the tattoo. It was a stylized bird that was frozen in a dive down to his thigh. And instead of being embarrassed, she wondered at the symbolism of the tattoo. Did he like birds? Was it tribal? Why would he have tribal ink, if that's what it was?
Kate had many questions that she couldn't ask until Rick was awake.
I guess it's time to wake him then, she thought, smiling impishly.
Kate eased herself onto his bed, trying not to wake him just yet. She stretched her lower body out along his, leaned over him on one hand and bent down to kiss his unresponsive lips. "Castle," she singsonged quietly, her lips moving against his cheek. Her free hand rested on his chest and she continued to sing, "Time to wake up, Ricky."
Rick sighed heavily in his sleep, and then moved, pushing Kate onto her back, rolling onto his side and throwing a leg over her lower body. His arm slipped around her waist and- still mostly asleep- he pulled her closer.
Kate was about to wake him when she realized she had exactly what she'd wanted last night: she was in bed with Rick, his arms wrapped around her. She snuggled closer and closed her eyes, totally prepared to go back to sleep for a few more hours.
But Rick sighed again and when Kate turned her head to look at his face, his eyes were blinking sleepily. "I don't remember going to bed with you last night," he mumbled, kissing her shoulder. "Did I drink too much?"
"No," Kate said and then frowned. "You didn't come to my bed last night, even though I'm pretty sure I made it clear you'd be welcome there."
"Mmm, I'm sorry," he mumbled, closing his eyes again and nuzzling his face into her neck. "I was writing. Had to finish. Book due." He eventually trailed off, his breathing evening out again.
Kate rested her head against his, slid her hand over the arm draped across her stomach and pointed out, "You have a tattoo."
"Truth," he mumbled. A long moment later he continued, sounding teasingly scandalized, "Detective Beckett, you peeked. Shame on you."
Kate smiled, unperturbed. "You would have done the same," she accused him.
"Yeah, probably," he admitted. He chuckled and his breath on her neck gave Kate chills. Rick slid his hand up to grasp her ribs. "What else did you see?"
When Rick's hand had moved, her breathing sped up. "Nothing," she gasped, as she arched into his grasp, encouraging the upward movement of his hand.
But Rick stopped there, his hand moving back down to skim over her stomach. Slowly, he noticed the texture of her clothing and finally opened his eyes. "What is this you're wearing?" he asked, plucking at the lacy fabric covering her flat stomach.
Kate turned to face him, moving to press every line of her body against his. "This is what I wanted to show you when you didn't come to my room last night."
"I did, but you were already asleep. I couldn't bring myself to wake you." His hand moved to rest on her hip and stayed there, behaving itself.
Kate wrapped her arm around his waist, pulling him even closer. "You should have," she told him quietly before moving to kiss him.
Rick allowed the closed mouth kiss to last only a moment before he pulled away and mumbled, "Morning breath."
"I don't mind," Kate smiled and moved to kiss him again.
But he moved away, chuckling. "You can't wait the two minutes it takes to brush my teeth?"
Kate finally grumbled, "Fine."
He laughed at her again, gave her another closed mouth kiss and rolled away from her. Seeming totally unconcerned by his nudity, he stood and walked to the bathroom and Kate took the opportunity to study the back side of him, hoping he'd turned around, even while admiring the play of muscle just under the tanned skin, until he closed the door behind him.
Kate laid back in Rick's bed, getting comfortable as she let her mind wander. She fantasized about the next hour- or more- spent with Rick after he came out of the bathroom totally naked…
She hadn't even gotten to the good part of the day dream when the bathroom door opened again. She looked up, smiling… until she saw Rick. He was fully dressed, in shirt and shorts, and totally ready for the day ahead.
"I was thinking," he said as he approached the bed. "Why don't we go out for breakfast?" he stood over her, smiling down at her and holding out his hands.
Kate took his hands, looking confused and disappointed, as she said, "Sure." She let him pull her to her feet.
"Something wrong?" Castle asked. He had an idea of what was bothering her- and he was sorry for it- but he thought that if he called her on it, she'd cop out. And he wasn't disappointed.
"No, nothing's wrong," she said, though she stared at his covered chest in confusion for another long moment.
Rick tilted her head back with a finger under her chin and studied her face. He smiled encouragingly and told her, "You can tell me if something is wrong. You know that, right?"
Kate thought about all she knew of Castle's personality; he believed in honesty and he valued the thoughts and feelings of others, especially the women in his life. If something was bothering her, she was sure she could talk to Rick about it and he would listen. She just didn't really want to talk about why Castle didn't seem to want to sleep with her. What if he was losing interest? It was hard to believe that was the case, but if it was, she didn't want to hear him say it, so Kate finally smiled and said, "I know."
Rick couldn't restrain himself any longer; he leaned in and kissed her the way he'd been dying to kiss her ever since he woke up to find her with him in bed. Or, more accurately, how he'd been wanting to kiss her since the day he sat across from her in the interrogation room for the first time and teased her relentlessly.
Kissing Kate was the easiest, most natural thing in the world- and the most exciting. But trying to resist was becoming physically painful. The little lace thing she wore left nearly all of her very long legs bare and it was practically see through- except where he wanted it to be.
Kate's hands were just running up his arms and he could feel her excitement- not to mention his own- mounting. So he gently pulled away and- working hard to sound normal- he smiled and informed her, "Time for you to get dressed." And because he couldn't resist teasing her, he dropped suddenly, grabbed her securely around her thighs and lifted, heaving her over his shoulder- 'like a sack of potatoes.'
Kate screeched as she fell, her hands moving to brace herself against his back so she wouldn't smack her face on him. When she felt secure enough, she yelled, "Castle!" and she smacked his rear end- which just happened to be right in front of her face at that moment. "Put me down!"
"All right, all right," he agreed, placating her when she smacked him again, though he started to walk out of the room. "Woh, don't want you to slip," he added happily just before his free hand moved to hold her rear end firmly in place against his shoulder.
Kate smacked him again and snapped, "Castle! Get your hand off my ass."
She felt his whole body shake with his laughter, though his hand squeezed defiantly. "Well that's not fair," he teased, before he suddenly set her right side up. He smiled down at her and added, "You can't seem to keep your hands off mine."
Thoroughly distracted now from her amorous mood, she glared up at him in anger, and tried to think of a scathing retort.
But Rick just laughed again. "Go get dressed," he commanded, turning her and then palming her ass again to push her toward her closet. "And wear something girly," he added, calling after her. "Like a sundress or something."
Stomping would be extremely childish, she told herself, just managing not to stomp even though her movements were stiff in her anger. She closed her closet door until only a small gap remained and yelled back at the man outside, "I don't own a sundress, Castle."
"You don't… how could you…" he stuttered. "What kind of girl are you?"
Kate smiled to herself and informed him smoothly, "But I'm not a girl, Castle. I'm a woman." She opened the door of the closet and leaned against the opening, already dressed in a shirt and shorts. "And I'm a cop. No criminal would take me seriously if I tried to arrest him in a silly little dress."
"Maybe not," Rick agreed, a dreamy look stealing across his face. "But it would be hot."
Kate shook her head, becoming more and more confused. She'd practically been throwing herself at him all morning and he'd denied her. But here he was, day dreaming about her. You'd think he'd prefer the real thing, Kate wondered. Something was holding him back, she realized. He wanted her- he did- Kate could feel it every time he kissed her, every time he touched her, but something on his side was preventing him from sleeping with her and until he figured it out, she knew he'd keep denying her. So Kate decided she'd let him come to her when he was ready. She hoped it was soon, though; this weekend wasn't going to last forever.
When Rick just stood there a long moment later with that dazed look still on his face, Kate stepped forward and pushed him toward the door. "Come on, Ricky," she said lightly. "It's time for you to feed me before I start taking hostages."
"Right," he agreed, finally coming out of his trance. "Food." He took her hand and pulled her out the front door, leading her on foot the short distance to a local diner he loved.