Wrapped in a robe, Rick carried the tray into his bedroom and shut the door with his foot.

Kate had given him a rundown of what happened that night; how the shooter had kicked her ass and then left her hanging off the roof and how a suspension had turned into her turning in her badge.

She'd had to take a break from her rooftop narrative to calm Castle who'd alternated between yelling at her, "See! I told you!", and hugging her with an "Oh, thank God you're alright."

She'd told him how about how she'd thought of him when she was dangling on the edge and how all she could think of when Gates was chewing her out was how he'd been right. He'd been right about the case and what it had done to her. She'd touched his face as they sat facing each other cross legged on the bed, wrapped in sheets with their knees touching and told him she had realized what she had to lose.

The proceeding make out session had come to and quick and embarrassing conclusion when Beckett's stomach gurgled loudly into the quiet room. Castle gave a blushing Beckett a kiss on the top of her head as she hid her face against his chest and then went to get them some food while she took a quick shower.

He set the tray of food on the bed and smiled as he heard her come out of the bathroom. "I have for your enjoyment, leftovers from one high school graduate's small get-together from this earlier this evening - ow!" He rubbed his arm where Kate had punched him. "What was that for?"

One hand held around her towel closed as the other pointed back at the bathroom. "You could have told me you had a life-sized Bobba Fett in your bathroom, Castle." She took the wine he gingerly handed her. "It about gave me a heart attack."

"Ahh, but now you've met. The hard part is over. The hard part, of course, being me explaining that I have a life-sized Bobba Fett in my bathroom." He picked up the scotch he felt he richly deserved after hearing about Kate's brush with death tonight and clinked it against hers. "To us. It's about damn time."

"Cheers to that."

She sat on the bed and smiled at the mismatched fare he'd assembled. There were grapes and Brie along with cheez-its and Chinese dim sum. "All Alexis' favorites, huh?"

He sprawled out on the other side of the tray, propped his head on hand and started popping cheez-its into his mouth. "Yeah. My little girl," he sighed and gestured at the tray. "This is all that's left, actually. She'll be out aaaall night with her friends."

Kate laughed as he wiggled his eyebrows at her.

She picked up a grape and leaned over slowly, letting her towel gape a bit as she fed it to him. "And your mother was going to the Hamptons, right?"

"Uhh," his head fell off of his propping hand as he watched the towel slowly fall open. "Yeah. She'll be gone for a couple of days." He sat up so he could feed her some of the brie...and get a better view as the towel slipped a bit more.

The next half hour was what they both needed, a quiet moment of bonding that was full of long looks, chuckles, and soft touches. He 'accidentally' spilled some of his scotch and quickly requested the towel that she was half-wearing. She rolled her eyes, but handed it over. He ended up knocking over both their glasses until Kate grabbed a pillow to hug in front of her and block his view with a shy smirk.

"Oh, I'm sorry." He stood up and set the tray and the towel on the floor. "I didn't realize you felt shy. Maybe this will help."

Kate stretched out on her side and, keeping the pillow in front of her, bit her lip to stop the laugh as Castle slowly undid his robe, providing his own bow-chicka-wow-wow music all the while.

When he stood before her in all of his aroused glory, he put his hands on hips and raised his chin, superhero style. "That's right." He put his arms out and did a slow circle. "Take a moment to drink it all in."

Even though she was enjoying the view, she couldn't stop the snicker that escaped. She quickly raised the pillow to cover the lower part of her face.

Castle tsk-tsked and strutted over to the bed. He leaned over her and caged her in with his arms on either side of her. "Now, is that nice, Beckett," he teased with that voice she loved. "I'm just trying to make you more...," his eyes slid lasciviously down her pillow-covered front before coming back to her laughing eyes. "Comfortable," he murmured.

They had a short, giggling battle for the pillow before he tossed it over his shoulder and smiled down at her. "See, now you don't have to be shy because we're both naked. It's a win-win." He grinned as he stretched out beside her so that they we're facing each other. He loved making her laugh. "And if you don't mind," he took her hand and held it out, leaning back so he could see her from head to toe. "I'll need a few moments to drink it all in."

The laughter died in Kate's throat. She loved how he looked at her. She'd seen affection, tenderness, and yes, lust, in his expression for her before. She'd also seen the love, which had had her so scared for the past year...and hopeful. She saw all of that in his gaze now as he drank his fill.

She led the hand that still held hers to her cheek and let go as his eyes met hers. She smiled at him sweetly, not shy at all, but overwhelmed at the well of emotion she'd opened on purpose this night. She mirrored the move, cupping his cheek and hoping he could sense some of her feelings, even if she couldn't yet say them.

He could.

He closed his eyes and drew in a deep, cleansing breath. When he opened them he leaned forward to give her a soft kiss...right before he rolled her to her back, pinning her arms above her head with one hand. "I'm afraid that wasn't a long enough look, Beckett."

He leaned in and she opened her mouth, more than ready to kiss him back, but he pressed his lips to her forehead instead. He languidly kissed her cheek, her chin. "I'd like to take a few moments to...," he pecked the tip of her nose. "Say hello to all the various tidbits I've been longingly staring at the through the years."

Kate closed her eyes to better enjoy the sensation as Castle ran kisses along her jaw to her ear. "In any other circumstance that would have sounded really creepy," she teased, then gasped as he bit her earlobe.

"Hush," he gently stuck his tongue in her ear, delighting in her shivers. "Your interrupting my introductions." He nuzzled under her chin and ran his fingertips down her throat to dance along her collarbone. "It's so nice to meet you," he murmured to her neck. "I'm a big fan of your role in sweaters, as well as your work in v-necks."

Kate laughed even her toes curled. Rick had let go her hands so she could drop her arms… and so that he could better explore her shoulders. He apparently found her collarbone quite fascinating as he traced each line and hollow with his tongue. "Half the time you've caught me...noticing your frontal assets, I was actually admiring these."

He raised his head at her snort. "Okay, more like a quarter." He rolled his eyes as she have him a knowing look. "Fine, more like an eighth of the time." He scooted down until he literally had her boobs in his face. "But can you blame me?"

Rick covered her with both hands, smiling as her breathing changed along with her nipples as he ran his thumbs along the peaks. "I know we've already met," he intoned formally, speaking to her breasts. "But I really am your biggest fan."

Kate had expected him use his mouth, hell, she was looking forward to it. But all he did was use his hands, learning the slopes of her, the heft, and the change of texture. A slow foray along the underside of her breast had her grabbing his sides, moaning as lightning hot sensation made her thighs clench.

Rick watched her with hooded eyes and did it again, this time to both breasts, making sure the roughest part of his fingers slid lightly across silken skin. "This is why it's important to take time for introductions," he explained, his own breath getting choppy as he watched her neck arch. "You learn all sorts of things you never knew."

Kate slid her hands over his back, loving the way his muscles bunched at the contact, and measured the hot breadth of his shoulders with her palms. She'd always admired his shoulders, how wide they were, how strong they looked. The sight of them moving down her torso had her moaning once again, even before he stuck his tongue in her navel. "Castle!" Her fingers dug into his shoulders.

He grinned up at her even as he rubbed his bristly chin against her mons, making her nails dig a little deeper. "Yes, Beckett?" He asked, all innocence.

"That's enough." She wanted that feeling again, the weight of him while he filled her. "Get up here."

"No can do." He ignored the hands that tried to tug him back up and instead moved lower, pinning one leg to the bed while he lifted the other to his shoulder. "I've got one more acquaintance that I have been...," he blew a breath of hot air over her curls and smiled as her hands clenched hard in his hair. "Aching to make."

She'd ached for it too, but never in her fantasies had Rick carried on a one-sided conversation with her muff in between nuzzling kisses and hot laves of his tongue. She loved the game, but even the pauses he took to speak soon became to much. She pulled his hair as she very nearly whined, "Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

Rick didn't know how he had kept his power of speech in the first place. "Right. We'll talk later." He bent back to her, losing himself in her scent, the taste if her against his tongue, reveling in the sounds she made as feasted on her.

Kate twisted underneath him, trying to get away from the overwhelming pleasure even as she held him closer. He just held her tighter, groaning against her flesh as she got wetter and hotter until her whimpers changed to screams.

Castle pressed his face into her stomach and ran his hands soothingly along her sides until she calmed.

The hands that had pulled his hair now smoothed it out as Kate sighed in repletion. She dragged her nails along his scalp and smiled as he groaned. Nudging his head back, she grabbed his ears and gave a tug. "That was amazing," she told him and decided that for once he had earned that cocky grin. "But now will you get up here?"

She didn't have to ask twice. "Yes, ma'am."

They wrapped around each other, lips locked in feverish exploration. They rolled until Kate was on top. She sat up and watched his face as she pressed his dick between his stomach and all the wetness he'd brought about. She dragged up and down, panting as her flesh, sensitive from her orgasm, reacted to the friction and the long promise of him. His reaction was to squeeze his eyes shut, gritting his teeth together as he held her hips still against him.

She ran her hands over his chest, pressing with her nails as she tested the resiliency of his flesh, grinning as he groaned her name and tightened his grip on her hips. "It's okay, Rick." She nibbled on his chest and reached over to the nightstand to grab another condom. "This one's for you."

She moved down, straddling his thighs as she rolled the condom on him as slowly as possible. She looked up questioningly when he took her hand off of him. His eyes were still shut, but he had a finger up in the universal 'wait a second' gesture.

He blew out a careful breath and opened his eyes. "Just give me a minute to think about baseball, murder...anything." He ate her up with his eyes at the picture she made, rising over him with her warrior's body. His amazon. He closed his eyes again as that wasn't helping. "I don't want to go anywhere without you tonight."

"Aww, Castle." She leaned forward and kissed him softly. Then she took a hold of him once again.

"Oh, god, thank you, but that's not helping!"

Kate lowered herself down, taking him with one hot slide that had both of them groaning and panting. She then reached behind her and pressed on the one place that could get them both what they wanted. Then she started to move.

Rick had thought he wouldn't last another minute once he was inside her, but the steady pressure she applied to his perineum kept him with her. And even as the pleasure tightened his muscled to he point of pain, he was with her. He couldn't take his eyes off of her as she rocked against him, her head thrown back as she chased her own pleasure. He growled as her free hand swept up to squeeze her breast, raking nails over her nipples before moving down to make slow circles around her clit.

When he felt her tighten around him he held her hips and started to move against her, countering her movements as he moved harder and faster. She gasped and lost her grip on him, falling forward to catch herself against his chest so she could brace herself. "Rick!"

"Kate," he dragged her down the rest of the way and kissed her frantically. He could feel it boiling up, stealing his breath and his mind until all he could do was surge against her, muttering inarticulate words of love and lust along with her name until he came to his senses once again.

He still held Kate tight to his chest and the clutching pulse of her along his softening length, as well as the soft cries she made against his chest, made him realize that he hadn't left her behind after all. Rick tightened his arms and pulled her up until he could kiss her once again.

At least he tried. They were already too in need of oxygen to keep up the kiss for long, so he settled for burying his head in her hair as their heart and breathing rates went back to normal.

He ran a hand down her back once she resettled against him with her head tucked under his chin. "Okay, now that was amazing," he drawled in a voice deep with satisfaction and sleepiness.

Kate made agreement noises in the back of her throat and drowsily cuddled closer to Rick. She smiled and rubbed her cheek against him as she felt him pull the covers over them. "I'm not too heavy?"

He wrapped his arms around her as he closed his eyes, already drifting into sleep. "You're perfect."

That was round 2. One more to go!