Chapter 10:

The Dinner

The night was going better than Beckett ever expected. Castle literally was going out of his way to make everything special for her. The restaurant they ended up eating at was a high end, extremely exclusive place. She found herself not being able to staunch the jealousy when she thought of Castle taking Gina or any of his previous girlfriends. It was silly to think that way, she knew, but she rationalized that if she didn't feel any jealousy relating to him at all, then she guessed that their bond with each other wasn't as strong as she thought.

The hostess quickly seated them in a darkened and private corner. Castle quickly hastened to pull out Beckett's chair for her so that she could sit properly. However, before returning to his own chair, he leaned down. Breath tickling hotly against her neck, he noticed the she visibly tensed from his closeness.

"Relax," he whispered. "I don't bite- unless you're naughty."

At this, he took pride in the fact that she shivered and her eyes fluttered closed. Obviously, she took him seriously. He filed her reaction in his "Beckett file" in his brain to hopefully be used again in the future. He then crossed to the other side of the table and sat down. The staff around them busied themselves with giving them their menus, silverware and filling glasses with water while they waited for their drink orders, scampering off when done to another table when they finished to give Beckett and Castle their privacy.

Beckett sat there for a few moments with her eyes still closed. The sensations that she felt from Castle's breath on her neck, his words and the emotions that she was still trying to fight were all swirling together in her mind. She remained quiet for most of their dinner, simply lost in her thoughts. It seemed like everything was happening so quickly between them, but she also realized that she had been resisting him all along.

Beckett opened her eyes to find Castle gazing at her, one eyebrow raised in question. She shook her head and smiled reassuringly at him.

"Don't worry, Castle. I'm fine. Before you even ask, no I'm not running. I'm just thinking."

"Dare I even ask what you were thinking about? Or is it far too X rated for such a fine place as this?" he asked with a smirk.

Beckett snorted. "No. I was just thinking about how quickly things are happening between us. I mean, just yesterday I was mad at you for making me go on this trip."

Castle cleared his throat. "And now?"

"As much as it pains me to say this, you were right. I am enjoying myself. I guess I'm a little surprised, is all. However, from the looks of things, this restaurant is very expensive. You don't need to pull these kinds of surprises to impress me. I might not have the strength to stop you if you wanted to every once in a while. Don't get me wrong, okay? This is really great. I never would have guessed I'd be here in a million years," she said.

Their waiter had come back not long after to get their drink and food orders. Much to the chagrin of Castle, she ordered a simple salad with a glass of water to drink. He had hoped that she would allow him to spoil her by letting her get whatever she wanted, but he supposed that this was her way of keeping herself as grounded as possible for this budding relationship of theirs to work. He himself ordered filet mignon with a glass of wine.

They ate together in silence, the two of them occasionally stealing glances at the other. Afterward it was decided that they find a place where they could enjoy themselves in private without the company of waiters and staff. He drove them both back home.

"Why don't we take a walk on the beach?" he suggested, not really willing to go inside and separate himself from her for the night just yet.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea, Castle," she replied, indicating her dress. "I really don't want to get this messed up. This must have cost you a fortune."

"Why don't you let me worry about what I can afford and what I can't? It's not like I'm exactly in the poorhouse, remember?"

"Don't remind me. My small apartment is dwarfed by your overly large loft. In fact, they say that usually that's a sign that you're compensating for something. A small package, perhaps?" she teased.

She had to admit that she never saw his next move coming until she was plastered against his hard body, with one of his hands holding her against him. She took one of her hands and slapped him playfully on the chest, but then slowly registered their close proximity and how intimate it seemed. What startled her the most was that being so close to him felt so right.

"Does that feel like a small package to you? This is what you're constantly doing to me, Kate." he asked, not bothering to loosen his grip on her in case she would run.

It suddenly dawned on her that the reason behind them being so close together was so that she would feel how large he was. She gulped, also realizing that he was also hard as stone as well. She squirmed, trying to shy away from her position against him.

Regretfully, he let go of her, trying to gauge her reaction. He was disappointed when she wouldn't meet his eyes, and chastised himself for it. Taking her chance, she picked up the skirts of her dress and fled to the safety of her bedroom. After closing the door, she leaned against it heavily. She let out the breath she had forgotten that she had been holding. Castle's bold move had shocked her, to say the least. She wasn't completely stupid, though. She had known for a while that he might be attracted to her, but she never really thought of how much he actually was.

Visions of them naked and entwined in each other in passion began to fill her head. She figured that he would probably be very good at pleasing a woman. He had boasted about his exploits to the guys often enough.

She shook herself, trying to rid her brain of the images she had concocted. She focused herself on getting ready for bed, hoping that she was done thinking of Castle in a sexual light.

She might have been done with thinking about him in the waking world, but while she was sleeping, her mind was fair game. Her mind also refused to leave her alone.

A/N: I know that this is short, and I'm sorry for that. I just wanted to get something out before I had to go to work today. I had started writing this a week ago and have honestly been going through some serious writer's block. That, and work has picked up with people getting sick or quitting, which has resulted in staffing issues and me going home completely exhausted at night. I'm also headed out on vacation in 6 days (first one in almost 2 years) and I don't know what my internet access is going to be like. Anyway, I'll hopefully have the next chapter up before I go off. I needed to find a good point to stop in order for me to keep the storyline going. Thanks to all who have been so supportive of me throughout the writing of this story! I love all the alerts and reviews I have been getting lately. Also, this would have been up earlier today, but the site has been acting weird and every time I'd go to upload it, the site would disappear.