Chapter 24:

You're Still Here

When Castle woke up the next morning, the first thing he noticed was that he was weighed down by something. Cracking an eye open, he was greeted by a mass of brown curls that could only have belonged to one person.

Kate.

Smiling, he hugged her closer, content for the moment to just hold her. He marveled at how content she seemed to stay there. It always amazed him at how much of a snuggler she was when she slept. He would have expected that she would have been the exact opposite given her waking personality. This was a side that he found himself eager to get used to, and quick to fall further in love.

After a few minutes of watching her, it was as if she sensed his presence. Green eyes met blue as she gazed up at him sleepily, trying her best to stifle the yawn she felt coming.

"You're doing it again," she murmured sleepily, sweeping a lazy hand over her hair. "It's kind of creeping me out."

"I just can't get over how beautiful you are in the morning. I know I'm being sappy, but hell! I give up. You have me totally under your spell."

With that, he flipped them over so that she lay beneath him, and he began to place tiny kisses on her face and neck, hoping to drive her crazy.

He was torturing her. He was doing delicious things with that mouth of his, and he hadn't even kissed her yet! She spread her legs a little to allow him to settle between them, causing his very prominent erection to fall and grind against her. Castle groaned at the friction she had caused, and the result sent shock waves down her entire body to a place she couldn't name. The vibrations continued, and Kate dimly registered its tempo. It felt odd, almost as if something continued to make those sensations without his touching her. It was then she realized his phone was ringing in his pants pocket.

Weakly, she tried to shove him off so that he might answer it, but he was persistent. So, she tried a different tactic. Reaching between them, she placed her hand on his groin, alternating between lightly squeezing and rubbing him. He stopped his ministrations almost instantly, groaning out his pleasure. When he realized he was approaching the brink of no return, he grabbed both of her wrists, bracketing them over her head with one hand. Breathing harshly, he stopped to gaze at her. Her neck was mottled with light red scratches from his stubble, but he had never seen her look so incredibly sexy before.

"I think your phone was ringing," Kate managed to say when she finally caught her breath.

"Really? And you chose NOW to tell me? Here I was, so incredibly turned on by you, and those simple words killed it for me."

She chuckled at him. "Sorry, Castle. Sounds more like a personal problem to me."

Groaning, he rolled off of her long enough to be able to reach into his pants pocket and retrieve his phone. She was right, he soon discovered, for he had four missed calls from Alexis. She was probably worried sick about him since he didn't come home last night. Before Kate could take the opportunity and get away from him, he rolled back on top of her, phone to his ear.

"Dad!" Alexis's worried voice answered almost immediately. "Where are you? I thought you said you'd be home last night, so when you didn't come home, Gram and I got worried. We've been waiting up all night for you!"

"Sorry sweetheart, turns out apologizing to Detective Beckett takes a lot more effort than it takes most women. I ended up passing out at her place, and forgot to call you so you wouldn't worry."

"Gross, Dad. There's some things about you and Beckett that I really don't need to know."

"I'm serious, although I will say that I slept on her couch. Anyway, why don't you stay home for the day and try to catch up on your sleep?"

Castle could practically see her daughter rolling her eyes in exasperation before she answered. "I can't. I have two tests and a midterm paper due today, and I want to get a head start on a few projects I have due soon."

"That's my little overachiever, always working so hard!"

"Well, someone has to."

The conversation between them didn't last too much longer after that. After making sure Alexis told his mother where he was, that he was alive and not to worry, he hung up the phone.

"I'm such an idiot. I should have called them. Now, where were we?"

Kate chuckled. "I don't know how you do it, Castle, but you have a one track mind."

He smiled back at her. "I'm a guy. It's what guys do. Besides, it seemed like you were enjoying yourself."

"Yeah, until your daughter became the mood killer. I'm hungry. Why don't you make yourself useful and fix me some breakfast? I haven't fully decided if I've forgiven you yet."

"Minx!" he exclaimed, before leaning in to kiss her.

His action wasn't exactly wanted. She tilted her head at the last second, and his lips brushed her cheek.

"Uh uh," she said, grimacing. "Brush your teeth first. Morning breath."

Rolling his eyes, he picked himself up off of her and trounced indignantly to the bathroom.

"Women," he muttered, smiling to himself before closing the door. That woman never ceased to amaze him.

Kate smiled to herself as he walked away, deciding to get up and prepare breakfast. She opened her refrigerator and scanned it for prospects of edible food. Finding nothing, she decided that she and Castle were just going to have to go out.

"There's no food," she called over her shoulder when Castle emerged from the bathroom. "My fridge seems to be empty. I'm sorry. You stayed the night, and now I feel like I'm such a crappy hostess."

Castle took her by the hand and smiled at her. "It's okay. I was kind of hoping I'd get to treat you to breakfast anyway. You've done incredibly well playing the hostess, but it's my turn to make you feel like the princess you are. Why don't you go get dressed, and we'll go find something to eat?"

When she didn't immediately respond, he came up behind her and began to place tiny nibbling kisses on her neck.

Damn, he Is way too good at this, she thought, tilting her head to the side for better access and letting a low growl rise from her throat in approval.

"Seriously, Kate. If we don't get out of this apartment, I just might eat you alive. People might wonder what happened to us. It would be very devastating."

Turning slightly, Kate gave him a sly glance. "Really? Is that so?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

Kate swallowed. "Well, then," she said, taking a cautious step further into his arms, "consider your challenge accepted."

A/N: Woo hoo! Another chapter written! I'm also seriously beginning the first chapter of my new fanfiction, to be posted soon. I might wait until this one is finished, though. Thank you all so much for your reviews and responses to my story so far! I'm loving every minute of this. I hope as I continue writing more fics, I will always keep all of you entertained. I love writing! Please continue to REVIEW!