Author's warning: This chapter is only rated PG-13, but it gets all gross and romantical. I tried to keep them in character, but it's about darn time they made out for goodness' sake. :-D The first part of this chapter is the original, but then the "gross" parts have been improved upon and are now even "grosser." (and being single and maybe even a little bitter, yes, it's gross to me. :-D )

As soon as they walked through the door, Alexis hugged both adults, bid them goodnight and hurried upstairs to bed. They had already gushed about how good the movie was on the walk home.

They watched her go, smiling until she disappeared around the corner.

"Well," Kate began, turning to face him. "I should be getting to bed too."

"Stay with me for a while," Rick said, his tone a request, though his words were more direct. "We could watch a movie. Or just talk."

"I should really…" she began, moving up one stair, her hand on the banister.

Rick's hand suddenly covered her wrist. When she stopped and looked down at him, he looked back up at her and just said, "Please?"

She hesitated long enough that he smiled, then began guiding her back down the stairs by the hand he still held. He twined his fingers though hers and led her to the sitting area, guiding her onto the seat next to him. He kept space between their bodies, but he turned to face her, holding her hand in both of his. They were both staring down at their joined hands, as Rick turned her palm up and began pressing his thumbs into her hand.

The soft hand massage was very relaxing, but Kate was oddly tense. She was hyper aware of his hands on her skin; he had never touched her like this before. She never would have let him before. The slow sweeps of his thumbs moved higher until he was rubbing her wrist. Oddly enough, just that simple touch had her breath coming faster and her face growing warm.

"I know what you're doing," she eventually said, her voice low and quiet. She kept her eyes on his hands, which were now working on her forearm, sweeping higher with every pass.

"Is it working?" he asked, smiling down at his hands.

"No," she replied.

"Hmm. I think it is."

"And what makes you think it's working?"

He looked up at her through his lashes and grinned. "Because you haven't pulled away yet."

She grinned at the challenge and withdrew her arm from his grasp. Seconds later, though, she offered him her other arm.

He took her hand, undaunted, and started from the beginning, working his way just as slowly as before over her other hand. But after a few moments, he lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed her palm. He closed his eyes as he savored the feel of her skin against his lips.

"You are so beautiful," he said, his lips moving against her palm, his breath warm on her skin. He finally looked up at her and saw the small smile curving the corners of her lips. Rick suddenly grinned impishly, and teased, "I've wanted to tell you that nearly every day since I met you, but I was afraid you'd shoot me if it did. Or cuff me to something and leave me there."

Kate laughed, a quiet but exuberant sound and simply said, "Smart man."

Rick smiled in response, but his eyes had a serious look to them. He reached out to skim his fingertips along the graceful curve of her neck and he noticed when she swallowed hard. But she didn't back away or shrug off his touch, so he continued, pushing her white sweater off her shoulder.

"I thought we were going to talk, Castle," Kate finally said, her voice low and a bit breathless. Though at the same time, she withdrew her arm from the sleeve of her jacket with Rick's help.

"Right, talk," he agreed. But he didn't say anything else as he leaned in and kissed Kate.

Finally, they both thought, her lips parting beneath his. Rick finished removing her sweater and let his hands roam over her bare shoulders. Kate leaned into him, her hands moving to rest on his thighs, supporting herself, as Rick's hands moved into her hair and began removing pins.

When Rick tilted his head, and his tongue touched hers, Kate moaned into his mouth. She felt his hand fist in her hair, and he crushed her lips harder to his own.

Though it hadn't hurt her, it excited Kate to know that a simple sound from her could make him lose control. She quickly moved her hands up his chest, under his suit jacket and pushed the fabric off his shoulders. Rick took his hands from her only long enough to remove his coat. As soon as the jacket hit the floor, he was reaching for her again. He was taken by surprise when Kate practically launched her body at him.

Rick stared up at her in surprise, and they both started laughing. His eyes studied her face, watching her laugh, her hair falling into her face, and he thought he'd never seen someone so beautiful. He readjusted them so her body was stretched out along every line of his, pulling her up his body so they were at eye level to each other.

Their laughter faded, but the mood remained light. Rick buried his fingers in her hair, pulling her curls away from her face, and pulling her down for a kiss. Kate went willingly and made herself comfortable, nestling her body against his.

Rick pulled away, looking down at their bodies. He could see and feel her breasts pressed against him. The fabric of her strapless dress was hidden by their bodies, so that she appeared nude, and Rick groaned.

"Katie," he gasped before moving to kiss her again. "You are so beautiful."

But Kate pulled away, and studied him curiously. "Hmm…" she hummed for a moment.

"What?" he asked.

"No one has ever called me Katie before."

"Oh," he replied, unsure what else to say.

Kate smiled and added, "I like it."

Rick smiled back and repeated, "Katie." He pulled her back for another kiss and added, "My Katie."

She felt the urge to call him on that comment, fully aware that his involvement with her ended as soon as he got what he obviously wanted from her, but his mouth closed over hers and his tongue touched hers and she fell into the kiss so completely that she stopped thinking about anything but the sensations he was producing.

Rick's hands moving up and down on her back were giving her chills, while his lips on her neck were heating her skin. When his hands moved down to curve over her rear end, she gasped and pulled back to look down at him. Rick squeezed gently, pulling her body hard against his, and giving her physical proof of the desire she could see burning in his eyes.

Kate slipped to the side, moving off of his chest to lie on the couch beside him. Rick tried to turn to face her, but she pushed his shoulder back until he lay flat again. Kate moved her hands over his chest, enjoying the feel of the hard muscles concealed under his dress shirt. She suddenly didn't like the fact that his shirt was covering all those lovely muscles, so she slowly started unbuttoning him. She had only opened button number four when his hand covered hers and he stopped her. "Maybe we should take this upstairs," he suggested. "My daughter…"

Before he could even finish the sentence, there was a sudden a noise at the top of the stairs. When Kate heard Alexis descending, she put her hand over Castle's mouth and stared up at him in horror. Though she was covering it, she could still see in the dim light that Rick was smiling at her reaction, just before he rolled his eyes at her.

They listened as Alexis moved around the kitchen, opening a cupboard, getting a dish, opening the fridge, and then closing it again. Soon, she was heading back toward the stairs, and as she mounted the first step, Kate was hopeful that maybe they had gone unnoticed in the dark room. Until Alexis called out, "Night Dad."

Rick pulled Kate's hand away from his mouth and replied, "Good night, sweetie."

Alexis moved up the stairs, quiet long enough that Kate again became hopeful that even if the girl had noticed Castle, maybe she had missed that Kate was there too.

Alexis was at the top step when she paused again, and called out, "Night Kate," a huge smile in her voice. Then she disappeared back to her room

Kate buried her face in Rick's shoulder, mortified.

Rick's body shook with his laughter, and he pressed a kiss to her high cheek bone.

"Don't worry," he told her. "She approves."

Kate slapped at his shoulder, and then said, "It doesn't matter if she approves, Castle. Think about how you would feel if you caught Martha making out with her boyfriend."

Rick cringed in disgust.

"Exactly," she replied.

"Hey, wait," he said. "Did you just imply that I was your boyfriend?"

Kate just shook her head at him, not necessarily in answer, but exasperation that he never seemed to stick to the issue at hand. "I don't know what you're talking about."

He shook his head back at her and then kissed her again. "I'll make you admit it someday."