"Yeah, well Castle, I'm not all work."

"Don't get into a drinking contest with her. She can take you."

"Thank you."

"Oh, I don't need to drink to take him."

A Deadly Game

And now it continues...

Rick forced himself to move. When he opened the door in response to Kate's knock, Kate's thoughts hit him like a sledgehammer.

Breathe, Kate, breathe.

Ruggedly handsome doesn't even begin to describe...

If I didn't know better, I'd think Castle planned this.

How much self-control am I expected to have?

Rick was beginning to wonder the same thing. The only outward sign Kate gave of her inner thoughts was a quick glance to his bare chest before looking up at him with a teasing smile.

"Is this a bad time?" she asked in a tone to match her smile.

What if it's not just Martha and Alexis that are here with him? Or what if Martha and Alexis are out but he's not alone? Please, not that. Not now. I couldn't take that right now. Or ever, but especially not right now.

It was all Rick could do to keep his jaw from dropping in shock. The teasing glint in Kate's eyes and her playful tone were so diametrically opposed to what she was thinking that it was difficult for his mind to make sense of it.

"Not at all," he forced himself to say in an easy tone, stepping back to let Kate enter the loft. Kate walked in and then just stood there, not looking at him, not speaking.

Should I say something? Suggest he put on a shirt? But if I do that, it might give too much away. But if I don't, pretty soon I might...

Rick's mind was once again filled with Kate. Actually, his mind was often full of Kate. But this time, it was her fantasy, not his.

Kate groaned and turned back around. "Rick, you don't play fair," she growled, making her way over to him in two swift strides. She put her hands lightly on his shoulders. "How am I possibly supposed to resist this?" Slowly she started running her hands down his chest, light kisses following where her fingers touched. After a few moments she moved her hands back to his shoulders and leaned in to place a kiss on his neck. Her gaze was filled with longing when she looked up at him again.

"Kiss me, Rick, please," she whispered.

His eyes filled with the same look that he'd had before that first undercover kiss, Rick put one hand on her hip in the same spot he had put his hand before to stop her from grabbing her gun. His other hand tangled in her hair, he leaned in and covered her lips with his. The kiss was exactly the same as the first undercover kiss. But this time, they didn't break apart, and they seamlessly moved into the second, deeper kiss. Just like before, Kate moaned, but there was no guard to interrupt them this time and no reason to stop. So the kiss went on, and when Rick started to slightly bend her backwards, he lifted her gently into his arms and carried her to his room.

Rick hated to do it, but he couldn't take any more. He didn't know how far Kate's fantasy was going to go, and his self-control was hanging by a thread as it was. If he let the scene go on, fantasy would swiftly become reality.

"So, Kate, what's on your mind?" Rick asked her in a casual tone. He immediately winced at his choice of words. Thankfully she hadn't turned all the way back around in time to see it.

What's on my mind? Umm...how do I answer that? Why am I here? Shoot, I can't remember. Okay stop and think. Why did I head over here...oh, now I remember. Thankfully.

It was all Rick could do to keep the beaming smile off of his face. As much as she pretended otherwise, he now knew with certainty that she was affected by him every bit as much as he was by her.

"We have a suspect," Kate told him. "He's lives just one block over and so I figured I would just stop by and pick you up, instead of calling."

Yeah, that's why. It had nothing to do with the fact that I wanted to spend more time with him. Nope, not at all. Argh, why do I have to be such a girl! This is getting ridiculous. I'm going to have to do something soon before I totally lose my mind.

She wasn't going to have to worry about that for long, Rick decided. If she didn't do something soon, he would.

I can't WAIT to hear what you all think of this one.