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(...)
Castle only woke up once that night. What used to be a terrifying jolt in the middle of the night was replaced by the sweet scent of Kate's head, resting on his pillow. A pillow-hogger, I see... he grinned, folding his arm underneath his head to replace his lost pillow. He took a deep breath, taking in all of that night's caresses and scents that still lingered on their skin and on the sheets. Castle stared amazed at the sight of her sleeping. In all those passionate encounters of the recent month, they had never spent the whole night together, having taken turns in exiting each other's apartment in the early hours of the morning. He closed his eyes and found his way back to slumber, accompanied by the thought that he truly could get used to this.
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(Morning)
"Housekeeping!" She shouted as she pushed the door open and a shot of the hall's light pieced through the room, landing on Castle's face.
They groaned at the violent awakening, scrambling for the sheets to cover their naked bodies.
Castle turned too much, too fast, and sent himself tumbling over the edge of the bed. He stumbled to regain his footing. Shielding his eyes with his hands, he shouted "I'm up, I'm up, I'm... up!"
The hotel housekeeper was startled by the commotion. In a mix of annoyance for yet another couple sleeping in late and forgetting to place the 'Do not disturb' sign on the door, and a sincere appreciation for the naked manhood exposed before her, she replied "Errrrr, sir! Yes, you are up."
Kate, sure that her blushed face was able to glow in the dark, kept her face turned away from the door. She handed Castle a pillow "Rick! Here!"
Castle took the pillow and held it below his belly with both hands, squinting to protect his eyes. He gave the housekeeper his best boys-will-be-naughty-boys smile and said "We'll check out in an hour?..."
Without taking her eyes off him the housekeeper clumsily removed the 'Do not disturb' sign from the back handle of the door and placed it on the front handle, nodding her head "No problem, sir" and as she closed the door, she mumbled beneath her breath "Glad I could check you out...".
Castle exhaled loudly, and let his body drop and sit on the bed.
Kate slid across the bed, scoldingly saying "Richard... you are up?"
Castle looked over his shoulder slyly, "Why Katherine Beckett..."
She let one of her grandiose laughters out and hit him with the remaining pillow. "We should go." Kate turned to the night stand where she had placed her phone. She had several missed calls from the 12th and a text from Esposito: R U OK? I'll kick his a$$. Say the word. U know I can bring on the pain. After letting them know that she was at the hotel, she had forgotten to check back with them.
"Not the way I dreamt waking up with you..." Castle sighed and got up to search for his clothes.
Kate turned to look at said rear. I took care of the kicking..., she typed, we're good., and hit send. "I'll hit the shower first. We should call a cab and head back into the city." She entered the bathroom and left the door semi open.
Castle frowned disappointed "First?" he shook his head "Absolutely not the way I dreamt of it." He picked up the room phone and asked for the concierge to arrange for a town car. "Yes, Black Pawn Company is fine."
Kate's shouted from the bathroom "Ask for coffee!"
Castle's attention was drawn to the steam exiting the bathroom. Clearly distracted he continued "Coffee can be provided right? Yes, credit card is fine, the number is …..." he grabbed his wallet and relayed the numbers.
Kate's head popped through the door "Rick!, you coming?"
Castle gasped and dropped the wallet and the phone, skipping into the bathroom.
(continued; exterior Solace Hotel, NJ)
When the Black Pawn town car arrived, Rick and Kate were already downstairs. The driver held the door open for them and pointed them to their coffees. Kate eagerly entered the car, letting her body melt against the black leather seats as the warm coffee poured into her.
Castle smiled at the sight of her physical display of pleasure and commented "It's nice not to drive all the time, isn't it?"
Kate shrugged his tease off, took a deep breath and reached for his hand. She leaned her head back on the seat and closed her eyes. In a few hours she would have to resume her place at the 12th, catch up on the new cases and find the time to look into the leads in her mother's case. But right now, all she wanted was to enjoy the ride.
Castle took a sip of his coffee and looked out the window. Her hand in his was cold from that late morning's chilly air, but it was starting to warming up. It felt good. It felt right. "Are you sure you want to tell everyone?" he was surprised he had managed to say that out loud.
Kate remembered the final words in Paul's office. "We can't waste anymore time."
"Never again." Castle replied.
Kate imitated him, "Never?" She pulled her legs up to the back seat to sit facing him. She teased "Is that your new word now?"
Castle smiled all smug and playfully turned to her and said "Why, haven't you heard? 'Never' is the new 'Always'!"
Kate rolled her eyes, smiling ironically "I see... Always got old for you fast..."
"You know, being the wordsmith that I am and all..." he joked, "I have an obligation to mix things up a bit, you know, and with a woman like you? Can't risk you ever being bored..."
Kate gave his hand a playful squeeze, and thought Bored is a word that doesn't exist in the Richard Castle dojo.
Castle looked out the side window in time to notice the black car with tinted windows passing them in a hurry. His stomach suddenly felt uneasy, his voice slowed down as he concluded "... and we could even make it a call and response: when one says never, the other says ever..."
Kate didn't have time for her quirky remark on how corny she thought that was, for the car came to a sudden halt, sending her body that was sitting sideways sliding to the floor. Her torso violently hit the front seat as a rampage of bullets flew into the car, shattering the front window. "Get down!", Kate instinctively screamed.
Castle was instantly hit by falling glass and shards of metal. Pieces of the front seat's upholstery filled the air and stuck to his mouth as he lunged to cover Kate's body with his.
Kate heard the shots stop and the footsteps approaching. She heard them open both of the left car doors and fire a round into the moaning wounded driver. She felt them lift Castle's body from on top of her and stared in shock of the sight of the growing stain of blood on his navy blue shirt. Kate saw that his eyes were closed. "Rick...!" she was overcome with the thought of losing him. Paul was right. I can't lose him.
"You can't expect to stir the waters and not draw some attention..." Kate heard a male voice behind her taunt. The back right door was opened, sending pieces of glass falling down upon her face. "Getting government agencies involved was presumptuous. Paying with a credit card? Downright stupid..." Before she was able to turn to face him, the sweet scent of chloroform filled her lungs and all was dark.