Back at the loft, all hope of making out like crazy teenagers and finishing what they started is demolished by the presence of actual teenagers in the form of Alexis and five of her best friends. Castle, accustomed to gaggling giggling groups of girls, didn't bat an eye and tries to pull her into the study anyway, but Kate is very aware of Alexis watching them. After a few awkward moments of Kate trying to act casual and not freeze up when Castle touches her, Alexis seems to take pity on her.
"All right, friends and confidantes," she says loudly. "Let's go to my room and give my father and his girlfriend some privacy." She dares them to contradict her and when they don't, she leads her pack of friends upstairs.
Kate leans against the kitchen counter in relief. "Wow. Does she completely hate the idea of us together?" Castle wraps his arms around her and kisses her neck.
"No, not at all…you have the softest skin…" His teeth gently nip her throat. "I mean, she may resent you for awhile for taking a lot of my time and attention and sure, she may have a fit the first time she sees you in the morning wearing my one of my shirts, but eventually she'll get over it." His hands slide under her dress and Kate's heart ramps up.
"Now, I think my hands were right about here when New York's finest interrupted." Castle's hands stroke her inner thighs until Kate is squirming and he presses her back against the counter, his mouth hard against hers. She pulls at his shirt, finally getting a corner of it free. His fingers reach the area between her legs that throbs the most and Kate moans, her fingers digging into the muscles in his back. Suddenly, a loud raucous bass beat starts.
"Oh, make my heart thump 7, 8, 9…make my heart beat double time."
Kate and Castle both freeze.
"I'm the only sour cherry on your fruit stand, right?"
"Shit," Castle mumbles against her neck. His hands retreat and he pulls Kate up from the counter and holds her close, laughing a bit. "Just as well," he says. "The kitchen counter is no place to make love to a beautiful woman. At least, not the first time. Maybe the third or fourth."
Kate's body is wildly disappointed but she doesn't want to be caught having sex on his counter by either Alexis or Martha. She can't imagine which would be worse. Alexis—well, no daughter should see her father having sex in the kitchen. Martha would probably congratulate them for finally getting on with it and enjoy a nice glass of wine in the living room. Kate closes her eyes and tries to ignore the tiny electric shocks quivering through her body. He's still holding her closely and his hardness is pressing against her, not helping either of them calm down. He's kissing her neck again and they're both breathing heavily.
Kate pushes him away from her. "Look, why don't you make me that hot chocolate you promised and we can sit on the couch like two civilized people." For a second Kate thinks he is going to throw her over his shoulder and haul her up to his bedroom—and she's not going to fight him—but he shakes his head and sanity seems to return.
"Okay," he says. "Let me tell Alexis to turn down the damn stereo. I like The Kills as much as any 17 year old, but that's too loud."
Twenty minutes later they are sitting on the couch, drinking from large cups of steaming cocoa and Castle has Kate's feet in his lap (they tried sitting next to each other but they couldn't keep their hands to themselves so he suggested this as a compromise) when Martha flings open the door.
"Darlings!" She exclaims when she sees them. She drops her shopping bags to the floor and takes off her snowy coat and boots. "You wouldn't believe the snow out there. How clever of you to be drinking what smells like hot chocolate." She collapses onto the couch next to Kate. "Hello, Kate, dear. How nice to see you. What are we talking about?"
What they are talking about is the unfortunate news that Black Pawn's book tour plans for Heat Rises are finally complete and Castle is set to leave for Chicago the first week of January, right after New Year's Day. Kate's not happy about this, but she knows the book tour plans have been in the works for awhile. Castle told her that if he put off the tour one more time, Paula and Gina would kidnap him and force him to go. So he's going.
"I'm an author, that's part of my job," Castle tells her.
"Yes, it's so demanding to go from city to city to greet your adoring fans," Martha says dryly. "Is Kate allowing you to sign chests?"
"Um…" Castle looks at Kate. Kate looks at Castle. "Well, as long as that's the only thing he's signing," Kate says, giving Castle a dirty look. "I gather it's a Richard Castle tradition and I would hate to stop a tradition."
"My female fans would be disappointed," Castle says. There are a few seconds of silence as Kate pictures Castle surrounded by sexy women baring their chests to him. Her lips tighten. Martha, recognizing it's time for her to leave, drains her glass of warmed sherry and gets up.
"Well, darlings, I've had a long afternoon of shopping. I think I shall put away my purchases and rest my weary tootsies." She waves at them, gathers up her bags from Saks and goes upstairs.
Castle reaches over and pulls Kate into his arms. She rests her head against his chest, his heart thumping reassuringly under her ear. He runs his fingers through her hair and lightly traces her earlobe. They don't say anything for awhile.
"So how long will you be gone?" she asks, trying not to sound as sad as she feels.
"About three and a half months. I'll be back about mid-April. There's no exact date yet because Paula left a few days open in case new locations are added."
"Hmm." Kate plays with a shirt button. "So you're going to leave before we even get the chance to, um—"
Castle laughs. "Kate, we can go to your apartment right now and stay there till Christmas if you want. I'll be your love slave." His hand strokes her back, leaving her skin warm and tingly. She presses her hand against his hard muscled chest and imagines him in her bed, stroking her bare body, her lips on him, his fingers free to explore her crevices and a shudder of excitement runs through her body. But….
"No."
"No?"
"No. I don't want to rush this. I want to know what it's like to be wooed by the great Richard Castle, playboy extraordinaire."
"You want to be wooed? I can do that." He kisses her hair. "I'll woo the pants right off of you." He laughs. She tweaks his nipple through his shirt.
"Remember this though," Castle says, pulling her up so she looks directly into his serious blue eyes. "The playboy part of my life is over. I love you and when I give away my heart, I give away my body too. I'm yours."
Kate can't compete with his poetic words so she tells him she loves him too and kisses him until her lips hurt.
The next day, Kate goes back to work. Two days later it's Christmas. Kate sees Castle the day after Christmas at the small party he throws for his fellow detectives and he even invites Capt. Gates. There is some grumbling about that, but Castle gives them the "what was I supposed to do? Not invite her?" look. Good will holds throughout the evening, helped by copious amounts of alcohol and delicious food. Castle ambushes Kate a few times, pulling her into hallways or closets to kiss the life out of her and caress her. Kate tries to act as if their relationship hasn't changed, but she isn't sure they fooled anyone. After Castle puts his last two guests, Lanie and Esposito, into a cab, he pulls Kate over to the Christmas tree.
"Here," he says. He hands her a small box wrapped in red and green paper topped with silver ribbons. Kate is a little hesitant about accepting this. Small boxes usually mean jewelry and she isn't sure they are in the jewelry phase yet.
"Rick, you didn't—" she protests but he cuts her off.
"Just open it."
She pulls at the ribbons and unwraps the paper to reveal the small jewelers box. Resting on a small square of white velvet is a piece of gold about two and a half inches long and an inch wide—a tiny rectangle—with delicate etchings on its surface. Kate pulls the necklace from the box to look at the symbols more closely.
"Rick, it's lovely. These are Japanese symbols, aren't they?"
"Yes. Remember—oh, this was probably a few years ago, not long after I'd started shadowing you—we talked about the countries we'd visited and you told me about the time you'd spent in Japan and how fascinated you were with the culture?"
She nodded.
"Well, I was curious about why you were so fascinated…yeah, I know," he confesses sheepishly when she raises her eyebrow. "Even then I was already smitten…but anyway the more I read about the samurai and the seven virtues of the bushidō, the more I was reminded of you. See, look." Castle gently touches the gold. "These are the seven virtues: justice, courage, compassion, respect, honesty, honor and loyalty. This was the code that that samurai lived by." He smiles at her. "You're a samurai."
Kate is touched by his gift. "Rick, thank you. This is really…I mean…oh, hell." She decides action is better and kisses him thoroughly. When she pulls away, she is delighted to see that he is as out of breath as she is.
"Put it on me?" she asks. He takes the tiny gold chain from her and she pulls her hair up so he can fasten it. Castle kisses the back of her neck, causing shivers of pleasure to race down her spine.
"Let me see," he says and she turns to face him.
"Lovely. Like you." He kisses her quickly. "You know another trait of the samurai that reminded me of you?"
"What?"
"Reckless bravery. I don't know anyone with more reckless bravery than you do—hey!" This as she punches his arm.
"Watch it. Remember, I'm a samurai." She looks under the tree and picks up a package and hands it to him.
"Here. This is for you."
Castle is excited. "A present? For me?" He rips off the paper and lets it fall to the floor. He whoops with glee. "How did you get this? This is crazy. I can't even get one of these—and believe me, I've tried." Castle is looking in disbelief at a 1962 edition of The Amazing Spider-Man signed by Stan Lee.
"Seriously, how did you get this?"
Kate is grinning at his surprise. "I know people. Who know people. Who owe me favors."
"Wow." Castle looks at the comic book again. "This will go in a place of honor."
"Take it on your book tour with you," Kate suggests. "That way it will remind me of you."
Castle looks at her. "Kate, believe me, I won't need a comic book—even one as awesome as this—to remind me of you. I think of you all the time. How your hair smells, your beautiful eyes, the little crease you get between your brows when you're puzzled." He pulls her to him, whispering in her ear. "What your mouth feels like beneath mine." Castle kisses her slowly, then breaks away. "How you moan when I kiss your throat." His lips move from her lips down the line of her throat and Kate closes her eyes, presses herself close to him, and—she can't help herself—moans. His mouth moves lower and lingers at the v of her sweater and her hands grasp his denim-covered ass and squeeze. They stay like that for a long moment, the silence of the room broken only by their heavy breathing and her sighs until he pulls away from her. She makes a disappointed sound and opens her eyes to see him smiling at her.
"And this, my lovely Kate, is why I don't need a comic book to remind me of you."
A week later, Alexis and Martha accompany him to Newark International Airport to wave goodbye as he boards a plane to Chicago. He and Kate said their goodbyes the night before, having spent a quiet evening at her apartment. While he is shoving his carry-on luggage into the overhead compartment, Kate is at a murder scene, staring at a dead body and trying not to think of how much she already misses him.