A/N: This was supposed to be M-rated for sexual content, but I ended up writing a bit more than I expected before it got to that part. So enjoy this smut-free chapter!

The moment the red steel door opened in front of her, Beckett almost laughed at the look of complete excitement and astonishment in Castle's face.

"Hey," He greeted her, not even bothering to try to look cool. "You came back."

He sounded so… amazed at her. It made her happy. Really happy.

She looked down shyly before bringing her eyes up again to stare into his blue irises. With a bashful smile, she replied stupidly, "I did."

God, we must look like teenagers.

The writer's grin turned even wider at Kate's sudden inhibition and then he took her hand. "Come in," He gently tugged her inside the loft and closed the door behind her. After a few seconds of simply watching the brunette in front of him in something akin to admiration, he declared in a low voice, "I'm glad you came back."

Rick's words caused her heart to swell with elation, butterflies taking up residence in her stomach, and the best she could do at this point was smile as he cupped her face and gently touched his lips to hers. She could feel the softness of his fingers caressing her cheeks and the moisture of his tongue against her upper lip, which was trapped between his own. She wound her arms around his waist and let a sight escape her as he gradually slowed their kiss until their mouths were no longer joined.

"I'm glad I came back too," She breathed out after a moment spent running her hands over his back and relishing the feel of his fingers tangled in her hair and the weight of his forehead resting against hers.

Rick could no longer contain his exhilaration inside, and he leaned down to Kate again, this time kissing her harder, letting his passion and arousal show. Unconsciously, she moaned and then let her back fall against the front door, never releasing her grip on Castle's body – if anything, she managed to pull him even closer to her, aligning his whole body with hers without breaking their kiss.

When the need for air became unbearable, the two of them allowed their lips to unlock, Castle involuntarily rocking his hips into hers. His action caused Kate to instinctively lift her left leg, her inner thigh rubbing against his right quad for a moment, before she moved her leg back down.

The novelist took a series of deep breaths, trying his best to force his desire down, and offered, still panting, "Do you, uh… can I get you a drink?"

Beckett watched him curiously, unable to understand why Castle was trying to calm himself down instead of moving back to kiss her again and then just take her against the front door in his loft – she flushed a little at the thought. After watching him for a short while, a thought occurred to her. "Castle," She started, letting her arms come up to circle his neck and pull him closer to her fondly, "are you nervous?"

"A little bit." He admitted, letting a timid smile show on his face as he stroked her waist. "You came back, Kate," He acknowledged, letting his thumbs draw circles on the sides of her taut abdomen and showing her how much it meant to him that she had come back – especially since he knew that it had probably been a really difficult thing for her to do.

A feeling of unadulterated affection for this man arose inside Kate's chest and left her not knowing what to do with it.

Afraid to let the mood get too serious, Castle changed the subject. "But really, would you like something to drink? I wouldn't want you to pass out on me from dehydration."

"Dehydration?" Beckett repeated in curiosity, glad for the chance to ignore the warmth in her body caused by his hands and previous words. "That's presumptuous, wouldn't you say?"

"Well, I wouldn't say so – I mean, I do have the entire night, don't I?"

Kate knew his tone was teasing, but the detective in her could also detect the uncertainty in his statement – she had to change that. "Yes, Rick. We have the entire night."

His smile was close to blinding when he murmured a "great" and leaned in for another kiss.

A few moments into the kiss, Kate felt Castle carefully pull away from her before the writer muttered "I'll be right back" and took a few steps towards the living room, leaving her standing alone by the door.

"Where are you going?" she asked dumbly as he moved toward the sound system.

Silently, Rick gave her a placatory look and then went over the songs in The Rolling Stones's CD. Finally settling on the track he had been looking for, he smiled and pressed play before confidently strolling back to her.

Music filled the room again – Beckett hadn't even noticed when it had stopped – and immediately she recognized the song, even with the volume as low as it was. "'(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction'? Really, Castle?" The brunette asked, partially amused, partially aroused.

"I think it's fitting," He replied as he moved in to kiss her, his hands at first cupping her face and then each moving to the back of her neck and lower torso as the kiss grew more intense.

When Rick's hand moved even lower and her butt was perfectly molded to his palm, Kate wound her legs around his waist, clenching her thighs around his body to keep herself in place as their lips remained locked together. His other hand immediately went down to her backside as well, all of his fingers needling her butt cheeks as his palms held up her weight, and then his legs started moving to carry them further into the living room. The two of them had to momentarily break their kisses while the novelist deposited Kate on the poker table, but as soon as she was safely seated on its wooden edge the couple resumed their making out session.

Castle's thorough kisses left the brunette feeling desperately aroused, and before she even knew what she was doing, Kate lied down on the table and pulled his body on top of hers. Rick's instant response was to groan into her neck as he ran his hands on her sides, draping her legs around his waist and pushing into her body.

"Too bad Alexis is home," He managed to choke out in between kissing her collarbone, "I never had sex on a poker table."

Beckett let out a throaty laugh that evidenced her amusement and arousal before she rolled them on their sides, stopping their activities from going any further now that she remembered – that he reminded them – that his family was just a few yards away and could walk in on them at any minute. "Somehow I can't believe that," She told him, tenderly running her index finger up and down the bridge of his nose.

He smiled, jokingly attempting to bite her moving finger while he replied, "I swear, I never had sex on a poker table. Before tonight, I had never played with a woman I was involved with – or wanted to be involved with."

"It's a good thing you never played poker with someone you were attracted to," Kate started to tell him, her own laugh interrupting her train of thought for a moment when he took her wandering hand in his and trapped her index finger between his lip-covered teeth. "You'd get utterly distracted by the hot woman next to you and then your playing skills would suffer – just like it happened tonight."

Castle let her finger drop from his mouth and raised his eyebrows, mockingly taking offense. "Excuse me? My poker skills were just fine tonight."

"Oh, really?" Beckett chuckled. "So you always lose when you play?"

"I didn't lose tonight," He replied in all seriousness.

The detective rolled her eyes at him. "Is this one of those 'I lost the game but I got you' lines? Because that's really corny."

Despite his best efforts, Rick grinned at her words. "Okay," He started in reply to her statement, "one – I'm a writer; I would never say something so unoriginal like that; and two – I really didn't lose at poker tonight."

"Castle, we went head to head on that last round and I got all your chips. That's the definition of losing!" Kate gloated.

"That?!" The author suddenly sat up on the poker table. "I let you win that one so you wouldn't look bad in front of your friends!"

Beckett smirked as she moved to sit up as well. "Wow, Castle, I didn't have you pegged as such a sore loser – I mean, making up excuses…?"

"I'm serious," He told her as he bent over her body to pick up the deck of cards lying on the table somewhere behind her. "I had a full house – three 7's and two 2's – but I threw my hand so not to embarrass you in front of the captain and the boys," He explained as he showed her the first cards at the top of the deck – the cards that made up for the final flop and for their last hands – in order to prove his point. "See?" He pointed out, wallowing triumphantly.

When the novelist noticed the look in Kate's eyes, he stopped dead in his tracks.

"You let me win?" She asked with her eyes narrowed at him.

To say Beckett looked completely riled up would be an understatement. For a moment there Castle actually thought laser beams would shoot out of her eyes and strike him.

Gulping, the best-selling author stuttered, "I, uh…"

"Castle, I don't want you patronizing me!"

"I wasn't patronizing you;" He told her, finding his voice. "I was being nice!"

"Nice?" The brunette spat out. "You want to be nice to me? You play fair and square so I can beat you honestly!"

Argh, she's such a hardhead.

Hoping to put an end to this so they could get back to making out – preferably, in his bedroom –, he announced, "Ok, fine. Next time, I will."

"No," She refuted, crossing her arms in front of her body. "I want a rematch now."

"Now?" Castle whined. He loved poker, but not when all he wanted to do was take the beautiful woman in front of him to his bed. "Kate, it's late and we should…"

"We can play for clothing," She interrupted him.

"I'm game," He agreed without missing a beat, already picking up the deck of cards and pulling Kate off the table by her hand.

The detective smiled as she followed Castle, not at all surprised that he had reacted like this to her offer of playing some strip poker. Men.

She had been so caught up in her mind that it took the bed in front of her to realize that had taken her into his bedroom. She tried to discreetly take a look around the room, but as soon as the hunky man's lips descended on hers she failed to think of anything else.

Once the two of them broke off their kiss, the writer handed her the deck of cards with a smile. "You get yourself settled by the headboard; I'll get us some wine and snacks." He then dropped a chaste kiss to her lips and whispered "be back in a sec" before leaving the room.

While Castle was away Beckett had a chance to take a better look around the room. This was his bedroom, the place he reserved for himself and for those people who knew him best. And even though it was her first time here, as she took in the paintings on the walls, the color schematics of the room, the pictures on his dresser, she couldn't help but feel she already knew the place.

Oddly enough, this beautiful, calm, understated, manly lair somehow fit Rick.

Of course, on the outside the writer was more playful and joyful than all the brown in the room seemed to denote, but so what? She wasn't expecting him to have a clown painting hanging on his wall just to prove a point. Besides, evidence of his lighter side could already be found in his office – the Xbox, the quirky decoration pieces on the shelves – and that office was an extension to his bedroom. But this here, in his actual bedroom area? This was better. Here was where Castle would want to let his private self come out – the person who he felt he was, not the persona he portrayed to the public. This was where the real man who cherished his family lived, not a place where you would find the flashy character he'd created for the media in order to sell books. And the whole room just screamed to Kate that, despite the fact that Rick was extroverted, energetic and spontaneous, he was also a mature man who wanted some quiet time in his life.

The room was evidence that he wanted a real relationship. It was evidence that he thought spending time with his family at home was more important and pleasant than going out to party.

It was evidence that he could be the man she needed to help her move on in her life.

Kate was smiling at her thoughts just as Rick walked back into the bedroom bearing a bottle of Château Ducru-Beaucaillou and two wine glasses in one hand while he balanced a tray with some cheese, chocolate and a bottle of sparkling water in the other.

"There we go," He announced as he set everything down on the bed. After he got himself settled across from her, he added, "I hope you're ready to lose, Detective."

She playfully narrowed her eyes at him and started shuffling the cards. "I'm going to beat your pants off, Castle."

His smile widened to his ears. "Yes, please, beat my pants off."

Kate shook her head, trying to hide her amusement from him, and spoke up. "Before we start playing, I think it's best for us to work out a few ground rules."

Rick could not believe the words that had just left her mouth. "Are you kidding me? You can't be a stickler for rules even when you're playing strip poker!" He mockingly berated her before leaning in to murmur close to her face, "Don't you ever let your hair down, Detective? A little cops gone wild?"

Kate pressed her hands down on the mattress in front of her body and leaned in even closer to Rick's face, his breath mingling with her own. "What do you think this is?" She asked him in a seductive whisper, before adding in the same alluring voice, "Or do you think I interview suspects by playing one on one strip poker in their bedrooms?"

The novelist's mind was already reeling with pictures her sentence had conjured up. "That sounds like something out of a porn movie. A good porn movie, by the way."

Kate willed her face to remain impassive, but she was sure he could see the corners of her mouth twitch up to form a grin. "The point is," She resumed talking as she rested her body back against the headboard, "I think it's important for us to decide on a couple of things so that no one feels cheated."

"If you're still wearing anything by the time we're done playing, I'll feel cheated." He mumbled, but then his eyes sparkled mischievously. "Unless it's your heels – I'd be okay with you leaving them on."

Kate pursed her lips. "Rick?"

"Yeah?"

"You're rambling."

"Sorry."

This time, she didn't even try to hide her smile.

"So, ground rules," Castle was the one to steer them back in the right direction.

"Yeah, I was thinking that, in order for the game to be fair, we both should have the same number of pieces of clothing."

"Okay," Rick agreed. "So, I've got my shirt, a belt, my pants, underpants, a pair of socks and shoes – that's six items. You've got a shirt, probably a bra…" He dragged the last word out, raising his brows at her inquiringly in hopes she'd give him any clue about whether or not she had a bra on.

"Yes," She answered his implied question, smirking.

"Damn," He muttered before picking up his count. "So, shirt, bra, pants, panties," He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at this, "and shoes – so that's five for you." He paused for a moment before he suggested, "I could just take off my belt and we'd be good to go."

"Actually, how about we remove our shoes and socks? That way we'll have the same amount of clothes and we can already start playing with one less piece of clothing in the way."

"Are you sure?" Rick asked, hesitantly. "Maybe we should leave the shoes on."

In her mind, Kate had already been expecting Castle to come up with some sexual innuendo to her idea – it was actually why she had suggested stripping their shoes before the game started in the first place –, so she was more than a bit shocked to see that he was not jumping at this.

"Castle, what is it? I know you don't have smelly feet, so why don't you want to start off without your shoes?"

"Okay, fine." He relented, taking off his Ferragamos and then stripping his feet of his pair of dark blue socks.

Then, shamefacedly, he removed another pair of black socks of his feet.

And then another one.

Kate looked at him, a mix of incredulity and laughter in her eyes. "You were cheating?!"

The writer looked at her as if her question were absurd. "Well, yeah! Where's the fun in playing strip poker fair and square?"

"I don't know, Castle. I was kind of expecting you to be jumping at the chance to get naked with me."

"Well, of course I want you naked," He started to explain.

"Castle?" She interrupted. Once she was sure she had his attention, she said, "If I'm going to be half-dressed or even naked in your bed, you'd better be joining me in my state of undress."

As soon as the words sank in, Rick let out a happy, eager smile. "Got it."

"So," she started talking as she removed her high heels, "we'll each start with four items?"

"Yes," He agreed immediately. "The less, the merrier!"

TBC

(All characters and even some of the quotes in this fanfic don't belong to me. This is made available for entertainment only and not for profit. No copyright infringement is intended.)