Like I said before, I wrote this fic a couple of weeks ago i.e., before the promo.

So, obviously, some things that we know about their morning in the premiere will not be here.

Still, I hope you like it.

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Kate woke up with a faint light coming from the window hitting her face. She squinted once, one last protest against having to wake up, and opened her eyes, blinking a few times until acclimatising herself.

She saw a door right in front of her and frowned. That was not the door of her bedroom. Neither were the walls. Nor the nightstand. She looked around, confused, and when turned her face on the pillow she felt it. She took a deep breath and a smile overcame her face. That spicy smell... Oh, she certainly knew that smell.

She turned on the bed and faced Rick, who was lying on his side, his head resting on his left hand, fully awake.

He wasn't smiling, but the expression on his face was one of tranquility. His blue eyes, now so clear without the shadow that seemed to hide in them on the previous weeks, especially on the day before, locked with hers and everything that happened the night before since the moment he opened his door returned to her mind.

Kate's eyes wandered through his face, stopping at his lips, but then going down on his body when her peripheral vision noticed that he was wearing a black T-shirt. If she remembered well, they were both very naked when went to sleep. How long was he awake?

-What time is it? - she asked, her voice still a little hoarse with sleep.

Rick turned to the opposite side to look at the time on his cell phone. When he put it back on the nightstand he heard her laughing. He turned to her and saw her with a hand over her mouth, trying to hold back the laugh.

-What?

-Seriously, Castle. Only you to have, on the bedroom, a picture this big of an elephant. -she clarified, eyes fixed on the frame on the wall behind him.

-Hey! -he objected, feigning indignation, and pointed a finger to the right corner of the room, on the opposed wall -There is a lion too.

She laughed again, openly, and Rick couldn't t help the smile that opened on his face even if he wanted to, because, at that moment, happiness was flowing through his veins.

No longer smiling, but with his eyes still shining, he turned his full attention to the beautiful woman on his bed. God, she was truly beautiful. Her hair was wild, like a goddess and the sunshine coming from the windows was just adding to her post-sex halo. He ran his fingers lightly on her cheek with such an expression of worship on his face that her heart melt and her cheeks burned.

Kate kept the eye contact, diving in his eyes, and bit her lip. If it was a gesture of shyness or just to drive him crazy, he was not sure.

The connection between them reappeared with force and both felt it in their bones.

She put her left hand on his cheek too and lifted her upper body to get closer and be able to touch his lips with hers.

They kissed lazily for a few minutes, just enjoying the contact, until he forced himself against her, making her lay back on the bed, staying with his body partly on top of her, one leg between hers.

-Good morning -she said, timidly, with her hand still on his cheek, caressing him.

Rick sighed and kissed her again, breaking up when she tried to deepen the kiss.

-Good morning.

She smiled and they stayed like that for a while, just looking at each other, seizing the moment. At some point, she moved her hand to his chest and began to making small circles with her fingers over the T-shirt and he started playing with a few strands of her hair

Kate remembered then what she had asked.

-What time is it? - her voice still low, an unconscious decision as to no break the... magic... that was in the air between them at the moment.

-Almost 10h AM.

She mumbled a confirmation, not really caring about the hour. But then a small rational thought came back to her mind and her body tensed.

Rick felt the change on her and got worried. Everything was going so well. Would that be the moment when she would run as usual?

-What? -he asked, putting his arm around her waist, holding her there.

Kate took a deep breath before answering, not knowing exactly how this would affect them:

-Alexis...

He exhaled in relief and rested his forehead on her shoulder for a second, waiting for the panic that was rising to vanish before lifting his head again, noting the confusion all over her face, who had not understood his reaction.

-Alexis called me an hour ago. She said that her friends and her were going to prolong the celebrations. They would rest a little bit and then have lunch together. She won't be back home before 3h PM.

-Oh... -was the only thing that she managed to express in response, so he continued:

-I thought it would do not harm to let you sleep a little more. After all the... exercise... that we did last night...

He paused to smile seductively at her, making her blush and bit her lip once again as the images of said activity flooded her mind:

-Although, unless it was a dream... an incredibly, exciting and heart racing dream... you were so... roused... when woke me up in the middle of the night for the second round... -he said in a tone of teasing, but fully aware that she must be really tired after the day before, because, even he didn't knowing the details, he knew that something bad had happened.

"I almost died..."

Distracted for a moment, he didn't have the time to react as Kate got up, pulling the sheet off the bed and using it to cover herself:

-I do not remember you complaining, quite the opposite, but if I read you wrong... -and merely headed towards the bathroom, her poker face hiding a smile.

She had already crossed the bed and was a few steps from the bathroom when felt Rick hugging her from behind, one hand finding a crack in the blanket and positioning itself on her belly.

Rick placed her against him, her back against his chest. He bit her earlobe and felt her pressing her body closer to his while trying to avoid the tremor that wanted to run through it.

-Feel free to wake me up anytime you want, day or night, and ask me to do whatever you want, whenever you want, however you want, Kate...

He sniffed at her hair, then lowered his lips to her neck. She bowed her head back, leaning on his shoulder, enjoying the fell of his mouth for a while before answering him:

-Right now, do you know what I need from you? What I really... -she turned her head and kissed his chin- want... -then ran her hands through his arms until getting to his hands and holding them- you to do?

-Hmm... – he was not really processing what she was saying, the morning, but mainly the tone and the innuendo in her voice, making him ready to the next round.

Kate pulled his arms from her and turned. She stood on her tiptoe, so that their faces were on the same level, and moistened her lips, his eyes following her tongue doing so. She approached the remaining few inches, noses touching, and whispered:

-Coffee.

She then simply brushed her lips against his and walked away, looking over her shoulder as she entered the bathroom, leaving what was covering her body fell to the ground and closing the door soon after.

Rick stood in the spot, facing the bathroom's door, his mouth slightly ajar, still waiting for the kiss that had not come.

When what came was his senses, he threw his head back, put a hand on his chest and took a deep breath. That woman would still make his heart explode, for one reason or another. Not that he was complaining.

He pulled himself together, looking around even knowing that no one was there, and shook his head to clear his mind, before shouting:

-Cruel, Becks, so, so cruel.

What turnaround had taken his life in just 24 hours. He had ended his partnership with Beckett, his daughter had graduated from high school, and one the more than unexpected surprise that had come to his door in the middle of the night and everything that had happened so far... Whoa! He considered for a moment to pinch himself to make sure that everything was not just a dream.

Rick got to his wardrobe, selected a shirt and some other pieces, put them on the bed and went to the bathroom door:

-There is a new toothbrush on the shelf and, if you want to take a shower, the blue towel is clean. I left some clothes on the bed for you... -and in a tone only to himself to hear – little tease.

He headed to the door to his office and then to the kitchen to make coffee, because, let's face it, when would he resist a request from her? And, as long it was something like coffee... or his love... why would he want to?

Next chapter: Breakfast and a talk

Gabs.