Rick kept stalling, coming up with reasons why she didn't have to leave just yet. After they'd eaten their breakfast he suggested a movie which she just had to see if she hadn't already. She didn't know if he noticed but she lied, telling him she hadn't seen it because of course she was stalling too. Plus it gave her a chance to cuddle up with him on the couch, being intimate in a whole different level than they had before, and she loved it. She loved how she fit so perfectly into his body with her head resting in the crook of his neck, and the way his fingers kept on fiddling with her long hair by her shoulders. A part of her told her she couldn't get used to it, that she didn't belong there, but she couldn't help but hear a small voice in the back of her head screaming 'you already have'. Before she even knew it she had spent the whole day at his loft, watching movies, eating lunch and dinner, oh, and popcorn! Also they had kissed a lot, it was as if the thing that had held them back was gone and it didn't go too long between the times their lips connected. One of their kisses were interrupted at around 7pm, when her phone suddenly started ringing angrily. The second she glanced up into his eyes she saw how concerned he was immediately, worried about her. She gave him a sorrowed look before she walked away to find and answer. Upon seeing the number she answered as usual, knowing exactly who it was.
"Nikki Heat, what can I pleasure you with?"
"There you are! We've been looking everywhere for you! Where the hell have you been?! Why didn't you call in last night after your appointment?!" his loud voice almost had Kate pulling away from the phone, her nose cringing at the anger she could sense.
"I'm sorry, there was an incident and I had to leave before I could fulfill the job. The client got too aggressive, I'd appreciate it if you don't ever send any of us over there again," Kate told her former foster father.
"Aggressive how? Can Bianca take him?" he answered and Kate shuddered.
"No, not aggressive in a sexual way."
Kate made sure to keep her voice steady, because she knew if he sensed the smallest bit of hesitation he would send her foster sister over almost immediately to make sure to keep the client.
"Okay. Why didn't you come home then? Where are you?" he was harsh, not that that was unusual, still didn't mean she liked it.
"I'm... at a friend's house. Needed to take a break after the incident."
She hated this. She wasn't really supposed to be at a friend's house, and definitely not at his house.
"Where exactly?" he questioned.
There was a sudden pressure to her shoulder and she jumped at the touch, turning to see Rick holding his hand out where her shoulder had just been.
"I-uh... I'll come home in about half an hour. I'll just assemble my things and be on my way," she said and he kept shaking his head during each and every one of her words.
She put her hand over his lips when they opened, denying him of speaking because she knew it was no good idea to let the man on the other end of the call to hear him in the background.
"If you're not home in thirty minutes I'll personally come get you."
The call ended abruptly and Kate sighed. Rick took her hand in his in order to pull it away from his mouth while she dropped her other hand from her ear.
"You can't leave," he said and she sucked in her bottom lip, nagging the wound she had there with her teeth. "Please. Don't leave," he leaned his body closer to hers and she took a step back.
"I can't stay. Rick, this is my job, my life. I've had an amazing day but... I need to go back," Kate pulled her hand back from his but he quickly snagged it back in his grasp, pulling her towards him.
"You can stay Kate, I can help you fix this, I can help you get out of it," his other hand landed on her hip, his thin shirt doing nothing to prevent the electricity from transferring into her skin.
She was having trouble breathing, because his promises was exactly what she wanted, but she also knew it was what she couldn't have. His touch was taking her breath away, stealing her words from her mouth. Her feet carried her backwards, trying to get away from his oh so exciting touch, but he simply followed and before she knew it her back hit a wall, his body closing into hers.
"I had to live a month without knowing if I'd ever see you again," he breathed out, his eyes filled with fear.
Fear of loosing her if she read them right, and the way she was feeling she figured her eyes mirrored his. She was cornered by his body, and even though the position could've been considered threatening in another situation she had never felt more safe than she did with him. Her eyes flickered down to his lips, oh those lips, she wished she could kiss them all day.
"I know you feel the same, why deny it Kate?"
Because she has to. She closed the distance between their lips, kissing him with a force so fierce she nearly knocked him backwards. There was nothing she could do, her body and mind craved him. Her heart craved him. His hands sneaked under her, his, shirt, his fingers playing with the hem of her panties. She gasped when they dipped inside, moaned when he touched her the way he knew she couldn't resist.
"This is so much more than just sex, I know you can feel it too," he mumbled against her lips, his tongue seeking permission to dance with hers.
The second she let him in his hands moved back to her hips, lifting her up into his arms, her legs immediately wrapping around him to support her weight. He walked them to his bed, putting her down gently to follow her down with his body on top of hers. She stripped him off his clothes, and he stripped her off hers. Their naked bodies connected to each other only minutes after and the air was filled with moans of 'more' and 'oh god's. Him groaning her name, her real name, was so much more beautiful than she thought it'd be. He was right. It was so much more than sex, it was love.
She'd sang him to sleep after their love making. Hadn't known it would work until she started humming a lullaby and he'd told her she should continue. He'd told her she had the voice of an angel. It pained her more than she thought it was going to. Her tears couldn't stop from flowing down her face as she finally arrived at the house, her home.
"There you are!" the blonde she'd known since she was sixteen came out running towards her with open arms. "Dad said you'd be home two hours ago!"
Her foster sister stopped a few feet in front of her with a scared look in her eyes.
"What happened?" she asked Kate.
"Bianca, I'm not in the mood," Kate said but when she tried to walk past the blonde she stopped her with hands to her shoulders.
"I can see that! God, who did this to you? Who made you cry and why the hell would they beat you?!" she continued to question.
"Leave me alone B, and why on god's earth do you keep referring to him as dad? He was thinking of sending you to that scum of a client I met with yesterday," Kate snapped, couldn't stand think about it like she did.
"Because he's the closest thing I've had to a dad, you know that Ka-Nikki. He and mom brought me in when I was six, they're the only family I know," Bianca gave her a meaningful look.
"Nikki! I said thirty minutes, not two hours!"
The voice of her former foster father had Kate flinching before she took a deep breath and prepared herself for what was to come.
"I'm sorry sir," Kate said, knowing any excuses she had wouldn't be enough.
"Oh well, go inside, let Margaret take a look at that," he said when his eyes landed on her face.
Kate only nodded before she left him and Bianca to walk into the house she'd called home for the last years. The second she stepped inside her former foster mother came down the stairs with a worried look in her eyes.
"Kate! Oh my god, what happened to you?!" her immediate worry could've been comforting, but Kate was past that.
Kate had known how parents were supposed to be, her own parents had after all been there for her for sixteen years before they died. Margaret's hand reached for her face, to the blue mark around her eye, but Kate flinched and moved away her head before she could touch her.
"I'm fine," she said but her former foster mother gave her a look.
"I can see you're not Katie..."
"Stop! Don't you call me that! Ever." she interrupted her with a force she hadn't dared using before.
Only her real parents were allowed to call her that. Margaret had tried a couple times but Kate had just shook her head and gently asked her not to, because it had reminded her too much of her parents being dead. While in reality it wasn't just a reminder but also wrong, it felt wrong hearing someone else call her something only her parents had. Margaret looked stunned at Kate's outburst, probably because she had never heard her snap like that. Kate didn't apologize either, just walked past her former foster mother up the stairs to be able to get to her room. Closing the door behind her she walked straight to her bed, falling down to her knees in order to pull out the box she kept under it. She could feel her eyes swell with tears when she opened the lid, seeing the first picture she had made sure would be the first she saw whenever she needed to open it. It was a picture of her mom and dad, holding her, their three year old daughter, in the middle of them while gazing lovingly at each other. Lovingly. Love. Wasn't that the way he looked at her? She looked closer to her parents' eyes, and yes, there it was! That glimpse right there! She could swear she'd seen that glimpse in his eyes!
"Knock knock!"
Kate jumped at the sudden sound and quickly covered the box with the lid before turning her head towards the door. Bianca stood with the door open only slightly, giving Kate a sorrowed expression. Kate was about to bite her lip but the second her teeth scrapped her wound she winced.
"Can I come in?" Bianca asked and when Kate nodded she walked inside, closing the door behind her. "You miss your parents?"
"Every single day," Kate sighed, remembering when she had first shown the box to her foster sister.
"But..." Bianca started, hesitating, "that's not why you're so down?"
Kate gave her a look. She did not want to talk about it. There was no way she was going to tell her about... anything.
"Where exactly did you go after that client got, uh, aggressive?"
Kate stayed quiet.
"I won't tell them, if that's what you think. Come on, Kate." After a few more seconds of silence she dared to ask, "Did you meet someone?"
"What? No!" Kate immediately denied and she cursed herself for the instant reaction. "I did not meet someone," she murmured.
Bianca gasped with her eyes going wide, "You did!" Before Kate could argue she continued with her questions, "Who is he? When did you meet him? Is he a client? Wait, is it a she?"
"B, stop, I didn't meet someone, I'm..."
The sound of her phone ringing interrupted her, and when she glanced on the screen lighting up on the floor she felt her heart stop with fear. He must've stolen her phone during the day when she hadn't seen, because the phone was displaying a picture of the two of them kissing... on the lips.
"Ooooh, who's this?" Bianca said and before Kate could grab it she had already snatched the phone from the floor.
"Give me my phone!" Kate exclaimed with fear written all over her face.
"Hello, Nikki's phone," Bianca answered it and Kate jumped to her feet in order to reach for her phone.
"Uh, where's K-Nikki?" she swore she would kill him for that slip.
"He knows your name?" Bianca said out loud and Kate immediately hushed her, fearing they would hear.
"Can you just shut up B, he doesn't... give me my phone," she reached for the phone once again and this time she managed to snatch it from her foster sister. "Ri-Mr. Castle, I can't talk right now. We'll have to book an appointment..."
"Where are you? I woke up and you weren't here?" her heart shattered at how devastated he sounded.
"I-I'm," Kate looked at Bianca, who gave her a raised eyebrow, she sighed, "I'm at home."
"Are you coming back?" Rick asked pleadingly.
"Not tonight," Kate said and she could hear the hope in his voice.
"But you are coming back?"
She sighed, "Yes." She probably wasn't supposed to hear it but she could vaguely hear him whisper 'thank god'. "I'll text you later," Kate ended the call, took a deep breath and turned to Bianca. "So, I guess I met a guy."
"I guess you did," Bianca said with an excitement she had only witnessed when they had discussed a great book about love. "So, tell me about him."