Chapter Seven

When the door opened everything Castle had been planning to say to her flew out of his head in an instant. Kate Beckett stood in front of him in a pale blue robe that shimmered slightly in the light and made his fingers itch to reach out and touch it just to see if it was as smooth as it looked. He couldn't hear whatever she was saying to him, so he assumed it was an invite to enter and walked past her into the living room, despite his desire to walk right into her.

He was pacing in front of her couch, wishing he couldn't see so much of her legs. That damn robe only went to the middle of her thighs and he had a hell of a time tearing his eyes away from the skin. He vaguely noticed her shutting and locking the door before she turned to face him with her hands on her hips. The tight line of her mouth projected her frustration and he felt a sickening drop in his stomach. He wondered for a moment if Josh was the reason for her state of undress.

Perhaps he was in the bedroom waiting for her to return, but she would just tell him to leave instead of locking the door as if she expected him to be here for long enough that safety would be an issue. Maybe Josh was on his way over, but that didn't make sense either, for the same reason. She definitely wouldn't want doctor motorcycle boy to find her practically naked with another man in her apartment.

The thought of her practically naked had him wondering if she was wearing anything under that robe. Suddenly, his fingers were itching to touch something he was sure was equally as smooth, but entirely more enticing than her robe. The column of her neck flowing down to the deep V of her robe and intimate knowledge of how easy it would be to push either side of that V away, or both sides, suddenly had blood flowing places it shouldn't be going when he needed every bit in his brain to keep track of his thoughts.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he registered the sound of water running and it finally clicked that she had been about to take a bath.

"Sorry." He finally spoke, "I didn't mean to interrupt your bath."

He watched as she seemed to realize that she had left the water on and excused herself. For reasons other than his normal self-preservation instincts, moments after she disappeared down the hall, he followed. He knew it was probably not in the best interest of his safety, but he propped himself against the door frame and watched as she leaned over the tub, turning the faucet to stop the flow of water.

The subtle scent he normally caught from close proximity to her, had filled the bathroom in nearly intoxicating strength. He had a virtually overwhelming desire to wrap himself around her and sink them both into that bath she was about to waste. He had to shake the thought off; the last thing he needed right now was for her to be pissed off. He wanted to have what could be his last memory with her be more civil than him having his arm broken or getting himself shot.

He was still admiring the view when she stood up straight again and turned. He watched her jerk slightly as she caught sight of him in the doorway. He had startled her, something so unexpected that it made him smirk and become instantly intrigued.

"What the hell, Castle?"

Her irritation snapped him out of his fantasy. "So, how's it going?" he asked casually, attempting to give her the opportunity to just tell him so he didn't have to be the one that brought it up.

"Great." Her sarcasm was clear, "What have you been up to all day?" Beckett crossed her arms and glared at him, but didn't make a move to step away from the tub or perhaps it was that she didn't want to get any closer to him.

"Oh, you know," he started, finally falling comfortably into the casual tone he had tried for earlier, "Just hanging out."

"Where?" she asked simply.

"Here and there." He gave her a half grin and shrugged off the question. "What happened to your plans tonight?"

He watched a hint of anger flash through her eyes as she took a single step towards him. "I don't know, Castle, perhaps it had something to do with the fact that my partner" she said with emphasis to portray the importance of those two words stuck together, "ran off without a word, looking like someone had died."

"You're exaggerating."

Beckett scoffed. "That's more your thing than mine."

He shrugged, "I just needed to go for a walk." He wasn't sure why it sounded like such a ridiculous excuse after the fact. He hadn't really thought that she would worry about him, but that light of concern still clear in her eyes said that she had been.

"A seven hour walk, with your phone off?" she asked. Her tone was quiet, but he could hear the hint of frustration, a shadow of what must have been there earlier.

"Sorry." He finally said. "I didn't think you'd care."

That had been the wrong thing to say as a sudden glint of anger flashed across her face, "You got the first part right. The part where you didn't think."

He felt the grin and the teasing words bubbling out of him, even though he knew it was the worst possible time for it, "Why, detective, did you miss me?"

Kate's jaw ticked as she clenched her teeth. "Get out, Castle."

He shook his head, the teasing grin growing wider as he took a step into the bathroom. "What are you going to do, shoot me? I doubt there's anywhere in that scrap of fabric you're wearing to hide your gun."

Kate raised her eyebrows, but he noticed the very faint hint of pink that brushed across her cheek as if she just realized she was standing there in so little, "You really think I need a gun, Castle? After the day I've had, I wouldn't push it."

"Did you catch a body?" he asked, "I thought we were off rotation."

Kate shook her head at him, "I think we're about thirty seconds away from having a body if you don't get out."

"I kind of like the view." He replied with a shrug, letting his eyes rake down her body and back up slowly.

Kate's glare intensified, "Are we really going to have this conversation in my bathroom?"

"We can move to the bedroom if you prefer." He suggested.

Kate let out a frustrated sound that was very much like a growl. "Dammit, Castle. Would you just be serious for two freaking seconds?"

He shrugged, "I'm always serious about taking you to the bedroom, but was there something else you wanted to talk about?"

He watched her bite back a retort for the first part before she addressed the second, "What happened to you today?"

"Nothing happened; I figured you'd be relieved to have me out of your hair for an afternoon."

"Relieved? How long have you known me?" To his surprise she gave him a soft smile, but then a frown took over as silence weighed for entirely too long. "If there's something going on with you that you don't trust me with, that's fine, but at least tell me that much." Her tone had become earnest and her eyes clearly displayed a sense of betrayal that he hadn't been expecting. "Don't keep me in the dark."

He felt his teasing grin fall away in light of her seriousness, "I trust you." He responded in disbelief. "Or course I trust you. I just couldn't talk about it."

She shook her head, "Something obviously happened that had you running out of the precinct looking the way you did." Her voice dropped as she finished, "You scared the hell out of me thinking that something was wrong with Alexis or Martha."

He was shocked. He hadn't even considered that. He had been so stuck in his own downward spiral that he didn't think about what anyone else was thinking. "I didn't mean to freak you out. I just needed a little time to deal with this, alone."

Kate laughed, but it was humorless, "Yeah, that was obvious when you decided to ignore my calls."

The look in her eyes made him wince slightly; he had no intention of hurting her. He hadn't even considered that she would care where he ran off to. "I just didn't think it mattered." He took another step toward her out of habit, because that look in her eyes didn't go away and he wanted to do something, anything, to comfort her.

"If I ran off without saying anything to you, would you worry?" she asked, her posture relaxing slightly as if she was starting to believe he hadn't been maliciously ignoring her.

"That's different." He responded and she raised an eyebrow at him to silently ask for clarification. "It just is, ok?"

"No. You're not going to put me through this crap today and then just stand there like it was nothing." He heard the anger leaching into her voice. "You can't tell me that if the tables were turned you'd have a right to be pissed off, but I can't be." She responded and he noticed the interrogation voice. She wasn't going to let him get away without saying it, no matter how much he hated the idea of putting his thoughts in words.

"You deserve to be happy, Kate." He said, his tone quiet as he told her what he knew to be true, "And I know you probably think I'm arrogant for just assuming that one day I'd be the guy that made you feel that way."

"What the hell are you talking about?" her anger clearly not fully dissipated from a moment before as he watched her scramble to figure out what was going through his mind.

"Look," he started again, his eyes finally lifting to meet hers as his determination came back as strong and steady as his heartbeat. "You probably don't want to hear this right now and, hell, I probably should have said it months ago, but. . ."

She cut him off curtly, "No."

"You don't even know what I was going to say." He responded with another step forward, though he was certain the detective could easily have deduced the direction he was trying to go by his statements.

"I don't know what's gotten into you today, but I think you should go home." Her tone had calmed, but the still waters of her anger ran under the surface.

"Just hear me out, and then I'll leave. I promise." He swallowed hard around his next words, because they could be a game changer. "Whatever you say, I'll do it. If you want me to come back tomorrow like today never happened, it's done. If you want me to pay penance for being a jerk today, whatever that penance is, you've got it. If you just want me to go away and leave you alone for the rest of what I hope is a very long and happy life, then I'll do it."

"What I want is for you to think before you do something stupid." She responded.

Castle shook his head, "I've already done something stupid. As much as I understand how many mistakes I've made, how big of a disaster I've turned all this into, I can't compound it. Not now. Not for another minute." He took another step towards her, standing close enough now that he could reach out and touch her, but restraining himself. He saw her eyes widen and then determination swept her features as she obviously fought the urge to step away.

"You still haven't told me what the hell happened with you today." She finally spoke and he noticed the slight tremor in her speech as she looked up at him. Her eyes confirmed that she felt uncomfortable with him this close while she was wearing so little, but damn if he knew why she was uncomfortable and what that meant for his chances of surviving this conversation.

"I'm not the only one keeping secrets." He said quietly, dropping his eyes from hers because he couldn't look at her when she finally understood and voiced what had yet to be spoken.

Her tone fell to match his, hushed and no longer echoing slightly in the small tiled room. "Who's keeping secrets, Castle?"

His eyes snapped to hers. He didn't understand how she could have no clue what he was talking about. "You are."

She opened her mouth to respond, but closed it as she looked at him with confusion. He saw the moment that realization hit her. "You went through my desk?" the anger was back and this time she was the one stepping into his space.

Even without the heels and standing several inches shorter than him, he felt intimidated by her expression. He forced himself to stand his ground and not step back. In response to her question he shrugged, "Why wouldn't you tell me you two were that serious?"

Kate poked a finger into his chest, "It's none of your business."

Castle couldn't help but laugh at that and the sound made her eyes burn even hotter with her fury. "The hell it isn't." he challenged.

"It isn't." she responded hotly, poking her finger into his chest again, with enough force to have him wincing and taking a step backwards. She followed his retreat. "It's my life, Castle. It has nothing to do with you."

The anger seemed to transfer from her through that finger into his chest where it constricted and then burned right through his veins. "Bullshit." He responded, surprised by the venom in his tone.

He pushed her hand away from him forcefully and followed her as she took a careful step back from him. Their eyes were locked, the anger and frustration boiling out of both of them in that gaze.

"Castle," she started in that tone he recognized so well as leading into a serious reprimand. When she opened her mouth to finish whatever thought she had, he couldn't stop himself from shutting her up. He didn't want to hear her tell him to back off again, at least not without building one more memory of her.

Ignoring the last bit of logic remaining in his brain, he closed the distance between them. Everything happened so quickly that he knew it would take several minutes for his mind to catch up with his actions. One hand buried itself in her hair and held her in place while his other landed on her hip. A moment before his lips met hers he registered the surprise in her eyes.

That look was the reason he expected to find himself curled on the floor a moment later, after having her knee shoved forcefully into the most sensitive spot it could reach. That look was the reason that he was surprised when she met the near violent actions of his lips on hers with her own pressure as she slipped her tongue out to tease its way into his mouth.

His reaction to her response was instant and fierce. The robe under his fingers was as smooth as he had imagined and his fingers clasped her hip tightly when she moaned, leaning into him. Her body was firm but soft against his and he found himself instantly hard from the pressure of her against him and the passion she returned against his mouth.

Her fingers wound into his hair and gripped a solid handful, nearly painful in her tight grasp. Castle's grip on her hip finally loosened as her other hand grabbed a fistful of his shirt. The gentle caress of his hand over the swell of her hip was in direct contrast to the fierce energy of their kiss. His fingers slid low against the fabric until he hit bare skin and then began their trip back up, bringing the smooth material with them.

His palm flat against her skin he continued a trail up her flesh until he reached the delicate swell of her ass and his grip tightened slightly. Castle pulled her body completely flush to his own, groaning into her mouth at the intensity of sensation coursing through him.

A moment later, she yanked the hair in her grasp, her other hand no longer pulling, but pushing. Their contact severed. In that moment of shock, Kate swept past him and out of the bathroom.

He stood in stunned silence as he heard her move away from him before she slammed a door, probably closing herself in her bedroom. Castle cursed into the silence of the bathroom as his breathing continued to come in erratic gasps and he tried to figure out what the hell had just happened.

x.x.x

A/N: Ok, seriously, I kind of hate this chapter, it would not cooperate. I really need to spend some time with my other fic, so a day or two and you'll see me again here. Sorry about the cliffy, but this was getting long and Kate's brain was calling me.

Review that made my day: carolina17, because it's nice to know that I'm not the only one who gets distracted with fanfic in the middle of the night when I'm headed to get a drink of water and should be going back to sleep.

Thanks to everyone for reading.