Hamptons Heat

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Not mine, folks. Rating: M Time: The summer between Season Two and Three.

Two hours later, Kate was finishing getting dressed. She wore a boldly printed silk dress that had cost far too much money when she had bought today. No it didn't. She thought to herself. All I ever buy are work clothes. I deserve something nice. She looked at herself in the mirror. The dress wasn't too tight, just snug enough. It ended a few inches above her knees and left her shoulders uncovered. She added the necklace and bracelet that Rick had bought for her, grabbed her purse and was ready to go.

"Gorgeous!" Rick said appreciatively as she stepped out into the bedroom.

"And you are very handsome as well, Rick. One might even say ruggedly handsome."

The Old Hamptons Inn practically reeked of wealth and power. While Rick seemed to fit right in, but Kate felt out of place. Rick ordered for them and selected a red wine which Kate gratefully sipped.

"Rick," she whispered, "everyone is looking at us."

"No they aren't."

"Castle! They are. Look, if I look to my right, everyone immediately looks away." Kate demonstrated. "And when I look to my left." She looked left and people immediately looked away from her. "Don't tell me I'm imagining this."

"You're not. But they aren't looking at us, they're looking at you. All of the men are entranced with your beauty and all the women are massively jealous of you. You should be used to that by now."

"I'm not and they aren't." Kate whispered sharply.

Rick nodded. "Oh! I spoke too soon. There's a kid over in the corner. At his age, he still thinks girls are icky. But give him five years and load of hormones and he'll be just like every man in here. With me at the top of the list of Kate Beckett admirers."

"Castle! This is embarrassing!"

Rick was suddenly lost in thought. "Suppose I never took my girlfriend out anywhere. How would you like that?"

Kate looked shocked and hurt for several seconds, then she slowly smiled. "Suppose you never took me out to dinner?"

"Or bought a bottle of good wine to share with you?" Castle added.

"Or bought me any jewelry." Kate touched the necklace Rick had given her.

"Or a sexy negligee from Victoria's Secret."

"That's what's wrong with our vic's financials! It's not what's there, it's what's not there. His secretary said she's been his mistress for over a year, but neither his private, or business records show anything that indicates he has a mistress. No weekend getaways, no romantic dinners, no presents, nothing at all."

"Both of them are lying." Castle said. "I know they are."

"As soon as we get home, I'll call Esposito and leave him a voicemail to check both women's financials, phone records, everything."

"Home?" Castle asked, lifting an eyebrow.

Kate blushed and looked away. "I meant to your home. Sorry."

"You were right the first time."

Once back at Castle's house, and the phone call made, Kate got ready for bed. Castle had finished before her and was already in bed. She stuck her head out of the bathroom. "I'm ready to come out now. And I have on the sexiest negligee I own."

Kate watched Castle leer at her. Then she stepped out, wearing a flannel nightgown that covered her from the throat to mid-calf. "Do you like it?" She had trouble keeping a straight face since Castle was so obviously disappointed.

"I love anything you wear, Kate." He replied gallantly, if inaccurately.

"Then you wouldn't like me with nothing on at all?" Before he could reply, she grabbed the hem of her nightgown and pulled it over her head, then slipped into bed with him.

"This works too." Rick said, pulling her close. He kissed her gently, then with more passion. Their hands explored each other's bodies. Rick began working his way down Kate's body. She put her hands on his shoulders and pushed him down her body.

"Make me scream, Rick." She breathed.

He nodded and moved down until he was between her legs. He blew gently on her, then kissed her.

Much later, Kate relaxed in Rick's arms. Just before she fell asleep, she thought that she had never had such a wonderful time screaming before.

SATURDAY

Rick handed Kate a cup of coffee as she walked into the kitchen. "Thank you." She mumbled, taking her first sip.

"Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes. Um, can I ask a question?"

"Certainly.

"Do you like sailing?"

Kate shrugged. "I don't really know. I've never been on anything other than the local ferries. Why?"

"I can get us tickets for the Baltimore Lady today. It's a two masted sailing brig, about a hundred and ten feet long. They take you out in the Atlantic for a little bit, then back into Long Island Sound where they anchor for lunch, and the lunch is great by the way. No salt pork and hard tack, but they do serve grog."

"Grog?" Kate asked. She had heard the word and knew I was some kind of drink, but that was all.

"Rum, water and some lime juice." Castle leered at her. "Perhaps I can get you drunk and have my way with you?"

"Or vice versa."

"We'll have to hurry, then. We have about an hour and a half. Do you have deck shoes?"

"What are deck shoes?"

"Shoes you wear on a boat. They're built so you don't slip and you don't leave marks on the deck. We can get a pair for you on the way."

"I can get a pair for me." Kate said quickly. "I appreciate all that you've done for me, but I'm a big girl. I can buy my own shoes."

Wearing her new Topsiders, Kate walked up the gangplank of the Baltimore Lady. They were the last to board, and some two dozen people were there ahead of them.

"I've never been on anything like this, Castle. It's...it's…"

"Remarkable, but not as remarkable as you are." He whispered in her ear.

"You'll give me a swelled head if you keep talking like that."

"I don't think so. Even if you knew just how remarkable you really are, it wouldn't change you."

Once out on the open ocean, Castle took Kate to the bow of the boat, as far forward as they could get. She stood in front of him, leaning back. His arms went around her waist.

"You've been on boats before, haven't you?"

Castle nodded, dropping his face into her hair and inhaling her scent. "Nothing this big or this grand, but I've been on boats before. Should I buy a sailboat?"

"No!" Kate said quickly. "You can't just buy anything you want without thinking it through. I remember one of my friends at Stanford saying that a boat is a hole in the water, surrounded by wood into which you throw money."

"Okay, the boat is on hold." Castle held her tightly and lifted her up, just a bit. "I'm the king of the world." Then he whispered in her ear. "And you're my queen."

Kate felt her heart skip a beat. She was his queen?

Kate found that she loved sailing. Mostly she admitted, she loved sailing with Rick. By lunchtime, they had sailed back into the calm waters of Long Island Sound and anchored. Lunch, from the New England clam chowder to the fresh apple pie for dessert was excellent. Then, the crew brought out their musical instruments and began singing songs of the sea.

As the songs were ending, one of the sailors asked, "So who'll join us in a song?"

Rick immediately pointed to Kate. "She has a lovely voice."

"Rick! You have no idea if I can sing or not."

"I'm sure you can. You're the remarkable Kate Beckett, after all."

Kate glared at Rick, but allowed herself to be pushed over to the musicians.

"These are the songs we know." The leader said, holding out a dog-eared file of songs. Kate looked, but didn't find one she knew until…

"That one. The Beach Boys song. I know that."

She was handed a mic and the sailors began to play.

"We came on the sloop John.B.

"My grandfather and me,

"Round Nassau town we did go,

"Drinkin' all night,

"Got into a fight,

"I feel so broke up,

"I want to go home.

Kate finished the song to the applause of everyone, but Rick was the loudest in his praise for her singing.

She sat back down with him, blushing. He hugged her.

"She deserves more than a hug." Someone yelled.

Rick took her in his arms and gave her a long, deep kiss.

They had just gotten back to Rick's house when Kate's phone rang.

"Beckett." She said in her best police voice.

Rick listened. It was obvious the call was from Esposito and was about police business, but Kate's end of the conversation was mostly monosyllables.

When she hung up, she walked over and sat on Rick's lap and gave him a kiss. "That was Esposito. He pulled Mrs. Sanders' and Ms. Kane's financials and phone records first thing this morning. Guess what?"

"Surprise me."

She kissed him again.

"Surprise me like that again."

Kate glared at him, but her heart wasn't in the glare. "Mrs. Sanders' financials show all sort of little intimate dinners, trips to secluded and romantic hotels, and gifts that one might give a lady friend."

"Ms. Kane." Rick said with a smile.

"They were having an affair. They intended to wait until Mr. Sanders got his big payday and then Mrs. Sanders would divorce him and they'd go off and get married. But Sanders didn't cooperate."

"How?"

"He decided to turn down big pharma's offer. He was egotistical as well as a workaholic. He decided to do all the development himself, although with the amount of money the company had, it would take years and years. They decided they couldn't wait."

"Which one killed him?"

"Mrs. Sanders confessed as soon as she saw the evidence and wants to make a deal. She says the killer was Kane. Kane says it was Mrs. Sanders and that Mrs. Sanders threatened her to force her to take part in the murder."

"So the non-murderer will be the first one whose lawyer get to the DA first? That sucks."

"Guess whose clothes were found to have gunshot residue on them and guess whose clothes didn't?"

Rick smiled. "Mrs. Sanders did and Ms. Kane didn't, for the win."

"Right. And both of them will be going away for a very long time." Kate looked at Rick very seriously. "What would I ever do without you?"

"I don't want to find out."