'What's the address again?'

'Thirteen-fifty-four Island View Boulevard.'

'Yep, this is it.'

Esposito turned the Nissan into the smooth, curving driveway of the East Hampton Village shore-house. Despite having worked with Castle for almost two and a half years now, he'd never been invited to the vacation spot; in fact the only one who'd seen it was Beckett, with obvious reason. The mansion - and it was definitely a mansion - was situated on the curve of the bay, protected by large oak and maple trees, a pale yellow structure with large panel windows and white gingerbread edging along the roof edges. There was a wide wraparound porch with white railing and a three-person swing-seat facing the water. Down the short hill leading to the water there was a small boathouse duplicating the architectural style of the main house.

'Wow.' Meredeth popped out the passenger door, shoved her sunglasses to her head. 'Some digs.'

'No shit. And to think Beckett turned this down last year for Demming the Lemming.'

'Who?'

'The guy Beckett was seeing last May, when she was trying to convince herself she wasn't into Castle,' he explained as he released the trunk latch to haul out their bags.

Meredeth watched him pull the luggage out and had to fight every natural instinct in her body to help him. He'd been to the doctor's the morning of his medal ceremony to have his stitches removed; Austin had taken a few minutes in the ER clinic with them to get Esposito set up with his physiotherapist, and told him that it was important for him to begin to minimally exercise his elbow joint. When Meredeth mentioned they were spending the weekend in the Hamptons, Austin suggested swimming lengths for short periods of time would be an excellent way to test his strength so handling their suitcases would probably fall along the same lines.

Leaving him with the bags, she opened the back door of the car to let Arturo out, who promptly went to sniffing the tires of the others cars parked in the driveway - Castle's rented Lincoln town-car in classic black and Honey-Milk's silver hybrid sedan. Meredeth had to grin at the little yellow placard in the back windshield's right corner, a mock-road sign with a picture of a long-legged bird with a bundle hanging from its beak. That would undoubtedly be Ryan's contribution; she'd never seen anyone so excited about becoming a father. Meredeth just prayed he wouldn't black out in the delivery room, like she'd seen Kristof do when his daughter had been born.

As Arturo's excited barks pierced the air, the screen door opened and Castle appeared in his beach-side wear of khaki shorts, leather sandals and an ancient navy blue sweatshirt with the words 'Pace' across the chest in faded yellow. He grinned broadly as the dog came racing towards him, gave him a warm scrub on the ears.

'Hey buddy, yeah, I miss you too.' he said to the mixed breed, who proceeded to give him a puppy-kisses facial. 'where's your mommy and daddy?'

'Daddy's getting the bags and Mommy's making sure Daddy doesn't hurt himself.' Meredeth smiled as she nudged the dog out of the way to give Castle a warm hug, making Arturo grumble protectively. 'Oh, calm down, you big puss. It's a hug.'

'Beckett's in the kitchen with Honey-Milk and Ryan's down at the boathouse making goo-goo eyes over my Bow Rider. Who knew that city boy had such a love of watercraft?'

'Oh yeah,' Esposito added, wiping the back of his hand across his brow. 'We went to the boat-show, I thought he was going to hyperventilate into asphyxia when he saw the Hustler 41 Razor V-Hull.'

'Something tells me when we take her out for a little cruise after dinner I shouldn't let him drive.'

'Where can I stow these?' Esposito asked gesturing to the luggage-on-wheels he dragged behind him.

'Oh, you're going to be down in the boathouse. We've got three main bedrooms up in the main house, and I just heard from Lanie this morning, she and Dave are coming up today. I'll give you a hand, Mere, Honey-Milk's been waiting for you.'

Castle waited until she'd gone inside and they'd started down the cut-stone steps towards the boathouse before adding, 'I figured you two would want the most private place I can offer you, since you're off your painkillers now.' He'd heard the whole story when he'd gone out for lunch with Ryan and Esposito to celebrate their honours from the city after their meeting in Montgomery's office.

'You figured right.'

'I'm sorry you had to go through that, man.' Castle thought about what his reaction would be if he was rendered temporarily incapable of making love with Beckett and knew that Esposito's sniping at Meredeth was a far more mature reaction than his would have been. 'But things are on the up? No pun intended.'

'Yeah. I mean, we haven't actually done the deed since before I was shot, but we've had our moments.'

'You didn't want to ask your doc for some little blue happy pills?'

'I asked when he told me about the side-effects of the pain-meds and he said I couldn't risk a drug interaction. And not that I don't appreciate the support, but I'd really like to stop talking about my malfunctioning troubles. They are behind me now, and I plan on making up for lost time with Meredeth as much as I can this weekend.'

'Hence why this is your cabin for the weekend.'

Castle, having noted the small sheen of sweat on Esposito's brow, took both the suitcases from him and went up the stairs to the boathouse's main door. Esposito whistled lowly as he looked around: it was a single spacious room, a bedroom, kitchen and living room all in one open concept, with a bathroom off to the side of the fridge. The atmosphere was welcoming, with warm cream paint and Scandanavian style furniture and glossy green and white tiles. There was a bowl of fresh local fruit on the kitchen island and the bed looked soft as a silk-spun cloud with the one o'clock sun streaming through the windows.

'Looks fantastic.'

'Just remember, sound really carries here, so if you're tempted to leave the windows open, don't forget to close them.'

Esposito laughed. 'Let's go find Ryan, see if he's still drooling over your boat.'

Around seven that night, the sun had just started to sink behind the trees and make the bay glitter like a handful of diamonds had been scattered across the surface. The air was ripe with the tantalizing aroma of barbecue smoke that came from Castle's barbecue which Esposito had volunteered to man. Clutching a bottle of Stella Artois in his hand, he nudged the grilling beef, turkey and veggie burgers with a stainless steel flipper, Ryan sitting on the rail of the porch.

'You look good, bro.'

'Thanks but I've got a girlfriend.'

Ryan laughed. 'You know what I mean.'

'I know.' Esposito sipped his beer, gave the burgers a flip. 'Why am I making you a veggie burger?'

'Jenny's off meat right now.'

'The smell?'

'No, the concept of eating animals altogether when she's . So I'm doing the vegetarian thing with her until the baby's born.'

'Wow.' If that wasn't commitment, Esposito thought, what was? 'You ready for it?'

'I'm scared to death. But in a good way, you know? Like when we're going after a suspect and we get him, or when you're on a roller coaster.'

Esposito shuddered. He loathed roller-coasters with a deep-seated passion. Still, he understood his partner's point, and tapped his beer bottle against Ryan's. 'I'm happy for you, man.'

Ryan grinned his foolish expectant-papa grin as Jenny toddled to the door, one hand on the side of her ever-expanding tummy. 'There's my girl,' he crooned when she came over to lean against the rail of the porch beside him. 'How are you doing?'

'Hungry. I can't stop eating these days, it's awful.'

'You're burning calories for two, though, sweetie.' Ryan wrapped his arm around her shoulder's reassuringly. 'And I hear when you breast-feed it helps burn off the baby-weight.'

'You just like seeing my boobs,' she retorted, then clapped a hand over her mouth. 'Sorry, Javier, you don't really need to hear about that kind of thing, do you?'

Beside his wife Ryan sent Esposito a fiendish look. 'Consider it even the score from that little phone-call incident.'

'There's a difference between your baby mama talking about nursing her child and you being clueless to the fact you were interrupting sex.' In spite of himself, Esposito's head went a little fuzzy as he remembered that night with Meredeth.

The door to the kitchen slid open, and Meredeth stuck her head out. 'You ready for cheese and bread, there, chef?'

'Sure thing.'

'Come on, Daddy.' Sensing that Esposito wanted a moment alone with Meredeth, Honey-Milk tugged on her husband's hand. 'You can help me chop onions.'

When the parents-to-be had gone back inside, Meredeth took up Ryan's spot on the porch rail. 'Should we all say a prayer before we eat your cooking?'

'It's the one thing I can claim any pride over in the kitchen.' Esposito held out his beer to her, which she promptly took a sip from. 'And besides, how hard is it to screw up burgers? Don't answer that,' he said before she could open her mouth to reply. 'Just don't.'

'Okay.' She chuckled a little as the hundred or so little comebacks she could have replied with died on her tongue.

'So I was thinking, after dinner and our boat cruise tonight, we might turn in early.'

Meredeth, who'd been watching the ripples of the water along the shore line with lazy relaxed interest, whipped her head around. 'Are you feeling okay?'

'Yeah, I just know later, after dinner, I will be overcome with fatigue and be in dire need to lie down in our room, with you keeping me company.'

'That's probably just fatigue from medication withdrawal. It takes the body a lot of energy to get rid of chemicals, even if they are the kind that are supposed to help you.'

Esposito laughed. For all her intuition, there were sometimes when she could be completely oblivious to the big red flags waving in front of her face. Setting down his beer and burger-flipper, he crossed to her and put his hands on her waist to twist her body so they were face to face. 'I mean, you silly girl, I want you...in bed...with me,' he murmured, cruising his lips over her cheek.

Desire, dark and decadent, began to slink through her veins as she wrapped her arms around his neck. 'What are you thinking? Like a five or six?'

'Seven.'

'Seven? That's ambitious.'

'Just you wait.'

True to his word, Meredeth saw him pretend to fade off after dinner, feigning yawns like a champ; thankfully it was Castle who made the suggestion he go take a rest. As they all knew he was just three days off his pills, no one was outwardly suspicious. Or, if their ruse was terribly transparent, they at least had the good grace and class to go along with the charade that Meredeth would keep him company.

When they'd arrived back at the boathouse, after a quick check of the windows, Esposito helped his cause along by stripping off his clothes and hopping in bed completely naked. Normally, the undressing phase was part of the seduction, but right now, all he wanted was to be with his Meredeth; the need in him at an all-time high.

Once she'd dimmed the lights, she crawled in beside him also naked; she'd barely hit the sheets when she found herself trapped under him, her mouth being savaged by a greedy kiss. She let out a squeak when his hands streaked over her body.

'Easy there, champ,' she told him with a light laugh, 'you're not the Terminator just yet.'

'Come with me if you want to live,' was his response, in his best Arnold impersonation, which made Meredeth giggle even more. The giggle ended on a gasp when he splayed his hand between her breasts and brushed his thumb over her still-soft nipple; he felt himself harden when the little bump of sensitive skin contracted under his touch so it was taught. Bending his head, he brushed his lips teasingly over the heated peak, then flicked his tongue over her.

Meredeth groaned, a sound of deeply pleasurable satisfaction. 'You haven't lost your touch,' she murmured. Though it had only been three weeks, when they were intimate in one way or another at least four times in any given week, nearly a month off was akin to a century. She arched her torso off the bed while her hips moved back, digging her fingers into his back to pull him close. She hooked one leg over his hip, opening herself up to him even more.

Despite all the desire in the world, Esposito knew his endurance was still hindered by the lingering medication in his system, but thankfully, his woman had been so turned on by their first time together since his injury that she was just as wet as she would normally be if he'd taken his time on her body. Taking her hand in his, he pressed a kiss to her palm before lowering it to where he longed to be joined with her. Understanding was euphoric as she took him in her hand and helped guide him in as he kept his mouth on hers.

Because she knew it would be easier on his arm, Meredeth wrapped her other leg around his waist and rolled so she was on top of him, rocked her hips against his as he ran his hands over her skin. She put her hands on his chest to keep him flat on his back while he pressed his own to the small of her back, saw his his eyes shut as his breathing hitched. She leaned forward so they were almost nose to nose.

'Come with me,' she murmured as the crest of sensation began to roll through her body. She kept her hands where they were, felt his hips urge her on as she came in one white-hot burst of light, felt him follow her.

When his trembling had subsided, she laid her head against his chest so she could hear his heart beating a jungle tempo.

'Seven,' she managed. 'Definitely seven.'

R&R&Enjoy!