A/N: Unusual Warning: This chapter is sweet. In many senses of the word. Also: I will eventually reply to your awesome reviews. Eventually.

DAY 13: Indulgence

They must have fallen asleep, because the next thing Kate became aware of was Rick's arm tightening slightly around her waist and his breath against the base of her neck, a slow, comfortable pattern of warm air. She turned to look at him and he greeted her by peppering her face with small kisses.

"We should probably shower" he suggested, nuzzling her cheek.

She hummed pleasantly and leaned into his touch, until the sound of her stomach growling suddenly broke the silence. They looked at each other and shared a synchronized smile.

"Let's eat first" she decided. "If we want to continue this, I need some calories I can burn."

He kissed her bare shoulder for a last time before he got up.

"I like the way you're thinking."

He started to sleepily stroll out of the room and she sat up and bit her lip, eyeing his naked butt appreciatively. When he had just reached the doorway, she loudly cleared her voice.

He turned around, raised his eyebrow, gave her tousled appearance a once-over, and struck a bodybuilder pose for her. Kate almost doubled over with laughter. When she had collected herself a little bit, she dared to meet his gaze again.

"What?" he asked and unashamedly did another nude pose for her. She laughed so freely and joyously that he couldn't help but join in. Even his writer brain had no words to describe her smile. If he had to compare it to anything, he would say that it was golden and colorful like sunshine and a rainbow at night and addictive like chocolate and heroin but better and…no, it still wouldn't come close to describing her smile.

"Y-You-hoo..uh..should…" she stopped to suck in a deep breath and swipe a tear from her eye. "Never mind. Just leave" she ordered and shooed him out of the room with her long, slender fingers. He didn't even ask what that was all about, just turned and walked out with a mild shaking of his head and a dreamy smile tugging at his lips.

When she came into the kitchen a minute later in her panties and Rick's used shirt, he was standing behind the counter with different pans in his hands, trying to figure out what to make for breakfast. When she walked up to his side, she was pleased to see that he had found fresh boxers somewhere. She wouldn't have been able to concentrate on anything had he been naked still.

"Pancakes? Waffles? Eggs?" he asked and she closed her eyes and breathed in deeply to find out what her stomach was calling for.

"Waffles" she decided and opened her eyes again.

"Your wish is my command" he said and mimicked a small bow before turning to the fridge and getting out what they needed.

They worked in quiet collaboration, Kate setting the table and heating some chocolate sauce in the microwave while Rick busied himself with the batter. When there was nothing left for her to do, she retreated into the bathroom.

She returned shortly after and the icy glare she was fixing him with promised no good. He gulped as she stepped closer and pulled the oversized shirt up to reveal her thigh.

His expression changed in an instant; his grin threatened to split his face in half.

"I gave you a hickey!" he exclaimed proudly, as if he had just saved the planet from alien invaders, cured all lethal illnesses or won the lottery.

"Richard freaking Castle, this is not a thing to be happy about!" she threatened him and jabbed an angry finger at his chest. He smiled on and didn't even pretend to be intimidated by her.

She scowled.

"Ricky-boy…" she said sweetly and his face fell. "Do you want a repeat performance of this morning?"she asked coyly, bit her lower lip and batted her lashes at him. "Or would you rather not be able to ever perform something like that, ever, again?"she said, equally as sweet, but this time with the added background noise of her knuckles cracking as she flexed her fingers. His face was white and his eyes automatically fell down to the body parts she was threatening to extricate him from. She grinned triumphantly.

"That's better. Now feed me, or else you're out of luck."

He released a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding and turned his attention back to his waffles. She frowned when she saw that something was still heating in the microwave, although the chocolate sauce was already on the table.

"Did you buy that dulce stuff again?" she asked, her face morphed into a grimace of distaste.

"Dulce de leche" he confirmed without turning around. "It's a specialty and it's delicious! Almost as good as my Smorelettes."

She rolled her eyes as she opened the microwave and used an oven mitt to retrieve the hot, blubbering bowl and place it on the table. "I don't know where your taste buds are located…" she murmured, more to herself than to him.

"Hey, I heard that!" he protested as she stirred the chocolate sauce with a wooden spoon.

"They're on my tongue" he whispered, suddenly right by her ear, startling her so much that she shrieked uncharacteristically and abruptly turned around, hitting him square across the chest with the chocolaty spoon.

"God, don't do that to me, Castle! You can't creep up on me like that. I'm sorry, I just didn't hear you. It's my cop reaction, we were trained to…"
"Ouch! That's hot! Can't you pay attention to what you're doing with your hands! This is going to burn into my skin, you've branded me and now I'm going to be…" they both rambled on, their string of words colliding until they suddenly both shut up and just looked at each other with large, helpless eyes. A dollop of hot chocolate sauce was slowly running down his bare chest. She was clutching the wooden spoon so tightly that her knuckles were white. They each took a deep breath.

When she made a step towards him, he took one backwards and held up his hands as if he was afraid she'd do more damage. "Rick, I only… I want to…just…" each time she took a step in his direction, he moved away from her. She turned around and placed the spoon back on the table and he seemed to relax a little. She advanced again and this time, he stayed, but kept his hands up as a defense.

"Please, let me…"

She took his hands into hers and lowered them, running her fingers up his arms until she grasped his shoulders. And then her hot mouth closed around the chocolate on his chest.

All his defenses broke and he melted underneath her sinful touch. His hands came up and fisted in her hair when her tongue licked away the sauce and tore a grunt from his lips. She sucked on his skin until there was none of the sticky substance left and then grazed her teeth across his muscles, his flat nipple… He groaned and pulled her up so that he could devour her mouth with his, their tongues fighting and gliding and their lips aggressively moving, molding so perfectly into each other that their world began to spin. She tasted like sin and eternity and chocolate and he never wanted to let her go. The heat of their kiss drew them closer to each other, like magnets, until there was no room left between them.

Slowly the fire glowed down until it wasn't so much a blaze, but rather a simmering flame, and she pulled away with a feline purr of enjoyment.

"Am I forgiven?" she asked and purposefully lowered her head so that she could look up at him between her thick lashes. He thought his heart was surely going to jump out of his chest if she kept that up.

"Let's eat" he growled, but in contrast to his words closed the minute distance between them once more for a shorter, though not less arousing kiss.