Previously: Castle went to Kate's to get her to come over to the loft for the movie. She gave him crap for not inviting her. He told her to decide if they were worth taking a chance on. Martha called Kate his girlfriend, they didn't deny it. The friends all made fun of them and succeeded in getting them to relax & not be weird.

5

For the second half of the movie, the two established couples focused on the ones they were sitting with and left Rick and Kate to themselves. She curled up to his side, noticing how well she fit against him. He noticed how good it felt to wrap his arm around her without wondering if she was going to break it. She noticed the subtle scent of his soap. He noticed how her hair tickled his neck.

Her hand rested on his knee while their friends were still picking on them, but after they quit, her hand slid up to the inside of his thigh. She felt his thigh muscle flex in response to her touch. He began toying with her hair, slowly exposing the nape of her neck. He leaned close enough that she could feel his warm breath there. He brushed his lips against that most sensitive spot on her neck and felt her sharp inhale.

He knew that Esposito and Ryan were both focused on the movie and their respective ladies, not paying any attention to the couple behind them on the couch, but damn if Rick didn't want them to get up and go home right then. She was letting him touch her. She was touching him. She didn't seem to care who knew. And he didn't want to stop.

He made himself back away from her neck so that their friends wouldn't end up glancing back to find an empty couch and his bedroom door closed. Not that he minded that possibility so much, but knew Kate would end up enduring endless ribbing at work because of it. So far, everything they'd done tonight was only the tiniest bit more than what they always did; it was just more comfortable, less tense.

That soft brush of his lips on Kate's neck left her oblivious to everything else in the room. She knew the movie and her friends were there, she just didn't care. Before last summer, they'd all seen her kissing Demming, at work no less. She broke up with him in the hallway, with people walking by. She was going to admit her feelings for Castle in front of the window to the conference room where the whole team could see… and they all saw the fallout when Gina arrived. She hated when people tried to tell her what she should be thinking or doing when she hadn't made up her mind; but once she knew what she wanted, she didn't care who else knew. Why didn't people get that about her?

She felt it the second his lips touched her skin, and felt when they left it. It wasn't enough. Her fingers clenched on his thigh when he pulled away, silently begging him to do it again. She wanted it. She knew this was coming ever since she'd talked herself into giving them a chance while she wrote her list hours earlier.

His warm breath tickled her ear. "I told you I could make you lose control." Even this close, she could barely hear his whisper. He must not want the others to hear.

She angled her head up to look him in the eye and spoke just as quietly. "You haven't even begun to succeed in that. I know exactly what I'm doing… However, I'm curious… just how easily I could make you lose control." She was so close to his face as she whispered that.

Oh, it would be so easy. They both knew it.

She let her nose brush against his and her hand slide across his broad chest. Damn, he really is so strong.

He really was that easy. He tilted down an inch to close the gap, unsure if she was serious, or if she was playing and would pull away. A smile played at the corners of his eyes and mouth.

Lanie had heard the whispering and turned to check on her friends. She had a quick internal debate on whether to nudge her boyfriend, but he noticed her distraction and followed her gaze. Jenny noticed them both trying to discreetly watch and turned to look, too. After all that had been building that night, she tapped her fiancé to alert him as well.

All four pairs of eyes took in the delicate touches, her hand on his chest, the other on his leg, their mouths only a breath apart. It was way better than the movie, and it definitely had a much stronger "will they/ won't they" tension. They'd joked all night, but they really wanted their friends to go on and jump in.

They just hung there, breathing each other in, unaware that they held the room's attention, lost in each other's eyes. Fingers teasing. This was really happening. They both got closer, meeting in a soft, silent kiss. They didn't want to alert their friends to what they were doing and were too focused on the warmth, taste, feeling, and relief to be aware of the others anyway.

Lanie forced herself to not let out a squeal or even a squeak, and they all just smiled and turned back to the movie.

Kate got a little self-conscious and pulled back just a little to glance at the two oversized chairs. No one was watching. She didn't know why she wanted this moment, this first real kiss to be private, when only a few minutes before, she didn't care if they saw. She pressed her lips to his again, remembering the words from his list - Forever. Could crush me. Extraordinary. Risk. Forever. - and decided that it was probably because it was her last first kiss. And it was the first one that really mattered.

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A/N: That was going to be where I stopped, but there's still one more coming.

Please review. They're addictive like feeling superior in the grocery checkout because you've got cart full of fresh fruits and veggies and lean meats and low-fat dairy, while the mom in front if you is loading up on junk food for her chunky kids. Maybe that's mean, but it makes me feel like I'm doing something right.