Author's note: So it took me a bit to decide where I wanted to go vis-à-vis Castle and Beckett's relationship. I want to keep the characters as true to form as I can, while still having my way with them, so to speak. So here we go, and there will be more coming later! Thanks for the reviews, guys! It's nice to know people are reading.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Castle had never been in Beckett's bedroom. Yes, he'd been to her place many times, but by unspoken mutual consensus, that had been one room that had seemed to be completely off limits even to his eternal snooping. Now, however, she took his hand and led him to the doorway.

"Stay here for a second…"

She let him go long enough to go turn on the light beside the bed so he wouldn't stumble in the dark room. Beckett pulled the blankets back and looked over at him, but when he didn't voluntarily join her, she went back to the doorway again walked with him over to the bed.

"Kate…"

He sounded reluctant – or uncertain – she wasn't sure which. "You don't have to… I mean, I'm not…"

"Get in bed, Rick," she told him, gently. "It's okay." Castle did as he was told, and Beckett joined him, pulling the blankets up over the two of them and then snuggling close to him. He reacted by putting his arm around her, and she found herself pressed against his chest. He sighed, and she was close enough that she felt it as if it had been her own.

"I shouldn't have yelled at you," he whispered. "I'm sorry."

"I understand why you did. I pushed harder than you could handle at that moment. I'm sorry, too."

She felt him bury his face in her hair, and she reached up to run her fingers through his, careful to avoid the stitches. She wasn't going to force any conversation if he wasn't willing. For that matter, she was willing to simply hold him and be held by him until he was feeling better.

"It could be a diamond," he said, eventually, after a while. "That would be small and can be valuable enough to be right up Jimmy's alley."

"Or maybe more than one?" she asked.

"No." She felt him shake his head, but didn't see it. Of course, she still had her cheek against his chest. She could feel the rumble through his torso every time he spoke, and when they'd been quiet she could hear his heart beating. "Neither of them used plurals when they were talking about the gift. Whatever it is, there's only one."

She was willing to take his word for that.

"Would a diamond be worth pretending you were dead for five years?"

"The Hope diamond is worth 350 million."

Beckett wasn't surprised that he would know that.

"That would be worth it."

"You and I both know it's enough to kill someone for."

They'd seen cases where people had killed for much less.

"Yes." He trembled, suddenly, and she had a feeling that he was thinking that 350 million was reason enough to kill a nosy writer, too. He'd been so lucky. She pressed a kiss against his chest, unable to reach anywhere else. "It's okay."

He took a deep breath, and let it out slowly, but his grip didn't relax, and neither did his body. She was close enough to be able to tell. Her attempts to get him to relax weren't working, and the conversation wasn't helping. Beckett ran her hand along his side, feeling his muscles tense even through the fabric of his shirt.

"Does it hurt?" she asked him, well aware she was close to some of his bruises.

"Just aches," he told her after a moment. Castle hurt all the time, so it actually took him a bit to figure out where he ached the most and what parts didn't hurt as much as they had only days before. "My shoulders hurt the most."

"I can understand that."

"And the hickey you gave me."

Beckett was so startled by that, she actually snorted. Which made him grin, amused.

"Why don't I believe you?"

"I don't know… it's true."

"Poor baby."

She tilted her head up and brushed a kiss somewhere near the area of the hickey, but not close enough to taste the makeup she'd used to cover it. He made a pleased noise at that, and Beckett felt him start to relax against her, finally.

"Katherine Beckett…" he murmured. "Are you seducing me?"

"No."

"Awww…"

She smiled, and slid her hand under his shirt, brushing her fingers against his belly. Now he tensed again, but in a completely different way.

"But if I were…?" she asked. "Then what?"

"I'd have to decline."

He didn't move away from her hand, though, and the arm that he had around her tightened so she wouldn't move away. Castle liked her touching him, and he loved that he was holding her. But although he wanted her in the worst way – and he did – he wasn't sure this was the time for it.

"Really?"

"For now," he told her, quickly.

"Why?"

She hadn't missed the way he tightened his hold on her.

"Because I'm not in the right state of mind to be able to give you as much attention as you'd deserve – and as much as I'd want to. It wouldn't be fair. Or as enjoyable. And my arms hurt too much to hold myself up for very long…"

Maybe.

Beckett smiled at that, and was surprised. Not that he had come to that conclusion; Castle wasn't as shallow as he'd probably like to be, after all, and he wasn't as immature as he once had been. She was more surprised that he'd answered so explicitly, really. No hemming and hawing, so to speak.

"You're probably right."

"Yeah."

Her hand slid up to his chest, though, brushing against his skin tenderly.

"You won't mind if I do this, though, right?"

"No…" He closed his eyes, leaning into the pillows a little more and holding completely still and giving himself up to her touch. "You can do that."

"Good." She brushed her fingers against his skin, the motion as hypnotic as any before and as soothing as it was exciting. He made a pleased noise and surprisingly, she felt him relax even further, despite her attentions – or maybe because of them? Beckett wasn't sure how long she continued what she was doing, but it was a long time before she stopped what she was doing long enough to roll over and turn the lamp off. When she started to roll back, though, she felt his arm come around her and pull her snugly back against him, her back to his front.

"My turn…" he murmured in her ear, his hand sliding under the hem of her shirt, now. It was her turn to tense, now, and Castle smiled as he felt her reaction to his hand stroking her stomach. "I'm not seducing you…"

"I know."

"It feels good though, huh?"

"M-hmmm."

"Yeah…"

His hand was just as soothing as hers were, she was pleased to learn, but there was definitely a promise of other things that were possible, and it was enough to make her breath catch every now and then until she eventually had to catch his hand in hers, and still his touch. He chuckled, and she smiled, even though he couldn't see it since her back was to him.

"You're doing great, Rick," she told him, sincerely, and her tone made it clear that she wasn't referring to where his hand was. "I promise."

"Thank you." His lips pressed against the back of her neck and she shivered at the touch. Castle felt it and pulled the covers up over them both before he returned his hand to where it had been. "I do get a rain check, right?"

"We'll see…"