Chapter 4! It's gonna get... a little sexy ;) Why not, right? I put Caskett through enough angst, they need a break. Enjoy & review please!

When Kate emerged from 's office, her head was swimming with a billion thoughts, not one of them clear. Rick was sitting in a chair in the small waiting room of the private therapy office, reading something on his iPhone. He smiled warmly when he saw her and stood up, reaching out to take her hand. She clasped her hand in his and squeezed. They continued to hold hands as they walked to the elevator and rode it down 4 floors to the parking garage. When they finally had to let go of each other so Rick could open the car door for Kate, he kissed her hand and winked, then gestured to the passenger seat and said, "My lady, your carriage awaits."

Kate smiled a genuine smile and laughed, shaking her head. "So are you the court jester?"

"Funny," he said as he buckled his seat belt. They drove for a few minutes with no sound but the remastered Beatles playing on the car stereo. Castle turned to Kate and asked, "Back to work or home?"

Kate twirled a strand of hair around her finer and thought about it. She wanted to make some more progress on the case, follow up on a few leads she and Ryan had uncovered. But at the same time, she really wanted to spend the rest of the day with Rick. She weighed the two options in her head for a moment, then made a decision: "Take me home, jester."

Rick laughed and whispered to himself, "Anything is better than Writer Boy," and then to Kate, "Certainly, my lady. Shall we call the gents down at the Grand 12th Precinct and inform them not to expect your return?"

Kate shook her head at Castle's silliness and then dialed the 12th. Espo answered with his signature, "Yo."

"Hey Espo. I just wanted you to know I'm gonna take the afternoon off and go home with Castle. You two think you can handle the rest of the day without me?"

He chuckled. "Yeah, we'll be fine. I'll take care of Ryan."

Kate laughed. "Okay, see you tomorrow."

"Okay."

She tucked her phone into her pocket and stared out the window at the city as they drove to Rick's loft. She thought about her appointment with while Castle hummed along to the Beatles.

When they got to the loft, Kate went down the hall and hung both of their coats up in the hall closet. "Hello, Goodbye," was stuck in her head, so she sang it softly as she slipped out of her heels. She walked back down the hallway.

"So, Rick, what do you want to do? If you have to get some more writing done, I can just watch tv or read for a while. Or we could watch a movie….."

She walked into the dining room area and saw Castle down on one knee. Her eyes widened and suddenly she couldn't find any air in her lungs.

"Rick, I –"

"Katherine Beckett, will you move in with me?," he asked, holding out a shiny key on a cherry keychain with a red bow.

Kate was speechless. Move in together? Already?

"Rick, it's a big step," she said cautiously, taking a few steps towards him. "Are you sure?"

He stood up and walked to her, taking her hands in his. "Of course I'm sure. I want you here every day and every night, Kate. I want to wake up to you. I want to make you breakfast on weekend mornings and buy groceries together and fight over who gets to shower first." He restrained from making the obvious joke about showering together, which she appreciated.

She bit her lip. It seemed crazy, but at the same time it seemed like the perfect idea. Except for one thing. "But what about Alexis?

"I already asked her, she thinks it's a great idea. So what do you say?"

She grinned and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Yes. A thousand times yes."

He slipped the key into her back pocket and kissed her passionately, wrapping his arms around her waist. The kiss deepened, and he swung her up into his arms, carrying her over to the couch. They kissed until they were out of breath and forced to come up for air. Castle brushed the hair out of Kate's eyes and placed kisses down her neck, making her shiver. In that moment, Kate made a decision. Before she lost her confidence, she pulled her face away from Rick's and pulled her shirt off, tossing it on the floor and revealing her black lace bra.

Castle smiled and brought her face down to his, kissing her with even more passion than before. Kate tried to kiss him and take his shirt off at the same time, but she kept getting distracted by him. God, he was sexy. He finally stopped their kissing and pulled away, unbuttoning his own shirt and flinging it onto the floor next to hers. His white v-neck undershirt followed it, and she just smiled that wicked smile. Suddenly, she got up and walked towards his bedroom.

Castle was slightly confused. He got up and followed her, obviously not expecting their sexy makeout session to go much further. But his mind changed when he saw Kate's pants lying on the floor of his office. And her bra in his bedroom doorway.

What he saw on his bed nearly caused him to pass out. Kate, with her silky brown hair perfectly placed on her chest, wearing only a pair of black lace panties and lying on the bed. He stood next to the bed, speechless.

"You know," Kate said thoughtfully, her voice getting sexier and lower by the minute as she slid off the bed to stand in front of him, her hair falling away. "I don't like those pants too much. Maybe you want to take them off?" She smiled at him coyly.

"Are you sure you want to do this?," he asked her as she pulled his body to hers. She kissed him lightly, then sucked on his bottom lip. "Mhhmm." He grinned and pulled her down on the bed, unbuckling his belt.

She kissed him deeply. "I love you," she whispered. "And I can't wait to wake up to you in this bed every single day."

"Ditto," he sighed, kissing her again.

xxxx

At around 11 AM, Kate opened her eyes and the first thing she saw were Rick's bright blue ones, gazing at her adoringly. She smiled and leaned forward for a second to place a small kiss on the tip of his nose.

"Hey."

"Hey to you too," Rick said, putting a hand on her cheek.

"So, last night was….," he started, smiling lovingly. "Kind of perfect." She blushed.

"Yeah, it was, huh?"

Rick smiled. "How do you feel about it?"

"Pretty damn good," Kate said with a grin. He laughed. "What?"

"Nothing. I mean, I agree with you. But I meant how do you feel, emotionally? I didn't want us to do that until you were ready."

Kate blushed a little bit more at Rick's protectiveness and sensitivity. That second one, she hadn't even known he had a few years ago. Rick looked worried, as if he thought he had made her do something she hadn't wanted to do.

"I'm the one who tore my shirt off first, remember? I wanted it, and it was perfect," she said truthfully, kissing him again, this time on the lips.

They kissed for a few minutes, Kate pulling her body closer to Rick's. She was making her way down his neck when he whispered, "Hey, we got pretty dirty last night. What would you say to a shower?"

Kate grinned and bit her lip. "Sounds good to me."

She slid off the bed and walked into the bathroom. Castle grinned too, and didn't try to hide the fact that he was staring at her ass.

An hour and a half later, Kate sat on a barstool in Rick's kitchen wearing her bra and jeans with one of Rick's button-down shirts, sipping coffee and watching him make pancakes. She could get used to this, being domestic with the man she loved. Whoa, slow down there, Kate, she told herself. You gotta take it slow.

He stretched his arm over the counter and handed her a mug of steaming hot coffee. She accepted it with a grin and sipped it quietly for a few minutes while he finished the pancakes. Rick Castle was so cute in the kitchen. He buzzed around, washing strawberries, getting whipped cream from the fridge and taking a minute to spray some into his mouth.

He started to bring everything to the table and it looked delicious. Once he had placed the bacon, pancakes, fruit, and orange juice on the table, he led Kate to a chair. She blushed and set her coffee down next to her plate.

"Wow, Rick, this all looks amazing. Thanks."

He sat down across from her and grinned, reaching over to squeeze her hand for a second.

"You're welcome."

They both dug in, and for a while there was no sound but forks scrapping on plates and the Joshua Radin music softly playing from the iPhone speakers in the kitchen. After fifteen minutes of stuffing their faces, Kate leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, making a little happy noise. Rick rubbed his stomach.

"I am a damn good cook."

Kate opened her eyes and laughed. "And you're modest too."

He laughed with her. Then they both got up and started to clear the table. When they were done, Rick pulled Kate into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned her forehead against his.

"So," she whispered, staring into his bright blue eyes and feeling completely head over heels crazy. Her knees felt weak and she thought about the last 12 hours.

"So... what do you want to do today?"

"Hmm… well, I have the day off, so maybe just relax… kiss a little…," she kissed his neck and he sighed.

"Yeah… that's sounds good."

He cupped her chin and pulled her face to his, kissing her softly on the lips. She deepened it passionately, until they were so lost in each other that they didn't hear the front door open.

Alexis waited as long as she could watch her dad make out with Kate before she cleared her throat.

"Um, hey, dad. Kate."

They parted and Kate buried her face in Rick's shoulder, embarrassed. Rick's face burned bright red as he smiled weakly. He waved awkwardly and didn't move a muscle.

"Hey, sweetie. How…. how was your sleepover?" He coughed.

She smiled, but you could tell she felt a bit awkward too. "Good. We went shopping this morning, I got some new jeans a really cute sweater. I'm actually going back out in an hour, Paige and I are going to see a movie and then I have a 3-hour intern shift with Lanie."

"Cool," Rick nodded, trying to seem casual and totally cool, even though he could feel Kate was as embarrassed as he was. "Did you eat lunch?"

"Yep," Alexis said, calm and cool, the opposite of her flustered father. After a few seconds of awkward silence, she headed for the staircase and said, "I'm going to go upstairs." She turned back to her father. "Oh, Grams called me, she said she left for the Hamptons early this morning and didn't want to wake you."

"Thanks, sweetie. Have a fun time with Paige, let me know if you need movie money."

"Okay. See you later. Bye, Kate."

"Bye," Kate mumbled, muffled by Rick's shirt. The second Alexis was out of earshot, she lifted her head and gaped at him.

"Oh my God!"

He chuckled. "Relax," he said, pushing her hair to the side and massaging her shoulder. "She knows we're together."

"I know, it's just…awkward."

"Agreed."

They both laughed, and then she turned around to face him, putting her hands in his back pockets and pulling him to her.

Yet I want to do it again," she whispered, kissing him. He grinned.

"Oh, dangerous. Sexy."

"Oh yeah?," she whispered, even softer, gently pushing him towards his bedroom. "You wanna see how sexy I can get?" She kissed his neck again, causing him to moan very softly.

"Yes please," he whispered, swinging her up in his arms and carrying them to his bedroom.