A/N: This is a short chapter, but it had a good stopping point. ;-) This is my first multi-chapter fic, so be patient. Reviews would be lovely!

Rick lay in stunned silence. Kate's hair trailed across his chest, her ear tuned to the sound of his still-thundering heart. The taste of her on his tongue, the buzzing electricity of her fingers languidly tracing his flesh, were all that anchored him to the reality of Kate Beckett in his bed. She lifted her head, propping her chin on his chest and meeting his eyes with a hint of her familiar mischievous twinkle. "Damn, Castle, what on earth were we waiting for?"

It was only then that she saw the lines carved beside his mouth, the tears swimming in his blue eyes. He choked out a sound, a laugh crossed with a sigh, and closed his eyes as he fought for control. Sliding up his body, she rose over him and cupped his jaw in her hand, thumb stroking rhythmically over his lips. "Rick..." she whispered.

The sound of his given name opened his eyes, meeting hers in surprise.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't make jokes. This isn't a joke to me, don't think that, ever. I guess I'm just so used to…hiding…in banter and humor when it comes to us. I just…just panicked a little."

Castle trailed a hand up her back, smiling slightly as he felt her quiver in response. "Kate, I love our banter, and I love to make you laugh. But the last two days…hell Kate, I guess I have emotional whiplash or something. It's a good thing Esposito can't see me now, he would so mock me for being a girl."

Castle was too experienced at reading her to miss the flash of pain that crossed her face at the mention of Espo's name. "What, Kate? Did something happen to him?"

"Castle, a lot has happened, and we have so much talking we need to do, but can we just…not do it tonight? Can we just have this one night to be together without all of that baggage? God, Castle, I've just waited so long, you've waited so long. I don't want to think about anything but you, but us, right now."

Concern etched itself across his face, panic flaring in his eyes as he half rose in the bed, grasping her arms and almost shaking her in his intensity. "Kate, you'd better not be saying that this is a one night thing. 'Cause I love you Kate, and I'm not about to…"

He trailed off as Kate began shaking her head "No, Castle, no, no, no! I would NEVER do that to you. I just…want some time to be with you, like this, before the rest of the world crashes in."

He could hear the sincerity in her voice, read the truth in her eyes. Breathing a deep sigh, he cradled her to his chest, easing back to the pillows and rolling to his side, tucking her into the curve of his body. Her scent rose to surround him again, clouding his brain and speeding his heart rate. He could feel her lips pressing soft kisses to his chest as she lay nestled in his arms, curling in to him like a cat.

The electric crackle of desire began to surge and buzz through him again as he stroked his wide palms down her back with increasing ardor. Kate's soft kisses were becoming more eager, as she blazed a trail across his pecs with her hot mouth, tasting, teasing, and tantalizing his senses with her wicked tongue and teeth.

They lost themselves for endless moments of discovery; the brush of a finger, the scrape of teeth, the lean lines of muscle and bone, familiar yet completely and wondrously new. They mapped each other with soft touches, tender sweeps of flesh on flesh. No part of her was not fascinating to him, and she returned his explorations with her own. She dedicated herself to the minute examination of his hands, writer's hands marked by calluses and sinewy strength left by the flow of words from his rich imagination onto paper and keyboard. He lost himself tracing the shape of her face, the curve of her ear, finally experiencing with fingers what he had endlessly recorded with his eyes, hot on her as she sat working at her desk. Finally, as if their gentle touches had become too much to take, he clutched her to him again in wordless wonder.

She seized control, pushing him to his back, and taking him on a journey of sensation and need. He lay under her, content to let her take control. She took and took from his body to feed both her desire and his, driving them both beyond rational thought to a place he'd glimpsed, but never really experienced before. He reveled in her passionate ferocity. And in the final glorious moments, as she carried him over the abyss, it was her turn to cry out words of love to his wondering ears.