Chapter 42- Listening to Music

Still not mine, but I enjoy borrowing them.

"Wow."

"Wow." He repeated as they laid in a comfortable tangled sweaty mess of limbs.

She caught him crinkling his nose and sniffing the air, "Smells like…" His eyes were twinkling with a hint of mischievousness.

She knew what he wanted to say, he wanted to say 'sex' but his eyes were asking permission. The whole naked in bed, intimacy in bed was in its infant stage. Tentatively taking his ear between her teeth she whispered. "Say it – I know you want to."

Extracting his ear from her mouth, Castle placed a sloppy wet kiss on her mouth, talking as he ran his tongue across her lips teasing her, "You smell like hot dirty sex and I like it."

Cocking an eye brow at him, she snickered, "Very hot and a little dirty."

"Speaking of dirty – where did you learn that little move where you…" He blushed, Richard Castle was actually lying naked in bed with her blushing.

"Ah you liked it?"

"Totally delightful. Practice it much?"

Her face transformed into a scowl and her eyes squinted into a glare, "You did not just go there."

"No, no not 'there' but it was a surprise." His face said it all; he was just being Castle, teasing her, flirting with her. It wasn't about past relationships, which was good because she wasn't going there. At least not while they were lying naked together in bed. Or lying naked any place else.

"First time."

His eyes bulged, "No way!"

"Yes way!"

With disbelief he asked, "You just made that up on the fly?"

"No." Giggling and stroking his face "You hear a lot of things hanging out on the corner with the pros, honey trapping for vice. Now roll over you're crushing me."

"I like crushing you."

Moving her hands southward, "I can tell, but it's hard to breath." Wrapping her legs around him she flipped him to his back and settling her chin on his chest. "Ahhh, much better."

Grabbing her tightly by the waist, "This works too." Waggling his eyebrows and smirking with his eyes. "Any requests Detective? I appear to be at your mercy."

Nipping at his stubble with her teeth she mumbled, "I am hungry. It's not like you fed me much. All that food and you, caveman carried me away from it." Kate continued her assault by slowly working the tip of her tongue along his collar bone.

Castle's body began to shake with a combination of laughter and arousal, "Me? ME? I seem to remember a certain Detective leaving me with my mouth hanging open as she runway walked away from me."

Matching his laugher, "Might have been me, but didn't I ask for a picnic to go?"

Castle growled, "Not getting out of this bed till checkout time."

"All those times you begged me to eat, harangued me over my love of greasy take out and now we have a delicious array of eats and you deny me?"

Stroking fingers along the laugh lines that accentuated her eyes,"Yep."

"Hmmpff" Returning to nibble along his jawline "Don't you want me to keep my energy up?" Punctuating the 'up' with a saucy little smile.

Castle knew that Kate had significant power and control straddling him with her naked self. He rolled them on to their side, and flung a leg over hers. Hoping he was strong enough to keep her just where he wanted her. Castle began his negotiations. "Make you a deal."

Loosening his grasp enough to allow space for him to run the flat of the palm of his hand across her taut stomach.

Crap, her determination to eat was bound to vanish if he kept that up. "What?"

Rick reached over to turn the bedside clock so they both could see it, "If in five minutes you would still rather get out of bed and eat, I won't stop you." His hand continued its southern journey.

Through lowered lids and gritted teeth, "You fight dirty."

"Just you wait and see how dirty I can be."

Disorientated and struggling to move, Kate felt trapped. She attempted to sit up – she couldn't. She hoped she wasn't having one of those nightmares where she was paralyzed because the other dream she was having was far more delicious.

Castle was soundly sleeping on her chest, his right ear firmly glued to her heart. She knew he was sleeping because he was letting out little almost snores. His left hand covering her tattoo, fingers curling into her hip, even in sleep his thumb unconsciously twitched over the lettering.

His right arm curled under her head, a pillow of sorts. His legs were sprawled out behind him, his feet dangling over the edge of the bed, sheets tangled between his legs. It couldn't be comfortable and he was a cover hog.

A third attempt to move and Castle growled, "Stop squirming, I am listening to music."

"Really?"

"Really." Tucking his feet to his body and snuggling closer. "When you are relaxed like right now your heart reminds me of the music of a slow waltz, 84-90 beats per minute – a slow romantic rhythm that sucks me in and everything disappears except you and me."

Planting kisses on her heart only to return his ear to her chest "Now the beat is picking up. A quicker beat, 120 beats per minute or more – perhaps a Viennese Waltz - the beat is more of a constant array of turns. A faster yet lighter rhythm."

"And now when I slide my hand down your thigh, a lovely thigh I must say, your heart quickens to the beat of a rumba. Each beat taking a step closer, a slow sensuous, flirtation beat."

Damn he was good. Her hips were actually swaying to the sound of his voice and the feathering of his touch, stroking her with a slowness that only served to draw him into his story.

Determined to regain control, she grunted out "If you want to get to the Paso you need to let me eat." Kate somewhat reluctantly slipped out of bed, shook her head, tossed him a smile and headed for the living room.

Castle remade the bed, fluffed the pillows, and poured champagne in tumblers from the bathroom. He was spreading a bathroom towel across the bed, a make shift table cloth when Kate returned juggling overflowing plates of food.

The sight of naked Kate caused him to swallow repeatedly. He really was a lucky man. "Way better than my fantasy."

"TMI – not sure I'm ready to hear about those yet."

"Please, it's a good one."

Climbing into bed beside him as he took the plates from her, "Okay – but just one. And only because today is special."

"It is special isn't it" Stealing a kiss, "Okay so in my fantasy you wear a little…"

Arching her eyebrows in mock horror, "Do not tell me a writer of your caliber settled for the 'French Maid Fantasy'."

Scrunching up his nose, and hanging his head in shame, "Right. Need to work on the fantasies." Sneaking a look at her from the corner of his eye, "Maybe you should share one of yours instead."

Kate's face reddened and she gave him an affectionate poke to the ribs, "Time to change the subject."

Flushed face – score one for Team Rick. He decided to take advantage of her embarrassment, in her weakened state she might just say yes. "Dinner Tuesday night?"

"Can't."

"That was quick, didn't even think about it."

"Every other Tuesday I meet with Dr. Burke."

"What time? We could do a late dinner."

"I'm not great company after seeing him. I need to decompress." Trying to lighten the mood "Cherries – you know. 'Cherries'."

Lacing his fingers in hers, a simple reassuring touch, a connection that told her he understood.

"Wednesday night?"

Grimacing a bit, since she had already shot down Tuesday night. "It's my sparring night."

"Reschedule?"

Unable to swallow her words "Like to stick to my schedule, keep the routine." Shit. She hadn't intended her words to sound as if sparring was more important. Real relationships took work, she knew that, but she hadn't been with anyone who planned ahead. Cops, Doctors the other men she dated all knew everything with her was last minute – if she had time for them. Kate knew that Castle wanted something more predictable. He wouldn't settle for being slotted into segments of her life he would want to immerse himself in her world. Dive in.

With a sad face and gently persuasive tone, "It's um, well family night –"

"Family night?"

"Yeah – Wednesday's are dinner and Sunday's are brunch – now that Alexis is getting so grown up and independent we book times to make sure we check in. I wanted you to join us."

Looking to compromise, "Sunday would work."

Was it regret she saw flicker through his eyes? No disappointment, definitely disappointment "Hey, why the gloomy face? Sunday is only few days later."

He wavered a bit, not too convinced on how she would take what he was about to say, but he was saying it anyway. "I wanted to show off my new girlfriend to my family. Let them see it's good between us."

Using the lightest of voices she teased, "Girlfriend?" running her fingers across his biceps, which were more defined than anticipated. His dress shirts always teased her that he might work out more than he admitted, but they just didn't do him justice. "Hmm – not crazy about the label, I like lover better."

Castle's eyes danced with glee, she hadn't said no and she said the word 'lover.' "Sooo does that mean you want me to introduce you to people as my lover?"

Catching his eye and squinting to glare at him, "Hardly."

"No need to explain…I get it not ready for label."

"Never been good with labels, I doubt Alexis and Martha need me to have one."

"What about Lanie, Maddie, the boys and your Dad? What are you going to tell them?"

"I don't think we need to 'tell' them anything."

Scowling at her and gesturing between the two of them, "You are going to hide this?" Pissed. The only word to describe how he was feeling was pissed, he had run right through disappointed. Rick believed they were getting somewhere, apparently not.

She started to laugh, she shouldn't really – the look of concern on his face was so serious. With a rawness in her voice that he had never heard before, not even during their recent love making, "Rick, they know. They know everything."

Concern transformed into confusion, "Huh?"

"I thought I told you I told Javi everything, which means by now he told Ryan. You know Maddie booked the room, Lanie fetched my gun from your place and my Dad…" there it was the eye roll "… has been your cheerleader longer than I have even liked you." Okay and the smile, "nothing new to tell."

Relaxing his face into an impish grin he asked, "You're telling me that Esposito and Ryan know of your plan to kidnap and seduced me."

Flashing sultry half smile, "Left the seduction details with the girls. I did tell Javi that I was making amends and that if I had my way that when I showed up at work on Tuesday we would be together. I think he is a big boy and knows what that means." Simultaneously kissing him and laughing, "Especially since he asked if he needed to have the big brother safe sex chat with you."

Shaking his head in disbelief, "That's embarrassing."

"Tell me about it."

Switching gears, "Your Dad likes me?"

"I don't know if he 'likes' you per se or just likes to see me happy."

Curling up around her, "I make you happy?"

Running her forefinger over his brow, "When you're not annoying me …" leaning in for a kiss that said she found him anything but annoying, "..yes."

Pulling back from her kiss; "Couldn't just say yes?"

"Can't feed your ego too much." Linking arms with him and setting her head to rest on his shoulder, "Almost forgot, if I reschedule my sparring, this one time, to join you for dinner on Wednesday night…"

"Outstanding. Wait did you say 'if'?"

"IF, I come over for dinner you need to promise to spar with me after dinner."

The blue of his eyes turned all kinds of shades of naughty. "Naked sparring?"

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