Thanks for the alerts, favs and reviews, and to my amazing beta, caskett. vs. stanathan. You guys make this trip worthwhile.
Spoilers for the first chapter of "Frozen Heat" ahead! It was published via Twitter, and it came in really handy! But you might want to skip some of this if you want to read it spoiler free!
Hour 46
"Are you still hungry?"
"Nope, I'm fine. Full might actually be a more accurate word…"
"Well, can't blame a guy for asking after you completely cleaned your plate… not a grain of rice left…"
"That's what happens when the love of your life makes you this unbelievably good risotto."
"I never tire of it…"
"Of me complementing your culinary creations."
"No, of you calling me the love of your life."
"Well you better not, cause I'm not done saying it." At this, she stands up as if to collect the dishes. I grab her hand. "Don't. Leave everything there."
"We have to take everything back inside at some point Castle. Why postpone it?"
"Because I'm not done enjoying our balcony yet. Why don't you come and sit here with me?"
"Why? So that now you can call this chair ours?"
I wink at her and add: "Have a problem with that?"
"Actually, I don't think I do, no." And to my surprise, she joins me in this obscenely big chair for just one. But contrary to my expectations, she doesn't sit next to me: she pushes my knees apart and sits at the v of my legs. Fine by me. This lounge chair is deep enough to fully accommodate the both of us. I pull her hair to the side and start showering her neck with butterfly kisses.
"Hey! What did we say about starting things we won't be able to finish?"
"And what did you expect me to do Beckett? I have all this amazing neck skin right here, available for kissing. It's almost as if it were screaming at me: kiss me Castle, kiss me."
"Well, as screaming as it might be, you still better keep your kisses to yourself if you want me to stay here."
"Actually… would you mind coming here and sitting beside me?"
She turns around and stares at me dubiously. "I never thought I'd see the day when Richard Alexander Castle-Rodgers would ask a woman who has her behind pressed to his front to sit next to him instead…"
"Trust me, neither did I. But I thought that maybe"- I reach behind me, maintaining the suspense even if only a few seconds longer "I could read Frozen Heat to you."
"I thought not going back to it tonight was one of the advance-reading-group…"
"The rule said you couldn't go back to reading it. There was none that stated that I couldn't read to you…"
"Really? I'm going to be the only audience of the first Frozen Heat book reading?"
"Yes, although I should probably admit that I've already read some of the passages to Alexis… but not any since the book was finished, so it still counts right?"
"It sure does. And Rick, don't you ever feel anything but proud whenever you daughter comes before me ok? With the few exceptions of our wedding day and on the eventual let's-deliver-our-babies-days, she should always come first. She's your daughter, and even when we have our own kids, I'll always understand if you think they come first."
"Actually, I was that way with my last two relationships and look were they both ended. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they didn't work out, if they had, you would've been a home wrecker despite your claims against it. But when it comes to choosing between you and my/our children, I think it's about time I learned to balance things. She'll always be my proof reader, we have a good, solid scheme there, but from now own, you'll always be the only audience to the first book reading. Deal?"
"Deal. Now read!"
"First sit next to me, if not, you'll read it too, and I want for you to listen." I guess our height difference is a really good thing, because what she does next is probably one of the most arousing things anyone has ever done. In stead of sitting next to me, she sits in my lap, her front now clashing with mine.
"Can you see the pages if I seat like this?"
"Uhm yes, I can see the pages, but that doesn't mean I can really keep my mind in the task at hand…"
"Well, get used to it, because I'm not changing positions."
"You do realize I might get irreparably turned on by this, right?"
"And we'll deal with it IF the situation shall arise."
"Really? Don't you think this is torture enough? You have way more faith in me than I do if you think I can live trough this AND your innuendo."
"Just read Castle! I want to hear your words coming from your voice instead of in my mind." And without further encouragement, I start reading the first chapter of my latest book.
SPOILES FOR FROZEN HEAT AHEAD! Stop reading if you want to be spoiler free!
""Oh, yeah, that's it, Rook," said Nikki Heat. "That's what I want. Just like that.""
"Hey! That's the beginning! I've already finished the first chapter!"
"I know. And I also know that going through it made you cry."
"Yes, so what? You want to see me all teary eyed again?"
"As far as I'm concerned, if for the rest of our lives I see only tears of joy coming through your eyes is fine by me. But no, that's not my intention. Since you cried while reading it, and I cried while writing it, I was thinking that maybe we could read it together and maybe make it less painful to read again in the future… Kind of replace the hurtful moments with some more joyous ones…"
"I really love the way you think." She hugs me like a Koala would hug a tree. It feels as if we're each other's life-lines. I really love that feeling.
"Oh, yeah, that's it, Rook," said Nikki Heat. "That's what I want. Just like that." A trickle of sweat rolled down his neck to his heaving chest. He groaned and bit down on his tongue. "Don't stop yet. Keep it going. Yes." She hovered over him, lowering her face just inches from his so she could whisper. "Yes. Work it just like that. Nice, easy rhythm. That's it. How does it feel?" Jameson Rook stared into her eyes intently just before he pinched his into a squint and moaned. Then his muscles went slack and he dropped his head backward. Nikki frowned and brought herself upright. "You can't do that to me. I cannot believe you're stopping."
"Can I break one of the advance-reading-club rules?"
"Let me guess. The first one?"
"Yeah, kind of…"
"Ok, let's hear it. As long as you don't allow me to call Gina to ask her to change anything. We really need to let the book be if we want to enjoy our summer together…"
"Yeah, no, it's not about changing anything. It's about us…and making this beginning better for us both, you know…" I'm not sure if it's supposed to be a question or a statement, either way, I know what she means.
"Oh, yeah, ok, in that case you can say all you want."
"When I first read it, I couldn't believe you'd actually started it with, uhm, you know, us having sex…"
"I thought you didn't like to be compared to Nikki…"
"Yeah, well, the whole trainer-with-benefits kind of proved you had really nailed the knowing me and using it for inspiration…"
"Hey! Who is he?! There's no way I'll ever let you train with him again! Furthermore, from now on, you only train with me! Even if it means getting my ass kicked more times than I'd care to count…"
"Oh, don't worry, he was gone way before you entered the picture…"
"He better have been gone!"
She leans in and kisses my chin, my neck, my lips. There's no real order, just a whole bunch of kisses. "You trying to distract me?"
"Don't know… is it working?"
"It is! Now, back to the book. Why didn't you believe I'd open the book with a scene of Nikki and Rook going at it?"
"Because that would have been cheating the audience."
"Uhm, you do realize they did it like, two pages after, right?"
"Just, go on and I'll explain."
"What ever my lady wishes "He let the dumbbells hit the black rubber floor beside the exercise bench and said, "Not stopping." He pulled in a chestful of air and coughed. "Just done."
"You're not done."
"Ten reps, I did ten reps."
"Not by my count."
"That's because your mind wanders. Besides, this rehab is for my own good. Why would I skip reps?"
"Because I turned away once and you thought I wasn't looking."
He scoffed, then asked, "Were you?"
"Yes, and you only did eight. Do you want me to help you do your physical therapy, or be your enabler?"
"I swear I did at least nine.""
"Ok, so was why having them doing rehab better?" I ask her.
"Because had it been you who was one shot, you would have allowed me what you let Nikki do for Rook. The chance to be with you while you got better. I know I didn't give you that, but your heart's so much bigger than mine, but I've been hoping you'd give them that, you know? The chance to overcome this difficulty together. I really wanted to know you hadn't turned into me…" She trails off.
"And what would that have entailed, Beckett?"
"Doing to Nikki what I did to you! Having Rook reject her and what she had to give to help him get better. And I know it would have taken me two months instead of three to get back in shape…"
"First of all, no regrets remember? Secondly, you did what you needed to do, Kate. And as I've told you before, yes, it hurt like hell, but you came back to me eventually. Besides, when I write their love story, I like to make it about what we should be living, not about the bad patches we've had…And last but not least… If we can barely keep our hand to each other after only two days of revelations, we wouldn't have survived THREE whole months of hands-to-ourselves!"
"I guess you're right there…"
"You guess!? You know I'm right…"
"Maybe. Then again, I might not have allowed you to actually repeat those wonderful words to me. I wasn't ready, and the love I see in your eyes right now after seeing my battered body, would have been enough reason to push you away. I was ready to admit to myself that I was in love with you, but I was so not ready to admit it to you back then…"
We spend a few minutes in deep thought. I guess I should have known the making-new-memories plan was going to mean a few rough moments too…Finally, when it's beginning to get a little awkward I say "Shall I continue?"
"Yes please."
[…] ""Who'd have thought? An earthquake in New York City?"
He put his arms around her. "Can't complain about the timing."
"Hard to top."
"Guess we'll just have to try," he said, and they kissed. Her phone rang and Heat pulled away to answer it. Without being asked, he handed her a pen and notepad and she jotted down an address. "On my way."
"You know what I think we should do today?"
Nikki slipped her phone into her blazer pocket. "Yes, I do. And as much as I'd love to—believe me, I'd love to—I've got to get to work."
"Go to Hawaii."
"Very funny."
"I'm not joking. Let's just go. Maui. Mmm, Maui."
"You know I can't do that."
"Give me one reason."
"I've got a murder to handle."
"Nikki. If there's one thing I've learned in our time together, it's never let a murder get in the way of a good time."
"So I've noticed. And what about your work? Don't you have some magazine article you should be writing? Some exposé of corruption in the dark corridors of the World Bank? A chronicle of your ride along with a bin Laden hunter? Your weekend in the Seychelles with Johnny Depp or Mick?"
Rook pondered that and said, "If we left this afternoon, we could be in Lahaina for breakfast. And if you feel guilty, don't. You deserve it after taking care of me for two months." She ignored him and clipped her detective shield onto her waistband. "Come on, Nikki, how many homicides are there in this city in a year, five hundred?"
"More like five-thirty."
"All right, that's fewer than two a day. Look, we peace-out to Maui today and come back in a week, you'd miss, maybe, ten murders. And not all of them would be in your precinct anyway."
"You're making a very clear point here, Rook."
He looked at her, mildly taken aback. "I am?"
"Yes. And the point is, I don't care how many Pulitzer Prizes you've won. You still have the brain of a sixteen-year-old."
"So, is that a yes?"
"Make that a fifteen-year-old." Nikki kissed him again and cupped him between the legs. "By the way? So worth the wait." And then she went to work." I pause for a moment. After all, this is as far as I wanted to get, at least tonight. Then I can't keep my mouth shut and I add "We should do that."
"What? Have earth moving sex? Don't worry, we will…"
"So not fair! Really, you have way too much faith in me if you really think I can survive having you wrapped around me and saying things about having earth moving sex!"
"Oh but you love my teasing Ricky…" She's such a seductress… I'm completely doomed…
"That I do, Miss Beckett, that I do. But what I meant was, we should go to Hawaii."
"What?! No Castle! We're going to the Hamptons! You promised!"
"Whoa, I wouldn't have thought that the idea of going to a beach house that has my mother and daughter in it would be more appealing than a week alone in Hawaii…"
"It's not so much about your family but about the house really…"
"Oh so you do love me for my money!"
"What?! No! It's just that you've talked about this house so much that I'm kind of intrigued now…You know I don't." And I kiss her, even if it's just to shut her up.
"Yes, I know, you don't care about my money. That doesn't mean I can't tease you about it from time to time…"
"Sure, fine, whatever…"
"Ok, so about Hawaii… maybe after the Hamptons?"
"How about one trip at the time?"
"Yeah, I guess we could do that…"
"Thank you." And we stay like that. With our arms around each other, enjoying this beautiful New York night for a while.