This chapter is dedicated to the reviewer who thought the first chapter was a cliffhanger ;-) hehehe.

Disclaimer: I don't own them.

Sunday afternoon found them out on his boat in the Hamptons. They'd gotten up before dawn to make the trip, as it was forecast to be a beautiful fall day for sailing. So, with a picnic basket packed, along with drinks and blankets, they were off.

Kate inhaled the cool air, feeling the taste of salt on her lips. Despite the fact that she rarely gave herself the opportunity to go, the ocean was one of her favorite places. She sighed as she watched the waves, choppy enough to give a steady up and down movement to his boat, but not so violent as to make her ill.

She wore a cashmere sweater, the soft, light blue material coming down to the heels of her hands and trapped underneath her fingers as she continuously swept her wind-blown hair from her face.

"I love this." She opened her eyes upon hearing his words, expecting to find him looking out at the Atlantic; Instead he as staring contemplatively at her. The warmth in his eyes still made her stomach flip, even after all these months together.

"What?" She asked softly.

"How peaceful and content you look right now. You've always been gorgeous, but you're so at home here and it's simply stunning." She smiled at him as she pushed herself back from the railing, taking a few short steps towards where he stood and wrapping her arms around his chest.

"The smile on my face is equal part ocean, equal part you, Castle." The warmth of her breath on his neck contrasted with the chill of the breeze and sent a pleasant chill through his body. Keeping one hand on the wheel, he used his other to hold her against him and lined her brow with kisses.

"Now you understand why I've been trying to get you out here for years, Kate." He told her as he brushed his nose against her temple and inhaled the scent of her hair. The feather-light sensation of his nose against her skin caused her to release a light laugh.

"You always have to be right, huh Castle?" She teased.

"I'm simply saying, if you'd not been so stubborn and agreed to go years ago when I asked you, you could have been enjoying all of this." She stilled in his arms, the laughter dying on her lips as she pulled back from him. Sensing the sudden shift in her mood, Castle brought his hands to her arms to hold her in place.

He stared at her, but she remained fixated on the sweater he wore, tracing its patterns with her fingers. "Kate, what is it? Did I say something wrong?" He softly questioned her. He couldn't understand why his teasing would have caused such a change in her mood.

"You didn't say anything wrong, Castle. I was just thinking about lost time, thinking about the past." Truth be told, his words stung her. They took her right back to the moment of heartbreak she felt two years before, when she'd been ready to lay it all on the line for him; when she'd watched him walk away with his arm around his ex-wife instead of her.

"Talk to me, Kate." Castle insisted, not willing to let her off the hook with some vague statement about the past.

"I know that you think you've been waiting patiently for me, that I was untouchable-not interested, while you pined away Castle, but it isn't true. You weren't the only one who hurt."

Placing his hand under her chin he lifted her head, forcing her eyes to meet his. "Kate, what are you talking about?"

"Before Josh, Castle." She took a deep breath and continued, "Ask me why I broke up with Demming." She held her eyes to his and forced herself to not look away.

"Kate, I don't understand."

"I wanted you. I wanted YOU Castle, and I was ready to tell you" She spoke fiercely, but her voice soon broke, "then she was there and you were gone." Kate whispered the last part, as if speaking more to herself then to him.

"Gina." He spoke, understanding her words. He felt a profound sense of regret and guilt as he thought back on that day, on how Kate had taken him into the hallway to talk to him. In retrospect, it all made sense, and he saw the whole scene unfold in his memory from her perspective.

Her eyes were focused on her feet as he moved his hand from her jaw to her hairline, brushing the tendrils that had fallen into her face back behind her ear. "I'm an idiot."

"You didn't know." She whispered. " You didn't think I was interested, and I wasn't exactly leaving you clues to believe otherwise."

"I wish I had known." He answered.

"When you returned in the fall you were still with her. I hated it, I hated myself for feeling the way I did. One night I went to a bar to drown my sorrows, so to speak, and I met Josh. I figured why the hell not."

She finally looked back up at him, wanting to be sure there was no misunderstanding her now, "He was a distraction, Castle, and nothing more. I think that's why I was so pissed when you called me out on hiding in my relationships with men later that year."

"All this time Kate, all this wasted time." He pulled her against her and kissed her forehead.

"Not wasted time, Castle. By the time I realized exactly how much you meant to me, how much lo-" She broke off, still unable to bring herself to say the words, "How much I needed you, I knew that there was a lot of work to be put in. I wanted to be ready for you, for us, and I wasn't back then." She explained.

"But now…" He moved in to kiss her, brushing his lips against hers softly as he moved his tongue to taste her.

"mmmm." She smiled against him, letting go of the past and resting firmly in the present, "but now you're here, and I'm here." She spoke against his lips, "and there's no place else I would rather be."

He moved his hands down and caressed her lower back, allowing his fingers to slip beneath her sweater and graze the warm skin beneath. She leaned into his neck, biting him quickly and then placing her tongue over the same spot.

"Every second with you has been worth the wait." He whispered, "every single long and seemingly endless second."

She smiled and let her body sink against his completely. He was right, they were amazing together and it was well worth the wait.

Kate sat at her desk, stretching her arms above her head and arching her back to release the tension building there as a result of sitting in the same position for too long. Another endless week had taken its toll and she was at her breaking point.

Sure, they'd caught the guy, but not before he'd killed three more women. The result was tragic and even after he had confessed, the loose ends needed to be tied up. She looked at the time on her computer, it was nearly 6pm and she was ready to go home.

She smiled to herself for what felt like the first time that day as it occurred to her that home no longer revolved around a location, but a person. She knew he would be calling soon. Another aspect of their relationship was that she no longer worked late into the nights. More often than not he would call her, or physically come and get her when she got so tied up that she'd missed his calls.

He would always wait to show up in person until he knew everyone else was gone. On more than one occasion he had startled her out of her concentration on the murder board with her jacket in his hands, holding it out for her to put on. This is precisely how she encountered him later that day, his hand coming to rest on her shoulder as he urged her to come home with him.

"Come on Kate, the murder board and the paperwork will be here in the morning." In the past Kate would have been livid with anyone who tried to interfere with her life, but with him she let her guard down. It wasn't easy, but she'd been working with Dr. Burke about letting people in, about letting people help her more. She figured that this was the perfect opportunity to put her newly learned perspective to work.

She sighed and eased into her jacket. She couldn't argue that being fed by him, and then taken to bed to be loved by him was far more appealing than working late into the nights anyway. She buttoned up her coat and after looking around to be sure nobody was around, laced her arm through his.

"So, what are you feeling like for dinner tonight? Italian? Chinese?" She asked him as they entered the elevator.

"Actually, I was hoping we could grab a quick bite and then you would let me take you out tonight." Kate raised her eyebrows at him. They didn't go out much, it was too big of a risk. Their relationship was on the down low and there was too good a chance that he would be recognized. The last thing that Beckett wanted was to find their picture on the front of page 6.

"Castle, I don't think that-" He cut her off before she could finish her thought.

"I know Kate, but tonight is special and I had a specific spot in mind." He urged her. "It is a quiet little jazzy hole in the wall that few people know about. It is dark, private, the music is good and the atmosphere is great." He explained.

It certainly sounded nice to her, but she was still unsure. Reading the trepidation on her face, he simply took her hands in his own. "Kate, tonight marks 6 months that we've been a couple. I want to celebrate. I want to take you dancing. Since I can't wine and dine you at the fanciest of restaurants, I wanted to show you this place. I've never taken anyone else here, but I want to share it with you."

She smiled at him and lifted her hand to brush his cheek. Leaning in, she kissed him softly and sighed, "six months, huh?" She couldn't believe how the time had flown. It seemed as if they had just crossed that line yesterday. Yet, at the same time, she also had a connection, a familiarity with him that made it feel as if they'd been married for years.

She leaned back in and kissed him again. "We go to my place first. If you're going to take me dancing, I want to change." He smiled triumphantly at her, "as you wish."

Chandra's was exactly as Castle had described it, a hole in the wall jazz club. It had an essence of decades past that reminded Kate of the diary Castle read to her months before. She could imagine Joe and Vera in a location like this, dancing cheek to cheek. She smiled at the thought as they sat and ordered drinks.

The lighting was low at their table, facing the stage where a middle-aged African American woman crooned into the microphone. She wore a long dress that captured her full-figure perfectly. Her voice was sultry and sweet, and she was simply stunning. The woman, as it turned out, was the owner of the club, and she frequented the microphone for her patrons.

Below the stage was a dance floor, graced by several couples who all appeared to be very much in love. There wasn't much of a crowd, but it didn't seem to matter to the dancers. Kate smiled, glad that he'd shared this with her. She felt safe here, out of the spotlight and away from prying eyes who might reveal their secret to the world. Castle watched Kate as she took the cozy, intimate space in. She smiled softly as she listened to Chandra's song, a smooth melody sung about the love of the woman's life.

That evening, she'd pulled her hair back into a clip, sweeping it off her neck but still allowing tendrils to frame her face. She wore a hunter green dress that twisted in the front, hugged her breasts, but fell loosely to her calves. The halter top tied behind her neck, the dress leaving much of the skin on her back bare and allowing him to caress the expanse of her back anytime she reached out to pull him close.

He was surprised when she came out of her room wearing it. Afterall, it was November. She'd simply slid her jacket on and teased him. "What, this place is in doors, right?" He certainly wasn't going to argue with her, the dress was stunning.

"Dance with me, Castle." She whispered, bringing his attention back to the present, she stood and reached for him, obviously wanting to be in his arms. They'd only danced together once, years ago and it was during a case. That didn't count, she wanted to dance with him for real, and she was determined to not waste any more time. Afterall, Kate loved to dance and she loved Castle.

The music changed and the woman on stage began to sing another song, one that was familiar to both of them. Castle smiled brightly to her as they walked out onto the dance floor and he pulled her to him.

Chandra spoke, "This song is dedicated to all the new lovers here tonight." Castle and Beckett smiled at one another knowingly, thanks to the woman's words, they now had a song. The smooth melody filled the room and they waited for the woman to begin the sultry, romantic tune.

At last, my love has come along.

My lonely days are over, and life is like a song.

Oh yeah yeah, at last the skies above are blue.

My heart was wrapped up in clover, the night I looked at you.

Their fingers laced together, caressing smoothly as Kate rested her cheek against his. His palm came to rest low on her back, but he was unable to stop himself from caressing the bare skin there. Kate found the back of his neck with her other hand, teasing her fingers through his hair as she sang along to the famous words of Etta James,

I found a dream, a dream that I could speak to.

A dream that I can call my own.

I found my thrill to press my cheek to.

A thrill that I have never known.

Oh yeah you smiled, you smiled, oh and then the spell was cast.

And here we are in heaven.

For you are mine,

At last.

Had it been possible, he would have pulled her closer. Instead he brought their joined hands to his lips and kissed the back of her hand. Kate responded in kind, pressed sinfully close to him as she brushed his nose with hers.

They were completely oblivious to the world around them, focused only on one another as their lips met. He held her against him firmly, his palm flattened on the lowest part of her bare back. She held him in kind, her fist firmly grasping the hair on the back of his head as she angled him so that their lips met at precisely the right angle.

The heat rose in her cheeks, her breath becoming short as they continued to kiss as if their lives depended on it. A moan caught in the back of her throat as she felt his tongue against hers, tentatively seeking entrance into her mouth. She granted willingly, sighing as the warmth pooling in her stomach became molten hot lava.

In that moment they separated their foreheads rested against each other. They sought to catch their breaths and gain control over their aching bodies. "God Kate. I love you." He spoke to her. She smiled at him, taking his bottom lip between her teeth and biting gently. In that moment she knew, she was ready to say it back.

"Take me home, Rick. Make love to me." She softly spoke, kissing him once more to show him just how much she wanted him.

At first they didn't notice the not-so-subtle throat clearing near them. They were simply too lost in one another. Kate was never one for public displays of affection, but she was completely lost in him, captivated by his taste and his smell, by the feeling of his body pressed so intimately against her own. However, the spell was soon abruptly broken when a familiar, firm voice sounded.

"DETECTIVE BECKETT!"

They broke apart suddenly, gaping in shock as they came face to face with none other than Captain Victoria Gates. Her arms were crossed as she leveled them both with a fierce, disapproving glare.

AN: Awwww Snap. ;-)

You guys know that picture that is circling the internet? The one of C&B in nothing but his bed sheet (although it sort of looks like she's covering herself with just his pillow), and they look panicked, as if they've just been majorly busted?...yeah, that is sort of what I imagine their faces look like here...