This one has absolutely nothing to do with the case. But poker night...obviously I had to.

Ghosts

Kate blinked her eyes open, stretched her achy muscles as much as possible while cocooned tightly in Castle's embrace. It didn't take much to determine that her legs were, oh. Yep. They were sore. As were other areas. A good kind of sore, though. He'd taken to heart her comment about allowing him to investigate and had done so.

Very thoroughly.

Oh, but it was so good, and she couldn't find it in herself to be the least bit annoyed for the way she behaved around him. She was insatiable. They both were. She needed him like she'd never needed anyone, and in more ways than one. And while she used to scoff at herself for being the slightest bit needy, she'd long ago given up pretending she didn't need Castle, that she didn't want him in her life in every possible way.

How could she not want this? Waking up in his arms every morning. Having someone there to 'help' her in the shower and make her coffee before work and have dinner ready when she came home on nights she had to stay late. Someone to lounge with on lazy days, talking and laughing or relaxing on the sofa with a movie.

While they weren't around much anymore, she'd also inherited his brilliant twenty-year-old daughter and the closest thing to a mother she'd had since she was nineteen. Two years ago, she never would've admitted it, but now she knew she wouldn't have it any other way.

Comfortable as her partner's embrace was, however, she really needed to use the bathroom. Kate extricated herself from his arms, slipped out of bed and into the cool air of the loft. She snatched up his shirt from the floor, pulling it on and buttoning a few buttons as she crossed to the bathroom.

While washing her hands after using the toilet, she glanced at herself in the mirror, smiling at the glowing reflection shining back at her. She was beyond happy. She loved her life. She was so in love with Castle that it radiated from her every feature. And though it'd taken some time for her to not be afraid of those feelings, Kate loved seeing how much better she looked now than she had before.

It wasn't easy for her, for either of them, at times. During the rougher patches, the reflection that'd stared back at her had hollow, exhausted eyes, and no smile.

But she'd made it through; they'd made it through, together. And there wasn't a day that went by that Kate wasn't thankful she had someone in her life who made her so glowingly happy.

With one last smile at herself she stepped back into the bedroom, surprised but pleased to find Castle awake. He was sitting up, back against the headboard, and had thrown on a t-shirt and boxers. Slightly disappointing, actually; she loved his chest just about as much as he loved hers.

He'd retrieved the journal – Kate was fairly certain it'd ended up on the floor last night during their rather enthusiastic activities – and was flipping through it absently, skimming the entries.

The book was almost full; he'd have to get a new one soon, because even though it was no longer secret, he planned to continue writing to her.

Castle lifted his eyes as she climbed back into bed, pulling him from his thoughts. "Morning."

She cuddled up to his side, pressed a kiss to the underside of his jaw. "Morning."

He wrapped an arm around her, held her to him. "You look good in my shirt."

She just smiled up at him beneath her eyelashes.

"Where were we last night?" he flipped back to the front of the book.

"You mean before we got," she raised an eyebrow, "distracted."

"Tease," he muttered.

"You love it."

Castle kissed her temple. "That I do."

She smiled, turned back to the notebook in his hands and flipped to the correct page.

Kate,

I had a really fun time tonight. We should do poker night again sometime soon. And when we do, I'll prove to you that I'm not afraid of a little action. If you'd like, I'll show you just how much I excel at certain kinds of action. We can start by playing strip poker. Just you and me.

Don't worry, I wouldn't invite the guys or my mother (now there's a terrible mental image). It would just the two of us. We can even go to your place so we won't be disturbed. Just you and me and the cards and, hopefully, a lack of clothing. I'm game if you are. It certainly was the most fun night I've had in a long time... even if you did beat me in front of everyone.

Of course, I could easily have taken you if I'd wanted you. Next time, when it's just you and me, I won't hold back. I'm going to make you bleed.

It's pretty hot, knowing you're that good. That you could probably actually beat me, if you put your mind to it.

Kate snorted derisively. "Probably actually?"

"Well," he defended innocently.

"I've definitely actually beaten you. Multiple times."

"Only because I let you win."

She scoffed. "Right."

"Okay, maybe that one time..." he began, was silenced by her fingers over his lips. Her eyebrow was arched pointedly, her silent way of letting him know he was talking himself into a hole. "Right," he amended, miming zipping his lips as she dropped her hand.

Castle settled back down, resumed reading.

Next time – strip poker. Think about it – it's a fantastically promising scenario. Me without clothes, you without clothes. No matter how the games go, at least one of us ends up naked. And once one of us is naked, I think it's fair to assume both of us will wind up that way. Like I said – it's a win/win. I don't expect you to agree right away, but mark my words, Detective: I can be very persuasive. I'll convince you eventually.

-Castle

PS - I still want to know how you figured out I threw my hand.

Strip poker, huh? Well, now that sparked all sorts of sexy ideas.

The moment she finished reading, Kate slipped out of bed, leaving a confused Castle staring at her from behind. Not that he didn't enjoy the view.

But the pout fell from his lips as she sauntered across their bedroom towards the office, still wearing just his shirt, her long legs completely exposed. God, she was going to kill him.

"Where're you going?" he finally managed, eyes never leaving her bare thighs.

She turned in the doorway, coyly unhooked two buttons to reveal the inside curve of both breasts. His eyes traveled up her body, settling on the newly exposed skin, finally trailing up to her lips as she spoke.

"There's a deck of cards in your desk, right?"

Thoughts? Suggestions for the upcoming chapters? Keep 'em coming!