Murder He Rewrote
When Castle manages to peel his eyes open and roll over in bed, his body an uncooperative mass that battles him all the way through the movement, Kate Beckett is still fast asleep next to him. Skin licked by the early morning light and her lashes thin and delicate, her lips are parted and plump, more inviting than Rick could have imagined. The idea of leaning in to kiss her softly and being the very first thing that she opens her eyes to, the thing that tugs her up through the sucking draw of unconsciousness, is a delicious temptation, but he won't do that.
Instead, Castle slips out from between the sheets and tugs on a fresh pair of underwear, a shirt he left haphazardly over the armchair in the corner. The hardwood is warm in the fresh sunlight that pours in through the white chiffon drapes and so Rick forgoes his slippers in favour of padding through to the kitchen barefoot.
And, yeah, okay. . .it's sort of cheating, because the kitchen tiles are warmed by the underfloor heating, but no matter. Tugging open the refrigerator, Rick catches himself chewing on his lip and laughs softly, a deluge of images flooding his mind of his beautiful girlfriend doing the same.
Mm, maybe if she were here she'd lean in and lave her tongue over the abused skin the way that he does to her. Shaking his head, Castle gathers together ingredients for pancakes and flicks on the radio, relaxes into the feel of the music threading through his veins.
It would have been nice to kiss her awake, sure, but the look on her face when he brings her breakfast in bed far eclipses even the sleepy smile he could have been greeted with. He adores her, and all the small ways he finds to show it are matched only by the things she does for him, too.
The smell rouses her first. Kate arches in bed and relishes the wonderful pop and release of tension along her spine, her body still loose and sated after last night. Peeling her eyes open slowly, Kate burrows down into the lovely warmth of the sheets and unleashes the smile that wants out.
She can't help but wonder what the Katherine Beckett of five years ago would think of the woman she is now, the one who had only just met the annoying writer boy and couldn't wait to get shot of him. The too-short hair, the penchant for boat neck sweaters and the bristly exterior are all long gone now and Kate laughs quietly at the image of her younger self's face that bubbles up unannounced. Detective Beckett circa 2009 would most likely wonder what on earth has happened to herself.
Sitting up in bed, Kate listens to the sound of her partner flicking off the burners and plating up their breakfast, the heavy familiarity of his footsteps coming towards the bedroom and then he's here, framed in the doorway, and her heart catches in her throat.
The hard edges of muscle in his chest and arms outlined by the flattering touch of his shirt, and his thighs huge and powerful and oh, God, she knows so well now exactly what he's capable of, what he looks like, and still he manages to steal her breath and have her skin break out in gooseflesh.
"Good morning, gorgeous." He beams at her, coming around to set the breakfast tray on the nightstand next to her and lean in to brush his mouth to hers. The sweetness of chocolate comes up to meet her and she laughs into their kiss, glancing to the plate next to her.
"You were tasting as you cooked?"
Castle flushes and collects his robe from the hook on the back of the door, hands hers over as well and watches as she shrugs into it. "I chopped strawberries too, for after. They're still in the fridge."
"Hey, babe, not a criticism." Kate grins at him, tangling her fingers with his to tug him back down into bed. He lets out a decidedly unmanly shriek and topples onto the sheets, rolling over her body to get back to his side. Once he's settled he sighs in contentment and glances over at her. Kate raises an eyebrow and her ridiculous boyfriend grins widely, coming in to kiss her again. Tender fingers trip up her spine and his palm settles at the back of her neck, his thumb circling behind her ear as he strokes his tongue inside. When he breaks away, his forehead settles against hers and he offers her a smile rich with so much love that Kate has to touch her mouth to his again just to keep the floodgates closed.
"Thank you for breakfast."
"It's getting cold." He says quietly, reaching over her to grab the tray and settle it between them. Kate takes her plate and rests it on the ridge of her bent knees, cutting a piece of pancake and slipping it into her mouth. She chews slowly and hums her enjoyment, settling her temple against Castle's cheek so she can feel the work of his jaw as he eats his own pancake.
Kate swallows her mouthful and curls her arm around his, leaving them both half-immobilised but she can't even manage to care. So much love between them this morning, and she just wants to keep him close. "It's delicious, Rick. And- I love you."
"Oh, Kate." He laughs, touching two fingers to her chin to lift her face to him and take from her mouth again. His kiss is deep and searching, his fingers at her cheekbone and tripping down to trace her clavicles. "Kate, you know I love you. So much."
"God, we're pathetic this morning." She laughs, shaking her head and untangling herself from him just a little. The pancakes really are delicious, and after all the energy they burned last night Kate's stomach opens like a gaping maw and calls out for nourishment. Returning to her breakfast with renewed vigour, Kate shifts in the bed so she can see her partner properly.
His jaw is a hard edge as he thinks and then he grins at her, shrugs, and shoves another mouthful of breakfast into his mouth. "The way I see it, baby, we've earned our right to get a little love-struck from time to time."
"Don't call me baby." Kate huffs at him, rolling her eyes, but it does nothing to combat the rush of warmth low down in her gut. Breakfast is finished in silence, the kind where Kate can take the time to delight in the quiet sounds of her partner beside her. When she's finished she steps out of bed, quelling a laugh at the look of absolute betrayal on Castle's face. "I'm gonna shower. You wanna join me?"
"Sure. Let me just put our plates in the sink." He grins, clambering out of bed after her. Kate feels his eyes on her all the way to the bathroom and throws an extra sway in her hips, pausing in the doorway to cast a long look at him over her shoulder.
The mirror is enormous in this bathroom and Kate braces her hips against the counter and leans in, inspects a blemish on her nose. Jeez, she needs to go get her eyebrows done too. Castle gets most everything of her outside of work, so she hasn't really had time to do things like have her eyebrows shaped or her nails done. Hasn't wanted to make time, and they both know it.
Often when he intends to spend the day writing he'll suggest that she take the day for herself, do 'girl things'. But she much prefers to curl up on the couch in his office and read with the sound of his fingers tripping across the keyboard as her backdrop.
Kate crouches down in front of her vanity case and searches for her lotion. It's only by luck, really, that she hears Rick's phone ringing at all. Usually she'd just ignore it, but it's the ringtone he set especially for the boys and so it piques her curiosity. Beckett gets to her feet and heads for the door, sees her boyfriend settled on the end of the bed with his phone on speaker.
Ryan's voice rings out, tinny and crackling over the line. "I spoke to your mom, Castle."
"You- you did?" Rick gapes, shooting a panicked glance to Kate where she hovers in the doorway. He swallows hard and turns his gaze back to the phone, eyes wide.
"I did. I was concerned about you. Don't want to see you moping around the precinct like you did when Beckett was with Josh." Ryan's voice is thick with delight and Kate can just imagine him reclining in his chair at the precinct, smug grin plastered across his face.
"Oh, really? And, uh, what did she tell you?"
"That you're happy and I shouldn't worry."
Kate comes skidding through from the doorway and halts herself with both hands planted against the mattress, panic flooding her system. She meets Castle's eyes, but there's really no reassurance there. Kate makes a halting motion with her hands and frowns hard at him, hissing as quietly as possible.
Rick fires right back at her, mouthing at her to relax before he clears his throat to address Ryan once more. "Did she say anything else about. . .anything else?"
Hands pressed together in supplication and to her mouth to halt the trembling, Kate furrows her brows at him again, but then Ryan's voice is stealing her attention once more.
"I'm pretty sure she told me everything she knows."
Everything? Oh God. Kate doesn't think that Martha would purposefully drop them in it, but. . .Ryan is a detective. And Martha does have a flair for the dramatic.
"Everything? That's good." Rick manages, the width of his shoulders set hard as if in defense.
Over the line, Ryan's smugness somehow increases tenfold. "Yeaaah. Good luck with the writing."
And then he hangs up.
Rick paces back and forth in the hallway, Kate leaning against the doorframe watching him with concern sharpening her feature, but he can't seem to stop. This is just. . .a disaster. "What do we do?"
"Maybe nothing." Kate shrugs, stepping away from the wall to come to him. She laces her arms low around his waist and he crashes into her, settling his palms at her biceps.
His forehead drops to hers and he sighs, presses a burst of a kiss against her mouth. "I'm so sorry, Kate."
"Why are you sorry?" She grits out, her fingertips coming up to rest against his cheek. A wash of desolation floods her face and she buries her head against his neck, her nose sharp at his pulse. "This isn't your fault. It isn't anyone's fault."
"I don't want to leave you." He manages, the thickness of raw emotion disabling anything else he may have said.
Kate's fingers card through her hair and then drop, circling his wrist and leading him through to the living room. She nudges him to settle on the couch and then curls up at his side, the warmth of her doing more to settle him than anything else. "You're not leaving me. I don't believe for a second that the boys will let it slip in front of the captain. They know how important it is."
"But what if they do let it slip?
Shifting a little closer, Kate curls an arm around his stomach and arches her neck to press a kiss against the underside of his jaw. It's a little strange, to have her being the rational one, the one to comfort him. He likes it. . .a whole lot. This is the woman he loves beyond anything he ever thought himself capable of, and everything she does just floors him. "Then I will fight for your right to stay in the precinct. And if you do get thrown out, we'll be okay. I'll just get to come home with you instead."
"You promise?" He asks, shame cutting him right through even as the words trip out. Castle curls his arm a little tighter around her shoulders and drags her ever closer, dipping down to take from her mouth as if in reassurance. For her or for himself he doesn't know.
Kate draws back to look at him, her eyes so rich and expressive they're almost molten before him. "I promise. I'm not giving up on us, Rick Castle. Precinct or not, it's you and me."
"Okay." He grins, settling a palm at her spine to draw her in close. Kate lifts up onto her knees and slides one easily over his lap, sinking down hot and quick against him. She rolls her hips and Castle groans, clutches at the hard edge of bone to keep her still. "I want to take you out. You wanna go to the beach?"
"Sure, yeah." Kate grins, wide and sunny, and (thank you God) slides off of his lap. "Let's go to the beach."
It's strange, doing this with him.
Gathering beach towels and sunscreen and water bottles into the big bag the way she used to do with her parents when she was young. Castle fusses about sunhats and cover-ups, meeting her raised eyebrow with a murmured explanation that his daughter is a redhead and so he's always had to be extra careful.
Sweet, actually, and so Kate let it skim over her like water off of a duck's back. She's a big girl, and she told him as much, but it's sort of nice to have him looking out for her. To be looked after.
Now she trails him down the beach as he searches for the perfect spot for them. It's not too crowded, really, not in October. But still warm enough that Kate rolls her shoulders underneath the sun's lovely caress and sighs in contentment, striding far enough ahead that she can catch up to Castle and lace her fingers with his.
"Just pick somewhere, Castle. I wanna build a sand-you."
He snorts at that, delighted with her, and starts to run down the side with Kate flying along beside him. When he comes to a stop, he flings himself down onto the sand and takes Kate right along with him. His body cushions her fall, mostly, so Beckett lifts up enough to kiss him and rolls her hips against his achingly slow. "Here's good?"
"Mm, right here is very good." Castle hums against her ear, his hand slipping down to cup her ass. God, it feels so good. Even now, after six months of doing this, being able to give in to the need for each other is still so amazing, still steals her breath. Only, a couple yards down the beach a dark-haired little girl peers over her mother's shoulder at them.
"Castle, babe, let go. Kids present."
He huffs, but he does drops his hands and settle her against his side instead, sitting up slowly and bringing her with him. The bag is at his other side and he rummages inside it, comes out with the massive, floppy-brimmed straw hat of his mother's that he's insisting she loan. Kate peels off her shirt and shorts, left just in her bikini. And it's modest enough, but she doesn't miss the slight slackening of Castle's jaw.
Rick lays out the blanket and nudges her until she shifts onto it, rolling her onto her stomach and uncapping the sunscreen bottle. "Here we go, gorgeous. I'll rub your back, you rub mine."
And yeah, she hears him laughing, but his fingers are tender and sure either side of her spine and she can't manage to care. Once he finishes she sits up and manoeuvres herself to sit behind him, squeezing out some of the lotion onto her palms and applying it liberally to his back and shoulders.
"All done." She grins, kissing his chin and reaching for her hat. The thing is ridiculous, really, but Kate takes a moment to arrange her hair over her shoulders and then she pouts at her partner, blinks slowly at him and rolls her shoulders back to put her breasts in his line of sight.
"You're not very nice, you know that?" He huffs, tugging her hat down over her eyes and pouring more sunscreen into his palms to protect his arms and legs as well.
Once she's rearranged her hat so she can see again, Kate takes the lotion bottle from him and smoothes it over her own skin, stretching out on the blanket when she's finished and arching her back.
Castle groans, splaying his hand at her stomach for a moment and then curling his fingers around her shoulder to bring her up against him. "I thought you wanted to build a sand-me, you bully?"
"Sorry babe." She laughs, kissing his cheek and then scrambling over onto the sand to start digging. The little girl from earlier watches and Kate beams at her, flutters her fingers and gets a hesitant wave in response. It fills Kate with joy and she turns to share it with the man she loves, finds him already watching her with his heart rich and pouring out of him.
"She's cute."
Kate doesn't reply. Nothing she could possibly say could convey how much she wants this for them. The little girl's father runs up the beach towards his daughter and her mother and gathers the tiny wisp of a girl in his arms, spinning her around and scattering kisses across her cheeks.
"Kate, you look. . .wistful." Castle says softly, no judgement or pressure, just an observation.
Turning over her shoulder to glance at him, Kate lets a soft smile ease its way across her face and nods slowly. "I think I want that. For us. Someday."
Castle curls his fingers behind her neck and drags her against him for a kiss that he pours his whole soul into, tongue and teeth and lips all working over her to leave her panting against his cheek when he eventually lets her go. "Kate, anything you want. Anything. I just want you to be happy."
"Oh, Rick." Kate sighs out against his cheek. "I am. I'm so happy."
A/N: So sorry for the absolutely inexcusable delay on this one. Real life just kind of knocked me for six for a while there. Thank you for your continued support and interest in this story, it is always so much appreciated. And happy New Year!