Murder He Rewrote
"Let me take those." Castle says, slipping his fingers in between Kate's own and the handle of the bucket they used to collect shells. Right as the sun had started its slow descent through the endless mist of sky to dip into the water, leaving vivid streaks of red and pink and purple behind like ink trails, Kate had gotten to her feet and reached for his hand and said let's walk.
And when Kate Beckett looks at him like that, her eyes brimming over with softness but an edge of flint underneath like she's not afraid to fight for them. . .well, he hasn't quite figured out how to say no. So they ambled slowly along the sand, hand in hand and night nipping at their heels.
The first time his partner bent to collect a shell, Castle was so entirely unprepared that she almost tore his shoulder from its socket in her haste to grab a hold of the shell before the ocean rose over it and dragged it back to the deep. There was some exclamation on his part, a little garnering for sympathy that made his girlfriend rise up onto tiptoe and touch her mouth to his in apology.
After that, he threw himself right into doing this with her, collecting just as many shells as she did. So the collection in the bucket now is theirs, an amalgamation of the perfect shells that appealed to Kate and the slightly more weathered ones that drew his attention, if only because it meant he got to make up a story for each one and murmur them against Kate's ear.
"Thanks." Kate hums, handing the bucket over to him so she can flick on the outdoor showerhead and rinse the sand off of her feet, her ankles. "What do you wanna do with them?"
Rick toes out of his flip flops and leans against the half-wall, watching Kate as she balances on one leg to brush the sand off the other with her fingertips. "I don't know. Doesn't feel right to get rid of them."
"Okay, well, you think of something. I'm gonna start on dinner."
Rick steps under the stream of water to clean off his own feet, watching Kate's path to the kitchen and chuckling at the wet footprints she leaves in her wake. Glancing down to the bucket still in his hand, he frowns as he considers what to do with the precious memento of their first trip to the Hamptons.
Hmm. . .for now, he'll just keep them. And maybe sometime in the future he'll figure out a way to display them or something, have them as an ever-present reminder of how he and Beckett just work, in ways he never even anticipated. Rick heads for the house, stopping in the mud room to scrub at his feet with a slightly damp towel (Kate must have just used it) and stash the bucket of shells on a shelf to deal with later.
In the kitchen, his girlfriend is peeling potatoes at the sink and singing along to the radio, her hips swaying so erotically that Castle winds up with his body pressed up behind hers and his hands bracketing her hips so as to feel the rhythm and pulse of her movement, almost without the idea making any form of synaptic connection to his brain whatsoever.
"Potatoes." Is the first thing that makes it out of his mouth, and he curses himself and his apparent sudden and crippling loss of any sort of ability to string together a coherent sentence.
Kate turns her head to the side to glance at him, an eyebrow arched delicately and her mouth quirked. Mm, her mouth, and now he can actually get at it so he doesn't waste any time, stroking his tongue along her bottom lip and sliding his hands from her hips to the plane of her stomach, underneath her shirt where the silky-smoothness of her skin kisses his palms.
When he breaks away she's laughing at him, but it's the good kind, the kind where he can almost hear her say you're an idiot and I can't believe I'm in love with you. "Yeah. Potatoes. That okay?"
"Great!" He says, probably a little bit too enthusiastically but he loves her and they're on vacation and it's been at least ten hours since he's had sex with her and the constant, heady mix of arousal and adoration is starting to do seriously weird things like short-circuit his brain and turn his entire body into one giant mass of desire for both Kate's body and potatoes.
She's giving him that look again, as if she's unsure whether to pity him or take him up against the counter. "Okay. Um, you wanna cut the chicken for me?"
"I can do that." He nods, so vigorously that Kate turns into a swirl of dark hair and creamy skin and the interesting blue-brown of her shirt all melded together and he has to stop nodding and clutch at her so he doesn't fall down.
His girlfriend lifts an eyebrow at him and sets down the peeler, going to the fridge and pouring a glass of ice water. She pushes him to sit down at the counter and sets the glass in front of him, carding her fingers through his hair and peering at him suspiciously. "Drink it. I think you might have a touch of heatstroke, buddy. You feeling okay?"
"I don't have heatstroke, Kate." He whines, slinging his arm around her waist and spinning on his stool so he can reel her in to stand between his legs. "I'm alright. Just. . .it's you. Having you here- I'm excited. Sorry."
She dips down to kiss him softly, her hand coming up to settle at his cheek and she offers him a smile, her forehead meeting his. "Okay. But if you start to feel nauseous or anything, tell me, okay?"
"I'll tell you."
"Thank you." Kate nods, stepping back from him to turn to the sink and resume peeling the potatoes. Rick takes a moment just to watch her, the edge of tension in her shoulders that she can't quite disguise, and then he moves to press his mouth to the sun-warmed stretch of muscle and bone and skin.
He darts his tongue out to taste her, sunscreen and salt and yet somehow still sweet, and traces a line up towards her neck and the steady hum of her pulse. "Kate, love, I promise I'm fine. Don't worry."
Pressing a wrist to her forehead, she turns to face him and nods again, eyes downcast and almost ashamed. "I know you are. I'm being an idiot."
"You're being the woman who loves me." He shrugs, earning himself the lift of her chin and the startled way her eyes flit to his. "And I wouldn't want you any other way."
"Right. . .chicken?" She laughs, shaking her head – at herself or him he truly has no idea – and nudging him over towards the refrigerator. "I'm gonna cook it in oil and garlic with some sugar and pepper and stuff, I think."
"I love that you cook. But- garlic?"
Kate shrugs at him, smirking even as she turns back to the sink. Her fingers are nimble and delicate as she works and she looks so completely at home here in his Hamptons house that the lower half of his body suddenly becomes desperate for him to drop to one knee right here and ask her to stay forever. "I figured it doesn't matter if we both eat it, right?"
"Right." He manages, opening the refrigerator and searching for the packet of chicken inside. She's going to kill him, he's sure of it, but he can't even seem to care because she's just so beautiful that if she's the last thing he ever sees? Well he's perfectly okay with that.
They're just finishing up with loading the dinner things into the dishwasher, Kate's butt still tingling from where he caught her with the dish towel and only leered when she feigned irritation, when the confident sound of a knock on the front door cuts between them. Castle sighs dramatically and changes direction from his advancement towards her and Kate swallows back her laughter as she trails him to the hall.
Guess they're gonna have to wait a little longer to burn off the lazy, slow arousal winding through them both.
Castle pulls the door open and then the screen door as well, grinning widely at the older couple on the other side of the threshold. "Hi! Come in, come in."
They do, stepping carefully inside and then the man closes the door behind himself too, locking it as if he's at home. Kate slips her arm around Rick's waist and hooks her fingers in the waistband of his pants, lifting an eyebrow at him in askance.
"Oh, right." He laughs, gesturing first to the woman and then the man. "Alice, my housekeeper, and her husband Geoff. Alice, Geoff, this is Kate."
"Lovely to meet you." Kate says, accepting a handshake from Geoff. Alice tugs her in for a hug and presses a kiss to Kate's cheek, the gesture something Beckett has long since gotten used to after knowing Castle's mother for so long.
Alice beams, setting Kate back a little and grinning widely when Castle takes Kate's hand in his own, drawing her in close to his side. "Oh honey, we've heard so much about you, we just had to come meet you for ourselves. Oh goodness, I hope we're not intruding."
"No no, we just finished clearing up after dinner, actually." Castle says, ushering the two of them ahead of him towards the kitchen and drawing back to dip down and settle his mouth at Kate's ear. "I'm sorry. They can be. . .a little much. If it's uncomfortable for you I can ask them to go."
"It's fine, Rick." Kate says quietly, squeezing his fingers where they're still tangled up with hers. "These are your friends. And I hope maybe they can be my friends too."
"They'll love you." He says it so confidently that Kate can't help but believe it, following him into the kitchen. "Anyone want a scotch?"
"That sounds fantastic." Geoff responds enthusiastically, slapping Rick between the shoulder blades and laughing when Castle pretends to choke.
Kate moves to the cupboard to get tumblers for everyone; the nervous energy brimming inside of her makes her desperate to do something. And it's good, too, to show these people and maybe Castle too that she's comfortable in his home, she knows where his glasses are and the bottle of scotch, too.
"Thank you guys for getting the house ready for us." Castle is saying, leaning against the edge of the kitchen island at the opposite side to where Alice and Geoff sit. "It was nice to be able to just jump straight into enjoying ourselves without worrying about grocery shopping or uncovering the pool."
"I just bet it was." Geoff lifts an eyebrow and casts a quick glance at Kate. The warmth in her cheeks must be obvious to everyone, but thankfully the subject is dropped. Sort of.
"So, Katie honey." Alice says, her eyes warm and inviting where they crease with her smile. "Rick's told us a little about you. He did tell us that you were beautiful, but I have to say that's an understatement."
Kate turns to smirk at her boyfriend, amused and yes, touched by the fact that he told these people that he thinks she's beautiful. Turning back to Alice, Kate sets a glass of scotch in front of each of their guests and passes one to Castle, her own cradled in one hand. "What else did he tell you?"
"Oh, what was it Geoff?" Alice laughs, sitting up a little taller in a surprisingly accurate impression of Castle. "She's funny and smart and amazing and I just want her to have a great weekend because she deserves it. Something like that."
Castle shrugs, lacing an arm around Kate's waist to tug her closer to him. The fingers of Kate's free hand come up to tangle with his at her stomach and she grins up at him, wide and a little awed. Of course she knows how he feels about her, but to hear it from other people is kind of amazing.
"A toast, then." Geoff says loudly, interrupting before Kate can do something stupid like kiss him in front of these almost-strangers. "To true love. Long may it last."
Alice leans in to kiss her husband and Kate feels Rick's mouth come to settle against the crown of her head, his breath warm and good and the wall of his body behind her like a balm for every doubt she's ever had that they can make it. Everyone sips at their scotch and Kate winces, the burn of it stronger than she's used to.
"Oh and rest assured. Your secret is safe with us." Alice beams, glancing at Geoff as if in confirmation. And that's good too. Clearly Rick trusts that these people won't go running to page six the first chance they get.
"Oh, yeah, thank you." Kate hums, turning to smile at Castle again. She wants him, bad. All this talk about their relationship and how he thinks she's beautiful and the fact that they didn't even have sex this morning so it's been basically a whole day coagulates together into a clog of arousal low down in her stomach and a rapidly increasing ache between her legs.
It must be scrawled across both of their faces because Geoff laughs and stands up, cupping his wife's elbow to bring her up too. "We should go. We interrupted the poor things before they got to dessert."
Kate flushes, but Castle's laughing behind her and tightening the grip of his arm around her waist to bring her closer. "It was so great to meet you." She manages, shifting so she can push her hips back against Castle's in a slow and delicious torture.
"You too, honey." Alice grins, wisely choosing not to hug either of them goodbye. "We'll see ourselves out. You kids have fun."
"Bye." Kate calls out, Castle echoing her and then they're finally, blessedly leaving and the strained smile drops right off of Kate's face. "Let's go."
"Please." Castle grits out. Kate starts to tug him towards the hallway but he falters, reeling her back in against him and claiming her mouth in a bruising kiss that leaves them both panting and desperate. "I can't make it to the bedroom. I need you here. Now."
"Oh God, okay. Yes. Now." Kate groans, sucking hard at the thunder of his pulse at his neck and then travelling upwards, scraping her teeth at his jaw.
He chokes out her name and palms her ass, lifting when she jumps and settling her down on top of the counter. Kate wraps her legs around his waist and tugs him in close until his hips settle against hers, his mouth hot and quick as it follows the path of his fingers down her chest, the buttons of her shirt unfastening faster than she'd have guessed he'd be capable of.
Pausing at her scar for only a moment, Castle strips her shirt off her shoulders and moves for her pants, tugging them off with surprising dexterity and leaving her in her underwear while he's still fully clothed. Rick wraps his hand around her thigh and tugs it up until her knee meets his hip, his whole pelvis driving into hers as she reaches for his belt buckle.
It's embarrassing how close she is already and he hasn't even gotten her naked yet, but then Castle unfastens her bra and drops his head and she doesn't even care anymore because he just feels so damn good. "Kate, Kate, you're incredible." He's panting against her chest and she groans, cupping the back of his head.
After a moment she fists her hand in his hair and tugs his head up, bringing his mouth down to hers for a searing kiss. Castle's teeth catch her lower lip hard and she moans, knows exactly what the sound does to him but delighting anyway when he tells her. "You're so hot. So fucking hot, and you feel so good."
"Shut up, shut up." She grits out, kissing him harder before he can say anything else. "No more talking. I need you right now."
And that, at least, makes him stop talking and start doing.