Chapter 9 The Talk

Though it was nearing midnight, Rick was still awake, typing away at his computer. He was stumped when he arrived at the dilemma of how to further the relationship between Nikki and Rook. They were last seen caught in a fierce thunderstorm that didn't serve to dampen the flame between the two lovers. Beyond that, he was unsure of how their relationship would continue.

How ironic, he thought. Life imitating art. The situation between him and Kate was so similar to that in his novel. Only, in his novel he could write the ending he wanted. Life wasn't nearly as easy.

The sound of a key jostling in the lock of the front door brought Rick out of Nikki's fictitious world and back to reality. Closing his laptop, he left his office to investigate the late night intruder and then remembered that Kate was due back home soon.

Or now. He opened up the door for her, as she was fumbling with the key.

"I could've opened that… and put my new key to good use," she pouted adorably.

"Hello to you too," he greeted.

"Hmm… I told you not to wait up," Kate said, slightly slurring her speech.

"But then again, when do you ever follow my instructions?" she giggled. Her face was slightly flushed with a light pink that painted her pretty cheeks.

Rick chuckled at her less than sober state. "Had a good time with Lanie?"

"Yup."

"Didn't do anything I wouldn't?"

"Of course not." Kate plopped herself down on the couch. "It'd be pretty hard to top your festivities. A police horse? I'd never be audacious enough. How embarrassing would it be for Ryan or Esposito to arrest me?"

"You need to make some wild, drunken memories of your own so that you'll have a story to tell at parties," Rick challenged.

"Come on Kate. What's the craziest, wildest thing you've ever done?" he eyed her suggestively.

Biting her lip, she thought for a moment. A glint flashed in her eye as she remembered a particular spring break excursion that got a bit out of hand.

Kate shook her head and said mischievously, "Story for another day."

"Then what did you two do?" Rick asked as he sat down next to her.

"Oh we just had a few drinks and talked about girl stuff…"

"Define 'girl stuff,'" he said, emphasizing the words with air quotes.

"You know, the usual. Work. Shoes. Sex. Boys and their stupid penises. Speaking of which, I need to talk to you," she poked him with a finger, focusing her attention on him.

"About my stupid penis?"

"No. Yes. Kind of." A confused look crossed his face as her eyes wandered off into the distance.

Her nonsensical answers weren't making much sense to him. "What?"

"You know… us," she clarified.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

After a few seconds of hesitation Kate turned back to Rick and asked, "What are we doing?"

Rick looked at her earnestly. "I don't know," he scratched his head sheepishly. "I was kind of hoping that you would tell me."

He didn't know what exactly to label them as either. All he knew was that he wanted to be with her.

"Well, we're not a couple," she declared.

Rick's heart fell sharply in his chest. He could have expected as much.

Rick winced as he thought about what they should do.

"So we should just forget about it? Pretend that it never happened?"

Kate shook her head. "No it happened, we can't disregard that. It happened twice and I kind of want it to happen again…" she rambled on.

"But we're not a couple," Rick repeated.

"We can be um… what's that term Lanie used…" Kate searched her brain. "Friends with Benedict?"

Rick's eyebrows furrowed, but then it clicked what she was trying to say.

"You mean friends with benefits?"

"Yeah, that's it. Friends with benefits. I don't really know what that is though," Kate admitted.

"It's like… a casual relationship. Mainly a physical one without any emotions involved."

Kate toyed with the idea in her mind. "So just sex?"

"Just sex," he repeated.

"Hmm… that could be fun," Kate mused. "We could just be friends and still have sex. Lots of it."

"That's what friends with benefits is for."

"Okay then."

"Okay?" Rick was thoroughly surprised that Kate would agree to such an arrangement.

Since the moment he met her, he'd been trying to pursue some kind of relationship with her. And no doubt he wanted her badly. Rick envied every single man who had ever held her hand, kissed her lips, or touched her body. He wanted to do those things with her. He wanted to be the only one to do so.

"Yes. I'm saying yes. Unless you don't want to go for it," Kate doubled back with concern.

Rick snapped out of his confusion long enough to accept her proposition. "No, I'm all for it."

He wasn't about to turn down a proposal for the continuation of their burgeoning affair. Of course he wanted more, but at least this way they could be together in the meantime while getting to know each other and testing the waters.

"This isn't some kind of cheap relationship," Kate tried to rationalize.

"It's just… we can't keep our hands off each other. I need time to think about things and I don't want to lose you. I'm not just using you for sex," she reassured.

"I'd be fine if you were," he grinned.

"Very funny. I don't want you to think that I'm being cheap or slutty," Kate grimaced.

"Kate, I could never think of you like that," Rick said as he moved closer to her. He brushed a lock of hair from her face and tilted her head up to gaze intently into her eyes.

"You are a beautiful, respectable woman and you deserve to be treated like one. But if this is what you want…"

"Mhmm." Kate nodded eagerly at him, eyeing his perfectly kissable lips. Suddenly she wanted that mouth all over her body again. It did wonders to her last night.

Even just talking to him casually got her fired up, wanting to feel him on top of her doing indelicate things to her body. They were leaning into each other now in dangerously intimate proximity.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Okay," he confirmed.

"Rules. We need rules," Kate declared suddenly, pulling her mind out of her filthy thoughts.

"Isn't the point of this that there are no rules?" Rick countered. How typical it was of Kate Beckett to set boundaries for everything.

"But there always needs to be rules," Kate insisted.

"I hope you know by now that rules are meant to be broken. I, of all people, should have taught you that."

Rick Castle was the reigning King-of-All-Rule-Breaking.

"Fine," Kate conceded. "The one rule is that there are no rules."

Rick couldn't help but laugh at her preposterous assertion.

"What's so funny?" Kate asked, genuinely confused.

"Nothing. Only you would make a rule about no rules," he said with a smile that extended to his eyes.

"Hmmph. Fine."

"Come here." Rick pulled her onto his lap, his hands resting on her waist. He pushed the bangs out of her face, cupping her cheek, and looked deeply into her hazel irises.

"You sure about this?"

"Definitely."

That was the last word Kate breathed before she leaned forward to close the gap between them, crashing her mouth onto his. Curious hands roamed each other's body as they reconnected on a whole new level.

With every movement they discovered more about each other, what makes him moan, what makes her tremble. Rick broke the kiss and pulled back just enough to look at Kate.

"Hello friend," he whispered.

She giggled and moved to unbutton his shirt. He distracted her from the task at hand by trailing kisses along her jawbone, reaching a spot behind her ear that he paid special attention to when he discovered what it did to her. She let out a guttural moan as he nibbled and sucked on her earlobe gently.

"Clothes… we both have too many clothes on," she panted.

"Mmm… then we better get back to my bedroom. Then we can have some fun," he enticed.

Rick stood up abruptly with Kate's legs wrapped around his waist. She steadied herself by folding her arms around his neck, squeals of both delight and protest coming from her mouth.

Setting her back down on her feet, they ascended the stairs with agility and reached the top in record time.

She took his hand in hers and headed to the bedroom where they had previously made love the night before. With their hands clasped together, Kate and Rick disappeared into the darkness of the night.

If there's no one beside you when your soul embarks,

Then I'll follow you into the dark

A/N: Out of town for a few days. You know what would be awesome to return home to? Lots of reviews! Next few updates will be fluff. Still working on more updates... please bear with me! And thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far. They make my day. Good to know people are actually reading my story. XD