This is another chapter where I'm just going to quietly pretend it really happened. Because, well, I can.

Chapter 41: 4x10, Cuffed

Next time?

Kate's groggy and dizzy and limp and curled against a warm body.

She takes a long breath and huddles closer. This is nice.

Her head is still spinning, mild but persistent, like the tail end of a hangover. She squeezes her eyes shut, draws in a long breath through her nose. It's not so bad. She trails her hand lightly over the man's chest, rising and falling steadily with his breath. Her fingers trace over the soft fabric of his shirt, over the subtle lines of his muscles. He lets out a soft noise, and she feels his hand brush over her hip. She holds her breath, waiting, her face getting hot as his fingers slide up over her stomach. His palm spreads over her breast, squeezing gently, soft and teasing. Mmm, oh yes. That feels good. So good. Arousal uncurls in her veins, lazy and loose and syrupy and delicious. Even still muffled with sleep, she leans into the heat of his body, smiling into his shoulder. The warm body shifts beside her. She can feel hot breath on her face, blooming over her skin. A shudder runs through her. And when his mouth covers hers, she kisses him back.

God, it feels good. His lips are slow and warm and lazy and his tongue slides into her mouth and oh yeah. Oh yeah. His thumb traces light circles on the curve of her breast and she lets out a soft moan because damn. She's not even awake, not really, everything is blurry and she might still be asleep, but her body is ready to go. Right now.

It's been a long time since she woke up beside someone. She's not - she's pretty sure they haven't - at least she doesn't feel like she did. And she's wearing clothes, she's certain. So. Well. It's still nice. She might really be dreaming, since everything is still vague in her mind and she's floating on a soft, milky cloud that's just the heat of a strong body and a soft mouth and nothing else matters.

His tongue teases hers, playful, soft and a little sloppy, and it's all so good. And right. And…comfortable. Familiar. Like she's done this before. Like she's tasted this mouth, this tongue, felt the –

Oh God. She has kissed this mouth before.

No, no no no –

But she opens her eyes and sure enough, it's him. The man with the mouth she kissed once - okay, fine, twice - and whose body against hers right now is sending all sorts of delightful naked fantasies through her woozy, filterless mind.

Castle hums softly in the back of his throat. "Don't get up yet. Stay in bed."

Oh jeez. Not - not like this - "Castle!"

"Kate." He blinks fuzzily. "Hi."

Shit, shit, he can't do that, can't say her name like that. Not in that delicious, low voice, all grumbly and rich and sleepy and sexy. Not when he just had his hand on her –

"Castle."

"What?"

"Stop saying what and wake up!"

Castle turns his head, and suddenly her wrist twists painfully as his arm jerks. "Handcuffed?" He lets out a breath. "Kinky."

"Castle, it's not funny." She grits her teeth. Handcuffs. They're handcuffed. Together. Why? What karmic force did she piss off this badly? What the hell is going on?

"I didn't say funny, I said kinky. And I didn't cuff us."

"You think I cuffed us?" She is absolutely not thinking about it. Not even a little bit. She is not thinking about handcuffs and her headboard and Castle's wrists. No. Never.

"Well, they look like police cuffs."

"Someone else did this to us." That explains the grogginess. They have to have been drugged. This isn't good.

She sits up because she can't handle lying in bed with Castle any longer. The movement drags him with her awkwardly, and once the brief dizziness subsides, she gets a real look at their surroundings. Dark. Cavernous. Empty. This doesn't look promising.

The mattress dips as Castle settles closer to her, and she shuts her eyes. Please don't let him have been awake. Let him think it was all a dream. All of it. She can pack it away and pretend it never happened, and he can chalk it up to whatever drug knocked them out. She can deal with that. She's just going to never think about it. Ever again.

He clears his throat. "Just for the record, I'm sorry I grabbed your -"

"Castle!"

[a/n: This one is for cartographical, because she has always urged me to explore boob-grabbing as a viable plot option. Working title here was actually just 'kmc boobgrab.']