CH16

GUEST - Point taken on the male chastity device and quite true. However Kate at present doesn't see him as an equal. And she also mentioned that because he tried to kill himself she was forced to accelerate his training and hope for the best. Plus Kate has just learned another lesson.

Perhaps they're both being trained. Remember this is Kate's first relationship with a human and Rick's with a vampire. And remember their history prior to this point.

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Rick and Paige were sitting in the living room watching television on their big screen TV after putting away their deliveries that had gone off without a hitch.

Paige checked them all off as they were unloaded into the hallway just past the doors. It had been left to Rick and Paige to move them into the kitchen and unbox them.

"Mini fridge, crock pot, toaster oven, blender, plates, silverware, measuring items, 2 burner hot plate, pots, frying pans, deep fat fryer." The house already had more than enough glasses.

There were enough empty cabinets. They had taken over the kitchen on the 5th floor using the elevator to get everything up there. The empty boxes were down on the second floor in the entrance hallway, since neither of them knew what to do with the trash.

The two of them were sitting peacefully recovering from all their hard work. "PAIGE!" Alexis called as she entered the room. Paige got up off the sectional, into Alexis's arms, and kissed her soundly while moving a hand around to the front and palming one of her breasts.

"Take me back to our room Lex, I want you," Paige whispered into Alexis's ear just as Kate walked past them having heard every word.

Alexis was taking Paige out of the living room as Kate came up behind Rick. "How do you feel Castle?" Kate had awakened feeling guilty.

"Still a little sore, but getting better. …Can we talk about something Mistress?" Rick was ready to confront her about something.

"I'm still so sorry Castle, it wasn't my intention to hurt you. I just… " She walked around the sectional and sat down next to him. "Talk about what?" She owed him still.

"In private?" he asked as another two vampires enter with blood bags in hand. "Sure, our bedroom? Let me get something first." They both stood and Rick waited for her in the stairwell.

Kate was soon back sucking blood out of a warmed up bag and lead Castle to their bedroom.

She sat on the bed and patted the space next to her while sucking the blood out of her bag. "What's on your mind Castle?" Kate didn't know what to expect.

"Paige and I got to talking. She thinks that you…that you have control over how we react to you." Rick was risking a lot and he knew it. It was just that his Mistress had trusted him and told him that she loved him.

Kate instantly stopped sucking on her blood bag, but left the straw in her mouth. She was a little shocked, though she knew this day was coming as he got used to being around her.

"I'm not going to lie Castle. I do, as does Alexis over Paige." Kate let her hands with her breakfast fall into her lap. "We don't technically control you, Castle, but we can influence what you think and feel about us."

"It isn't instantaneous, we have to be in physical contact with you over a period of time much like Alexis did with Paige. But you tried to kill yourself Castle and that scared me, so I did it another way. I wanted to be involved with you and I couldn't take the risk that you would try to kill yourself again and have next time possibly succeed."

"I decided to train you to obey me so that you didn't try that again. I didn't really want you as a slave Castle, but you left me with little choice."

"Our control comes from a secretion our bodies create and is absorbed through your skin or directly ingested like when we have sex, which works best. It isn't an immediate thing, it takes time and your body resists us."

"It isn't true control over you. If I sat here and told you to cluck like a chicken and peck the floor for food, you would consider it, but you wouldn't just automatically just do it. What we say works better if we are involved with each other. You provide a certain degree of trust and become susceptible to what I say."

"And I can't just turn it off. It works a lot like when you sweat from working out too hard. It's just something that happens."

"What also happens is that over prolonged exposure you start to develop an immunity to it. The longer we stay in contact, the more often we have sex, the more immune you become," Kate explained.

"And then what happens?" he asked since he was thinking that she would just kill him.

"I don't know exactly Castle. You're the first human I've been involved with sexually and emotionally since I was 18 years old when I lost my virginity to a young boy. I only know what I have been told or read over the years."

"You are not just a find him, fuck him, and kill him for me Castle. I don't understand just how but I love you. And I'm going to take care of you until you die of old age. I'll love you till that day happens." Kate went back to sucking on her blood bag before it went bad.

Rick was confused, really confused now. His Mistress had confirmed that he had been used while at the same time said that he was loved. "You're a vampire." Rick was hoping Kate would expand on that since he was human. However all Kate did was nod her head while slurping the last of the blood out of her bag.

"I don't have all the answers Castle. Someone is after you and since I know I love you I want to protect you. Except letting you and Paige stay here puts more pressure on us being found. We could all be slaughtered in our sleep and never even know it."

"You may think I have control over you Castle, and for a time I did. But that control is fading the more we stay together. And you have control over all our lives. You and Paige."

"The Lycans can travel day and night. They find us and you and Paige stand no chance. They will kill us all. Batter down the doors with their strength and rip all of us to pieces." She pointed out just how much control Rick now had compared to what little control she may have had.

"I'm going to go talk with Alexis. Hopefully she and Paige are done by now." Kate meant making love to each other or talking. "Think it over Castle. I no longer have control over your life, not that I really had that much in the first place. It only works if you are willing, so somewhere inside you, you wanted this." She got up and walked out instead of jumping. Though she did jump to the kitchen to put her bag in the recycle container and jumped to where Alexis and Paige were sharing a room.

"Alexis, sweetie, are you two free?" Kate knocked on the door and soon heard the lock slide back and then the door opened with Paige at the door.

"Alexis is in the shower. Come on in," Paige invited and closed the door behind Kate.

Paige sat on one end of the bed while Kate took the other. Both were silent while they waited.

Just moments after the water was turned off, a semi-dry Alexis walked out naked and went to the dresser to find some clothes. "How are you two?" Kate assumed they had talked a little.

"We're great mom, honest," Alexis responded as she fastened her bra in place.

"Castle knows," Kate whispered and hung her head low.

"So does Paige. We talked in the shower a little after making love to each other," Alexis admitted.

"Rick and I talked during the day while we were out getting food and kitchen items." Paige told Kate since she wanted to stay and not keep secrets from the one woman that could throw her out.

"They have taken over the small kitchen on this floor so Paige can cook them some meals and avoid going outside unless it is necessary," Alexis explained to her mother.

"That's fine, we only use the one refrigerator in that space anyway. Just remember, the more you go outside, the more you draw attention to this house. If the Lycans, while in human form, follow you here… " Kate left the rest unsaid.

"I understand Mistress. I would never do anything intentionally that would put Alexis in harm's way. I love her too much to do that. If you give me a weapon and teach me how to use it, I'll do all I can to defend the house during the day." Paige told both Kate and Alexis since they hadn't talked about that yet.

"You're not a vampire Paige. You can call me Kate or Katherine."

Paige shook her head. "As long as Alexis will have me, I'm a member of this house. Vampire or not, you are the Mistress of this house and that works for me," Paige countered.

Kate turned her head to look at Alexis. "Take her down to Solomon and get her outfitted with a weapon that fits her hand and you can teach her how to use it."

"She does not go out with the death dealers until you, Solomon, and I are satisfied she knows how to handle herself." Kate pointed her finger at Alexis, knowing these two were practically attached at the hip.

"I promise mom. Paige will be great, you'll see." Alexis had high hopes for Paige.

"I won't let you down Mistress," Paige stated.

"I may have screwed up with Castle the other night. I hurt him and I didn't mean to. I'm going to go figure out how to make it up to him." Kate got up off the bed.

"Is that why Rick was walking funny earlier? He couldn't seem to get comfortable while we were eating," Paige questioned.

Kate should have known Paige would notice, those two were left all alone during the day. Still it was a bit of a shock.

"Yeah, I screwed up big," Kate commented softly.

"Rick is falling in love with you Mistress. I don't think he's there yet. He's a little lost about how to treat Alexis, too. She's his daughter and yet she's not. I don't think he knows just where he stands." Paige offered Kate her insight from spending the day with him.

"Thanks, I'll see what I can do about that. …You've chosen well daughter. I approve." Kate said to Alexis. She opened the door and left, closing it behind her.

Paige was practically glowing as she jumped out of bed and kissed Alexis soundly. "Where do you train to be a death dealer?"

"Let's teach you how to shoot first, before moving on to hand to hand fighting. Let's hope it never comes to that. You are no match for a Lycan or a vampire," Alexis warned her.

"Then teach me, Lex. I'm not losing you if I can prevent it." Paige brushed her lips across Alexis's lips and smiled at her.

Kate was wandering the house not sure just what to do. Her relationship with Castle was changing. Her only question was would it survive all of their obstacles?

She eventually made it back to their bedroom where she found Castle sitting on the bed up against the headboard with one of his laptops in his lap. He didn't even see her enter. It wasn't until she sat on the edge of the bed that he looked up.

"How are you doing Castle?" Kate was worried but needed to start somewhere.

"I'm trying to figure something out that is eluding me at the moment," he replied and went back to looking at his laptop.

"That's not what I meant, Castle. I mean how you are doing physically, Castle. I know I hurt you and I'm still sorry. I'll throw the damn thing away so it never happens again," she offered.

"The pain is diminishing and I'm still mad at you. That really hurt. I was learning to like your using that little vibrator, but what you did…" To him she had raped him and it was painful.

He had even bought one of those things for her to use on him. But he had stuck with smaller attachments, not that giant thing she had used.

"I don't have a problem with your using it, just keep it small and vibrating please," he remarked offering a compromise.

Kate was thankful that Castle wasn't dumping her for her stupidity, however… "Castle?"

Rick looked at her and didn't understand till he replayed what he had said. "Mistress." Rick adds and since it brought a smile to her face he must have gotten it right.

"Show me what you are working on Castle." Kate worked her way over the bed so that she was sitting next to him with her back up against the headboard.

She bumped his shoulder with hers. "Come on Castle. Not bashful are you? Just so long as it's not porn I promise not to hurt you."

"I recorded something a number of days ago and I've been trying to figure it out." He replayed his video that Kate has already seen, though only once.

"Bank robbery. What's so special about that?" Rick was obviously deeply engrossed into figuring this thing out.

"I'm not sure it was. …Oh they robbed the bank, yes, but why fire their weapons? And they did it twice inside the bank and then again on the outside. And just where the hell did they go after they jumped over the two cars?" Rick was still lost and his notes just kept getting bigger and bigger with more and more questions.

"Play it again, please," Kate asked since this was only the second time she'd seen it.

Kate was watching intently. "Stop, stop it Castle." She thought maybe she saw something. "Now back it up...A little more, just a little…STOP." She stared at the two men.

"You recognize them?" he asked. "Mistress." Rick added quickly.

"Not them individually, but overall I think I do. Do you see their jaws, how their faces are structured? How similar they are to each other." Kate pointed her finger and ran it over their faces.

"Maybe they're brothers or father and son?" Rick mused.

"That may be true too, but this facial structure is typical of Lycans in their human form. I think these two are Lycans," she stated.

"Come on Castle, we need to go see someone." Kate helped to pull him out of the bed and jumped them to the firing range where Paige has just finished squeezing off one full clip down range.

"You three come over here and look at this." She motioned for Castle to replay the video for them.

"Stop." Kate commanded as Rick stopped the video. "You three see anything? Look directly at the two men." She offered a clue.

"They're filthy dressed like that. Even in New York you're going to attract attention dressed like that. I'll bet they smell everywhere they go." Paige wasn't interested in what these guys looked like.

"That's actually helpful, it tells us that they are in hiding somewhere. Empty warehouse maybe, underground perhaps. Definitely someplace without a washer and dryer," Rick said.

"They're Lycans." Alexis spoke up suddenly realizing what she was seeing.

"Lycans rob a bank, not really a great surprise. It takes money to make those rounds." Solomon stated.

"Teller drawer money?" Rick questioned, disagreeing. "They got what, maybe a few thousand? For some that may sound like a lot of money. But in New York it's pocket change." He wasn't buying it.

"It was a hit and they used the bank robbery to cover it up. Whoever was killed was just in the wrong place at the wrong time," Alexis suggested.

"So they're Lycans, where did they go after jumping over the cars?" Rick asked since he had been working on that for days.

"We lost two death dealers when we encountered them underground near that subway station. Play the video again, please, Castle." Kate asked him.

"I don't see anything," Paige admitted.

"They jumped using the cars, not over the cars. Play that section again." Alexis asked Castle.

"STOP! There did you notice? Yes, they used the cars to jump from but they didn't jump at the same time," Alexis pointed out.

"Play it once again, please, Castle," Kate requested.

"Alexis is right, they didn't jump at the same time. …They didn't jump at the same time and yet it was a planned hit to kill someone." Paige was trying to think. "No passing car or truck with an open bed. If the buildings are too tall for even a Lycan to jump to a roof... Jump to the building across the street?" Paige wondered aloud and watched Rick shake his head.

"Ok, you jump for a reason. You want to reach someplace, jump past something. You found them underground in train station maintenance tunnels." Paige guessed that there are a lot of them.

"Storm drain tunnels actually," Alexis countered remembering where she and her mother were.

"THEY HAD A THIRD PERSON!" Paige reasoned. "They jumped into the storm drain and went from there. Maybe even came from there," she offered.

"The third guy holds open the storm drain manhole, these two jump into it one after the other and the third guy follows pulling the manhole cover closed behind him." Kate thought she had the answer.

"Don't those things weigh a lot?" Paige asked. "Lycans are strong…right?"

"How many rounds do we have?" Kate asked looking at Solomon and Alexis.

"Not enough, we need at least 2 more weeks," Alexis responded.

"I think we have found your first site to check out when we do. Give me a list of who you want to replace the two we lost and add two more. And before you ask, the answer is no. And I don't care if you can shoot the wings off of a fly without killing it. Until you can stand up to Alexis on the mat hand to hand, you stay here." Kate pointed her finger at Paige, cutting her off at the pass.

Paige lowered her head. "Yes, Mistress." Paige did want to go so she could protect Alexis, but if she got herself killed or Alexis killed because she couldn't handle herself, it would kill her.

"So who were they after and why?" Alexis inquired.

"I have a list of obituaries from the papers that list who died on that day," Castle remarked.

"You keep practicing. You're with me, Castle. Let's take a look at that list," Kate said and took hold of Castle's arm.

"Dinner soon?" Rick was starving.

"I'll release her in about 30 minutes," Solomon mentioned. Kate jumped herself and Castle back to their bedroom.

They were both back to sitting on the bed leaning up against the headboard. "I don't recognize any of these names." Kate dropped the papers. "Neither do I," Rick was forced to admit.

"Stay away from that bank, Castle. If the Lycans can follow who they wanted dead there, they can follow you there, too, and then back to here. And you know what happens after that," Kate cautioned him.

Rick cursed internally since he was dying to go there and ask questions about who was killed. "Yes, Mistress." Rick relented.

"Promise me, Castle." Kate reached out and took hold of his ear.

Rick immediately winced at the pain she hadn't yet delivered to his helpless ear. "I promise, Mistress." And he went back to breathing when Kate let go of his ear.

An hour later and Rick and Kate were just lounging on their bed kissing each other when there was a knock on the door. "Dinner is ready."