Another Chance

Chapter 6

The last thing Kate wants is to get out of bed. Her feet are sore from following and staking out Janet Modisher, but that is just a minor annoyance. Her real problem is that she hasn't had much time with Castle and she was too tired to do much of anything with him the night before. It's not as bad as it was when she was in DC, but when she's on the New York streets, she feels like a piece of her is missing. She doesn't know how to fix it without giving up everything that makes her who she is, and she doesn't know what else she can do.

Castle can feel Kate moving beside him, but not with her usual feline grace. Her stretch is more like a protest against the coming of the day. He knows the feeling. He had it many times while she was in DC, and during the time he was struggling to come up with a successor to Derrick Storm. But Kate shouldn't be unhappy. They're together, and she has the job she wanted - doesn't she? He turns to her and brushes the hair from her face for a morning kiss. "What's wrong?"

Kate digs her teeth into her bottom lip. "I shouldn't be complaining, Babe. I've got a job where I can do some good, and I'm looking forward to our wedding."

"And yet…" Castle prompts.

Kate lets out a breath, shaking her head. "The work was just better when we were together."

He pulls her to him, tucking her head beneath his chin. "I can't disagree with you there. But what can we do about it? With your experience as a cop, you were eligible to take the P.I. exam. I'm not. I checked. Being an unpaid consultant doesn't count, and Frank won't let anyone on the job without the proper credentials, even working for free. I get it. If one of his people screws up, he could get his ass sued and lose his business. As long as you're with him, we'll just have to keep our theorizing within limits and within Castle walls. Unless maybe you want to start your own agency."

"Castle, if I did that, I'd have even more paperwork than I did as a cop. That's not what I want. I need to be out there solving crimes. I just want to do it with my favorite partner. But no one can have everything they want."

Castle shrugs and kisses the top of her head. "You never know. Things have a way of working out. But I know what I want right now - if the love of my life is of the same mind."

Kate touches her fingertips to his face, in imitation of a Vulcan mind meld. "I sense that we are." She slides up his body until her lips meet his. "Now I'm sure."

With his large hands cupping her firm behind, he pulls her tightly against his groin. "I'm sure of it too, but my mind just migrated a few feet to the south."

Kate grinds against him. "It's in almost the right place." She grasps his hand and presses it against her growing urgency, arching and gasping as he finds the center of her arousal.

He can feel the root of her passion blooming beneath his caress as she writhes against the rapidly tangling sheets. She moans and plunges her fingers into his hair as he continues his explorations with his tongue. He can feel the heat of her on his face as she draws him deeper. The headboard slams against the wall as she convulses beneath him.

He pulls her over him, straddling his hips. She is like hot silk. As she sheaths him, he reaches for her breasts, teasing them to longing attention. They fill his hands as she rides, eyes closed and hair flying wildly around her face. He can feel the pressure rising inside like magma beneath a volcano. She falls spent against him, as a roar erupts from deep within his chest.

It is fortunate that Kate can do her computer research at the loft. Preferably in bed while regaining her strength and some semblance of sanity. Even better is that Castle can help. She doesn't have to reveal anything confidential for him to assist her in gathering data on Refuge.

It's just as well. Any information about the place is well concealed beneath layers of fronts. Finally Castle's shout of "Eureka," echoes through the room.

She pokes his leg with her bare foot and makes a play on an old pun. "You could use a shower yourself."

He wiggles his eyebrows at her. "Then I guess you don't want to see what I found."

Kate grabs the computer from his lap. "The money behind Refuge is from Women's Wall Against Abusers. I figured it had to be a group like that. That one makes the most sense, actually. It's made up of women who have been abused and are protecting themselves as well as other victims who come to them for help. There isn't listed here except an email, and I'm willing to bet that the owner of it is well shielded too. I can stake out the building and hope that sooner or later Tanya emerges, but I should also send a message. Whoever is at the other end of this email address needs to know that Tanya doesn't need to be afraid of the Frank Kelly Agency or me. If Brett Wilson is an abuser, we want him nailed just as much as they do.

Castle sighs as he changes the sheets and makes sure the spread is straight on the bed. Working side by side with Kate again was fantastic, especially in such an intimate setting. Somehow, there's got to be a way to make things work out so that Kate can do what she loves, and they can be partners again. He just doesn't have a clue as to what it could be.

He's put out feelers to every connected friend he has and heard the same thing from all of them; the commissioner is immovable. On the other hand, the budgetary situation can't last forever. A new fiscal year will start in July. Things might even be straightened out before he and Kate get married. Or something else might come up. There are always possibilities, usually unexpected ones. You just have to be ready to take advantage of them when they emerge.

That reminds him of what Alexis said about an chance Pi has at some kind of fellowship that would take him to the other side of the world, when she asked him for a letter of recommendation for her boyfriend. Castle's willing to write one, especially since Alexis gave him an outline of things he can say that are at least marginally true. He's puzzled as to why his daughter would be so enthusiastic to have her boyfriend so far away, especially after the debacle of her unsuccessful long-distance relationship with Ashley. Also, she worked hard to find Pi a job in the Brooklyn Grange apiary and a tiny Brooklyn flat where he can crash, and where she spends way too much time. Maybe there's trouble in Fruitopia. If there is, sooner or later Alexis will spill it. He just hopes she doesn't make herself unnecessarily unhappy for too long. Unfortunately that tends to be a family trait.