Chapter 17

They sat on one of six garden chairs that surrounded a fire pit. A decent fire was going most like lit mid-afternoon. The sun was almost gone. Kate hade returned to Rick's side after wandering about the gardens taking photographs. After returning the camera to its case, and setting it beside her on the bench, rested her legs over his right thigh, her boots lightly swinging between his calves.

"Did you capture some of the sunset?" He asked.

"I did."

He put his hand on her thigh, "You're cold."

"Mmm. It's got cold huh?" She was pleased she'd brought jeans and a sweater as once the late afternoon arrived the weather had drastically cooled down. By the time they had the key to their room at the bed and breakfast they had both acknowledged it was cold. She began to play with his left hand, sizing his fingers up to her. His right arm snugly held her body close to his. He stared into the fire letting her fiddle. She stayed quiet, enjoying the solitude of the evening, his company without interruptions. To top it off, they had the beautiful garden and open fire to themselves. The lights of the bed and breakfast had come on. The house was quaint, quite pretty and the room Rick had rented for the night overlooked the very picturesque Seneca Lake with their own private balcony. The bathtub was huge and Kate was looking forward to having a hot bath after dinner. After a walk through the grape vines and down to the lake, sitting beside the open fire was just perfect. She reached to her glass of white wine, took a sip then passed it to Rick who did the same.

"Castle?"

"Mmm?"

"Did you notice the chair in the room?"

"The pink one? You left your bag on it?"

"Yes, that one."

"I saw you noticed it."

"It's very pretty."

"It's an antique," he quietly said, tilted his head back and looked up to the darkening sky. The stars were just starting to glimmer. It was going to be a clear night and therefore rather cold.

"It's very different." She entwined her fingers between his, and whispered to herself, "Big fingers."

Rick smiled to himself and closed his fingers softly around her hand, then relaxed his hold. She continued to play with his hand. He thought about where she was directing her conversation about the chair, and what he would like to do to her on that particular piece of furniture. He brought a different kind of smile to his face as he stared at the stars, increasing in number as night settled in.

Kate looked up at his face, stroked her fingers over his chin and down his throat over his Adam's Apple. That caused him to forget the sky. His eyes tracked her hand that came to rest on his chest.

"What's got you so fascinated about the chair?" He asked.

Kate laughed, biting her lip. "I haven't really ever taken much notice of those type of chairs before but I pictured myself on it…."

Rick kissed her before she had a chance to finish her sentence and lifted her so her butt was on his lap as her arms reaching about his shoulders, her response quick and fresh. She maOne glass of wine had her relaxed. When they parted to breathe, he said.

"I will show you the benefits that chair tonight."

"I think I'll show you a few new moves, Castle." She advised, hugging him about his neck as he wrapped his arms about her waist.

"I hope so."

Kate combed her fingers through his hair. "We're so giddy with each other," she murmured watching the flames of the fire that was creating plenty of heat. It was a sweet reminder of nights spent at the cabin when she was a child. Her parents would light a fire in the ground and cook meals some nights. The old pots they had used were stored at the cabin but her father hadn't cooked with them since the summer before his wife's death.

"Giddy." Rick repeated interrupting her thoughts. "If this is giddiness then I want it to last a long time."

"One day, I'll take you to my Dad's cabin. Its not too far from here. We have a fire pit but it hasn't been used in years. Here reminds me of the cabin and the lake."

"When's the last time you were there?" He asked deciding he would let her invitation into the future slide because he didn't want to scare the shit out of her right now. He had her alone for a night and he wasn't going to let anything ruin it.

"Three or so years. This is the first time I've been out of the city in a long time."

"I have been camping with Alexis. She's out grown it nowadays. Wants to go with her friends not her old man."

"How old is she?"

"Nearly sixteen."

"Okay. Will she be okay with me? Like I don't have experience with boyfriends with kids."

"She'll be fine. Trick is not to be a parent with them. I dated a woman who had kids and I left the parenting to her. Alexis will seek parental support from you when it suits her. It's how we operate. If I'm not around and you are when she needs help, she'll come to you."

Kate patted his shoulder, "You're a good father."

"No. She's a perfect child. More responsible and mature than I will ever be." He smiled then squeezed her, "What do you feel like for dinner?"

"Let's go local. Did you see on the breakfast menu here that they have stuffed French toast? I can't wait."

"You like French, huh?"

"How do you know?"

"I'm observant. You speak it fluently, you visit your cousin, Sofia who lives in Paris…"

"I want to live there for a while one day. Be a Parisian. Life keeps getting in my way."

"I would go live there with you. Always longed to live overseas."

"Really?"

"Yes." He touched her check then cautiously said, "How about, when Alexis is in College, if we're still together, we go for an extended vacation there?"

Kate stared at him, a smile creeping over her face. "Live there, you mean?"

He gave a nod. "Get a place, live there. If that's what you want."

"In Paris?"

He touched her ear, causing her to laugh. "Are you deaf?"

"No." She swatted his hand then held it. "No. I hear you. So, you're saying you would pack up and go live in another country with me."

"France, we're talking about. Yes, I would." He patted her thigh. "What do you say we make a loose plan now. If we're together, in roughly the year 2017 we'll move to Paris."

"That's ages away, but Alexis will be twenty one easily." She nodded then looked at him.

"What?"

"We've only started dating and we're making plans for eight years away."

"Some people get married after a week," he shot right back.

Kate who was looking at the stars in the sky replied processed his rapid reply then said, "I would need more time. That would scare me."

"I know." He too gazed overhead, already well aware Kate was a woman who needed time to adjust. He was surprised she had agreed to a night away together but surprisingly she had jumped on the opportunity. "We'll get to your Dad's cabin first and I hope we have a great time there."

She remained seated on his right thigh while, using his phone, they found a restaurant close by they decided to book a table at.

The fireplace was well alight when the pair returned from dinner about 9.30. They'd shared wood oven pizzas and had brought one back with them. The room was warm enough that Kate stripped down to her under clothes, being panties and a cotton singlet. She sat on the bed, with the bag of sweets bought that afternoon and Rick soon followed her sitting opposite her. He waited for Kate to rifle through the bag of sweets. Once she had hold of a lollipop she passed him the bag.

"Can we have an open question time." She asked, reaching for her wine.

"Of course. What do you want to ask?"

"When is your favourite time to write?"

He gave her a strange look, "Is that is? I was expecting something severely personal, with an answer that would possibly be frightening for you."

"That's it for now." She confirmed, then sipped the wine. "This will taste bad with my lollipop."

"Yes, it will."

"But I want it anyways." With the wine glass back on the bedside table, she started ripping at the packaging of the sweet.

"You really do have a sweet tooth."

"That obvious?" She asked, and saw him nod, "So, your favourite time to write?"

"Yes. Okay. Well, if I'm not under pressure with deadlines, usually in the dead of night when its quiet."

"Dead of night?"

"Mm." He grabbed another sweet and popped it in his mouth. Kate was on the lollipop and was happily sucking away on it which was turning him on. "If you were staying with me, I'd wait for you to be asleep then sneak off."

"You haven't done it yet with me?"

"How many questions is this session?"

Kate smiled. "Unlimited."

"No, because I've been with you and sleep has been more like dosing. I have my laptop with me."

"There will be no sneaking off tonight. I want you holding me all night. Your turn."

Rick watched her stretch out her right leg then peered over at the pink chair. "What were you thinking of doing with that chair over there?"

Kate smiled, her eyes shifting to the ladies' chair. "If only you knew."

"Tell me."

She gave him a seductive stare, "I will do better than that. I will show you."

"I cannot wait. What do you think your Dad would think of me?"

"What?" She asked in surprise, "My Dad?"

"Yeah. Would he approve of his only daughter dating a writer?"

"A rich, successful writer."

"Your father is a lawyer."

"His daughter is a homicide cop." She bounced right back trying to give him a dose of reality. "He's helped me to be able to live in my own place in New York, and not far from him. That was his condition."

"Cute. Only child. We get all their attention."

"No siblings, nephews or nieces. No aunty or uncle."

"True." Rick replied and watched Kate get up off the bed. "Christmas will be cosy with just us."

"Sure will be." She said and walked to the bathroom closing the door behind her.

For several moments, she stared at the chair positioned in the corner of the bedroom. Its colour, a beautiful deep pink, repeatedly drew her eyes to it.

"It's a beautiful chair, Rick. I would love to have a chair like it in my bedroom." She told him. He was laying on the bed facing the chair, the fireplace.

Kate stepped to the chair and lowered herself onto it, crossed her legs right over left. Because it was about a 14 inch height seat, her hips were lower than normal. The chair had a matching ottoman that was positioned a foot or so in front.

"Is it as comfortable as it looks?" He inquired.

"Surprisingly so for an antique." She leaned forward stroking her hands down the length of her shins. "Castle?"

"Beckett?" He raised an eyebrow in anticipation of her continuing. It sounded like she was shifting back into interrogation mode.

"I can get introverted, and perhaps push people away, but I want you to know I'm really committed to us." She said, "So if I pull away sometimes it's not necessarily us at fault. It's just me needing time."

"You need time now?" He asked sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

"No… I'm good." She sat up, "I can be prickly."

"Every rose has its thorns." He replied as he stepped to her. "And, isn't that a song?' He perched himself on the ottoman facing her and set his hand on her knee.

"You know it is," she replied.

"Yes." The fire was warm making Kate's skin the same. "I can be a pain in the ass when I wanna be too. I'm not perfect, but by God you look like perfection right now. The colour of the chair suits you."

"I love this chair, Rick." She patted his hand. "You have a try." She stood up and moved aside. Rick swung over and placed his backside where hers had just been. He relaxed.

"You're right."

She smiled, "The colour is divine. You are so bloody handsome." She said with a smartass tone.

"Yeah, I know."

"Egotistical too."

"Kate?"

"Yes?"

"Undress." Rick told her.

Kate looked to Rick's eyes, saw the desire in them as her gaze lingered, then she lowered her eyes to his chest, stomach and groin. She gave a nod. Slowly she lifted off her top exposing her perfectly shaped breasts. She threw the top to the end of the bed then pushed down her panties. Naked she stood before him.

"You're sitting on my favourite chair." She stated.

"I can share. C'mere."

When she sat on his lap, her knees to each side of the armless chair she appreciated how the chair worked for her, for them. She was seated low enough to be comfortable straddled over him. From over his shoulders, she held the back of the chair, and felt his arms surround her waist.

"Perfect." She commented with a smile of approval. "This chair was built for us."

"Sure was, huh?" He stroked his thumb across her left nipple, causing it to harden. A smile broke over his face. "Kate," he whispered.