Chapter 18

She glanced from his eyes to the breast he fondled, her senses and wants heightened by his touch. He had large hands but he was gentle and it turned her on watching him.

"Castle," she said and leaned in for a long tender kiss. At the second they parted, their eyes met. She bit her lip, stroked his hair, then glanced at his mouth. "I want you," she whispered.

"After your misbehavior in the car today-" he trailed off, more fascinated with her body, and the uncontrollable urge arouse her until she was putty in his hand. He once again brushed across her nipple.

"Mm?"

"You are gonna get a lot of me." He mumbled, as he peered down at his lap. He slid his hands to her buttocks and dragged her closer until she was against his groin. She laughed as she tilted her pelvis against him.

"Hard." She huffed, stretching her body upwards so her breasts were reachable for his mouth. He latched on to her right nipple, softly pinching it between his lips, then brought her closer lifting her body upwards against his torso his hands cupping her buttocks. When he relaxed his hold, and she lowered he pushed inside her. She paused the decline, raised herself a little then sunk onto him, tightening her arms around him and the back of the chair. Her body shuddered with a sudden harder suck that sent an electrical shock down her body. She gasped. Her muscles flexed around him. Rick paused breaking contact with her breast.

"I felt that." He looked down to where they were joined, to watch her hips rhythmically roll over him, to feel of her heat, her sliding along the length of his shaft. He let his head back against the chair, closing his eyes to concentrate on what she was doing. Her hands slipped to his shoulders, to his chest and stayed there while she fucked him. There was a sudden shove against him.

He opened his eyes as she stood.

"Give me back my chair, Ricky." She demanded, holding out her hand.

"Our chair." He took hold of her hand and stood up with her pulling him. Kate ensured the towel over the chair was not creased then sat upon it. Time wasn't wasted as she spread her long legs inviting the writer down. She turned her dark eyes upon his. "C'mon writer boy, what's taking you so long?"

"You wait." With a cheeky grin, he knelt on the carpet and leaning on the edges of the seat, hands behind her hips, he kissed his girlfriend's lips. Her hands were at his jaw and using the back of the chair she thrusted her hips toward him.

Inside her again, his finger slid around her clit while he slowly and deeply fucked her, continuing to kiss until her head tilted back. He nibbled at her throat. She released all the right sounds. Her body was relaxed, her hands remained on him and the sounds emanating from her indicated she was approaching her first climax. He penetrated deeply, trying not to climax until he couldn't hold off. He pulled out of her, grabbed her by the knees and lifted her legs into the air.

He let her writhe on the chair, constrained her pelvis as much as he could manage. Every time he glanced up to her face she was either watching him pleasure her, or her eyes were closed, her body boring down against his mouth.

Just before she came, she squeaked out several obscene words. His hand at her belly felt her hold her breath. She cried out, gripping her fingers in his hair. Her breath was held again. Her body rocked through a massive climax.

Rick stood up, pulled her up off the chair and half carried her to the bed. She fell backward to the bed, squirmed up it then reached out to Rick who crawled after and over her. He was hungry to continue their love making.

The second Kate's body jumped on the bed, Rick was woken with a start, and his eyes opened widely. Initially he thought her nerves had reacted to a dream of maybe falling or something. She strongly pushed against the mattress, slamming her back right into his body, with a frightful squeal. Then she spun about her limbs flailing blindly about. When her fingers touched his skin, she jumped again this time as though she had touched a hot iron.

"No!"

Her voice sounded traumatised. Wanting to wake her from the nightmare, Rick pushed the bedsheets of his body and found her using the available light. His fingers recognised her upper arms and took hold of them before she hurt him. She struggled against him.

"Kate, wake up."

She cried out, breathed in and finally grabbed his shoulders, "Rick."

"It's okay. You've had a dream."

"You're alive." She panted her hand finding his face she felt.

"Of course, I'm alive." He let her arms go as she reached around his neck clutching him.

"You're alive."

"I'm alive." He repeated, wrapping his arm about her naked body. Deep inside he was somewhat happy that she was relieved to know he was alive but a larger part of him was worried she was killing him off in her dreams. He closed his eyes, feeling her body recover from the sudden shock of a nightmare. The breathing slowed, her body temperature soared then plummeted.

He stroked his hand up and down the length of her back firmly enough to wake anyone. It seemed to have a positive effect because her vice like grip around his neck loosened. "You awake?" He asked close to her ear and she gave a nod, calming down. "You back with me?"

"Yeah." She rolled to her back, her hand at his jaw. "I'm sorry."

"You had a dream."

"A frightening one. You got shot. I couldn't save you."

"You shot me in your dream?" He asked with a smile. "Already?"

She frowned at him, then appeared quite worried. "You died," she whispered.

"In your dream."

"You can't die. Not you."

"I won't die," he reassured finding her fears a little amusing but mostly unsettling. He hadn't seen the vulnerable side of her much as yet, but it was being exposed to him in the earliest hours of the day.

"Can't die."

He got up on his elbow, now above her, "Baby, I'm joking." He tried to rescue the moment when he saw her eyes well up with tears. The dream had really spooked her. He stroked the short strands of hair from her face. "Don't cry. I'm here." He glanced at the time. They had barely been asleep, maybe two hours at most. "Don't cry," he softly said.

"I won't." She whispered, then wiped her eyes.

"Forget about it, Honey. You had a dream. It's over." Without further ado, he kissed her and she responded strongly, her fingers going into his hair. He soon shifted over her body, pushing her right onto her back. His instincts to protect her were equal to the hormones that spurred his sex drive. He covered her body, her ankles hooked at his backside. Her hands gripped at his shoulders, then shifted beneath his arms. Keeping her beneath him, he forged a path of kisses and gentle sucks from her lips to her left breast, covering the roughly same path he'd explored only hours before. She tasted of them, her body quivered. She was into it, the dream forgotten. A moan escaped her, turning him on, the sound returning when he entered her.

Breakfast was stuffed French toast, berries, cream, coffee and water. They ate on the balcony of their room overlooking the lake. Morning traffic coming from the main road a fair way off was barely audible and there were people running and walking around the lake's edge. In summer the area would be full of birds but only a few chirped periodically. It was a fresh March morning but nice enough to sit by the French doors where they had the warmth of the fireplace. This was the first morning they didn't have to split company early to conceal their relationship from family and friends. They were free to relax.

"You're quiet this morning." Rick commented, pausing on his meal. He looked over at Kate. She was wearing jeans and sweater, her hair washed. She was glowing but she had been quiet since they had got out of bed to shower and prepare for their day.

She put down her fork, and looked him directly in the eyes. "I'm processing things."

He leaned in a little, "Good or bad processing? Have I done something to upset you?"

"No." She held up a finger telling him not to take that path, then had a sip of her coffee. She sighed and smiled, "Coffee is delicious."

"It is."

She put the cup down. "What we did last night, Rick. What I felt-" she waved her hand about indicating she didn't have words to describe what she was experiencing. "I cried having sex. Fucking sex brought me to tears. It's usually sad movies." She hugged her arms, looking vulnerable.

Rick fiddled with his fork he also stared at, while he thought about what he'd felt when they'd been together. Opposite him Kate was showing signs she was not comfortable with her reactions. He had strong feelings for Kate and although he hadn't expressed himself quite as spectacularly as she had, he wasn't going to deny himself of them. But he wasn't sure he was ready to tell her, and sensed she needed more time too, mainly to deal with her own emotions. A lot had happened between them with barely a word said. He decided to stay on the subject of their activities last night. He looked at Kate who seemed to be waiting for himself say something. He began to say, "Tell me if I'm wrong-"

"Castle." She interrupted softly, furrowing her brow. He stopped speaking. She continued. "I've been with enough sexual partners to know that I think I finally found you. I think we really made love." She searched his eyes for something, perhaps understanding, and continued, "We've been skating along the edge of it for a while, but last night it really happened. Perhaps we were relaxed, not sneaking about."

"Possibly." He agreed.

"It was extremely intense for me, Rick." She followed it up with a questioning expression, unsure of herself. "Do I make sense?"

The fork was picked up, then promptly set down. Impulsively, he reached out across the table to her hands and took them in his. Closing his eyes, so he could focus on what he wanted to say, he confirmed, "We did make love. Yes, it was very intense. It was also thrilling and I want do it again and again." He took a deep breath before he opened his eyes to her wide eyes, "And I will never forget what I experienced last night with you. Tops my nights on this earth so far."

"Was it the chair?" She asked, biting her bottom lip to hold back a smile.

He laughed, letting go of her hands. "If it was the chair, Honey, I will buy it for you."

"I dare you." She teased.

He looked down to pick up his fork, "Then I will."

"Does it scare you?"

"No, not at all." Rick replied. "It's a pink chair for fuck's sake. How scary can that be?" He smiled.

She glared at him, commenced to eat again.

He said, "No, it doesn't scare me. You?"

"I had that dream I lost you. To lose you even now would … Castle, I can't lose you right now, okay?"

"Not going anywhere," he replied and picked up her left hand that rested on the table top. He kissed her knuckles. He repeated his response, quieter and far more serious.

She stared at his hand holding hers, then lifted her eyes to his gaze. She whispered, "Don't stop."

"The dance we have going here?" He queried, his eyes smiling when she nodded, "Never, will I stop."

"But we can't be rushing this."

"We're cruising, okay?" He reassured mostly her, but also a part of himself. "Keep it simple, Kate. We're having fun."

"Will do. Are we still doing the wineries today?"

"Why not? My wine collection needs a stock up and your shelf has been raided a fair bit lately. I might be negotiating the sale price of one pink ladies chair, though there was no lady on it last night."

"You enjoyed every second of it."

"I certainly did."

They left the bed and breakfast late morning, after a walk to the lake, with plan for their day. Kate was behind the wheel of the sports car. In the passenger seat, Rick gave direction from his map application while he fiddled with stuff on the dashboard, played with the music system and generally familiarised himself with the new vehicle. He noted Beckett drove the car like it was meant to be driven. She hugged corners and worked the gears as though she'd been driving the vehicle for years. There was experience in her driving skills beyond regular driving. Riding motorbikes gave her an edge perhaps, but she knew how to handle the vehicle.

"It's very new." She commented at some stage and read the mileage clock. "You've hardly driven it out of the yard, Castle."

He grunted then said, "I pre-ordered it and had to wait for it to be manufactured. Received the car, met you a couple of weeks later. Been riding you." He kind of chuckled, amusing himself.

"Lucky boy."

"Car or you?" He glanced up from the manual, to the road ahead then out the back at the road once travelled, "Good thing you're a cop." He remarked.

"Why?"

"You're going really fast, Beckett." He watched trees flash by. "You do know we're not Smokie and the Bandit."

She laughed lifting her foot off the accelerator. "It does go fast."

"It's red." He fiddled with a dial then waited to see what happened, as though the manual provided false information.

"My seat is getting warm, Castle."

He grinned. "Should be." He turned it down. "Shall we retract the roof?"

"Pneumonia? You wanna freeze?"

"Yeah, it's a bit cold. Can't wait for the summer. Yesterday I was in a shirt, you a dress, but not today."

"Glad I packed my jeans?"

"Next gate on should be the first vineyard we're visiting. Hope they have coffee." Rick said, reading his phone screen.

As she approached the farm gate, Kate slowed the car down, to do an easy turn onto the gravel drive. She looked ahead to the long and rather uneven surface where the signs indicated the cellar was at the top of the hill. Rick looked up sensing her hesitation and saw a long straight driveway between rows of grape vines.

"Go on, Babe. Just go slowly, lead foot." He encouraged.

"I'm not that fast."

"I may be wrong but didn't we break the sound barrier about a mile back?"

"Don't the reviews say three point six seconds from zero to one hundred?"

"And you proved it." He grinned and put his hand on her thigh. "Good girl." He gave her pat.

"Castle."

"Mmm?" He responded rubbing her inner thigh, "You charge the camera?"

"Yes. I took lots of photos last night."

"Good sunset." Rick commented, then said, "This establishment should have few wines that I'll have crated home."

His phone beeped. He picked it up and checked the message. "Holy shit."

"What?"

"The new novel is released tomorrow."

"Really?"

"Yes. My agent confirmed its been distributed to the stores. She has locked in our flights and hotel bookings for LA next week."

"We knew that." She replied, "The 'holy shit part' is me going away with you, Mr Big Time Writer, for what five days?"

"We'll be busy. You will have time to go shopping."

"Shopping?"

"Yeah, that activity women like. He looked at her. Do you like shopping? You haven't dragged me out shopping yet."

She nodded. I like shopping for clothes and shoes. Hate grocery shopping."

"I know that. Your fridge is a waste of space at your place."

"You use it now."

He smiled. "Yes, true. She has emailed me the itinerary and wants to know whether she can name you as my partner to a couple of the swing dings I'm invited to."

"Can you say no?"

"Kate, they will have our names on the tables"

"You plus one. Put me down as plus one, please. We have to keep this quiet. Your agent already knows I'm coming with you." She slowly drove up to the car parking outside the shabby cellar and chose one between two expensive vehicles to ensure the Ferrari was safe. "This book you're writing about, with me as your muse."

"Mmm?"

"Have you started it?" She put the car in park then looked about them.

"Kind of." He pulled face then answered, "Well, yes." He closed the map application on his phone.

"May I read it?"

"Not yet." He passed Kate her wallet, camera and phone, "Not till I sort her out in my head and put her properly on paper." He opened the car door. "You can read it when I'm ready."

"Thank you."

"Let's go taste wine, Baby girl."

She held his hand for the walk to the cellar. Inside were two other couples in their mid fifties. "You're tasting." She said. She was designated driver for the day. The tasting room was bright with natural light. The room was quaint with small tables and chairs inside. She stood by the window facing the horses.

Rick snuck up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, chin on her shoulder. "We'll do the tasting when these folks are finished."

"Ok. Let's go see the horses huh?" She found his hand.

"Sure." He followed her out of French doors to a grassy area. They stopped at a wooden garden bench. The property was quite pretty, styled with a typical country look, with bits of old machinery and rusted garden seats scatter about the place. There was a place to dine outside the cellar and just beyond that was paddock with a couple of horses grazing. Kate retrieved her camera from its bag and turned it on. She looked to where Castle stood, his back to her, watching a tractor down in the vines.

"Castle?" She called.

He looked over his shoulder. Kate snapped her camera. In that instant, her camera caught the look in Rick's eyes as he turned to see her. In that instant she understood she was in love with the man who had written the novels she and her mother had shared. They had stood in line to get his autograph on a book not long before her mother had died.

She lowered the camera when she read his expression, and then closed the space between them.

"Rick." She said, remaining still when he swept strands of hair from her face.

"Kate."

"I want us to be exclusive. I can't bear the thought of you being with another woman."

"I'm alright with that." He replied, "Let's go feed the horses. There's a sign inside that says the bucket over there is full of feed for the horses."

A smile spread over her face. "Yes. I love horses." She took his hand and walked with him to the fence line. The moment they reached into the bucket that contained apples and carrots the horses' heads lifted and looked in their direction. The smaller of the two, a grey pony, released a neigh and headed off at a trot to them. The second horse, dark brown in colour, trotted after his paddock companion. The two stopped at the fence, excited and the pony shot an angry bite toward the horse.

"Hey." Rick said, "There's enough here for both of you." He passed Kate a couple of apples.

"Aren't they beautiful." She said.

"Yes. Do you know how to feed them?"

"No. How?"

Hold your palm out flat and put the apple on your palm. He will bite through the middle and hopefully leave the bottom half on your hand. Try it."

Kate held the apple on her right hand and held it over the fence. The brown horse calmly took the apple between his teeth and pinched it. The apple snapped in half and the horse commenced to munch, drawling apple juice and saliva over her hand. Rick fed the grey pony carrots.

"He's a bit of a pig this fellow." Rick commented.

"Look at his belly," she said pointing at the rounded belly covered in winter muddy coat. She then timidly held her hand still while the horse took the other half of the apple.

"This is so cool." She said, handing over the second apple.

Alone that evening, Kate unpacked the overnight bag and placed four bottles of wine into her wine rack. Rick had ordered more and was going to bring some over when they arrived. She sat at her desktop apple computer and downloaded the photographs she had taken during the past two days. The computer said she had 237 to transfer. She had been playing with her camera a lot during their break out of the city. She had photos of trees, the vines, buildings, of them, the horses they fed and general photos of the lake side region. It had been a long time since she had been able to play with a camera. She hovered over a photograph of Rick sitting on the park bench by the fire pit. She had wandered off while he'd spoken to his daughter. Alone for a short time, she was able to think about what she was feeling about Rick. Those feelings caused her to pick up the photograph of her mother.

She opened another folder, the contents of which held another time. She was in a room of a Tribeca apartment, her hair long, dark and straight. Her arms were around the head of another man hugging him. That man was smiling, holding her with one arm, a beer in the other. She was happy. He was grinning. They had been happy. She flicked back to a photograph of herself, her hair was short and dark. Her head was pressed against the chest of a man she had her arms around. She was smiling at the camera and he had reached out and snapped the photo if them. She looked a lot happier in the more recent photograph.

She closed the second photo but saved the photo of Rick and herself as her background picture. She loved the picture. Her eyes caught on the trinket gifted to her during their trip: a paper weight with a local flower from the lake district forever preserved within the glass. With a permanent marker, Rick had written, Always, Rick Castle just to be a smart ass. He'd told her it was a joke and to rub it off, but she wanted to keep it as he'd given it.