Happy new year to all. With the task of keeping this canon, as per commencing idea, I'm digging this story out of a deep hole to get it back in line with the original story arch. So, read on. All note, I'm not on any character's team – it's just a story.

Chapter 89

"Why wouldn't you let me in when you were getting ready earlier?" Castle was seated opposite Kate at a small square table in the hotel restaurant. He'd handed back menu, satisfied with his selection for dinner and anticipating its arrival. He was famished.

"Because, Castle," long fingers brushed away something he couldn't see from the white table cloth. Large eyes, seductive at their best, met his. Made his heart quicken. "We wouldn't have left the room if you'd seen what I'm wearing beneath this dress."

He swallowed. "Serious?" He cast his eyes downward. Simple black dress, a style he could imagine Audrey Hepburn in.

"Mm." She nodded. With sparkly eyes, she leaned in to reply. "Thank Christ for the stylist as I needed help to get into it."

He sat in silence, soaked in the gloriousness of his girlfriend, his imagination busy visualising her in lingerie. She sent him a questioning expression.

"What?" She asked when he didn't respond.

He swallowed and shifted a little before he stated, "You're a gorgeous woman, Kate."

In an instance, her cheeks colored and she coyly smiled. "You're crazy, Castle."

Crazy in love, he thought but said, "No. Not crazy."

There was a single red rose in a small vase placed between them that captivated Beckett. She'd touched its petals with a featherlike manner a half dozen times since they'd been seated. Before each of them, a glass of freshly poured Champagne bubbled. He was in his black suit, white shirt, no tie. As promised, he hadn't shaved, something that would give pleasure to Beckett later that evening.

Amongst his bunch of surprises for the day, to follow up the massage, he had treated Beckett to an appointment with a stylist. While Beckett had sipped on bubbly wine and picked at a cheese dish, the woman had styled her hair and applied make-up. Initially, Beckett had been flustered at the thought of having someone prepare her to go out, but once she'd settled in, she'd enjoyed the preparation. The sylist had ensured Kate was ready and had only left after her client had stepped into her stilettoes. A fine job had been done. His date was beautiful. She appeared relaxed from the massage, a state that wasn't normal to see.

He rubbed his chin in thought, momentarily taken back to the lacy number he'd clapped his eyes when Kate had been on the hunt for new underwear. He'd pointed it out. Beckett had ordered him to stop dreaming.

"Arr. The dream," he stated with a pleasant smile.

"Huh?" The brow creased, her eyes observed him.

"The white lingerie I bought you the last week. You told me to stop dreaming?"

She sipped the Champagne. "Well, I guess it's another dream come true for you." She put down the fluted glass.

"Yes," he agreed. "What's with the rose?"

"Rose?" She glanced between him and the rose.

"The thing in the vase you keep looking at."

"Oh." A sweet smile appeared and her eyes sparkled, "I was reminded of our first date."

"Oh. Good?"

"Yes." She nodded and once again, lightly touched a petal. "It's perfect."

"You look perfect tonight. You look relaxed."

She smirked, "The masseur. He did a good job."

"She wasn't bad either." Rick replied. "She had strong hands."

Kate laughed and pressed her hand together, "The way you groaned with she pressed her elbow into your back. Like when we have sex."

"You laugh. And I don't make that sound during sex."

She scoffed. "Yes, you do. If we weren't here I would mimic you."

He laughed, "I heard your back crack. You grunt." He assessed her, how finely built she was. Tall, quite tall for a woman, but slender, and she always leaned towards the too thin side. The male masseur's hands were so large and, along with his weight, he could have crushed Beckett's torso. He'd felt protective at the time, even though he was confident she was safe. She was strong, she was tough and in combat she could hold her own against some of the best men, but he knew how light in weight she was, how easily he could pick her up and overpower her if he really wanted to. Whether it was when they had a playful tackle, or while they made love, her body was not a burden on him. "I thought he was gonna crush you. I had the urge to protect you."

"Hardly. He was very kind. He knew I was sore. Tense."

"Relaxed now?"

"Yes." She leaned in and quietly said, "I got all dressed up, and all I want to do is go back to the room and make love. The massage really wound me up."

Rick stared at Beckett, his mind in a dilemma. His stomach was rolling in starvation, but his groin now ached with want. He held up his hands, palms up like he was balancing something, "Food. Sex. Food or sex?"

Again, she laughed, reached over and weighted his left hand with hers, "Food first."

His fingers gently closed around hers then lowered to the table top. He didn't let go. "I could request our meals be delivered to the room."

"And miss out on this?"

He momentarily took in their surroundings. A top rating restaurant, a bunch of middle aged customers all minding their own business and enjoying their evenings. There was a grand piano but the guy playing it was on break. People were talking more now they weren't listening.

"Too late." Kate said interrupting his thoughts. A waiter appeared with two white dinner plates ready to be served. Their connection was broken and they sat back for the plates to be placed on the table. They thanked the waiter.

Both inspected their meals. Castle had chosen lamb on a delicate bed of salad. Kate had decided upon a New York Steak. It arrived thick, resting beside baby vegetables.

"Wow. I picked the wrong meal."

"Don't worry Castle." Beckett picked up the cutlery. "There's no way I will make my way through this."

"Well, I hope you do." He smiled, "Bon a petite."

At eight fifteen they commenced their first course.

At ten pm, Castle unlocked the door to their suite and made way for Kate to walk in ahead of him. The lights were on, the bed was turned down and on the coffee table two dozen red roses were waiting for Kate to return. They were the first thing she went to.

"Oh, Castle. You got roses."

"No. You must have a secret admirer."

"Funny." She picked out a rose, brought it to her face and inhaled, a smile spreading. "They're beautiful, Castle. Thank you. You spoil me." The rose was gently replaced to the water. She turned about to face him, stepped out of her heels.

"Would you like a drink?" He stopped before her, leaving about 8 feet of air between them.

"Do you?"

"Not really."

"What do you want?" She asked.

"You to come here." He dropped the suit jacket over the back of the arm chair near him. She was timid as she stepped to him. She stopped before him, placed her hand on his chest.

"Castle?"

"Beckett?"

She snickered and her fingers closed on his white shirt. "Thank you for today."

"It's what you needed?"

She nodded the once, "How did you know that?"

"It's like the banana shake, Honey. You get away with me for a couple of days and it takes you away from all your work. I get this," His fingers patted her hip, "Who you are now for a little while."

She glanced from his eyes to his lips, stepped in closer and shifted to her toes. "Muse." She whispered.

"Exactly," he murmured, "How I can write."

"Mm," she pressed her lips lightly to his. "May we order ice cream, Ricky?"

"Ice cream?" He was somewhat responsive to the suggestive tone her voice was laced with. Hazel eyes glistened. "Sure."

"Flavour?" It was lured from him.

"Chocolate."

"Very good," she murmured, held their stare momentarily then turned and went to fetch the hotel phone. Without hesitation, he followed and when he caught up, he snaked his arms around her waist. He swept hair from her right shoulder, made a path of kisses while she ordered the ice cream. She added a bottle of Kahlua with milk and ice.

"Kahlua?" He mumbled as she disconnected the call.

"Yes." She squirmed because his lips were stirring her nerves like electric shocks down her spine. "Will be a few minutes."

During that wait, Beckett kept busy and ended up with Castle stripped to his boxers.

"Well, I didn't think about this when you brought up ice cream."

"I bet you didn't." Kate smiled, wiped the side of his mouth with a thumb.

"I like it." He was thoroughly enjoying the moment. Beckett was straddled across his lap. The dress was gone and she was attired in the promised lingerie.

She spooned ice cream from the bowl he held between them, and she popped it into her mouth, then kissed him, unable to stay away. Rick accepted the kiss. His left hand was held to her back.

"How lucky I am." They parted, and Kate continued with eating. She reached for the glass of Kahlua, jiggled the ice then took a swig.

"Give me some." Rick requested. She passed him the glass.

"I don't have to go to work tomorrow." She stated.

"I know. You were just holding off on me."

"Mm. Just weighing my options. You or work."

"Get me either way."

"That I do. Speaking of which," She extracted the glass from his finger and placed it on the night stand with the empty bowl. "We have this place to our selves, Castle. We could break in the bed or the sofa. It's time for you to unravel me."

"Unravel."

"Its why we're here. You're letting me breathe again."

"I'll unravel you." He dragged her closer to his groin which instantly created a smile and laugh when she felt how much he wanted to have her.

"Did I do that?" She asked, her hands resting to his shoulders.

"You know you have that power."

She snickered, gently tilted her pelvis which caused a reaction.

"Easy, Babe."

"Shhh." She leaned in for a kiss. It was all she had to do.

Upon his arrival home, Castle threw his suit jacket over the back of the sofa and made his way to the kitchen where his mother was clearly cooking. Dirty pots and pans filled the large sink and food was scattered across the counters. His mother was a messy cook.

"Oh, Richard, darling," she greeted as he gave her cooking an inspection, "You're just in time. I made dinner."

"I see, Mother, but what are you doing here?" He gave his daughter a look that was received with a shrug of her shoulders and a smile. Alexis was always happy when her grandmother was at home.

"Well, we're eating." Martha replied. "You know, something families do a couple of times a day. Where is Katherine?"

"Working back, catching up on paperwork," Castle replied. "She is going to catch with Lanie before she comes home. She hasn't seen her a while. Girls night."

Alexis leaned into her father's kiss to the side of her head. "Hi, Dad."

"Hi." He murmured and then kept going on with inspection of the mess in the kitchen, also inquisitive about why his mother wasn't with the man friend. "So, uh, what about Chet?"

"Well, darling, I never said I was going to be chained to the man's side. Besides, Martha Rodgers is a woman of mystery. And, to maintain that, I'm going to have to... divide my time accordingly."

"Like having dual citizenship." Alexis suggested.

"Exactly, Darling." She briefly touched her granddaughter's forearm, "Besides, it's better for my relationship with Chet. So, if I have to eat a few meals a week, and do all of my laundry here... I'll just have to, um, make that work."

"I think that sounds like a fine plan, Gran." Alexis was all smiles.

"Hmm." Martha agreed.

"Well," Castle began, "I hope you'll be comfortable sleeping in the home theater chairs I'm having delivered to your room. They do recline." He smiled then rubbed the back of his neck, "And while we're on the subject of living or not living here, while we had our little vacation, Beckett and I talked it out."

Martha held her breath in anticipation and Rick immediately held up a hand, "No. I haven't asked her that." He smiled when his mother let go of a lungful of a air.

"Darling, you need to put a ring on that girl's finger."

"So not ready," he immediately replied. "However, Kate is going to be living here indefinitely. We talked it through today and she has agreed to give it a shot."

"That's wonderful, Richard." Martha immediately put her hands together in a show of approval. "It's about time you two had a shot of at least living together."

"We'll see, but let's make her feel at home."

Alexis glanced to her grandmother for the tenth time, clearly uncertain about the news, "Indefinitely, Daddy?"

Several seconds passed in which Rick observed his daughter's reaction. He'd heard the tone in her voice. Between the three family members it was like one of them had dropped a bomb in the middle of the room. He straightened up and firmly replied. "Well, yes." He glanced at his Mother who silently raised her eyebrows then was focused on his daughter. "Honey, Beckett needs time to recover from the shock of losing her home. We'll trial living together and see how we go."

"It would be wonderful if she stayed." Martha said as she stroked Alexis long red hair. "She brings so much to the family dynamics."

"She does," Castle agreed but simultaneously doubt flashed through his mind on whether Beckett was on the same page even though she'd agreed to trial it. His daughter wasn't too thrilled about the news.

Alexis smiled. "She's fun." She pointed to the stairs. "I have to go do some homework."

"I'll call you down when dinner is ready." Castle said inspecting the preparation already going on with his mother. They waited until Alexis had disappeared up the stairs. Rick sat upon the stool next to his mother, tapped the kitchen bench a few times before he asked. "You saw that?"

"I did." Martha responded. "I came home to see how she was."

"And?"

"She remains afraid that the Detective will bring harm to you, to us."

"But-"

Martha held up a hand to cease him. "I know. Someone was after Beckett."

"Well, more Nikki Heat, Mom, the character I created. It wasn't something Kate did."

"But she is Nikki Heat, and Alexis knows that."

"It's not her fault." He unconsciously swiped his palm over the counter, then rubbed the back of his neck. "I will let them sort it out. Hopefully I won't need to intervene."

"Strong ladies, Richard. Both your girls are strong willed and your welfare is a priority to each of them."

"And they are both very intelligent," he replied hoping the ladies would resolve any differences. "They're good girls but I'm also a grown man who can make my own decisions."

Martha gave him a look.

"What?" He barked back.

"They both refer to you as a man child," she replied with a chuckle.

"They got along well until the bombing so hopefully things will return to normal soon otherwise the man child will step up." He smiled.