Hi All, hope you are all safe and healthy. If you haven't seen season 3 of Absentia, I strongly recommend you do. Really like it. Here's another chapter of their secret life to pass the time. Keep safe and thank you for reading and your reviews. Once I get through this part there is going to be a massive time jump. Al

Chapter 97

Composed, but emotionally drained, Kate retreated to the office and curled up in a leather armchair to read. The room was the only place of comfort and retreat she had in the loft. She'd shared hours with Castle in this room. Not only was his scent was infused in the decor, the room stored his favourite books, smelt of books and the well-worn leather furniture was a perfectly cosy place for reading. She liked being there because it brought her security. It was a place for her mind and body to rest, to be quiet.

While she'd composed herself, she'd decided to not tell Castle about the argument with Alexis. She understood she'd not thought fast enough to appropriately respond and that was on her. If there happened to be a next she'd deal with the problem differently.

She heard the front door close and immediately lowered the book to her lap.

"Kate?" He called with a deeper than usual tone.

She hadn't read a page but when Castle arrived in the study he would assume she was doing quiet time with a book.

"I'm in the study," she called back.

The door opened seconds later and he slowly entered the room, "Hey." He glanced at her, then about the room.

"Hey." She put the book down on the arm of the chair.

He stood before her and scanned her from head to toe. He pointed at her chest, "You're in your jammies." He tapped his watch. "Its early for you."

She nodded. "Comfortable, I'm not going out."

"Fair enough," he replied, "Is Alexis home? She's ghosted my calls and texts."

She nodded again, forced a poker face, and pointed to the ceiling. "I didn't ignore your calls, Castle, I was in the shower."

"Uh huh. Well evidently, your hair is damp." He glanced through the bookshelves, rubbed the left side of his neck. "Maybe she was showering too."

Kate maintained eyes on Rick, slowly breathed in and out, conscious he might well be on to her. The subtext told her he wasn't swallowing anything she said.

"Maybe she was texting her friends," she suggested. The problem was, Castle didn't miss much.

"Maybe." His attention returned to her, never really gone for long. "God, you smell nice."

"Thank you." On impulse, needing his touch, Kate easily pushed herself up from the seat to stand on the edge of the armchair. She reached out, leaned across and surrounded his neck.

"Hey?" Surprised, he hooked his arms around her body as she bridged herself to him until she was on his frame hugging him. "I've got you," he whispered and held her tight. Long limbs wrapped around his body, gripped against his torso.

She whispered, "Wanna hug, Castle."

"We'll have a hug. How was court?" He asked in a murmur as he strolled to the living room easily carrying Beckett.

"Court. You know. Tomorrow will be the final day. Half day and I'll be back at the precinct."

"Then we can get back to policing together," he quietly replied.

Castle continued toward the living area burdened with the additional but not overbearing weight of his security seeking girlfriend. An oddity in her behaviour. Concern was creeping up that he was missing an important piece of information. His gut instincts were screaming loud and clear.

He asked as calmly as possible. "What's going on, Kate?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when I arrived at home, the light's on in the hallway upstairs confirming Alexis is at home. She would know I'm home but she hasn't come downstairs to catch up as she usually would. You're in your PJ's already washed up."

He also noticed the kitchen was clean, spotless, so Kate hadn't prepared their dinner as she had said she would. Or, it was in the oven, but he hadn't enjoyed the waft of home cooking when he'd stepped through the front door. And, usually, the girls would have shared in the preparation of dinner and been in the living area together preparing the dining table. Well, that's what they used to do.

Kate was a little tense in his arms and her hands were cold. Popsicle cold. There was something amiss. Clingy generally wasn't his girlfriend's thing unless she was feeling vulnerable, out of her depth or wanted intimacy. This behaviour wasn't her signal she wanted to be intimate.

She stood to the floor so he could lower himself to the couch, and she settled with her bottom on the couch and her legs over his lap. She hadn't let go too much. It was a game of wait for Castle. Wait for her to talk, or come out of the mood. Court must have been rougher than she let on or perhaps she was simply tired and wanted the secureness and reassurance a hug provided.

He looked at her downcast eyes. "Where you gone, Kate?" He caressed her upper arm with his left hand and his right palm was pressed to the small of her back.

Hands that rested at her lap fisted momentarily, and he didn't miss the action, or the moment the muscles in her jaw tensed.

"All is good," she quietly answered.

For several seconds, he breathed in the perfumes of shampoo and personal products, the scent of her. She might have been acting like everything was fine but her body was showing otherwise. "You're trembling."

Hazel eyes met his, as she murmured, "I'm a little cold."

"I know. You feel okay?"

Kate nodded, and a hand rested upon his collar bone, "How did your meeting go?" She smiled softly. "Good?"

"Arr.. very well actually. Good edits. I also bumped into Erin. Umm, your Dad sent the paperwork to my lawyer who also called me, and you will now receive royalties for Nikki Heat sales, once they start coming in that is."

"Castle-"

He patted her lower back to hush her objection, "And." He paused to add flare to the moment, create anticipation.

"Tell me," she urged, her voice shaky.

"I have a contract to start writing another novel. They like the Nikki Heat protagonist. Want more." He touched beneath her eye, dabbed away a tear. "Is that a happy tear?"

She kissed the heel of his hand, "Mm. Happy for you, Babe."

"And?"

"I'm tired, Castle. That's all."

He thought about that. She generally didn't suffer weariness. "Are you hungry?"

"No." She shrugged, gave the hint of a smile. "Yes."

"I think you are hungry. I'm starving. You're cold too. Need to be fuelled up." He reached into his pocket for his phone. "Where's your wine?"

"I didn't pour any." She lulled her head against his shoulder.

"Pizza or Thai?"

She raised her head again "Pizza. What about Alexis?"

"She'll have either."

"I could cook what I had planned to. It won't take me long," she offered.

Castle remained seated, studied her face. "Nuh. You're tired. I'll text Alexis. See what she wants." He sent his daughter a text. They waited. The text was returned that she preferred pizza.

"Pizza is unanimous," he said and hit the pizza number on his saved contacts.

The pizza guy copped a decent tip when he handed Castle the pizza box. The author kicked the door closed as he shouted out for Alexis to come for dinner. Beckett had the drinks organised by the time he planted the box on the coffee table. He returned to the place he'd been sitting and Beckett sat to his right. She had retrieved a sweater from the bedroom. He glanced to her.

"You look warmer," he commented.

"I am." She passed him a beer.

"Thanks." He raised it and they clink bottles, "Cheers."

"Cheers."

"Where's Alexis?" He asked and they both turned about to view the stairs.

It was Kate who got up and made her way to the landing of the staircase. She hung on to the railing and called with good volume, "Alexis, pizza is here."

"Coming."

She spun about and hurried back to the couch. Alexis quietly descended the stairs. She greeted her father with a kiss to his cheek then sat on the edge of an arm chair.

"Dig in." Castle encouraged between mouthfuls to his company. "Its good."

Beckett gestured to Alexis to take a piece first which she accepted.

"How was school?" Castle asked his daughter, simultaneously aware there was something in the air since his daughter had joined them. He slowed his consumption of the piece of pizza, his focus mostly on his daughter but his peripheral vision was also on Kate. She was nibbling at her piece of pizza in her usual manner, working away at the crust first.

"Umm." Alexis shrugged, "Usual day, Dad. How was yours?"

Kate crossed her legs, left over right and placed her beer on the coffee table. Castle cleared his throat.

"Prosperous. I've got to get on with a new novel." He had a swig of his beer. "Kate was in court today. During the summer months, you might enjoy going with her a couple of days, see what it's like to be a lawyer."

"You want to be lawyer?" Kate asked.

Castle paused, noticing Kate's higher pitch. She sounded more nervous than curious. She always sounded so young whenever she was anxious.

"I've thought about being one, amongst many other things." Alexis replied, her eyes on her father, "But I will probably enrol in summer classes."

"You also need to take a break, have some fun with your friends."

"I do, Dad."

"Personally, I'd rather be with my friends than hanging about the courts," Beckett commented.

"You wanted to be a lawyer?" Alexis asked.

"Yes, but I don't enjoy being the person getting fried in the chair. Testifying."

"You would rather be the one doing the frying." Castle commented.

"The judge," she replied.

"I could see you being a judge." He was quick witted but the girls didn't respond as he expected. So, he bit into his piece of pizza and ate.

The pizza box remained on the coffee table with most of the contents gone, keeping company with two wine glasses and a couple of empty bottles. Castle was seated on the sofa watching TV. Alexis had returned upstairs to her bedroom. He'd sensed something was amiss between the girls. Conversation had been polite but it had lacked humour and lightness. Tonight, the spidey senses were tingling, but he hadn't had much luck with figuring out why. It was a certainty he would get it out of one of the girls, what was going on, sooner rather than later. He just had to wait for a weak moment.

The girlfriend was nestled against his chest seated between his legs, with his iPad in her hands. She was reading a short story he had penned a while back. Intensely reading. Deeply engrossed in it, in fact. To distract her, he placed his palm lightly to Beckett's forehead, caressed her hair back over her head. There was no response. She had 8 chapters to get through and was well into it. He'd finally succumbed to her harping to gain access to his fanfiction stories. Throughout their courtship, Kate had been relentless to get his pen name and tonight something had made him cave into her demands.

He moved his hand to the side of her head and kissed her head. "So?"

She shifted her hand that rested on his thigh. "Mm. Really good."

He peered down at the screen to get an idea of where she was at in the story.

"Why aren't you publishing this?" She quietly asked.

"It's way too hot for genre books."

She laughed, "You write sex really well."

"Erotica, baby," he whispered seductively, his palm sliding down her tummy. He wanted to know how much she enjoyed reading erotic fiction about Nikki Heat rather than his reflections in stories he gifted her about them. The smoothness, softness of her flesh, her warmth on his palm appealed to his senses. The perfume she wore was intoxicating.

He breathed out, "Baby." His hand arrived at its destination, and he groaned his approval. "Oh yeah. You really are enjoying it."

Beckett laughed, playfully gripped his roaming hand, holding him at bay. "Castle."

He laughed, "You're so into it."

"I am, let me read it, filthy writer boy."

"Filthy writer boy?"

She scoffed playfully. "Mm. You are."

"Dirty little reader," he whispered back. She released his hand after she gave it a little push of encouragement to resume progression. "Oh, you want a happy ending?"

A girlish giggle escaped. "Please. I'm gonna get at least one after reading this part. My God. Is this how you see us?" She tilted her head to see his eyes, "I mean, I'm assuming this is …"

"Based on us. Yes. It's like a journal for me. Love you," he whispered.

Silence fell between them and Kate continued reading, while Castle slowly carried on arousing her.

Minutes later, he sighed with content. "Kate?"

She kind of grunted a response. "Don't you stop," she quietly ordered when his hand paused.

"I won't. What got you so wound up earlier?"

She paused from reading, put her hand over his ceasing his service. "Nothing."

He frowned, but immediately knew that his assumption was correct. The iPad was put down to her side and she rested her head against his chest. Inhaled slowly and on exhaled she whispered, "Nothing."

For a while Rick relaxed, comfortable with his girlfriend's weight against him, his hand having found its place against her stomach, just below her ribs. By the way she breathed, he knew she was a little stressed. Usually she also would have dragged him to bed by now but she wasn't reacting as quickly as normal.

"Castle?"

"Beckett?"

"We don't argue over things that don't make sense, do we?"

His brow knotted. He tried to connect her question to the mood he'd found her in earlier. "No. We argue over what we believe or what touches our emotions, I guess."

He waited for her to continue but she stayed silent and picked up the iPad to continue reading. Accepting that she wasn't going to elaborate, he turned his attention back to the television. The back of his mind churned away at the what had bothered Kate, and it caused him to feel uneasy.

A while later her fingers that rested over his hand flexed, and her head relaxed against his chest.

"Castle?" Beckett whispered, and her hand urged his to slide downwards.

"Huh?" He turned his attention away from the TV. Smiled with pleasure with what his hand felt. "Oh."

"You write … about us. I like it."

He grumbled something then a deep guttural groan erupted from his throat as his fingers arrived at their destination. "You really love it."

She gasped as her hips rose against his hand. He took the weight of her body upon him. "Castle," she whispered.

"You like my dirty little story."

"Love it." Fingers gripped his wrist to pause him. Her breaths quickened. "Ricky," she exhaled, "I'm bursting at the seams."

"I know."

"Don't push me over the edge yet." It was a plea. "Want more of you before I let go."

"Let's go to bed," he suggested, his tone husky. "I gotta have you."

Beckett was up on her feet, half hoisted up by Rick's assistance. With the iPad in her hands she hurried off to the bedroom. Rick locked up the loft and turned out the lights on his way to his room with one thing on his mind.