Thanks, everyone for all the reviews and responses from the last chapter! I'm so glad you liked it! It was SO much fun to write, and I just LOVE having Martha interrupt them. It happened so frequently in the show, I had to continue the running joke.

I want to apologize for this update taking longer. I had wanted to write it Thursday, but I've had a headache from hell the past 3 days that's the perfect trifecta of a cold, pollen trying to kill me, and massive weather changes, so today is the first day I've felt like writing.

I promise this chapter is worth it. And there will be some slight M-rated content due to the fact that they are finally, FINALLY going to get their tensions released. I will write it in bold so that if you want to not read it, you can skip past it. It isn't going to be the level of smut I have written in the past…both because I'm not changing the overall rating for the story and it's more loving and less smutty. You won't miss anything relevant to the plot, just the sexy times that have been building for 3 seasons plus 11 chapters, lol.

I still don't own Castle…

xxxxx

Castle had been disappointed by the fact that Alexis had insisted on returning to the city before the fireworks on Memorial Day. He'd tried his best to convince her to stay and just miss the school day on Tuesday, but his academically focused daughter had insisted it was too close to finals for her to miss a day of school, and that they could shoot off fireworks after school was out. And also on the fourth of July. And then she had pointed out that since he was now dating a cop, he probably shouldn't brag about having the illegal fireworks, to which Kate had surprisingly replied that she wasn't a cop again until September, so she knew nothing about illegal fireworks.

Castle couldn't stay disappointed too long when he was alone with Kate again, though. It had been so great seeing her with his family this weekend, and even though his mother had interrupted their impromptu makeout session on her motorcycle, things hadn't seemed overly awkward. However, he had noticed that Kate had been a little more reserved with her touching and hadn't given him a real kiss in front of his mother or his daughter. He hoped that was just because Kate Beckett was not usually overly huge on PDA to begin with, and doing that in front of his mother and daughter was something she would just have to adjust to. But now that she was here alone with him again, he hoped her touches and kisses would come much more freely and nothing was upsetting her.

He grinned when he saw Kate standing at the railing of the back deck with what was left of her glass of wine. After turning off the outside lights in anticipation of the fireworks show that would begin shortly, he moved behind her, sliding his arms around her waist to pull her back against his chest. "Hey…" he husked lowly, his mouth moving to place slow kisses along her neck.

"Mmm…hey…" she murmured, her own voice a little husky as she let her body simply melt into his at his touch. "I wondered where you were."

"I had to turn off the lights before the fireworks started," he murmured, his lips teasing along her ear. He loved the way she instantly gave herself over to his touch, and any worry that something was wrong, was immediately gone.

Her face turned to catch his lips with hers in a slow kiss, her tongue tracing his lips before sliding against his with sinful strokes. "How about we have our own fireworks while we wait," she suggested softly against his lips.

"I like how you think," he grinned, capturing her lips with his again and making no effort to control the amount of heat in the kiss nor the way his hand slipped underneath the hem of her shirt to make long strokes along the skin of her stomach.

They were so caught up in each other, they missed the first few smaller fireworks go off. It wasn't until a larger, more resounding boom sounded that Kate broke the kiss with a soft giggle. "You made us miss the start," she playfully chastised him.

He chuckled softly, his hand continuing to caress her soft skin underneath her shirt. "I didn't hear you complaining."

She hid her smile behind a sip of wine. Oh no, she definitely was not complaining. She had enjoyed the weekend with his family there, but aside from Saturday evening on the back of her bike…which had been interrupted…she hadn't been able to touch or kiss him the way she wanted; the way she wanted to touch and kiss him was entirely inappropriate to do in front of his mother, and especially his daughter. She hadn't dared to do that in bed with him at night either, because she knew there would be no stopping them if she did, and she did not want to risk injury to him no matter how badly she wanted him.

She knew his doctor was making a visit the following day, and hopefully he would give Castle permission to start getting his heart rate up. If he didn't, though, she knew they were going to have to figure out something. There was no way they were going to be able to continue to be together like this without being able to physically be together. Both of them were reaching the end of their self-control. All she could hear was Lanie's voice telling her if she'd listened to her (Lanie) all those other times, she (Kate) wouldn't have so much sexual tension built up that she was ready to explode.

Castle didn't really pay attention to the fireworks; he was much more interested in watching Kate watch the fireworks…or at least he had been initially. However, after several minutes of watching her, he became much more intrigued by the soft skin of her neck and how it felt beneath his lips, and the way her shirt so easily slid off her shoulder to expose more skin that he just had to taste.

Her eyes remained watching the fireworks as she forced herself to focus on them instead of the way Castle's lips were lighting her skin on fire. It required a lot of effort, including her teeth digging hard into her lower lip, but she was able to remain focused and in control despite what he was doing to her…at least until the hand underneath her shirt began to go further south and his fingers dipped below the waist of her pants to trace along the waistband of her underwear. Her hand immediately gripped his wrist to stop him. "Castle!" she hissed.

"Kate…" he whined lowly. "Let me touch you…" he murmured, his lips still nuzzling her neck.

"We can't…you know that…you aren't ready…" she breathed, hoping she sounded more convincing than she felt.

"You are…and there is nothing wrong with my fingers…"

Her breath hitched slightly at his suggestion. She turned around in his embrace then, the arm with her now empty wine glass draping around his neck and her free hand on his cheek. "Babe…no. We aren't doing it this way. I don't want to do it this way," she told him softly, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips. "I love that you are thinking of me…but it has taken us 3 years to get to this point. 3 years, Rick…we've both wanted this, waited for this. I am not doing it this way. When we cross this last line, we are crossing it together. I am not cheating either of us out of that for my own pleasure, no matter how much I want it," she added seriously.

He breathed deeply and rested his forehead against hers. "Kate, I want to be with you…" he murmured.

She smiled, her thumb gently caressing his cheek. "I know. Look, your doctor is coming tomorrow. Let's just see what he says, ok? And if you still can't after that…we'll figure something else out," she promised, pulling back slightly to give him a smile.

He sighed softly, but nodded. "Ok," he agreed. "Did you just call me Babe?" he asked then with a smile.

"I did," she smiled, her eyes dancing playfully. "Do you have a problem with that?" she asked then, her hand moving from his cheek to rest flat against his chest.

"No…no problem," he grinned.

"Good," she kissed him softly. "Now let me watch the rest of the fireworks and then we can go to bed."

He chuckled and turned them so that they could keep their arms around each other and still watch the remaining fireworks explode across the sky.

xxxxx

"So, Doctor, when can I start more physical activities?" Castle asked after the doctor had finished examining him.

"I suppose that depends on your definition of physical activities, Mr. Castle. You aren't going to be running marathons anytime soon," the doctor gave a smile.

"Sex. I need to be able to have sex," he stated bluntly.

The doctor couldn't help but chuckle. "Mr. Castle…" he started, only to get interrupted.

"Listen…doctor…my girlfriend is gorgeous…" he started, trying to explain. "You have to understand…she's the woman of my dreams, and I have waited 3 years to get to this point with her. I need to be able to do this. I don't care what rules I have to follow, but you have got to help me out here."

The older gentleman took his glasses off and gave Castle an understanding smile. "I understand. You should be able to be physically intimate with her as long as you are both careful. No pressure on your chest, ok? She can't push on it with her weight. You're going to have to let her be on top and do most of the work, because you aren't going to have the stamina or ability to support your own weight on your arms…just like you can't lift anything over 10 pounds. So no trying to have sex in the shower or up against a wall, and no trying to carry her to bed. Nothing crazy in the beginning…you're going to have to listen to your body to see how far and how much you can handle. If your chest hurts at all, you're going to have to stop or slow down. Do you think you can manage that?"

Castle nodded with a smile. "I can definitely work with that."

"Good. Now for the good news…I'm ordering your physical therapy to increase your work to include more aerobic activity to start building your strength and stamina back." Seeing Castle's questioning look, the doctor chuckled. "Sex is an incredible aerobic activity, Mr. Castle. As long as you pace yourself and don't overdo it, having sex is actually going to be good for your recovery. It's one exercise plan I usually don't have to worry about my patients following."

Castle's grin grew. "Would you mind, maybe, writing that down on a prescription pad for me? Kate isn't going to believe you said that if I don't have proof."

xxxxx

Kate had actually left the house for a walk on the beach while his doctor was visiting. She knew he was anxious about the visit, but she was as well. The best way she could get her nervous energy out was to do some yoga on the beach. It would give her something else to focus on as well as help her expend some of her nervous energy. She wasn't sure what would happen if the doctor didn't give him permission to work on his heart rate. For now she was going to force herself to think about only yoga, and hopefully by the time she was finished, the doctor would be finished with Castle as well.

By the time she was done, she was sweaty and a little sandy, but she was refocused and feeling less anxious about the outcome of his doctor's visit. Seeing him in the kitchen when she walked in, she gave him a smile as she grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. "So, how did it go?"

"Pretty much like I expected. The doctor changed up my meds a bit more, and gave me a new prescription," he answered without a smile.

She studied him carefully, noticing he wasn't giddy, he wasn't smiling, and he hadn't greeted her by saying they could have sex, so she tried not to be disappointed. Healing was a process, she knew that. They would get there. They'd already waited 3 years; what was a little longer? "So what's this new prescription? Do you need me to go out and get it for you?"

He nodded, pulling the paper out of his pocket. "Yeah, I'm going to need this ASAP," he handed the folded paper to her.

"Ok, just let me shower, and I'll run out and get it," she told him, finishing up the water and tossing the bottle in the recycle bin.

Castle frowned slightly. "Don't you want to read what the new medicine is?"

"Castle, I don't have a medical degree. I highly doubt I'm going to even be able to pronounce whatever medicine he wrote on here."

"Just…open it."

She rolled her eyes and unfolded the paper. Richard Castle. Sex multiple times a day as needed. Increase frequency as the patient is able to tolerate. Her mouth dropped open slightly as she read the words, her eyes meeting his. "Rick? Seriously?"

He nodded, closing the distance to take her in his arms for a deep kiss. Finally pulling away breathless a few minutes later, he couldn't help the grin. "There are some rules…like I can't lift you…I can't even lift myself on my arms, and we can't do it in the shower or up against a wall…or pretty much any way other than you on top right now…"

She interrupted him with another deep kiss. "I don't care, I can work with all of that…" she breathed.

"My thoughts exactly," he grinned, grabbing her hand to pull her toward his bedroom. He didn't care it was the middle of the day. They had plenty of time before they had to worry about Alfred interrupting them with dinner.

"Wait," she laughed softly, stopping him. "I'm kind of sweaty and gross right now…plus I've still got sand on me…"

"So we'll take a shower first…" he said simply. "I'm done waiting Kate…aren't you?"

She arched an eyebrow and pulled back slightly. "Already trying to break one of the rules to get shower sex?"

He shook his head. "No. Trust me, these are rules I'm going to follow. I want to be able to have a lot of sex with you…no way in hell am I going to risk screwing that up by breaking a rule," he told her seriously.

"So you can follow rules after all," she teased him.

He nodded with a grin. "Given the proper incentive, yeah. Sex is a pretty good incentive. Sex with you is a pretty great incentive. Besides, we just can't have sex in the shower…foreplay is not against the rules," he grinned then.

Her eyes darkened slightly, and she met his grin. "Foreplay is good…" she agreed, closing the distance between them once more with a hot kiss, no longer holding anything back. Her fingers found the front of his jeans as she broke the kiss, meeting his eyes with a seductive look as she walked backward toward his bedroom, tugging him along by his pants. Once inside his bedroom, she released him with a smile. "Lock the door."

He laughed softly. "Kate, there's no reason to…"

"Lock it, Castle. If anyone interrupts us right now, I swear to God, I will shoot whoever walks through that door."

He nodded. "Right," he agreed and locked it. With the way their luck ran, it would be better to be safe than risk Alfred coming in for a random laundry pickup or on some other cleaning mission…it was the middle of the day, after all.

She took his hand and led him into the bathroom. Hopping up on the vanity counter between the double sinks, she reached for his hand and tugged him closer to stand between her knees. Her hands moved to gently caress his face, giving him a genuine smile full of everything she felt for him as she pulled his lips to hers. The kiss was sensual and slow, full of the promise of things that were finally going to happen between them.

His tongue moved slowly against hers, taking his time to fully explore her mouth, his hands coming to her waist. Fingers gripped the bottom of her tank top and slowly began peeling it up her body, which was more difficult than he would have liked since her skin was sweaty and the tank top was one of those form fitting exercise tops.

"Never thought you'd have so much trouble getting my top off, Castle…" she teased, pulling back from the kiss to help him out.

"Yeah, well…you're hot…and it's tight…" he murmured, having to grin slightly at the suggestiveness of his own words for a moment before his eyes started travelling over her as she let her top drop to the floor. "Oh wow…" he breathed, his eyes darkening as his fingers gently slid over her collarbone and down to her breast. She was soft and exquisite, she was his, and he wasn't sure he remembered how to breathe.

"You think that's something, wait until you get my pants off…" she husked lowly in his ear with a grin, using his momentary pause to grab his shirt and tug it over his head. She reached out and tugged him closer, her lips pressing against his collarbone, her tongue darting out to taste his skin as her fingers slowly moved over his chest and down his abs to the button on his jeans. Everything stopped, though, when her eyes landed on the fresh scar on his chest, still red and angry as it continued to heal from where the bullet meant for her had pierced his flesh; she inhaled sharply as she froze.

"Kate…" he breathed, his thumb moving to wipe a single tear from her cheek that had escaped. "Hey…I'm okay…" he promised softly, because he knew why she'd frozen, where her mind had gone. When her eyes finally met his, he saw everything in them…how much she wanted him, how much she needed him, how much she loved him, and he knew she'd see the exact same emotions reflected in his own eyes.

So he did all he could think of to do; he kissed her slowly, deeply, tenderly. It wasn't a kiss fueled by lust or even sex. It was love…everything he felt for her, everything she felt for him, everything they felt for each other, expressed in the only way they could tell each other. He was a writer, and even he couldn't find the right words to show her, to make her feel. And suddenly, neither of them cared about the shower anymore. He needed to hold her, to feel her, and she needed to feel him inside her, to connect with him in the most intimate way two people could connect. It was no longer about their bodies finding release, it was about their souls.

She slid off the vanity counter and stood in front of him, her eyes dark. Her fingertips barely brushed the skin of his scar, and her lips pressed a gentle kiss over his heart just beside it before she let her eyes meet his once more. Her hands found his and she laced their fingers as she slowly pulled him out of the bathroom and to his bed, her eyes never leaving his. She dropped his hands when they stood beside the bed, both of them getting rid of their pants and underwear.

He pulled the sheets back and climbed into bed. Once he was settled on his back, she got into bed as well, straddling his hips. His hands lightly ran up her thighs from her knees, his thumbs stroking along her inner thighs, their eyes once again locked on each other. When she finally leaned down to kiss him, his hands slid from her thighs to her hips and slowly up her back, one hand tangling in her hair. A soft moan escaped as her hips slowly circled against his.

"Rick…" she breathed his name against his lips when the hand that had been in her hair slowly moved down her body until it slid between them, his fingers brushing between her legs.

"Let me feel you, Kate…" he murmured, searching her eyes.

Her legs slipped open a little more as she granted his request, her mouth returning to his in a hot kiss. His fingers were slow and deliberate as they stroked her, touched her, learned her; her hips danced a slow rhythm with his fingers, gradually increasing the tempo as he pushed her body closer and closer to the edge of ecstasy.

He'd never heard anything sexier in his life than the way his name came out in soft moans from her lips mixed with her panted breaths as his fingers danced over and inside her; he'd never seen anything sexier than the way she looked right now on top of him. He could tell she was getting close, and he couldn't wait to watch her fall apart, when she suddenly stopped him, grabbing his wrist gently and pulling his hand away from her. "Kate?"

Her eyes were full of passion and love as they met his. "Together…" she whispered before her lips met his again.

He understood then what she wanted, his hands moving back to her hips. "Condoms are in the nightstand…" he murmured in her ear.

"No…" she breathed, pushing up enough to meet his eyes. "I'm protected…and clean…and I don't want anything between us…I trust you completely…" she told him seriously. "I love you." Those words flowed from her lips so easily. She'd been hanging onto them for the right moment, and this was it.

His eyes locked on hers at her words. He was…shocked…to say the least at her confession. But judging from the look on her face, it had not been an accidental slip of the tongue that sometimes occurred in the throes of passion; it had been intentional. "Kate…" he breathed, his mouth claiming hers once more. "God, I love you…" he murmured against her lips.

She shifted her hips then, sinking down onto him slowly as they kissed, both moaning into each other's mouths at the sensation of finally, finally being connected. They finally had to break the kiss, their foreheads resting against each other, both breathless and momentarily still at the feeling of him buried so deeply inside of her. Her eyes opened after a moment and met his with a smile, and she began a slow rhythm with her hips.

They both knew this time wasn't going to last long; it had been a long time coming, and it was too physically and emotionally charged between them. They both tried to slow it down, make it last longer, but when Kate lifted up to have a better position to go faster, there wasn't enough body contact for him. He sat up as well, using a strong leg to push him backward so that his back could rest against the headboard, the new angle pushing him even deeper inside her and causing her to inhale sharply. His arms kept her body close, their mouths fusing in a mix of hot kisses and breathless moans.

Her hips were grinding against his with every thrust now, both of them on the edge. Her hands gripped the headboard, and she opened her eyes, finding his. "Rick…" came a breathless moan. And then she was shattering around him. He followed her a moment later, one hand moving to grip hers, lacing their fingers and his other at her back, keeping her close as they rode out the waves together, their movements slowing to a stop, their bodies a breathless tangle of limbs.

She lifted her head from his shoulder a few moments later, still a bit breathless, and pressed a deep kiss to his lips. Her arms wrapped around his neck to keep him close as she rested her forehead against his. "That was worth waiting for…" she murmured with a smile.

He grinned, his hands lightly rubbing her back. "Mmm…yeah. And you were right…I had no idea…"

She laughed softly, pulling back just a little to study him. "You ok? I didn't break you, did I?"

"No, you didn't break me. I'm okay…no chest pain. Just winded," he promised her.

"Good…" she kissed him softly, leaning into snuggle against him, making no effort to move or let him move out of her just yet either. Both remained holding each other silently, just enjoying each other and their new level of intimacy. It could have been 5 minutes or 5 hours, but it was Kate who finally moved first, shifting off of his lap to stand. "Now I really do need a shower," she smiled.

"Mmm…me too…" he chuckled, standing with her. "Care to share?"

She laughed softly. "As long as you behave. I want to make sure you're actually okay before we try anything else."

He groaned lowly, pulling her against him. "I'm fine. Better than fine. I promise."

"I know you think that, but sex produces endorphins that mask pain. I want them to wear off a little just to make sure," she told him with a giggle as she wiggled her hips back against his. "So let's take a shower…have an early dinner...and then if you're still feeling okay, we can go to bed early...and not sleep," she suggested with a smile.

He pretended to think about it for a moment. "Deal," he agreed, kissing her neck. "But I am going to touch you in the shower...and get a better look at that tattoo on your hip."

She laughed softly. "I would expect nothing less."

xxxxx

Ok, so I lied a little bit when I said you wouldn't miss anything if you skipped over the love scene. The first "I love you" was in there. I'm sorry! I didn't intend to write it that way, but once the characters started talking it just...happened...and I'm not one to argue with either of them, especially Beckett since she's got a gun, lol. Seriously, though, the scene is more of a tender love scene than full blown smut in case those of you who skipped over it want to back up to read the "I love you."

As always, thank you to everyone for reading and reviewing. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this chapter. I hope the build up to the love scene was worth it, and I promise I'll try not to take so long to get the next chapter written!