Castle 1. Into The Breach

**Into the Breach**

Castle flopped down on the bed, jostling the sheets which he took into his hands, playing with the thin material. Hand opening and closing over the bed he helped mess up, feeling the fabric in his fingertips, mixed with the after effect of her skin, smooth and inviting under his hands.

He was anxious...more than anxious as he waited for her to return. Listening intently to the sounds of her feet as she padded down the hallway and back into her room.

"Are you sure about this?" She asked standing in the doorway, waiting.

He nodded his head vigorously, his hands reaching his out in a gimmie gesture.

"Really? Because there is no going back after this." She said, walking into the room and standing just at arms length. She could feel the sheer giddiness radiating off of him in anticipated waves, lapping at her ankles, washing over her body and pulling her into his riptide of happy desperation.

He was so excited, he couldn't speak. His eyes so wide she thought she could see the fantasies dancing in the back of his head.

"Seriously? Because you cannot unsee what I am about to show you."

"I _know _isn't it great!"

Kate blew her hair out of her face from the corner of her mouth, and sat on the bed beside him. Holding her prize close to her side as he leaned in practically drooling. Her hair fell back into her face, casting her wicked grin in wavy soft shadow.

She adjusted herself on the bed, tucking her knees up under her, an over sized t shirt fluttering down the middle of her thighs. Castle scooted closer, his knees bumping hers as his fingers danced across the sheets towards his obsession.

"Ah uh ah." She said, raising a hand to stop him.

He sighed exasperatedly and sat back on his hunches.

"Put some gloves on first." She said, pulling a pair out from behind her and snapping the latex.

He jumped, the bed shaking beneath him and his eyes grew.

Kate laughed. "I'm kidding, Castle." and laughed again as she pushed the box towards him, and he sighed in relief.

He stared at her for a moment, his hands reaching out once more and waited for her go ahead. And when she gave him a semi serious nod, he took it in both hands, raising it up and sighed loudly in longing.

Her eyes rolled exaggeratedly, along with a tilt of her head and a raise of her eyebrows.

"What? I'm excited,." He said in defense as he smoothed his hands along the surface, caressing it like a lover.

"Do I need to go..." She pointed out of the room, "Over there." Raising her eyebrows.

"Yuh huh, and take me with you." He nodded his head until she started to get up, and snatched her wrist, pulling her back down.

"Okay lets do this." She said, taking it from him and starting to lift the lid.

"no no no!" He shouted, slamming his hand flat and re-closing it. "We have to savor the moment."

"Castle." She warned.

"Fine." He said, removing his hand, and sticking his tongue between his teeth as she started to open it.

She wanted to outright giggle. The glee emanating from this man beside her, heat radiating off his body, and teasing at her skin. Her lip dragged into her mouth, teeth sinking into her flesh as she finally let the lid fall with a soft whoosh onto the sheets.

He gasped, body rising as he moved closer, hovering over it as if suspended in animation.

Or mental overload.

"Are you or am I?" He asked after a short pause.

"Well I already know what's in there." She stated matter of factly.

"OKaaay.." He said rolling up his imaginary sleeves. "Into the breach." He declared as his hand dove inside.

Kate rolled her eyes.

"Oooo." He said, looking over at her. "It's soft." He soothed. "And squishy." He added with a waggle of his eyebrows. Then his mouth dropped open with an idea. "I bet it feels good on your..."

"Mmhmm." She hummed back at him, eyes dark and mischievous.

He grinned back at her, lifting it out and stroking it before placing it between them. This time, when his hand went back in nis nails catch at something sounding off a high pitched ping before his fingers wrap around something sharp and metallic.

Pulling it out, his eyes snapped to hers. "Is this..."

She nods.

"For you?"

"Nooo."

"for _me? _He gulped eying what he now held tighter in surprise.

"But only." She purred. "If you're good.." She dragged her nails down his leg, his eyes watching her fingers claw at his skin, and he gulped again as her dangerous leer locked with his. "Or _Bad_."

"I can...be bad..." He replied tentatively.

"Are you sure? You sound a bit..."

"OH, I'm a lot." He grinned.

"I can see." She squeezed his thigh, biting down on her lip as she moved in closer.

He leaned into her, lips hovering over hers. "Would you like to," He dropped the thing from his hand, "Feel it?"

Her hand moved higher on his thigh. "I can." And his answering growl sent a thrill through her as her other hand reached into the box.

But his hand stopped her, smoothing up over her arm and twining with her fingers as they both touched something really fluffy. A circular disk, hard on the inside, soft on the outside, and his fingers slipped through the hole and caught hers on the other side.

Kate falls further into him, leg lifting and sliding over his lap, arm wrapping around his neck and pressing her nose under his ear. "But not with those," She shook her head, nose rubbing along his skin.

"Why not, there's no tiger here."

Kate smiled, pressing a kiss to his ear and growled, biting down. He hissed, yelping out and jostling her as he jumped just a little. She laughed, a low purr in his ear, and took his hand that was still inside, and trailed his fingers over the various things within.

Over things sharp, and snappy like leather, soft like silk, and delicate like lace, curling around his fingers. Not letting him get a grip on anything as she kept his hand moving over something rubbery, hard, and he hummed in suspicion, before yanking his hand back when he flipped a switch.

The whole box started to vibrate. All the contents skittering along the bottom as Kate started laughing and reached in to turn it off.

She relaxed on a sigh, chin resting on his shoulder, breathing him in. Her eyes tilted up at him as he inclined his head towards her, eyes locked as they felt around together. Her rediscovering and him being completely taken on a new adventure. So willing and open with her.

Just feeling, and touching without having to actually see.

And with each new object, her palm flat over his hot flesh, she felt herself beginning to overheat. A fresh spark, growing and reigniting lower and lower, flushing at her skin.

Kate buries her nose in his shoulder as she drags his fingers up the length of a bottle. Her eyes find him again, seeing how he works out the way she makes him touch it. Shows him with the quiver of her body, that she likes it.

He smiles slowly at her, "What."

She smiles back. He grins even wider knowingly, both pulling it out together and putting it onto the bed with everything else.

Castle sniffs at the air, "So this is why you smell like.."

"Mmhmm." She hums, undulating and rising up onto her knees, retrieving an item from the bed, drawing the long silk scarf through her fingers before she wraps it around his face.

He places his hands on her hips, holding her in place, his fingers tensing as she covers her eyes and knots it at the back of his head. She drags her finger over his lips, down to his button and starts popping them.

"Now you can smell like Cherries too." She said, taking the massage oil in her hand and pushing him flat on the bed.


	2. Coffee Contemplations

**Coffee Contemplations**

Clink, clink clink, clink.

Clink, clink clink, clink.

Her nails drummed along the porcelain. That high pitched beat, impatient and yet even, unhurriedly clicking in rhythmic succession.

Her heart beat a similar tune.

Thumping against the walls of her chest, pumping the blood through her tingly, anxious body as she sat crossed legged on the bed.

Her palm pressed softly into her coffee mug, his sitting on the bedside table, its aroma dancing with hers, drifting in and out of her senses. Mixing with his scent, taste and embracing her heart, which thrummed relaxed and coincided to the steady breaths that she sat here watching.

The autumn morning light peeked in through the curtains, that luminescent glow slowly creeping over his bare back, threatening to spill over, and wash over her knees. She sighed, shoulders shrugging as she had enough time with her thoughts. Or at least she had thought. But the coffee still sat hot in her hand. The taste still lingering on her tongue. The steam licking at the inside of her nose, enticing her.

Bringing it up to her lips, the rim wet from the steam, she tipped it back just a little, her eyes staying on the sleeping writer. Hearing his small intake of breath has he turned over, that whoosh of air through his nose filtering in over the rush of hot coffee as it slid over her tongue.

She swallowed just as he settled, seeing the flutter of his eyelids, and her heart skipped a beat, the coffee stilling in her hand before she let out her own breath, and rested the cup on her feet.

Kate could feel the heat of him, so close beside him pressed into the sheets. His body heavy and relaxed, bathing in his own body heat. She wanted to fall into those depths with him. But he seemed so peaceful, the lines of his face smoothed out in sleep.

But instead of lifting up the covers, and crawling inside to curl up against him, Kate shuffled out of bed. She slid to the floor, holding her coffee cup in both hands as her eyes watched the liquid slosh at the sides. She's careful when she lands, letting out a soft sound in relief, and drinks from the cup, feeling her shirt slip back over her backside when she pushed off from the bed.

Her toes curl on the wood floor, chilled, and she shivered, shoulders reaching her ears, and grasped the hot cup closer before padding out of the room. Kate stopped by the door, looking back, seeing the steam from his cup still rising slowly in wisps. A smile spread across her face at the sight of him, already rolling over and looking for her in his slumber.

He's not going to find her there of course. Just the indent of her warm body as she had waited. He'll have to go to her. Seek her out like he does in the night, like she does in the early morning. Hands roaming, fingers pressing, sliding and pulling each other in.

She let out a sigh, and left the room, finding the loft in a peaceful hush. The only sounds she heard was her own heartbeat, and the city outside his windows.

And just like before, Kate found herself in his kitchen, pulling out a stool and hoisting herself onto it, her cup clicking and scraping along the countertop as she adjusted herself, and pulled it towards her. Settling in a space she'd always dreamed of being in... like this, but never actually had the confidence to believe she would.

Clink, clink clink, clink.

Clink, clink clink, clink.

Curling fingers find their way into her hair, sifting in her soft morning waves, and palm cupping at her warm, awakening skin of her cheek.

She puckers her lips, dragging her tongue from one end to the other, lifting her coffee to them and drinking before she does it again, and blows a raspberry. The vibration echoes off her lips, into the quiet, empty loft.

Her mouth kinks to one side, teeth biting at the inside of her cheek, fingers still tap tapping at her coffee mug...eyes flick towards his door, the one she left open, resisted sliding across the floor in hopes of not spilling her coffee all over her naked legs and feet.

But she wanted to do it again...without having to escape. Get the hell out of there so no one would know. She'd like to wake up in his bed more often...every day...in this loft.

Her eyes grow wide.

Did she really just wish she lived in Richard Castle's loft?

Could she...?

Is it too soon?

No...Her heart flutters with the idea, and she smiles into her coffee.

Kate takes another gulp, both hands on either side of it now, and lets it thump back on the counter. Her eyes look around her, fingers feeding through her hair absently as she contemplates.

Where would she put her stuff?

Clink, clink clink, clink.

She guesses she doesn't need all of it. But she'd like to keep her windy painting...

Tap tap tap tap.

Tap tap tap tap.

Put her other stuff in storage...make room in his closet for all her shoes...her coats...

Tap tap...Kate brings her cup once again to her lips, tipping it all the way back and frowning as she barely gets a drop.

"What are you doing?"

Kate jumps, nearly dropping her empty cup on the kitchen counter, and lowers it, turning to see Castle rubbing his eyes in his bedroom doorway.

She sets the cup down, and slides from the stool. "Contemplating where to put my stuff."


	3. second offense

This oneshot was prompted by **kimmiesjoy: **Caskett on a stakeout.

**Second Offense**

The wind beat hard against the car, whistling through the air around them, the night closing in. The only source of light, was a yard away in the form of a dingy street light, leaving them in mostly darkness.

And Kate was cold.

Arms wrapped tightly around herself, knees almost up to her chest, she grumbled in the drivers seat. Her eyes were transfixed out the windshield, watching a bright blue door, waiting for their suspect, or any sign of life at all.

"Kate." Castle said. His voice sharp in the silence. In made her skin jump, crawling with cold, and anticipation.

She curled in tighter, not looking at him, eyes still on the street. Kate needed to focus, keep her head in the game, however bored she was.

"Come on, are you going to be mad at me all night?" He asked, his eyes crinkled in the corners, sad pout on his face she would otherwise find cute. But right now, it only seemed to irritate her more.

"It's your _second _offense." She replied, still without looking, if not turning her head even further away from him.

"Second?" He asked in confusion, twisting in his seat fully towards her, back against the door.

"Mmhmm." She nodded, hair slipping into her face, which she left, harder for him to see how much she'd rather not start something, but she couldn't help it.

"What did I do?!" He whined.

And Apparently neither could he.

"Well." She started, turning around to face him, brows knit. "_Why_ exactly am I on a nearly unnecessary stakeout, when I could be curled up at _Home _with my boyfriend...oh wait, because said boyfriend pissed off my boss."

He sighed, heavily. "How was I supposed to know that was her coffee!" He defended in a raised, hushed tone. "I thought it was yours." He pointed at her. Which only caused her to scoff and roll her eyes at him.

"How could you think it was mine?" She asked, knowing full well that the captain does _not_take her coffee with two pumps of sugar free vanilla.

"It smelled like it?" He asked with a shrug of his shoulders, and both knew he was grasping.

Kate gave him a look. "Admit it, you were too busy tossing around evidence in the middle of the bullpen, to notice which cup you were grabbing.

"Fine!" He conceded, throwing his hands in the air as high as he could in their confined space. "Fine." He said again, grumbling under his breath.

"Don't placate me." She warned, pointing a finger at him.

"I'm not, I'm just as horrified as she was... I mean... her _lips _were on it first! I might as well have kissed her..."

They both made a face in disgust, Castle wiping at his tongue as if he could still taste the coffee. And then sat there with the deepest pout she'd ever seen.

"Ew Castle... just.. no... if you kissed her... that means...I..." Her eyes grew wide and she made a noise that sounded a lot like, "blech!"

"Kissed her by proxy?" He asked all smug.

"Shut up, you kissed her first."

"I thought it was your coffee!" He sighed. "I'm not going over this again..."

She nodded, resting her elbow on the window beside her and thumped her head in her hand. But she could feel him watching her... waiting, wondering...and then...

"What else did I do?" He blurted out.

Kate sighed again. "That thing this morning." She said, lifting her head out of her hand, and staring at bug that was flying around the streetlight.

"What thing?"

"I can't believe you did that."She said ignoring him.

"What?...oh! I thought you liked it." He looked almost hurt, shocked even and it made her that more appalled.

"NO!" She shot back. "Come _On _ Castle, Why would you think I would like _that_!?" She shook her head at him, tapping her fingers on her arm.

"You hinted..."

"But not with your mouth!"

"Where _else _would I put it?!

"Castle!" She started but stopped when she saw the bright blue door swing open, and their suspect came strolling out.

He goes to get out of the car. Fumbling for the handle in the dark before she slapped her hand on his thigh, digging her nails in. Castle stopped, looking down at her hand, and then into her eyes, not realizing how close she got.

"Stay put."

But he ignored her, pulling on the handle when he finds it. She clawed harder, eyes darting to the suspect, her fingers kneading at Castle's flesh as she became anxious to go after the guy now walking away from them.

"Three strokes and you're out Castle." She purred, backing away and letting him go to push open her own door,.

"Not unless I'm getting to fourth base." He said as she got out of the car, bending down to look at him. "Wait..." He backtrack it dawned on him. "Did you say _Strokes_?"

She answered him by slamming the door.

The red and blue flashing lights of police cruisers now lit up the once pitch black street. Castle stood to the side, his back against the building foot pressed at the old brick, arms crossed as he watched Kate duck their suspect into the back of Ryan and Esposito's car.

The door shut, followed by the clicking of her heels as she made her way to him, her eyes telling him that they had not yet finished their earlier conversation. And despite that fact that he was indeed in trouble...he couldn't help but narrow his own eyes and let out a deep throated hum a little at the sight of her.

All sexy, in that angry, bite of her tongue, slip of her nails, dip of her bedroom voice sort of way.

And when she opened that mouth of hers, he knew, that this was not going to be his last offense.

Kate stopped in front of him, clapping her hands together, rubbing them along each other to keep warm as she looked him up and down,"You were supposed to stay in the car."


	4. Not in my Mouth

**Not in my Mouth**

* * *

They were warm. Two bodies flush against each other in a large, overly comfortable bed. Two sets of eyes closed, two minds breathing and dreaming in the same space. Wrapped up in the knowledge that the other was right there beside them.

And then there were eight little legs.

Skittering across his sheets. Invading in their slumber and climbing up onto his legs. He twitched, his eyes scrunching, his mouth drawing into a grimace before he settled. Feeling nothing more. Hearing only the faint sound of Kate sleeping soundly beside him.

But then his blues eyes shot open. Huge shining orbs in the darkness of his loft. His skin was crawling. Little tiny feet scampering along his arm and it sent disgusted chills through him.

"Kaaaaate." He whispered into the darkness as he brushed his arm, only feeling his own hair meet his palm as he swatted at them again. "Kaaaate." He whispered more urgently, and lifted the covers, peering through the dark at their now exposed bodies.

Kate shivered, curling even more into a ball by his side, the cold air of his room sending goosebumps all over her. "uhhh?" she moaned, pushing her cheek further into her pillow, blocking her eyes and murmuring something else just as incoherent.

" I think theres something in the bed." He said a little louder, his own voice sending a sleepy terror through him.

Voicing what he hoped to god wasn't true.

"Cassle." Kate slurred as she tugged the blankets down over her, pressing her nose to his shoulder. "Shhhh." She soothed, caressing his neck with a lazy finger as she started to drift back to sleep.

"But Kate." He protested, scratching at the creepy crawlies now invading his blood, freaking himself out.

His hand wiped along the sheets between them, on the other side of him, but he still found nothing, and Kate was waking up, teeth gritting, heavy sighs gusting through her nose as her eye popped open and she stared at him.

"Castle." She said sharply, taking a fistful of his hair, and yanking him to her. "Go to sleep."

"Hey." He hissed, turning fully towards her, "don't get all sexy and rough if you're not gon-" He gulped seeing he had in fact woke a sleeping bear. "na finish...it..."

Her green eyes were dark and narrowed, her nose scrunched up as she tried to glare at him but ended up yawning in his face.

"Its probably just a little spider." She closed her eyes, ignoring his comment. She was too tired, and yawned again. Kate patted his cheek and rubbed her palm up his chest, hand hooking over his shoulder as she moved in closer and curled deep into his chest.

"A... a spider!?" He yelled, toppling backwards out of the bed, leaving Kate to fall into his warm indent in the mattress with a huff.

Kate pulled all the sheets towards her, tucking herself into his now lonely bed, but not before throwing a pillow over the side, and hearing an "Omph," as it landed on his face.

* * *

Castle stood beside the autopsy table. His hands fisted in his pockets, staring as Lanie started to press her scalpel into the flesh of this morning's unfortunate victim.

He was antsy, rolling back and forth from the balls of his feet to his heel, bouncing on every other beat, and Kate was trying desperately to ignore him. Lanie kept shooting him glances, and both women knew he had something at the tip of his tongue that his pursed lips were holding back.

But the question was, do they let him release it?

He answered them both, by pulling on hand from his pocket, his gloved fingers tapping at the edge of the metal table. A repeated drum as if they were tiny legs skittering away.

"What's the matter with you?!" Lanie snapped causing both of them to jump.

Castle cleared his throat, as Kate crossed her arms and looked at him expectantly. Her eyes were dancing with mirth, a mischievous knowing lurking down deep. Because she knew he had slept on the floor last night. And then had been pressed deep into the mattress sometime very early in the morning when he found his way back and hugged her close to him murmuring something about the ninjas defeating the spider army.

She choked back a laugh, covering her smile with the back of her hands and peered at him over her eyelashes, "Yea, Castle, what's the matter?" She mocked.

"Um... Nothing." He said, just as his skin started crawling again, and he rubbed his tongue along his top teeth while making a face at the body.

Both women stared him down, Lanie having placed the scalpel back on the tray, the cling of the metal pressuring him.

"Do...Do you ever find... spiders in your patience stomachs?" He asked tentatively, as if he knew, what he was asking was a very stupid question. Not to mention completely random.

Kate laughed at the same time Lanie made a face, crossing her arms "What in the hell?"

"Hey!" He yelled, looking between them. "It's a well known fact," He raised one gloved finger. "The human body digests up to ten spiders in a lifetime..." He paused for a moment as his eyes drifted to the victims mouth. "We _eat_ them." He said, shivering and taking a few steps away from the table.

Lanie made a pfft sound, picking up her scalpel once more. "Then don't sleep with your mouth open." She scolded half heartedly.

He closed his mouth.

"Castle." Kate tried not to laugh.

But Lanie stopped her. The writer and the detective turned towards the sassy ME as she began to hum_ the itsy bitsy spider._

Kate grinned, catching Lanie's eye. "What, you don't like the itsy bitsy spider, Castle?"

"Not in my mouth!"

* * *

That night, Kate came out of her bathroom to find Castle checking under the bed, searching along the walls and ceilings, and then thoroughly scanning every last sheet she owned, before settling in her bed.

"There's none in the bathroom either." She said with a laugh, pulling her hair out of her shirt, and sitting on the edge of the bed. She looked over her shoulder at him, as he scrunched down in her sheets, arms crossed over the top blanked, and his shoulders pushing down into her pillows.

"Ha ha.. not funny Kate..." He said with a scowl. "don't come crying to me when you start choking on the little bastards in your sleep."

"I don't sleep with my mouth open." She replied calmly, "And I'm not afraid of spiders." She said confidently, falling back into his arms as he opened them too her. She sighed contentedly, scraping her fingers lightly up and down his arm until he sighed as well.

He kissed the top of her head, and she soon felt his body relax fully beneath her, and that slow breathing that indicated he had in fact fallen asleep. Kate shifted, just a little, just enough to make sure he was going to stay asleep, and she peeked at him, seeing his eyes dancing behind his eyelids as he already fell into a dream.

She smiled, turning over onto her stomach as she reached for her nightstand. Pulling the drawer ever so slowly open, and delving her hand inside. Kate suppressed a giggle, tongue poking between her teeth as she rolled back over.

And then she rose up on her knees, the blanket falling down around her, and hovered her hand a few feet above his face. In her curled fingers, was a stick, with a long fishing line tied at the tip, and all the way at the bottom, dangled a plastic spider.

Then she waited.

Castle slept obviously, breathing calmly through his nose, until, ah, there, his mouth opened, and a long sigh escaped him before he smacked his lips.

Kate grinned.

An evil wicked grin, fingers playing along the stick before she bit her lip, and started to lower the spider down down, until it barely touched the corner of his mouth.

He screamed when she let it rest there, two of its little plastic legs falling into his mouth. She nearly fell off the bed laughing, still managing to keep the spider at high level as his eyes grew horrifically wide and he shot up in bed.

"Get your gun!" He yelled, still so groggy from sleep, ducking away from what he must have thought was a web, slapped his hand over his mouth and rambled on about how it was not going to crawl down his throat, and Lanie would have to cut it out of his esophagus.

And when he finally calmed down, chest heaving Castle let out a relieved sigh, picking up the plastic spider, huffing at it, and glaring at Kate who was doubled over in hysterics.

"Its Fake." He stated, all remnants of sleep gone.

She couldn't breath, and only nodded her head as she dropped the stick.

"Kate! It was fake!" He yelled at her, as if still trying to convince himself.

She took in a long heavy inhale, before calming letting it out with a smile. "Yes...it was just plastic." She said, "Except." She then added, pointing to something over his shoulder. "_that one, _is real."


	5. My Flow

**Last one I can post for a few days Hurricane Sandy is going to hit where i live soon. Which means no power. safe for those it's hitting as well. **

* * *

**My Flow**

* * *

He was chewing loudly, a cup of coffee in one hand, and a pen in the other. In front of him was a notebook only half the page filled. Every now and then he'd stop his incessant chewing, the smacking of his lips ceasing to pull up into a pondering straight line as he tapped his finger on the handle of his coffee mug.

And then he was tapping his pencil.

Tap tap tap.

And the tapping grew quicker, louder.

taptaptaptap …..taptaptatap.

The more impatient he became.

Kate sighed loudly from the couch, her feet up on the armrest, back smooshed into a pillow, and a book propped leisurely in her lap. She was comfortable, just enjoying the quiet time, until he started chewing again, and grumbling to himself, and yelling at Nikki and Rook as if it was their fault.

And maybe it was.

It's not like she'd know anything about it.

Crunch!

It sounded a lot like he was punishing his food. And why he had to pick this moment to eat celery sticks was beyond her. In all her years knowing him, she had never once seen him eat one.

And to make matters worse, as he quieted and only the sound of his pencil meeting paper was heard, her phone rang.

"Beckett." She answered, letting her book flop open on her chest. "But I have the day off..." she nearly whined into the phone.

Castle didn't seem to notice. He had finally found a flow, and she could hear it, his pencil scribbling across his now full page.

She sighed heavily closing her book with a loud thud and tossing it onto the couch as she got up. "Where?" She asked, walking around it, her socked feet padding into the kitchen.

Castle kept on writing, his hand scribbling across the pages quickly, each line messier than the next as if he couldn't keep up with is racing mind. He turned the page, sucking the eraser into his mouth before raising his eyebrows and making a small sound in victory before he started again.

It must be getting good, as Kate talked on the line, listening and relaying the information, trying to get out of going...

"Alright, what's the address?" She asked, stepping up behind Castle, and plucking his pencil mid word. "Got it." She said, leaning over him and writing the address in the middle of his current sentence. "Be there in ten." She replied, poking the pencil back into his disbelieving fingers before hanging up the phone.

"Damnit Beckett!" He yelled at her, his fingers wrapped in a white death grip around the pencil till it almost snapped.

She walked passed him, hand smoothing over his shoulders as she went until they dropped to her sides and she moved to the closet for their coats. "We've got a body." She said obviously not realizing exactly what she had done. "bring that page with you." She then added, making the matters worse.

He stood abruptly, dropping the pencil and not carrying as it rolled across the table and dropped on the floor. "I don't care." He gritted, snatching the coat from her as she put on her shoes.

Her head snapped up, finger wedged between the heel of her foot, and the inside of her shoe. "You don't care?" she asked incredulously

Castle didn't answer, just tugged his coat over his shoulders and walked through the door before Kate. She gave him a look as he brushed past her with stiff shoulders and tense jaw, and kept her eyes on him as he stood with his arms crossed in the hallway and he let her lock up.

"What's the matter with you?" She asked straightening and starting towards his elevator.

He stopped at the doors, jamming his finger on the button before pointing back down the hallway to his loft. "What was that Kate?!"

Her brow creased, and she stepped into the elevator. "What was what.?

He sighed heavily, following in after her. "You took my pencil Kate."

"So."

"SO!" He nearly yelled. "So!" He said again, hands in the air. "You messed up my flow!"

"Your what?"

"My. Flow!" He shot back. "My flow, the string of words I connect together into sentences and paragraphs which then turn into pages and pages and then!" He gestured wildly in the small compartment, "A book!"

She stared at him.

"And Now.. I have no idea what they were saying, and what Nikki wanted and what Rook was going to do about it!" He rambled on.

"What are you talking about?!"

"I have no idea! because you messed it up!"

The elevator grew silent.

"Well..." Kate said after a while, the ground beneath them rising and then settling before the ding was heard and the doors opened. "What was happening before I umm." her brows furrowed again. "Ruined it."

Castle wiped a hand over his face. "You want to be my sounding board?" He asked stepping out of the elevator.

She smiled up at him. "I'm not your muse for nothing." She shrugged and bumped her shoulder with his.

He grinned back at her, holding open the door for the lobby. "Okay." He agreed, and then he smirked, "You going to act it out for me?"

"Well... I did... mess with your flow." She considered, waggling her eyebrows at him.

"Yes.. yes you did." He said, receiving a major eye roll.

"Just.. you know." She said, with a devious smile, stopping them in the middle of the sidewalk, and tugging his coat closed. "Make sure you give me writers credit."


	6. When Jack Met Sally

**Halloween fic I had entered in the competition.**

* * *

**When Jack Met Sally**

Kate could hear truck noises.

A childish vibration off of a grown mans lips. The rumbling of the engine which was followed by a sputtering muffler, and she could vaguely hear the squeak of the wheels rolling along the floor of the loft.

And as she unlocked the door, knowing they hadn't had a kid recently... the continuous sounds filtering through the door, made her eager to know what he was up too. Because despite how long she's known him, and been with him romantically. He never ceases to amaze her.

But she definitely was not anticipating what she walked into, the key turning in the lock, and the door pushing open, banging into something that literally bounced across the floor as the door came back at her.

"Kate!" Castle shouted at her, throwing his hands up in the air to stop her, her heeled feet smooshing into something, she rather not know what it was.

The toy truck, she knew him to be playing with, rolled away and collided with a pumpkin...tower?

"Castle!" She yelled back adjusting her footfall so as not to squash what she now saw to be a tiny gourde. "What are you doing?!" She asked, shutting the door behind her, and leaning back against as not to stumble into anything else. "And what," She started again, looking up and surveying what exactly had had been doing. "Is Jack the Pumpkin King doing with my bra strap?" She pointed a exasperated finger, hand still clutching the keys, in the direction of the couch, and the rest of the apartment he had plenty of room to do... well... whatever it was this was.

Sure enough, there was Jack, stationed upon a pumpkin, stick in hand wielding it with her bra strap like a whip. On the ground were oxen made of green gourdes, toothpicks for legs, pulling a cart made of popsicle sticks.

It's bed was full of candy corn.

His truck, which had been carrying a load of candy pumpkins, had crashed into a tower, hallowed out of a tall pumpkin, a windmill crafted out of toothpicks sticking out of the side.

"Getting ready for the festival." He said in all seriousness, rising up of his knees and popping a candy pumpkin into his mouth.

He exaggerated his steps, walking on his tiptoes and extending his legs longer than he needed as he stepped over the makeshift roads he's created out of his pencils and pens, the actual pavement was discarded pages from his unneeded rough drafts.

Nikki Heat shouted up from under the wheels of the cart, and Jameson Rook jumped to defend himself as Castle's foot whacked it, and sent all the corn skittering across the pages. Castle caught himself at Kate's elbow, pushing her back as she held her ground, sighing at him as she yanked him into what little space there was by the door.

"A festival huh?" She asked, pecking his cheek without much enthusiasm and grabbed his face, pinching his cheeks and making him look at the mess he made. "Did you have to use the whole loft do it?"

He flexed his jaw beneath his fingers and tried to nod his head while shrugging his shoulders at the same time. "Trial run?"

She let him go, patting his cheek before walking around him and taking one, graceful leap over the town he had made out of pumpkins and various gourdes, and landed by the kitchen chair, which she used to steady herself.

"You know they have actual Halloween towns you can buy?" She said with a raised eyebrow, walking into the kitchen to get a glass of milk, and finding all the innards of his making in the sink and all over the newspaper folded out on the counter.

"What's the fun in that?" He asked, kneeling back down and collecting all the candy corn, eating half of them before putting them back into the cart, and patting one of the oxen on it's little green head. "You haven't even seen all that I've done yet."

Kate placed her hand begrudgingly on her hip, eyebrows raised high as she tilted her head skeptically. "There's more?" She asked, tone dipping as her lips puckered in the end, and she waited as he stood up.

He smiled, nodding his head vigorously before he suddenly stilled and made his way around the pumpkin town, climbing over the couch to get to one of the only safe zones. He reached out his hand to her, a goofy grin on his face, the childish glee gone from his eyes and replaced with a more of a grown mans excitement.

It intrigued her more. How he could go from being such a nine year old, to reveal something of a more adult intention. She didn't need to see whatever it was, to know he probably out did himself. It was there in his eyes, the way he looked at her, so eager to show her new things, impress her without being so... over the top, or like he needed to.

He didn't need to impress her, he already had her. But she did like to see him try. Kate loved that feeling she got, starting with a flutter in her chest, and a growing crease in the corner of her mouth as she started to smile. The way anything he did, brought her lip between her teeth and a sparkle in her eye.

Because it was all for her.

Just like now, as she took his hand and let him lead her around to the piano. He looked down at her, his face having gone soft, hand squeezing hers, as he flicked the lights off.

Her eyes were still locked with his, but those blue's were now dancing with tiny twinkle lights. A flickering pulse of orange flame reverberating around the room. And when she turned towards the source, she gasped.

There were orange lights hanging everywhere, Jackolanterns on every surface, with every face imaginable. Toothy grins, illuminated by tea candles. Scary faces, evil eyes, demonic grins followed by laughing pumpkins, dramatic dips in their mouths, and odd shapes for noses.

And she laughed, when she saw the one specifically for them. He had carved out a hearty round pumpkin, with two coffee cups in the middle. And laughed even more when she saw one with a pair of handcuffs, a gun, a cherry hugging an apple.

He had everything.

"Castle... just... wow..." She finally said, rubbing her thumb along his knuckles as she pulled him closer, farther into the room and in the middle of what seemed to be a halloween wonderland.

"So you like it?" He asked, walking a bit away from her and turning to face her smiling face. "Because I was going to move the village in here, set it up like one of those train tracks around the walls on the floor.. OH! I could put pumpkins ON the train and it can carry them around the room!"

"Castle."

"Oh, Kate I have to get started!" He said excitedly, starting to let go of her hand.

"Castle, stop." She said, yanking him in until her bumped into her, and she pressed a finger to his lips. "You." She said, kissing him softly. "Are the Pumpkin King." Kate kissed him again, feeling his hand coast over her back and pull her in closer.

"Mmm." He hummed into the kiss. "I like the sound of that." He murmured against her lips.

"Yea?" She asked, nipping at his lips.

"Mmhmm. And you can be my sally." He smirked.

She smiled back, shaking her head slightly as they kissed once more, her nose rubbing against his as she stepped back. "No." Kate said, I have a different costume idea." She said deviously.

"Wha... what's that?" He gulped.

Kate pushed her tongue between her teeth, walking backwards towards his office, "Electra."

His eyes grew wide. "With the.."

"Mmhmm." She nodded.

"And the..."

"Yup."

"Can... can I see?"

Kate leaned on the door frame to his office, her finger scratching up and down the woodwork as her eyes flicked to his. "If you can find it." She barely got the words out before he kicked up a wind passing by her and started to search for the costume.

But she knew he wasn't going to find it. Kate laughed, playing with the buttons of her blouse.

He wasn't going to find it, because she was already wearing it.


	7. Animalistic need

******Animalistic need**

* * *

She was gorgeous. Her hair sleek, and shiny in the afternoon sun. Soft too by the looks of it. Smooth, and lithe down her back as she moved with such grace. Each step a masterful stalk. A deliberate, determined, slow gate.

The earth seemed to stand still, just for her.

This magnificent creature, strong, and wise, who was looking right at him. Dragging her tongue along her teeth. He could hear the growl rumbling from her. Rising up out of her throat and vibrating over her lips and teeth as she licked them again.

And those big sharp eyes bore into him.

His soul.

Wide, seeking, dangerous and yet enticing all at the same time. He found himself frozen in place. Intrigued by the slow blink of her eyelids, the pool of desire. He was lost in the jet black of her eyes, clouded over with animalistic need.

Castle gulped, taking a small step back.

He didn't like that look. The way she sought him out. That too eager, too measured step in his direction, the bow of her head and the sudden halt.

As if she was ready to pounce.

"Kate." He said, voice quivering. "Think about what you're doing." He pleaded with her, taking yet another step back as she moved closer.

"I have.. and I think it's time." She replied, a low, husky tone flitting across her lips and lowering her eyelashes to kiss at her skin.

"But..."

'Come on Castle." Lanie said, pushing him forwards.

"But." He protested again. "I don't like the way she's looking at me." He stumbled, catching himself on a fencepost. "She looks...hungry."

"Yea well. She didn't get a bite out of you last time" Ryan said, to then receive a smack upside the head from Esposito.

"Ew dude. I can't believe you said that." He said, disgusted with his partner, shaking his head at him.

"Yea, Kev, not cool." Castle replied, and Lanie laughed as Kate stood amongst them, arms crossed and not looking impressed at all.

"I mean..." Ryan said, reevaluating the situation, his chin resting between his thumb and index finger. "She is looking at _you_."

"Mmmhmm." Lanie agreed. "She doesn't have eyes for anyone else."

Kate shifted from one foot to the other, biting her lip as she glanced away briefly and back to Castle.

"And look at the way she's standing." Ryan said, pointing at her legs, the swift cross of one over the other as she started moving again.

"Like a feral cat." Espo offered.

"A cat...a _cat_!" Castle exploded, drawing the attention of those around him. "She's a damn tiger!"

Kate laughed then. One loud Ha! as she bent forward in mirth and slapped her thigh. Her hair flew up around her as she came back up, and she smoothed her hand up Castle's arm as he stood there breathing heavily.

"And she's behind two fences, and a chain link enclosure." Kate said, laughing again.

"I don't think she's getting out, bro." Esposito clapped him on the shoulder.

But Castle jumped back when the object of his terror let out a roar.

All five of them looked over, seeing the tiger as she came up to her fence, stalking back and forth, and looking agitated.

Or ravenous.

"She wants to eat me." Castle gulped.

Kate wound her arm around his neck, pressing her lips to his ear, and purred. "She's not the only one."


	8. A Part of Me

**A part of me**

* * *

Kate was shaking, her skin quivering beneath her winter clothes, gloved hands gripped tightly around the laces of her ice skates. They banged against each other, the blades clinging and sliding along the other until she came to a stop.

Her heart pounded in her chest, pulsing through her veins and upsetting all the nerves in her body.

She was unsure about this. Being here, wishing she had come with him instead of telling him she'd meet up after work. He had a way of calming her with just a look, a reassuring hand on her cheek, and a hush of his voice.

Standing here alone, the lights of the rink, and the glow of the giant Christmas tree, made her feel more like she was about to live a memory that had been drowned in the wake of tragedy.

She almost wanted to turn around, and hang up her skates. Forget about doing this. She was afraid if she did... it would open up old wounds, break her down and bring her back to a place she swore she wouldn't go again.

Her mother wouldn't want that. Wouldn't want her to forgo the true pleasures in life, on a what if.

Kate sighed, sitting down upon the bench, and looking out at all the other skaters. It tugged at her heart. That place where she remembered what it once felt like, to feel as free as they seemed to be.

The longer she watched, her skates leaning against her leg, hands shoved between her knees for warmth, the more she wanted to _be_ them.

She was going out there.

Her fingers worked at the knots of the laces, skin chilled in the winter air, having taken her gloves off to get a better grip. She pushed her tongue through her teeth, finally freeing one lace through the other until both were free.

The nerves were receding. That doubt that once filled her mind now dissipating into a anxiousness that once flowed through her as she laced up her skates next to her mother. She was that seventeen year old again, although she shucked the idea of braided pigtails.

As if she'd give him such a pleasure.

Finally smoothing out the crease between her brow, pushing her feet into her skates, and going about the tedious task of lacing them up, Kate stood from the bench and made her way to the ice.

It was like it had always been. The ice sleek from a recent sweep. The shiny, smooth surface calling out to her. The sound of the blades cutting into the ice, brought a smile to her face, and she stepped onto the slippery crystal, more than ready.

And off she went.

Kate was reliving a memory, one that she found, did not leave a wanting or aching in her heart. But instead she embraced what she had always thought up till this moment, to be something better left in the past.

To not awaken the nostalgia and the reminder that she no longer had what she used to.

But it was a part of her.

A rekindled happiness she never thought she'd live and breath again. But she was reveling it now. And Kate laughed, realizing that she _had_ moved past it, and did rightly so, putting caution to the wind and opening her arms to one of her happiest memories.

Kate's tangling, caramel tendrils flew up behind her. Whispy and free, flowing in a graceful upheaval and she closed her eyes. Her arms stretched out beside her, her gloved fingers curling and expanding as if to catch at the air, and release her own inner bliss out into the world.

There was no other feeling like it, even as the frost bit at her cheeks, nipping at her ears and biting at her nose. It left its mark, red flushing along her skin, but she didn't care, hardly felt it. She could only feel the unadulterated happiness filling up her chest, spilling into her heart and spreading throughout her body.

And then his hand caught in hers, tugging her fast and sending her colliding into his chest.

She laughed, pushing her nose into his neck and breathed him in. That strong scent of chilled air, newly fallen snow, and his warm skin beneath his coat. Kate clung to it, one hand fisted in the black material, his blue scarf brushing at her knuckles as she held firm.

Castle was solid against her. His fingers intertwining with hers in a loving embrace. His hot breath was in her hair and his own laugh rumbled in his chest, causing her to hold on tighter and laugh again with him.

"I knew you'd be here to catch me." He said huskily, his voice thrumming in his chest, vibrating against her hand and awakening more of the magic within her heart.

Kate pulled back, looking into his sparkling blue eyes, seeing the snowflakes drifting in and out of his irises as the flurries floated down around them. "You mean take me down with you." She said, smacking his chest with a halfhearted fist.

He gave an exaggerated shrug of his shoulders, cupping the side of her cheek. "I'd never let you fall." He replied, and she sighed, her warming cheek leaning into the palm of his hand.

"No you wouldn't." She agreed as he lifted a hand to her hair, and she watched, the way his fingers wrapped around the strand, and pulled lightly to remove a tiny cluster of snowflakes that had rested there.

Castle shook his head, letting his knuckles brush her cheek bone, her eyes fluttering shut for just a moment. As if this was all brand knew.

And in a way it was.

Every moment shared, a memory, a story, a touch. All of it was something to be experienced, learned and stored away to cherish. She loved every one of them, because they were all with him.

Kate kissed his fingers as they flitted across her parted mouth, brushing away yet another fallen snowflake. Sliding her hand down his chest, she caught his hand, bumping him lightly away from her. And then she tugged on his fingers in hers, curling her arm in his as she started to glide away, pulling him along with her until he met each skate evenly with hers.

She couldn't stop smiling. That wide curve of her mouth, the parted lips that shone her teeth, and her eyes that sparkled in the Chirstmas eve of eves.

And he was watching her, Kate could tell not only by the way he constantly bumped into her, pushing heavily into her sides and sending them farther into the wall. But also the way her heart skipped to a different beat. She could feel the tenderness caressing at her face, smoothing through her hair and kissing at her lips.

"Thank you." She said after a while, puffs of air blowing from her cold lips as they made their way around the rink.

He pulled her in tighter, squeezing her hand and bringing it to his lips, breathing hot air onto them. "For what?" He asked, stopping them in the middle of the rink.

Most of the other skaters had gone home. The lights dimmed, and the only other source, was the glow from the large christmas tree nearby. It felt like a fairy tale to her, the way he was looking at her, the snow falling around them, and the lights twinkling in both their eyes.

"For sharing this with me... it's a part of me..." She said, and she knew she didn't need to say more.

Castle leaned in, and pressed a kiss softly to her lips. She knew that he didn't need to say more either. "Lets go home." He said, pulling back, "There's a warm fire at home waiting for us."

Kate hummed in agreement, already feeling the heat of the flames as it warmed her. And as they headed off towards home, Kate smiled, knowing that this and every moment after, was their always.


	9. Linger

**Sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything...**

* * *

**"Your presence lingers on my neck."**

* * *

Kate shut her eyes, breathing in the smell of him, the feelings and sensations he evoked. She wanted to melt into them, drown in the rising tide she knew she would not be able to resist. And when it began to flood, memories and promises, her shoulders rose, her lungs filling until she couldn't hold it any longer and let out the bated breath with a long sigh and a flutter of her eyelids.

Tilting her head to one side, eyes still closed, she took in another breath, slower, longer ones before they hitched at the feel of him.

He was devouring her neck, her mind body and soul. His mouth seeking, knowing and loving on her skin; tongue hot and wet as it laved along her flesh like balm to a burn.

But it only seemed to further stoke the fire, the desire bursting from within.

Kate's shoulders flexed, a shiver of pleasure running from his focal point, the attentions of his tongue spreading down her back and devastating her body.

And he held on. His arms wrapped around her, fingers probing at her sides, squeezing her hips, winding across her chest to anchor her to his mouth as he continued to send her into euphoria.

She was tingling. Every inch of her throbbing, pulsating with need, breaths more labored as her heart beat erratically against her heaving chest. The white hot flame was building, rising and licking as he did, and he was only at her neck. Sucking and nibbling at her as if she was his only sustenance.

She was overwhelmed with every touch, kiss, and bite of his desire, the pull her hair free from her naked flesh with the tips of his fingers, tickled and soothed her at the same time. Kate's head fell completely back, granting him the entire length of her neck. Another shiver took her over, her mouth opening to gasp.

But no sound came out.

It was stuck in her lungs, sucked back in by another wave of unencumbered sensation and longing. His head rose up when she finally let out a whimper, her fingers digging into the arms of her chair.

"You okay?" He asked, raising his eyebrows in an amused questioning.

Kate lifted her head, looking around and remembering where she was. Castle sat in his chair, tapping a pen across his lips as he held their recent case. She kneaded the arm of her chair, crossing her legs under the desk. Her eyes widened, a hum wanting to escape as she watched him, and she pursed her lips nodding as she swallowed and pulled on the collar of her shirt.

And as his eyes cast back down at a file, she couldn't help the lift of her hand to cover the the ghost of his mouth at the pulse of her neck.


End file.

Castle, Humor, Romance