This takes place a year or so out, after the second Nikki Heat novel is out and Castle and Beckett have still not resolved their feelings for each other. It's a one-shot. I rated this one M to be safe. I think it solidly falls into that category but it isn't nasty, just detailed.

It had been a harrowing case. A child's body was found. The investigation was grueling for all parties involved. There was the cruel drilling of the parents, the most likely suspects in this case. Beckett, Esposito, Ryan and even Castle hammered away at their resolve, forcing them to break, but not confess. When it came to the end, it was Castle that noticed the clues that pointed to the neighbor child. That it was pretend play gone wrong.

It had been a harrowing case, and they did what they usually did when they solved particularly emotional case, they went out for drinks. It was then that fate played its hand. This was what happened when attraction and feelings go ignored for so long. It was like a caged animal that had been in the cage for so long it was just about forgotten. One day carelessness let it loose, and the animal devoured the first thing it saw, the thing it had desired since it was first locked up: its owner.

Lanie saw it first. Kate went straight for the hard liquor: tequila shots. Within an hour she had five. It wouldn't have been that bad, but Castle was drinking them too, and keeping up with her. When said hour was up, Kate did not stop drinking, but touched Castle a lot more. She would lean in when he talked to her, put her hand on his arm, once she even fixed his bangs. Lanie thought Esposito and Ryan were both going to need the Heimlich after that. (Poor Ryan would have been lucky to survive. Lanie would have saved Esposito first.) When she leaned her head on Castle's shoulder, Lanie prodded Kate to join her in the ladies room.

"Girl, what are you doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"You are leading him on, girl. And that's not nice."

"How do you know I'm leading him on?"

Lanie crossed her arms and glared at her.

"Come on, Lanie. You are the one who's always telling me I need to have a little fun. And how fun Castle is. I've finally decided to take your advice."

"Yeah, right."

"Don't worry, Lanie. It'll be fine."

"I'm sure it'll be better than fine. That's not what I'm worried about."

Kate rolled her eyes.

Lanie tried unsuccessfully to get Kate to ride home with her, and the boys were just as ineffective in getting Castle to leave with them. So the three of them watched helplessly at the collision course in front of them: Beckett and Castle were both significantly impaired by their alcohol consumption and their guards were down. Lanie and the boys watched warily as Castle and Beckett waited on a cab outside. Beckett was leaning up against Castle with her whole body, her face inches from his. Castle was propped up against the wall. Esposito didn't share it with anyone, but he had a feeling that Castle was drunker than Beckett at this point, not that it mattered.

Castle confirmed it when he stumbled walking toward the cab. Kate grabbed him and righted him, laughing while he slid his arm around her. He whispered something in her ear and kissed her temple.

"Shit." Lanie couldn't help but see this was going to be trouble. If they had both been sober, well, she would have been happy for them, but they weren't and this was going to end badly.

They whispered and giggled the entire cab ride back to Castle's apartment. When they were through the door, Castle dropped himself down on the couch. Kate sat flush next to him. With less alcohol, he would have been distracted by his surroundings, but his current blood alcohol level prohibited his ADD from acting up. All Castle could do was concentrate on the vertical horizon and not saying anything too stupid.

"You okay, Castle?"

He nodded. "That case was, wow. I couldn't even write that one."

He looked so sweet just then. Kate stretched and brushed her lips against his. Castle closed his eyes, expecting her to move away, or issue an apology, but instead she kissed him again. When he felt her tongue against his lips, Rick Castle lost control. He pulled her closer to him, moaning at the contact. When his hands slid under the back of her shirt, Kate groaned and stood. She pulled him up and let him lead the way to the bedroom.

The sequence of events that took place next was foreseen by their friends earlier. They were amazing together. He was everything in bed that Jameson Rook had been in the Heat books. She was not Nikki Heat, however. She was better.

When the door closed, he couldn't think about anything but her. Had he been sober, the voice in his head would have advised caution, but alcohol muted that voice, and he pulled her to him and kissed her until the room spun for both of them. He drew her shirt over her head, and she tortured him by unbuttoning his shirt with a slow dance of her fingers. With every brush of her fingers against his chest, Rick had to restrain himself, but he trembled involuntarily.

When his shirt joined hers on the floor, she pushed him back until he sat on the bed. Kate kissed him again and her hand blazed a trail of fire over his chest. Rick explored hers as well. Kate had thought about this moment ever since reading the first Nikki Heat love scene with Rook. There were two more scenes in his next book, and Castle proved to write from his own capabilities.

But, of course, Jameson Rook didn't profess his love during drunken sex, but Castle wasn't Rook. And that's exactly what he said as he removed her bra and kissed her neck. "I love you." A tear involuntarily slid down her cheek; he did love her. Suddenly she knew it.

He stood and kissed her again. As they fell back to the bed laughing, Kate relished the moment. She was with a man who simply wanted to love her and make her happy. It couldn't be a long term thing or even a short term thing; it had to be a one night thing. His kisses fueled a fire in her that she had forgotten existed, but tonight she would let it burn. Smiling, his hand roamed over her chest, teasing first one nipple, then the other. She rolled toward him, kissing his chest, moving her head down to trace circles around his nipples with her tongue, stopping to gently nip each one. Her hands travelled to his belt, which she quickly undid, followed by the button and zipper on his jeans. He followed her lead, undoing her jeans in a moment. In no time, the jeans joined their shirts on the floor.

His gentle hands caressed the curves of her body. His desire for her quickly consumed him like a flame to kindling.

Rick kissed her and pulled her into the inferno, fueled by the path of his hands from her breasts, along her sides and across her waist. One hand returned to her breasts while the other drifted in the opposite direction as his mouth covered hers again. She gasped when his hand reached its destination, biting down gently on his lower lip, eliciting a hoarse chuckle from him. She closed her eyes, responding in kind to his ministrations by sliding her hand into his boxers. He moaned deeply, pushing his hips toward her.

Even drunk, Castle knew this was different. He knew how to please women, and he thoroughly enjoyed himself while doing so, but usually his emotions stayed in check. Tonight his heart was in her hands.

After letting him bring her to the edge and then back twice, she growled impatiently, sliding his boxers off with her own underwear, and slid her body on top of his. He gasped as she settled onto him, struggling tremendously to hold on for just a little while longer. She sensed that and stopped moving, resting her upper body against his chest where she listened to the pounding staccato of his heart. As he calmed, she knew it was okay to continue. She began to move and he caught his breath again. She leaned down and kissed him, deepening the kiss as she quickened her pace. Beneath her, his body moved in sync with hers, making the right contact, providing the right friction to bring them both to the edge, and beyond, in an explosion of convulsive ecstasy. With a deep moan, he shuddered beneath her as she arched her back and thrust her body down hard on his.

She collapsed on top of him. His arms encircled her, holding her close, wanting desperately to never let her go. His fingertips gently traced a path over her sweat-covered back, drawing a shudder from her. "I love you," he whispered again.

Kate lay tangled in Castle's limbs afterwards thinking if he could do that to her under the influence, then sober she just might need one of Lanie's body bags. He was that good. She had sobered up quite a bit by then, and realized that everything had changed. She changed it. He was definitely more inebriated than she was. She had changed everything and he may not even remember it in the morning. She smiled and lightly kissed him.

"I know you do, and I love you, too."

He snuggled into her and held her close as he fell asleep. As he snored softly, she felt a pang of guilt. She knew now that she had taken advantage of him. He wouldn't see it that way of course, and he might even think he took advantage of her, but she had a feeling that he wouldn't have let it go this far if he had been sober. Kate found that the guilt wasn't regret. She needed him; she needed this. She needed him badly, and even though she wouldn't let this turn into anything more, Kate could not regret it. But she would if he did.

Then she made a decision. It didn't happen. Kate dressed, tucked the sheet around his chest and kissed him gently.

Maybe he'll think it was all a dream…