Chapter 11: Kissing

I've been roaming around

I was looking down at all I see

Castle sits down on the couch and tugs her hand, trying to pull her onto his lap.

"Rick… what if Alexis comes down? Or your mother comes home?"

"Mother won't be home for at least another hour. And I'm pretty sure Alexis would have to be dying to come back down here since she knows we're together," he tugs on her hand again, and this time she concedes.

"About that…"

"Are you having second thoughts?"

She shakes her head before resting it against his shoulder, "It's just… I'm not ready for the whole world to know."

"Okay. We can wait. Nobody at the precinct knows yet, and I know Alexis would never tell. Mother… well, she gets a little excited about things, but I don't think she would ever tell. She knows you; she knows that you like your privacy."

"Apparently there's no such thing as privacy in your house," she smiles softly, but he can't see it until he tucks her hair behind her ear.

"Not exactly. But I haven't really had any of my girlfriends over in a while. They'll get used to it after a bit and give us more privacy."

"Gina?"

"We weren't really over here that much during the last few months of our relationship." He takes her hand in his, "And just because we don't get much privacy here doesn't mean that the paparazzi are going to be after us all the time."

She looks him in the eye for a moment before looking down at their hands, "You can't tell me that they aren't going to find us if we go out in public. And I'm sure they wouldn't pass up a story on an author dating his muse."

"Kate, you're more than my muse. I love you," he whispers.

Her gaze remains fixed on their hands for a few moments before she finally looks up at him, "I love you too, Rick."

Castle leans forward, closing his eyes as their lips meet. The instant their lips meet he knows that he could spend the rest of his life kissing her. One of his arms snakes around her waist while his other hand tangles in her hair. She rests a hand on his shoulder, placing the other on his cheek. Eventually she pulls back, resting her forehead against his, her eyes still closed. They are both breathing deeply. "Kate… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."

"It's fine," she whispers. "I just… don't know how we're going to stop."

He smiles, "We don't have to."

Surprisingly she doesn't hit him. "We have to, Rick. We will get there eventually, but it's just not right yet. Not three days after having a big argument. Or two days after your daughter gets shot or two days after we revealed our feelings for one another."

"Okay," he presses his lips to hers again. "You're right. We can wait. I want to do things right, Kate. I don't think I've ever felt so in love before."

"Things will be fine. Just be patient," she pulls him in for another kiss.

"It's kind of hard to be patient when we keep doing that," he whispers, his lips moving to her neck.

Before she can respond, she hears footsteps on the stairs and tenses. He feels her tense but doesn't stop, thinking it's because she is trying not to give in to him. "Rick," she whispers, placing a hand on his chest to push him back.

"Yes, Kate?" he says, leaning up to kiss her again.

"Dad! Seriously. Can't you get a room?" Alexis asks, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

"Sorry," Castle frowns at his daughter. "Is something wrong, dear?"

"I forgot to take my medicine. So I'll just grab that and go back upstairs…" she heads to the kitchen hurriedly to grab the pill container from the counter.

"Good night." He turns back to his detective once his daughter is back upstairs. She is glaring at him. "Okay, I get it. Not tonight."

"I'm sorry, Rick."

"There's nothing to be sorry about," he studies her neck, hoping he didn't leave a mark on her. As he does so, he notices a scar on her shoulder where he had adjusted her shirt to get to her neck. He gently traces it with his finger.

"That's… where I was shot."

"Oh…" he says softly. "And the knife wound?"

Kate looks into his eyes for a moment before unbuttoning her shirt where it covered her stomach. She pulls it aside to show him the jagged scar two inches to the right of her belly button.

He traces this one with his fingers too. "I'm sorry."

"You didn't do anything, Castle."

"Nothing has happened yet. But… I never listen to you. And… next time it could cost you your life. So… I'm sorry for all of the danger I've put you in. I'll listen to you from now on."

"If I would have known that that is all I had to do to get you to listen to me, I would have shown you my scars sooner," she smiles.

"Maybe we should head to bed," he kisses her again. "Unless you want to go home because you don't trust that I can keep my hands off of you all night long."

"You don't have to keep them off of me completely," she stands, taking his hands in hers. "Just not where you really want to put them."

"Did I ever tell you how much of a tease you are?"

"Yes."

"And extraordinary?"

"Yes."

"And beautiful?"

"Hm… don't think I've heard that one before, at least not from you."

"Well, it's true."

"Any more adjectives?"

"Plenty."

"Are you going to share them?"

"Not yet. I mean, if I'm going to spend every day with you for the rest of my life, I have to save something."

"Okay… one adjective a day, Castle."

"Or what?" he challenges. "I mean, there are only so many adjectives to describe you. I wouldn't want to insult you or anything by saying one that's not true."

"Or… you owe me."

"Owe you what?"

"I don't know. I haven't figured it out yet. And you are a writer, Castle. You should have a good vocabulary. Which will give me time to think of something as punishment."

"You could always handcuff me."

She eyes him for a moment before shaking her head, "You'd like that too much."

"Not if you left me all alone after handcuffing me. Actually, I wouldn't like it very much if you handcuffed me… and stayed there. Then I couldn't touch you."

"Isn't that the point of handcuffs?"

"No, Detective, they're for catching criminals."

Kate rolls her eyes, "So are we ever going to bed, Castle? You do have to get up and take care of your daughter tomorrow."

He smiles and tugs on her hands to lead her down the hall, "Why, Detective, you seem awfully eager to get to bed."

"Don't get your hopes up, Castle."

"If you keep doing that, I'm not going to let you use me as a pillow."

"Then you're going to be waiting an awfully long time for what you really want…" she threatens with a small smirk.

"Somehow I don't think you're really going to be able to resist me that long."

"A little… arrogant, Castle?"

"I, uh… think you could use a different adjective for that."

She shakes her head, "Nope."

"You know… we could reverse the game too. You have to give me an adjective every day."

"I'm not the writer."

"No… but you read a lot."

"You're just afraid of losing."

"Am not."

"Are to."

"No, I'm not."

"Castle, I'm not playing this game with you. If you want to be immature, go sleep on the couch."

"I'm not immature. I'll even show you how mature I can be," he pulls her in for a kiss, his hand tangling in her hair. His other hand slips under the hem of her shirt to draw circles on her back.

She pulls back, "That's not going to convince me to give in, Castle."

"Alright, I'm out of ideas. Or at least ones that wouldn't end in me getting shot."

"Good. Now can we go to sleep?"

"Yes," he lays down and lets her get comfortable beside him before turning the lamp on his nightstand off. "Night, Kate."

"Castle."

He remains silent, thinking for a few moments before finally speaking again. "Kate?"

"What now, Castle?" she sighs.

"If we ever get married, would you change your name?"

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"First off, Kate Castle just doesn't sound good. Second, I do not want everyone to ask whether I'm related to you when I introduce myself. Third, you're too embarrassing for me to ever want anyone to know that I'm associated with you. And… I'm sure if we do actually get married, publicity will make things bad enough for me as it is without me changing my name."

"A simple 'I just don't want to' would have been fine."

"So you don't have a problem with it?"

He shrugs, "Not really. It's your choice. And I understand your reasons for not wanting to change it. Except for the one about being embarrassed by me. If I'm really that embarrassing, you wouldn't go out in public with me."

"And I really don't want to. I don't want to become… famous or… be followed by paparazzi or crazy fans. But… I guess that's what comes with dating a famous author. And being his muse."

"Thank you, Kate, for trying to be accepting of this. I know you don't like it."

"Why are you thanking me, Castle? I might not be so accepting of it when they figure out that we're together."

He laughs, "Probably not. But I'm going to do my best to hold them off until you're ready for everyone to know."

"That will be never," she adjust herself slightly to get more comfortable, and her bare foot brushes against his leg.

He practically jumps away from her, "Put some socks on, Kate. Your feet are freezing."

"They are not."

"Are too."

"I don't wear socks to bed. They just come off."

He tucks a hand under her chin, making her look up at him. "You'd think that all the quirky little things you learn about a person would make you like them less, but somehow the more I learn about you, the more I love you."

"Still not getting lucky, Castle," she whispers before their lips meet.

"Well, I guess we might as well go to sleep now. That was my last idea."

"You could always just ask for what you want, Castle," she suggests, settling her head back down on his chest.

"Kate, would you please –"

"Nope."

"If you weren't going to give in, why did you suggest it?"

"Because… it's funny to see you try so hard. Besides, your mother will probably be home soon, and your daughter's bedroom is right above us."

"Is there a… biological reason you won't sleep with me?"

It takes her a moment to get what he was talking about, "No, Castle."

"Sorry. It's kind of hard to tell with you since you're always in a bad mood."

She smacks him in the chest. "You know, maybe I will go home," she tries to sit up, but he keeps his arms around her waist, not letting her go.

"Please stay. I promise to behave."

Kate stares at him for a moment before giving in and settling back down at his side. "Okay. But only because I don't want to run into your mother on the way out."

"So… would you at least tell me why you won't? I'm not going to try to change your mind anymore. At least not tonight."

"Because… we just got together two nights ago, Castle. And we haven't gone out on a real date yet. And… I don't want to be one of your conquests. I want to be sure that you're not going to leave as soon as I give in."

"I won't, Kate. If all I wanted was to get in bed with you, I would have stopped following you a long time ago. You mean so much to me." Suddenly he freezes, thinking back to her words. "You're the flighty one. Should I be worried about you leaving me?"

"No. You're the one that left last summer."

"I'm sorry, Kate. And we will be going this summer. But I'm going to drag you with me this time."

"Castle, I can't not go to work all summer long."

"Not all summer. From Memorial Day through Fourth of July. A little more than a month."

"I still can't take a month off."

"Then come for a week and go back to work for the next couple weeks before coming back until after Fourth of July."

She sighs, "Montgomery isn't going to like it."

"I'll talk to the mayor about it and get it approved."

"Castle…"

"Did you want to thank me?"

"Not really."

"Well, you could always quit. I make tons of money. And Nikki Heat seems pretty popular so it'll keep coming in."

"Not an option."

"Okay. I didn't really think you'd go for it, but I had to offer."

"Castle, can we go to sleep now?"

"Where would the fun in that be?"

"Well… I have work tomorrow. And if you aren't good, I will make sure I'm as loud as possible when I get up tomorrow morning."

He frowns, "You are no fun. I like to sleep in."

"Does that have anything to do with the fact that you stay up all night?"

"Yes. But I'm writing, not doing whatever it is that you think I am."

"Oh, so I'm the only woman that you keep up all night just to annoy?"

"Pretty much," he smiles.

"Well, that makes me feel so special," she rolls her eyes.

"You are special."

"Go to sleep, Castle."

"Fine. Until tomorrow, Kate," he kisses the top of her head.

"Night, Castle." Kate closes her eyes and tries to fall asleep, but Castle, who is not tired, watches her. "Quit staring," she mumbles after a few moments; she could feel his gaze on her even though she hadn't opened her eyes.

"Sorry," he says but doesn't look away from her. Sighing at him for not listening to her yet again, she chooses to ignore this creepy side of him as she lets unconsciousness take over.

A/N: Hope you guys liked it. I have three one chapter storied finished. I'll try to post the first one next week sometime. Hopefully I can get some writing done over break. Thanks to all of you that read and espeically those that took the time to review.