Hello, dear readers, and welcome to the final (mega)chapter of So Good Together. A special nod for the 200th alert goes to: ncisfan51. It would be wishful thinking to believe that all 200ish of you are still reading after 14 months, but I hope that when I begin the next volume, some of you will be gracious enough to join me. Thank you all for reading, alerting, favoriting, and especially reviewing. Away we go!

The scented shimmer powder that Kate had applied to her upper body gave it a magical glow under the crystal chandelier that illuminated the dance floor. Rick counted softly before dipping her low, his supporting hand warm on her upper back. She looked up lovingly into his eyes, somehow made bluer by the oyster shell grey shirt and dark green tie. When he pulled her upright, she drew in close. She felt him shiver as her lips brushed the curve of his ear. "If anyone had told me four years ago that the Tisdale case would lead to this…" She left the thought incomplete.

Rick chuckled. "I know. I'm a man of nearly infinite imagination, and even I wouldn't have believed it." He spun her out and back, loving the way the dress flared around her legs, adoring the carefree laugh he drew from her when he did it. He brought her in close again, kissing her tenderly. He could taste the rum and fruit juice cocktail on her tongue. "Getting hungry?" he asked.

"A little," she allowed. "Though, honestly, there isn't a lot of extra space to be had under these garments. Anything more than a cracker and it might not be pretty."

"As if you could ever be anything less than gorgeous. But if you insist, let's hurry up and get you out of them." His eyes twinkled with mischief. "Then afterwards, when you're faint with hunger from all of the…exertion…we'll order from the 'Lots of Calories' column of the room service menu." They finished their dance and threaded their way through the couples, aiming for the exit. Rick puffed a little with pride as he intercepted the admiring glances of several men as she went past.

Kate slipped off her silver shoes with a sigh as Rick closed the door to the suite behind them. When she turned to face him, his expression stole her breath. "I am the luckiest man in the world, and the envy of every guy in this building." He approached her and took her by the shoulders, kissing her softly. Tonight would be about romance and slow, sweet seduction, befitting the mood she'd set with her wardrobe. His lips traced a path down her neck to her bare shoulder, his feather-light kisses giving her goose bumps. She grabbed his shoulders for support. He continued downward, across the lush swell of her breasts, and up the other side of her neck. He could feel her pulse hammering against his lips. He gently nuzzled her ear, before murmuring into it. "I know I should supplement my diet with minerals, but…" He touched her earring with his fingertip. With a blush, she reached up and removed the earrings and the necklace. When she reached for the pins holding her hair in place, he stilled her hand. "Please. Let me?" At her nod, he gently pulled pin after pin out of the bun, finally letting her hair spill around her shoulders. He offered her the handful of pins and she set them with her jewelry on the table beside the door.

Rick took her by the hand and led her to the bedroom. Once inside, he unzipped the green dress, revealing, inch by inch, the corset she wore. The color was medium pink at the top but lightened to a pale pink hue, like a flower protected by its leaves. "So lovely," he said, his voice rough with wonder at the effect she'd created. His eyes grew at the sight of the ivory stockings, held in place by garters. A scrap of pale pink silk that barely fit the definition of 'underwear' completed the ensemble. His gaze traveled back up to find that her cheeks had taken on a lovely flush under his appraisal. Suddenly her look grew bold, hungry, and he knew he was in for it. He swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing. It was going to be hard, uh, difficult, to maintain 'slow and sweet' when she was looking at him like that.

Kate approached him and slid her hands up his muscular chest. Fatherhood had done nothing to soften his muscle definition. If anything, playing 'Bench Press Baby', lying on the floor and flying the babies over his head, had improved his physique. She enjoyed the feel of him under the sateen dress shirt, a fact she communicated clearly with her coy smile. She eased the jacket off his shoulders, carefully draping it on the straight backed chair by the writing desk. Returning to the circle of his arms, she slipped his tie free, then began to release the shirt buttons from their holes. When she'd revealed enough skin, she brushed kisses across it, her hands widening the gap so she could get at more. She felt his hands grasping her bottom, squeezing, pulling her tight against his erection. She looked up into his eyes, dark with the desire that had hardened him. She made short work of the last few buttons, sliding the shirt off him.

He ghosted his hands up to her back, crushing her against his chest. He let out a dissatisfied grunt, pushing her back gently. "This is beautiful, but can we please get you out of it now? I want to feel all of you against me." His voice trembled with restraint. She nodded slowly, turned to present her back to him. He undid the bow at the top of the crisscrossed laces, then began to pluck at them with his fingers to loosen them. When he'd created enough room, the rigid satin garment dropped down to her hips. He pulled her flush against him and looked over her shoulder to feast his eyes on her exposed breasts. Bringing his hands up to cup them, he tested the weight in his palms, before brushing the soft nipples with his thumbs. He nibbled the curve of her ear and she moaned, the flesh under his thumbs forming taut peaks.

Kate writhed against him, the pleasure too much and still not enough. She caressed his arms, taking firm hold of his wrists and pulling his hands away. She turned in his arms, her palm on his cheek. "We have all night," she whispered, reminding herself as much as him.

"And I intend to use every minute of it," he assured her. He pushed the corset down further, adjusting the laces so it slid over her hips and dropped to the floor. Once he'd helped her step out of it, she led him to stand at the foot of the bed. She unfastened his slacks and let them drop, then gave him a nudge so that he sat on the bed. She laid his pants on top of his jacket, then strode to the bedside table, where she extracted a bottle of massage oil. She silently gestured, and he complied, scooting back onto the bed and lying down. She smoothed the oil over his back, working it into the skin, enjoying the way his muscles bunched.

At length he rolled under her, the feat made less difficult by the oiled skin gliding against her thighs. She took the opportunity to massage his chest, until he brought his arms up. "Enough," he ground out. "I need to feel you."

She lay on the comforter, soft fabric against bare skin, and tried not to purr as his warm hands glided over her skin. Finally she took a page from his book, rolling beneath him. He set the bottle of oil aside and peppered her with kisses, breasts, stomach, thighs. He hooked his fingers into the waistband of the so-called underwear and carried them downward, along with the garter belt. The stockings simply went along for the ride. Once she was free of them, he kissed along her inner thigh to the juncture. With lips and tongue he teased her, sending exquisite feeling up her spine. Her head tossed back and forth helplessly, until he crawled up and entered her, capturing her cry with his kiss. She rolled them so that she was on top, then sat up, dragging him up with her. She maneuvered so that her legs wrapped around him. They kissed, then rocked back and forth, her head thrown back, his mouth worshiping at her breasts. At last the waves of ecstasy washed over them, and they could fight gravity no longer. They collapsed and curled together on the bed, quivering.

"I love you, Mrs. Castle," he whispered.

"I love you more, Mr. Castle," she replied sleepily.

"Not possible," he murmured as he drifted off.

Rick woke an hour later, not certain why. At first he listened for the kids, disoriented, but the feel of his wife's naked hip under his hand brought the memories flooding back. Suddenly an odd sound disrupted the silence. His ear followed it…to Kate's stomach. Right. No dinner, only passionate lovemaking. He was conflicted. Sleep with no risk of child interruptus was almost as precious as uninhibited sex. But he'd promised to feed her.

"You're doing that creepy staring thing again." Her voice was roughened by sleep.

"Not my fault. Your growling stomach woke me."

"I beg your pardon, I…" a gurgling noise betrayed her. "Oh. Well. What are we going to do about that?"

He was already fishing the room service menu out of the drawer. "Let's see. They have something called a 'Chocolate Avalanche', or we could just go with fruit salad." He slanted a glance sideways just in time to see the dangerous expression that came with her scoff.

"I believe someone promised me he would replace the calories I had burned."

Fifteen minutes later they were feeding one another bites of cake made with seven kinds of chocolate. On the side there was a bowl of whipped cream, to offset the sweetness. They had other plans for it. Plans that would make them both sticky and necessitate a trip to the shower to clean one another off. 'Oh yes,' Kate thought. 'this is going to be a night to remember. And Rick doesn't even know yet that he gets souvenir pictures out of it.'

They celebrated their anniversary by taking a long weekend at the Hamptons beach house. Kate had been back to work for more than a month, and the heat had brought out the worst in too many people, keeping her depressingly busy. On Thursday night, she closed the last folder and practically ran down to the car where Rick and Alexis were waiting to whisk her away. The kids had a blast on Friday playing in (and in Adam's case, eating) sand. They loved playing chicken with the waves, and they adored the pool. Rick had bought a set of inflatable 'boats' with leg holes in the bottom, so the babies could kick their feet but still remain buoyant.

After the kids were all tucked into bed on Friday evening, and Alexis had gone over to a friend's house for the night, Kate and Rick settled onto the couch together. She reached under one of the big throw pillows and retrieved a package wrapped in white opalescent paper. She placed her gift on his lap with a smile. Rick looked at her, aghast. "This whole time, it's been hidden right there?" He tore the paper off the six by eight inch box with all the finesse of a three year old. He lifted the lid and separated the tissue paper to reveal a digital picture frame. Puzzled, he turned to her. "Don't we have one of these already?" he asked.

"Not like that one," she replied cryptically. He powered up the device and waited. Rather than being greeted by an image, he was faced with a long, narrow rectangular field, and below it, a depiction of a keyboard.

"It's password protected? But why?" She smiled, silent, waiting expectantly for him to reason it out. He gave a short nod and began to murmur to himself. "You only password lock something that you want to restrict access to. Why would someone want to do that with…" His jaw dropped, his eyes huge. "Oh," he finally gasped. "Password protected pictures? Kate, that's…that's…You swore you'd never…I have to….How do I…." he stammered, practically trembling with anticipation. He regarded the keyboard.

"It's…" she began, index finger poised over the screen, before he cut her off.

"No, wait! Don't tell me. I want to figure it out. Anniversary or no, this is huge, and I want to earn it." He took in her skeptical look. "What? You weren't about to tell me I can't figure it out, were you?" he demanded. "My wife wasn't seriously about to insinuate that I am not capable of solving, dare I say it, a mystery?"

"No, no. I'm sure you will. I just hope the technology isn't obsolete before then," she teased.

He glared at her playfully, then turned his back, shielding the screen with his body so she couldn't see what he was typing. "Be careful," she warned. "Every third failed attempt deletes a picture." He whipped around, horrified. "Just kidding," she giggled. His scowl only made her laugh harder.

He tried one or two of the obvious ones, his birth date, her badge number. It wasn't as though he was some blockhead that had a limited memory capacity, but he thought she might use reverse logic. 'This is so easy no one would ever suspect I'd use it.' Something they shared, a confidence they kept? 'TemptationLn' No, and more significant to her, anyway. Next he tried 'Always', both forward and backward, to be safe. Safe…Safe word? 'Apples' Nope. 'Snowflakes' Nuh uh. He hazarded a glance toward her. The way she was biting her lip, eyes alight with anticipation, told him he was close. If he wasn't anywhere in the ballpark, she'd just look bored. Ok, so…some permutation of a safe word. He considered her, looking for clues in her face. She'd done her makeup just a bit more heavily than normal, he observed idly. The first time he'd seen her like that was when she'd saved him from an unpleasant demise at the hands of…Russian mobsters! That was it.

He beamed and grabbed for his phone, calling up a translation ap. She looked on, lips pressed together, as he typed 'Apples' and pressed 'Russian'. "GOT it," he crowed, punching 'y-a-b-l-o-k-i' into the keypad on the picture frame screen. The screen saver rolled away, revealing the first image. Kate, his Kate, in that gorgeous green dress. Professionally done, he could tell that much from years of experience with publicity shots. The next photo was a close-up, a special filter giving it a misty, dreamy quality. In the third, another filter turned every sparkle on her dress and in her hair into starbursts. He was mesmerized. A few shots later, he found out she hadn't been alone that day, and smiled warmly at the group photo. She looked like she'd been having fun, and he would treasure having that lighthearted moment captured.

The scenery changed in the next picture, and he recognized it as the suite where they'd had one of their more memorable nights. His blood moved south quickly when his brain made the connection between that night, that outfit, and a camera. So quickly, in fact, that he got dizzy for just a second. He took in a slow, controlled breath, and thumbed the arrow. He was grateful for that recent influx of oxygen when he saw her expression, so full of love that his lungs seized up. He was conscious of Kate's cheek resting on his shoulder as she watched the screen. One shot caught her flat on her back, one knee drawn up, head to the side. In the next, she was on her stomach, chin in her hands, but with her elbows far enough apart that her luscious cleavage was in view. Then came the 'naughty girl' shot. She was on her hands and knees, and her breasts had clearly popped free of the top of the corset. She stared the camera lens down proudly. Subsequent photos showed more and more Kate and less and less outfit. In one she was on her stomach once again, in a side profile shot. They had used a dark fabric as a backdrop, contrast to the light skinned curves of her nude buttocks. The side of her face rested on the pillow, and she wore her best coy smile. The last shot before the collection looped back to the beginning made Rick choke on his breath. She was splayed on her back, with her left arm across her breasts, left hand palming the right globe. Her right hand was between her thighs. It was almost discreet enough to be suitable for public view. Until the viewer took a good look at the rapturous expression, like she'd been caught while pleasuring herself.

When the first shot re-appeared, Rick quietly placed the frame face down on the coffee table. The images had him so aroused that he knew the second he touched her, he would want, no, need, to bury himself within her. He glanced to the side and was alarmed to find a rosy-cheeked Kate trying to stare a hole in the floor. He took a breath. The last thing she needed right now was him going 'caveman' on her. "What is it, my love?"

"I thought…it seemed like a good idea at the time…" her voice warbled.

His brows knit in confusion. "What?"

"You didn't say anything. You don't like them?"

If the pictures had left him speechless, her words were making him positively dumbstruck. Who was this uncertain creature who had taken the place of his warrior wife? "Oh, honey, no. That isn't it at all! I'm just so... This might be the most amazing gift anyone's ever given me." He twisted to the side and pulled her to him. "Thank you."

Her hand brushed the rock-hard length of him and she looked up, eyes wide. "Oh, you DID like them."

"Told you." Now that he'd seen to her emotional wellbeing, other, more primal parts of his persona were straining at their bonds. He set them free, and he could tell she saw the change in his face instantly. She grinned as he pounced on her, eagerly accepting his ravishing kisses. When he pinned her below him, she reached beneath his shirt and raked her nails down his back, egging him on. He roughly pulled off her shorts, then his. She hooked one leg around his back, opening herself for him. When he speared into her, she used her Kegel contractions to clench around him, and he saw stars behind his eyelids. It had been a good long while since they'd had sex this wild and hot. He pumped into her, fast and furious, and in a short while they were both whimpering, desperate for release. Her teeth found his earlobe, biting gently but firmly, and that was it for him. Burying his face in the crook of her neck, he flew into oblivion, taking her with him with his last few thrusts.

When Rick was once again capable of coherent thought, he reached into the drawer in the coffee table and pulled out an envelope, placing it on Kate's chest. For a moment he watched the rectangle bounce in time with the pounding of her heart. Eventually it slowed, and her focus narrowed on it. "What's this?" She opened the flap and extracted a handful of plane tickets. Her brow furrowed as she studied them, puzzled. Finally, comprehension dawned, and she rolled her eyes. "Castle."

"Yes, my love?"

"What is this?" As if she couldn't read that he'd bought tickets for the whole damned family to freaking ASIA.

"Second anniversary, modern gift," he quoted faithfully. "Traditional is cotton. Too boring."

"They mean the dinnerware, not the country!"

"Then 'they' shouldn't leave it open to interpretation," he retorted playfully.

"I just returned to work, I can't go off to China."

"Kate. Look how far out the date is. And we can move it, if need be. Just promise me we do this before our third anniversary, that's all I ask." He could tell by the long suffering huff that he'd already won.

There you have it, folks. Please leave a review on your way out the door, if you'd be so kind, and if you'd be interested in what comes next, don't forget to select "author alert" from the check boxes. Again, thank you all for joining me on this amazing journey, but my ultimate gratitude goes to Tessa and Caitlan, upon whom I can always rely for feedback.