Some spoilers for the book Heat Rises

This Story is written by AlwaysCastle and Kimmiesjoy.

Kate Beckett was never one to believe in fate. Never thought that just because a certain thing happened or didn't happen, didn't mean that it was meant to be, or not meant to be.

But she's changed.

Castle made her realize that there is magic in the world that maybe things happen, and don't happen for a reason. It makes her think that this morning when Ryan and Esposito interrupted them, that perhaps... that was not the right time.

Just like now.

With his breath on her lips, his mouth just touching hers, skimming close enough to taste, not moving but still touching, the door to his loft opens, and in walks Alexis.

Apparently this was not their defining moment either.

Kate purses her lips, as Castle deflates with a very audible groan in protest, and then looks down at the keys. His hands slip from hers, and suddenly she's cold. His arm now removed from her shoulder, his absence makes her ache so painfully that she turns away completely when he gets himself off the bench.

Kate faces the piano, almost frozen as she hears him talk with his daughter. The simplicity of their conversation is too much for her mounting emotions, she has to move. She can see from her vantage point, that the door to his study is still open from when he searched for a book, and she needs the salvation, the sanctuary of that space.

She hears Alexis question if she has interrupted something and the denial from him burns like ice water down her back, like inhaling fire. She understands why he does it, but the pain is there none the less. Kate finally reaches, after less than twenty steps, a little haven away from the madness. She swipes a hand through her hair, mussing it over her shoulder, before she drops down onto the edge of the desk.

Each book he picked is stacked behind her like a weighted promise and as she sits on the edge with her hip, she pushes one of the piles and sends it toppling over. She doesn't grab for the stack as it crashes, in fact she enjoys the noise, the crash and cacophony of each one. For some reason they remind her of bricks and she feels oddly comforted.

Picking one randomly from the decimated pile, she rounds the desk and flops onto the couch as her fingers skim the pages. He, Castle, is with his daughter and she wouldn't drag him away for the world, so she settles onto the couch, opens the cover and begins to read.

A few lines in she realizes, it's one of his.

If that is not a sign she doesn't know what is.

She smiles, her chest rising on a whimpered sigh and she flips to a random page. Having read it more than once, it really doesn't matter where she starts. He heart pangs at the first word she sees more than halfway down the page... and just like her eyes do for the real man, Castle, is the first thing she seeks. It's like a beacon of hope, for her and for Nikki.

Kate reads the pages quickly in her mind, as Nikki Heat battles for her life. She finds her heart rate quickening at the intensity of it all even though she already knows the outcome. But the moment brings her back to all the high speed chases, and close calls. Both on her own, and with Castle at her side. She's come to realize, how much she's needed him there for her. How he's been her steady ground, something for her to lean on even if she asks for it or not. He gives it so willingly and without second thought.

She wants to be that for him.

Kate leans back against the cushions of the couch, bringing her knees up and resting the book atop them. She stares at the page not reading for a moment, her eyes coming in and out of focus along with her other senses. Castle and Alexis are still talking in the kitchen. But she doesn't catch a thing they are saying. Instead, she is staring at a particular word on the page in front of her.

Salvation.

Does he know? She knows on some level that these books are some sort of love letter to her. So is this his way in telling her that he understands?

Is this his always?

Kate brings her fingers up to her mouth, eyes dancing and yet swimming in a bit of moisture that gathers there. She places her hand on the page, finger under her favorite line in the entire book. She takes in a ragged breath, the need to clear her throat making her chest ache, and reads it aloud:

"Heat leaned back against the wall, looking upward at the…" Kate soothes his name from her lips like a wish "Castle."

"Mmm?" He wonders through the doorway as she murmurs his name, her fingers track the page but her eyes are closed, the words flowing from memory and she can't have heard him. It's only then as he really takes in her fingers as they caress the page that he realizes she's reading, or remembering, and wasn't talking to him at all. In fact as she carries on he's fairly certain she doesn't even know he is here.

The long slender fingers of one hand trace the words, his words, as she speaks them with her eyes still firmly closed, but it's the soft curl of her lips and the way her other hand is tangled in her hair that he focuses on. Her fingers caress the soft strands almost like she is lulling herself into sensation. Putting herself deeper under the spell of the words as they wrap around her, spilling from her lips like secrets.

Each tender, but leading, tug of her fingers burns at his chest, hitches and catches low down because he can remember with very intimate detail exactly what it feels like to run his hand within the chestnut mass, and glance at her scalp. Each wave of softly curled hair seems to sing to him, call for his touch, as she twirls it endlessly around her finger.

He wants it all to tumble across his face as she leans over him, he wants to bury his nose in it and inhale the very essence of her being. Squirm deep down inside and absorb absolutely everything she has to offer.

Castle watches as she twirls again, dancing the strand between her fingers until she runs it softly under her own cheek, against her bottom lip, it is the sexiest thing he has ever seen her do. He feels his own mouth drop open, preparing to speak but she suddenly starts to read, from memory as her eyes stay closed, his words again.

"That had been her…"

"…salvation." Her voice is soft and gentle as she lets the word loose, but his, as he speaks in time with her, is questioning, because surely she isn't really implying that about him…because she, to him, is absolutely everything. And there is no way he can be her salvation.

It isn't possible.

Kate lifts her head, eyes wide at his voice, blinking slowly, Castle moves to step forward and seems to change his mind. Only she doesn't want that anymore and Kate shifts her feet, a gesture, as she makes space for him next to her. He comes more tentatively than she would have expected...feet in slow shuffle as if worried he will spook her and she huffs out a gentle laugh. Except it's not really funny how much she as spun him in circles.

Castle draws level with her and extends his hand, wanting to take the book from her only Kate has other ideas and instead of giving him the novel, she catches his hand with her own, snags him tight and yanks him onto the cushion next to her.

He lands with a thud, watches as she bounces a little to the other end of the couch, glaring at her before snatching the book out of her other hand and laughing.

"Hey," she reaches across him. "I was reading that."

Castle holds the book out of her grasp, above his head watching as she glares. "You had your eyes closed," he scoffs. "You are extraordinary but even you can't read with your eyes closed."

She gapes at him "I…give it back."

He shakes his head, watching as she pulls back to her side of the couch.,but her bent knees are still facing him and taking a slight liberty. He uses them as leverage as he leans back, one elbow balanced as he starts to read from where she left off.

"The time had first slowed down, and then stood still for Nikki." He begins. His voice is deep and soothing and Kate finds her eyes close briefly. This is something she has imagined and fantasized about for such a long time and she didn't even have to verbalize it, he just knows. She lets out a soft sigh, a rush of near contented air and opens her eyes again to find him looking at her.

She clears her throat finally, refusing to be embarrassed. "Go on." She says, pointing at the page.

He gives her a little smirk, and then lets his eyes rest on the words, one hand holding up the book while the other lays in the space between the pages. "The ensuing minutes had no definition."

Kate keeps watching, staring at the page, and waiting; because she knows he will look at her again. The odd tug of impending intimacy has settled between them again, his words fitting so eerily and accurately with them now as they sit.

"And strangely," his eyes dart to her, and she gives him a look. "No sequence." He waggles his eyebrow, she hits his shoulder. "A psychologist might say she didn't shut down, she surrendered."

She did. She had and he knew, he waited and gave her the strength she needed to find her feet again, he gave her the space she needed to get to the point where she could surrender in a whole different way.

"After the tense ordeal of being hunted, shot at, evading and then doing some killing of her own," His voice pitches, and then he pauses, the next word coming out exactly as it sounds. "Heat released control."

It's like he's asking her to, like finally they should give in, they don't need control, they just need each other.

"For her it was the greatest luxury of survival."

Kate closes her eyes, trying not to hum in agreement, and continues to listen to him read aloud to her. She's so lost in his voice that she's startled when his back comes off her knees. She opens her eyes to see him leaning back against the cushions now and looking at her with a mixture of curiosity, and what is that... satisfaction?

He offers her the book. "Your turn?" He asks.

Kate purses her lips, and shakes her head, sitting up beside him to look at the pages. "I like to listen." She replies, quieter than she meant. She pulls herself nearer, settles into his side, ignoring the look of shock as she moves willingly and isn't pulled by the freedom, the excuse she finds in sleep.

He gives her a smile, and then turns back to the page. As he begins to read again, Kate slips away from the loft, and the study. Not so much hearing what words are being spoken, but the tone of his voice, it soothes at her soul and awakens parts of her heart she thought were missing.

It doesn't take long, it never does and soon she's feeling the pull, that Castle-ache she spends so much of her waking life burying away, and she moves towards him, her shoulder resting against his. His voice also makes her calm enough to sleep and it's not long before her head drops to his neck.

"You awake there Kate?" He asks, his voice is not so much a question, as it is hopeful, or expectant. It comes from deep within his throat, and pang enters her heart pleasantly at the sound.

"Mm hmm." She replies, breathing in the smell of him. He is a powerful drug, an elixir of dream and sensation that she guzzles down, revels in.

She feels him turn his head down to look at her, and she opens her eyes so he can see she is in fact awake, before he continues his smooth serenade from the passages of his love letter. He's warm against her cheek, and she rubs her skin along his shirt until her nose nearly brushes his throat.

He only pauses for a moment, and she thinks she feels him shiver, before he's reading again. Kate watches the muscles in his throat constrict, and dance as he speaks. It's hypnotizing and she wonders what it looks like when the words flow from his fingers. Surely with more ease then he speaks, but even that is entrancing.

He turns the page. At the corner of her eye she sees the way he caresses the edge of the paper before settling it down, his flow of words do not even pause. But then again, he did write this. He can probably recite it by heart. His head moves a little, he's looking to the other side of the page already but the words are not registering, and his voice has become a melody in her mind and heart. She sighs, looking at his neck again, wanting to feel the vibrations.

She smiles, thinking back to the dream she had, where this all began, and now, she is certain she was awake, she had to have been for some of it, the pull of him and all that exists between then is just to strong and she wants to replay it.

She licks her lips.

All she has to do is tip her head slightly upward and press her soft pouty skin to his jugular.

When her lips meet his warm flesh, she almost sighs, it's exactly as she remembers and imagined and yearned for. She ignores his reaction, the way his body tenses and his words stop halfway out of his mouth.

She ignores the pause because she's not going to stop. She's here now and she might as well dive right in, she wants to. Kate Beckett has had enough with waiting and delaying.

She opens her mouth this time, pressing harder, urgency behind her movements, darting her tongue out. A smile breaks on her lips as she does it again, and again. When the first press elicits a gasp, she feels triumphant when he fails to hold onto a small moan.

"Kate." His voice is a strained whisper and the book nearly falls off his lap. "Wake up."

He goes to move away, but she snakes her arm out, grabbing the other side of his neck and pressing his throat against her waiting mouth. "Shhh." She blows against his neck, her lips puckering against his skin as she does so.

"You're dreaming again." He says, but he does not move, in fact, his hands are in fists and his back is stiff. She can see the strain of resistance that winds around him, through him, he is the most amazing person, the most wonderful man.

"I'm not," She whispers again moving her kisses until she meets his jaw. He's trembling. "This is all me, Castle." She reassures, touching his cheek with feather light fingers and turning him towards her.

"Kate please wake up." His voice is a buried whisper that hardly makes it past the crack in his chest. But she seems to sense it, lays her hand over it whilst the other gentles his face. Kate's lips remain steady at the thudding pulse and she can't help the noise of appreciation that leaves her mouth.

The soft sound skims his neck and she presses into him further. He smells divine, familiar, and safe, exciting, intoxicating and just…him. She wants to kiss him but his hands remain impassive and her angle is making it awkward.

She huffs a laugh into his neck and finally feels him startle. Kate leans back, pulling her knees under her so she's a fraction higher than him. Her hand not leaving his face and he can finally see her eyes are open, see she's awake and neither one of them is dreaming.

"I'm not asleep, Castle." She encourages, kissing the side of his mouth, and caressing the edge of his face. Now that she's started this, she never wants to stop feeling his skin under her hands, his body safe with her.

But he distracts her, leaning forward and looking past her.

"What are you doing?" She asks watching his eyes dart around the room quickly before settling back onto hers.

"I was checking for gorillas," he looks behind her again. "Or ninja squirrels, mops?" His words are silly, comical even, but his eyes betray the truth. He really is so worried about this not being reality, that he's looking for fiction. "What if someone walks in?"

"Don't even joke about that." She threatens softly, tugging lightly at his ear and he nods remembering all the times they have been interrupted and dragged apart. He lets out a long sigh, his head tipping forward as he does.

"You're not dreaming Castle," she states with conviction and determination, after all these years maybe it's time she started making him believe in things and a good place to start is with herself. She will make him believe in her.

Her hand roams down his face, his neck, where she can feel his pulse quickening, to then spread across his chest again. Up and under his chin, she pulls lightly and just as she hoped he would, he turns towards her, "but I promise if you are and they are bad, I'll wake you up," her hand skims across his brow, down under his jaw, her thumb skirting his eye. Those wonderful eyes. She leans forward and settles a kiss to the rise of cheek bone under his left eye, feeling his lashes stutter against her at the feel of her lips.

And in that moment she finally wakes him up to the reality. She's here.

His hand lifts, finally, at last, and cups her cheek, and she's soft and warm and so very real beneath his finger tips that it's almost impossible to comprehend. His hand settles in her hair, and he drags it around, pulling a sweeping cascade of it across her shoulder, she watches his eyes tender but dark, heated as he plays with it, mumbling something under his breath as he twirls it between his fingers.

"It's like porn…" he breathes into it as he brings it closer to his lips, she can feel him kissing her through her hair "The most beautiful, artistic, erotic…"

His entire body seems to freeze and he pulls her close so he can stare into her eyes, there is something entirely new etched behind them.

"What if they are good dreams?" He asks her as his thumb brushes her lip, pressing, testing the bottom one. "What if they are really good dreams?" His eyes linger on her because she is a good dream, she is his every dream, waking, sleeping, day or night and she's so close.

She tips forwards, raising herself on her knees to shuffle closer, pull him up and nearer. "I promise Castle, whatever dreams may come we will face them together," Her voice is tender, the most he's ever heard from her, and his heart swells. "But for now," she moves closer again, her hair falling across her arms as she leans into him. "Will you just shut up before someone comes in and…"

She doesn't need to finish the sentence, not that he gives her the chance anyway. Both His hands slip up to her waist, his fingers tight so he can pull her into his lap. Sit her across his knees as one hand stays light and probing at her ribs, causing a shiver to run through her, while his other one feathers his long touch, fingers splayed, across the nape of her neck.

It all happens in the space of a second and then he's kissing her

His mouth is a dream against hers, a memory, and an ache. Kate winds her arms around his neck, holding on as she opens for him, her mouth, her heart, her life. Finally, in this one moment they have been heading towards for such a long, agonized, teasing amount of time.

The kiss is a soft stroke of warm lips and barely there brushes of tongue. It's a build-up, a lead in and so very them. It flows back and forth with each murmured breath and soft caress the way their banter flows, the way their conversations flow leaving them both warm and eager. There is a give and take, a tug and pull that envelopes them like the first leading steps of a dance. His final sweep across the roof of her mouth and the way she sucks on his bottom lip adds to the static cling that lingers between them.

He pulls back before she does, so he can watch her, stare at her, drink her in and wonder. His voice takes them both by surprise "Are you sleepy Kate?" His hands linger across her hip bone, tugging her nearer, relishing the swish of her silken hair as she shakes her head. The light squeeze from her hips as she leans into him is echoed by his tightened grip at her thigh, a balance, a rhythm found.

"Are you?" She mumbles in that slightly dreamy seductive tone that just screams 'take me to bed'. She waits for him, watches the slow shake of his head in response.

His hands slide higher, skimming her waist, thumbs suddenly at the edge of her ribs, before moving across the sides of her breasts and onto her shoulders. He slides higher as she shudders until he is cupping her face and he pulls her down "I don't think I will be tired for at least…two days."

Two whole days, stretched between them, full of meaning and promise.

Two days.

He presses his lips back to hers again, feeling her smile against him as he does, well aware that the last thing either of them will be thinking about tonight is sleeping.

THE END

Kimmiesjoy: I dedicate my half of this story to AlwaysCastle for keeping me in line whilst writing it, and for teaching me the true meaning of Gorillas. I will never look at them in the same away again.

AlwaysCastle: And I dedicate my half of this story to my great partner in crime Kimmiesjoy, for knowing exactly what I want written after I describe it. It's like we are in perfect sync. AND I will never look at a mop the same way again.

Also, we both thank you kind readers, for well.. reading, and reviewing! And of course addign us to your fav author/story/alerts :D We have had so much fun collaborating on this for your enjoyment!

What dreams may come, that in their sleep,
Entwine two hearts and souls so deep.
That with the early light of day, keep them safe
Their dreams to stay.