A/N: Still rated M.

"God, Kate," he breathes, barely able to form a coherent thought, because the one thing he knows is that he's inside Kate Beckett and he absolutely never wants to leave. "You're so tight."

Kate groans, pushing up with her hips, taking him in deeper, her muscles clenching around him and he can't help the way his lower body drives into her.

"Oh yes, Castle," she moans at the movement, her fingers tightening in his hair and her nails digging crescent shaped marks into his skin as she holds him to her.

He starts a slow, shallow rhythm, and she picks up quickly, mirroring his movements and undulating her hips in time with his. Her legs are still locked around his waist, her ankles crossed at his lower back in an attempt to stay as close as possible.

One of his hands migrates from beside her head, needing to touch her – even when he's as close to her, as connected as he's ever been – trailing along her arm, the cage of her ribs and down until he reaches her bottom. He marvels at how smooth her skin is, how it feels like silk against his large hands, like satin against his fingertips.

He doesn't expect the heat of her mouth at his jaw, the kiss she presses against his cheek and his rhythm falters slightly at the sweet touch. He feels her lips curve upward against his skin and god, she knows exactly what she's doing to him doesn't she? She's trying to wreck him.

It's working.

Her lips travel up, along his neck and when her teeth scrap against the lobe of his ear his hands squeeze her ass, jerking her hips into his roughly and she mewls, her head falling back into the pillow.

It's got to be the sexiest thing he's ever seen in his life.

Castle tilts his head to capture her lips, nipping at her lower lip in retaliation, driving into her at the same time as his tongue delves into her mouth to tangle with hers and she gives back just as good as she gets.

Her body shifts, one of her legs coming down from around his waist to find leverage against the bed and his world spins as she flips them. He gasps in surprise but also from the change in angle. He's still buried inside her, deep, god, so deep, and he doesn't even know how she did that so smoothly but he's not complaining. Not when her hands take hold of his at her waist and pin them above his head, her fingers threading between his as she leans forward. Heat spears through him at the realization that every single part of their bodies seem to be touching, their legs intertwined, noses bumping in what feels more like eskimo kisses, the way her breasts flatten against his chest as she grinds into him.

Fuck, he doesn't think he can hold on much longer. The pressure in his abdomen coils and winds tightly as she continues to move above him, her hips rocking and circling, pumping his length and he starts to see stars.

But he's determined not to fall without her, to make sure she's just as close to the precipice as he is because there's no way he's leaving her unsatisfied, not when she's giving herself over to him so completely.

Her ragged breath and the soft high-pitched noises that leave her lips reassure him she isn't very far, though, might only need a little more to push her over the edge. Castle bends his left knee and pushes up into her harder, using the force in his leg as purchase and she chokes on what sounds like his name.

She's so loud, so vocal in her pleasure and it's probably the biggest turn on he's ever experienced. He needs to know what she sounds like when the wave of her orgasm crashes over her, yearns to hear her completely let go, lost in the sea of pleasure they've created together.

Her inner walls clench around him when he continues to plunge into her a bit more forcefully, her fingernails biting into the skin of his knuckles as she holds onto his hands. Their pace turns hurried, frantic, delirious almost and when her chest rises higher he dips his mouth to take her nipple between his teeth.

She keens, slamming down onto him roughly and he can feel her walls begin to flutter around him, right there on the edge of breaking apart for him. He sucks her breast into his mouth, groaning around her at the sweet taste, the smell of cherries that engulfs him and he untangles one of their hands, slips it between them.

She breaks the moment his thumb touches her clit, clamping tight around him and his vision goes blank, a sheet of white behind his eyes at the sound of his name falling from her lips accompanied with a few curses. He spills into her, and pleasure shoots down his spine, lining his every limb from head to toe and he knows with absolute certainty that he's never felt anything quite like this.

Her hand moves from within his to clutch at his neck and he moves his to smooth down the length of her spine, encourages the way her body continues to undulate against him softly, chasing the last waves of her orgasm.

She's breathing hard into his neck, and the warm puffs of air ground him, bring him down from cloud nine, back to the woman in his arms. She isn't moving, isn't crawling off of him in shame or regret but when her head comes up from where it'd been resting at the cove of his neck, he feels his heart stutter, a sharp pinch of fear that this is it, that she's going to leave him and try to pretend this never happened the way they always do.

He expects to see sorrow and remorse in her eyes when her gaze meets his; he isn't prepared for the warmth he finds there instead or the small shy smile she wears. A current of heat washes through him and he can't help the way his lips curl upward to mirror hers.

"That was…" he trails off, doesn't even know how to put it into words.

She pushes upward with her knees and slants her lips over his, hums into his mouth and his hands come up to tangle in her hair.

And, yeah, there's no way his brain is going to function properly to find the right words with the full length of Kate Beckett's body plastered to him, kissing him like she wants to be here, like she's in no hurry to leave, like she might want to stay.

God, he hopes she stays. They really need to talk.

"Extraordinary?" She pants against his lips when they part for air and it takes him a second to understand that she's finishing his sentence from earlier. He's the writer and somehow, she's the one who manages to find the pretty words to describe how absolutely earth-shattering their first round just was.

"You're extraordinary," he counters, and she huffs out a laugh, the skin around her eyes crinkling from her smile and she drops her forehead to rest against his chest.

She's happy. He doesn't know if he's ever seen her smile so wide, heard her laugh so freely. And it's because of him, because she's here with him. He knows it's way too soon, completely out of line to be thinking things like this, but he finds himself hoping to be the one to responsible for that smile every day for the rest of his life.

"You're a sap," she says, shaking her head as she looks up at him again.

"Only for you," he grins, and she rolls her eyes, but the rest of her face betrays her; he can tell it's just an act, that she secretly likes his corny lines.

"Mm, we should have done that a long time ago," she whispers, her voice still sultry and sated and he thinks only she could have heat pooling along his insides, yearning for her again so quickly. Her confession makes his heart pound a little faster because it sounds like she might really want this, like she might want to do it again, that this won't be the only time. He knows it's unfair of him to doubt her like this, that she reassured him that they'd be more than a one-night stand only half an hour ago, but he'd feared she'd change her mind after the fact, once the adrenaline and heat of the moment had evaporated.

Kate shifts, moves to lay on her side but she doesn't go far, resting her head on his chest, her arm draped of over his stomach.

They stay like that for a few minutes, quiet and lost in thought. He grazes his fingers along her back, drawing patterns over her skin. He doesn't want to break this bubble, really, he'd be happy to just live in this blissful moment forever, but the questions plaguing his mind are driving him crazy. He's terrified to push too far, to ask for too much and send her running, but he needs this, needs more than words that were spoken moments before they were joined.

"You're thinking really loudly," she murmurs, and he curses himself for being so predictable, so damn needy. Truth be told, if this were any other women he'd probably let it go, but this is Kate and she means more than anyone ever has. It scares the crap out of him because he's fully aware that she could easily crush his heart with one swing if she tried. He doesn't think anyone other than his mother or daughter has ever held so much power over him.

"I know you said you wanted more than just tonight, and I'm so glad, but I just… I need-"

He cuts himself off, has never felt so damn ineloquent, so needy and pathetic, and it's probably a complete turn off for a strong and powerful woman like Kate.

"Rick." The use of his first name falling off her tongue halts his thoughts. She lifts her body off of his and for a second, he panics, thinks he's already driven her away, but then her palm comes to rest against his cheeks and she turns on her side, urging him to do the same to face her. "I know I haven't always been clear, that we don't… talk about this, us, usually. I'm not really any good at using words…" He watches her intently, amazed by this woman who is opening up to him when she sees that he can't, that he's scared.

"I broke up with Josh to be with you. Not just to sleep with you and move on." Her words hit him like a bolt of lightning, strike through him and he can't help the giddy smile that lifts his lips.

"So, not a rebound then?" He asks, though her words have already confirmed as much.

"No. If anything, Josh was a distraction," she admits, shame crossing her features, and she's clearly not proud of it.

"A distraction from what?" He's confused. She had to have known he's always wanted her, that he hasn't been shadowing her for three years now solely for research.

"From… last summer," she mumbles, hiding her face against his chest and, wait-

Last summer?

"What? But you were with Demming."

She sighs, and he can see she's dreading it, that she doesn't really want to tell him.

"I broke up with him before you left," she admits, and his blood runs cold.

Oh, no.

"I was going to come with you to the Hamptons-"

He groans, wishes more than anything that he had a time machine and he could do it all over again.

"Kind of broke my heart when you walked off with your ex-wife." Her words hit hard, a punch to the gut because he hurt her. And for the first time he realizes that he's not the only one risking his heart tonight. She broke things off with her boyfriend to chase after him even after he walked away and didn't give her a chance to explain. She's the one reassuring him, but really, it's not like he's been a saint, he's been just as guilty of talking in subtext and avoiding difficult conversations.

"God, I'm so sorry, Kate. I swear I had no idea. If I'd known, I never would have invited Gina. I was miserable all summer. All I could think about was you."

"Me too," she whispers into his skin, just above his heart and her hands come up to his chest. He can't believe all the time they've missed out on, the long weeks he spent wishing she was there when she could have been had he not been so stupid.

She put her heart out on the line for him, again, even after he'd inadvertently hurt her. It means everything to him, gives him all the proof he needs. She's in this as deep as he is, both doing their best to perfect the balancing act, to keep either of them from falling.

Castle wraps his arms around her and pulls her in close, squeezing her body to his and burying his face in her hair, inhaling the sweet scent of cherries that still lingers there. She comes willingly, snuggles into his embrace and he revels in how well they fit together.

After a beat he pulls back, only far enough to meet her eyes.

"I can't believe you left two of your boyfriends for me," he teases, hoping to lighten the mood.

"Shut up," she says, narrowing her eyes at him and slapping his arm but she laughs. "You gonna make it worth my while?" She asks, teasing, hers eyes hungry and burning with heat, an open invitation if he's ever seen one.

"Oh, I plan to," he growls, surging forward to capture her lips. He plans to make Kate Beckett see stars a few more times before the night is over.

A/N: I can't thank you guys enough for the enthusiasm and all the kind words you've shared for this story. Truly, it means the world to me! This was the final chapter; I hope you've all enjoyed this short fic and again, a big thanks to Anja for the prompt and Chelsea for the cover art. If you ever have any Caskett prompts, feel free to send them to me on here, twitter or tumblr! Until next time! -Zoe

Twitter: ZoeKeller

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