cutest vampire ever. castle/beckett. halloween fic. summary: i'm going to be count dracula. you? totally inspired by the cuteness that is vampire!stana in the librarian: curse of the judas chalice. set after my other story the blue around the morning moon, color of your eyes but you don't need to read that one to understand it – you just have to know that everything after little girl lost didn't happen.

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She'd refused to tell him what she was going to wear for the Halloween party he was throwing this year, and thinking that he was going to stop asking was something didn't even cross her mind, even after three months together.

But she'd refused anyway, not falling for the pout as he sat on the chair next to her desk. He was still shadowing her, but he wasn't here very often because he had the pleasure to have her for himself after work-hours now. Even if he still helped on some cases (he was enjoying playing cop a little bit too much for Beckett's liking), at least he was no longer bothering her when she had nothing to do but unpleasant paperwork.

Except today.

"I told you I was going to be Count Dracula," he whined and she sighed, pushing her hair away tiredly. She rested her forehead against the palm of her hand and closed her eyes.

"Don't you have a sex scene to write?" she asked and ignored the amused looks Ryan and Esposito sent each other as they watched from their desks.

Castle smiled mischievously. "And I thought having the real thing was enough for you."

"Rick—"

"I'm not at that point yet."

"Yeah, well. Write something. Lemme work." She made a show of ignoring him, her brows furrowing as she looked at the file beside her and went to type on her computer keyboard.

He pouted once more, knowing that she could be as stubborn as he was. "You're no fun."

"I'm working. But if you want to correct any typo, be my guest." She glared pointedly – the sarcasm wasn't lost on him.

Reluctantly, he stood up. "Okay." He kissed her quickly on the lips, taking her by surprise because he knew she wasn't comfortable with his displays of affection when they were at the precinct.

"But just so you know, Kate, I'm going to find out!" he called over his shoulder.

She shook her head and returned to her task.

* * *

He would have never pegged down Kate Beckett as someone who would make an entrance – let alone even want to but she had disappeared in his room two hours ago and locked herself in ever since.He looked down at his own costume and felt particularly relieved that he had enough time to dress before Tornado Kate waltzed in.

But the thing that annoyed him most was that, in the end, he didn't find out what her Halloween costume was.

She'd made a dash for the stairs with her shoulder bag and mystery costume – and Alexis hot on her heels, the traitor – and though he'd tried to peek through the peephole, he had failed his mission miserably.

His Halloween party, however, was a success. People were enjoying the food, the music, the festiveness of the night. He was pretty sure his daughter was the most beautiful elf the world had ever seen, and his mother was hilarious as Cruella De Vil.

And still.

He checked his watch. What the hell is she doin'?

"So," a voice said behind him and Castle turned to find Esposito and Ryan standing there. One was dressed as a Marine, the other as a hospital doctor. "Got to know what Beckett is wearing tonight?"

Castle scowled at the two amused detectives. "Nope."

His mother appeared at his side. "Must admit, kiddo, that you know how to throw parties. Everyone's enjoying it, except you. That girl better be downstairs soon or you'll be sucking all the energy out of the room."

"Thank you, Mother," he replied but she had already turned around to head another way.

Something caught her eye in the stairs and she stopped. "Isn't she something?" she smiled as she nudged her son.

Esposito's and Ryan's gaze immediately followed. Raising his eyebrows at the awed expression on their faces, he turned to find that Kate was slowly walking down the stairs – her dress the kind of thing straight from the Enlightenment Years or Marie Antoinette, her hair curling softly.

But what captivated him most was her shy smile.

And the fangs it revealed.

She came to a stop when she reached him, the other giving them relative privacy. "You like?" she asked too innocently, grabbing the skirts of her dress, and uncharacteristically swinging from side to side, giving him a fanged smile that was just too adorable.

"Are you going to keep these on later tonight and bite me?" She rolled her eyes. "Just kidding. You are very beautiful tonight, mademoiselle."

She cocked her head to the side. "You don't look too bad yourself," she said, catching the fabric of the black cape he wore between her fingers and pulling him closer. "A kiss or a bite?"

He waggled his eyebrows, revealing the plastic (and obviously fake, compared to the delicate set she chose) fangs. "I am zee Count Dracula! I take zee bite!"

She laughed and shook her head, amused at his antics (and the fact he enjoyed the holiday way too much for a guy his age) but decided to go for it anyway – or so he thought.

He almost winced as she brought her mouth to his neck, but instead warm lips made contact with his skin. The feeling was all too pleasant, leaving him sometimes dumbfounded that this amazing woman was with him.

"Mm. A kiss."

"And don't you like it," she chuckled against his throat, her nose assaulted with the smell of his aftershave and a scent that was uniquely his – it was like burying her nose in the pillow he used when he stayed overnight at her apartment, the scent of him on the sheets and on her.

She kissed him one more time there before pulling back and he seized the moment to kiss her, both of them careful of the fake fangs being in the way.

He pulled back, getting rid of his own set of fangs so he could kiss her properly but he frowned when she just shrugged. "I'm not spending the night in the bathroom putting them back on every time you want a kiss. Those were a bitch to put on," she explained.

"Okay," he said, with the infamous Castle pout. "But is it wrong that I find you very cute with these?" She smiled, the tip of her tongue peeking through between her teeth and he idly wondered how men didn't fall on their knees in front of her, begging for her love.

But then he realized she had attracted quite the attention on the male side of guests, and he was glad that they weren't falling on their knees in front of her.

"So, who bit who?" Ryan asked, a plate in hand, as he approached the couple, Esposito following close behind.

Castle enveloped his girlfriend – how weird was that he was 38 and called the woman he loved his girlfriend? – in the black cape and laughed. It earned a startled look from Beckett. "Zis woman succumbed to my charms, for she is mine now!"

"Yeah, right." She patted his chest before pulling back from his arms. "Now, I'm going to eat."

He extended his arms and boomed, "beware, folks, the lady vampire is hungry!"

"This is one hell of a woman you got there, Castle," Esposito said as he watched Beckett join Alexis by the buffet, Martha coming over to them a few seconds later for a refill.

Castle smiled wistfully as he gazed at the most important women in his life. "Don't I know it." But then, the wistful smile turned into a mischievous one. "But, really. If vampires looked like her, they could bite me anytime."