Back to the Beginning

For Pau. For bringing back the fluff, even if only for a little while.

Also, this companion piece is M rated which is different from the other companions in this series. Just a forewarning.

It's a miracle morning.

The baby isn't crying; Al isn't up and begging for breakfast – her dad took them for the night and the entire day so they'll be back tomorrow morning. The sun isn't slanting through the blinds on the windows. She can hardly hear the noise of the city outside.

A quiet, dark oasis in their bedroom.

And her husband. Oh, her husband is pressing warm kisses and quiet words into the bare skin of her arm, along the curve of her shoulder until he meets the fabric of the tank top. He skims over the shirt, traveling along her neck and up to her jaw.

Just before his lips touch hers he whispers "Happy anniversary."

She rolls onto her back, sneaking her arm under her head. He's hovering over her on one hand, fingers tracing over her nose and her cheekbone. "I get a present for putting up with you for a year?"

"Whatever you want."

Kate pushes up to kiss him once before flopping back onto the bed, giving him a shove. "Sleep."

He whines. "Kate… The kids aren't here."

"So?" she asks, face mashed into the pillows in an attempt to block him out. She hasn't had a solid night's sleep since Valentine's Day, maybe longer, and it would be really great if he'd hold off on the anniversary sex until she can be an active participant. "Give me an hour. Make breakfast. Write. An hour, Rick."

It's quiet but she knows he hasn't left; the bed hasn't dipped down. So she opens one of her eyes. He's lying in front of her, head propped on his wrists.

"You haven't gone to make me food," she mumbles.

"I want an advance for the French toast I was planning."

Kate snorts, pulling the sheets up over her head. "I just had your kid less than a month ago. On Valentine's Day, Rick. Instead of chocolate and flowers, I got us a little girl. That's your advance."

"Not fair using Harper against me. And if you wanted flowers and chocolate, you could have told me."

"Hey," she protests, capturing his hand as it slides against her stomach. "Don't be using your wiles against -"

He wiggles out of her grip, letting his fingers slip under her underwear. His middle finger dips into her as soon as he feels just how ready she is, grinning into her neck when her hips arch up against his hand.

"You were saying?"

"Act now," she grinds out. "Words later." Because the lingering hormones from the pregnancy have her teetering on the edge already and his teasing is so not helping. All she really needs is a little more motion from him and she could shatter instantly.

But he stays still, just the first knuckle of his finger resting at her entrance. His arm settles over her hips, keeping them anchored on the mattress as he adds his forefinger, curling them oh so gently in her as he thrusts slowly. He's keeping her strung out.

Her head falls back against the pillows on a sharp gasp. "Rick…" she nearly sobs, so close already but needing him there with her. "Please."

He doesn't move from her side, leaning on his left hand so that his breath just feathers over her face. "Soon."

Her heels push the covers down, feet twisting into the sheets as she attempts to find some sort of friction. Low keening in the back of her throat. "I need you. Now, Rick, or never."

"Oh, never?" he half-chuckles into her neck as he shifts over her. "Doubt it."

Kate manages to growl, body already tensing, teeth digging into her lower lip as she tries to hold out for him. He drags his fingers up and over her clit, which only serves to draw a throaty groan from behind her teeth, before he tugs on her leg, hooking it up around his hip.

Her hands clench around his biceps even as her body quivers around him as he pushes into her. "Shit, I don't think I can -"

"Just go with it," he murmurs while dropping a kiss at the corner of her mouth. "I'm right behind you."

So she does, letting go with a drawn out sigh while she pulls his hips closer with her heel at the small of his back. He comes seconds after her, lips at her cheek as he whispers sweet nothings into her skin.

Their matching breaths hang in the air, loud in the silence of the apartment. Her body is still shivering under his; just the touch of him against her sensitive skin makes her rock into him.

"Anniversary sex," he says, voice rumbling up against her chest and making her whimper softly as his words vibrate against her breasts. "Check."

She's taking advantage of the lack of children in the apartment. She's curled up on the couch in just a tanktop and panties, reading one of the books she's been meaning to get around to for a while. Her hair is tangled from the morning, warming her shoulders along with the soft sunlight drifting in through the windows to the balcony.

"Kate?" He's in the doorway to the bedroom wearing dark pants, a pale purple shirt unbuttoned at the neck, tie in his hand. "You're gonna need a dress."

"This not appropriate attire for wherever you're kidnapping me to?" she asks, putting her finger in the book to keep her place.

"Not hardly. Dress. Now, Kate." He turns away, going back into the bedroom.

She swings her legs off the couch, setting the book onto his desk with a bit of his stationary as a bookmark. He's got two of her dresses in either one of his hands when she steps in, the both of them held up against his shirt as he studies his reflection in the mirror.

Kate snags the cream dress with the flowing skirt to her knees. "This one." She shucks the tanktop, tossing it onto the bed. His eyes rove over her and she narrows her eyes, pointing a finger at him. "Not a move. You have anniversary sex this morning. You need to hold your impulses in check until tonight." She shimmies into the dress, adjusting the bodice as he steps behind her and ties the bow of the deep eggplant sash. When he moves away and she turns to go into the bathroom, he catches her wrist.

This time, when he looks at her, it isn't with pure desire or lust; it's love.

"You know what we were doing today last year?"

"A few hours early."

"And you know what you look like right now in that dress?"

"Like a woman who is a little hungry and a lot curious about what you're planning?"

"Kate."

"Rick."

"I love you," he sighs, pulling her flush against his front, hands on her hips. His lips brush against her cheek, up and over her forehead, down along the slope of her nose until settling on her mouth.

She smiles under him, fingers bunching up his dress shirt. "Love you too." With a final peck to his lips, she steps back. "Gotta do my make-up and hair. Find me the nude heels in the closet?"

He returns, letting her use his shoulder as support when she slips her feet into the shoes.

"Okay. Give me whatever grand gesture you planned for the first anniversary."

Darkness falls over her eyes as he drops the bandana over her face. "Oh. It's that kind of date."

"Do not give me ideas, woman," he murmurs into her ear. "Come on." He's holding her fingertips, leading her around the apartment to the front door. She hears the door lock behind them before he rests his palm on the small of her back, fingers curling around the sash.

"Does my dad know that Al has that history thing she needs done for tomorrow?"

"Shush. Your dad has the list you gave him," he says, leaving her on the curb outside the building as he opens the car door. "He, Al, and Harper will be just fine for the night. Relax."

And she does, sighing as she sinks back into the soft leather of the seats. He slides into place next to her, tells the driver they're in. She feels the car start up just as she feels his hand sneak under the hem of her skirt.

Kate catches his hand. "I can't give you ideas, you can't tease me. Fair's fair." But she lingers, wrapping her fingers around his. "Do I get a hint about where you're bringing me?"

"Give a hint to a woman trained to put clues together? I'll pass." His nose nudges her hair aside, placing soft kisses along her neck.

Her eyes flutter closed on an exhale as his mouth coasts up to her ear. "Will I be fed?"

"Oh yes."

"Good."

She snuggles into his side, a thinly disguised attempt to push the blindfold up off her eyes that he catches onto. Once he replaces the fabric over her face, she scowls but stay still, head resting on his shoulder, fingers linked on his thigh.

Kate nearly drifts into sleep; the rumble of the engine under her feet with the gentle pressure on her palm from his hand and the warmth of his body nestled next to hers teaming up against her curiosity. But he jostles his shoulder and jolts her from the half-sleep.

"We here?"

He only hums in response, opening the car door and sliding away from her before reaching back for her hand. She stumbles on the curb, falling into his arms.

"See why it's helpful for me to have my eyes?" she asks.

"You complained back then too."

The scent of coffee beans and vanilla and cinnamon washes over her and brings a smile to her face. "Our coffee shop." She turns, instinctively looking for his face in the darkness behind the blindfold. "Rick, you brought me back to the coffee shop."

Castle unravels the blindfold, stuffing it into his pocket just as she tips her head up to brush her lips over his. "Is repeating the first date too cheesy?"

"Not if you get me coffee and cupcakes like last time," she says, pivoting toward their table by the window, the cream skirt of her dress rustling up against his pants. The forest green armchairs are free, surrounding the wrought iron table.

He returns in two minutes, coffees in hand as he balances a plate with a single cupcake along his forearm.

She wraps her hands around one of the mugs, bringing it to her lips and sipping the liquid. "Why only one cupcake? Do not tell me you are running out of money because I'm afraid I might have to leave you if that's the case. Can't have you -"

Castle touches the pad of his finger to her lips and when she darts her tongue out, she can taste the sugar from the frosting of the cupcake. "Books are selling just fine so you're stuck with me." He finishes unwrapping the little cake, setting it back in the middle of the plate. "One cupcake for one year."

Kate picks up the cupcake – chocolate with white buttercream frosting decorated with brightly colored sprinkles – and smiles at him from across the table. She runs her tongue over her lips, watching as his eyes darken before she bites into the pastry.

Payback for that morning.

She hardly has time to set the cake down on the plate before he has a hand at the nape of her neck, tugging her nearly over the table to kiss her. His teeth nip at her lower lip and she barely holds back the little moan because they're in public and unlike that first date, the coffee shop isn't empty and only lit by flickering tea candles.

"You'll need a whole lot more of these," she says, sitting back into the arm chair and pushing the plate closer to him. When he raises a brow, she nudges his shin with her foot. "One for each year we'll be married means a lot of cupcakes. Which means," she says, already taking another sip of her coffee, "all that money will come in handy. Get moving, Rick."

He gets up, touching another kiss to her hair before grabbing the cupcake left on the plate. "Be back with a dozen to get us started."