"Will you play with me?"

She laughs at him, her fingers trailing a path down his stomach, slipping over skin softened by massage oil. And then she reaches-

Shit, Kate.

His hips buck into her hand and she leans in, presses the curve of her smile to the stubbled place at his jaw. Her teeth catch the papery skin and he hisses, clutching at the summit of her shoulder.

"I thought I wore you out."

Castle groans and goes for her hips, sliding her lower body along the sheets. Away. "You did. I meant the game."

Kate's forehead settles at his chin and she brushes a kiss to the dip between his clavicles, humming a sigh that swirls in the cavernous place.

"The game?"

"Yeah."

She comes back in against him, the loose and sinewy line of her body curling up so the sheets ripple around her. "Why?"

"It's fun."

For a moment he thinks maybe he shouldn't touch her. Not now, while she's only half here. He doesn't want the press and glide of his hands to lull her to sleep, take her from him.

She's beautiful when she sleeps, but she's even more beautiful like this. Somnolent and soft and that slow, easy smile that he can't help but kiss away.

Kate lifts her head to expose the creamy arch of her neck to him and he tastes, tongue and teeth working at her until she gasps and curls a hand around the back of his head, her elbow braced against his shoulder.

"For you, yeah. I'm not really a video game sort of girl."

"It's a great game though."

He lets her ease back from him, her palm flat against his chest so he knows she won't go far. She smoothes her thumb over his sternum, slow circles that make his breath hitch, her name crumbling to dust against the back of his teeth.

"Why do you want me to play? It's your thing."

Castle brushes her hair back from her cheek and cradles her face, feels the rise of her cheekbone against his heart line. "It could be our thing."

"I don't want to turn into one of those couples who have to do everything together. You don't run with me or do yoga. Those are my things. And you need to have yours."

He watches her battling back her irritation, keeping her voice soft and low for him. But it's okay. He likes the fire, likes watching her fight for them.

"I know. I just thought you might. . .want to."

He feels like an idiot now, really. Of course asking her to play the game with him is not a good enough substitute for what she wanted to do. Only, he feels like he's lost so much ground just with that one mistake and he doesn't know how to reclaim it.

So much doubt in her eyes now where she used to know.

"No. I wanted you. And you were busy. I shouldn't have gotten as upset as I did."

That stings. He didn't know how much it would hurt her to be rejected. Every time she's cradled his face and kissed him and said not tonight, Castle, he's seen it coming. Anticipated it.

But then it's Kate. It's Kate, and it's him, and she spent the first four years of their partnership saying no to him. So he expects it. And she expects him to pursue her, want her.

"I'm sorry, Kate. I'm sorry."

She kisses him, tender and fleeting and beautiful, and then she finds his hand and knots their fingers together. She doesn't usually do this, prefers the kiss of their palms, and the clash of their knuckles draws in sharp focus, makes him gasp.

"Don't be. I know your brain. I know that when you get focused on something it's hard for you to let it go. It was the same place you go to when you write."

"But it hurt you."

Kate sighs and brings her knee up to press at his thigh, their bones jostling for space under his quilt. Theirs now, really, since she helped him pick out new sheets last month.

"I was being selfish. I won't deny that it stung, but it's me that should be sorry."

"You? Why?"

Castle feels a shiver run through her and reaches down next to the bed, finds her shirt on the floor. That gorgeous red colour that makes her skin milky and beautiful, like marble. She sits up to tug it on and when she comes back against him she ends up sprawled half on his chest, her arm banded around him.

"I let Vaughn get close enough to kiss me."

It does hurt him that she did. But it's fine. It's okay. He understands why. He thinks maybe she. . .panicked, a little. About them, about him passing up on her once and whether he'd do it again. And even in spite of that, even with a more handsome, sexier, richer version of Castle himself wanting her too, she stayed his. "You pushed him away."

"But even so. I shouldn't have hesitated when he asked if we're serious. I should have told him from the start that you and I were together. For the long haul."

Castle kisses the top of her head, the soft and secret place behind her ear. "It's okay. It doesn't matter. We're here now. On the same page. I'm going to buy a frilly apron tomorrow."

That gets a laugh from her that swirls over his skin, sinks into his pores, and he floods with pride. Vaughn charmed her, yes, but he didn't make her laugh in bed in the middle of the night with no pants on.

"And I'll start packing."

"Yeah?" He breathes it, thick with ever-swelling hope and fragile joy.

Kate lets herself slide off his chest but stays close, her nose pressed to his ribcage. "No. But I will hand over my notice of intent. Not to renew my lease, Rick. I'm not going to run."

"Okay. Yeah. Good. That's good."

She pauses, a moment of stillness that they don't even have to carve for themselves anymore. It just settles over them, like the whispered kindness of an old friend.

"Why'd you laugh at me? When I said that Vaughn wasn't interested in me. You laughed." The question startles them both, Kate shifting to put more space between them.

Castle takes a moment to think, make sure he gets this right. He saw the flash of hurt across her face when he laughed but Captain Gates interrupted before he could do anything about it. When, clearly, he needed to fix it.

"Because that was such a ridiculous thing to say, Kate. That he wasn't interested in you. You're smart. Brilliant, really. In everything, but especially your job. And you're passionate and driven and even Vaughn must have seen that. I don't know how anyone wouldn't."

"Castle-" She hides her face against him but doesn't say anything else, even though he feels her cheeks flaming.

"And you're gorgeous. So absolutely breath-taking. Beautiful and sexy and smoking hot. I know what it feels like to meet you, Kate Beckett. To be blown away by this beautiful, vibrant, intelligent woman. You had me long before I even knew you and I don't blame Vaughn for feeling the same."

Kate shifts in the bed, rising to share his pillow and rest her mouth at his shoulder. Castle turns to face her and his hand falls to the supple curve of her waist, his fingers spanning so much of her.

"He may have done, but it didn't matter. He wasn't you. He wasn't the man I spent four years falling in love with."

Her mouth meets his, something careful and new in it. An exploration, like she wonders if he'll taste different now he knows.

She loves him.

"Say it again?" He tries not to clutch at her, knows she needs room to breathe. But her fingers are curling around his jaw, brushing his cheek, and she's smiling. A cracked open, blissful thing.

"I love you."

Fin.

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Twitter: seilleanmor