Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.

AN: Had to get it out of my brain so I could sleep.

He catches her in the doorway of her bedroom, hands wrapping around her waist. Pulling her up against his chest, he leans down, puts his lips next to her ear.

"You know what would help you forget?"

She laughs, light and lilting, and his heart lifts, knits itself back together. "A very large glass of wine?"

"Well, I'm sure that would be a start but I was thinking more along the lines of -" He trails off, drags his tongue along the sharp line of her jaw, hands slipping down to toy with the hem of her nightshirt.

"Castle," she huffs, her head rolling, giving him more access to the soft skin of her neck. The clean taste of her soap coats his tongue and he moans, lips and teeth working at the bulging tendon. "Castle, you can't fix this with your mouth."

"That's where you're wrong, Beckett," he murmurs, fingers slipping under her shirt, skimming over the warm skin of her thigh. "I can most definitely fix this with my mouth. I do have some making up to do, remember."

She turns to face him and his hands slide to her ass, a grin tugging at his lips when he finds her bare. "You really think that is the way to make this up to me? That an orgasm or two will make me forget what it was like to walk in and see some bikini wearing newscaster sprawled all over my boyfriend?"

The smile he was trying to suppress explodes. His cheeks actually ache with the ferocity of his joy.

"What the hell are you grinning at?"

"You just called me your boyfriend."

She splutters, mouth gaping. "No - No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did." He spreads his hands wide on her ass, yanks her hips into him. "You said, and I quote, 'You really think that is the way to make this up to me? That an orgasm or two will make me forget what it was like to walk in and see some bikini wearing newscaster sprawled all over my boyfriend?'. See." He dips his head, nips at the corner of her mouth. "You totally called me your boyfriend."

"Shut up."

"Nope. You can't take it back now. I'm your boyfriend."

"Castle." She leans back from him, her eyes suddenly serious. "This isn't a joke."

The smile fades and he brings his hands up to her face, cradles her cheeks in his palms. "I know."

"Do you? Because the past two days -"

"I know, Kate. And I'm sorry. But we're both still figuring this out." He dips his knees, seeking out her evasive eyes. "You do know that I was never going to sleep with her, right?"

The silence stretches between them and he watches her wage some sort of internal battle, her bottom lip tucked tightly between her teeth.

"Kate."

She looks up at him, eyes shining suspiciously.

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

The laughter explodes out of her, ringing off the stone walls of her bedroom. Her palm connects with his chest and he rocks back dramatically, feigns injury.

"Don't be an ass, Castle."

"You like it when I'm an ass, though. Makes you feel superior."

"Keep telling yourself that."

She pulls out of his arms and he lets her go, watching as she makes her way over to her bed and pulls back the covers. His eyes rake over her backside as she bends over the bed, tossing the piles of decorative pillows on the floor.

"You just gonna stand there all night?" There's laughter in her voice and he grins, slides out of his shoes and jacket at once.

"You inviting me to stay?" His fingers are on his belt before his shirt hits the ground.

"Since when do you need an invitation?"

Castle steps out of his pants and boxers as she straightens, slips his arms around her waist. His fingers move toward the buttons on her thin cotton shirt and she sighs, leaning back against him as he flicks them slowly open, slides the shirt down her arms. "I'll have you know," he mumbles, mouth dragging along her exposed shoulder, "I waited four years for an invitation to this bed, Beckett." She gasps when his thumbs brush over her nipples, her back arching, pushing herself into his touch. "I am a gentleman, after all."

"You're something all right."

"You like it."

"I tolerate it," she pants, her hips shifting against his thighs.

"This is tolerance, Beckett?" He pinches her nipple, rolls it between his thumb and index finger. She moans, his name caught somewhere in the crush of shapeless vowels. "I'd hate to see full blown acceptance."

With a nip to her neck, Castle wraps his hands around her ribs and twists her, pushing her down on the edge of the bed. She watches him with hooded eyes as he sinks down to his knees in front of her, the deep pile of her throw rug cushioning his legs on the hardwood floor. Leaning forward, he plants an open mouthed kiss to the hollow of her throat, drags his lips and tongue slowly down between the valley of her breasts. His hands roam her thighs as his mouth explores her breasts, his eyes open and locked to hers. Her fingers thread through his hair and she smiles softly, acceptance and gratitude filling her face.

Slowly, he moves down, quests over the the slope of her stomach, nips at the sharp jut of her hip. Kate leans back and braces her hands on the bed, her legs falling open in front of him. He looks up at her again and grins, fingers flirting with the gentle curve of her ankles. With great deliberation, he lifts her right leg and hooks it over his shoulder, her heel bouncing lightly on his spine. He repeats the process with her left, never breaking eye contact.

"You," he whispers, planting a hot kiss to her inner thigh, "are the only woman I want anywhere near my face, Kate."

He leans in and drags his tongue over her, moaning as the dark, rich flavor of her arousal bursts on his tongue. Her hips buck up into his touch and he reaches up, pressing a palm to the flat of her stomach. She groans out his name and threads one hand through his hair, her head lolling back bonelessly as she rides his mouth.

"Castle," she pants. "Fuck. More. Please."

He speeds his ministrations, works her over with his tongue and teeth and lips, the fingers of his free hand caressing her thigh as it quivers next to his ear. The hand on her stomach slips up to cup her breast, his fingers rolling her nipple in time with the flick and dip of his tongue. Her hips lift off the bed when he sucks her clit into the cup of his tongue and rolls, his nose brushing hard against her pubic bone. He can taste the first wave of her orgasm at it hits his lips and he groans, his hips flexing into thin air.

The fist in his hair tightens and he slows, gently reels her back in. Kate grips his ear and pulls, her legs slipping off his shoulders as he rises. She kisses him deeply, her lips and tongue cleaning the evidence of her arousal from his face. Wincing, he pushes up off the floor as she scoots back on the bed, lips still connected. Her hands grip his hips as he crawls over her, pulling him down between her waiting thighs with insistence.

"Wait." He pulls back, stares down into her face.

"What?"

Her eyes are glazed with lust and something he hopes might be love and he can't help but smile at her, his mouth still full of the lingering proof of her need.

"You never answered my question."

She stares at him blankly, her legs lifting to hook over his hips.

"Do I need to write it down? Slip you a note in the precinct with little yes or no boxes you can check?"

Kate barks out a laugh and he collapses down onto her, twitches his hips. She groans and shifts, her back arching as he slips against her.

"You gotta answer, Kate. I don't go all the way without commitment. I'm not that kind of guy."

She giggles, her lips pulled wide in a smile, the wrinkles around her eyes deepening. "Yes, Castle, I'll be your girlfriend."

"Thank god," he groans, sliding into her, "I was so very worried about the status of my virtue."