Cute

A little season 4 snippet

Kate Beckett's laughter is a wonder to behold on a normal day, but on a night like this, when her eyes are bright and her cheeks flushed from joy and a drink or two, the melody of her laughter is beyond intoxicating.

Especially because said laughter is directed his way. For him - at him, too - because of him. Because he makes her happy.

Her lips lift again, another peal of laughter spilling out. She makes a halfhearted attempt to contain it, which only makes her laugh harder. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's just… you get so horny, it's cute."

Castle sputters. "I get horny?" he repeats, incredulous. "Wait, you think it's cute?"

She dissolves into giggles again, pitching into him. Without thinking, he lifts a hand to the back of her head, his thumb sliding across her temple.

"Mmm," she murmurs, shifting against his side, leaning closer instead of moving to put distance between them and he releases a slow breath in relief. "You're not very subtle about the fact that it turns you on when I quote sci-fi at you, Castle. You never have been."

"Or when you quote at me in general," he offers. His fingers slip deeper into her hair, pressing gently against her scalp, making slow circles. "Or when you say anything, really. Not to mention when you breathe."

Her eyes flutter closed, her body leaning into his touch. He's saying too much, he knows, putting too much out there into the world when they're not there yet, when there's a wall between them.

"Damn, your standards have really dropped," she quips, licking her lips as her eyelids lift and her gaze meets his again.

He scoffs. "Hardly. If anything they've improved tenfold."

Her cheeks darken at the praise, the insinuation (no, the flat-out confession that she is the reason he seeks something more for himself). "Oh, hush."

Castle grins. "Tell me more about the cute thing. You think I'm cute?" he asks, skirting away from the more serious aspect of this conversation, away from the part that pushes them closer to a precipice he's not sure she's ready to stand at the edge of yet.

Beckett rolls her eyes, looking away. She sits up, retreating from the delicate ministrations of his hands in her hair, reaching for her glass instead. "I never said that."

"Nah uh," he insists, reaching for his drink. "No taking it back, Beckett. You think I'm cute."

She groans, stealing the glass from his hand before it can complete the ascent to his lips and lifting it to her own. He does his best to ignore the thrill that tickles along his spine at the casual intimacy in the gesture. "Not when you make it sound like that."

"Mmm, well in that case, why don't you quote some more sci-fi to me, Beckett. See if I can be even cuter."

Her face brightens with laughter once more before mischief floods her eyes, unabashed and devious. "Sure, Castle. Let's see how cute you can be."

Prompt from Anonymous: I saw a prompt and had to think of you: "you get so horny its cute"

:D Thank you, Anon! It's short, but I hope you like this. I originally posted it on tumblr, but as always I'm trying to be better about putting things here too, so here it is!