Mr. and Mrs. Castle

Rick got the blaze going in the fireplace while Kate, in a scrap of shimmering silk, lit the candles. "Com'ere," Rick called, "you're shivering." Kate leaned into the warmth of his chest as he ran his hands up and down her arms, in front of the dancing flames.

"I didn't feel cold at all when I was dancing with you, but the wind off the ocean cut right through the lace of my top as soon as it started to get dark," Kate confided.

"Well you looked perfect, goosebumps and all. Of course you look perfect in anything - or better still, nothing - but that would have been really chilly," Rick teased, snuggling her. "Nice, it's getting warm in here."

"Mmmm," Kate agreed, "Still, it would be even warmer in bed.

Rick turned to pull down the puffy down comforter, sweeping Kate up in his arms. He laid her against the sheet and covered her again, before slipping in beside her. "Better?" he asked, pulling her close.

"Um," Kate sighed, nestling into the curve of his body. As the warmth emanating from his body suffused hers, she felt his heat, hard and eager against her. She turned to him, her fingertips tantalizing the source. "Something on your mind, Mr. Castle?" she asked.

Rick gasped. "Mrs. Castle, I think you put your finger on it."

"You want to talk about it?" Kate asked, fluttering her eyelashes.

"I have a better idea,"Rick whispered huskily, covering her mouth with his. They kissed hard, tongues thrusting and dueling for space. Rick reached for her breasts, his questing fingers making one, then the other, long for the touch of his lips, a need he was more than willing to grant.

Kate moved restlessly against him, pressing the center of her desire against his. She craved more, so much more. "Castle!"

"Tell me what you want," Rick urged.

"You," she panted, "just you." She opened to him, loving hands guiding him to the root of her longing. Her breath caught as he filled her. Wrapping her legs around his back, she drew him further toward the source of her urgency. Moving together in a rhythm born of perfect synchronicity, Kate plunged her fingers into his hair, their mouths meeting again in desperate collision.

Rick pulled her above him, their lips never parting, his hands finding the secret places that cried out for his touch. Head thrown back in abandon, she rode hard, bringing him even deeper within. The release was building, first ripples, then waves, rising to a pounding tsunami. They clung, letting the raging tide sweep through them, until spent, Kate collapsed in Rick's arms.

Slowly the power to move and breathe returned. Kate rolled to Rick's side as slumber found them both.

Kate awoke at midnight, awash in the shadows from flickering candles and firelight. The rumbling of her stomach drove her to sit on the side of the bed, clearing her head enough to rise. "Don't get up, stay in bed," Rick muttered sleepily.

"I'm hungry," Kate complained. "Those last minute hors d'oeuvres didn't go very far. We put the wedding together so fast I don't think any of us had much time for lunch or dinner."

Rick sat up and stroked her hair. "It was worth it."

Kate turned and ran a finger down his jaw, darkening where stubble was beginning to form. "Yes, it was, but now I'm going to raid the kitchen." As the family had returned to the city to give them privacy, Kate was not too concerned with covering up, pulling on a short silky robe. Rick slowly emerged from the warm nest, pulling on shorts and a black t-shirt. "Do you know how phenomenal your arms look in those shirts?" Kate asked.

Rick laughed. "Feel free to tell me anytime."

Kate rummaged around in the refrigerator. "Mother said she told the housekeeper to stock up," Rick recalled. "I hope she did."

"She got lots of fresh fruit anyway," Kate reported. "There are some cold cuts and yogurt too, although I think it's the kind Martha uses for her masks. But we should be fine."

Rick cut apples into wedges and flavored the yogurt to make a simple dip. "See," he announced proudly, "happy meals."

"Castle, are you going to make me a clown face too?" Kate laughed.

Rick pushed the bed-mussed hair back from her temple. "Whatever my wife desires."

Kate ran one fingertip over the skin in the vee of his shirt. "I think I could use some meat."

"Um, maybe we should go back..." Rick stammered.

Mirth glowed in Kate's eyes. "I meant the sliced roast beef. We can make sandwiches."

Rick winced a little before joining in her laughter. "Sounds good," he agreed. "I'm going to use these magnificent arms to open a bottle of red wine, the stuff that makes you all..."

Kate reached beneath his shorts. "You do that."

Rick drew a deep unsteady breath to grab a bottle. Raising a glass over the last of their improvised meal, Rick asked: "What shall we drink to?"

Thoughts whirled through Kate's head. Despite everything that happened, they had made the decision to get on with their lives. Whatever happened next, they would deal with it together. "To Mr. and Mrs. Castle, finally and always."

Holding each others' gaze, they sipped, then put down their glasses in perfect unison. Kate extended a hand to Rick as she had on that very first night and led him back to their room. He laid her gently on the bed. Unable to take his eyes from hers, he lowered himself above her. Supporting his weight on his arms, he tasted the heady mix of wine and musk as their mouths met. Kate's arms pulled him down, the press of his body firing every nerve. Desire flooded her veins as she arched upward, driving her need against his.

Rick's voice came low and deep in his throat. "Kate."

She pulled at the infuriating fabric between them, the flames licking through her body melding with his in an ever expanding blaze. Their bodies joined as one in the midst of the inferno, rolling and grappling in a tangle of sheets. Rick's mouth was everywhere, driving Kate to moan in near madness. The explosion built, sweeping through them. They clung tightly to each other despite the barrage of shudders that followed, until still inseparable, they were claimed by slumber.

The sun shone brightly above the chill air, finding its way through the windows of the beach house to tickle the eyelids of the sleeping couple. Rick's lush lashes rose first and he surveyed the woman held securely in his arms. An errant silky strand from her now wild locks tickled his nose and he shook his head to dodge it. Kate's eyes, green in the early light, opened slowly, meeting Rick's loving gaze. "Good morning Mrs, Castle," Rick whispered, for the first time.

Just starting.