A/N: If you've already read my story 'Lazy' then skip straight to Chapter 2 - I've included Lazy as Chapter 1 of this now multi-chapter fic.

If you haven't read it yet, then I hope you enjoy this and the coming chapters?

Disclaimer: In awe but not in ownership of all things Castle.

Chapter 1 - Lazy & Languid

With the curtains drawn, the only light in the room is from the fire. The only obvious sound is the crackling of the newly added logs but despite this, as she stands in front of the large fireplace in her Dad's cabin, Kate Beckett's senses are overwhelmed. It's her first time back since she recovered here after her shooting and when they arrived she was overwhelmed by memories; the fear, the physical pain and the loneliness of that devastating time over a year ago. These memories then gave way to sadness; for lost loved ones and for the pain she caused the people she loves. She still struggles with the shame of pushing them away; her Dad, her friends and in particular, the man she has bought with her this visit.

Kate wanted to bring Castle to her Dad's cabin to share with him what had always been one of her favourite places in the world, and she hoped would be again, if she could create some new memories here, with him.

Now, in the familiar living area she can smell smoke, burning timber and him. She can hear the fire, along with the soft regular breathing of the man behind her and the loud roar of her own blood rushing in her ears. She can see the golden glow the fire casts around the room. She can feel the heat of the flames at her front and him at her back, his warm breath against her neck. She can taste the wine they've been drinking and she can almost taste him. She so wants to taste him and she turns then, meets his gaze. She steps forward, puts her arms around him and with their eyes still locked she leans in to kiss him. It's a soft kiss, slow and lingering but desire still flares.

When they separate they look at each other with passion-darkened eyes and Richard Castle takes a shuddering inhale. God he wants her and he knows she wants him but coming here isn't about a dirty weekend away; it's about healing and her sharing something with him that, until she was shot, had always been a place of safety, peace and happiness.

"I thought you bought me here to show me around, make me fall in love with this place, not to have your wicked way with me." Castle whispers against her hair as he enfolds her in his embrace. "I want to love it as much as you used to and I want you to fall back in love with it."

"I did bring you here for that and also to create some new memories, with you." Kate says as she presses herself against him and whispers huskily in his ear. "So right now I want to create a memory of you and me naked in front of this fire, lazy and slow enough to take all afternoon.

"Sounds like you've put some thought into this," Castle rasps and hopes he can take this as slow and lazy as she wants it because her words and just her proximity have him pretty worked up already.

"It's been on my to-do list for a while," she whispers against the side of his neck. "Since before we…"

"You've fantasised about us here in front of this fire, on this rug?" Castle interrupts without a trace of the smugness Kate imagined would accompany this revelation. "Before we were together?"

"Uh, huh. Pour me some more wine and I'll tell you how it goes," she says and steps away from him because if she stays pressed against him, against the obvious evidence of his enthusiasm for her fantasy, she won't be able to take things slowly.

Castle obliges and as he hands back her glass of wine he takes in the sight before him; a pink-cheeked, aroused Kate Beckett smiling seductively at him and about to share her sex-on-a-bearskin-rug fantasy. Have mercy, he whispers under his breath as he touches his glass to hers.

"To creating happy memories."

"To creating happy memories," she repeats and steps towards him again, planting a wet kiss at the base of his throat and eliciting a soft moan from deep in his chest.

Castle takes her glass from her then and places them both on the hearth before taking her face in his hands and kissing her slowly. Kate responds immediately, opening her mouth to invite him in and their tongues meld in a now familiar duel.

They kiss like that, leisurely and patiently, allowing their mouths and hands to wander over their still fully clothed bodies, savouring every touch, every sigh and every moan.

"Thought you were going to tell me your fantasy," Castle says as he plants tiny kisses down the front of her chest.

"I am telling you. I'm just not using my words," she says with a soft moan as he runs his tongue over her still lace and cotton-covered breast.

"Am I allowed to undress you in this fantasy?"

"Only if you want to," she says as he kisses his way back to her mouth and begins unbuttoning the frustratingly tiny and numerous buttons on the front of her blouse.

"Oh I want to, and I'm going to do it so slowly, piece by piece and I'm going to kiss every new part of you I uncover," he says in a low whisper and as he finally releases the last button of her blouse he trails his tongue between her breasts. His thumbs stroke firmly over each nipple and he adds, "Warm, wet and slow Kate, everywhere. Be careful what you wish for because it'll be delicious torment."

Kate's breath hitches and she feels a sudden rush of heat, to her face and directly to her core. She wants him and she wants him now because this is already better than her most detailed fantasy, but the slow and probably torturous seduction he just described promises to be worth waiting for, so she takes a deep steadying breath and gives herself over to the languid pace being set by the man whose hands are currently removing her bra and who is tugging her nipples gently between his teeth.

Castle is loving this. He'd always assumed that their first time together would be initiated by him and would involve slow, passionate seduction and even though the reality of their first time had blown his mind, he was now getting to play out a little bit of one of his own fantasies. He shares this with her as he laves more attention on each breast, eliciting intermittent moans and gasps from Kate, some obviously uttered in pleasure, others in frustration but all of them serve to stoke the embers of their passion.

When Kate feels warm fingers at the button of her jeans her eyes drift closed and when said fingers lower the zipper and slip slowly past the open fly she whimpers into his mouth. She knows what his large talented fingers are capable of and her hips press against his hand of their own accord.

"You know what I'm about to do don't you?" Castle breathes against her mouth and she hums her answer as their kiss deepens again. "Do you want me to touch you Kate?"

"Yes," she hisses as his fingers slip inside her underwear and find her warm wet heat.

"Is this what you want? Or do you want more?"

"More." Kate answers in a voice she barely recognises as her own. It's low and pleading and with anyone else she'd have been mortified by the neediness of her tone, but right now she just wants him to know what he's doing to her and that she definitely wants more.

Castle slowly slides a finger deep inside her and the wet warmth of her makes his own breathing hitch. Their lust-darkened gazes meet again and Castle can't take his eyes off her.

"I want to see every expression on your face and watch you when you come," he whispers and observes her reaction to his words and to the slow sure slide of another finger inside her. Her eyes slam shut, her head drifts forward to rest on his shoulder and her hands clutch at his back.

"Oh God," she croaks and wonders how much longer her legs will support her. She wraps her arms around his neck for support and rocks her hips rhythmically in time with the movement of his hand until she feels a familiar tightening.

Castle feels it too and he clutches tighter at the hair on the back of her head, gently guiding her head back so he can watch her. As his fingers move in and out of her, pushing her closer to the edge he huffs out a "Look at me Kate," and as her eyes bore onto his he feels her shudder and watches as her lips part and her head lolls back into his palm. She tightens and shudders again and when she stills he lowers his mouth to hers and swallows the whimper she makes as he removes his hand.

Kate's breathing is ragged, her heart is almost thumping out of her chest and her limbs feel heavy but after only a minute she regains enough fine motor coordination to grab Castle by his belt and pull him against her.

"You just hijacked my fantasy," she whispers into the hollow of his throat as she lazily circles the skin there with her tongue and expertly unbuckles his belt.

"Are you complaining," he asks as he lets his head drop back a little to give her tongue and teeth better access to his throat because what she's doing there is driving him just a little crazy, in a very good way.

"No, but that's not the point."

"Then what is the point? Because watching you like that rates as one of the sexiest things I've ever seen." Castle asks, his voice husky as he tries to touch her again but she catches his hand before he can make contact.

"Na. Ah. My turn," Kate says as she manoeuvres away from his warm seeking digits and with slightly trembling fingers begins unbuttoning his shirt. Each button released precedes a soft wet kiss against his chest until they are all undone and his shirt falls in a puddle at their feet.

They are still standing by the fire, naked only from the waist up and Kate intends to prolong the task of disrobing him completely. She's discovered she loves undressing him and more often than not it has been with frantic haste, but right now she wants to torture them both a little so as she slowly kisses her way down his abdomen she unzips his pants, making sure to accidentally brush her fingers against his obvious arousal in the process. She feels him shudder and it makes her smile.

With her mouth in the vicinity of his navel he can't help but feel the upturn of her lips against his skin and he knows she's determined to drive him crazy. He sucks in a sharp breath as she settles onto raised knees and slides his pants down his legs. The sight of her like that, especially given the very recent memory of her on her knees in his shower when she literally bought him to his knees, is enough to make purposeful movement difficult and she has to tap each foot to get him to step out of his pants. When she tugs at the waistband of his boxers with her teeth his eyes slam shut and when her mouth closes over him he huffs out an expletive. She's working warm wet magic on him and it's excruciating in the best way possible, but he's confident that he has less than thirty seconds before lazy and languid becomes over and out, so he gently grasps her hair and tugs her away from him before dropping to his knees to face her.

"You can't seriously expect this to last all afternoon if you do that for more than about a minute," he says in response to the unanswered question he sees in her eyes. "Last time I almost passed out, remember?"

"I thought that was because the shower was too hot," she smirks.

"Oh no, we both know it was all you," he teases. He doesn't want to think about how or on whom she developed that particular talent but she had certainly perfected the art.

He's startled from his musing by the sound of her voice, and what she admits floors him a little. "Not something I do often or ever truly enjoyed doing, except with you. With you I kinda like it."

She looks down then, suddenly a little embarrassed by her own honesty but he uses his finger to tilt her chin up so their eyes meet. "God I love you," he whispers and crashes his mouth down on hers.

They kiss hot and fast for several minutes before Castle slows the pace again and begins to slide her jeans down her hips. Before she can stop him his hand finds its way inside her underwear again and his fingers are making soft slow circles around her clit and it's sweet torture. Kate shamelessly presses herself against his hand and mimics that rhythm with her own tongue as she slides it into his mouth.

"Take the rest of my clothes off Castle," she whispers against his chest as she runs her tongue over what she has discovered are his surprisingly sensitive nipples.

"No argument from me," he says with a lopsided grin and gently lowers her to the rug. She watches him, kneeling above her in all his naked and aroused glory as he slides her jeans and underwear down her legs and tugs them free of her feet before he kisses his way up the inside of one leg from her ankle to her thigh. His pace is excruciatingly slow and by the time he reaches the most sensitive skin at the top of her thigh, she's panting and clutching at the rug.

She can feel his warm breath against her now and she desperately wants the feel of his mouth on her, but he's in no hurry. In fact, when she opens her eyes and lets out a frustrated whimper she finds him watching her. The sight of him looking up at her from between her own legs with predatory ink-blue eyes is almost more than she can stand and she can't control the subtle buck of her hips.

Castle laces his fingers with hers, effectively stilling her hands as he whispers against her, "Anticipation is half the pleasure, Kate."

But before she can respond he lowers his mouth to where she so desperately wants it and she moans loudly. The firm swipe of his flattened tongue alternates with gentle circles and soft suction and she's soaring within a minute. She'd intended to push him away once she got close, pull him to her, into her but she couldn't have stopped that tsunami of sensation if her life depended on it.

He slides up her body then, knowing that she's hypersensitive and needs a moment before she's ready to be touched again and settles his hips between hers, his considerable arousal pressed between their bellies. He gently runs his tongue across her bottom lip and she responds by kissing him deeply and stroking her hands firmly up and down his back. When he feels her hands insistently gripping his butt he shifts so that he's pressed against her and moves a tiny way into her. They lock eyes again then, both eager to witness what the other is feeling and when Castle sees nothing but love and want in her passion-darkened eyes, he slowly thrusts all the way inside her.

Kate's back arches and she takes in a short sharp breath at the pleasant shock of the movement. It doesn't matter how aroused or how desperate she is, sometimes the size of him still takes her by surprise and this particular reaction is almost involuntary. The first time she reacted like that he thought he'd hurt her and was devastated but now he knows it's a positive reaction, one that excites him as well as eliciting the tiniest glimmer of masculine pride.

They start moving together at the same slow, almost lazy pace and it feels amazing. Even these gentle movements, combined with the heat from the fire, produce a sheen of perspiration over their bodies and they only break eye contact to plant soft kisses on damp, salty skin.

Castle elevates his torso on straight arms so he can see as much of her as possible, and his toes, knees and palms are the only parts of his body in contact with the rug. He watches her face as he moves in and out of her with excruciating slowness and he can feel the warm tightness of her around him. He stills as she wraps her legs high around his waist, the movement shifting her pelvis to allow him to sink deeper and they moan simultaneously. She smiles a lust-filled smile then and runs all ten of her fingernails down his chest and it takes every bit of his willpower not to quicken the pace and speed them towards the finale.

Kate's focus has narrowed to nothing else but the fire beside her, the rug underneath her and the man moving with deliberate slowness inside her. She can feel every glorious inch of him but even with her legs around his waist she wants more. He's so good at reading her and, one arm at a time, he moves his hands back towards his own body, behind her thighs so her knees can drape over his shoulders and her lower legs can drift down the length of his back.

Their eyes meet and he silently asks for permission before he starts moving again, which she answers with a gentle rock of her hips. He relishes every expression that crosses her face and the added intimacy this position and their unwavering eye contact creates. He commits to memory every sound she makes and the movement that elicits it, he whispers how good she feels, how much he loves her and sooner than they both expected, she's tightening around him and shuddering to an intensely powerful orgasm. She moans his name as the waves of it wash over her and when her legs slip from his shoulders, he lowers himself to his elbows and begins moving again.

Kate thought that after holding himself in check for so long, he would now set an entirely different rhythm, but he keeps his gaze on her face and continues his slow firm thrusting and she watches in delighted fascination as his skin flushes and his jaw clenches at the exact moment his whole body goes rigid. She can feel the ripple of his back muscles under her hands and when she feels him release inside her, she clutches him closer and whispers words of love as a ragged groan escapes his lips and he presses his mouth to hers with a final shudder.

They are both boneless, sated puddles and a considerable amount of time passes before either of them moves a muscle.

"The sun is about to go down," Kate says quietly as she props herself up on her elbows. "Wanna watch it with me?"

He nods as he watches her stand and drag an enormous quilt off the couch. The sight of her in the firelight, flushed, naked and satisfied stirs certain parts of his body into action before his limbs, but eventually he manages to stand. He quickly registers her intention to venture onto the veranda for the best view and takes the quilt from her. She grabs their wine glasses from beside the fire and once outside she nestles her back against his chest as he wraps the quilt around them both and settles his chin on the top of her head. They watch in silence as the sun slips below the horizon in magnificent technicolour, the only sounds being the insects and their own soft contented sighs.

Castle is first to break the silence and he turns Kate to face him as he speaks. "I'm not sure if that's what you had in mind for the new memories you wanted to create but I'm pretty certain I'm not going to forget today in a hurry."

"Ditto." Kate replies as she snuggles into him, revelling in the feeling of his arms tightening around her. Arms that she is now sure would've made her feel safe, supported and cherished a year ago if only she'd been brave enough to let him in. She pushes those thoughts from her mind as she hears him whisper softly...

"I love you, Kate."

"Ditto," she says again.