Capítulo 91: 91. Chapter 91
"See?" she hisses at him. "This is why I don't tell you stuff."
"But. Kate. You might retire?"
"I don't know, Castle," she growls and pushes him away as she cleans up the last of the breakfast dishes. The kids are supposedly getting bathing suits on with their older sister's help - and brother? Is that what they'll be calling Rafe? Not uncle. That seems strange.
Rick grabs a dish towel and starts drying, stacking things away in cabinets, moving around her effortlessly. She can still hear his gears turning though.
"You might retire. I mean-"
"Castle. Holy shit, if you do not shut up-"
"Okay, okay. But it's just. This is big time stuff here."
"I know that. Believe me, I know." She bumps into his hip to knock him away from the sink so she can dump the dish scrubber behind the faucet. "But you just nag and nag at it. I don't want have a day-long conversation about this. I want to let it lie, Rick. Just let it percolate for a little bit and see what happens when we get home. Can you do that?"
She watches him study her, as if trying to figure out how serious she is, and evidently he gets it, finally, because he nods. "Yeah. Okay. I can - keep it to myself."
She sighs. "Thank you."
He opens his arms and takes a hug from her, keeping his arms loose at her back, for which she's grateful. The scratches were bleeding after her shower and she hopes another day on the beach doesn't scrape off more of the scabs.
"Okay, Castle," she mutters, patting his chest. "Gotta get the kids ready."
"Allie is doing that," he says back, his lips somewhere near the crown of her head. "You can give me a minute."
She closes her eyes, slides her fingers under his shirt, not to tease but just to touch his warm skin. She feels like the last few days have been a rush of one thing after another - really since Dashiell fell and busted his head open - and this has been the first time she can just stand here and soak him up, her wonderful husband.
"I can give you five," she murmurs finally. "I think I need this too."
"Hm, I knew it," he says softly. His mouth brushes the skin beside her eye. "You have little wrinkles here. I never saw those before."
"You do too," she says, tilting her head up to look at him. "From smiling. You have a sexy smile." She slides a hand out from under his shirt, up his chest, to the crow's feet radiating away from his eyes. Even now as he grins down at her.
"Oh yeah?"
"Mm, first thing I noticed about you."
"First thing ever?"
"Uh-huh."
"I figured it was the five o'clock shadow. You stared at my jaw quite a lot that first meeting."
What? She blinks and then realizes where they're missing each other here. "Oh, baby, that's cute. You have no idea."
He stares down at her, some of that smirky grin falling off his face. "What? No idea about what?"
"Castle." The stupidest pet names pop in her head and nearly come out of her mouth: darling, love, honey. Why now, exactly? It just takes her five years to figure out how comfortable she is with him? Five years to feel this tender when she looks at him, adorable and cute and hers?
"Come on. I know you were watching my mouth during most of that interview/interrogation, Beckett."
"Ohh, back to Beckett?"
"Ah. Well. I know the fastest way to get you to confess too, don't I?"
True. Damn. "I was - rather distracted by that scruffy look you had going. Yes."
"See? I knew it. I'm never wrong about these things."
She lifts on her toes and nibbles at his chin, but he's shaved this morning after his shower. Too bad. "You're not wrong about that. But, Castle. The first thing I noticed about you was your smile - and that was long before I brought you in for questioning."
His startled look of surprise makes her laugh, the feeling warm and delicious and enveloping her.
"Oh. The book's dust jacket. I - I forgot about that."
"Actually," she drawls, drawing out the anticipation, the release of her last secret. She's not even sure why she's never told him this, but Castle has never pushed for more. "That's not what I meant."
He sighs. "You're a tease. Tell me already."
She lifts back up on tiptoe to press her mouth to his again, relishing the moment. His kiss is petulant, if it can be, and he teases with his tongue, pulls back before she gets what she wants. So Kate slides back down his chest and cradles his face in her hands, really looks at him.
The crow's feet on either side of his eyes are more pronounced, he's got grey coming in at his temples - handsome and distinguished - while that one eye crinkles tighter than the other one. His cheeks are smooth, his chin prominent; he's been running and weight-lifting for the last few years and it's made his face narrower. His biceps are massive, really, much thicker than she remembered, startling her in how strong he looks. Tasty.
"Kate," he huffs. "Quit ogling me and just spit it out."
"Sorry," she laughs and leans forward to kiss his bicep, nip at the muscle rippling under her mouth. He's a damn fine man, that's for sure. "I'm being too mysterious for you, huh?"
"Ye-es," he whines, dispelling some of that ruggedly handsome image he had going.
"Okay, baby," she grins. "The first time I met you wasn't that day I pulled you in for questioning. The first time you smiled at me like I was important and - and delicious, like you wanted to eat me up-" She sighs and feels her smile growing wider. "-mm, wasn't when I confronted you at your book party."
His mouth has dropped open. He blinked. "Shut the front door."
She laughs at that, delighted, stupidly delighted by how much she loves surprising him. Good surprise.
"When? When, Kate? Tell me-"
"It was June. 2001. A book-signing."
"Shut. The. Front. Door."
Kate bounces on her toes to reach his mouth, kiss that startled, lovely, overjoyed look from his face, taste it. God, she loves him. She's so very lucky. He's saved her life. Over and over.
"How - how have you kept this a secret from me for so long?" he gasps, kissing her back sloppily and putting her away to look at her.
"I'm just that good. More onion-"
"Oh, no. No no. Onion? You are - so much more than that."
He crowds her back, pushing her towards somewhere - oh, the couch. She laughs at him and stumbles back, lets him guide her down. Such excitement.
"Okay. Tell me the whole story. I can't believe this. It's like my birthday or something."
She laughs again and slides closer to him, wants to straddle his hips and hook her arms around his neck but she's not so sure that Allie and Rafe would appreciate that when they come back out after changing the kids into swimsuits.
"Ka-ate, come on. Tell me."
"Okay, I am. Trying to think of where to start."
He actually wriggles in the couch, his hands all over her, grabbing her waist, hooking under her knee, tugging her closer. He just loves to touch when he's happy, so brimming with it that it requires passing on.
"When I was . . . hmm . . . only a few months after Mom died, I think, I found one of your novels in with a stack of library books under her bed."
"Oh," he says quietly, blinks at her. "I - I never - it never occurred to me that you might have things like that to do - returning library books, returning mail-"
"-canceling meetings," she adds, biting her lip and glancing at him. It doesn't look like she's crushed his spirit, which is a relief. This isn't about her season of grief. "In June, we got a reminder for her dentist's appointment and it was like - oh, all over again. Losing her. And then a few months later, an old friend of hers from law school came to our door. She was looking for Mom, wanted to reconnect because she just got a job in the city, and - and it was-"
"Your mom's old job," he whispers.
She nods, gives him a tight smile. "But I'm getting off track. I found her library books. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't give them back, not just then."
"I can imagine."
And he can imagine, which is one of the things she loves about this man. The way he sees things so clearly sometimes.
"So I read them. Every one. I wanted to know the stories she had checked out, taken the time to pour over. It's possible that she didn't get a chance to read all of them, but she had read yours."
"Your mom read my book," he breathes, mouth dropping open. "Which book?"
She grins again, slowly, letting him see. "One Bullet, One Heart."
He sighs, winces a little. "Ah. That one. I wish your mom could have read the Nikki Heat books. Those are so much better."
Kate laughs, bows her head to his shoulder. "Oh, Castle."
He stiffens. "Oh damn. Sorry. I just realized what I said."
"No, no. That was - that was great." She lifts her chin, turns to kiss his neck before she pulls back. "They are better. But that one has a special place in my heart, Rick. Because she introduced me to your work with that book."
"Oh. Wow." His eyes are so pale, almost grey as he stares at her.
"I found her bookmark at the end of it. I still have it-"
"Oh!" He sits up, gripping her wrist. "I know that bookmark. It's laminated, right? With a picture of you at about ten, like a school photo-"
"That's the one. It was a Mother's Day gift I made in fifth grade. I wrote her a poem-"
"It's on the back. I've read it," he admits, grinning at her. "It's cute."
"It's . . . something."
"That bookmark was at the end of my book, huh?"
She nods. "Back to my story. There was something about the main character in that one - the psychologist who thinks maybe her patient is killing women - it just hit me. It sounded like my mom. It felt like my mom, like you knew her."
"Like I knew her," he repeats, and a smile spreads across his face. He reaches out and tangles his hand in her hair, rubbing the ends between his thumb and finger. She cups his hand between hers and presses it to her chest.
"So when I went back to the library and returned those books, I found your novels on the shelf."
"Yeah?"
She grins. "Yeah."
"Which one did you read next?"
"Mm, Hail of Bullets, of course."
He laughs and his finger extends, brushes against her collarbone. "You're gorgeous."
"You say that because I'm feeding your ego."
"And because you're gorgeous."
She grins. "Mm-kay. Well, that's how I got into you-"
"Oh-ho, I think-"
"Hush," she scolds, narrowing her eyes at him but still so filled up with how happy he is, how even after five years and more, almost nine really, she can find ways to surprise him, make him so delighted. It's the same as when she teaches Dashiell something new and he gets it.
Oh, she loves these Castle boys.
"I'll be good. Tell me more. You got into me, mmm, and then what?"
She rolls her eyes and laces her fingers through his, kisses his knuckles. "You know I read all the time."
"I may have noticed that."
"Took you long enough to believe it-"
"Okay, so sometimes your hotness and bad-ass-ness - is that a word? - it did make me forget how literary you are."
"Hm."
"Now go on. You read. I got it."
"Back then, though, I abandoned all the literary stuff. I wanted to do that in school, major in literature, some kind of literature, but it was too much, it seemed pointless and meaningless. But crime fiction made sense. By the time I'd read through half of your novels, I was certain I wanted to be a homicide detective."
She gives up and slides a leg over his thighs, leans in to rest her head on his shoulder. She's not sad, not at all actually. She remembers the feeling of being called to the NYPD, the sense of purpose and grim determination. Not that it was destiny, but that it was what was required of her. Her life would be the NYPD; she had no other plan.
"Do you still feel like that, Kate?"
She lifts a finger and strokes it down his neck. "I think I've slowly let go of that."
"You don't need it anymore?"
"I need - I need more now."
His palm rubs her shoulder. "Okay, go back to me."
She laughs, rubs her nose into his neck and sits up again. "It was your books, reading those mysteries, that gave me the first clue that I could do this. Be a detective. It was a connection to my mother as well."
"Fast forward to June. 2001."
"Yes," she says, smirking at him. "In June, I found out that you were going to sign books at Strand Bookstore."
"Oh, I remember that."
"Oh?"
"Just because it was seriously a huge coup for my publicist at the time. What was her name? Ah, Glenda, Brenda, something. Brenda, I think."
"Oh," she grins, feels some kind of pride that she was there, as if she played some part in it. "I went to your book signing. Um, actually, Will told me about it."
"Will? Oh, Sorenson. Cool."
"I stood in line. I had to duck out of work for it."
"You took a day off to stand in my line?"
She can hear the grin in his voice. "I did. In line for four hours, Castle. Jeez. You were already crazy popular."
"Yeah, I was. So. What happened? I have so many questions, Kate."
"I know you do." She grins and kisses him quickly. "I spent the whole time trying to figure out exactly what I would say to make you notice me, to stand out from the hundreds of others."
"Uh-"
"No, no. Listen. About two people from the front of the line, I might have freaked out a little. Instead of getting you to sign the new book, I pulled out the one I first read."
"One Bullet, One Heart," he says.
"Yes. I stepped up to the desk and you smiled, just like that-"
"Just like this?"
She studies him, shakes her head. "Okay, well, no. A little less love in your eyes then. A lot more lust."
"Oh, my mistake. If I only had known."
"It's all good - I quite enjoyed being lusted after. You still had a sexy smile; your whole face lighted up. It made the four hours worth it. You did have a couple of good lines. You said you hoped I solved my mystery."
"I did not," he gasps, tilting his head back against the couch. "How corny."
"Yeah, but, not to me," she says quietly, nudging his memory.
He lifts his head, stares at her. "Oh wow. Talk about a sign from the universe. You must have - you - did you think-? What did you think?"
"I held on to that encouragement for years, Rick. The idea that someone out there - you - that you hoped I could do it. You solved your mysteries; I tried to solve mine."
His hands cradle her face and he moves in to kiss her, so softly, a touch of his reverence and joy meeting her skin. "Oh, love."
She breathes out against him, sighing. "And then I met you."
"How disappointed you must have been," he laughs.
"Um. A small amount, at first. Maybe."
"I was an ass."
"You were - a celebrity? And I was awestruck, but you quickly brought me back down to earth, so I appreciated that."
He laughs against her mouth, kisses her again. He grins into it, filling his chest with a deep breath, smelling her skin.
She pulls back slightly, lifts her eyes to his, then down to his mouth. "There it is again. That beautiful smile."
Rick stares at her, and she can't help it. She slides into his lap and wraps herself around him, closing her eyes, her face in his neck. He puts both arms around her, tightly, kisses her jaw where he can reach.
"Mom?"
"Damn," Castle sighs.
She laughs and shifts off of him, shaking her head at Allie as she stands. "You guys are too fast. Did you get Ellery and Dash-"
"Yeah, we're all ready to go. You're not in your suit?"
"Um. I got distracted," Kate admits.
Allie glances over her shoulder at Rafe; Kate sees the look that passes between them, like they know all about that. Castle stands up behind her and nudges her towards the bedroom.
"We'll get sunscreen on while you get ready."
"What about you?" she frowns.
He pats his shorts. "These are my swim trunks. I put 'em on before I came out for breakfast."
"Ooh, Daddy is smart, isn't he?" Allie laughs, bending over to pick up Ellery as the girl whines at her feet. "We need to put some sun block on you, baby girl."
Kate pauses in the threshold of their room, glances over at Castle. He waves her off, already grabbing the plastic bag from the kitchen counter that holds their various sunscreens. She hesitates, then comes back to where her family is gathered, getting ready for another day at the beach.
Castle glances at her in surprise, opens his mouth to question her.
She wraps her arms around his neck and presses her mouth against his, parting his lips with her tongue, doing what she wants to that smile of his, ravishing him, just as she wanted to that day she met him at the book store, and just as she wanted to that day she walked away from him, determined not to be his conquest.
How little she knew. How much he's given her now - both of them conquered, more than conquerors.
"I love you, Rick. I love you."
Estado de energía semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Piedra de
Poder