14. Chapter 14

Castle tucks Totoro in next to Ellery and kisses her forehead, making sure the straps of her car seat are tight and clicked home. She gives him a big grin and wraps an arm around his neck, as best she can, kissing his cheek.

"Thanks, sweet girl," he murmurs, and kisses her again. He glances over at Dashiell, but the boy is bouncing in his booster seat, using the driver's headrest to launch himself higher and higher.

Castle chooses to ignore that, picking his battles. He shuts Ellery's door and moves around to the back of the SUV. Kate is arranging the groceries they bought, trying to keep things from spilling or melting on the drive back to the condo. She has a system that Castle has never been able to replicate.

She stops and pushes her hair out of her face. "Hey, did you happen to get the kids any veggies?"

He feels proud of himself for remembering. "Yup. Big bag. Frozen."

Kate grins and lifts up on her toes to kiss him. "Good job, Daddy."

"I prefer 'stud' but that works." He wriggles an eyebrow at her and chuckles.

"What about Big Daddy?" she says, sliding her body against his, brushing her fingers along his forearm and down.

He shudders and clutches at her reflexively. "You've gotta stop that."

"What's the matter, Castle? Can't control yourself in a public parking lot? Another charge of indecent exposure-?"

He growls and jerks her closer, snagging her mouth with his, pushing her lips apart with his tongue because he can. Because it makes her breathless, a little wild.

She breaks away, panting, wipes the back of her hand across her mouth, but her eyes are dark and rich. "Let's just. . .get back to the condo."

"You're calling a truce?" he asks, his body still quivering with the need to claim her.

She nods and presses her palm to her cheek, her eyes laughing. "Truce."

"All right. Truce." He regards her warily, but she doesn't make a move. "Want help with these?"

She shakes her head, so he moves around to Dash's side of the car. Now to wrestle the kid into his seat and get out of here before he really does do something indecent.

Castle rides shotgun, fiddling with his iPod. They worked this arrangement out years ago; Kate gets to drive them home, wherever that is, however long it is. Castle can take them out. It just works better than fighting over the keys when he wants to surprise her with something, better than trying to explain to Kate why his manhood depends upon driving his own car every once in awhile.

Sure, she's a better driver. She's been trained to be a better driver. But sometimes, a guy just has to drive.

He glances to the backseat and finds Dash and Ellery with their heads together. Dash is whispering about something with a hand up to hide his mouth; he must have learned that trick in preschool. He's managed to work the seat belt around so that it's slack, letting him maneuver most of his body across the space between the two of them.

"Dash. Seat belt."

Dash shoots him a swift, dark look but slides back over to his side, fixing the seat belt.

Kate changes lanes and glances over at him. "Pick something already. I do *not* want to drive back without music. These people creep along."

"I know, I know. I'm working on it."

"Daddy!"

He turns around. "Yeah, buddy?"

"Ellery wants you to play the 'Contest' song!"

"She does?"

"Yup." Dash is now back on his side of the seat, and Ellery has her head leaning against her car seat. Totoro is still clutched in her hand.

"She tell you that?"

"Yup."

Kate shoots him a look. "What's the 'Contest' song?"

"Play it for her, Daddy! Play Mommy your song." Dashiell bounces in his seat and kicks the back of Kate's. Castle can see her grimace.

"All right. I'll play the song." He slides through his Artists listing until he gets to The White Stripes, presses play at 'Conquest.'

The horns pipe up, the guitar strums giving the beat, and then Jack White sings the long, drawn-out word, his war cry: "Conquest!"

From the back seat, the kids both yell out, "Co-o-on-test!"

Kate bursts into laughter, causing Dashiell and Ellery to giggle with her.

"Mommy, it's your song!"

"My song?" Kate is still breathless with laughter, wiping at her eyes as she drives.

"Yours and Daddy's. He said everybody who is a mommy and daddy have a song."

"Oh, really? Castle. 'Conquest' is our song?"

It's more than halfway over at this point, but Rick grins and turns it up, using his thumb to scan backwards until he gets to the part he likes. "Yeah. Listen."

He listens to the cry of 'Conquest', followed by the lines: 'She with all her female guile led him helpless down the aisle. She had finally made a conquest.'

Kate smacks his shoulder, glaring at him, but has to look back at the road, unable to maintain the death stare. He laughs and turns back to look at the kids.

Dashiell is giggling and Ellery is singing along to the next part, the 'ahhh' that makes up the bridge while the horns play counterpoint.

"'The hunted became the huntress,'" Castle pouts. "It says I used to be the one making conquests, but you hunted me down."

"I did not hunt you down, Castle," she snorts.

"With all your female guile-"

"I didn't lead you down the aisle either," she hisses, narrowing her eyes, but not at him, because she's giving the white car in front of them her interrogation room tactics: stone face and deadly regard.

"True. I had to shove you down the aisle. But I think you still got that female guile working for ya."

She doesn't respond to that, and the song is over now anyway, which means little ears will overhear everything.

He twists to look at his son in the backseat. "What next, Dashiell?"

"Um. . ."

Apparently, the worst of the traffic is over, because Kate smacks Castle again and turns her glare to him. He winces, rubbing his shoulder in mock pain. "That is not one of the guiles I was thinking about."

"How many times have you played our kids The White Stripes, Castle?"

"Our kids. Sounds so hot when you say that-"

"Why is Mommy hot?"

Their eyes meet and Kate's lips quirk, but she leaves him to explain, keeping her mouth shut as if to say Your mess, you clean it up.

"It just means I think that Mommy is pretty," Castle says. "Don't you think Mommy is pretty?"

"Mommy is beautiful."

Castle grins and sees Kate's cheeks flush; her eyes dart to his and whatever irritation was in them before is gone now. Castle knows she's always been a sucker for the words.

"Yeah, Dash. You're right. Mommy is beautiful."

From the backseat, Dash sighs loudly. "Can you do the song with the Muppets?"

"Um. It's Not Easy Being Green?"

"No, Daddy, that one is sad. The Animal one, the muh muh muh. Ellery wants to sing it."

Kate raises an eyebrow. "The what?"

"You'll know it when you hear it." Castle turns back around to Dash. "I can find those for you, buddy; just give me a second."

He selects the Muppets Green album on his iPod and chooses the handful he knows they like, putting them into a quick playlist. He starts it up for the kids and then reaches over to grab Kate's free hand, squeezing it for a moment, then letting it go.

"Dash thinks you're beautiful," he says softly.

She gives him a quick look, full of heat and longing, and his throat closes up.

They're stuck with the Muppets for the rest of the drive.

"Okay, well that took a lot longer than I expected," Kate says, folding the last of the reusable grocery bags into a square and putting it with the others under the sink.

She slept in today, or slept again, but she really could go for a nap. Recovery Day is starting to sound better and better.

"Still wanna take the kids to the B-E-A-C-H?" Castle spells, brushing his hand against her waist.

Jeez. He's always touching her when he's-

Kate chokes that thought down and glances to the microwave clock. "Yeah. I do, actually. Neither of them have seen the ocean recently. I doubt Dashiell remembers it from our last trip to the Hamptons."

His fingers stroke her side; her breath catches on a wave of desire.

He moves his hand away. "Yeah, probably not. Okay, well, let's find the kids-"

She grabs him by the forearm. "Hold on. Are they both in Dash's room?"

"Yeah."

She bites her lower lip and hesitates. He is just so. . .touchy feely when he's into her. When he's thinking about it, when he wants it. And she can't survive all that touching for another couple hours of beach bathing and swimming and burying everyone in the sand. And with her in a swimsuit, she's not sure Castle can survive either.

"Kate?"

"We are keeping score, right?"

His eyebrows shoot up. "Seriously?"

"It'll have to be quick."

"I can do quick."

"I know you can," she smirks. "And with your hands all over me while we put the food up, I can too."

"Ah, jeez, Kate-" He tilts his head back and his fists clench at his sides.

Delicious.

She glances down the hall. The groceries *are* all put away, but it took like twenty minutes and the kids might be bored if they're just playing in the room. "Check and see if the kids are watching tv."

He lowers his gaze to hers, intense and untamed. Her heart pounds; she feels less in control of this than she meant to.

"If they're not-"

"Then turn it on, Castle," she says, rolling her eyes at him. But her palms are damp and her chest tight with the way he watches her. Shit. How does he do this to her?

"And then?"

He's only asking because he wants her to say it. He wants to hear her say it. So she says it. "And then meet me in our room. For number four."

"Are you seriously-"

She grabs his forearms to lift up to his mouth, pushing past his lips to the heat inside. His hand is at her waist and pressing her against his thigh, her legs part and her lips as well, gasping.

No fair what he does to her. So she slides her hand up under his shirt, brushes her fingers along his ribs. He breaks the kiss to suck in a deep breath, his body liquid and shivering against hers. She smiles and pushes him away.

"TV, Castle."

"Yeah, yeah," he murmurs, backing away, his eyes on hers. "Are you-"

She strips her shirt off her head and gives him a look.

He swallows. "Yeah. Okay. I believe you now."

Kate grins at his retreating form and heads towards their room.

Okay, four *and* five. But damn, she can't resist the way he wraps his fingers around her wrist and pulls her back against him, his whole body hard and dangerous and intent on having her.

Shit. She's gotta get it together or they'll never make it to the beach.

Rather, both the kids will come pounding on the door, yelling through the crack: "Mommy, Daddy, why is the door locked?" Like last month at the loft after-

Jeez.

"Okay, Castle-" she mutters. "Up. Off."

"Too good. I can't move," he groans, limp and heavy and sexy as hell on top of her. She wriggles to try to get free, but he groans and clamps both hands on her hips, his breath hot against her chest. She can feel his heart start pounding again.

"No. Not-uh. Castle-"

"Stop wriggling around then, Kate. Damn, you're killing me."

She shivers, some of her arousal slipping away at that phrase. His hands gentle, recognizing his mistake, slide beneath her back to curl around her shoulders. His head lifts from her chest and he raises up on his forearms over her.

She shivers again, this time from the sudden lack of his heat, brushes her fingers down his back. "I'm okay."

He doesn't move, just watches her for a moment. "I'm alive," he says gently. "Kids are fine."

"I'm okay," she says again. "Just. . .hit me wrong."

"We're both alive, Kate."

She nods and chews on the inside of her lip. A stupid bout of post-traumatic stress would definitely kill the mood. "We're both alive," she repeats and lifts her head to kiss him softly.

"I'm not going anywhere."

"You better go," she whispers back, then uses her teeth to tug his lower lip. "We both better go. The kids have been watching tv for an hour."

"I know. We're terrible parents, aren't we?"

"Speak for yourself. Five times in one day makes me way less harsh to my kids," she grins, darting in to kiss the side of his nose, then the scar angling just above his eyebrow. Faint, from childhood. Nothing sinister.

"You still want me back at the 12th?"

She drops her head back to the pillow and blows out a breath. Damn him for emotionally ambushing her like that. Asking that right after she had that little, tiny, insignificant flashback.

"I really want you, Castle," she says throatily, letting her lashes fall, letting her mouth, her rising and falling chest do all the convincing. If he's going to remind her of how dangerous the work is, remind her of how easily she could lose him, then she's going to seduce the hell out of him.

He closes his eyes and drops his forehead to her sternum, breathing hard. "I asked for that, didn't I?"

"Yeah, stud, you did," she grins, keeping her voice low, seductive.

"You just want me back so you can shove me into a storage closet and have your way with me, Detective."

"There's that too," she murmurs, quirking her lips at him.

"Kate," he says softly.

He's going to make her talk about this. "I miss you. What else can I say?"

"We talked about this before. The kids-"

"Are fine. It's three days a week. Can't I have you three days a week?" She didn't mean for so much neediness to come out in her voice. She closes her eyes and sighs, feels the feather-soft brush of his lips against the pulse in her neck. Part apology, part acceptance.

She owes him a better explanation, but she doesn't have one. She just misses him. Sometimes at the 12th, sitting at her desk doing a computer database search, she'll feel his eyes on her and glance over to where he should be sitting, but there's nothing. She'll be in the interrogation room and hear his voice making some cheesy one-liner. She'll be at a crime scene and glance past the uniforms thinking she sees him at the police barricade, trying to get in.

Sometimes, she would swear she's being haunted by him.

She'll have to call or text him, make certain he's alive and not a ghost, just in case. If there's one man who could reject all the laws of nature and physics and religion, it's Castle. He *would* haunt her.

She chalks it up to missing him.

Well. That. That and the gang leader who kidnapped her six months ago, held her in a warehouse on his turf for an hour, told her he had killed her husband and her two children, played her recordings on his phone of their terrified sobbing-

She swallows and wraps her arms around him, pulls Castle back against her, just for a few minutes longer.

Yeah. Could be that too.