760. Chapter 760

After Flowers for Your Grave

Part One

Episode 1.01

By UCSBdad

Disclaimer: I still don't own Castle. Rating: M Time: See above.

Author's note: In my defense, this starts after the first episode.

The day had been perfect. There had been no calls from the precinct for Kate and not a word had been heard from Black Pawn about Rick's final draft of the latest Nikki Heat Book. They had relaxed, made love, relaxed, made love, eaten and made love. Now they were dozing on the bed in the late afternoon with the sun beginning to set over the New York Skyline.

Kate suddenly sat up, gasped , then looked around her with a look of fear in her eyes.

"Kate? Nightmare?" Rick asked.

She nodded.

"Don't worry about it. Nightmares can't hurt you." He pulled her back down beside him and kissed her softly. "You'll be okay."

"I was all alone. I had stupidly lost you and I was all alone and I was miserable. More miserable than I was before I ever met you because I had seen what we might have been like together. But we weren't together."

"You don't have to worry about that. We're together and we'll always be together. Always." He kissed her again.

She shook her head. "I could still lose you. Something could happen when you're following me. Something could happen to me."

He sighed. "Yes, and a giant meteor could wipe out Manhattan, or dinosaurs could travel through time and eat us, or a mad scientist could turn us all into zombies. A lot of things could happen, but that doesn't mean we should obsess about them."

Kate nodded slowly. "You're right. But I wish I had been smarter or braver about us. There were a hundred times I could have told you how I felt about you. A hundred things I could have done differently and we would have gotten together sooner."

"True, but we're together now, so let's think about the positive, okay?"

"I wish I'd told the truth when I saw you in the hospital after I was shot. I wish I had said something when you broke up with Gina. I wish…I'd gone out with you after the Tisdale case. I wish I'd met you before that. I wish you'd have been my first."

"First what?"

Kate rolled her eyes. "My first lover, silly. I wish I'd given my virginity to you."

Rick knew better to laugh, so he very carefully replied. "You were just a teenager, Kate. I'd have ended up in jail." He hastily added, "Not that you wouldn't have been worth it."

"You think so? Well, my dear Mr. Castle, it all depends on the story…..

She could hear his footsteps behind her, fainter now, but still there. Rounding a corner, she saw a man standing outside a restaurant. Beside him was a short hedge that separated the outdoor eating area, now empty, from the sidewalk. She ran to the hedge and leapt over, flattening herself by the hedge. "Don't rat me out." She whispered to the man.

Rick Castle looked down at the girl and then up as he heard footsteps approaching. A burly man ran towards him, looking around. "Where is that bitch? I'll crush her fucking skull when I catch her." He stopped in front of Castle. The man was older with a long grey pony tail. He was wearing a tight tee shirt that said security across the wide chest. His arms lo9oked to be the size of tree trunks. "Did you see a fucking cunt run past here?"

Castle nodded, but he wasn't about to let this goon catch the girl. "Sure. A young brunette. Ran down the alley across the street. I'll bet she's headed for the subway, but it's a good six blocks. You can catch her before then."

Without a word, the man ran off.

Castle heard the girl move. "Stay down. Make sure he doesn't double back."

She waited another minute and then stood up. She was young, slender but quite pretty, dressed in jeans and a tee shirt. She smiled at him. "Thanks."

"Just why was he chasing you?" Castle asked in his best "I'm the dad." voice.

She shrugged. "We were at a Pearl Jam concert and one of my friends dared me to go into Eddie Vedder's trailer and grab his jacket. I was just coming out of the trailer when the security guy saw me." She held up a rather tatty looking jeans jacket as she spoke.

"Do you suppose there's a reward on your head?" Castle said with a smile.

"I'm sure you could get one." She smiled back, then held out her hand. "Help me get over the hedge?"

He took her hand and she jumped, landing against him, snugly against his chest.

"Mr. Castle? We have a table now…." There was a pause while the maître d' took in the situation. "For you and the lady."

"Excellent." Kate said, keeping hold of Rick's hand. "I'm starved."

Luckily, Castle was eating at a restaurant near his home where the paparazzi never came and he was never seen on Page Six. He decided he could buy the young girl a meal and find out more about this jeans jacket thief.

Her name was Kate Beckett and she was finishing up her senior year at Stuyvesant High School and had already been accepted at Stanford as a pre-law student. She was bright, well read and not afraid to speak her mind.

"You're Richard Castle, the writer, aren't you?"

He smiled. "Guilty. Have you read many of my books?"

"Oh, my mom loves your books. She made me read one of them. Something about graves."

"Flowers for Your Grave?" Castle supplied. "I take it you didn't become a huge fan."

Kate nodded. "It was okay." From the tone of her voice, Castle guessed that was her being polite in what she thought of his book.

The dinner was pleasant partly because Rick didn't have to adopt the playboy persona that he would have had in other circumstances. He could relax and be himself for a change.

Once they left the restaurant, Castle told her that he'd get her to a cab to take her home.

"That's okay. I can take the subway."

"The security guard who wanted to crush your skull was headed for the subway. Maybe he's persistent."

"Okay. A cab then."

They hadn't gone more than a block when Kate spoke. "Where to you live from here?"

"Just a block over. Why?"

"I need the bathroom."

"Couldn't you have gone when we were in the restaurant?"

"I didn't have to go then."

Castle sighed. "Okay, but you have to be quiet. My daughter will be asleep by now, but the babysitter will be awake. I don't want to wake Alexis up."

At the loft, Rick paid the babysitter and motioned Kate towards the master bathroom just off his bedroom. When she came out, she surprised Rick by putting her arms around him and kissing him. His mouth had been open to say something and she slid her tongue right into his mouth. She was a very good kisser and her body was firm and warm against him.

Then he thought about it and pulled away. "Kate, you're too young. Please, let me just call you a cab."

"I'm an adult. I'm eighteen." She pulled out the wallet she had in her jeans. "See? Driver's license. School ID. A library card even."

He shook his head. "You're still too young for me."

She shrugged. "Okay. Just let me grab my jacket." She headed for the sofa where she'd dropped the jacket she'd stolen. Then she pulled her tee shirt over her head, revealing she wasn't wearing a bra, toed off her shoes and pushed her jeans and panties down over her slim hips. She walked back to him.

In shock, Castle let her put her arms around his neck and resume kissing him.

"Kate! Put your clothes back on. Right now."

She smiled. "No. If you want me dressed, you'll have to put my clothes on against my will with me kicking and screaming."

"Alexis will hear you!" He hissed.

"Or you could throw me out stark naked. Do you suppose the doorman would notice?" She teased.

As Rick stood there, trying to think of what to do, she slid her hands down the front of his pants and began to arouse him. She pulled him gently into the bedroom and began taking his clothes off.

Castle gave up. There was nothing he could do anyway. As soon as his last article of clothing hit the floor, he pushed Kate down onto the bed. She spread her legs, ready for him to enter her, but he began kissing her instead. Having thoroughly explored her mouth, he began on her boobs, bring her nipples to miniature erections and then working down to her slit. He slid a finger inside her as he began to run his tongue over her clit. He gently bit and nibbled at it until Kate had to bite down on a pillow to keep from screaming and waking Alexis. She had come four times before Castle slid between her thighs and slowly began entering her. When he felt her hymen, he stopped, but Kate was ready for him. Her arms and legs were already wrapped around him and he lifted her ass off of the bed and drove herself onto him. The damage done, Castle proceeded very slowly, bringing her to three more orgasms before finally coming himself.

"You should have told me this was your first time." He said after a few minutes.

"Why?"

"Because your first time should be with someone important. Someone you love."

She kissed him. "You're the perfect person. You're going to be my husband."

"I'm going to be your husband?" He echoed. "What gave you that idea?"

"The Universe demands it. Don't you respect the Universe, Castle?"

"And you know what the Universe wants?"

"Sure. It's magic."

He laughed. "Magic? Come on."

"How do you ever expect to find magic if don't believe in it, Rick?" She snuggled up against him. "Good night, Rick."

Castle shook his head and went to sleep. He hoped he could get Kate out in the morning before Alexis woke up.

"Who are you?" The voice asked.

Kate woke up to see a redheaded toddler staring at her. The bedside clock said it was a bit after 3AM. "I'm Kate. And you're Alexis."

"Why are you here?"

"I'm your new nanny."

"What's a nanny?" The toddler asked.

"I help your daddy take care of you. You're getting to be a big girl now and your daddy needs some help."

Alexis thought that over. "Okay. But I'm thirsty, but I can't reach the faucet."

"Alexis?" Rick said, still half asleep. "What is it?"

"I need a glass of water, but Kate can get it for me."

Rick nodded. "Okay." By the time Rick realized that Kate had gone off with Alexis, they were in the kitchen. He thought about getting out of bed, but that would just lead to more questions from Alexis. In a few minutes, Kate came back and snuggled back up against him.

"What did you tell Alexis?"

"Oh. That I'm your new nanny."

Rick knew he had to get Kate out the door first thing in the morning.

However, first thing in the morning, Kate was making breakfast for them and then began to read with Alexis. Suddenly Alexis asked a question. "Are you going with us to see Gina at Black Pawn?"

"What's Black Pawn and who's Gina?"

Alexis explained as Rick looked on in horror.

"Well, of course I'll go with you to Black Pawn. We can have fun while Gina and your dad work."

Alexis smiled. "You're the best nanny, Kate."

As soon as Gina saw Kate, her mouth set in a grim line and she glared at Rick. "She's a little young for you isn't she?" She said harshly.

"She's Alexis' nanny." Rick explained, knowing it sounded like a terrible lie, which it was.

"Why don't you just pay her off and let her get on with her business."

Kate left Alexis and walked over to Rick and Gina. She spoke in a low voice so Alexis wouldn't hear her. "You should tell her, Rick. I'm his new mistress. And when we leave here, we're going to Nobu's, have lunch, get drunk and fornicate on the table."

"Don't you ever say anything like that." Gina hissed at her. "If a rumor like that got started…." Gina stared at the girl. "I don't want to hear anything like that from you."

"And I don't want to be called a whore. So I don't want to hear that from you again."

Rick pushed his was between the two women. "Gina, Kate Beckett is a graduating senior at Stuyvesant and has been accepted at Stanford as a pre-law student. She's a nanny. Nothing else." He lied.

Gina, who had had her eye on Rick, turned away from Kate and grabbed Rick's arm to take him to her office. But she couldn't shake the feeling that the dynamic in their relationship had just changed and not for the better.

Rick soon found himself with a live in nanny and something more. They lived together for the whole summer until it was time for Kate to go to Stanford.

Kate hated what she had to say, but knew it was something she should say. "Rick, I know you're a man and you have certain needs that I can't satisfy while I'm on the other side of the country." She took a deep breath, but Castle spoke first.

"I have certain needs and I won't have them satisfied while you're at Stanford. So, I got you something that will alleviate that problem." He held up a small plastic card. "It's an airline credit card in your name, but it'll be paid from my account. So, you can fly to New York any time. Or we could meet in San Francisco, or LA, or Hawaii, Cabo San Lucas maybe. Anytime you can get a weekend off. And it seems to me that you have some needs as well, don't you?"

"I do. And you meet them perfectly."

They kissed.

Once Rick and Kate were married at the Stanford Memorial Church, she no longer needed her own airline credit card.

To be continued.