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2014-07-02
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The Wedding Garter

Summary:

At Ryan and Jenny's wedding, Beckett catches the bouquet and Castle catches the garter. The silly tradition of what they must do next proves to be just the right catalyst for them.

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The ceremony was beautiful; everything about it had been absolutely perfect and magical. From the moment that Ryan had spotted his wife-to-be walking down the aisle towards him, he hadn’t taken his eyes off her since. The same was to be said for Jenny who had yet to part with her new husband for more than two seconds.

Castle and Kate had sat together throughout the wedding, bodies brushing close together as both the enormous Ryan and O’Malley clans crammed into the large pews in the church. It wasn’t uncomfortable—on the contrary, both detective and writer found themselves having to fight off the urge to reach over just a few inches and lace their fingers together. Finally, it was time for the reception to begin.

“Wow, that was a long wedding!” Castle exclaimed as they walked into the large hall adorned with numerous tables where several guests were already sitting.

“Gee, Castle, what’d you expect? It was a traditional Irish Catholic wedding; it certainly wasn’t gonna be short,” she retorted while they searched the room for their seats. Upon finding their name cards at the unofficial singles’ table, Castle swapped them for two different cards at another table. The pair sat down in their new seats and simply watched in silence as the rest of the guests filed into the hall and found their places. Jenny and Ryan were due to arrive at any minute and Castle was getting antsy.

“Castle, would you stop fidgeting?” Kate scolded.

“I’m sorry, but when are they gonna get here? I’m starving and they won’t serve the food until they get here,” he complained.

“Yeah because they shouldn’t wait for the bride and groom to arrive before feeding you,” she muttered sarcastically.

“Exactly. Now you’re understanding my point,” he told her.

Kate opened her mouth to utter a remark when the DJ made the announcement that the bride and groom were about to make their entrance. Her attention was drawn to the giant double doors that suddenly opened to reveal a beaming Kevin and Jenny Ryan. Unable to contain herself the badass detective grinned and cheered along with everyone else as the pair made their way to the head table at the opposite end of hall.

It was but five minutes later when the wait staff had dinner served and Castle was finally able to dig into the steak he’d requested. Kate had chosen the chicken parmesan in lieu of the steak, her reason being she didn’t want to chance dropping a slab of meat on her lap. Pasta was much easier to manage.

After dinner, there were toasts made by the maid of honor and the best man, who only fumbled a couple times—much to Esposito’s displeasure (he could’ve done way better than Jenny’s half-brother) When the toasts were all said and done, dessert came: a thick piece of strawberry cheesecake that had Kate humming with delight while Castle made an attempt to not stare as her lips wrapped around her fork every time she would take a bite.

Then of course, after everyone had stuffed their bellies full of food, the real fun began: dancing. First, however, Ryan and Jenny needed to share their first dance as a married couple. As Ryan led his new wife onto the massive dance floor when their song began, others stood around the outer edge to get a better view.

Castle chanced a glance down at Kate, who had yet to leave his side that night, and saw a proud smile on her face. Ryan was one of her boys and it made her feel like a proud mother to watch him so happy with his wife.

Feeling his gaze upon her, Kate looked up at him and quirked an eyebrow in question. He merely shrugged, shot her a smile, and turned his attention on the newlyweds. Following suit, she looked back the dancing couple and briefly allowed herself to imagine that it was her and Castle in the middle of that dance floor, all eyes upon them as they swayed to the music, the lights from all around catching on their shiny, new wedding bands. Before she realized what she was doing, she leaned her body into Castle’s and gently rested her head on his shoulder. If he was surprised, he didn’t show it.

To say that he was shocked would be putting it mildly. He didn’t know what was going on with Kate and the sudden affection she was showing, but he knew that he didn’t want it to stop. Maybe it was the atmosphere they were in; maybe she just really enjoyed weddings—really enjoyed them apparently—but he didn’t care. He figured it’d be interesting to see this kind of Kate tonight.

Castle was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of whistles and cheers. The music had ended and Ryan dipped his bride down for a long kiss that riled up the crowd. When the groom pulled back, he grinned while Jenny’s face turned red as she blushed.

Jenny’s father walked over to his new son-in-law and clapped him on the shoulder as Ryan handed over his wife’s hand to him for the traditional father-daughter dance. Castle thought it was sweet and couldn’t stop himself from imagining him and Alexis doing this at her wedding. As soon as the thought was formed, he grimaced in displeasure.

Noticing his sudden change in mood, Kate asked, “What’s wrong, Castle?”

“Nothing,” he shook his head. When she looked at him disbelievingly, he sighed and gave in. “Fine, I was just thinking of dancing with Alexis at her wedding and it made me unhappy. I don’t want to think about my little girl growing up like that.”

Kate looked at him sympathetically. “It might not help, but you know that no matter what she’ll always be your little girl, right?”

“I know. Doesn’t mean I want her getting married just yet, though.”

She nudged him with her shoulder. “You should really cheer up, Castle, you know why?”

“Why?”

“Because number one: the father-daughter dance is over so you can get rid of all the thoughts of Alexis growing up too fast. Number two…” she bit her lip and raised her eyebrow as the DJ started an upbeat, fast-paced song that instantly had people moving to the dance floor.

Castle swallowed at the look she was giving him. “Number two…?”

“Reason number two: now, you get to dance with me.” And with that, she grabbed his hand led him into the middle of the swaying bodies. He didn’t know if he was going to survive this night. When she turned around and began moving her hips with his, he knew for a fact that he definitely wasn’t going to survive tonight.

His hands went to her waist, helping to guide her movements as he crushed his chest to her back. 'This isn’t a club,' he had to constantly remind himself. 'Keep it PG.' Suddenly, her ass bumped against his crotch once, then twice before she put a couple inches of distance between their hips. 'Okay, maybe PG-13,' he reconsidered.

By the time they left the dance floor nearly a half hour later, they were sweating, panting, and in desperate need of something to drink. They headed over to the open bar (what’s an Irish wedding without one), Kate allowing Castle to order for them both, knowing that whatever he chose would be fine.

As she took a sip of her drink, delighting in the feel of the liquid sliding down her parched throat, she saw Lanie making her way over to where they were standing, an odd look on her face.

“Hey, Lanie, what’s—” she began to say before her best friend grabbed her wrist and towed her away.

“We’ll be right back, Castle,” the ME called behind her. When they were a good distance away from prying ears, Lanie turned to her and said, “Alright, girl, spill. What’s up with you and Castle tonight?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Don’t give me that,” Lanie told her sternly. “I saw you and him dancing together—if you can even call what you guys were doing ‘dancing’. Hell, everyone saw it. I thought you two were about to just start going at it right then and there.”

Kate shook her head at her friend’s exaggerations. “You’re being ridiculous, Lanie. There’s nothing going on between Castle and me.”

“Yet,” her friend fired back at her. “Keep doing what you guys are doing and you’ll be in his bed before the reception’s over.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she denied. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have my date to get back to.” Ignoring the slip of tongue, she turned and made her way back to Castle. She just wanted to enjoy the frivolity and magic of the night. Tonight was about letting go and having fun and by God, that’s what she was planning to do.

As she was walking away, she heard Lanie say, “Mmhmm, don’t say I didn’t warn you, Kate.”

A little while later, it was time for the cutting of the cake. All the guests formed a semi-circle around Ryan and Jenny as they carefully took hold of the knife together. Once they had a slice of cake on a small plate, they each broke off a piece and held it out for the other to eat. Ryan’s piece landed perfectly in Jenny’s mouth, but the bride, however, had different plans.

Just before he wrapped his lips around the cake, Jenny playfully smashed the pastry all over his mouth, chin, and nose, smearing the icing while giggling. Castle let out a huge laugh, along with many others, when he saw his friend decorated in cake. Ryan got over the initial shock and instantly started laughing. Swiping some icing off his face, he wrapped an arm around Jenny to hold her still and rubbed it all over her cheeks and mouth as she writhed to get away.

The photographer they’d hired to take pictures throughout the entire wedding and reception snapped several shots of the newlyweds having their fun. That would definitely be a memory to share with their future kids.

The giant cake was then wheeled back into the kitchen so that the staff back there could slice it for all the guests. Ryan and Jenny were handed small towels to clean themselves off with, Ryan needing to use a corner of Jenny’s as well as his considering he had the most amount of dessert on him.

“Alright, all you single ladies,” the DJ announced through the microphone. “Make your way to the center of the dance floor; it’s time for the lovely bride to throw the bouquet!”

Castle lightly shoved Kate in the direction the other women were going in. “You’re single and as far as I know, you’re a lady, so you qualify to try to catch the bouquet.”

Standing on the outer rim of the cluster of women, Beckett watched as Jenny was aided in standing on a chair, her back to them. Ryan and Esposito kept her steady on the chair so she wouldn’t fall.

“Ready?” Jenny called out. “1…2…3!” She let the bouquet fly behind her, not realizing she had tossed it directly at an amused detective. Instinctively, Kate’s hands shot out to grab the flying thing from mid-air before it smacked her in the face, not recognizing the fact that she had just caught the bouquet until a moment later.

Castle’s laughter was the most distinguishable noise. She glared at him, ignoring the applause from the other guests and the disappointed or jealous looks from the other women who’d had hopes of catching the bundle of flowers.

The ladies dispersed while Ryan and Espo helped Jenny to step down from the chair. She sat down on it as her husband knelt before her, his hands making their way up under the large skirt of her dress to find the garter around her right thigh.

All the guests hooted and hollered as Ryan ventured farther up, a blush adorning his cheeks when he heard his best friend yell, “Yeah, get it, Ryan! Don’t let those fingers slip, though!” Jenny had a hand covering her mouth in a vain attempt to hide the blossoming grin and to smother her giggles as Ryan finally hooked his fingers into the elastic garter and pulled it down her leg. When he stood up, arm raised high, garter held triumphantly in his hand, a loud cheer descended upon the crowd.

Kate just smiled and shook her head at the boisterous men who were cheering the loudest.

“Alright, all you eager bachelors, get on the dance floor and let’s see who’s gonna be the lucky man to catch that garter!” the DJ announced.

When Kate pushed him onto the dance floor, Castle turned to give her a look.

“What?” she asked with false innocence. “You’re eager, you’re a bachelor, so you qualify to try to catch the garter.”

“Tossing my own words back in my face,” the writer sighed. “I guess I have no choice then.” He joined the ranks of single men, waiting for the groom to do his thing.

Ryan, instead of turning away from them, faced the men and closed his eyes. Hooking one thumb in the garter, he pulled the other end back like a rubber band and let it loose, the elastic shooting it several feet away from him.

How he did it, Castle would never know. Somehow, amidst the shoving hoard of men, the garter managed to land directly in his open palm. He clenched a fist around it to keep someone else from taking it and held it up in victory, stepping out of the crowd.

As soon as Kate saw that it was indeed Castle that had caught the garter, she exhaled in relief. To be honest, she hadn’t wanted any other man out there but him to catch it and have to fulfill that one particular tradition with her.

The chair that Jenny had vacated was now calling her name as she was led to it, Castle already standing beside it. When she sat down, Kate chanced a glance at Lanie, who was by Esposito, and saw her friend about to burst with excitement. Esposito was just smirking and laughing.

Kate refocused her attention on her partner, who was now kneeling before her, the garter in one hand. She couldn’t believe she was actually about to let him do this in front of all these people.

With a hint of a smile of his face, he reached for the ankle of her right leg and held it in his left hand. With his right one alone, he worked the garter over her foot until it fell rested at the bottom of her calf. Never breaking eye contact with her, Castle placed her ankle on his broad shoulder so that both of his hands would be free to move the small scrap of fabric up the rest of her leg.

Kate’s breath hitched when Castle placed his hands underneath the elastic, his palms flat on the skin on both sides of her leg. He let the garter hook into the webbing between his thumbs and index fingers.

She was pretty sure that the fabric wasn’t even touching her skin anymore. All she could feel were the rough calluses on the writer’s palms as they slid ever so slowly up her calf.

When he passed her knee and hit the bottom of her dress a couple inches later, he raised an eyebrow at her. She responded in kind, a teasing smile playing at the corners of her lips. Becoming bolder, Castle scooted closer to the chair so that Kate’s knee was resting on his shoulder, her calf coming in contact with his back as she bent her leg. Finally, he glided his hands under her dress.

Anything and everything disappeared. It was just the two of them in their own world. Their locked gazes conveyed so much between them that shouldn’t remain unspoken, but most likely would for a little while yet. Resting his head on the knee that was draped over his shoulder, he moved his hands even farther up still, going well past the mid-to-lower thigh region that was traditional for the wedding garter to lay.

Making sure that her dress didn’t bunch up higher, Castle let his hands come to a halt at the top of her thigh, his long fingers accidentally brushing against….

Castle’s eyes widened and his eyebrows rose a fraction of an inch. He saw her lightly bite her bottom lip and smirk. Removing his hands from under the elastic garter, he took them out from beneath her dress. His head lifted from its resting place on her knee as he grabbed her leg and set her foot down on the ground so that it was no longer over his shoulder.

Suddenly, the bubble they had been in popped and a rush of noise greeted his ears. All the guests—the men, especially—were whistling and shouting their approval rather loudly. From the sound of it, the noise had existed the entire time the pair had been lost to everyone but each other.

Kate appeared startled by the noise, her eye contact with Castle now broken. The writer cleared his throat and stood up, offering a hand to her to help her up, which she gratefully took. She threaded her arm through his, not completely trusting her legs to hold her up as they were shaking slightly from when Castle touched….

The two of them posed for a few pictures both with and without the bride and groom, but then Kate needed to clear her head. It was too cold to go outside, the frigid January weather making it hard to be out there in two jackets, three scarves, a hat, and two pairs of gloves, much less a dress that only came down to just above her knees. So naturally—like any other girl—she settled for the bathroom, checking the stalls to make sure it was empty before she locked the door. Placing her hands on the edge of the granite sink countertop, she stared at her reflection in the mirror, embarrassed by what she saw.

Her cheeks were flushed red—from the embarrassment of what just happened or from how turned on by it she was, she didn’t know. Her eyes had desire and arousal shooting out of them. Her lips were parted, small pants coming out from between them. She had loved the feel of his hands on her; how they had ventured up her leg. He had made a silly and goofy wedding tradition feel like an intimate dance between just the two of them. And she couldn’t lie: it turned her the fuck on.

A soft knock on the door kicked her back into reality.

“Beckett?” Of course it was him. “Beckett, I know you’re in there. Can I come in?” He waited a moment before he heard what sounded like the lock on the door turn. Turning the handle, he pushed it open, stepped inside and then quickly fastened the lock again.

She was staring at him from her position by the sinks, her eyes daring him—challenging him, even— to come closer.

“Are we gonna talk about what happened out there?” he asked her.

She shrugged. “There’s nothing to talk about. We were just fulfilling a stupid tradition.”

“The hell we were,” he replied. “Something happened while we were in the middle of that floor with everyone watching us. At first it was just a fun game, but then—” he stopped abruptly.

“Then…?” she dared him to continue, her eyebrow raised defiantly at him.

Something in him snapped. He stalked over to her and pinned her to the counter with his body. His hand snaked under her dress to cup her as he whispered lasciviously in her ear, “Then I felt your lack of panties and exactly just how wet you were.”

She gasped when he ran his fingers through her, letting one dip into her, but only so far as the first knuckle.

His tongue came out to lick the shell of her ear before he sucked her earlobe into his mouth. Releasing it, he told her, “Tell me you don’t want this.” He pulled back and stared into her eyes. “Tell me that you don’t want this and I’ll just walk out of here and we will never speak of this again.” His eyes pleaded with her to do the exact opposite of what his words were telling her….So that’s exactly what she did.

“No, Castle,” she whispered. “I want this. I want you.”

Before she had time to comprehend what was happening, his mouth was on her and his tongue was down her throat. He had long since taken off his tuxedo jacket, claiming it to be too hot and stiff, so her fingers clutched at his shirt as if she would be able to somehow rip the fabric off of him.

He trailed kisses down the side of her neck, searing fire burning into her skin as his tongue slips out to cool it down. Her hand wound in his hair, keeping his lips firmly attached. The hand that had been under her dress, pulled away and cupped her bottom along with his other one. He hoisted her up onto the counter, his mouth never leaving her skin. She was sure that he was about to brand her with a very dark mark, but she suddenly couldn’t find it in herself to care at the moment. His fingers grope around the back of her dress, searching for the zipper.

“No time,” she breathes into his ear. “Just leave it.” This wasn’t going to be slow or sensual—there would be time for that later. No, this was going to fast and frenzied, raw and passionate. Kate just new that she needed Castle in her soon.

Not for the first time in his life, Castle loved the fact that skirts and dresses existed. The open bottom was so much easier to get around than pants or jeans. He knew that Kate wanted him to hurry, but he couldn’t help himself: he needed to taste her.

When he dropped to his knees, Kate understood exactly what he was about to do. Pulling up the hem of her dress until it was bunched around her waist, she scooted to the edge of the counter.

Castle was mesmerized. This was his first time seeing her…intimate bits and he was certain that he never wanted to stop. Leaning his head in, he inhaled her, the scent of arousal seeping into his every pore. After a moment, he gives in to his greatest temptation and runs his tongue through her, her flavor exploding on each of his taste buds.

Immediately, her hand tangles in his short, dark hair once more as she looks to see his head bobbing up and down between her legs. His mouth was everywhere. One second it was attached to her clit, sucking and flicking, and then the next, his tongue was probing at her entrance, teasing her relentlessly.

“Fuck, Castle!” she moaned. “More!”

Bringing his hand up, he sank two long, thick fingers deep within her, satisfying her need, but only temporarily. Crooking his fingers with every thrust, he continually and purposefully brushed up against that spot that sent jolts of electricity humming throughout her body. How he found it so quickly, she didn’t know. All of her previous lovers had tried—and failed—to locate it, but it was like Castle had already studied a map of her body long before this night came.

The minute she felt his lips wrap hotly around her clit once more, she came. Her back arched as the hand wrapped in Castle’s hair tugged almost painfully. Her hips bucked, essentially riding the rest of her orgasm out on his face, not that he really minded.

His eyes traveled up, observing his partner break and shatter before him. This was a wild and erotic side of Kate Beckett that he had only thought he would ever see in his dreams. To have her here, thrashing and writhing before him, was nothing short of a miracle.

Her chest heaved as the last wave of pleasure shot through her. Standing, Castle unzipped and unbuttoned his pants, pushing them down his legs and letting them fall to his ankles. Shuffling forward, he aligned his erection with her and was about to push in when he felt another hand wrap tightly around him. Groaning, he realized that Kate had reached down in between them to stroke him.

“Kate,” he whined.

“It’s only fair,” she teased. “After all, you got to touch me.”

“The difference being: if I come now, then this’ll be over now. You can have multiple orgasms.”

She raised her eyebrow. “You think you can make me come more than once?”

Brushing her hand off him, he grabbed her hips and said, “I know I can make you come more than once,” before he swiftly plunged into her.

Fuck she’s tight. And hot. And so, so wet. He can feel her pulsing around him, the remnants of her last orgasm still buzzing through her and shit, he’s not going to last long at all! Pulling out, he slammed back in, jolting her body. His hips continued to move, slapping against her wet skin over and over again.

When Kate moaned for him to go faster, he did, rocking into her repeatedly, shocking breathy little moans from her throat. Her head was tilted back, her eyes closed, seemingly enjoying the ride he was giving her. Her exposed neck was looking just too delectable for him to resist so he leaned forward and attached his mouth to her skin, licking, sucking, biting.

One of his hands came up to cover her breast, kneading it and pinching her nipple through the fabric of her dress. Kate couldn’t even tell that there was clothing on her. His fingers shot flames directly to her breast, making the fabric feel like it had vanished into thin air.

His strokes were getting sloppy and frantic. She knew that he was on the verge of coming, but so was she. And she just needed a little extra push to throw her over the edge.

“Castle, harder,” she gasped into his ear, her breath coming in short, hot pants.

He obliged, digging into the reserves of his stamina and jerking his hips harder, pounding into her so loudly that he thought the rest of the guests at the reception would be able to hear the sounds of their joining.

His mouth retracted from its spot on her neck and he briefly recognized the fact that a large bruise was beginning to form in that very spot. She could kill him for it later. Moving his hand from her breast down her stomach and to her center, he rapidly circled her clit with his fingertips. He’d be damned if he wasn’t going to get her to come again before he did.

“Come for me, Kate,” he grunted. “Come for me now!”

The added stimulation was just enough to cause her to shatter around him, her inner muscles clenching as he continued to pump into her, seeking his own white-hot, blinding pleasure. It was mere moments after his partner came, that he finally jerked into her for the last time, his seed spurting out and coating her walls.

Castle laid his face in the crook of her neck, his breath heating her sweaty skin even more. Their chests heaved together, trying to fill their lungs with much needed oxygen. It was a couple minutes until Castle felt like he could try moving without falling over.

Slipping out of her, he pulled his pants up and redid them with only slightly shaking hands. As he did this, Kate slowly hopped down from the counter and disappeared into one of the stalls, cleaning herself up. When she reemerged, Castle was once again looking at least somewhat presentable. She, on the other hand, looked completely and thoroughly fucked.

Her hair was tussled, her lips were red and swollen. She had two nice-sized purple bruises on either side of her neck, both very visible and she had nothing to cover them up with. Her skin was still tinged pink and her pupils had turned her eyes nearly entirely black. It wouldn’t take a genius to figure out what she had been up to and it certainly wouldn’t take long for others to realize that Castle had been the one she’d been with. He wasn’t even trying to contain his staring.

Going to the sink, Kate turned on the faucet to wash her hands and to fix herself up some more. Castle was soon at her back, his mouth to her ear as he asked, “So why weren’t you wearing any panties?”

She snorted. “Really, Castle? After what we just did, that’s what you choose to focus on?”

He shrugged. “Well, I figure we probably wouldn’t have done this right now if you hadn’t made the conscious decision to go commando tonight.”
“Fair enough,” she conceded. Then she said, “A dress this tight doesn’t allow for much underneath and I didn’t want any panty lines. It’s bad enough you can see the shape of my bra.”

Castle’s hands slid up her front to cover her breasts. “I don’t think I mind that too much.”

She shook her head. “Of course you don’t, Castle.” Finished washing her hands, she reached for the stack of paper towels sitting by the faucet and dries her hands. Reaching up, she runs her fingers through her hair in an attempt to neaten the mussed locks. Then, she placed her hands over Castle’s that were still holding her chest, and held them in hers, turning in place to look the writer in the eye.

“Where do we go from here, Kate?” he asked her. “ ‘Cause I don’t think I can forget about this.”

“Me neither,” she admitted. “How about we take it one day at a time?” She bit her lip and glanced down at the floor. “I’m still not at that point that I wanna be at yet, Castle. That wall that I was talking about—it’s still there and I’m afraid that if we go too fast then I’ll mess this up.”

“Then we’ll go slow.” He placed a finger beneath her chin and forced her to look at him. “There’s no rush, Kate. I’ve waited four years for this and I’m not about to give it up so easily—especially not when it’s so close to my grasp. I’ll wait years for you if I have to.”

“Well, hopefully it won’t have to be that long. Maybe, with you around like this…maybe that wall will come down faster.” There was a spark of hope in her eyes.

“Well, there’s only one way to find out,” he told her. “You’re stuck with me now.”

Kate rolled her eyes. “Like I wasn’t stuck with you before.” Moving out of his grasp, he touched the side of her neck. “I can’t believe you gave me a hickey—no! Two hickeys. We still have to go out and face Lanie and Espo and Ryan and Jenny and everyone else here!”

“Well, how about this: I go in, grab my jacket and your purse, and then we slip out and head back to my place and—” he wiggled his eyebrows at her, “—continue these new and recent activities there?”

She smirked at him. “Isn’t my place closer?” Walking to the bathroom door, she unlocked it and opened it, turning back to find him standing frozen in place. “You coming, Castle? I still need my purse.”

“Yep, I’m coming.” He leapt into action, bravely walking back through the grand double doors of the reception hall while she stayed by the bathroom. He ran back to her within the minute.

“Run, Lanie’s chasing after me!” he said quickly, grabbing a hold of her arm and dragging her behind him.

“Why is she chasing you?”

“She must have some weird sixth sex sense. The instant she saw me, she knew what we’d done and then she was trying to grill me. That’s your area of friendship with her, not mine!” he explained.

They realized that they would have to part for the drive over to her house as they had taken separate cars to the reception. Looking down at her, Castle gave her a searing, passionate kiss that left her trying to remember how to breathe.

“I’ll see you at your place,” he told her, his voice a low rumble in his throat.

Licking her lips, Kate made her way to her car and sat down in the driver’s seat before checking her phone for the text message she knew would be there.

Lanie: Details. Tomorrow.

Laughing to herself at the message, she fired back a response.

Kate: I don’t know, I might be busy gathering more of them to share with you. Might not be tomorrow, but we’ll definitely talk.

Kate started up her car and put it in drive, ignoring the buzzing of her phone that alerted her to a new message. Picking up the phone, she turned it off and dropped carelessly into her purse; it wouldn’t be needed tonight as she drove towards her apartment, her partner, and—she knew—what would be her future.