This is my first foray into the world of Castle fanfiction. It's an experiment in telling two parallel tales from Rick and Kate's lives, starting from the proposal in Watershed. It spins into an alternate universe that is slowly revealed through tidbits.
In another world (several other worlds), I enjoy some popularity as a writer. To date, this might be the least popular thing I've written. Castle-verse, I'd love to hear why this doesn't work before I give up on it.
“Yes, the ancient Greeks always loved a good story.”
She catches his hand on her tanned shoulder, traps it against her cheek as she curls her fingers to fill the spaces between his, and something catches in his throat at the whisper of her warm breath across his knuckles. Airy kisses like an afterthought or a distraction. “Castle?” she murmurs, her voice teasing, pressed into all the intimate parts of his being like she knows precisely all the ways she undoes him. He hums back a response, something unintelligible and distracted by her thoughtless kisses, and he strokes his thumb into her palm. “The story?”
He feeds into the quiet for a few seconds, rearranging his scattered thoughts, and he’s egged on by the gentle nudge of an elbow against his hip. “Ah, yes, the story,” he says and clears his throat. “Young Phaethon was an ambitious fellow. His dream was to drive the chariot of the sun, to control the strength of its immortal beasts. He begged his father, Helios, to let him drive the magnificent, golden carriage across the heavens. The god of the sun finally gave in and handed Phaethon the reigns…”
“Rookie mistake,” she scoffs[...]