If she did know this about him, she'd insist she doesn't need protecting. She's made it this far without relying on anyone else to get her where she is. Even Will, in some ways, didn't understand that about her - it was a constant source of tension in their relationship, his assumption that she would let him in to protect her so easily without some kind of resistance. She doesn't want anyone to think she needs saving. That's not who she is.

But the unvoiced part of her knows that she does need it - not often, but every now and then. Needs it like she needs this, the gentle touch of Castle's hands on her body, the look on his face that she catches as his eyes travel over her. It's not just observing, it's reveling, and she nearly wells up then and there as she begins to understand.

She surges upward, using stored strength to roll them until it's her bearing him down against the mattress, straddling him, her mother's ring swaying in the air between them before it comes to rest on his chest, nearly identical to where it falls on her skin every single day. The small band travels down his chest as she does, pressing a series of open-mouthed kisses, and her fingers find the leather of his belt, then the buckle, working it open.