Page 116 of Until the End

“Marry me. Once this mission is done, I can bring Knox home.” His second-in-command had been gone for months while Sanborn set his plan into motion. Knox was too close. He would’ve connected dots the others missed, spotted holes the others didn’t catch, seen the web Sanborn wove, and recognized him as the spider spinning the threads. He also would’ve understood his deep-seated motives. But Knox also would’ve risked his life to stop him, and Sanborn couldn’t allow that. Knox and Castle, they were the future. “I’ll retire then, let him run the Gray Box with Castle as his second.”

Sanborn would finally be able to wash his hands of this nasty business. He’d spend the rest of his life making Doc happy, enjoying a second chance at love. He deserved his own version of happily-ever-after too.

“You’d retire for me?”

“I would.”

She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him in a death grip. “You wouldn’t resent me for it?”

“Never.” He took her arms, pulled her back a bit to see her bluebonnet eyes. “You still haven’t given me an answer.”

“Yes. Yes, of course I’ll marry you.”

He hugged her tightly, to hide his face and spare himself a moment of faking a look of elation. This hiccup with her and her blatant lack of trust—not to mention how she’d violated his explicit rules—vexed him, but he was also relieved he’d found a way to spare her from any ugliness.

And the silver lining—he’d have this beautiful young woman as his wife. A well-deserved reward for all his hard work.

39

Reston, Virginia

Thursday, 12:00 p.m. EDT

For two days, Castle had hunkered down at his place with Kit. Once Sanborn gave him the all clear, they’d open the safety deposit box and lock Ever Shield away. In the meantime, he wouldn’t risk taking her out on any more excursions.

They’d cooked, ordered takeout, talked for hours, bantering back and forth. Fucked in every room. Still, he hungered for more. More of her addictive warmth and her infectious smiles, more of her witty repartee and indomitable spirit, more of her challenging him and pushing his buttons, more of how she gave herself to him entirely, from the way she kissed and made love to baring her vulnerability without fear.

He was a goner for her.

“Castle,” Kit said as they tumbled onto the bed. “You never answered me when I asked what you would’ve done if Sanborn had called your bluff. Would you have really resigned?”

He hadn’t responded before because he hadn’t known the answer, but now he did. “Yes.”

“I thought you needed this job—to feel something, to give you a purpose.”

“You make me feel a whole hell of a lot.” He pulled his T-shirt off her and pushed her down. “And if I’d been forced to quit, then it would’ve been a sign that it was time for me to find a new purpose.” Unhooking her bra, he kissed her shoulder. “One that didn’t try to suck everything out of me.”

“Is that what I am for you? A substitute high from the job?”

Try a safer, astronomically better high. More potent and enduring than anything. “Does that bother you?”

“Only if you trade me in for a different rush.”

“No need to worry on that score.”

He inched down her body, licking a nipple into his mouth, kissing her taut belly. Diving between her thighs, he spread her wide and took in the beautiful sight of her rosy-pink flesh. Her particular scent, unique to her, was a total gut punch to his system.

She moaned, clutching his head as she let him do whatever he pleased with his fingers and mouth. He enjoyed teasing, working her until the driving desire to be inside her beat like a drum through him.

Rising to his knees, he unfastened his pants as she grabbed the box of condoms from the nightstand.

“These expired,” she said with a chuckle. “A year ago.”

“I told you it’d been a while.” Only he hadn’t realized it had been that long. “But shit. Those start to break down and become less effective. I’m sorry.”

She lifted onto her elbows. “We don’t have to worry about pregnancy. I have a contraceptive implant. But, um, do we need to worry about anything else?”

He understood what she was alluding to. “Not on my end.”