Page 39 of Until the End

Castle came up behind her, put his hand on her back, and thankfully didn’t say any typical, asinine things like Are you all right? Is there anything I can do?

She wasn’t all right, there wasn’t anything anyone could do to lessen the pain, and she suspected Castle was the kind of guy who’d been through enough bad stuff to know that very well.

“I never would’ve pegged you as a domestic goddess, doing menial chores.”

Anything to stay busy, keep moving, and not think about the past. “Someone had to do it,” she said, her voice a bit strangled. She needed to deflect from her moment of woe is me. “I didn’t take you for a modest guy. I thought you’d soak up praise like a thirsty sponge.”

“Trust me, I can be a cocky, big-headed son of a bitch.”

She laughed since the alternative was far too depressing. “I believe you.”

“The one thing I will expect excessive praise for is my sanctum upstairs.”

“That’s what you call your bedroom, huh? The sanctum?” She shot him a grateful glance for being so good at this deflecting. He was a rare soul, to have the insight to roll with it and help her fake a normal conversation.

Their eyes met and the kindness shining in his made her think it might be possible for this nightmare to end one day. She wanted to thank him for having a generous heart, but she feared it’d come out sounding syrupy and she was never one to dispense saccharine compliments.

“The ladies must go gaga for that,” Kit said instead. “You take them to your sanctum where you worship their bodies on your altar of love.”

His smile was slow and wicked, telegraphing something she couldn’t define, but it lit her up until she felt alive and warm and not so weighed down inside.

“I’m not talking about my bedroom,” he said.

She was half relieved and half disappointed. What kind of man called his bedroom a sanctum? Then again, what kind of woman didn’t want her body worshipped on an altar of love? Suddenly, she wanted to live long enough to experience such a thing.

He patted her shoulder. “Come on. I’ll show you.”

Kit followed him upstairs to one of two rooms. She crossed the threshold after him and froze.

There was a computer on a desk in the center of the large room. No windows. Steel shelves were bolted to the walls and filled with weapons, gadgets, SWAT-type gear, bottled water and boxes of meals ready-to-eat.

The door swung closed with an unusual whispered groan, sealing with a heavy thud. A series of beeps sounded, engaging an electromagnetic lock. A red light flicked on in a control panel that had several TV screens, and the lights in the room popped on.

What in the world of the Walking Dead was this?

“Welcome to my sanctum. I turned my spare bedroom into a ballistics-proof safe room. The walls, door, and floor are lined with Kevlar. The screens on the panel are linked to infrared cameras throughout the house that can read the heat signatures off anything in their line of sight. The windows in the rest of the place have a blast film on the panes making them nearly impenetrable. You can control all the locks from in here as well.”

Sweet baby Jesus. He hadn’t been joking when he’d said the bunker was upstairs. “I take it you don’t get many overnight guests.”

“Nope.”

“Why did you build this?”

“I went through a rough phase after the military. Building this helped. The best defense system is one you never have to use, and I like to be prepared for anything.”

It must’ve been a pretty rough phase, but she’d hit the nail on the head about him being ever-ready. Spinning in a dramatic circle with extra flourish, she said, “Wow. I must confess, I’m impressed. This room is certified one hundred percent alphalicious.” It was totally him.

“Thank you. Now my head feels the size of a hot air balloon, which is just about right.” He waved her over to the control panel, showed her the code, and had her open the door.

Then he took her across the hall to the other room.

Her eyes grew wide and her jaw dropped a smidge at the sight of the enormous spindle-turned bed that took up most of the space. “You also picked this from an online catalog?”

“Yep.” He nodded emphatically. “Welcome to my bedroom. You’ll sleep in here.”

Her shocked gaze flew to his, her cheeks heating. “This bed is humongous, enough room for a soccer team, and I understand you need to keep an eye on me, but I’m not sleeping with you. No offense.”

“None taken. I have no desire to sleep with you either.”