Page 93 of Until the End

Except something was bound to be blown to smithereens.

“That doesn’t change the threat it poses,” he said, holding her gaze, needing her to understand. “Help me make sure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.”

She took a deep breath. “How?”

“I don’t know what the long-term answer is, but for now, we can open a safety deposit box in both our names that requires two keys and dual authorization for access. Store it until we find a better solution. I’m with you until the end, no matter what. But I need you to agree to this compromise.” His voice was unyielding because on this, he wouldn’t bend. “For me.”

Kit mulled it over a moment and nodded. “For you.”

She brushed her lips against his and took his hand, guiding it to her breast, and then lower between her thighs, where he instinctively slid two fingers into her wet heat.

He bit back a groan as she rocked on his hand. “I only had one condom in my wallet.”

A naughty smile graced her face, setting him alight. “I guess that’s the perfect excuse to make you come with my mouth.”

Ditto. He wanted to drop to his knees, throw her legs over his shoulders and make her cry his name as she came against his tongue.

Kit brushed her lips against his, their breath mingling. He couldn’t stop kissing her, couldn’t stop enjoying the slick softness between her thighs. His blood churned with need.

Castle always followed the rules. He relied on protocol and orders. Now, for her, again, he was violating all that he’d once held as sacrosanct. It was starting to become a habit.

He could do his duty to the Gray Box, protect Kit, and have her as well. Couldn’t he?

She lowered her head. Licked his stomach as she squeezed his erection, her silky hair brushing his thighs. She stroked his aching shaft from root to tip, rubbing her soft breasts against his thigh, then took him into her hot mouth and hummed. Stars burst behind his eyes and he was certain.

This wasn’t a zero-sum game.

No one had to lose to win.

32

Washington, DC

12:11 p.m. EDT

Lee’s headache was blossoming into a migraine and the searing pain in his stomach was a sure sign his ulcer was flaring up again. He considered canceling his reservation at Charlie Palmer. If it wasn’t a working lunch, he would have.

A brrr came from his breast jacket pocket. The only people who had the number to that encrypted cell phone were his direct action assets, heavy hitters he used for dirty work.

It had better be Randall Wheeler—that walking, talking hemorrhoid—calling to say he’d found Westcott. This was taking excruciatingly longer than advertised, despite the extra money he’d promised in exchange for the woman’s timely demise.

She was the last hole that needed to be plugged.

Nexcellogen, the bioengineering company, had been paid to lose all their archives regarding the illicit program. The handful of employees connected to the manufacture of the bioweapons were sipping daiquiris on the powder-soft beaches of Vanuatu, where there was no jurisdiction. Most Americans didn’t even know the place existed. The top secret unit at Fort Detrick had been dismantled, personnel records scrubbed and sanitized, promotions issued, enviable follow-on assignments given. Vials of toxins and amped-up viruses were locked away in a deep, dark vault until the dust cleared.

Only the Westcott bitch was still on the loose, kicking up God knows how much dirt into the air. No telling what she knew or the damage she could do.

A vein in his temple throbbed. He was Winthrop Lee Pomeroy III. The rainmaker of DC, for Christ’s sake! But he’d yet to conjure a damn drop with regard to her.

Lee popped a handful of antacids and had his driver pull over by the National Mall and get out of the car, giving him privacy. He looked at the phone but didn’t recognize the number. “Who is this?”

“Your favorite plumber.”

Lee sat upright with almost an immediate hard-on at hearing that voice. “Howe?” Howe Fuller. “You sly devil. To what do I owe the unexpected pleasure of this call?”

Divine timing. Or it would have been if Howe weren’t the most unholy thing on earth.

“There’s been a change in my circumstances. I’m free to take the job you offered.”