The next morning, Ziva slowly began to awaken from a deep, dreamless sleep. Reaching for Jethro, she floated more fully toward consciousness when her hand encountered only empty space next to her. She stretched luxuriously, enjoying the feeling of the cool sheets against her naked body and allowing memories from the night before to roll through her mind. She couldn't help the satisfied smile that curved her lips before she even blinked open her eyes.

She caught a whiff of their usual morning brew and assumed the taste for that was what had driven Gibbs from their bed. She slid quietly off the mattress, visited the head, then slipped on one of his soft t-shirts that was handy. Stepping to the doorway that led onto the deck, she found her husband leaning with his forearms on the railing, hands wrapped around a mug of what could only be coffee and looking out over the water. He had pulled on a pair of swim trunks and a t-shirt.

He appeared entirely happy and relaxed…more so than even she had ever seen him. She couldn't resist picking up the camera that was resting nearby and silently capturing that moment, that picture of him. She'd invested in a new camera for this trip, one that took several photos in quick succession.

After she'd photographed him while he was still unaware of her, she said a quiet, "Hey."

He turned his head toward her with a welcoming smile and she caught that, too. When he noticed the camera, he rolled his eyes and she took photos of that, as well.

Grinning, she put the camera down and went out to greet him.

As she got closer, he opened one arm to tuck her in close to him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled in, laying her head against his shoulder as he dropped a kiss to her hair.

"Good morning," she said, pressing a kiss to his chest.

"Sure is that," he agreed, resting his head on hers with a soft smile.

He pulled back and cocked an eyebrow down at her. "But pictures? Already?"

She glanced up at him and chuckled.

Then, nestling back against him blissfully and burying her face in his throat, she revealed, "I could not resist. You looked so happy."

With his characteristic half-smile, he admitted, "That'd be because I am."

Her body relaxed even more against his as she tilted her head to look up at him. Smiling into his eyes, she said quietly, "I am glad."

Gibbs sat his coffee down and brought his hand to her chin. Holding her gently, he bent his mouth to hers for a warm, soft morning kiss. Lips still clinging, their heads gradually pulled apart. For a long moment, brown eyes gazed into blue with an intimate contented look that silently spoke volumes.

Still holding each other close, they turned to look out over the gorgeous expanse of deep blue water in the early morning light. They were anchored at the mouth of a small lagoon near a small, uninhabited island. There were no other boats or people around; they might have been the only two people on the planet.

"It is so beautiful here," Ziva marveled. "I have been a lot of places, but I have never seen anything like this."

"Mmmm," he agreed, breathing deeply as he enjoyed the surroundings and the feel of the woman in his arms.

"I hope we come back here some day," she wished.

"We can," he asserted.

"Thanks for suggesting the boat," Jethro added with an extra squeeze.

She smiled. "You are welcome. I like it, too. It feels like no one exists but us."

"Works for me," he smirked down at her.

With a light laugh, she looked up at him as she slid her arms up around his neck. "Works for me, too," she assured him.

"You look pretty happy yourself," he observed with a tender smile, clasping his hands at the small of her back.

Her eyes grew more serious, but with a touch of wonder. "I have never been happier in my life," she told him, bringing a hand from the back of his neck to cup his jaw, caressing his cheek.

His smile grew as he captured her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. "Glad to hear it."

Something moved behind her eyes. "Are you ever …" she paused, then determinedly pushed ahead, her voice little more than a whisper, "…afraid, like we are too happy?"

Because he understood that she occasionally still felt that she didn't really deserve this much joy and worried that it would be ripped out from under her without notice, he answered her truthfully.

"Could," he admitted, "Try not to."

Bringing his hands up to cradle her face, he continued. "Don't want to miss one minute of the now with you worrying about what might happen. But I don't ever want to lose you."

As always, he knew exactly what to say to help her settle. She melted against him with a loving smile. Paraphrasing his words from the night before, she promised, "Then I will do everything I can to make sure you do not."

He returned her smile as he bent his head toward hers. He gently tugged her lower lip between his teeth before flicking his tongue across it. She opened her mouth and welcomed him in. Pressing as closely as possible, she wound her arms around his neck once more and held on tightly.

Even after he let her up for air, his hands continued to wander over her as he nuzzled her throat.

"We've only been running once since we got here," he observed. "And now we're on a boat. You getting antsy?"

She shook her head. "We have gone swimming every day," she pointed out. She stretched up to nibble along his jaw. Her voice dropped lower, sending tingles down his spine. "Besides, I have been much more interested in indoor exercise."

"Huh, that's funny," Gibbs responded with a wicked glint in his eye. As their mouths came together, both grinning, he murmured, "Me, too." And he proceeded to kiss the grin right off her face.

Despite their thoroughly satisfying lovemaking the night before, his body began responding to her. He slipped his hands under her – his - shirt and confirmed for himself that she was naked underneath. He made a low noise of approval. Her lips slid sensuously to his neck. She sucked lightly then swirled the tip of her tongue over his skin.

"You know," she drawled in seductive tone, "it is very private here. Perhaps we could combine indoor and outdoor exercise this morning."

Her luscious lips nibbled her way up to his ear. "What is it called when you swim naked?" She breathed the last word into his ear and he swallowed hard.

"Skinny dipping," he supplied in a thick voice.

She absently pondered that for a moment. It did not really make sense to her to call it that; after all, not everyone is skinny, but anyone can swim without their clothes on. She gave an inward shrug, then returned to far more fascinating matters.

"We could do that," she suggested, rubbing her middle against his. His body involuntarily began hardening further. "You like the idea," she murmured, thrilled with his response to her.

"Well, yeah," he managed.

After another hot kiss, she stepped away from him and up on the bench seat along the side of the boat. In a slow, sensual move, she pulled off the shirt she wore and paused long enough to see the heat build in his eyes as he looked her over. Then, with a saucy wink, she dove over the side into the ocean.

After a few seconds, her head broke the surface of the water not too far away.

"Are you coming?" she called to him, treading water.

The smirk on his face and gleam in his eye plainly telegraphed Not yet, but hopefully soon.

Her delighted laugh said she got the message loud and clear.

"You have to catch me first," she taunted him and disappeared under the water once more.

He shook his head, but his hands were already shedding his clothes. After tossing the rope ladder over the side of the boat to make it easier to climb back in, he plunged into the sea after his wife.

She popped back up for air just in time to see him diving in. With a grin, she dipped back underwater to swim into the lagoon, away from the boat.

When she next came up to breathe, she was a fair distance away. She looked around for him to no avail. Hmmm…where was he?

The stillness of the morning was broken only by the slap of the waves against their boat and the occasional bird call. Ziva kept above water, on the look-out for Jethro. Just as she was beginning to really wonder - and even worry a bit – she felt a hand clasp her calf. After giving her just enough time to draw a breath, Gibbs pulled her under the water and into his body.

She opened her eyes to find his twinkling back at her. She wrapped herself around him and he pushed them up until their heads cleared the water, both laughing and grinning like kids.

"Caught you," he pointed out smugly.

"So you did," she agreed. Licking water from his neck, she wondered in a sultry tone, "Now what are you going to do with me?"

Her sexy teasing had just about pushed him to his limit and he decided two could play that game.

"This," he said, kissing his way hungrily along her jaw to behind her ear. "And this." He lifted her higher in the water so he could scrape his teeth along one sensitive nipple before latching on to suckle greedily.

She gasped and arched her back, pressing her center more firmly into his and thrusting her soft, rounded flesh more fully into his mouth.

After giving the same thorough attention to her other breast, he slowly raised his head from her chest, nipping his way back toward her mouth.

"I have not had my coffee yet," she reflected, seemingly out of the blue. Her direction became clearer with the rest of her thought. "I guess I will just have to taste yours again." And she proceeded to seize his mouth in a deep, sizzling kiss that had him struggling to stay focused enough to keep them both afloat.

Figuring they couldn't very well make love if they both drowned, he held onto her and swam into shallower water where he could stand easily. After kissing him brainless, she raised her head.

Cradling his face in her hands, she gazed at him in wonder.

"How is it that I can be so completely satisfied every time we make love, then want you again like it has been weeks?" she marveled quietly.

"Don't know," he answered in a deep voice. "But it's the same for me."

"I hope that never stops," she husked.

His smile promised that it wouldn't as he pulled her mouth back to his.

Gibbs moved again, walking to where the ground began slanting up toward the shoreline. Sinking down, he lay back until he was stretched out against the sand with Ziva on top of him. Gentle waves broke over their lower bodies as his hands traveled over her, driving their desire for each other higher and higher with every stroke, every touch. Beyond the shore, the island might well have been a barren wasteland rather than a veritable jungle of lush, exotic vegetation for all the attention it garnered from the two lovers.

Whether it was the sinful decadence of making love out in the open or the way he communicated that she was everything to him without saying a word, she honestly couldn't say. All she knew is that all of a sudden she couldn't get enough of him fast enough.

Ziva straddled her husband, sitting up partway with her knees in the soft sand. Leaning over, she caged his head between her hands and looked down at his handsome face with a predatory glint in her eye.

"Want you," he gasped out, meeting her brown-eyed gaze with his piercing blue one.

With those two words, the passion flaring between them raged beyond any control.

She brought her mouth within a whisper of his.

"That is good," she breathed, "because I am about to take you."

She slanted her mouth across his, capturing his lips and tangling wildly with his tongue. God, she'd have crawled inside his skin if she could. She rubbed her center against his, driving them both crazy with pleasure and need.

He thrust his fingers into her hair and held her to him, fighting for dominance in the kiss. But even as he ravished her mouth, he was ravished in return.

Abruptly, she couldn't wait any longer. Pulling back, she rose up and guided his hard shaft to the entrance of her moist heat. Trapping his gaze with hers, she took him inside her to the hilt with one swift, breath-stealing movement. Dropping her chin to her chest and falling forward over him again, she closed her eyes in ecstasy. Her jaw worked as she adjusted to the deliciously full feeling of him buried inside her.

Panting, she opened her eyes to find his fixed on her, captivated by her beauty and the incredibly erotic vision of her rising over him, taking him.

Of one accord, they began riding each other hard, fast, and almost desperately. Slow and easy was for another time.

Soon his release was upon him and he came, her name on his lips. The sensation of the very essence of him flooding her womb was all she needed to push her over the edge right after him. Breathing hard, she collapsed onto his chest.

Rather than being wonderfully draining, this morning's sex was delightfully energizing, leaving them both feeling on top of the world.

As their heart rates slowed, Ziva sat up across his hips once more. Her inner muscles continued to grip his softened member as tightly as she could, holding him right where he was. Her smile was contagious as her gaze met his once more.

"I believe this has replaced running as my favorite morning exercise," she grinned, her whiskey-brown eyes twinkling merrily.

He laughed and wholeheartedly agreed.

As he was pulling her lips back toward his, her stomach suddenly growled into the silence, causing both of them to chuckle.

"Sounds like we'd better feed you," he observed, smoothing his hands over her belly and hips. "After all, need to keep your strength up for the rest of your massage tonight."

She quirked an eyebrow, even as her eyes gave him a look that said she couldn't wait. "Looking forward to that," she murmured, leaning down capture his lips in another searing kiss. Straightening her arms, she lifted up far enough to see his eyes. "But perhaps I should be giving you a massage tonight. You certainly deserve a reward for last night."

He grinned wickedly. "I'll never turn down your hands on me, but you're getting your front massage first."

"Then I am afraid your massage is destined to wait until tomorrow," she said with dry amusement. "I cannot imagine I will have the strength to reciprocate by the time you finish with me."

His pleased grin had a definite smugness about it. She let him get away with that bit of arrogance; after all, it was highly justified.

"Can we swim a little before breakfast?" she asked, brushing her lips across his.

"If that's what you want," he agreed.

They spent the next half-hour swimming, floating, splashing, holding onto each other... pure joy readily evident and arcing between them. Neither could envision a more perfect morning in paradise.

After they had eaten, Ziva stood contentedly by Jethro's side as he piloted them further out into the ocean, charting a course for the island of Molokai. The blue skies and white puffy clouds predicted clear sailing, while the morning sun turned the water into diamonds that sparkled as brightly as the future before them.