Booth awoke the next morning refreshed and ready for the day. The hotel mattress was soft enough for him to feel comfortable, but firm enough that it didn't aggravate his back and Booth was half tempted to ask one of the staff where he could get one just like it. He couldn't remember the last time he had slept so soundly.

Of course, yesterday had been a very busy day. They'd had the Lane kids in the morning, followed by a meeting with Cullen, Cam, Michaels, and Watson that promised to keep them busy for the rest of the afternoon preparing to go into the Witness Protection Program. On top of all of that, Bones had decided that if they were going to portray a married couple, they needed to become a married couple and at seven that night that is exactly what had happened.

He looked over at the woman who lay sleeping beside him, smiling as he saw the two rings on her left hand that proved last night had not been a dream. He felt his heart swell with love for her. For close to four years he had endured lecture after lecture on the archaic nature of marriage. Every time a case came up that even brushed on the issue they would bicker the entire time. Sometimes things would go beyond bickering and become a full-fledged argument.

Then had come the mess that she had made trying to date two men simultaneously- one for their looks and one for their brains. He had shaken his head incredulously when he found out, certain that neither one of the men would agree to this type of thing up front. His partner could be so incredibly naïve sometimes it was laughable. The urge to laugh, however, had been squelched when he saw how deeply she had been hurt. She had honestly never expected either man to have a problem with what she was doing- despite Booth's warnings- and the rejection that was displayed on her face was palpable.

He had switched gears quickly and hurried her out of Sweets' office before the shrink said something stupid and set her off. From that night on they began spending even more time outside of work together, letting Sweets' "surrogate relationship" theory serve as their excuse.

Eleven days ago, he had taken her in his arms, danced with her in her living room, and stood breathless with wonder as she kissed him. And now, the woman who had sworn she would never marry, had. She had reasoned using whatever genius-level method that the one way to show she loved him as much as he loved her was to lay aside her personal philosophies and marry him.

"Enjoying the view?" her sleepy voice broke his reverie and he smiled as he met her eyes.

"Can't complain."

"So is it what you anticipated it being?" she asked next, shifting over onto her right side to face him.

"What?" he didn't know if she meant the wedding night- which had been incredible- or the actually wedding itself, or something else entirely.

"This," she took her left hand and placed it on his chest, "You know, marriage. Is it what you always anticipated it would be?"

"Well," he chuckled, "Seeing as it's only been a little over twelve hours since we were married I think I need a little bit more time to answer that question accurately. Though I gotta tell you that I love being able to do this whenever I want to," he pulled her toward him and into a long, deep kiss.

"You've been doing that," she breathed when they separated, "For the last several days, Seeley, how in the world does it make any difference now that we are married?"

"In two ways," he held up two fingers between them, "First, there will now be no need for me to go to confession for all of my lustful thinking; I've decided there's nothing like guilt-free lust and especially, guilt-free sex," he could tell that she really didn't get that, but for once she simply nodded and said nothing, "Second, when I kiss you now, there's a stability there that wasn't there before.

"I know you, Temperance, and I know you meant every single word that we spoke last night no matter how archaic it seemed to you. Just to know that we exchanged those vows, that we meant them, and that we're in this together for the long haul makes a huge difference. And it is an absolute turn-on to call you my wife," he grinned wolfishly and was rewarded with one of her brilliant smiles.

"I must acknowledge that I too feel an emotional stirring when I think of you as my husband as well," her fingers playing lightly up and down his chest, "It was not something I envisioned happening, though it is not at all unpleasant."

He captured her hand in his and began planting light kisses from her rings, up her arm, to her neck, until finally their lips met in an explosion of passion. This time, they didn't separate, but instead grew closer until they were once again breaking the laws of physics.

"Do you know what's ironic?" she asked, as she laid her head on his heaving chest.

"I can only imagine, Bones."

She slapped him lightly for his trouble.

"David and Kelly Keller have been married for ten years, where you and I in 'real life' so to speak, have only been dating for ten days and married for not even twenty-four hours. In fact, ten years ago you and I didn't even know one another."

"A little crazy, isn't it?" he asked, running his fingers through her tousled hair.

"Yes," she nodded, "Do you think the ploy will work?"

"I don't see why it wouldn't," he answered, "I mean, those guys came up with a great cover story. If anybody is looking for us or the kids it should throw them off base."

"Kelly Keller is a deplorably corny and unoriginal name," she grumbled.

"I can call you Bones if you want," he offered.

"And what would be your reasoning behind that given our cover story?"

"We're supposedly high school sweethearts, right?" he shrugged, "So I'll just say it was a pet name of yours from back then. Maybe you danced with the bio skeleton on a dare or something."

She laughed, "That would have been quite a dare and though I would be absolutely content to have you call me Bones rather than Kelly, it probably would not be wise. What would be wise, however," she said, pushing up off of his chest and standing up, "Is for us to get dressed and ready for the day. I believe Cullen would like us to move in and become acquainted with the house today, and from what I understand our personal effects will be arriving as well. I know that movers were hired but I am not sure how much of the set up will be left for us to handle ourselves. Plus, one of the first things I have planned for us to do as Maddie, Joey, and Sadie's parents is buy them new clothing that fits them, as well as toys and games for them. I also understand that there are several games out on the market that are geared for families with children of all ages that would be good to purchase as well."

Her plans stated, she headed off toward the bathroom, leaving him to chuckle quietly and drag himself out of bed. He loved how she never went at things half-heartedly, even when it did mean extra work for both of them. One of the things he knew he was going to miss the most in their newest assignment was getting to work side-by-side with her every day and he knew it was going to absolutely kill her not to be out in the field with him.

Following her lead, he stepped into the already steamy bathroom to join her in the shower. She was startled at first, but smiled as he grabbed the soap and began massaging her back with it. Then he moved to her hair, working the shampoo into her thick tresses and kneading her scalp with his fingertips. She sighed contentedly, then slid under the water to rinse off.

When she was finished, she turned him around and returned the favor, her soft, strong fingers loosening his muscles and causing his back to feel better than it had in years. Wrapping her arms around him and standing so close he could feel her breath on his neck, she proceeded to wash his arms and his chest. He turned around so that she could reach everything, stooping down a bit so she could wash his shoulders and neck.

A shared look between them decided that he was just a little too tall for either one of them to be comfortable with her washing his hair so he lathered it up himself. She was just about to step out of the shower, when he flung a handful of shampoo bubbles onto her back. Not realizing exactly what had happened, she frowned and stepped back under the water to rinse off. She turned to leave again, and again he hit her with a handful of bubbles.

"Booth," she frowned, "What are you doing?"

He didn't say anything, just grinned at her and threw a third handful of bubbles onto her chest. Growing frustrated, she scooped them off and threw them back at him. He grinned, accepting the challenge that was in her eyes and cupped his hands, collecting water in them and then flinging the water at her. She did the same, hitting him squarely in the chest. He grabbed hold of her arms, ignoring her shriek of protest and pulled her so that she was directly under the streaming water. Not to be outdone, she slipped deftly out of his grip and moved around the other side of him, pushing him slightly so that he was now under the water.

Soap and shampoo were dripping down his body and all around his eyes, making it harder for him to see.

"Stalemate?" he asked.

"Oh no," she shook her head, "I've definitely won this round."

"Oh yeah?" he shook his head, spraying water everywhere, "How do you figure?"

"Because no matter what you do next," she took a step closer to him, her voice dropping to a husky tone, "I can still," she ran a wet finger slowly and sensually down his chest until it hovered above his midsection, "Bring you to your knees in an instant."

His body was shaking involuntarily with pleasure as her hands and body drew nearer and nearer to him. He didn't have to look down to know she was absolutely right and he could see by the triumphant smirk on her face that she knew she had the upper hand. A groan escaped his lips as she moved even closer, her wet thigh brushing up against his.

"See?" she smiled cheerfully at him, "I told you!"

With a parting smirk and quick peck on his lips, she stuck her tongue out at him and jumped out of the shower before he could stop her again. Rinsing the last remaining flecks of soap off of himself, he turned the water off, hopped out, and ran a towel through his hair while wiping his feet on the thick bathmat before dashing into the other room after her.

He found her pulling clothes out of the small bag Angela had sent over to the hotel with them.

"Oh, Temperance," he said in a low voice as he snuck up behind her and swept her up into his arms.

"Booth!" she cried, "Put me down!"

"No can do, Bones," he shook his head menacingly at her, "You stuck your tongue out at me and now I need to punish you."

"You're getting my underwear wet," she protested.

He slid her bottoms off effortlessly and unhooked her bra before taking it off, "Problem solved," he grinned, quite proud of the fact that she was still firmly in his arms, unable to escape.

He put her down on the bed gently and straddled her, effectively pinning her underneath of him. Lowering his head, he captured her mouth in his, probing until he caught her tongue. He felt her body respond to his, her heart rate quickening as the kiss deepened and his hands roved.

Abruptly, he broke the connection, leaving her panting and breathless as he sat up and moved off of her.

"Truce?" he asked.

She nodded, still catching her breath as he took her hands and helped her to her feet.

"Apparently we are equal when it comes to making ourselves sexually alluring," she commented as she put her underwear back on, tossing a pair of clean boxers to him from the bag.

"I promise to only use my powers for good," he grinned wryly, winking at her as they changed.

She rolled her eyes at him before pulling her top over her head and he heard her mutter the words alpha male.

Once they were dressed and their things from the wedding were packed neatly in the garment bags they had come in, they walked over to the kitchenette that was tucked away in the back corner of the large suite. Booth got the coffee going while Bones hunted around for food. She came up with an unopened package of fresh bagels, some small boxes of assorted cereals, and an assorted variety of fresh fruit that was in the mini refrigerator. He, meanwhile, had found bowls, spoons, and two coffee mugs and they settled down on the two stools beside the counter to eat.

"Now that," he pointed to the champagne glass tub that stood towering in the center of the suite, "Was fun."

"Really?" she frowned slightly, "I found it somewhat cramped, not to mention having to mount stairs to get into it in the first place is completely impractical."

"It was a little slippery on the way down," he agreed, "Not saying we need to get one, or anything, just that I had fun in it with you."

"This has been a nice retreat," she nodded, "Especially considering the uncertain situation that lies ahead of us."

"Life's never certain," he brushed a stray bagel crumb away that was lodged in the corner of her lips, "But I promise, Temperance, once this case is closed, I'll take you on a proper honeymoon."

"I shall look forward to that, Seeley," she smiled, turning her stool so that their knees touched, "As long as I get to pay."

"Fine," Booth nodded, "But only if you get us a swanky place like this- and make sure it's somewhere near a beach too."

"So that you can wow me with your athletic prowess?" she teased.

"Well," he dragged the word out as they cleaned up from breakfast and headed back to their bags, "That and ogling you in a bikini."

"I see."

"You can save your skimpiest one for the room," he waggled his eyebrows as they picked up their bags and headed out, "Wouldn't want anybody else ogling my wife."

"I'll keep that in mind," she answered drily.

As they rode the elevator down to the front desk, they shared a smile and their free hands joined, fingers interlocking- ready and waiting for whatever came their way next.