They were in a leafy courtyard of a historic bed and breakfast in St. Augustine, hands joined, exchanging vows that would bind them as husband and wife. The scent of jasmine from the vines crawling up the pergola they were standing under was heavy in the humid slightly salty air.

They'd dressed fairly casually as they'd come into work in the morning, hoping that the clippings books wouldn't go off so soon after a case. As anticipated none had and they'd taken advantage of everyone's usual tendency to scatter off to various corners of the Library working on their individual projects to slip out unnoticed. Stone was wearing a white shirt and a pair of khaki cargo pants. Cassandra had bought a dress for the occasion, a vintage cream and yellow floral sundress trimmed with lace. In Portland she'd paired it with a yellow cardigan and a green belt but for the wedding had exchanged both for a long white crochet sweater. Instead of a bouquet, she had a spray of yellow roses pinned to her shoulder that they'd gotten at a nearby flower shop.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife," the officiant said as the newlyweds beamed at each other. "You may kiss the bride."

"We're married!" Cassandra exclaimed with a bit of a giggle as they broke apart, her beam rivaling the Florida sun.

"We are," he smiled back at her, twirling her around to the delight of the photographer.

They took a few more photos around the courtyard and in front of the house before having a glass of champagne with the nice couple who owned the bed and breakfast. As the newly weds had no other guests, the owners also had served as witnesses.

Jacob had found a suitably romantic restaurant for dinner, so they decided to take a stroll around town until their reservation time.

"This is the oldest street in the United States," Jacob said as they took their leave of the bed and breakfast. "This was absolutely the perfect spot."

Cassandra beamed looking around at the historic buildings. "We went to Florida once when I was a little girl," she sighed, "for a science competition. I only saw a little bit outside of the convention center but it didn't look anything like this."

Jacob squeezed her hand briefly and she brightened up, leaving her personal past behind in this magical spot.

They strolled around, popping into art galleries and quaint shops and taking photos of the beautiful old buildings and magical gardens. They kissed under one of St. Augustine's love trees and a kind passerby took their photo for them.

At the romantic bistro they'd chosen for dinner, the staff was able to fulfill Jacob's last minute request (they'd told him they'd try very hard) and he was able to surprise a delighted Cassandra with a miniature wedding cake. It was as delicious as it was beautiful and Cassandra told him they'd have to come back on every anniversary just for the cake.

The sun was starting to set as they took a post dinner stroll along the beach, both knowing that they would have to head home soon.

"We could maybe stay here tonight," Jacob suggested. "They might not even notice. It isn't as if we don't both sometimes stay later than everyone else."

Cassandra looked wistful, "it sounds wonderful, honey, but what if we come back through the Door in the morning and they're all there waiting for us? And we're wearing the same clothes?"

He sighed. "Yeah, you're right and I don't wanna check into a hotel with no luggage anyway. This is our wedding night and I don't want it to look seedy. I'm sorry, darlin', I wish I could give you a real honeymoon."

"Hey," she stopped and turned so she could put her arms around him. "We'll figure something out. Someday we'll go on our honeymoon. Until then, let's go home."

They had decided that "home" for now would be split between their apartments until they got a feel for which suited them better as a couple. Tonight it would be Cassandra's apartment. They both had to admit, while walking back toward the Door, to being a bit nervous. Last night had ended with a kiss goodnight as they parted. There were certain expectations on a wedding night after all.

But they decided to avoid the subject for the moment in favor of figuring out their game plans. Cassandra would go through the door first and then text him if the coast was clear. Then they'd meet up at her apartment.

They stopped near where the Door was located, so that Cassandra could switch out her crochet sweater for her cardigan. She fastened the belt around her waist and then with a wistful expression slipped off the antique gold ring that Jacob had placed on her left hand hours before. She made sure it was in a safe pocket in her bag and then kissed her husband goodbye and walked back through to Portland.

She was setting her bag on the table, looking around and grabbing her phone when Baird walked into the room.

"Did your Clippings book go off?" Baird asked. It wasn't that unusual but Baird looked concerned after everything that happened at Wexler.

"Oh no," Cassandra said, keeping her tone light. "I needed a little me time, so I took the door to my favorite museum in New York for the afternoon."

She mentally crossed her fingers hoping that Baird didn't notice where the Door was actually dialed into. They'd been lucky that no one had touched it, to be honest.

Baird nodded, her concern faded. "That sounds like a good plan. Are you feeling better?"

Cassandra grinned, Baird had no idea. "I am, thank you. Well, I think I'm going to head home."

"Yeah, me too. Let me walk you out."

Cassandra hoped that Jacob wasn't getting too anxious waiting back in Florida for her. But luckily Baird got distracted by her own phone on the way out so Cassandra was able to send Jacob a quick text.

Ran into Baird, she's walking me out. I told her I went to NYC for the afternoon. She bought it.

Stone came through the Door in his turn just as Jenkins strolled into the room. Stone suddenly realized that he, unlike Cassandra, had forgotten to remove his ring before he'd come through. He slid his left hand into his pocket and turned toward the caretaker.

"Evening Jenkins."

Jenkins looked over at the globe. "Good evening, Mr. Stone. Took a trip to the Sunshine State today?"

Stone shrugged, managing to slide his ring off, glad in their haste to find a ring that they'd chosen one just a bit loose. "I've been trying to spend a little time seeing the world outside of work. St. Augustine was somewhere I've always wanted to check out."

Jenkins gave Stone an appraising stare but said nothing more, just simply nodded and went on his way. Stone had the unsettling feeling that Jenkins saw right through him, but he also knew that Jenkins wasn't one to pry. The old man gave advice where it would be welcomed and kept his peace when it wasn't.

This wasn't going to be easy. But for now he was headed home to his bride. First he needed to go back to his apartment and get his stuff, he'd packed some things last night but hadn't brought them over to Cassandra's just yet.

One of their errands had been to get keys made, so he let himself into Cassandra's place.

"Sweetheart?" he called into the apartment. It was darker than he expected but he could hear some music coming from within.

"Upstairs!" drifted down Cassandra's voice. Her apartment featured a loft which she had made into her bedroom, leaving the actual bedroom as a work/study area.

He left his bags in her living room and went upstairs. She'd left all but one of her lights off, choosing instead to gather all of her candles together. The bed had been turned down in a fashion that reminded him of the hotel in Munich they'd stayed at when they went in search of the Crown of King Arthur, the first fancy hotel he'd ever stayed at. Then he caught sight of Cassandra who had been fiddling with her phone in its dock, possibly adjusting the playlist.

She was wearing a cream colored silk nightgown that clung to her curves in ways he'd only seen once before, in a power plant in Italy. She'd topped it with some kind of flimsy lacy robe, more for romance then any practical application. She looked absolutely bridal.

"You look gorgeous," he managed to get out when he succeeded in getting his jaw to close and his mouth to work.

"Thank you," she said blushing. "I know you felt bad about us not really having the whole big thing for our wedding."

"I do and I don't. I would have loved to have you walk down an aisle in a wedding gown with all of our friends there. And I would have loved to have given you a proper honeymoon. But what we had today? That was us. Pure and simple and it was beautiful. I wouldn't have changed it for anything."

Cassandra and Jacob both had one thought about what they would have changed, having to lie about what they'd done. But they didn't want to ruin this night by dwelling on what they would be facing in the morning.

Cassandra smiled and crossed the room to him, putting her arms around his neck. "It was, it was perfect in every way. And besides, what good would spending money on a hotel room do when we both know we're not gonna see anything but the bed?"

"Why Mrs. Stone, someone is eager," Jacob grinned and planted a kiss on her. "I was going to tell you if you wanted to take things slow that it wouldn't bother me, but I think you have other ideas."

Cassandra looked down, suddenly looking shy. "Am I moving too fast?"

Jacob titled her chin up and gave a soft chuckle. "Yesterday I told you I loved you, today we got married. I don't think there's a too fast here."

"No, I suppose not."

"It's all been a whirlwind, so maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to slow it down . . ." at Cassandra's little look of dismay, he shook his head. "Just a little. Let's enjoy tonight, take it slow and easy."

"Oh . . ." Cassandra beamed. "Yeah, I'm good with that."

"I thought you might," he removed her hands from around his neck, to take them in his own. He brought one hand up to his lips pressing a kiss across the back of it. "You look amazing, my beautiful wife."

"I bought it yesterday, I wanted something special for tonight. I don't . . ." she giggled. "Don't usually wear this to bed."

He chuckled. "Darn, a man could get used to this."

"I do like the way it feels . . ."she blushed. "The way I feel when you look at me like you are. That I could get used to."

"I think I'd look at you this way no matter what you wore. "

She smiled and leaned up to gently kiss him. The kisses gradually increased in passion, his fingers tangling in her hair. They broke off the kisses to take a breath and then Jacob began gently peppering kisses from her forehead down around her ear and then on to her jaw. When he reached her neck, he gently pushed the robe from her shoulders and watched it pool on the floor. She giggled a little and stepped forward before blissfully sighing as he continued his exploration of the delicate skin of her neck.

Since she'd moved closer to him, she began unbuttoning his shirt. He was wearing an undershirt, so at first her fingers danced over the thin material, before she began to gently pull the shirt from his waistband so she could get to bare skin. He broke off kissing her neck so he could shrug his shirt off.

She bit her lip and he chuckled and raised the undershirt over his head too. His chain bounced back against his chest as he did so. She'd noticed before that he wore one, but it wasn't until now that she could make out what he wore on the chain, it looked like a guitar pick. She made a mental note to ask him later about it before he pulled her back against him.

They kissed and then it was her turn to press kisses down his ear and jaw. She was delighted by the low groans he made when she kissed his neck. Everything was very slow and gentle, light touches, tender kisses.

But something about how loving and intimate this all was made Cassandra want to move things along a little. So when their latest kiss ended, she stepped back slightly from her husband.

He looked concerned and opened his mouth to ask her a question but she just shook her head and smiled at him. He waited, seeing what was going on.

She raised her hands to the spaghetti straps on her nightgown and slowly pushed them down. His eyes widened but his concern erased as he realized what she was doing. And then his mouth opened again, his eyes darkening as each inch of her was revealed as she took the nightgown off slowly. She saw his hand reach out at one point, but she shook her head and he stayed where he was, mesmerized by the show she was putting on. When the nightgown finally hit the floor, he growled and moved forward, kissing her hungrily. She smirked against his lips and then giggled when she felt herself being lifted up.

He deposited her in the center of the bed and then removed the rest of his clothes, dropping the condom he'd grabbed from his bag on her nightstand. Then he joined her in bed, pulling her close to him.

"I love you, Mrs. Stone."

"I love you too, Mr. Stone."

The next chapter will be up next week!