The two couples rode up in the elevator in silence, mindful of not only the possibility but the fact that, somewhere in the basement of the hotel, some type of video device was softly humming, recording their journey. The only motion visible once they had settled into their places was that of four pairs of eyes flicking up to the floor number indicator then back down and to the sides to glance at each other.

When the elevator reached their floor and they had disembarked, the agents paused for a moment to wish each other a good evening. None of them wanted to draw it out, however, and the two women embraced as the men shook hands. When Sarah had released her, Ilsa turned to Chuck and kissed him on both cheeks, smiling happily.

"I'm starting to see what all the fuss is about," she said playfully as she stepped back and grasped her man's hand with a possessive air.

Chuck opened his mouth to reply, but before he could get the words out, Sarah tugged on his elbow and began to drag him down the hallway to their room, calling out as they went, "Oh, Ilsa, it only gets better from here, trust me."

Casey chuckled as he watched his partner manhandle his friend. "Shall we, Mrs. Casey?" he said to Ilsa. He released her hand and tucked it into a crooked elbow, fishing around in his pocket with the other hand for the room key card.

"By all means, Mr. Casey," she replied, and they moved down the hall in the direction opposite from Sarah and Chuck to the honeymoon suite that had been reserved for them.

Sarah made a mental note to ask the concierge where they had gotten the carpet. The one in the bathroom. The one with the soft, thick pile. It tickled her skin, creating the most delicious tingling sensation that complemented the tingling sensation along the trail of kisses that her husband was expertly laying along the side of her neck, down past her ear, along the bottom of her jaw and down to her collarbone and beyond.

"Mmmmm, Chuck, I really did want to have a bath, you know," she purred as he continued on his osculatory journey.

Chuck paused just for a moment to mumble into the warm skin of her belly. "You're not dirty enough yet," he said.

Sarah could feel his lips curve into a smile, barely touching her. She raised a hand to her hair and arched her neck and the small of her back as Chuck grasped her waist, a hand just above each hip, and began in earnest to show her just how much he adored her.

For Sarah, the hotel's bathroom carpet seemed to be turning into Aladdin's magic carpet as she reached her other hand down and tangled her fingers in her husband's hair. She let herself go and they flew away together on their sensual journey.

Later, as Sarah relaxed, happily exhausted, in a bathtub full of scented bubbles, she tried not to drift off. She let a ghost of a grin flash across her face as she recalled why, not half an hour earlier, Chuck had declared her ready for her bath. His eyes had opened wide, his mouth forming a shocked "O" as Sarah took her turn. The wine, the festivities, even the tensions of the day finally releasing had all served to give them both a second wind and, it seemed, a second honeymoon, and they explored each other as though it were their first honeymoon more than ten years previously.

Finally, Chuck, ready to admit that he needed a break, had left Sarah on their bed covered lightly with a sheet while he went to draw the bath for her. After he had added the bubble bath, making the tub look like some frothy concoction from a soda fountain, he returned and picked Sarah up, carrying her gently to the bathroom and placing her into the hot water up to her chin.

"I'll be back in a few minutes," he said, blowing her a kiss before turning to leave the room.

Sarah was more than a bit disappointed that he hadn't joined her but decided to try to enjoy her bath without him. Maybe she could entice him in later on. After she had rested a bit more. Yeah.

When Chuck returned about twenty minutes later, he snuck into the bathroom so stealthily that Sarah almost didn't hear him before he was in the tub with her. She jolted a bit and tried to sit up when he raised a foot to bring it over the edge of the tub, but he put a gentle hand on her shoulder before climbing in completely. They sloshed the water around quite a bit but managed to avoid flooding the floor as Chuck maneuvered around so Sarah was lying on top of him face-to-face in the water, his back propped against the end of the bathtub.

"Where were you?" Sarah murmured into his neck, now a bit wet and soapy tasting on her tongue.

"Just arranging something for later," he replied. He tightened his arms around her and settled in, happy just to hold her close.

Sarah pulled her head back a bit so she could look into Chuck's face.

"Is the water still warm enough? I think we've lost all the bubbles."

She began to squirm, intent on fixing the situation, but Chuck held tight until she quieted down again.

"Shh, shh," he whispered, "it's okay, I don't want to be in here too long. I just wanted to feel you all slippery."

Sarah, now a bit rested, closed her eyelids halfway and let her blue eyes smolder a bit. "You mean like this?" she asked.

Squirming and sliding and snaking around inside Chuck's embrace, she watched his face as he tried in vain not to react.

"Woman," Chuck groaned, "you're going to kill me."

"Well," Sarah quipped as she continued with her program of slow torture, "at least when they carry you out feet first you'll have a smile on your face."

And, yes, not much later, there was a little bit of a flood in the bathroom.

After Sarah and Chuck had climbed out of the tub and dried each other off with the hotel's big, fluffy towels, they put on comfortable terry robes and went back into the bedroom. When she walked through the door, Sarah gasped in surprise at what awaited her there.

Chuck had somehow taken delivery of dozens of long-stemmed red roses while Sarah had been snoozing in the bathtub, and the vases were placed all over the room. As well, the covers had been pulled up on the bed and its surface was strewn with red rose petals. Some candles had also been lit and put on various surfaces, the shifting light giving the darkened room a mysterious cast.

Beside the bed on a room service trolley was a champagne bucket with a bottle of Veuve Clicquot and two flutes, each with a red satin bow tied around the stem. Beside them, a bowl of large red strawberries beckoned invitingly.

But what finally captured all of Sarah's attention was the large rectangular blue velvet box that lay next to the bowl of strawberries, and she walked over and reached out to brush the surface of it with her fingers.

Sarah turned her head to gaze at Chuck, her eyes beginning to glisten in the flickering light as a sheen of tears collected there. He moved over beside her and urged her to sit down on the edge of the bed next to him before reaching out and picking up the blue box. Levering the lid open, he displayed the necklace inside, a string of classic pearls.

"One for each year since we met," he explained softly as he removed the necklace from the box.

Sarah stood and dropped her robe to the floor, then turned her back to Chuck and glanced coyly over her shoulder. He stood too and looped the necklace under her chin and waited for a moment so she could gather up her still-wet and tangled hair into a knot on the top of her head.

After Chuck had fastened the clasp, he turned Sarah around to face him again. It was his turn to feel the rush of tingling now as Sarah undid his robe and pushed it from his shoulders and to the floor. She had never looked lovelier to him, still a bit wet, her hair a mess, with the pearls glistening against her smooth skin, her eyes saying so much to him.

Chuck grasped onto the covers and pulled them back, scattering rose petals everywhere, and they sank to the bed together, looking into each other's eyes, each one marveling how this night was bringing them closer together, even closer than they had been that morning.