During the ride home from the airport, John had Ellie so worked up that she had trouble parallel parking his car. They were both so wound up with want for each other that he left his bags and jacket in the car, grabbed her blue purse and hauled her up into his strong arms. She wrapped her legs around his waist and rested her arms on his shoulders as she kissed him. He was having trouble seeing, but knew the path to the apartment courtyard so well he could do it with his eyes closed. Her lips were fused with his now and she was mewling and wiggling against him.

"Hang on hot stuff, we're almost there."

Chuck and Sarah had just cleaned up the dishes from their dinner and had decided to sit out in the courtyard and sip a glass of wine together. Chuck was mesmerized as he watched the wine stain Sarah's lips a deep claret. He stared at her and thought how badly he wanted to kiss her and was just about to, when he heard voices.

"Oh John, I want you so bad Baby, hurry, hurry, I need you now."

"I'm going as fast as I can, Ell, and since you've already got your hands down my pants, why don't you fish out my keys."

"You're my bad girl aren't you." John seductively growled. "And you know that isn't my keys that your grabbing."

"Em hmm. But you like it don't you," Ellie could be heard purring.

Sarah and Chuck exchanged horrified looks and glanced up just as The Casey's rounded the corner. John had an armful of very aroused Ellie. Chuck smirked at Sarah who just wrinkled her upper lip and mouthed "Eww."

Sarah could see the gleam in Chuck's eye and knew what was coming. He was going to foolishly mess with his brother-in-law/handler/business partner/friend, when said friend was thinking of one and only one thing. Banging his wife until neither of them could walk.

"Chuck, leave them alone." Sarah hissed. "You don't want Casey to hurt you do you? If you mess with them now, he's more than likely to toss you into the fountain. You know how weird and possessive he gets with her, just leave well enough alone."

"Oh come on Sarah, it'll be fun. Don't you think I've earned the opportunity to mess with him just a bit?"

"They're about ready to put on a sex show here in the courtyard and that is something I really, really don't want to see. Just let them be!"

John spotted his brother-in-law first. 'Great, he's going to want to chit-chat.' He quickly wrested the keys from Ellie's hands and was just about to open the door when Chuck strolled over. Ellie was now practically dry humping him on the spot.

"Hey Buddy, how was the trip?"

'Just answer him quickly and he'll go away...' "Fine, it was fine."

"So, did you get everything straightened out?"

"Yeah. It's all good."

"Hey Ellie-Bell, Do you two want to have some wine with us?"

His sweet sisters eyes flashed like Satan as she growled "Buzz. Off. Chuck."

Well, he'd actually gotten more out of John than he expected, considering the circumstances. But it was Ellie's deep growl that surprised him and made him take a step back.

"I see how it is. Well, you two just go do whatever it was, um, that you were going to do and we'll chat later."

He couldn't help but make a snarky comment about John holding her purse. "Nice purse Casey, it matches your eyes." All he got from Casey was a grunt and the door slammed in response.

--

By the time they'd gotten into their apartment, Ellie was already yanking off his shirt and opening his belt and fly and tugging her dress over her head and tossing it on the hallway floor. She wanted her husband so badly. She rubbed her heat against his and mewled with pleasure. She licked at his jaw and kissed his cheeks and then went back to plundering his mouth. She felt him lower her onto their bed and kick off his shoes, socks and pants. Finally he was in her. They both gasped in pleasure and forced themselves to slow down and luxuriate in each other.

John rolled them both onto their side and tugged her back up close to snuggle into his warm chest. His hands travelled her body and settled in on her breasts as they dozed, both exhausted.

"I'm so glad you're home. I know it was only two days, but it felt like two months."

"Me too, from now on, I'm bringing you with me when I get called back to D.C. I don't care if you have to use vacation time or call in sick, you're coming with me."

He nuzzled her neck and kissed her head. "Beckman promoted me like I figured she would. And, Mrs. Casey....she had no problem with us being on House Hunters. In fact, it's her favorite show too. That's kind of weird, don't you think?"

"No, it's not weird, most women love HGTV and apparently many men do as well." She rolled around to face him. Kissing him in congratulations. "I'm glad she realized how hard you've worked at your new cover. I'm so proud of you John. My very own Lieutenant Colonel! How should we celebrate?"

"I think we should stay right here for the next week." He rolled onto his back and pulled her on top of his body.

"Sir, yes Sir!" She responded as she saluted him, straddled him and sheathed him in her wet heat.

John closed his eyes and his gut coiled again as her velvety heat enveloped him. He opened his eyes and watched her as she moved on him. She was grace and perfection. She was resting her hands on his chest and smiling down at him. The love he felt for her surged and sparked as she rode him to a powerful orgasam. "God Ellie," he panted "I can't get enough of you!"

"Me either, Baby, stay here and I'll go make us a something to eat" she stood and threw on his shirt that he'd tossed onto the floor.

He'd seen women in haut-couture evening gowns, women in strip clubs wearing the most outrageous costumes, women on the beach in various states of undress, women in sexy business suits and none of them compared to his beautiful wife wearing one of his shirts. He rolled on his side and glanced at their wedding picture sitting on the dresser. He was one lucky son-of-a-bitch he was. He honestly did have faith in a higher power as someone really was watching out for him. Given everything he'd done, for the love of his country, he'd still been rewarded and entrusted to love, honor and protect this lovely woman and make her happy. He dozed off to sleep with a smile on his face. Life was good.

Ellie was singing as she threw together a ham sandwich and heated some soup. All was right in her world. Her husband was home, he'd earned a promotion and they were going to find a new home for the next phase in their life. Her heart warmed as she came back into their bedroom to find him sound asleep. She knew he'd be hungry, but decided he'd wake on his own when his stomach signaled it was time to eat. For now, she went into the living room, curled up in a blanket and nibbled at her sandwich and turned on House Hunters. Her mind began wondering what she would wear for each outing. How would she do her hair, what type of accessories would she wear with her outfit and what about John, her mind mentally perused his wardrobe and she grinned. He always looked good in whatever he wore. She figured contemporary casual should do the trick for them both.

John's growling stomach woke him from a sound sleep. 'What time is it anyways?' They'd gotten home about six that evening and had spent the better part of the evening in bed. The clock said it was eleven. He knew Ellie had the next day off, so he threw on some sweat pants and a t-shirt and joined her on the couch. She took out his sandwich and heated his soup and they cuddled together as he ate.

"So, Beckman is interested in buying my townhouse. She says it's perfect for her kids. This is going to make things a lot easier not having to deal with that. She also gave me the guidelines on buying our place. It's pretty much what I expected, no surprises. What have you found in the way of homes?"

"The last two days, I've seen four that are just beautiful. I took some pictures on my phone for you to see."

"Do you feel you've seen enough?" he asked as he fed her a bite of his sandwich.

"Yes, there's quite a lot out there and now is a great time to buy but these four were the ones that had almost everything we wanted and are in the right area." She got up and grabbed her phone and returned to sit next to him. She had a pad of paper with some notes on it. "They all have three car garages and one has four. Two of them have pools and they all have outdoor kitchens like you wanted. The one with the four car garage is a two story so you can see the pictures first, as I know you were opposed to a two story. It's lovely though. Check it out."

She handed him her phone and rested her chin on his shoulder as he scrolled through the pictures.

She was right it was gorgeous, and was on a street in a gated community at the base of a hill. The garage was a tandem garage so it was deep enough to park four cars easily. They could use the extra space for storage. This one didn't have a pool so that was something they'd have to consider building at a later time.

"This one is nice. I like that there are no rear neighbors and the garage is huge. I'm still not sure if I want a two story though. What else do you have Babe?"

--

He had a short week and they planned to meet with Shelley on Friday after work to see the two story. She met them at the property and brought a producer from HGTV along to meet them. After the introductions, it was decided that they would tape the segments on two separate days. They pushed the two story to the back of their list and were instructed to not view the three remaining homes early. Their responses and comments would be recorded live then would be edited to fit the half hour time block for the episode. The producer interviewed them and asked a barrage of questions that would be used at the introduction of the show, as the hostess would give a background introduction for the viewers. Everything was set for the following weekend. They were to dress normal, act normal and in Ellie's case, she'd have to improvise and "act" a bit, as she'd already seen the three homes.

The next weekend approached quickly. Ellie met John at home after work and they spent an hour getting ready. She decided to wear her work clothes which consisted of a black skirt, black sweater and tall black leather high heeled boots. John kept to the basics. His khaki pants and a deep blue cashmere sweater. Ellie touched up her makeup and hair and decided they looked great and were ready for their close-up.

They met Shelley at the first house. There were several trucks on the street with camera crews and lighting people.

"Hey guys, you ready?" Shelley eagerly asked.

"Yes" they answered in unison.

Karen, the producer/director greeted them and gave them their instructions.

"Just try and ignore everything else and focus on the home and your first impressions. Don't worry, if you say something that bothers you later on, we can edit it out so just relax and have fun. Ellie, since you've already seen these homes try and act like you haven't. Share your opinions with each other. Also, if either of you get tongue-tied or don't feel like talking that much, no worries, we can dub in the hostess' comments if we need more dialogue. Okay, let's do this folks, let's find your home!"

Ellie smiled as she grabbed John's hand and they approached the first home.

"Wow, the front yard is beautiful. I love the landscaping." She was looking around excitedly.

John had already sized up the neighborhood and liked this location. It was in a gated community, which was a must and he liked that it was at the rear of a fairly large cul-de-sac which provided optimal security. No cars passing by, but rather anyone who drove into the cul-de-sac would be seen coming as well as going. He noted there didn't appear to be any rear neighbors and unlike the two story they'd seen, there wasn't a hill in the back yard. Who needed mud-slides and the possibility of stray hikers, or worse seeing into their home and yard. He wanted her bundled up safely and securely. A beautiful home, while nice, was an added bonus in his mind. She was the first and only priority for him.

"It's a nice quiet street. Nice view of the hills." He commented as they strolled up the front walk.

The home had a large, usable Mediterranean patio in the front that reminded John of the courtyard area they enjoyed at their apartment.

"I like this patio. I've never seen one in the front that is this big. You could build a fountain and have some furniture out here and it would be really nice." Ellie could see it in her minds eye. A pretty fountain, some comfortable furniture and some flowers and shrubbery.

"It reminds me of the fountain in the courtyard at the apartment," she continued.

"All we need are three or four nerds hanging around talking about Comic-Con and Tron and we'll be right at home," he playfully jabbed.

"John!" Ellie exclaimed as she worriedly turned to the camera crew. "You'll edit that part out right? He didn't really mean that..."

John was laughing now as he put his arm around her shoulder and kissed her hair, addressing Karen. "Yeah, you'd better edit that our or I'll get in trouble."

"You're already in trouble Mister! now behave or you're going to get it when we're done here," she whispered with a sexy smirk on her face.

"God I hope so, Babe, I hope so" he remarked with an evil glint in his eyes.

Shelley showed them the front of the house pointing out the huge picture widnows and the lovely tile inset medallion on the entry floor. The home had a mix of patterned Berber carpeting, large tiled walkways and foyers and custom hardwood plank style flooring in the kitchen and great room area.

John took it all in. "Wow, this is really nice Ell. I like the tile medallion in the entry way. I like the tall double entry doors as well. There's even a trap door to peek out of. I guess we'll have to give our guests a password to get in huh?"

Ellie looked momentarily confused for a moment and John realized she thought he was serious. "Kidding Babe, kidding," he whispered in her ear "Go try it out Babe..."

She went back outside and closed the door, rang the bell and he answered the door by first looking through the little trap door. "Just like Pirates of The Caribbean" he laughed. Give me the password, or I won't let you in," he joked using his best pirate voice.

"Sex" she coyly replied.

He opened the door right up with a huge grin. "Well come on in Sweetheart, now you're talking!"

Karen and Shelley giggled at their antics. They were having fun and flirting, and it was going to make for a great show.

They finished touring the home. So far, he liked it and it had everything on their list. It was only three years old and had four bedrooms plus a large office, four bathrooms, a three car garage, a pool, outdoor kitchen a high end chef's kitchen and Ellie's sunken, jetted bath tub. This one even had a grotto style waterfall on one side of the pool and an infinity edge on the other. There were no rear neighbors as they were on a bluff overlooking open space and another development below that. The garage would hold her BMW and his Crown Vic and he could use the third stall as a shop area. There was even room on the bedroom side of the home to expand and add the required safe room for weapon storage and sensitive material.

--

Later that evening they met Chuck and Sarah as well as Morgan and Ana for dinner and dancing. John wasn't one to normally enjoy clubs but he had to admit he'd gotten accustomed to going out once or twice a month with Ellie and their friends. He also never thought he'd so easily refer to their little group as friends, but that is exactly what they were besides being business associates.

He'd come to appreciate his brother-in-law for his intelligence and adaptability and low-key personality. Chuck wasn't so high strung and had gotten used to his position with the government. He and Morgan both were very adept at the computer end of the business, which was flourishing under their attention. Morgan wasn't as annoying once you got to know him. Casey actually found himself snickering at some of the things that came out of Morgans' mouth. He was still with Ana who was taming him ever so slowly and had relaxed around Ellie, realizing she wasn't out to steal Morgan from her. As for Sarah, even though she didn't spill her guts to him, she had basically confided to Casey that she loved Chuck but wouldn't say much more than that. Casey was proud of his partner. She managed to still be on top of her game while at the same time growing closer to Chuck as well as himself. She trusted Casey and often told him so. He knew that if the time ever came, for everyone including himself, he would retire before betraying that trust if need be.

Morgan was the first to greet them. "So, how goes the search for the perfect abode you two?"

"We saw a really nice place today. It had everything on our list" Ellie gushed.

Sarah was seated next to her and unleashed a barrage of questions as only she could. John and Chuck both proudly watched the two women converse easily and genuinely.

"So tell us about it," Sarah eagerly asked.

"Well, it had this beautiful tile medallion in the entry way. And an awesome front patio that was huge. If we put a fountain there, it would be just like our courtyard at the apartment. There were hard wood floors throughout the house and large tiles in the halls and baths and really nice carpeting in the bedrooms and living room. Honey, tell them about the kitchen."

"It was huge," he gestured with his hands as everyone listened. "It had two granite islands and one even had it's own prep sink. It had sub zero cooling drawers, two dishwashers, double ovens, and a double doored refrigerator that looked like a morgue it was so big."

Sarah grinned knowingly at John and Chuck. It was fun to see her normally stoic and sometimes sarcastic partner relaxed and enjoying himself. This was as close as she'd ever seen him "gush" about something, besides Ellie, when he'd asked her to marry him. She enjoyed the relaxed comfort they all shared now. She happily watched her partner continue describing the kitchen and joking with everyone.

"So, I said all we need are two or three more nerds talking about Tron or Comic-Con and we'll be right at home, then she threatened me! My own wife threatened to hurt me."

"What! My mild mannered sister is abusing her husband now! Ellie, this must stop, John is too sensitive for this type of treatment," Chuck chortled.

Everyone giggled as Ellie blushed.

"I only threatened you because you were naughty."

Casey waggled his eyes at her but laid his hand on top of hers and rubbed it lovingly with his thumb as he continued entertaining his family and friends with the story. "Then she turns to the producer and begs him to edit that part out so it won't hurt her little baby brother."

"Oh, you should have seen the pool, my husband is going to think he's Hugh Hefner. It looks like the pool at the Playboy mansion. It's so pretty."

Morgan gawked causing everyone to laugh at the expression on his face.

"So I guess we'll have to buy you a satin smoking jacket now Casey," Sarah laughed.

"Seriously you guys, it was so beautiful. We're going to see the other two tomorrow and then we make up our mind. I saw them with Shelley earlier, but I didn't look too closely. John is so funny, he's like a hawk. He doesn't miss a thing," she giggled. "He'll be able to tell which one is the best for us," she added with pride.

Sarah shared a glance with John and grinned at him. 'Yep, he was definitely a hawk' she mused.

An electronic dance song with a heavy bass driven beat was playing and she jumped up and grabbed Chuck by the hand. Morgan and Ana quickly followed leaving Ellie and John at the table.

"Come on Mr. Hefner, come and dance with me, I'll be your bunny," she suggestively purred as she stood and took his hand.

"Works for me" he happily replied as he followed her onto the floor.