Ellysetta lifted her skirts and dipped a slender foot in the water. A wave crashed, sending spray and sand flying to soak the hem of her gown.

"That is not quite the right attire for a visit to the ocean," Rain said. He summoned Earth and wove it. Her heavy silk dress shifted, becoming a light, flowing white robe and gown that blew back in the breeze and molded to her body in ways that made his heart beat a little faster. She glanced down and gasped, and her arms slapped into place to cover all her most interesting bits. He grinned. The robe and gown were sheer and he had not spun undergarments.

She scowled. "This is not what I would call being `very, very good.' “

"That is a matter of perspective, shei’tani. From where I'm standing, it looks very, very good indeed.”

"Ninnywit”

"Happy mate," he corrected. He spun Earth again. His weapons disappeared and re-formed in a neat pile on a blanket spread beneath the broad fronds of a nearby pella tree. His leathers were transformed to a robe and loose trousers as flowing and sheer as her garments. Unlike her, he didn't try to hide his bits, not even the one growing more interesting by the moment. Her eyes went wide. "And impatient groom," he added with a shrug and another grin.

It felt good to stand in the sun and laugh with his truemate as though neither of them had a care in the world. Too good, almost. The gods were rarely so kind for long.

He jumped to his feet and held out a hand. "Come swim with me.”

She hung back. "If I get in the water in this outfit, the cloth will turn completely transparent.”

"I know, and I'm looking forward to it more than you can imagine.”

Her cheeks turned a pink so bright it put the pella tree's blooms to shame.

He laughed and swept her up into his arms, twirling her around in circles several times. "You bring me such joy." He kissed her until they were both breathless, then tugged her once more towards the waves. "Come. Swim with me.”

"You're serious.”

"You've never seen the ocean as a Fey sees it. I'd like to share the experience with you." That was part of what he had been doing during their courtship bells, sharing with her the joys of being Fey. Showing her in every way he could that for all the difficulties and danger that came with being his mate, there were great rewards, too.

She hesitated for a moment, then put her hand in his and let him lead her into the surf.

Yet another little act of courage. There'd been so many in the last few days. She was still so innocent-she likely always would be in some ways-but beneath that innocence was a spirit of adventure. For years, Ellysetta had suppressed every hint of it, wanting desperately to be the modest, obedient daughter she thought her parents expected, but now, like a tairen kitling driven by an instinctive yearning for the sky, she was learning to spread her wings and fly. He encouraged her, true, but the effort, the desire, was all hers.

He tossed his robe to the sand, leaving only the thin trousers covering him from waist to ankle. She stared at him for several long moments, a look he could only describe as hunger on her face, and then, with a slow deliberation that nearly drove him mad, she shrugged off the outer robe he'd woven for her, leaving only the simple shift, held up by two narrow straps. The tops of her br**sts rose above the bodice, alluring curves that drew attention to the small points of her ni**les thrusting against the thin fabric. The bodice flowed down into fuller skirts that swept across her ankles and trailed behind in a short train.

It was Rain's turn to stare, and his look wasn't merely hungry-it was ravenous.

She lifted a brow, cast a siren's look over her shoulder, and dove into the waves.

"Spit and scorch me." Shaking himself free of his dazed paralysis, he closed his mouth and dove after her.

A simple weave of Air and Water let them both breathe under the water and see with as much clarity as they did on the surface, and together they explored the secrets of the world hidden beneath the waves. Sunlit reefs not far off the sandy shores gave way to deeper waters with mysterious caves and undulating fields of shimmering kelp alive with darting fish and other sea creatures.

In the glittering aqua depths, Ellysetta's hair shone like waving fans of coral. Her sheer gown was molded to her and the skirts fluttered languidly in the current, teasing him with flashes of smooth, pearly skin-a thigh, a calf, the delectable curve of her buttock, and the soft, rounded fullness of her br**sts tipped with the darker circles of small, puckered ni**les. He swam slightly behind her to torment himself with the view As he watched, she knifed downward through the water, her hand reaching out towards a school of rainbow-colored fish swimming near the kelp beds. They scattered quickly when her questing fingers came too close. Bubbles of air billowed around her as she laughed and chased after them again.

Even with the long-and very pleasingly transparent-skirts of her gown trailing behind her, she swam as if she'd been born to it like the Sea Folk who inhabited the warm waters of the western ocean. He would take her to meet them too. As delighted as she was by this small bay, he knew she would adore the Sea Folk, with their glittering tails and long, flowing hair that came in all the shades of the sea.

«Look!» Ellysetta called.

She reached down to the sandy ocean floor and lifted a large shell the size of both his hands. It was oval-shaped with long spikes curling back from the mouth, and it had a wide, broad lip colored a deep opalescent blue, with streaks of green and purple. The snail that had once occupied the shell was long gone.