Aquarian magic tingles through Vaela's body, shimmering across her skin as the charm in her chest releases its power. Her first step into the ocean feels like stepping onto the threshold of a new world.
The water, smooth as silk and as warm as a loving embrace, envelopes her. But instead of feeling soaked, she feels held, like her body and soul was being carried by the gentle embrace of the ocean itself.
With a tug of her hand, Kai pulls her, and they descend.
"Its beautiful!" she gasps as the ocean unfolds before them like a vivid dream.
They swim through castles of coral lit up by bioluminescence that flicker like underwater starlight, weave around towering forests of glowing kelp, glide with the currents of giant, luminous fish that sing for them like bubbly operas, a school of silver-sided eels swirl around them like living ribbons before glimmering into the darkness, and far below them, Vaela glimpses colossal shapes slowing shifting through shadow, ancient leviathans and creatures older than kingdoms.
Kai guides her through the forest-like tentacles of jellyfish the size of buildings, they race with pods of dolphins, their squeaks and clicks now sounding like joyful laughter. They mingle with mermaids, dance with sea nymphs, sing with sirens and explore ruins covered in strange glowing runes and algae-coated statues of otherworldly beings.
Vaela gulps, her senses overwhelmed by the sights and sounds, her body trembling from the magical movements and her mind pushed to the limits of logical understanding as it drowns in a new world of wonder.
"Kai… wait." she calls softly, her bubbling words somehow clear in the shimmering depths. "... I-I need a moment."
Kai nods without question, pulls her body against his, and they gracefully ascend to the surface.
The pair breach beside a small, uninhabited island surrounded by an endless moonlit ocean that stretches to the horizon in every direction. The island greets them with a small, narrow beach, neatly nestled between two tall cliffs covered in leaning palm trees.
They ascend the beach lined with strange, tropical trees with leaves that glow faintly, and as they move between the humming vegetation, Vaela gasps as her gaze falls onto a steaming waterfall where moonlit halos shimmer through its mists. The sounds of its splashing waters like a lullaby wrapped in velvet.
"Come…" Kai says gently. "I have one last thing to show you."
She nods, smiling.
He leads her up a smooth-stoned path etched with fading runes and strange symbols that seem to whisper to Vaela, like voices muffled in water.
At the end of the path, hidden behind hanging vines and twisted palms, they reach a hot spring covered in a moonlit mist of spiralling steam that creeps toward the sky.
"It's enchanted." Kai says with a knowing smile. "Legend says the first king of Aquesteria rested here after he had courted the spirit of the ocean."
Vaela smiles coyly as he gestures toward the hot spring.
"... I could use a break." she smirks as she slips out of her shorts and slowly climbs into the bubbling waters.
She breaths, then sighs deeply as her toes sink into the water. Its warmth soaks into her body, seeps into her bones and caresses the core of her being like the embrace of a long, lost lover.
"Gods… I could live in this." she groans as the heat loosens her muscles like melted butter.
Kai enters after her, his legs in the water, cradling her at her sides as he sits behind her on a stone ledge.
"Smooth…" she whispers as his fingers slide over her shoulders with a sensual softness that causes her to bite at her lips.
"I try…" he chuckles.
Under a sea of twinkling stars and covered in haze of steam, the hot spring sat in silence but for the gentle slap of a nearby waterfall and the sensual moans of a deeply relaxed Vaela.
Kai's fingers work slow, deep, rhythmical movements across her skin, tracking down her tension with infuriating precision as his touch releases involuntary, audible reactions.
Vaela, groaning, eyes rolled back and toes curling beneath the water, has completely surrendered her physical being to Kai's hands, and her mind is not far behind.
And then... he reveals his secret weapon.
He hummed.
A deep, gentle vibration pulses through Vaela's body like a trembling heartbeat as Kai hums a soft tune under his breath.
Then the words came… and Vaela's mind melted.
Like poetry written by the waves, he sings her a sea shanty that spoke of lust and longing and an unreachable love. His deep, smooth voice resonating through her like the rolling tides.
She opens her eyes, breath caught and turns her gaze up to him.
He sits behind her, bare-chested, moonlight dribbling across his moist skin as he sings softly, head tilted toward the stars and his closed eyes quivering. As his voice rose to higher notes, so too did Vaela's heart rise to her throat.
Her mouth curls into a grin.
"You beautiful bastard!" she thinks to herself.
She tries to think about it. She even tries to consider the consequences. But her critical thinking skills are overcome by Kai's princely presence and the siren-like, hypnotic beauty of his voice and visage.
Before she could stop herself, she shifts beneath the water's surface, silently slipping out of her bikini.
Then she rises with a slow, deliberate grace, steam clinging to her curves as her hair drapes down her body in wet, curling spirals.
He stops singing, mid note, his breath caught as his eyes slowly widen.
Kai, the princely charmer, the perpetually smooth talker, is left utterly speechless as Vaela stands before him, naked, silent and steaming, her mouth curled into a wicked smirk.
She crawls up the ledge towards him, dripping water and glistening in moonlight. He leans back instinctively, flustered, but thoroughly thrilled.
She looms over him, hands beside his hips, her body hovering inches from his, heat blooming between them like fire underneath their skin.
"Thank you…" she purrs, her lips brushing his ear. "... I needed this."
He tries to reply, but no words can escape him as she stares at him, biting her lip.
The moon slips behind a cloud as Vaela, wearing a devilish grin, slides her finger down Kai's bare chest.
And the Aquarium prince, flustered, quivering and thoroughly doomed… smiles back.