Though it was getting late, he did not get out of bed lest he wake her. She was even more beautiful as she slept, and he liked just holding her warmth against him and watching her slow and steady breathing. As she began to wake though he could not help but let his hands explore more, sweeping his palms over her back, her thigh, her arms in a prompt for her to open her eyes. He was going to miss those gray-blue orbs when he left. He hated even the thought of leaving her though.

Her eyes blinked open and her head shifted to look up at him. He could not control the light purr that escaped him. He was falling for her too hard. He continued to sweep his hands over her soft skin and she yawned before touching her palm to his chest. She had said that she loved him last night, and he had to wonder if she had meant it.

As they laid there, she began to play with the bone ring on his finger and he had to ask, "If I could free you from the elite, would you be my mate?"

"Like, marry you?"

"It is similar, yes." He tried his best to control his anxious heartbeats as they began to quicken. "Would you be my mate?"

A soft smile crept to her lips, and then she said, "Yes."

He pressed his forehead to hers gently, taking in her scent. She would be his, if only he could get her away from the elite. Ien'heru rubbed his mandibles over her face gently, as though giving her light kisses, as he trilled. He didn't know how to do it though, didn't know how to get her from the elite. Ien'heru wrapped his arms around her back, pulling her chest flush against his.

He had some time to think at least, and so he asked, "Do you trust me?"

"Yea."

"Then I wish to teach you how to swim, and conquer any other fears you may have."

Cassarah replied with a hesitant, "Alright."

He breathed in another dose of her scent, committing it to memory before he pulled away from her. Then he directed the ship to the nearest beach that he knew of, and returned to feed her breakfast. He could tell that she was still nervous about it, but as soon as the ship landed, he tugged her outside. No mate of his would be afraid, or incapable of something as simple as swimming. Behind them was a swampy area of sand and small trees, and in front of them was a green ocean farther than the eye could see.

She drug her feet as he pushed her towards the water, but when he purred to her he could tell her muscles were relaxing. The green water bobbed up and down and waves formed to crashed to the beach. He could tell that her heart rate was rising, a mini panic attack coming on, and so he wrapped his arms around her. The water was only up to her knees, but her eyes were focused on the churning, angry ocean. While she calmed, he payed attention to the motion of the waves to time when it was best to enter the ocean.

When it was time, he tossed her on his back with her arms around his neck, and he swam out into the open water. The farther out he swam, the tighter she gripped him. Her heart was beating rapidly as she glanced behind them at the beach. Her legs wound around his torso. He did not like to see her so frightened.

"Why are we swimming out so far? Can't we stay closer to the beach?"

"It is best to get farther out to sea then so close to the beach where the waves break, or you'll tumble."

Away from the slope of the beach, there seemed to be no bottom to the ocean. It was only cold and empty, dark water. She was afraid, but he knew that tiny pups could learn to swim and so he would teach her, despite her fear. He held her torso as he instructed her to paddle with limbs under her, then they moved on to kicking her legs out and how to move her arms through the water at her sides. Ien'heru instructed her to relax and breath deeply, as the short and shallow breaths she was taking only made her body want to sink.

When she was finally getting the hang of it, he would swim away from her and she would follow him. He showed her how to float on her back in case she got tired. She was not a great swimmer yet, but with practice she would be. She even seemed to be enjoying it almost. Inch by inch, he brought her back towards the beach where the waves were rising higher.

The water began to toss her up and down, and her fears returned. Ien'heru kept a firm grip on her as he brought her in front of the waves. They watched the water rise up towards them and they swam towards the wave. Both of them were carried up on top of the wave before it spilled over and the water smoothed back out so they were gently spilled towards the beach. As another came, they swam forward and again were sucked up to the top of it before it spilled over. He did this over and over with her, just getting her accustomed to the movement before he let her go on her own.

He made sure to stay close to her and warned, "If a bigger wave comes in that is too far over your head, hold your breath and strongly swim into the middle of the wave. Don't try to go over it; go through it."

She did as he directed, but she must have been getting worn out as she was slowly backed up closer to the beach every time. He reminded her, "Farther from the beach is better. Stay up here with me."

She stayed close to him for a while only to be washed closer to the beach again. She swam up into the wave, but then was washed back farther, closer to the beach. When a wave went over her head, she tried to swim through it but it was too close to the beach and already spilling over. He could have grabbed her, but knew she was in no danger. Falling was a part of learning, he knew that picking them back up afterwards was better than preventing the fall. She tumbled in the water.

He watched the wave engulf her, spinning her and then throwing her. As soon as she surfaced, another wave hit and did the same thing, and she was eventually thrown up onto the beach. He hoped at least that she had held her breath the whole time. As he reached her, he lifted her up against him and then sat down with her in his lap higher up on the beach. She was shaking.

"You did good, Cassarah. You are safe, unharmed. You did good." he cooed to her. "There is nothing to fear, and when you are ready we will go back out there."

She shook her head, but he only held her tighter. As her heart rate calmed, his fingers worked at untangling her knotted, sand-filled hair. He purred and hugged her to him, and eventually she looked up at him with an angry glare. She was probably mad at him for letting it happen, but it was necessary.

To pull her thoughts from the event, he asked, "Would you want pups?"

"...Children?"

"Yes. Would you want to bear my children?"

"...I don't know...I never would have in Brazil. I watched my family be torn apart and I would not be able to afford a child even."

"I am of high status. I have proper funds for you and many children. I know you will bear very strong offspring. I want to have pups with you. I want to protect and provide for them."

"I guess, maybe, we can have one."

"I wish to have a big family, ten pups."

Her jaw dropped and then she wiggled out of his grasp to stand up and kick some sand on him, "Ten? That's outrageous!"

He let out an amused trill, "Not all at once."

"Still, that's crazy. I could have three at the most."

"Five."

"Four, maybe."

He stood up and grabbed her around the waist, "Four then. I will not stop mating you until we have four."

Her cheeks blushed crimson, but she did not reject the idea. They walked the beach for a while as his mind thought about their future, then he pushed her back into the water for another lesson. She loved him. She would agree to be his mate, and she would bear his pups. Now, all he had to do was actually made her his. The elite was not going to take it well. And what if the elite wouldn't let her go? What if he couldn't win her from him? He did not want to think about it, but he knew it would destroy her. The only reason she seemed to listen to the elite was because of Ien'heru, and with him gone he worried that she would go back to her disobedience and the elite would terminate her.