If she made another sound of pain, I would have no choice but to drag her into my arms and haul her back despite her protests.

“It’s only a few more minutes. We’re entering through a cave into our grotto that lies beneath the structure, so no one sees your plant.”

If she waltzed through the doors carrying that thing, my people would do something ridiculous. Like holding another vote about whether or not my mate was allowed to use birth control. As if they could stop her—or me—from bringing a damn plant inside.

Though I understood the reasons that we needed to breed, and agreed with them, there was no world in which I would ever force my female. Or allow anyone else to do so.

“Alright.” Aria winced with the next small roll of her hips.

Damn stubborn woman.

My patience ran out, and I grabbed her around the middle. She gave a weak protest, but I pulled her to my chest and channeled the water around us as I covered the distance between us and the castle rapidly. What would’ve taken her ten minutes took me mere seconds, and I wove through the underground caverns with ease before finding the entrance to my grotto.

The wall of water that would’ve been impenetrable for most let us through without pause, and I surfaced a moment later.

It took Aria a moment to clear the water from her system before she took a breath of air, and relief crossed her face.

I lifted her onto the solid edge of the library’s floor, and she dropped her plant beside her. Her palms rested on the wood, and she closed her eyes.

As much as I enjoyed seeing her bare breasts on display, I wanted her comfortable. So, I left her on the platform while I altered the flow of the tube that led up to my room in the castle. It only took a heartbeat to make it pull me through the grotto’s ceiling.

Leaving all of the water in the small pond in my room, I crossed the space smoothly. After entering the closet, I grabbed one of Aria’s new tops and went back to the grotto.

She eyed me warily when I surfaced in the lake at the top of the waterfall, but she didn’t say anything. She’d pulled her hair over her chest and was leaning back like she was trying to stretch.

“How are you feeling?” I asked, as I handed the fabric over.

She took it with an appreciative look, and I lifted myself to the platform beside her. Focusing my gaze on the waterfall, I gave her a moment of privacy to pull the fabric over her head.

“Sore,” she admitted. “Thanks for the ride, earlier.”

“Of course. It’ll take time for you to adapt to living as a merrae, even if your body has already finished the transition.”

“Has it?”