Warm steam scented with Elysian flower petals and sandalwood essence drifted gently through the royal bathing chamber. Aphrodite allowed the attendants to cleanse her body with soft silk cloths, washing away the remnants of wind and flight's dew from her beautiful skin.
Every inch of her smooth skin now exuded an intoxicatingly sweet fragrance, while the princess's long, silvery-gray hair was neatly combed until it fell like a curtain of silk.
After applying magically shimmering rose oil, the attendants helped her into a thin nightgown made of expensive, translucent pale-cream silk. The gown clung to her skin, clearly tracing the beautiful contours of her body—her slender waist, graceful hips, and breasts rising and falling with each held breath.
As she stood before a mirror carved with ancient runes, Aphrodite stared at her reflection in a daze. The nightgown was truly thin, barely concealing anything from view.
Before she stepped out, one of the attendants draped a thick, midnight-blue velvet cloak over her shoulders to shield her body from the chill of the palace corridor. Behind the mahogany door carved with Dravaryn's dragon emblem, Kaelum was waiting. The prince's chamber was vast, dominated by dark and golden hues, with a dim glow from magic crystals floating lazily in the corners of the ceiling.
A soft knock sounded against the door, followed by the guard's voice from outside.
"Prince, Princess Aphrodite has arrived."
Kaelum, who had been leaning against the edge of an intricately carved wooden table, turned his gaze toward the door. A faint, warm smile curved his lips. "Send her in."
The door opened slowly, revealing Aphrodite as she stepped inside hesitantly. The moment Kaelum's eyes caught sight of his wife, he seemed to forget how to breathe. Aphrodite halted, lowered her head for a moment in the traditional noble bow of the Fairy Clan, then lifted her face and offered him a sweet smile capable of melting even the hardest ice.
Aphrodite's heart pounded like the beat of a war drum as her fingers slowly undid the ties of her cloak. With a languid motion, the heavy cloak slipped from her shoulders and fell helplessly onto the thick carpet. All that remained was the thin silk nightgown, which revealed the beauty of her figure perfectly beneath the golden glow of the magic crystals.
Kaelum locked his gaze on Aphrodite's body. His firm, steady stride carried him toward the princess, erasing every inch of distance between them. Without hesitation, his powerful arm reached out and wrapped tightly around Aphrodite's slender waist, pulling her close until their chests met without a gap.
"It seems the gods were in an exceptionally good mood when they created you," Kaelum whispered in a deep, husky voice. His thumb gently brushed Aphrodite's flushed cheekbone, warmed by a soft rush of heat. He lowered his head further, inhaling the fragrant scent of flower petals wafting from Aphrodite's neck. "You carry all the beauty of Elythera within you."
Aphrodite's cheeks burned even hotter. Before she could string together a single word, Kaelum pressed their bodies even more intimately together. The prince's lips covered Aphrodite's—a kiss that began softly, grew demanding, then deepened into a sweet, heady embrace.
Aphrodite moaned softly into the kiss, winding both arms around Kaelum's neck as the prince's tongue gently swept across her lips, inviting her to drown in a sea of ever-rising passion.
Without breaking the kiss, Kaelum slipped one hand beneath Aphrodite's thigh and supported her back with the other, lifting the petite fairy effortlessly into his arms. Aphrodite instinctively tightened her hold around Kaelum's neck as he carried her toward the grand canopied bed.
Kaelum laid Aphrodite down with exquisite care on the soft mattress covered in red sheets, as though the woman beneath him were the most precious glass artifact in the entire kingdom. The dragon prince then climbed onto the bed, pinning Aphrodite beneath him without truly placing his weight on her. His sharp eyes gleamed gold, revealing the dragon instinct within him, fully awakened by desire.
Kaelum's warm fingers began tracing Aphrodite's jawline, traveling down her slender neck until they touched the thin straps of her nightgown.
"May I?" he whispered softly, asking permission with such sincerity that Aphrodite's chest trembled violently.
Aphrodite gazed into those golden eyes, finding deep sincerity and possessiveness within them. She nodded slowly.
"I'm yours, Kaelum..."
Her answer shattered the last of Kaelum's self-control. Slowly but surely, his fingers lowered the straps of Aphrodite's nightgown, parting the thin silk to expose the beauty of the fairy's body beneath the warm glow of their chamber. Kaelum lowered his head, leaving hot kisses along the line of her neck and collarbone before descending to Aphrodite's breasts. He did not forget to place his mark of ownership over his wife's chest.
"You will be mine forever, Aphrodite. Even in the next life."
Every brush of his lips and rush of hot breath made Aphrodite instinctively arch her chest, letting out a soft cry as Kaelum's fingers circled her waist and squeezed it gently. A wave of warmth and pleasurable numbness spread from Aphrodite's lower abdomen to her fingertips.
The natural magic in her blood seemed to respond to the radiance of Kaelum's dragon aura, causing faint glimmers of silver, gold, and red light to magically appear in the air around their bed, dancing as they wrapped around the entwined bodies of the two lovers.
Kaelum intertwined his fingers with Aphrodite's atop the pillow, locking their hands together tightly as he claimed her lips once more with increasingly deep and demanding passion.
Aphrodite's surrendering moans mingled with Kaelum's heavy breaths in the darkness of night. Amid the embrace of natural magic, the warmth of dragon aura, and the wild pounding of their racing hearts, their wedding night was etched into being as the union of two souls—not only sensual and scorching, but also filled with everlasting love and tenderness.
A mark of ownership from a Dragon heir was rarely bestowed upon a mate. Dragons could sleep with whomever they wished without giving them a mark of ownership, but Kaelum had chosen to give one to Aphrodite, marking her for life so that no one could ever separate them. Aphrodite was his destiny.
What Kaelum had done caused the night sky to blaze with golden light. Atherion and the other Dragon descendants witnessed it. Atherion clenched his jaw. Kaelum always knew how to make everything his.
Yet the Sky Guardian Clan sensed something the gods had warned them about. One of them reported,
"Aphrodite's seal will be released. Prince Kaelum Drakhar has given it power."
While Kaelum and Aphrodite savored the intoxicating passion of their wedding night, the white mages in the sky pondered how to separate them.