She stirred as she felt the cool morning air around her, but stopped in disbelief when she recognized the warm and secure feeling of her gallant soldier's embrace. It took her a moment to take it in…it had been so long since she had last felt the amazing comfort that waking to his touch brought her. She sighed, snuggling herself back into the crevice by his neck and relaxing under his loose hold, sliding her fingers to his chest.
His deep and rhythmic breathing soothed her, warm breath licking at her face like the gentle kisses she knew so well. Weariness was beginning to overtake her again…inhale…exhale…a soft and unbroken rhythm, just like the way his fingers would tenderly massage her…like the way he would stroke her long golden locks, letting them slip through his fingers like silk ….She slowly let herself fade into sleep once more…
Link sighed as he slowly awakened, tightening his embrace for a moment before carefully nibbling at her ear, never having to open his eyes. She sighed, failing to respond in any other way. “Odd”, He found himself thinking, “She should be up by now…” A smile began forming upon his lips, “Well, this is new…” Slowly he placed a hand atop the delicate fingers pressed lightly to his chest, closing his own fingers about them. “Zealous,” He whispered into her ear, “are you awake...” his lips nearly touched her cheek as he spoke, “…my love?”
He played with the last words, hoping that by chance she would call him on addressing her as something other than an odd adjective of his choice; thus, revealing herself. Still nothing.
He waited for a few more moments, listening to the leaves outside in the forest. The sun shone in warm upon them, and a joyous blue sky was greeting them through the window. It looked to be a beautiful day. The young soldier took a deep breath, exhaling slowly and turning his attention back to the princess. Disbelief filled him as he looked upon her. Her crystalline blue eyes were peacefully closed, and the sun shining on her golden hair made the long and luxurious locks shimmer like a beacon as they trailed down her delicate body, until disappearing under the covers.
Her fair skin was white as snow, and seemed almost to reflect the light, contradicting beautifully with the ruby red lips upon her face. Lips reserved especially for him. Lips that he knew would remain only his for eternity. He slowly and carefully let the tips of his fingers touch to her face, gently giving her cheek a light caress and letting his fingers linger upon her soft lips.
He could not believe that this beauty belonged to him. He could not believe that he was the only soul upon the planet to have kissed those delicate lips...to have savored their sweet, sweet taste. He, a mere peasant...how could such a beautiful heart beat solely for him…
He could not remember ever having had a chance to watch his lover as she slept, and marveled at how much more fragile and vulnerable she seemed. She had always seemed very frail to him…but now it seemed as if a single unwary touch could make her shatter like glass. He examined the fingers he gently held in his hand. They were slender and fair, as flawless and as delicate as the rest of her body. They weakly curled about his powerful, heavily calloused, and battle-worn palm, and were still ever so lightly pressed to his chest.
The young soldier laid with the beautiful princess for what seemed forever, soon yawning and releasing his hold on her, stretching his arms toward the ceiling and slowly sitting up. He smiled at her as he stood, taking one more look at her. His eyes caught her blood-red lips once more, and he sighed, kneeling down beside her and pulling the blankets around her, letting his breath touch her as he gazed upon his sleeping beauty. He couldn't help but take another deep breath as his heart began to flutter, forming a smile once more and silently laughing at himself. “Zelda, how is it that even in your sleep you take my breath away…”
With that, he came to the realization that he couldn't leave without what he knew he wanted, and touched his fingers to her chin, gently parting her lips just slightly, so that he might have just a taste. He smiled to himself, shaking his head at his own helplessness when it came to his lover. Then, he gently kissed those ruby red lips, pulling away after only a moment-- but then let his lips fall to hers a second time.
Slipping his tongue through the small entrance he had created for himself, like a honeybee searching for sweet nectar, he stole a quick taste of her mouth, pulling away after only a few seconds and smacking his lips. Again he shamed himself over his lack of self-control with a grin, standing up. “Rest up, my Zelda…” He spoke to her softly as he turned the doorknob, closing the door behind him after a few moments.
He emerged into the other room where Hara sat at the small wooden table sipping coffee. “Finally, you're up!” Link ran a hand through his wild blond hair in embarrassment as she spoke. “It's already 9 o'clock!” She gestured for him to sit down as she scolded him. “Oh, and you should really get yourself cleaned up! Your hair is a mess!” He sat down across from her, red with embarrassment. Truth be told, now that he thought about it he hadn't even had a fresh change of clothes in quite some time. “Also, what did you call her?”
Link looked confused, raising an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“Your girlfriend. As you came out I heard you call her something. You said something like, ‘rest up, my Zelda.'”
“Oh…” Link flinched slightly and then thought for a moment, twiddling a fork on the table.
“It…it's just a nickname.”
“Really?” She too raised an eyebrow, “I really don't see how you get that from ‘Cecilia'. Why the name ‘Zelda'? Isn't that the princess' name?” She smirked slightly, trying to conceal it.
“I…well…yes,” he repeated the words, “but it's just a nickname.”
“But how did you come up with it?”
“We didn't, really.”
“So one day at random you just woke up and decided to address your girlfriend by the same first name as the Princess of Hyrule?”
“Um…yes.” He flinched as the fork he had been fiddling with fell to the floor. “I…” He bent in his chair to pick up the fork from the floor and laid it on the table. “I…am going to go and get cleaned up.” He then quickly rose from his chair.
“Oh!” Hara raised a hand for him to wait. “I have some extra clothes that you could probably wear tucked away here somewhere, don't ask how I got them!”
“Um…” The young soldier shrugged and followed her as she began to scurry out of the room, “alright.”
Link's feet crunched in the leaves as he made his way through the forest, carrying the clothes that Hara had given him in one hand and breathing in the cool forest air. He hadn't paid much attention to the clothing that was given to him; all he knew from his glance at it was that it was white. He truly didn't care what he wore; he just wanted something other than the ragged brown pants that he had been given at the castle. The sun was hot and warm, and even as early as it was the temperature was already rising rapidly.
Soon a small but deep crater like lake fed by the cool river that ran through the forest came into view. The sun was glinting beautifully off of it, and the young soldier let out a sigh at the sight of it. He ran a hand through his hair before quickly placing the attire Hara had given him onto the rocky bank and stripping out of his tattered clothing. He then dove into the water, completely submersing himself.
He swam about for a moment before emerging and taking a gasp of air, shoving his wild blond hair from his face with one of his powerful hands and letting the warm sun reflect off of himself. He then inhaled slowly, filling his lungs with the crisp forest air, letting it out with a deep sigh before diving into the water again. The cool water was welcoming to him, soothing to his entire body and cleansing his mind of worry.
The young soldier had been swimming for about ten minutes, when he heard someone approaching from ashore. He froze, looking intently for whoever it was. “Hello?” His voice called smoothly into the trees.
“Link?” A familiar, soft voice spoke back to him, the soldier knowing instantly who it was. Zelda… He smiled to himself, remaining silent. The figure soon emerged... and sure enough, there was his princess, carrying some clothing just as he had done. Hara must have a regular store at her place! He smirked at his thoughts.
Zelda's eyes caught sight of him, and she flushed for a moment. “I…sorry, Link!” She hid her face as she spoke.
“Don't worry about it! I'm just glad it was you and not someone else!” He laughed, swimming towards her and the bank. “Now…” He stopped at the edge of the water and let his arms rest on the bank, still in up to his chest, “aren't you coming?” His smile was mischievous, almost a smirk.
The tone of the soldier's voice made the girl shiver, but she smiled back at him. “O…Ok,” She blushed, “could you…could you get this for me?” She turned around, gesturing towards the ties that bound her in her silken gown.
“Why not…” Link shrugged, his grin widening. The princess sat to the ground, leaning back so that he could reach the ties. Immediately his dripping wet fingers touched to her back, making her jump and gasp.
“Link!”
“Shh…I'm sorry! It'll only take a moment…”
Zelda sighed, leaning back for him once more. “Ok…don't try anything funny.”
“Ok, ok…” With a few quick movements he had the gown untied, and the princess shivered at the soft and warm kiss upon her back that he gently gave her as he finished.
The girl then rose, preparing to slip away the gown. “Oh,” she looked back at Link, who was eyeing her intently, “do you have to watch?” He nodded, resting his chin on his hands in front of him. She sighed, meeting his eyes with a playful glare before she slipped her clothing away from her.
She approached the water a little nervously, her long, golden hair gingerly covering her breasts as she sat on the bank. “Come on in, Zelda, no one's here.” She blushed a bit as he spoke to her, feeling herself regaining the nerves that always engulfed her whenever she could feel the almost lustful desire in his voice.
She slowly lowered herself into the water, being caught in the young soldier's arms the moment she entered. Zelda's fingers tentatively touched to his slick chest, one of her hands slipping around his neck. She seemed to calm at the familiar contours of his body, the familiar touches that he was gracing her with soothing her even further. After a moment, however, he gently dipped her hair into the water. Her eyes closed, and she could feel his cool fingers gingerly touch to her face, slipping the remainder of her golden locks behind her and revealing her breasts.
She felt blood rushing to her face like a flood, nerves grasping her like the jaws of a beast as he lifted her head from the water. “You do have a very beautiful body…” She heard him speak softly, “there's no reason to hide it from me.” She gasped; closing her eyes as she felt his fingers gently touch to her breast.
“L…Link…” She managed shakily after a moment, looking up at him, noticing that he too had closed his eyes and was breathing deeply, his face slightly flushed. Her body was overwhelmed with pleasure, and she could barely support herself.
“It's alright, come here…” His voice was gentle, carefully placing one of his hands to her head, pulling her face to rest in his shoulder. As he drew her closer to him, she could feel just how deeply aroused he was. The princess' breathing was quick and labored, and her hands were weak around the young soldier's neck. His fingers moved slowly, his touch firm but wary…
Her heart was frantic as a hurricane…she wasn't sure how much more she could take. She was aware of nothing other than the Hero's touch. Savoring it…loving the feel of his gentle and heavily calloused hands…wet and slick, cool with the chilly water… yet somehow warming as they touched her. Yet she was afraid. Please don't Link…please don't… She thought about asking him to stop.
…wait. She was suddenly aware of the slick bottom of the lake, feeling her feet slipping as Link's body pushed against hers.
… “We're going to fall!” She knew it in her mind, but her lips were frozen, paralyzed by the heavenly magic that his fingers seemed to possess.
“Wha…ah!” SPLASH! The princess felt the cool water engulf her, hearing Link's muffled voice coming from above water as she pulled him down with her.
“Ack!” Link was first to find his way back to the surface, his golden blond hair blinding him. Zelda wasn't far behind, and emerged just in time to see the young soldier shoving the hair from his sapphire eyes, a huge grin on his face. “I guess,” His eye's caught the Princess's as soon as he spotted her approaching him from a few yards away, she too sporting a beaming smile, “I guess this just goes to show that this probably isn't the best…um, place…for that…”
“I…” She blushed, biting her lip. “I guess not. Are you about ready to get out? I'm freezing…”
He nodded, his eyes gazing back lovingly, “Me too,” with that he took her hand, leading the way to the shore as they shared a hearty laugh.
Zelda took a deep breath while Link wasn't looking. Thank you, goddesses.
Back to Part 19 | Continue to Part 21
