Chapter Two – a not-so-surprise visitor, and a taste of passion

I was sleeping fitfully when the clock above the mantel struck midnight. Sitting up beneath my blankets, I reached for the glass of water on my bedside table, but a hand grabbed my wrist and I shrieked.

"Shhh." Link released my wrist and placed the glass in my hand. As I drank, heart pounding with adrenaline both from the surprise and from that other, newer feeling – the one I wanted to explore – I felt his weight settle on the edge of my bed. I set the glass aside. My hand was trembling.

"You did come."

"Against my better judgment, yes. My princess, I do care for you, and I don't want you to feel slighted. I just… can't figure out a way to reconcile my feelings for you with my sense of duty to your father and the kingdom. I don't want to lose my position. I'm very happy being your knight."

He was obviously troubled; as angry as I was with my father these days, I could still understand Link's loyalty to him, and his desire to be the best knight he could possibly be. Link was a driven young man. His sense of honor and duty, of right and wrong, had been instilled into him from an early age by his royal guard father. I fumbled for my box of matches, found them, and lit the oil lamp on my bedside table. I turned the wick down low, to set an intimate mood, as I made my case for him to stay with me.

"But surely you know that I desperately need a friend, Link. A confidante. In my position, I feel like there is no one I can really confide in. You and I each have our own duties to perform, expectations to live up to. I know you can understand how I feel. Honestly, I am rather in awe of you and how you are already fulfilling your role. Your sword has acknowledged you as its master; my power will not come at my will. It defies me, evades me. Makes me look like a fool, really." I scoffed bitterly before continuing. "I'm so afraid of letting my people down when the crucial moment arrives. They won't just be disappointed in me; they'll be dead! It's so much to bear, and I am so terrified. I feel utterly useless, especially when Father won't allow me to do what I know I AM good at." In the dim lamplight, I found his hand and squeezed it, searching his face for understanding.

He moved closer to me, and reached up with the hand I wasn't holding, to cup my face in his palm. I pressed my cheek against his warm, callused skin as he replied. "I know, my princess. That is one reason why I came."

"And what other reason, or reasons, might you have?" My shame and sorrow were already melting away under his steady, reassuring gaze. That strange new feeling seemed to flush my entire body, but mostly the center of my being. Butterflies raged in my belly, my nipples tingled and stiffened, and something lower was starting to ache with a longing I didn't yet recognize.

"This," he whispered, and leaned in to kiss me of his OWN accord, pressing his soft, moist lips gently against mine. He withdrew long enough to search my eyes, to see if I was open to his advances. Of course I was. He kissed me again, harder, eagerly reaching around me and pulling himself closer to me.

"Wait," I said breathlessly. I made him stand up long enough for me to throw the covers back. "Join me under the blankets, so we can get closer."

He quickly kicked off his boots and snuggled in next to me, holding me in his strong arms as we lay face-to-face under the warmth of the blankets. Once again, he stroked my face, brushed my loose hair back, then propped himself up on one elbow, turning me onto my back, and rained kisses all over my forehead, my cheeks, even my nose. Then his mouth was on mine again, and my breath was coming in ragged gasps. Over and over he kissed me, bolder and bolder, and soon his tongue was tasting my lips, asking for entry, receiving it.

Passion, I thought dizzily. That's what this feeling is. He's setting me on fire with passion and desire. My arms wrapped around him, and I found myself reaching up under his tunic to feel the bare skin of his muscled back. He was so warm, so alive.

He moved down and began kissing my neck, and finding no resistance, he boldly ran his free hand over the front of my nightgown, his thumb finding my nipple and flipping back and forth over it. The pleasure was exquisite. My own hands surprised me by untying the laces of my gown to provide him easier access. He reached within, and it seemed his hot, sweating hand would burn right through my flesh. His mouth followed where his hand led, and I could not stifle my moan when he suckled my breast like a babe.

I tugged at his tunic but could not get it off myself; I was obviously inexperienced at such things. He sat up and removed his belt and the irksome garment himself, then lay back down and took me back into his arms, pressing himself against me from head to toe. "Princess..." he whispered, almost moaning the word. I felt something stiff and hot pressing me where I, too, was warmest. I was simultaneously curious and frightened; I knew from a certain medical text in the library that men had something extra in that vicinity, and I knew what it was for, but I'd never seen one outside of drawings, and I had certainly never seen how it worked! I wasn't sure I wanted to see it just yet, but I WAS ever so curious...

We were lying facing each other; I reached down with my free hand and touched it carefully, not wanting to hurt him. I suspected it might be sensitive, but I wasn't certain HOW sensitive. When he grabbed my hand and pressed it harder against him, practically devouring my mouth with his heated kiss, I boldly grasped it through his trousers to feel the shape of it. He moaned, and I let go instantly.

"Am I hurting you?" I whispered, embarrassed.

"No," he gasped, "it's wonderful. I've dreamed of this moment for so long, I can't believe this is really happening. I'm at your command, Princess, whatever you want from me. I just pray you don't stop."

Again my body flushed at his profession of devotion. I wanted to tell him to stop calling me Princess, and just call me Zelda, but somehow his subservience even in our intimate situation was endearing. I stroked his hair, tweaked his earring, smiled before kissing him and rolling him onto his back. I was straddling him, and I could feel that hard muscle right between my legs. He bucked me upward with his hips, and I bent forward over him, my hair dangling around our faces as I reached into his mouth with my tongue, searching for his, swimming in an ecstasy I had never known but wanted to continue to experience as much as possible. He held me at my hips, pressing gently and sensuously against me with his own.

We continued kissing, our mouths exploring each other's ears, necks, shoulders. He pulled my loose gown down around my upper arms, freeing my breasts. I felt exposed – no one had seen my breasts since I had been a child and needed to be bathed by a nursemaid – but the sense that he was feasting his eyes upon me was quite pleasurable. He was obviously enjoying the sight of me. I wrestled my arms out of the sleeves and let the gown hang around my waist. He lifted his head from my pillow and caught a nipple gently between his teeth, then sucked it into his mouth, his tongue rolling around it as he continued rhythmically pressing his hard muscle between my legs. The pleasure was building rapidly throughout my body, and I felt like I must burst soon.

Suddenly the most intense wave of ecstasy overcame me, followed by another wave, and another... centered around that aching place between my legs. A primal groan rose from deep within me, rising to a loud panting moan. I pressed my crotch back firmly against his hardness, met his every thrust, nearly weeping with the intensity of the pleasure, every muscle in my body rigid until the pleasure faded away, then I collapsed on top of him, sweating and weak. He was sweating, too, and our damp skins slid pleasurably against each other.

"Princess, how do you feel?" Link asked with a knowing tone in his voice, and I lifted my head and smiled at him, weary and happy all at once.

"I'm fine, my love. You have given me a pleasure I've never known before. Thank you."

Link smiled back, and something about his smile told me that HE knew what that pleasure was, and he was both pleased for me, and pleased with himself.

"What is that crafty smile for?" I teased, slapping his shoulder playfully. "Did you know that would happen?"

He cut his eyes to the side and smirked a bit. "I may have learned a few things from listening to the soldiers bragging in the garrison. It's actually kind of embarrassing to listen to sometimes," he confessed, "but I must admit I'm finding the knowledge useful this night."

I felt that mysterious muscle twitch beneath me, and now I HAD to see it, had to see the thing that had magically made my body explode with absolute pleasure. I flung off the covers and swung one leg off of him, crouching on my knees beside him as I fumbled with the laces of his trousers.

"My lady, are you sure?" He seemed a bit embarrassed, but I insisted, and he was not of a mind to protest further. I freed the beast and held it in my hand, marveling at the sight of his most private part exposed to my curious gaze. A musky, masculine, exciting scent rose to my nostrils. His hips were twitching involuntarily, and when I stroked it intuitively, he moaned and rested his head back against the pillow.

"Do you like that, my Link?" I teased gently, continuing my stroking. When my thumb touched the tip of it, it was sticky with fluid. My mind was racing, remembering what I had read in the medical texts. This hole in the tip was where a man's seed came forth, but I wasn't sure just how that happened. What did the seed look like? Was this sticky fluid it? I had read a vague description of how it was planted, but I wasn't going to allow that to happen, at least not this night. I just wanted to see the seed, see if I could call it forth.

"Do it faster," Link panted, toying with my hair as I worked. I obliged him, and his moaning became more urgent. "Kiss me now, Zelda," he groaned, pulling me closer by the long hair in his fist. I had never seen him so uncomposed. It made me feel a little powerful, to know that I was causing him to lose control of himself. His pulling on my hair excited me; no one besides my lady-in-waiting had dared or would ever dare to even TOUCH my hair, to say nothing of PULLING it. We were vulnerable to each other in these moments, and that thought made me suddenly feel very tender toward him. I let him pull me to him, pressed my mouth lovingly against his, teased his lips with my tongue...

Suddenly his hips lurched up off the bed and I felt something warm and wet strike my shoulder. Alarmed, I tried to pull back and stop, but he put his hand over mine and moved it faster, bucking his hips spastically and biting at my lips and tongue as he held my head and kissed me animalistically. Gradually, he relaxed his hold on me, panting as his muscle spasmed occasionally in my hand and grew softer.

I guessed that he had just experienced the same pleasure I had experienced just a few moments before. I swiped at my shoulder and looked at the viscous liquid that came away on my fingers. In the dim lamplight, I could see more liquid shining on his belly. "What is this?" I asked naively.

Link blushed. "My seed," he said rather uncomfortably.

"Well, it hardly looks like a seed to me," I said indignantly, feeling misled by the medical text. I wiped my hand on my nightgown and pulled it back up over my shoulders, as Link laughed like I'd never heard him laugh before. He drew me into his arms. Resigned and sated, I laid my head against his shoulder and fell asleep feeling secure and fulfilled in his protective embrace. Yes, if there had ever been any question before as to whether I loved this man, there was no longer a question. I was definitely head over heels for my quiet and steadfast knight. How would I hide my feelings from my father? I was not like Link. I couldn't hide my feelings from the world. I wore my feelings on my sleeve.

I would awaken alone the next morning, Link having crept out during the night to avoid discovery. I would discover not much later that my deep love for Link was the key that unlocked a power so vast I could never have suspected I had it within me. And I would find out soon enough that that night in my bedchamber would be the only night we would spend in that manner for more than one hundred years...