Link wondered how he could have ever compared Malon to Zelda in the physical act. Not that it wasn't fun and he didn't get off, but that Zelda… fit better, to be crude. And she was more active in their lovemaking, returning his bites and digging her nails into his back. She'd been the main cause of his injuries for months, not fighting savage monsters. Malon would curl around him and sigh, but she was so gentle and quiet, leaving tiny suck-marks on his neck and collar, not bruised welts from passionate love bites, that he felt like a monster for wanting to take it rougher.

He let the chain of his thoughts go as Zelda climbed back into bed, rubbing her cold feet on his bare legs and nuzzling under his chin. She sighed and wrapped her arms around his chest, listening to his pounding heart and closing her eyes. He swallowed and left a light, feathery touch down the center of her back that made her shiver. "Again," she whispered quietly.

Link laughed once. "Darlin', I'm so sore I don't think that I can walk."

Zelda kissed his neck, smiling. "Fair enough." She closed her eyes and listened to the secret workings of his body, taking his hand and threading their fingers together.

Link took up her hands and looked at them, sighing. His face went from one of contentment to one unreadable.

Zelda looked down at her wedding rings. "Should I take them off?"

"No." Link lowered her hands and pulled her close again, hugging her. She embraced him tightly, running her fingers up the smooth lines of his back.

"This feels right," she whispered to his ear, closing her eyes.

She had a point. He held her tight, kissing her shoulder and throat. How did he ever think that he could replace the feeling she stirred in him? "Will you be able to come back?" he asked.

Zelda sighed. "If I deliver an heir to the throne, I hope so." She pulled back from him, rubbing his scruffy chin. "Hmph. Makes you look older."

He nodded once. "I take it you dislike that."

"Not necessarily."

Link pulled her close again, rolling onto his back. Zelda straddled his hips, able to feel the twitching of his shaft against her body. "I thought you were too tired?" she asked with a smile, cocking her head to one side.

Link chuckled, his hands up on her hips, his eyes admiring her body. "Sure I am, that's why you'll do the work." Zelda shook her head and ran her hands up and down his chest, learning the texture of his muscles again, her eyes closed. Link groaned when Zelda lifted her body, sliding back down on top of him with a bit of wiggling to get him to fit in just right.

He sighed and let his head fall back as Zelda arched her body, rolling her hips back and forth on top of him. She moved with vigor, her breath quick and her hair bouncing. Link gripped her arms and pulled her down, kissing her as she continued to rock her body. Zelda closed her eyes and let her passion take over in her movements, panting as she moved. Link held onto her and scooted back so that he was sitting up against the pillows, wrapping his arms around her waist and watching her, his mouth open and his eyes narrowed with lust.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered. Zelda smiled, her breath in soft gasps as she rocked on him, eager to find orgasm with him. Link sat up further and moved his hands up to her sides, then up again to her breasts, holding them and cupping them, lightly touching a bruise forming on one nipple. She shivered and ran her fingers through his hair, leaning down and kissing his lips, testing her tongue against his mouth until he opened it for her. Her rhythm slowed as they took their time with kissing each other. Link moved his fingers up past her breasts and into her hair, stroking it back out of her face. When they broke away again, he looked at her with a smile full of warmth. "I'm glad he let you return."

"As am I." She held still for a few minutes, taking one of his hands and holding it to her cheek. "I don't know that I can ever… walk away from you again. It was hard enough to walk away the first time, I still can't believe that I…" She squeezed his fingers with her own, sucking in a deep breath and holding it to control the surprising, unbidden tears.

"Zelda, don't walk away again, please." He straightened and grabbed her by the arms. She didn't think she'd ever seen Link look sad once. Instead of despair, he would look angry. And he did so now, with a fury and a determination. "Please. Stay with me. We'll run away together." Zelda sighed and loosened herself from his hands, rising up to slide back and off of him. Link frowned. "What?"

She licked her lips and looked for her clothes, managing to get on her underdress before Link grabbed her again and pulled her down with a fury so that she flopped on her back, glaring up at him. "You keep asking me to stay, and you know that it is improbable for that to ever happen! Quit asking!"

Link held her down by her shoulders, and he kissed her, biting at her lips. Zelda reached up and grabbed his hair, tugging sharply on it. "Do not do this now," she growled. "You are killing me, doing this to me. Don't you know that?"

"Don't you know that it's killing me? You are so close to me, every day. And to have you back now, in my arms, I would kill to keep you." Zelda stared, and for a minute, she almost opened her mouth to suggest—

But Bertrand had let her go in the first place. She could not betray him. "Someone has to stay, to rule Hyrule," she whispered. "I have to stay with him." Link sighed angrily and rested his forehead on her chest, his arms draped across her form.

"I love you," he growled into her form.

"I love you," she whispered back, resting her hand again in his hair and stroking it gently.