Part 8: Love

The tent was very crowded when they returned to camp. It hadn't taken long for the princess and Hyrule's Hero to return to the campsite. Especially considering halfway through kissing her beloved Hero the Hylian Princess touched something wet and looked down in horror to see a nasty slice across the man's arm that still hadn't stopped bleeding.

Zelda knew what the expectations were of her. She was well aware of what propriety expected to see. But she also knew that after being in this war and seeing the things she did, she really couldn't give a smaller damn about propriety anymore. It wasn't worth it. Heartbreak wasn't worth it.

So the princess removed some bandages from her outfit and tied Link's arm around tightly and held him close as they walked back to camp arm-in-arm.

She'd make it up to him later.

Now as the two sat in crowded room with five other bodies in a space meant for one, Zelda really regretted returning to camp so early.

She now found herself sitting on a stool beside her beloved that was nearly naked compared to the rest of the occupants of the tent as a doctor sewed his arm with a big black needle and thread. Zelda was certain he didn't appreciate being so undressed in the presence of so many, but he wanted to let go of her even less, so he put on a smile and paid it no notice for her benefit.

Link laced the fingers of his right hand with hers and brought her hand up to his lips so he could kiss her knuckles. It was tender and affectionate love that while wordless and silent spoke volumes towards easing the Princess's nerves. It also worked well at getting a distasteful look from the doctor currently sewing up the Hero's left arm. The man wouldn't say anything out loud. He couldn't —- she was the future Queen of Hyrule. But Zelda could read it on his face.

How improper.

Meanwhile, another woman busied herself with ensuring the Princess was uninjured and well despite Zelda's insistence that no one had touched her.

Maybe except for Link. But she was pretty certain that wasn't the kind of touch the woman was worried about and it was no ones business except her own.

"Your majesty, perhaps if I could just look…"

Zelda cut her off before she could finish. "No," she said firmly. "I'm fine, really. You should retire for the evening. I'm just going to wait here until Link is checked out and then I'll go to bed myself."

The doctor running a needle through the Hero's arm made a noise in his throat but didn't say anything.

The elderly woman seemed hesitant, but the Princess seemed well enough without even so much as a tear in her outfit and she'd insisted the blood on her was from the Hero beside her, not her own.

Zelda watched the woman walking away as exited the tent and let out the breath of air she hadn't felt herself holding.

Link brought her hand up to his lips again and lingered a fraction longer this time. It made a tingle of warmth course down her arm and through her chest until it pinkened her cheeks and warmed her smile.

"That seems about finished," the doctor said loudly once he'd snipped off the remaining thread. Zelda tilted her head over and hissed at the ugly black zigzag tubing down her Hero's arm.

"It's ugly, but it will fade. And looking by the rest of your scars…" the judge mental man's ayes skimmed over Link's impressive but highly marked chest. "One more won't do you much harm."

Zelda frowned.

So the eyebrows begin already.

The man gave Link a small vial of something clear, muttered a few more professional words with an unprofessional tone and then finally left the tent with a bow to the Princess, a goodnight to Impa, and not so much as a glance at his actual patient.

Link turned to Zelda with a warmth in his eyes that she was pretty sure was sleepiness but also may have been repressed arousal. The Princess blinked as she glanced from his lips to his eyes and involuntarily held her breath when he leaned forward to whisper in her ear.

"Will you sleep in my bed with me tonight?"

He said the words so low she could barely hear them herself and yet as soon as he did Impa across the tent straightened up and cleared her throat with heightened authority.

"We should retire for the evening and review this plan again in the morning." She paused, and though she didn't turn around Zelda was almost certain she was watching them. "The princess has had a long night herself and needs her rest."

The two Hylian Captains nodded with respectful movements and then exited the tent with a respectful nod to the Royal in the space.

And then it was only Impa and them.

Zelda felt like a teenage girl being caught naked with her male companion in the presence of a mother. Yet Impa seemed as calm as she had with the captains earlier. Zelda watched the Sheikah woman as she gathered the maps and charts spread around the room with practiced efficiency before finally standing tall and acknowledging the young couple.

"I'm going to stand guard outside your tent tonight."

Zelda blinked. She was going to have the tent to herself?

"If you need anything, you can call for me." Impa gave the princess a customary nod that was very Impa of her before she turned to Link who now seemed to wave uneasily in his seat the heavier his eyelids became. "He needs sleep. Make sure he's in his tent before any of the guards wake up in the morning or there's only so much I can say to appease their over-inflated sense of righteousness." Despite the harshness of her words, she sprouted the faintest smile. "Have a good night. The both of you." She left without another utterance and then they were alone.

It registered to Zelda sometime after her bodyguard had left that she had never been alone with Link as Zelda. As if understanding her thoughts — or perhaps just beginning to feel the effects of whatever concoction the doctor had given him — Link rested his head against the princess's shoulder and took a long, deep breath.

"I love you," he mumbled sleepily with a nuzzle of his nose into her neck. It was clear indication that it was time for bed.

"Okay, bed for the Hero." Zelda rose first, long legs standing tall before she reached down to Link. He put his hands in hers but then looked at her like she were the goddess herself standing before him.

He was going to love this woman for the rest of his life.

She pulled him up gently to his feet and he followed without resistance. His chest collided softly with hers when he was on his feet and despite Zelda's mission to get her Hero into bed, she couldn't bring herself to move once he was pressed up against her. Link was so close she could feel his warm breath on her face, and she had the insatiable urge to taste his kiss again.

"You can stay with me tonight," she whispered so low he barely heard it. Link had registered his movement in his sleep clouded mind but he felt his lips brushing across hers and smiled.

"I thought I already was." Zelda's laugh was musical which made Link smile broadly just as his lips found hers.

Their kiss was slow and soft and warmed her heart and toes with an electric charge that made her head light and heart soar above her body. Link wrapped his good right arm snuggly around her middle to hold her close and she hummed in appreciation with arms around his neck.

When they finally parted for breath they still kept their foreheads together, their breaths slightly labored but deliciously warm as they mixed.

"Princess," he whispered with a softness she hadn't heard before. "Can I make love to you tonight?"

She felt the breath tremble in her throat and curled her fingers deeper into the golden strands at the base of his skull. "If you call me Zelda."

He smiled again and gave her one more kiss before pulling away and pulling towards the bed.

The Princess's counters were much more elegant than his. A real bed that no one really understood how it fit into a tent, soft sheets, and an iron-gram headboard. Link sat on the bed first and winced slightly as he tried to use his left arm to undress her.

"Let me." Zelda's fingers began to untie the red ribbons around her arms and it dawned on her only then that this was the first time he was seeing her undress. With courage radiating in her soul, she peeled each piece off and more and more skin became visible to his hungry eyes and smiled or giggled when he occasionally kissed each new purchase with a wonder and care.

When she finally pulled the ribbons from her hair and the long blonde waves cascaded around her nearly bare shoulders she could have sworn she saw him hold his breath.

Link didn't say anything a moment. His blue eyes took in every detail and line of her glorious frame, gliding over the last remaining fabric covering her chest and sex like it was a treasure he didn't feel deserving of. Zelda was uneasy feeling him watching her and instinctively wrapped her arms around her chest when he finally spoke.

"I knew it." He looked at her a moment longer before meeting her eyes. "You're even more beautiful than I could ever have imagined."

Her heart swelled in her chest and she felt suddenly more bashful than she ever had in her presence. Link kissed her neck. Soft, warm, tender movements of his sweet lips against her flesh that made something pool in her belly and excelerate her heart.

I love you.

She reclined against the pillows and pulled him gently to follow. Link kept one arm stretched out at her side, palm down and flat against the mattress and the other drawing shapes against her hip. His lips navigated to her chin, soft pecks over the curve before moving to her ear in which she buried her fingers in his hair and pulled him closer. She wanted to breathe him in through her mouth until she absorbed his very essence into her soul.

I love you so much.

Link's lips traced the lace edge of Zelda's corset and she closed her eyes at the feeling of his one free hand tangling in the laces between her breasts.

"Can you take this off for me?"

Zelda laughed and found his mouth with a deep, lingering kiss.

Hyrule's Hero didn't know how to remove a corset? She found some wholly gratifying in the idea. She let go of his hair and reached steady, delicate hands to her chest. The ribbons came undone, pulled gently from their eyes and the stiff material pulled apart with ease.

Link's fingers trembled as his fingered the delicate fabric on her shoulder, but Zelda remained patient and let him explore her flesh as the case rest finally fell behind her and she revealed herself to him.

"Beautiful." He kissed the space between her breast and breathed in the scene of her skin. "You're beautiful, Zelda."

Something deep and primal ignited with the mention of her birth name.

No one ever called her by her name and not her title.

Her hands dropped to his waist, lithe fingers trailing against the waistband of his leggings and the only remaining garment he wore. She felt the right muscles of his stomach wave and flutter under her delicate touch and it fueled her with a strength and desire to move on.

Without any more words between them, Zelda dipped her hands into the cotton and tugged. The beige material slid down his hips and pooled at his knees. He stood a moment to remove them and Zelda reacted likewise finally pulling the silky fabric of her panties down her legs and to the ground. Then he was standing in front her completely nude and watching her with a question in his eyes and hunger on his lips.

She adjusted herself to sit on the bed and recline back against the metal bars that made up a makeshift headboard. She reached out a hand to him and he laced their fingers.

"Come." He followed her without argument, all slow movements and waiting breath and somehow he ended up kneeling on the bed with a knee at either side of the princess's hips and her miraculous legs bent high at either side of his chest.

He hesitated.

He was nervous.

"Link," she called his name and he met her eye, blue sinking into blue till it felt like their souls blended into one. Her hands reached out with fingers grazing glorious muscle and dips and curves of chest and stomach till they grazed his hot member and hissed loudly. Link dropped his head against hers with eyes pressed closed and lips slightly parted.

She stroked him gently, warm hands caressing velvety flesh tightening under her touch till she could feel the vein pulsing on his underside.

"Fuck, Zelda," he moaned softly as her thumb ran over the swollen head.

She loved the sound of her name in his voice.

Link kissed her finally. Hungry lips and adventurous tongue tasting and probing and exploring her mouth till she felt dizzy and lightheaded from all of him.

Fingers ran between her thighs and she trembled with want as one long finger slide between her moist flesh before his thumb found her clit and pressed lightly.

She curled against him and tightened her legs around his back. Link kissed her again and felt her moan into his mouth as her slowly circled the hard bud until the swelled and grew under his gentle ministrations.

He could feel her desire for him, a moisture that dropped between her folds and onto his fingers the longer he touched.

"Link, please," she begged. As divine as his fingers felt soft on her flesh and exploring her sex she didn't want him to tease her or nip her tonight. She just wanted him. All of him, every long luxurious inch of his body and feel his skin against her own. Just you," she pleaded softly as she leaned her face higher in search of his lips. He kissed her again, her eyes fluttering closed and somewhere in the taste of his touch she finally felt his blunt tip press against her opening.

Their eyes locked, zelda wrapped her arm around her leg and closed her hand gently against Link's bicep.

He sank slowly into her warmth and she felt her body ignite in a fire that burned from her core to her toes with each delicious inch she took. His hips came flush with hers and Link dropped wormhole head with a silence gasp on his lips.

Even after all these times, it always felt even better than the last.

Zelda's fingers slowly streaked the golden half curls behind his neck and her nails lightly scraped his scalp as he adjusted within her core and gained his bearings. She kissed the corner of his mouth and felt him smile with the tender motion.

If he didn't move soon, he was going to fall asleep in the middle of it.

"Link, move."

He slowly pulled out of her body and hissed and the delicious way her body squeezed him. At the same time Zelda arched her neck back and unconsciously spread her legs wider till her knees were almost aligned with her soldiers.

Link had almost completely slipped out of her heat when he sank back into her, much swifter and steadily than he had the first time. She could feel her walls stretching to accommodate him, her body aflame and electric with energy each tie he thrust his hips forwards and buried himself deeper into her core.

She felt like her skin would melt right off her bones in the most heavenly way possible.

"Oh Goddess," he grunted into her ear feeling the rhythm increasing with each movement. "Zelda."

She didn't trust her voice and felt her breath becoming more ragged the faster he began to move. Zelda pulled him closer still until his forehead pressed against hers and she could taste his breath with every exhale.

His rhythm quickened, and the faster he moved the harder her heart beat and the further back she pulled her legs and curled her toes until the warm pressure began to build in her lower belly.

Zelda felt herself closing her eyes to keep herself together and digging her nails deeper into Link's flesh the closer she spiraled and the tighter the pressure in her belly grew.

"Zelda," his breathy moan was strangled and broken and she felt his steadiness start to give. Hips bucked out of rhythm, jaw clenched right, she knew he was close.

In a last ditch effort to prolong his inevitable release and quicken hers, Link smashed his desperate mouth against hers and bit down hard on her lip at the same time that he gave such a powerful thrust, the entire bed shifted forward.

Zelda's shattered into a million pieces of blinding heat and light that echoed in her piercing cry. Her vision went white, body arched dramatically and legs shook violently as she clutched him with such an impressive force, Link only last through one more inhale and then tumbled over the edge with her.

Just as fast at they fell, they recovered. Zelda felt her head spin with the immeasurable force of her release but couldn't help but smile.

She hoped no one heard.

Link tried to avoid crushing his princess below him, but after their tryst and all the events of the day, he found in himself only enough energy to shift over for a moment for Zelda to slide down to a horizontal position and collapse ungracefully on her chest. Link moved his hips slightly over and slipped out of her body with a shaky inhale from Zelda and hiss from his own lips before relaxing once more.

He could lay like this forever.

"I think I'm going to love you forever," he mumbled into her warm flesh. His nose brushed plush skin of a breast and despite the ridiculousness of the image, Zelda felt a warmth in her heart at the sight. Link gave a long drawn out breath and she could almost feel him melt into unconsciousness.

"I think it was always meant to be."

Link's heartbeat slowed in his chest and breathing quieted to a steady rhythm and after several minutes of silence the princess was almost certain he had long fallen into slumber.

She didn't mind.

As quietly and steadily as she could muster, Zelda pulled the blanket from the floor where it had fallen beside her and attempted to drape it over their bodies as best she could without disturbing her hero's well deserved rest.

He didn't so much as flinch.

Finally warm with her beloved's weight on her and his warmth slowly seeping into her flesh, she felt herself starting to drift off too. Zelda was almost past the point of return and dreaming of moonlight and lake waters when she heard him mumble in his sleep.

"Don't hide, Sheik."