Warning: This is just explicit sexual content.
Author's Note: This was the first chapter I wrote for this story. Yeah my dudes, I've been sitting on this chapter for two years, and I can't believe I've written enough to even get this far. Thank you so much for reading
Zel won the race.
Not that it really mattered all that much. Link prefers the rush of adrenaline rather than a rush of winning anyways, and when they got to the finish line—one that Zel just recently announced in the cold—his focus is on something else entirely. There's a cabin that comes into Link's view, and it's blanketed in snow. A pathway is cleared, leading up to a sturdy wooden door with a flickering lantern, and off to the side of the cabin he can see a lean-to with a stack of firewood underneath. Whoever Zel's friend is must have left recently, or maybe they just keep the place looking this homey.
With the setting sun casting orange hues over glistening snow, the sight of the cozy cabin is just as peaceful as soaring over Hyrule, able to see the entire world as he hangs off the wooden straps of a paraglider.
Truthfully, it could just be the idea of sleeping in a warm bed for once and how insanely good that sounds right about now—even if he has to sleep on the springy side.
Zel is just ahead of him, trudging through the snow and tucking her paraglider behind her back with the flick of a practiced wrist. When she turns, her face is wind burnt and ridiculously red, but her smile couldn't be wider and he's not entirely sure if it's from the thrill of a shield surfing contest, or because she's won it. In her other hand, Zel holds onto a soldier's shield that seems a bit damaged by the race they'd just finished. They had started from a nearby peak with not that far down to go, but maybe he should have chosen that shield instead of an emblazoned one. He didn't think it mattered all that much, and he wonders briefly if Zel has been practicing out here in the snow. The thought of it makes him smile.
When she turns and sees his goofy grin, she chuckles at him. "Better luck next time."
He ducks his head and smirks. "You know you cheated, right?"
"I'm appalled!" Zel gasps, raising the stakes of this simple jest. "To think I cheated merely because I made you look? Indespicable." She shakes her head.
He laughs. "Lucky for you, I can sleep on anything."
She laughs back. "I know."
As they approach the front door of the darkened cabin, Zel bends down to move a rock over and exposes a little metal key, then opens the door with it. The cabin is completely pitch black aside from the last remaining sunlight illuminating a path for her inside. All Link can see are floorboards and vague, grey shapes of furniture before he hears the strike of flint and the cabin comes to life by candlelight.
"Selmie told me there'd be a box of candles on the table," she explains as Link walks in and shuts the door behind him, bolting it closed. His eyes are adjusting enough to see a well-made bed with green blankets beside him, just wide enough for two people to sleep comfortably, and a desk on the far side of the wall where Zel is leaning over a box of candles. Both of them drop their shields and strip from their wet boots, kicking them off to the corner and in no time, Zel has a small fire started in the chimney. She busies herself at stoking it while Link strips off a few layers, and as soon as he only has his blue long-sleeved undershirt, trousers, and socks on, he jumps on the bed and lands with a springy plop.
"Ahh…" He sighs, laying on his back and wiggling his hips. "So this is how it feels to be the loser."
She snorts and places both their pairs of boots close to the chimney to dry, then turns back to the box of candles. Some are wide and stocky, others are thin and tall and Zel places a few of them in the corners of the cabin as they talk, making the room bright with firelight and the ambiance all mellow. He's already warming up as the fire builds in the stone chimney.
Through the sated silence, she smiles, says; "Maybe I'll let you win next time."
"What makes you think I didn't let you win this time?"
She turns to him with a hand on her hip and a playful smile on her lips. Link knows that look; she's trying to think of something clever to say, but she quickly becomes distracted by him instead.
Zel's winter coat is off, hanging over the back of the chair at the desk and she's down to her thick trousers, white blouse, and leather corset, but Link has less clothes on than she does. He's lounging freely on the bed in just his trousers and undershirt; legs splayed from corner to corner and his arms bent behind his head on the pillows to meet her eyes with a smirk and a raise of his brow. They're challenging one another and she's losing, competitive spirit still lingering and she's preoccupied, engrossed in dragging her eyes all over his body. This is the barest she's seen of him since their dip in the pools of Eldin and he knows how much she likes to stare, so he lets her. He watches her gaze wander over his face and grin, then jump down to his legs and thighs—allowing her full permission to view the new strength in his calves, his thighs, his arms and chest. Giving her the freedom to look where she wants for as long as she wants because he likes watching her like this, too. She's clearly impressed with what she sees; an eyebrow raised to mirror him, with a look in her eyes like she's trying to undress what he's got left on and while her gaze humors him and makes him entirely too smug, she frowns suddenly.
"Link, you're bleeding," she states, and immediately walks over to him.
"Wha—" He sits up on his elbows to see where her gaze has stopped and she's staring.
Just there, under his nipple, a bright crimson stain has formed along his ribcage, tucked high on the side of his chest. Zel hovers over him, one knee on the bed beside his hip and extending herself across his body to tug at his shirt and inspect the stain—deciphering how large and serious the injury is over his undershirt.
Link smiles crookedly, feeling like he's in trouble. "It must've opened up when we were shield surfing."
"Or when we were fighting the Windblight Ganon," she adds, then nudges her chin at him. "Take your shirt off."
Leaving the side of the bed, Zel grabs for the Sheikah slate on the desk as Link follows her instructions obediently. He pulls his undershirt over his shoulders, tossing it somewhere on the hardwood floor with the fur rugs and little snow puddles, then repositions himself on the bed. He sits with his back flushed against the wall, shirtless and waiting patiently, listening to the satisfying sounds of a crackling fire and the clinking of medicinal glass as Zel takes what she needs from the slate to clean and bandage his wound. While she tinkers, Link's eyes scan over the room for the first time since they've entered—too distracted by Zel and all their flirting.
There are shields hung on the walls from different regions and animal skin rugs on the floor. With a plethora of candles lit, they cast golden shadows all over the cozy cabin and through the darkening windows, Link can see that it's started to snow. No wonder Zel suggested they come here; there's not another soul for miles. It's secluded but warm, with no one to bother them, no one to judge, no friendly neighbors dropping by with a pie to 'welcome the new couple.' That phrasing used to scare him, but now? Not so much.
Returning to the bed quickly, Zel holds three bottles in her hands that Link knows all too well—a disinfectant, a pain reliever, and a healing oil that she's expertly brewed herself. Last night when they were lounging on the hammock, Zel returned all her possessions back into the slate and something about that simple act made him very happy. They're sharing a space again, and they're not planning on separating from each other any time soon.
In fact, judging by how secluded they are in the wild, Link can assume he's the only one she wants to be around for a while.
Sitting at his side, Zel leans in close and inspects his skin.
"This is a deep gash," she says with growing concern, "I'm surprised you didn't feel it reopen."
He shrugs. "I guess it was the thrill of the chase."
She stoops her head and glares, but her smile is still flirtatious and she's sneering at him. "Well hero, I'll just have to slow down for you."
Preparing a clean cloth, Zel dabs it with disinfectant and begins to clean the wound. She's mumbling to herself and he's smiling, words leaving her lips that sound like a lecture rather than providing him any comfort—you can't go two seconds without hurting yourself, can't you? I knew I thought I saw you holding your side earlier. If you were a card game, I'd bet all my rupees that you'd at least have a bruise somewhere on your body, even if you hadn't moved for days—but he loves it. He relishes in the little quirks of hers that he's missed so much; how a crease forms on her forehead when she's annoyed, how she talks to herself and doesn't even notice that she's said anything out loud. He watches her face, stern and focused and it dawns on him how incredibly intimate the mood is in this cabin right now.
Link is searching his mind for another way to flirt again, but Zel uncorks her second phial and drips some of its thick liquid onto her sanitized fingers and places them over the wound. He hisses and she jumps.
"But, I—"
"Your fingers, they're… cold," he answers bashfully, visible goosebumps forming across his chest from where she's touched him. He flushes.
A blush tints on her cheeks, but Zel apologizes for her icy fingers and begins her methodic process; soothing the wound with pain reliever, then applying a quick-healing salve so it could be healed by sunrise. He sits there and watches the gold in her hair move around her face, amused by how her tongue peeks out of the corner of her mouth as she makes sure the wound is completely covered by her medicine, and he knows that she can feel his eyes on her. As she re-corks the healing salve, she asks, "How'd this happen anyway?"
He's a little apprehensive to answer. "I was impaled by a bokoblin spear."
Her hands drop to the bed with a soft thud, eyes wide as she stares at him. "Link, for Hylia's sake. You have to—you could've—" but she can't seem to finish her thought and looks away from him.
"Hey," he says gently, and places a comforting hand on her thigh. "You don't have to worry about me."
"Yes, I do," she rolls her eyes back to him. "I've once seen you stasis a wooden log, pound at it until it went flying, and you rode it like a wild horse."
He tries not to smile, but fails miserably.
"Or when you fought that moblin and he threw a bokoblin at you, of all things."
"Sure, but I mean—"
"And then that time you battled a monster camp in nothing but your underwear."
"Yeah, but—"
"Not to mention, you set an entire prairie on fire with a meteor rod."
"Zel okay, okay," he's trying to contain his laughter. "I get it. Maybe you have to worry about me a little."
The tension eases as they both chuckle softly, reminiscing in memories they've shared together, and she instinctively places a hand on his chest.
It's not long until their laughs dissolve into warm smiles, and the silence that falls between them is soft and comforting, but he's still touching her leg and her hands still there and she's starting to draw her fingers across him leisurely that it's enough to flutter his heart and send shivers down his spine.
He can't hear a sound in the room anymore, even though the fire inside is crackling and the wind outside is howling because he can only focus on that lazy drag of her thumb on his chest and how he instinctively mirrors her; doing the same movement on her thigh. Their smiles are gone now, replaced with something else—something ardent and hungry.
He's still watching her when she tilts her face to meet his gaze and when they lock eyes, the feeling hits them so fast he reacts immediately.
"Come here," he commands and she moves to place the phials on the table and sanitize her hands, but returns quickly—both in perfect understanding of what's to follow.
Her movements are cautious as she crawls onto his lap, mostly to not upset his wound even though it's already healing. She sits astride him, legs bent on either side of his hips, and he tries to exhale but it comes out shaky with thoughts that would get him in big trouble if they were in Rito village right about now.
Link forces himself to swallow, letting out a shaky exhale, and she mirrors him as her eyes burn into his chest and her hands graze slowly, all over him.
His own eyes are darting around Zel's face, and he can't quite decide what to settle on. She's absolutely radiant with her rosy cheeks and nose and her full lips quivering with her breath, only a space away from his own. Her hands continue to move across his bare chest, fingertips ghosting over his skin and sending shockwaves across his body. She starts at his pectorals and wanders over heart and nipples, exploring up to his collarbones and across his shoulders then back down again and his own hands can't resist crawling up her thighs and thumbs absentmindedly drawing circles into the fabric of her pants.
The world resorts down to quavering breaths and pounding hearts as Link's fingers curl around her waist to the low of her back, and at the same time her fingers reach his neck and tickle along his hair line. Zel's eyes roam over his face, lingering on forgotten battle scars and freckles that kiss his nose, then finally into his icy blue eyes and he can't take it anymore.
"For all that is holy, Zel, kiss me. Please," he begs and it sounds so pathetic, but he doesn't care and she can't help but laugh.
As his eyes flutter shut, their lips meet straight on, sealed tenderly with eagerness and wanting.
His lips clash against hers and his hands glide up her back, pulling her closer to his chest as her fingers slide into his hair. Zel releases a fluttery, breathy noise against his mouth and it weakens him almost as much as her kisses do and he groans brokenly, letting her feel the vibration of just how badly he's missed her, how badly he's wanted this for weeks, months—how much he wanted to kiss her in the village but didn't want to get in trouble. He's clumsy but insistent, erratic and urgent, kissing her like a hungry man starved for more than what was given before, but it's okay, it's more than okay, because she's kissing him deeper, holding him closer, insatiable and desperate and honestly, he might never let her out of his arms ever again.
"Gods, Zel," he pulls away from her lips just to gulp some air, "you have no idea—"
"I have some idea," she interrupts and pulls them back together hungrily. Another groan leaves his throat so she kisses him harder with faster strides, tongue darting into his mouth just to chase the sound. Their movements are melodic and steady, uncoordinated but determined. Her palms are cradling his face like he's something precious as his head is tilted up to her in prayer, worshiping every kiss she blesses him with.
Link wraps her into a protective embrace and he loses the distinction of where her body ends and his begins. His back is no longer against the wall as he holds her—chest now flushed against her breasts and he's angling up to her face, meeting her lips with a kind of urgent passion that he's never felt. It's different than how it was before—back in Eldin when he kissed her goodbye, sealing a promise which they've made and held, and how every kiss since then had been sweet pecks or interrupted smooches, but not this time. One of his hands finds its way into her hair and a new sound escapes her mouth that's so intoxicating, it's driving him crazy, when all of a sudden it's not enough for either of them anymore.
She can feel him now, swollen against her inner thighs and she rolls her hips across his length slowly, meticulously. A new groan escapes his mouth, one that's hoarser, deeper, as her kisses become more demanding and he lets her take control. He submits to her every touch on his chest, strong kiss on his lips, steady grind on his lap until Zel breathes his name like a question against his mouth and he's so distracted that he almost doesn't hear her.
He makes a sound, caught between a moan and a response when she pulls her lips away and they both gasp for air.
"Take your pants off," she says, and climbs off him.
Caught in the urgency of it all, Link fumbles for his belt as Zel stands by the bed and slips her pants down to her ankles, kicking them off in a hurry, but that's at the same time when reality sets in and it occurs to him what's about to quickly follow. His eyes glide up Zel's bare ankles, to her muscular calves, her curvy thighs that blossom into her widening hips and Goddess she's wearing that black lingerie that drives him absolutely insane and he can't wait to sink his lips between her legs, devour her more than any meal he's ever had, but he suddenly becomes encased in a wave of nausea, worry, and doubt, and it pulls him out of his carnal spell, altogether.
"Wait—wait Zel," he says, trying to catch his breath. He's becoming extremely aware of how bare he is on the bed; scarred back leaning against the wooden wall and his underwear so visibly obvious with his trousers undone like that.
Kicking her pants off her legs, Zel turns to look at him. She's breathing just as fast as he is, but the look she's giving him makes his ears hot.
"Shouldn't we…" He drifts off when the blush takes over his face. He suddenly can't remember any words. He signs instead. "…Talk about this?"
"Sure," she answers, a little too bubbly for his liking, and walks over to the edge of the bed to sit. She places a bent knee and rests atop his ankle. She's clearly more comfortable than he is to take things to the next level, but she sits quietly and waits for him to speak—which he just can't.
He knows the words are just going to scramble out of his mouth, proving how nervous he truly is. When this happens, Link prefers to sign because it's easier. The words make sense to him when they're physically made with his steady hands rather than when his mind lags and can't seem to connect with his voice right away, but this topic is really important and he feels like he needs her to hear him. She needs to listen.
He huffs, preparing himself. "Are you sure you want to—aren't you—won't it… hurt?" He feels like a bumbling maniac. Minutes ago he was as smooth as silk and now when everything is so exposed and she's so bare, it's suddenly too nerve wracking.
She raises an eyebrow at him. "What do you mean?"
"Well…" He drags a hand down his face. "I may not have a lot of memories, but even I know about it hurting the first time." Has he stopped breathing?
She blinks at him.
"Y'know… for a woman." He chokes on his tongue and coughs out his next words. "I mean—are you sure you want… me? To um… to deflower you?" He exhales loudly. He had just conquered a Divine Beast, but now he can barely tackle this conversation.
"Oh, I—" She starts to become a little uncomfortable and it makes him feel slightly better now that he isn't the only one in the room that's stuttering. "Link, I'm not—" She clears her throat and looks at him. "I've done this before."
Oh.
"Oh."
He looks down at his lap and starts fiddling with his fingers. He doesn't want to, but he can't help feeling a ping of jealousy knowing that she's been with someone else—someone who knew her long before Link descended to the ground with his paraglider. Truthfully, he only feels this way because he's never pictured himself with anyone else besides her. He doesn't have fantasies about the girl that flirted with him at Dueling Peaks, nor Paya though she was absolutely smitten with him, not even Karson's girlfriend who promptly tried to get with Link first at the Hateno Fire Festival. It's only Zel that he's imagined being with like this, though he shouldn't have the same expectations for her—especially since she's lived a life without him, one she can actually remember. She lives in this world like she owns it, takes what she wants and gives when she feels like it, she's flirty and sexy, rambunctious and wild and… and she's sitting on the same bed as him with barely any clothes on.
They're silent for a while.
"Have you…" Zel's voice breaks through the crackles of a peaceful fire as she shifts farther up the bed, closer to him. When Link has the courage to drag his gaze up to glance at her, her eyes have settled on his bare chest, beaming into him like a laser. "Have you regained any memories of your past partners?"
He looks away again.
Admittedly, he's thought about it. He's often wondered if he's lost anyone before he met her, if someone just as special has been taken from him simply by the cruelness of time. Has he ever been intimate with someone, ever known what it feels like to strip from all earthly burdens and know nothing except the ways in which his body can bond with another? Without any memories, he's sure that he hasn't and maybe that's why he's always been hesitant with her, why he's always been afraid. Not a single memory has returned to him to give Link any confidence or experience that he might vaguely know what he's doing, no flashes of kisses nor jolts of moaning, no wandering hands or lips on skin. There's nothing there.
He shakes his head sheepishly, avoiding her eyes.
When he doesn't speak, she lays a hand on his thigh, comforting and reassuring. Her voice is soft and gentle but still teasing enough to convey that she's flirting. "With a face like that, I'm sure the Princess couldn't even keep her hands off you."
He scoffs. "If all it takes is a pretty face, then you must've had a million partners," he says, trying to claw himself out of his hole and back to being suave. He hopes she takes it as the compliment he meant it as.
"Statistically, that's impossible." A crease in her brow appears and Link knows her well enough now to know that means she's thinking about the math in this scenario. There's a silly smile on her lips as she calculates, but eventually, she exhales slowly and her gaze becomes very distant, then speaks again. "I've been with two people before you."
He drags his eyes from the blankets and up to her face, watching her expression. It seems like she doesn't know where to start and has no idea how to finish her thought, either. "It's okay, Zel. You don't have to tell me—"
"But I want to," she says quickly, her gaze blazing into his bare chest right before she glances up to look him in the eyes. Her expression is filled with honesty. "I'm sure you'd tell me if you could remember."
Link takes a slow, deep inhale. She's right; he probably would. He's told her every single detail about his old life that he can remember, and she's been there for almost every second of his new one. He's never kept anything from her besides how much he wants to be with her, and they're here now, laying everything flat on the table—exposed and bare and hiding nothing from each other.
Zel sighs and scratches a fake itch on her forearm. "My first time was with a woman. I was… infatuated with her. I was young and she was a little older, had experience where I didn't, and… and she helped me explore myself," she shrugs and looks down at his legs, "but it was short-lived when someone found out about us and decided to tell my father."
"Your father," Link says gently, voice softened by the heavy story she's told. "He… he wouldn't have approved?"
She looks up to meet his eyes briefly, then shakes her head. "He wasn't an intolerant man by any means, but there were rumors about my late mother before she died that mentioned an affair with a Gerudo woman. He… wouldn't have been happy to find out his daughter was following in her mother's footsteps, considering I was being courted at the time."
Courted? Link wasn't even aware that towns and villages still did that kind of thing. There's no monarchy anymore, so it seems like a tradition that's entirely outdated, but he hasn't explored all of this world just yet. Maybe they were places in the south, untouched by the Calamity, that still carried on with ways that were even older than Link was. No wonder Zel ran away and doesn't talk about wherever it is that she came from. She wanted her freedom.
The silence settles between them as Link gets lost in his own thoughts. He's picturing a younger Zel with a taller woman; experienced hands roaming across her body as this woman helps her take her clothes off. A worried look in her eyes that melts into fluttering lashes and stolen gasps, Zel's back arching as her hands get tangled in red hair, lips caressing down the front of her body for the first time ever. When Zel speaks again, it almost startles him.
"She was sent away and I never saw her again," Zel's voice is small, quiet like a mouse, using that tone she reserves for when she talks about her past. "Shortly after that, things changed and there were more expectations thrust upon me that, looking back on it now, I wasn't ready for. The entire world made me angry and I wanted everyone around me to feel just as hurt as I felt because no one could help me… but everyone was pretending they could." Zel is so far away now, lost in a past that Link can never step into. He notices her hands have clenched into fists and she's having even more trouble explaining herself. "It was then that I learned a friend of mine had fallen for a Sheikah man that was rumored to be in love with me. I pursued him because it was easy and I knew it would hurt my friend."
"Is…" Link clears his throat, "Is this the same friend you told me about in Kakariko?"
Weakly, she nods. "Yes, and I used someone she loved just to hurt her, just to make her feel as mad at the world as I was. She wasn't even to blame for the burdens I had back then, but I was too stubborn and angry to care who I was hurting."
He swallows. "How long ago was this?"
"This was many years ago. Long before I saw you descend from the Great Plateau."
"Right," he nods, "and did you… did you have feelings for this guy?"
Their eyes meet and she shakes her head. "No. Not even a little bit," she answers, then turns to look the other way, shielding her face with her hair. She must feel so ashamed, and Link doesn't have the words quick enough to tell her it's okay.
If he's being honest, he really doesn't know what to say. She's sharing a lot of things right now that she's never told him, but it doesn't change how he feels about her. Zel has a past just like he does—one that's filled with mistakes and sorrow, wishing to undo the wrongs she's done, but she's learned from them because she can remember them. Hell, since Link woke up in that shrine on the Great Plateau, people have been telling him he needs to fix what happened when he can't even remember it and he has taken all that anger, all that frustration out on Zel simply because it was easy and because she was there. And through it all, she's been at his side since day one, since the moment he landed on this Hylia forsaken land, watching him make mistake after foolish mistake—it's a wonder she's even sitting here with him, at all.
Then her voice breaks through the silence. She's still staring down at her lap when she speaks. "But then I met you, and… and everything changed."
Her breath hitches abruptly, cut off by daring emotions. She turns back to him and their eyes meet. He's never seen her look so vulnerable.
She shakes her head slowly, before the rest of her words settle like falling snow. "I've never felt like this with anyone."
Chest filling with cool air, sharp breath inhaled through whistling nostrils, he can feel the heat wash over his body like a flushing wave and his lashes flutter but they don't shut completely. How could she say something like that so easily? How could she mean it so unequivocally? When all their feelings are being laid out in the open for both of them to see, only to find out she feels exactly the same about him as he does for her—it shouldn't have surprised him, yet it still does.
She's always been intimidating to him; confident and clever, tactical and talented, everything he wasn't when he first met her—and learning about her past lovers is just as intimidating because they seem so different from the kind of person Link is now. He can behave like such a child sometimes, reckless and dumb. With a scarred body and calloused hands, he ignores her constant pestering when he puts his life in danger and she always seems to get agitated if he can't seem to keep up with her ramblings. It's still baffling to him that she hasn't left yet, hasn't given up on him at the first several accidental bomb explosions or paraglide fails, but she's here, still in front of him with shy eyes and biting her nervous lip, running her fingers over the fabric of his trousers as she waits for him to respond.
He shifts further down the bed where she's sitting until they're both on the edge and he's leaning, cupping that scarred face in his hand, and his thumb grazes over a galaxy he'll never grow tired of touching. Her skin is hot, heated by words she's meant and emotions she's feeling and when she looks at him, he leans the rest of the way and kisses her.
There's only the slightest quiver on his lips when they blanket over hers, sealing her words between them. He kisses her for every word she spoke, in every way he feels the same, and when Link pulls away to press their foreheads together, they're both a little breathless.
"Me too," Link whispers, mostly breath than anything. "And I know that uhm… that it doesn't mean much since I can't remember, but—"
Her laugh comes out in the form of a puff hitting his lips, and he smiles.
The cabin fills with the sounds of a crackling fire and a question caught on his tongue. When he speaks again, his voice is gentle, but firm.
"So… you really want to do this with me? Even if I might be—" He's lost his nerve, so he leans back enough to sign instead. "Inexperienced?"
The smile that blossoms on her lips is so warming, soft green eyes so demanding, and Link thinks his heart might fly out of his chest by that look alone and even if he can't remember, he's seen that face before.
"You have no idea."
"I have some idea," he says.
In an instant, all hands fumble for his belt and trousers. He's unsure which hands undid what but in seconds, he's sitting back against the wall and lifting his hips off the bed as she's dragging his pants down to his ankles and yanking them off entirely. She straddles him just like she did before and he can't help the pathetic whine that escapes his throat when she settles on top of him. The thinness of their underwear are pressing perfectly against the other and there's a delicious heat between her legs, Link can taste the smile on her lips as she kisses him harder, more urgent, with her palms caressing the sides of his neck and she's thumbing the length of his jaw as her tongue teases into his mouth.
He feels the heavy tide of arousal trickling down his body again and he tilts his hips and angles himself, eager for any friction. She responds and flattens down harder, spreads her legs wider to ride the length of him that's still trapped beneath his underwear, but with two thin pieces of fabric between them, he can feel just how damp she is and it only makes him groan louder and their kisses turn sloppy. Atop his thighs, Zel's movements are slow and controlled as she drags her hips over him again and again and again, feeling him long and hard with every grind and every kiss. His hands can't seem to stop moving all over her bare skin—his touch heavier and more pronounced, no longer afraid he might be overstepping as he explores her. Roaming hands travel from her straddling thighs and up her waist, then cupping her breasts still tucked beneath her blouse and corset. If he had any words left in his head, he'd almost call her clothing a sin.
Through closed eyes and preoccupied lips, Link finds the strings of her corset and begins to tug at them profusely, fingers clumsy and head dizzy with her tongue wandering deeper in his mouth. When she feels him working at the laces, her lips make a b-line for his neck, allowing his head to drop forward so he can watch his hands as he tries to undo her clothing. She kisses and sucks, surely leaving dark bruises on the side of his neck, and a full body shiver runs from his ears and all the way down to his toes. Her fingers tousle into his hair, removing the blue hair tie and wrapping it around her wrist with a smoothness he envies because he's making a fool of himself, failing to undress her. He has no knowledge on the mechanics of a women's corset.
"How do you get this bloody thing off," he huffs, frustrated and defeated.
There's laughter against his ear before she pushes gently on his chest to sit upright. She bats his hands away as she begins untying the knot herself and Link can only sit beneath her and watch.
He can string a bow in under two minutes but he can't untie a garment.
Watching her intricate fingers unlace expertly up her stomach, knowing she's done this every day since he's met her, Link is transfixed, mesmerized, as her breasts begin to sag slightly with every loose lace that comes undone and he can't stop himself from imagining her pushing her breasts together as he glides his erection between them in and out, in and out until he—
She gives a final tug and sends the entire bodice coming undone, then throws it to the floor. Link's anxious hands grope to assist her in taking off that white blouse and soon it too is thrown to the floor. When she's sitting on his lap in nothing but her black lingerie set, Link takes a moment to bask in her body, captivated by the view as if he's seeing it all for the first time. Their eyes meet as her hands start to shift behind her to undo her brassiere and their world suddenly slows down. The lacy fabric loosens from her torso and falls away, then Zel tosses her brassiere onto the floor with the rest of their abandoned clothing.
He's seen it before, all of it. During particularly lonely days as he traveled alone, Link would repeat the memories of when they'd provoked one another, daring each other to see how far they'd strip from their clothing before one of them looked away. Since the night of the Fire Festival, they'd get caught up in their own teasing antics, hoping that one day they'd reach a moment like this; with all clothing cast aside to feel and lick and kiss and give into each other entirely.
Rounded breasts so full and plump, perky brown nipples that point straight at him, there's a rather large freckle close to her cleavage that has captivated him. Golden brown and perfectly circular, he remembers noticing it when she took her brassiere off in Zora's Domain, except this time Link isn't tearing his eyes away anymore. He's letting his gaze drag over her breasts as if they were a work of art, examining every minute detail, every perfect brush stroke Hylia created in order to paint Zel, and something cracks deep within him when he zooms back out to view the entire picture. Just the sight of her; thighs spread over his groin and mounted on top of him in nothing but her underwear makes him shatter almost completely.
Suddenly, his hands find her back and he rolls them over onto the messy bed sheets, making Zel yelp playfully. Lying longways with Link on top and Zel pinned to the mattress, he kisses her hard, pressing her head firmly into the green blanket as his tongue ventures deeper into her mouth, wanting—no, needing to take the reins for once. She moans louder and arches her back to meet him, desperate for more contact, and just the feeling of her smooth knees grazing along his hairy thighs makes that crack in his restraints a little bigger—so he drags his erection over the apex of her legs, and groans. With a hand caressing the outside of her thigh, starting soft and gentle, his control cracks further and he grabs the back of her leg with a firm hand and yanks it upwards—making her knee rub up past his waistline. A moan caught in her throat, Zel turns her head so he could kiss her jaw and he does, thorough and branding, letting his lips cover new ground on her skin. Hot and lewd but still meticulous and diligent, he kisses a spot just below her ear and she whimpers.
"I missed you so much Link," she says, lofty and full of breath, and sighs when his tongue licks over her jugular.
His breathing catches and all he sees behind closed eyelids is her moaning his name. Link kisses a lazy, wet zig-zag line down her throat to her collarbones, scooting his body lower on the bed, and he can't help himself to grab a fistful of her hip and give it a tight squeeze. She might have a few bruises tomorrow if he doesn't stop holding her so possessively and kissing her so thoroughly, but seeing as how she grits her teeth and claws her fingers in his hair, she's not going to be complaining about it in the morning.
Zel arches her back and groans in pleasure as her fingers get tangled in his hair. Loose and already disheveled, it blankets her chest as it follows the path his lips make from one breast to the other, kneading and cupping, admiring soft skin with his tongue as he's holding one breast in his palm and kissing her ribcage, discovering how his kisses on rosy flesh make her hum, how his love bites on her stomach cause her to chuckle and Link couldn't be more enthralled by the feminine noises that fill up the cabin. He's always wondered what it would sound like if he were ever given the chance to worship her body—and now he swallows every sigh, tastes every teasing laugh, and savors every hitch of her breath as his lips trail lower and lower.
Her moans turn into sighs as she shivers beneath him and he can feel the waves of goosebumps traveling down her skin that he's created by his own touch.
He did this, he's the cause of all her cravings.
Link shifts his body down the bed until his face is level with her hips and he's clutching at her underwear. He's been dying to be in this exact spot for a long… long time. He's salivating as the room is spinning and he still can't believe he's kissing Zel's hips and belly and that she's completely encased in the same carnal spell as him. His mouth ventures lower and lower until her sighs resort to quivers and she opens her legs wider, allowing him to kiss in the crevice of her thighs.
His kisses are dangerously slow now and he can hear Zel's breath hitch with every one. He takes a finger and curls it underneath her underwear and begins to trace the seam down and down until he can feel the heat of her on the back of his hooked finger, can feel how wet she is by the state of her underwear, and it makes him so aroused he has to take a moment to breathe. Elbows in the air as she claws both her hands in her hair, Zel's next words are caught in her throat, but he can hear her whimpers of please Link please. He licks his lips and swallows.
"Is it okay if I… ?"
"Why are you even asking?" She crunches up to stare at him, disbelief and eager frustration laced between her brows. Her voice sounds flighty and impatient and he wants to laugh, but he's too distracted by what's in front of him.
Pulling her underwear aside like a curtain, Zel opens herself up to him. Inching forward, Link angles his face and hovers until he's salivating, mouth watering because can feel just how much she's aching for his lips, can smell how sweet her scent is—before he closes his mouth over her.
Zel gasps loudly by the contact and angles better onto his face, but it's hard to say who gasps louder. He's never tasted anything more satisfying, never heard a sweeter sound leave a person's lips than her gasp turning into the most ravenous moan. He starts off slowly, kissing fastidiously—allowing her to settle into his hold before he presses his tongue against her, keeping it broad and pliant as he begins to work at her leisurely, self-indulgently, exploring every spot his tongue can reach until he finds that spot and she responds uncontrollably with a twitch and another gasp and begins to grind on his face.
He moans—letting the vibration travel up her spine and she's squirming, back arching, heels digging into the mattress as she spreads her legs wider and her uneven breathing becomes laced with inaudible words he can barely translate through the haze in his head. Unhurried and controlled, he traces circles and spirals, lines and letters as his eyes flicker open often, just to watch how she responds to each choice of his tongue. It's like an entertainment he's never experienced before; a push and a pull, to give and receive.
Rising onto his elbows, Link sucks on his index and middle finger right before he holds his breath, and slides them slowly inside her. With fingers curling, digits getting drenched by wetness up to his knuckles, they both gasp by the feeling and there's a word that tumbles from her mouth, long and drawn out, and there's absolutely no doubt of what word it is this time.
"Fuck."
Now he knows she only uses that word when she's infuriated with him or when his face is between her legs.
Basking in the heat on his fingers, Link pulls them out halfway before pushing gently in again, and places his mouth over her clit once more. With his lashes fluttering open, he watches how consumed Zel becomes by the sensation, how her jaw hangs open and her head tilts back when he starts an easy rhythm, and he's just about to close his eyes and lose himself to bed sheets and the shape of her hips when Zel takes his free hand that's gripping her waist and starts to drag it up the length of her body. He continues to suck and lick and become entirely intoxicated by the taste of her as she's pulling, guiding his arm further and further up her body—passed her navel, her breasts, her neck until her stomach muscles are flexing and she's bending, propping herself up on an elbow—maybe to watch him—but then she sticks two of his fingers in her mouth and—
He groans against her skin and starts shamelessly rutting against the bedsheets. He's throbbing, body grinding, desperate for any kind of friction, and between her tongue swirling around his digits as she drags them in and out, in and out her mouth and his own tongue lapping up and down skin as slick as silk, he doesn't know if he'll be able to last much longer, but she seems to hear his thoughts when she pulls away from him and speaks.
"Link, please. I need you. I need all of you."
Like the loyal knight he is, Link rises to his knees and drags Zel's underwear down her legs and chucks them over his shoulder. In a hurried daze, he shifts off the bed to stand so he can pull his own off—so their bodies can finally link together, but then the room is spinning again and he needs a second to process what's going to happen next. He doesn't want to feel nervous about this, but he can't help it. There's no going back from here.
With his thumbs hooked in the hemline of his underwear and his heart pounding through his chest, Link stands frozen for a few breaths before he steals a look under heavy lidded lashes. Zel is propped on her elbows, sitting wide-legged like a fucking Goddess draped across the bed, welcoming and inviting and—and needing him.
Her face and chest are flushed by the markings his lips and hands had left, and her hair is sticking to her neck at odd angles by small beads of sweat, but the sight of her naked body branded by him is inebriating, driving him crazy, and Link takes such a deep inhale, he thinks he might choke.
She sees his hesitation and crawls over to the edge of the bed, then rises to stand with him. The fireplace is crackling quietly and the dim lights from the candles are flickering softly as they dance along the wooden walls. The mood is right and the room is warm—everything is perfect, but still… he's frozen where he stands.
Zel shifts closer to him, and speaks in the softest whisper. "We don't have to do this, Link—"
"I want to," he breathes. "I do. Just… just don't stop. Please." His words are a desperate plea, a request for Zel to finish what they've started, to keep guiding him forward and pushing him along, even if he stumbles.
Eyes meeting in the dim light, Zel tilts her head up as he leans down to kiss her, encouraging and comforting—easing his nerves and standing as equals when Zel's hands meet his along the rim of his underwear. The prickling tension subsides from his shoulders, melting with every push of her lips, every warm caress of her palms, and when she feels his body draw closer to hers, she pushes his underwear down.
His erection springs loose from his shorts and smacks against her thigh. It's embarrassing only for the briefest moment until Zel releases a hungry sound against his lips and it makes him automatically press against her. Her hands drag back up his thighs, sending sparks and stars across his vision and then—then her hand cups around him. Her touch is gentle but cold and he hisses even if the flame within him is searing and it's starting to scorch his whole world.
Her hand steadies on cupping his balls, fitting perfectly in the palm of her hand, before trailing up to his erection. She grips around him with just the right amount of pressure as she's kissing his mouth with increasing vigor and fire—the flame that's been constantly kindled between them now doused with Din's fire more powerful than the Goddess herself could contain. She's stroking the length of him better than he ever imagined and it takes every bone in his body to tell her to stop because if she keeps doing that, he won't last much longer.
"Zel, I—I won't," he says, but she understands and releases her hold on him. With his palm resting on the crevice of her shoulder, Link presses their foreheads together and tries to collect his next breathless words. "How should we—what should I—" He's stuttering, but he's no longer nervous.
"Let me guide you, Hero." Her voice rings like a mantra in his ears.
Zel places her hands on his chest and presses back gently, coaxing him to lay on the bed. A light bounce on the mattress and he's sitting, the back of his knees hitting the edge of the bed and Link begins to crawl backwards as Zel is on her hands and knees, following his every movement. Eyes locked on lips, he stops when the back of his head finds the pillows and they both have enough room. Moving mindfully, Zel sits astride him just like before, but it's different now. This time, there isn't anymore clothing to shed, aren't anymore words to say, and he's lying down and she's just on top and his heart is going to burst from the chest that her nails are digging into as she bends down to kiss him and he reaches up to her, their lips meeting somewhere in the middle, and the whole world falls away.
Nothing matters anymore besides her.
Their kisses start soft and hesitant, but get harder, more desperate with every parting and every union that he doesn't even realize his hands are entwined in her hair, his lips moving so fluidly against her own. He catches every tender noise that escapes her and it sounds like a song.
Without a mindful thought to his next movements, his hands slide down her waist and rest on her thighs and he angles his hips towards her groin instinctively, feeling the wet heat of her sliding gently against the tip of him and he finally knows he's ready and willing the moment she is.
She keeps her torso close when Zel lifts her hips up, just enough to make room for her hand to coil around the width of him. With heavy eyelids, they both watch as she holds onto him gingerly, slides the tip of him over her clit and down to the place where she opens up for him—once, twice—coating him in her wetness and then… then guides him in.
With the slowness of a setting sun, Zel sinks down on him. All he can feel is how pleasurably tight she is and the warmth that's encased around him and it makes his mouth hang open. This is everything and nothing he's been imagining for months and it has only just begun.
Hands fisted on the bed sheets, Link stops breathing when she eases down completely and settles on top of him. He's so tense; body taut with nerves and mind clenched with worry and there's a throbbing pulse he can feel from the tips of his ears all the way down to his toes. In the motionless silence, a soft breath leaves Zel's lips and the sound has him dragging his gaze from the space between their bodies, and up to her face instead. Her green eyes are searching, watching him intensely, trying to find a smidgeon of regret or a sliver of pain and finding only a complicated man stripped down to simplicity. Naked and rapt, he watches as her features relax and she reaches out to take his hand, guiding him away from wrinkling the blankets even worse than he already has.
As tight as his body feels, he's awfully limp when Zel drags his hand up her body. She starts at her thigh and his fist loosens, grazing up her torso and his fingers flatten, and when his hand reaches her lips, there's no more tension left to release. Tenderly, like the petals of safflina flowers catching fallen snow, Zel closes her eyes and places the softest kiss in the middle of his palm. The lulling kiss of a deity, graceful surety placed in hands maimed by war, she opens her eyes and meets his gaze and even the snow outside stops falling. Crystal flakes sent by a goddess suspended in time just so Link can have this, to be released from the weight of this world to experience the gravity of a woman instead—one who has nothing but patience and admiration, gifting him an expression so adoringly sweet and lovely and with it, Link's entire body just melts.
Smiles breaking on quavering lips, Zel leans down and he's ready for her; angling his chin to catch her kiss and hold it. Her hands slide into his hair like it's the easiest deed she's ever done as his own hands smooth down her waist and up her spine and he can't hold back the flighty laugh that escapes between their lips, and she mirrors him. Then she begins to move.
She rolls her hips up slow until he's almost outside her, then comes back down—experiencing the length of him, and then he's not laughing anymore. Kisses pause, lips part by fractions, and Link can feel the easy slide of her, just how wet she is—how wet he is, how close they are already, and a moan gets stuck in his throat.
She speaks when he has no words in his head. "Why haven't we done this sooner." It doesn't sound like a question, even though it is.
With Link's breath caught on Zel's lips, he swallows. "You—you intimidated me."
Zel laughs and rolls her hips again. "Do I intimidate you now, hero?"
"Very." His head tilts back when she slides back down and presses firmly against his hips, taking him as deep as she can. It's a miracle he hasn't come yet just by the few strokes she's done over him, but he wants to feel her, needs to feel her do it first.
Zel rolls her hips again and again with a solid, slow pace and Link can see it weakens her. Her forehead falls to his and he's groaning, fingers gripping, body reacting to every perfectly controlled motion of her hips, and they're not even attempting to kiss each other anymore when they're both daring to fall off the edge. It's been months of waiting—days spent pining, moments alone imagining the other exactly how they are now—for both of them to last a perfectly dignified amount of time.
She has her hands planted firmly on his chest with her spine curved upwards, wide hips working expertly on top of him, and Link can tell by her expression alone that she's already lost in the feel of him, has already approached the perfect grind, the steady rhythm to how she wants him, and without a thought in his head, Link holds her waist and drags his thumbs over the underside of her breasts. The touch makes Zel's back arch like she's howling, exposing her breasts to him even more, and his hands take advantage of the opportunity.
"Link," she utters his name the way he's never heard anyone say it before.
His name—he doesn't even know where it came from. A single syllable he goes by, a sound that's shouted to gain his attention, the same word ringing throughout the quiet cabin and it has captivated every fiber of his being. Would it have felt any different if he went by a different name? Would it have gripped him less or felt irrelevant? Names are a convention to distinguish things or beings, but they themselves do not have any worth nor value—
—but she speaks his name as if it's a silent prayer, with meaning and devotion rooted deep in the construct of his creation, his purpose, why they're here together, and his control is breaking again.
Back leaving the blankets, Link rises from the bed and he's sitting, pulling her lower on his lap with assertive hands gripping her backside and it makes him hit a new spot inside her. She moves with him, welcoming the change, sitting on her shins as she drapes an arm around his shoulders and pulls him closer. She grinds her hips harder, breath getting heavier, her other arm clutches at his bicep like a vice as his own hands wrap around her. Breasts to chest, heartbeats racing, he pulls at her back as her hand tangles in his hair, cradling his head and holding him close like he's the only thing that matters to her, and all he can think about is gifting her burning, branding kiss after kiss all over her neck, her jaw, her clavicle.
Never wavering from that steady rock of her hips over and over repeatedly, suddenly Link feels her clench around his erection. A subtle twitch and he could've missed it if he wasn't so hypersensitive to every move she makes, and that must mean she's close—building into a pressure that's about to release, contracting uncontrollably every time she slides down on him, so he measures a timely thrust against the grind of her hips and she growls.
"Again."
He does, and it cracks his control in two. He presses up to meet her again and again and again, heels digging into the mattress for leverage, greedy hands gripping all over her bare body, his mind is completely gone from reality, thoughts lost to the space between memories, he's musing in her whimpers of OhGodsOhGodsOhGods, YesYesYes over and over until she chokes out his name.
"Link."
"Zelda."
For only a second, her movements falter and her body stiffens, but Link's mind isn't entirely in control of his heart anymore. That control is broken and crumbling to pieces, so focused on the woman and her value to him that he can only succumb to recognizing familiarity and desire, even if the name is wrong.
Between the grind of their bodies, he's too caught up in the moment. He's thrusting into her now with arms wrapped so tightly around her that he may never let go, and even with that name on his lips making her fumble, not even Zel can escape the cresting wave between her legs and he just holds her tighter, thrusts into her harder, building into her orgasm as much as she is.
He watches as she throws her head back, breasts hitting his chin in the sudden movement, and her grinding gets faster, more urgent—fingers pressing so hard into his shoulder that he grits his teeth and growls and ruts a little harder. The tension in the cabin is building and building and they're climbing and climbing and then suddenly Zel lets out the most beautiful, agonized cry as she releases around him. She's glistening and gorgeous, graceful yet panting, nails clawing into his shoulder and shuddering and before she can finish entirely, his control shatters completely and he comes, falling back down on the bedsheets and pulling her down with him. A yelp leaves her throat and in several deeply frantic thrusts with his swollen balls smacking against her wet skin, his hips sputter helplessly as his lips search for hers and Link rides out the ebb of their synchronized climax with something between a groan and a battle cry.
They stay like that; panting into each other's mouths, dewy with exertion from head to toe. Pounding and pulsing, blinding vision, neither of them move until the momentum dissolves and they're left with that throbbing, pleasing sensation of a lingering aftermath.
When his vision returns and the world settles back down, he can feel her rapid breath hitting his lips and a wetness between their groins. The humid air starts to feel cool again, the sounds of the fire in the chimney coming back to him, and when their eyes meet, Zel smiles and kisses him softly. He hums against her mouth, basking in the languid tranquility of such a satisfying sensation that when she starts to pull away, he almost protests.
Zel lifts up and angles her hips in such a way that keeps their kisses constant as he pulls out of her. The drenched feeling is new for Link, just like this entire experience, and he gasps when his slack erection leaves the warmth of Zel's legs and a few droplets fall onto his balls. A century of waiting and months of pining has caused a considerable mess over both their thighs, but neither of them care to do anything about it right now. With the sweat between them, Zel peels off his chest entirely to lay on the bed beside him, then drapes a leg over his thigh and lulls her knuckles up and down his abdomen in a sign of affection. They lie together, shoulder to shoulder, facing the sky and staring at the ceiling, listening to one another's sated breath and calming heartbeats.
After a while, Zel's voice breaks through repose. "You've done this before. Well… at least the first bit."
Link has long closed his eyes, so he opens them and lifts his head off the bed to look at her. Zel's eyes are still closed and she's smiling, calm and content.
"You think?" He asks.
"I know," she says, fluttering her eyes open as she turns to her side and props an elbow on the bed, then rests her jaw atop her palm. "Tongue work like that comes with experience."
He smirks, her compliment clearly helping his ego, but he rolls to his side and mimics her pose and cups her face in his free hand.
They lean in together for a chaste kiss, but it lingers too long and becomes deeper, more warm and heated. Clawing his hand farther into her hair, she takes her leg and drags it up the side of him until her knee is hooked over his waist and she's pulling him in again.
But then reality sets in for Link and he gasps, bolting upright on the bed.
"We didn't use protection." His eyes are wide.
The sudden panic catches her off guard and she wobbles slightly—clumsy hand clutching the bed just to keep her balance.
Their eyes meet, and he stares down at her. "What if we—what if I—" He's stuttering and he's nervous again.
"If you what, Link?"
"You know."
She rolls her eyes at him. "Out with it."
"What if I got you…" He whispers like if he says it too loud, it'll come true. "What if you become…? I mean, not that that isn't a bad thing, but I—I can't, we can't—not right now." He claws a hand through his hair. "Oh my gods—"
"Link," she says calmly, tone sounding just vaguely annoyed, and places a hand over his to stop him from spiraling down a whirlwind of worry. "You should probably feel comfortable saying the word pregnant before you risk doing it."
He's irritated that she's so calm.
"It's a little too late for that, don't you think?" He raises a suspicious brow at her. "And why aren't you freaking out about this?"
"Because Link," she sits up to meet his eyes and shifts that comforting hand onto his thigh. "When we separated in Eldin, I… started making my own contraceptives. Since we've been traveling together, I've been researching enough about medicinal plants to come up with a simple daily edible to take when I'm not on my bleeding week. It's a mixture of monster parts and chuchu jelly with various medicinal herbs like queen anne's lace and armoranth. I thought… since you've always been very aware of my cycles and clearly we've both wanted to do this for a long time, I figured when we were to meet up again… we should probably be ready for… this."
"Oh." His ears are suddenly very hot.
She smiles shyly. "I'm sorry, I should've told you. I just… I didn't quite know how to tell you? I didn't want to come off as pressuring you, but I wanted us to be ready, whenever that would be."
Maybe if they hadn't just fucked, Link might feel a bit uncomfortable with this conversation, but surprisingly, he doesn't. It's pleasing to hear she's been thinking about this and the egotistical part of him feels a bit smug that she had prepared for them to do this, even after months of being apart. With his nerves settling for the final time tonight, he takes a long, drawn out breath, then holds her hand in his. His thumb grazes over her knuckles.
"So you want to do this with me again then?" He asks, a little shy but still a bit cocky.
She laughs, then pulls him towards her.
"Again and again…" She kisses him and he rolls on top of her.
"And again and again…" He's between her legs.
"And again," she repeats until he mutes her with his mouth and she's moaning again.
The second time is longer and sweatier, with harder grinds and more positions, both meeting their climax in unison. They fall asleep bare and curled together and as Link sleeps, he dreams about a woman of legend with golden waist-long hair that blankets his body as she takes him in her mouth, but he would forget his dream by morning when that same nameless woman snoozes peacefully beside him.
