a pirate's cove

[hylianqueen]

Zelda had spent the past several days searching for a suitable door in which she could learn how to swim. Perhaps it would be better to learn in the indoor pool but Erik seemed incredibly confident in his skills to teach her and Zelda wanted to be by the sea more than anything else. She felt that this would make him happier too and that strangely was something she wanted to see; she had never been fascinated by a man quite as much as she was fascinated by Erik.

The door that was carved with a ship opened to a stretch of beach and a little cave with a boat moored outside it, a fine boat with large black sails. Zelda knew very little about boating but she thought this would be something Erik would want to see and she could hardly wait to find him and show him what she'd found.

She asked the desk which room he'd taken and was given the perplexing answer that Erik had refused lodging within the hotel. Strange, very strange. Still...he had seemed to like the gardens that she had shown him on his first day and Zelda took a chance that he might be there. She found him on the edge of them, set up into a camp beneath the shade of several trees.

"I've found something you might find interesting. Both the sea and a boat."

Comments

[hylianqueen]

Zelda hopped up a bit with the next swell. "All right, help me to float, then? I should try to get on my back, should I not?"

She was not unaffected by the kiss to her forehead but she tried not to call attention to it save for the unconscious desire to blush. This was about learning to swim, not...other things.

[highland_hawk]

Erik swallowed and steeled himself. "Aye, ye should, but it can be a trick when yer not used t'trustin the water yet. I can help ye there."

Deftly, and mind on teaching...and nothing else, he slid one hand to the middle of her back and used his leg to sweep hers from under her. Within a second, she was in the cradle of his arms. "I've got ye, Princess. Now it's up to you to stretch out and let yer body float. It helps if ye try t'not tense up."

Good plan for both of them, but he knew his chances of success were pretty slim.

[hylianqueen]

Zelda tensed a bit but tried to fight that and relax, letting the water hold her up. "You do not think I will sink, do you?"

With his arms beneath her she doubted it but he might eventually move them away and then she would be in a predicament.

[highland_hawk]

"You won't sink," Erik promised her and then followed either his glands or his instincts, but either way it was the perfect solution to taking her mind off the fear of falling beneath the surface. "Relax, Zelda," he said softly, his face close to hers as he said her name for the first time. "I won't let you sink."

Then he touched his lips lightly to hers.

[hylianqueen]

The shock of being kissed was enough that Zelda did not think about the fact that she was in the water or that the next wave could tumble her underneath the surface. She had never kissed anyone before and even though this was simply a touch of his lips to hers, it was something new and novel.

"You won't let me sink," she echoed, letting out a slow breath. "All right, I believe you can move your arms now. I am willing to try it."

[highland_hawk]

"Nay, lass, I won't." His mouth still tingled from the kiss. It was no more passionate than the one he'd given Christina MacLeod's cheek, but that didn't stop his skin from feeling too small for his body and make him wish he'd not let it pass so quickly, especially now that given the way her body floated, her breasts were clear of the water and just a few tantalizing inches away. It took every ounce of effort he had to look away.

"I'm right here if ye feel uneasy," he said, voice rough, and removed his arms from under her.

[hylianqueen]

Zelda took in a sharp breath as she floated and concentrated every fiber of her being on simply not sinking. She did well for the most part but when a high wave crested, she lost her balance and flailed a little.

"Erik! A little help?"

[highland_hawk]

"Right here, lass," Erik responded, his voice right next to her ear and hands spanning her waist again. "I told ye I wouldn't be far from ye while ye floated."

[hylianqueen]

"I think I'm getting a little better," Zelda said, turning to face him. "But there is something I would like to ask of you, if you do not mind?"

[highland_hawk]

"I'm at yer service," Erik responded with a nod. He was also, apparently well on the way to sainthood. Which would have the other members of the Guard laughing themselves into early graves.

[hylianqueen]

"Why did you kiss me?" Zelda asked, forcing herself to remain regally calm and not color with a blush at that particular memory. It had been a pleasant kiss, even if it was entirely too brief, and she wondered what had inspired him to do so. Nobody else had ever shown an inkling of interest at doing that to her and he was the first to breach all of her reserve and take one from her. It felt exhilarating.

[highland_hawk]

Erik considered before he answered. "I could be all noble an' tell ye it was t'help ye relax. T'take yer mind off yer fear of fallin under by givin ye somethin else t'focus on." He let that statement sit between them for a moment or two. "An' that's true enough, but I also kissed ye because yer a beautiful woman and I couldn't stop m'self."

[hylianqueen]

And there was the blush that she had tried so hard to resist. "I have never had anyone express such interest in me before. I apologize, it is quite a new experience for me."

Zelda had been told that she was beautiful before, of course, but only in the sense that a cold winter's day was aesthetically pleasing. She had never been desired before.

[highland_hawk]

Erik somehow doubted that he was the first to every find an interest in the lass' beauty, but felt it was possible that she'd simply never noticed it. She came from war; that wasn't entirely unheard of. "No need t'apologize, m'lady."

Because he couldn't resist, he reached up to touch the reddening cheeks. "Though I should warn ye. Now that I've tasted ye with the salt on yer lips, I may start thinkin about doin it again. Ye can slap me if ye'd rather I didn't."

[hylianqueen]

"It would be rude to slap you," Zelda said gently. "I would not be offended if you wished to kiss me again, I merely do not know what to do with the knowledge that someone desires me for some reason other than my crown or my wisdom."

It was very novel indeed and something Zelda thought might be fun to pursue even if it was far from the duty she had always devoted herself to.

[highland_hawk]

"Trust me, Zelda," Erik replied and reached up to brush a bit of hair behind her ear. "My wantin t'kiss ye has nothin t'do with crown or wisdom and everythin t'do with ye bein one of th'most beautiful women I've seen in m'life." He paused and leaned a little closer. "And that yer lips taste like ambrosia, even with just the brief taste I got."

[hylianqueen]

Zelda bit her lip a little, hard enough that the pain kept her from revealing emotions that she did not want to show for fear of getting hurt. "I am flattered," she assured him. "And intrigued, of course, but I do not wish to be hurt."

[highland_hawk]

"And ye think I'll hurt ye?" Erik asked, trying not to focus on the way her lip caught in her teeth even though it was clear the action was not one of coy flattery but something else entirely.

[hylianqueen]

"Possibly without meaning to. I can imagine I attach much more significance to our interactions than you would simply by virtue of my inexperience. It would be easy for me to forget my head and convince myself there is something between us when you do not feel the same way."

Zelda watches him with a steady gaze. "And yet, I find that I wish to be burned by that fire all the same. It is a predicament."

[highland_hawk]

Erik was well aware that they were bobbing in the ebb and flow of the water - well, she was, his feet were firmly on the ocean floor - and that they were both stark naked. A fact his cock was reminding him of near constantly, and insistently. He was old enough, however, to not be led around by it any longer. "I'm not in the habit of ravishing virgins, Zelda, but I'm not all that experienced with maids, either. M'eye usually trains t'lasses well versed in their wants. I won't say I don't want ye, because I'm not in th'habit of lyin. I will say I'd be happy t'see where what I'm feelin for ye might lead, at whatever pace yer comfortable with."

[hylianqueen]

"I do not lie either, which is why I wanted to be forthright with you. The last thing I want is to ruin a friendship because expectations were made unclear," Zelda said, smiling a bit. "And whatever there is between us, I would like to be your friend. It has been a long time since I have had anyone even come close to being a friend or companion to me. A princess leads a very lonely and isolated life, for the most part, and my father forbid me to play with children below my station."

[highland_hawk]

"As does a sailor, and a man without lands. Ye don't garner close companions, but rather ones ye trust and ones ye don't and never really know fer certain which group is which."

He slipped a hand behind her neck. "And if I do somethin t'hurt ye, Zelda, ye've only t'tell me, or slap me with m'full permission t'do so, and without me thinkin yer rude." Because it seemed the perfect thing, he leaned in and kissed the tip of her nose.

[hylianqueen]

Zelda smiled at him, a bit sheepish. "I did not mean to tell you not to kiss me. I simply wanted to be certain expectations were clear between us. I am ruled by logic and the idea of something that has to do with passion is new and a bit unsettling for me."

[highland_hawk]

"And I'm ruled by instinct," Erik grinned, cupping her face in his hands. "Should be fun."

[hylianqueen]

"How do you not blow away on the winds of passion, then?" Zelda asked, honestly intrigued by the concept of being ruled by instinct instead of wisdom. It seemed very much like something a follower of Din would do and that was something she'd only experienced in the negative. Still, there were positive aspects to passion and instinct. There must be.