Part 1: link

    Finally the feast winds down, and Arthur and Guinevere are able to make their exit. As they walk through the corridors to their shared chambers (another thing Arthur insisted upon, once again tampilkan disregard for years of tradition), Gwen’s mind drifts back to their wedding the sebelumnya week.
    Or, lebih specifically, their wedding night.

    He was so nervous, though he’d deny it to his last breath. So was I. The culmination of five years of longing, hoping, despairing, wishing, and praying was about to happen and we were as skittish as a couple of colts.
    I can only imagine how he must have paced and fretted waiting for my arrival. One tradition he’d forgotten to dispose of: the wedding night preparations. Separate preparations. I know now that he had secretly been hoping to unwrap me from my wedding dress like I was his beautiful gift, and the pout on his face when I was whisked away oleh some of the elder maids to be “prepared” for our wedding night was priceless. I had to bite the inside of my cheek to prevent myself from laughing.
    My attendants undressed and re-dressed me with expert efficiency, and the gambar flashing through my mind’s eye of Merlin attempting to assist a petulant and frustrated Arthur while trying not to think specifically about what he was preparing his master for were enough to make me want to laugh out loud. And I did, a few times. I’m sure the maids chalked it up to nerves.
    And there were plenty of those. I had some idea about what to expect, and none of it was reassuring. Pain. Blood. The fact that it was possible that I won’t enjoy it the first time. And Arthur. Had he ever… with someone else…? I didn’t even want to think about it. It was a very real possibility. After all, he was every bit the arrogant swaggering Prince for a long time. On the other hand, he did devote an awful lot of time to his training. And I don’t recall ever seeing him in the company of any lady for any appreciable amount of time. At least not while he wasn’t under the influence of an enchantment, anyway. But the pertanyaan was still out there, hovering. And it was certainly not something I could, atau would, ask him.
    By the time I was escorted to our chambers, he was pacing like a caged tiger, stalking the length of the room.
    “Arthur.”
    He stopped mid-stride, wheeling around. He hadn’t heard me enter and lock the door. “Guinevere. anda look…” he trailed off.
    “Thank you. You, too,” I chuckled nervously, trying to lighten the mood. He looked magnificent as always, even though he was clad in just a pair of soft black trousers, ones I’ve seen thousands of times, actually, but he is what always takes my breath away.
    I had been dressed in a white linen nightdress covered oleh a soft red dressing gown, my hair loose. I didn’t think I looked all that spectacular, but who was I to disagree with my very obviously impressed new husband?
    He started walking towards me, so I advanced as well, willing my feet to move, meeting him halfway. He hesitantly reached a hand out, bringing it to my cheek, touching lightly, gently. He stared a moment, something clearly on his mind.
    “Guinevere, I… I need to tell anda something.”
    I remember being worried at his words. Worried that he was about to give me the sordid details of his past. I didn’t really want to know. I didn’t care. But I waited, biting my lip.
    “I… I’veneverdonethisbefore,” he admitted, running the words together.
    My teeth had released their grip on my lower lip, and I remember my mouth falling open in surprise. And relief. And, if I am honest, pride in the realization that I would be the first and only woman he will have.
    I didn’t know what to say, so I berkata the only thing that made any sense at all.
    “Well, neither have I.”
    He laughed suddenly at this, relaxing some. But there was also a fleeting moment of relief on his face. Was it relief over his own predicament, atau had he been worried that I had… with… Lancelot?
    I pushed that thought away, secure in the knowledge that soon it would be very clear that I have been nothing but virtuous.
    Arthur had pulled me closer as he laughed, wrapping me in his arms. “You always have the right words for me,” he berkata quietly, his hands starting to wander a bit on my back, venturing down to rest on my hips.
    “I just… don’t want to disappoint you.” Suddenly serious again, he had berkata this into the puncak, atas of my head, ciuman my hair.
    His skin was so warm, smelling of soap and api and him. Surprised oleh my own boldness, I kissed his chest without even thinking about it, and he inhaled sharply. Then he tipped my chin upwards, and I remember briefly losing myself in those unique blue-grey of his eyes.
    “You could never disappoint me, Arthur. I cinta you. Very much. And anda cinta me.”
    “Very much,” he echoed softly.
    “That is all the experience we need.”
    At that he leaned down and lifted me in his arms and strode to the bed. His breathing was heavy, but I knew it was not because he had exerted himself carrying me.
    He kissed me, gently at first; gradually deepening, and I felt his tongue at my lips, asking for entrance. I smile every time he does that. This time was no different; I parted my smiling lips for him to ciuman me hungrily, the way he wanted to. The way I wanted him to.
    I don’t know what he was expecting from me that night, but I’m sure I behaved wantonly and not at all ladylike.
    I was melting in his arms. At least that’s how it felt. I felt like mentega left out in the sun as his lips and tongue explored mine, tasting, sucking, even nibbling. Of course I gave back as good as he was giving, pressing against him, taking his delicious lower lip into my mouth and sucking on it before he finally broke the kiss, breathless, and set me gently on the bed. Merlin had thoughtfully turned down the covers before he left. I could just imagine the multitudinous shades of berwarna merah muda, merah muda his ears must have turned as he attended this particular duty that night.
    Hesitating for just a moment, he joined me on the bed, lying on his side beside me. His eyes surveyed me, as if he wasn’t sure where he wanted to begin. I reached for his hand and guided it to the sabuk of my dressing gown.
    I was as eager for this as he was, I think.
    Understanding my meaning, he pulled the tie loose and eased the gaun open and slid his hands up to my shoulders. I sat up to remove the jubah from my shoulders, then scooted it out from beneath me before dropping it on the floor.
    The gaun they dressed me in was thin but demure. But Arthur looked at me again as if I was the most beautiful, desirable creature in the world. Then he paused once again.
    “If anda are uncomfortable, we don’t have to take the gaun off completely,” he berkata softly, trying to be considerate, his fingers fidgeting with the thin white fabric.
    His sweetness was almost too much to bear.
    I was already behaving shamelessly, so I gathered up my courage and climbed off the bed, standing beside it. Arthur sat halfway up, leaning on his elbow, curious.
    Willing my fingers to be still, I raised my hands to the laces holding the nightdress closed at my chest and started to undo them, watching Arthur as I did so.
    I had his complete attention.
    Once I had it open enough to remove, I took a deep breath and I just went for it. I slid the gaun from my shoulders and it dropped to the floor.
    “Dear God, Guinevere, anda are unbelievably beautiful,” he finally managed to choke out. His voice was quiet and almost unrecognizable.
    My jantung was pounding furiously. I was standing there, naked, in front of Arthur. My husband. My love. My king. I felt no embarrassment atau shyness, which surprised me. The only thing I felt was a heated desire in my stomach, spreading outward to my limbs while it concentrated itself between my legs.
    “Come here,” he whispered hoarsely. Only then did I notice the evidence of his own desire inside his trousers. I held my breath as I rejoined him on the bed.
    He reached a hand out, not sure where to touch first. Finally he settled on the side of my neck, apparently not wanting to alarm me.
    Little did he know that the parts of me he wanted to touch were positively aching, crying out for him to touch them.
    “Arthur,” his name escaped my lips, a whisper.
    He bent to ciuman me, and he slid his hand a bit lower. I reached out, placing my hand on his chest. Then I slid it down to his stomach.
    “Arthur,” I berkata again, “touch me. Please.”
    I’ll never forget the look that was on his face as long as I live. I don’t know if it was caused oleh my brazen words atau my brazen hands at the waistband of his trousers, slyly starting to remove them. Perhaps it was both.
    He kissed me again, and finally he moved his hand to my breast, cupping it in his palm, caressing the skin, feeling its weight. I think I moaned then.
    I felt him smile against my lips. Then he reached down to help me remove his trousers, and suddenly there were no lebih secrets between us.
    “You are beautiful, too, Arthur,” I told him, my eyes taking all of him in. I tried not to stare too long at that part of him, but I don’t think I succeeded.
    Ever gentle, he leaned over me, ciuman me again, and his hand returned to my breast, eager to continue its exploration, and I was eager to let him.
    I was also eager to do some exploring of my own. But then he kissed his way down to my neck, which distracted me momentarily. His lips on each new part of my body were causing torrents of sensation through me. I gasped as his tongue snaked out against the skin on my neck.
    I was reeling already, and we’d only just begun.
    I remembered my own curiosity, my hand still resting on his stomach. Just inches away. I willed it lower, my fingers caressing the skin on his stomach, dragging across his navel, lower.
    Arthur paused, and I stopped, worried that I was doing the wrong thing.
    “Don’t stop,” he whispered into my ear before taking my earlobe into his mouth.
    Okay, then.
    Distracted oleh his hands and his lips on my own body, my hand somehow found him. I touched him gently, and he moaned into my neck, ciuman lower. My fingers got bolder, encouraged oleh his actions, and I wrapped them around him, squeezing slightly. He groaned into my breasts, taking one into his mouth, kissing, running his tongue over my nipple, around it, and I cried out. I couldn’t help it. I knew it wasn’t proper, but it was out before I could stop it.
    Arthur seemed to enjoy hearing it, because he doubled his efforts. I think he was trying to make me do it again.
    I was still holding him in my hand, but I had once again been distracted oleh what he was doing to me. Tentatively I moved my hand on his length, marveling at the curious sensation. It felt like nothing I have ever felt in my hands before; soft and firm at the same time.
    This time he cried out, and I smiled into his hair.
    Then.
    Oh, God, then…
    His hand slid down my stomach, lower, and touched me. There. There, where I had been aching for him for so long, longer than I would be readily willing to admit. His fingers on me felt unbelievable. They felt very different from my own fingers. There were a few times that the ache for him within me grew too great for me to bear, and I succumbed to temptation. But this was very different. Better. Because he was actually here, actually touching me.
    Oddly, I distinctly remember wondering if Arthur had ever touched himself where my hand now rested. Did he think of me when he did? What would he think if he knew that I had touched myself, thinking of him?
    When his fingers found that most sensitive point, my hips jerked upward from the tempat tidur and I cried out again, louder this time. Distracted beyond all thought oleh this action mixed with his lips and tongue and teeth at my breasts, I reflexively squeezed his manhood tighter in my grasp, and my hand inadvertently slid along its length, this time with none of my prior gentleness.
    Arthur inhaled sharply, and I loosened my grasp and apologized.
    “No,” he said, raising his face to mine. His eyes were dark and dazed, almost like he’d been drugged. “Do that some more,” he said, his voice rough.
    Oh.
    So I did, and he moaned into my neck. A few lebih strokes and he was gently removing my hand from him, his own trembling with need.
    “Guinevere,” he had whispered into my ear as he positioned himself over me, between my legs, which I gladly parted for him.
    Does he know that he can turn me into liquid just oleh saying my name?
    He leaned down and kissed me again, softly, almost worshipful. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he had whispered against my lips. I could feel his manhood so close to me. It was starting to make me feel a little insane.
    “It’s all right, Arthur,” I breathed the words, scarcely a whisper. “There is no avoiding it.” I kissed his neck a few times, tasting the sweet saltiness of his now-sweaty skin on my tongue.
    “I… I want this so much,” he had berkata then. I remember wondering why he was hesitating. Was he really that concerned about causing me pain?
    “So do I,” I admitted then, hoping that it would reassure him. He lifted his head and looked at me, a look of awe on his beautiful face. Slowly he smiled, and the smile gradually turned into a devilish grin.
    I gathered my courage again and reached down between us, took him in my hand and gently guided him where we both wanted him to go. He groaned again as I did this. I let go with my hand and he slowly pushed inside me, as gently as he could.
    It was all very strange. At first it was fine, actually pleasurable. I remember smiling and thinking that it wasn’t as bad as I’d been told. Then the dam broke. He paused halfway, and with a whispered, “I’m sorry, Love,” he pushed the rest of the way in, and a sharp pain shot through me. I cried out again, this time from pain.
    He stilled and dropped his lips to mine, trying to ciuman away the discomfort, his hands caressing gently, wiping away a single tear that I hadn’t realized escaped from one of my eyes, waiting as patiently as he could until I was ready.
    Slowly the pain faded, and I realized I had been gripping his shoulders rather tightly. He made nothing of it. I loosed my grasp and slid my palms around his shoulders, bringing my hands up into his hair, sliding them down to cup his cheeks.
    “Okay?” he whispered, looking into my eyes.
    I nodded, and kissed him. “Yes, Arthur.”
    He claimed my lips with his own again and moved his hips back, sliding out. Still a tad uncomfortable, but the sharpness was no longer there. My body was still adjusting to his intrusion, but the discomfort lessened with each thrust he made, still gentle, until the pain was only a distant memory and I was once again mindless with the need of him.
    “Arthur…” I breathed. His lips were at my neck again.
    He started to increase his speed, his intensity. This may have had something to do with the fact that one of my legs had hooked itself around his hip.
    It was like nothing I’d ever experienced, being there with him, being as close as two people could be. I felt so heavy yet completely weightless. I was soaring and drowning, hot and cool, lost and found.
    He was growling now. Yet I wasn’t frightened; I was excited, seeing the animal side of him this way: with passion and cinta instead of rage atau determination. It was very… erotic. I liked it.
    That heat was spreading through me again, this time coming straight from the spot at which we were joined. I could no longer think straight. I’d never felt such pleasure, such joy. My whole body was tingling, humming, and it was building, higher and stronger, until it could no longer be contained and burst forth from me like the sun coming forth from behind the clouds.
    I shouted then. Shamelessly and like a wanton hussy, I shouted out the joy of my release. Arthur can be disappointed in me later, at that moment I didn’t care.
    And apparently neither did he, because he own shouts presently joined mine as his seed flooded into me, hot and wonderful.
    “I cinta you,” he gasped, collapsing carefully over me. “I cinta anda lebih than I thought myself capable of loving anyone,” he muttered into my ear, ciuman my neck.

    “Guinevere?” Arthur’s voice snaps her out of her reverie.
    “Hmm?” Gwen shakes her head slightly and smiles at her husband.
    “You’re awfully quiet. What’s on your mind, my love?”
    “Oh, nothing. I was, um, just thinking,” she bites back a smile and hopes the heat rising to her face isn’t accompanied oleh a blush.
    “What about?” he asks, a glint in his eye.
    I guess I am blushing. “Our wedding night,” she admits.
    Arthur laughs, and they stop walking because he has pulled her into his arms. “Oh really?” He inclines his head and kisses her there in the corridor, caring very little if anyone should see them.
    I cinta being able to do this without fear of discovery, he thinks as he teases her lips with his tongue until she parts them for him, allowing him to plunder the dark moist warmth of her mouth. Gwen kisses him back just as hungrily, tipping her head back as she presses closer. She feels her crown start to slip, and she breaks away quickly, laughing, her hand coming up to steady the heavy jewelry.
    “Almost fell off,” she giggles.
    He smiles and tucks her hand into the crook of his arm, nice and proper, and they continue on their way to their chambers.

    One thing was confirmed in my mind that night. When we are alone and behind closed doors, Arthur is a different Arthur. He is my Arthur. The I can be myself Arthur. He is not the beloved young king, nor the charismatic leader, nor the brave and fearless warrior. Those are all a part of him, aspects of his true self, yes. But my Arthur is tender, gentle, and thoughtful. He is vulnerable, open, and unguarded. He is humble, generous, and sometimes bashful. It is an Arthur for my eyes alone. He doesn’t need to be anything for me. Just himself.

Part 3: link