Walking home in the rain, Sarah quickly realized, was a lot more romantic in theory than in practice.
Perhaps if the rain hadn't smelled bad, or left grey streaks on her exposed skin. Or perhaps if it hadn't been chilly, and she hadn't been wearing shoes that were now soaked completely through, making her feel as though she were dragging two small jugs of water up the stairs to her apartment. Or maybe if she'd been walking with someone instead of walking alone.
She fumbled with her keys and opened the door to the larger-than-average living room to see her elderly roommate, Phyllis, in her usual spot: propped up in her favorite lounge chair in front of the TV set. The glance that she threw toward the door was disapproving.
"Please let yourself dry off a bit before you come inside," she said, looking Sarah up and down as if she were covered in mud instead of water.
Sarah forced down the retort that sprang to her lips. "Of course. Could you, uh, grab me a towel? If it's not too much trouble?"
Phyllis gave Sarah a withering look that said it clearly WAS too much trouble, then made a big show of struggling out of her chair toward the bathroom, pulling one of Sarah's towels down from the shelf, and handing it to her delicately clasped in two fingers, as if the towel itself were also covered in rainwater.
Two more weeks. Two more weeks.
When her previous apartment situation had fallen through and she'd needed a place to stay just for the last six months of college, her father had suggested rooming with a former client who had a very spacious and centrally located apartment. Rent was affordable, too.
"I should warn you, though, that Phyllis is…difficult. Still, for six months it shouldn't be that bad."
It was most definitely that bad.
Phyllis had waited until Sarah had moved in to announce a number of draconian house rules—no guests, especially no male guests, no noise after eight pm, no coming home late. Sarah had initially tried to find a compromise but Phyllis wouldn't budge. One time she'd actually snuck a guy in late at night and then sent him running down the stairs when Phyllis woke up, which had led to a shouting match and threats of immediate eviction.
Still, the apartment was nice, and Phyllis napped a lot, and so Sarah simply found herself counting down the days until graduation and the beginning of a paid publishing internship in Vancouver.
Two more weeks.
She toweled herself off as best she could and wrapped her soaked socks and shoes in the towel. As she headed for the bathroom she noticed a package sitting on the kitchen table addressed to her.
"Ah yes, I believe that's from your parents. It was quite heavy, I had to carry it all the way up the stairs by myself."
Sarah started to open the package. "I'm sorry, I would have carried it when I got home."
"This building is full of thieves, and I know they can pick the locks on the delivery boxes. Can't leave things sitting around for too long."
Sarah rolled her eyes and then smiled as she opened the package to reveal an assortment of sweets and snacks—Karen and her father still sent her care packages once or twice a year, even though she'd just turned twenty-two and had told them that she felt a bit silly getting gifts from home when it wasn't Christmas or her birthday. Karen had great taste, though, and Sarah was always happy to get a box of slightly pricier snacks and hand creams that she'd never spend her own money on.
Tucked in one corner of the box was an unfamiliar-looking paper package. She opened it up to reveal a set of bath bombs shaped and colored like…
"What the hell?" Sarah muttered.
"What was that?"
Sarah shook her head. "Nothing." Phyllis also had strict rules about cursing.
She pulled out one of the peach-shaped bath bombs and turned it over in her hands. It smelled nice. Just a coincidence. Lots of people like peach-scented stuff.
And hey, I AM freezing cold and covered in dirty water…
"I'm going to take a bath," Sarah said absently.
Phyllis changed the channel and made a sound that might have indicated approval. "Good," she said. "Remember not to use my soaps."
I have never TOUCHED your ancient, weird-smelling soaps, you harridan, Sarah thought as she closed the bathroom door behind her and locked it, turning on the hot water in the delightfully oversized tub, one of many features that almost made the apartment worth it. As the tub filled she turned on the heater and peeled off her soaked clothes, tossing them in the sink, which she'd definitely have to scrub afterward—Phyllis would notice the dirty water stains.
She used the already-wet towel to scrub off the worst of the dirty water on her skin, hating the thought of soaking in a soiled bath. When the tub was full she glanced at the bath bomb in her hand, laughing at herself for the momentary uneasiness that she felt. "It's a bath product," she said. "It's not like it's from another realm."
She tossed it into the water and watched it fizz and bubble until the whole bath was a vaguely pinkish-orange color. Then she slowly lowered herself into the water and sighed with pleasure—if she could just lock Phyllis out more often then this apartment really wouldn't be so bad.
She leaned back and closed her eyes, breathing in the vaguely peach-scented steam. The "no men" rule had really been a bummer these past six months, not that she'd necessarily had guys beating down her door. And the one she'd gone to the trouble to bring back here had been…average. She certainly wasn't looking for anything serious before she packed up her things and moved to Vancouver, but a bit of occasional companionship would have been nice.
Getting LAID would be nice, the blunter voice in the back of her mind added. Sarah had to agree.
Her mind was just beginning to drift to more pleasant encounters from her past, and as her hands absently traveled lower the bathwater suddenly began to fizz and bubble again, just as it had when she'd dropped the bath bomb in. Sarah sat up and fumbled around in the water.
"What the—"
The fizzing and bubbling grew considerably more intense. Sarah tried to stand up but slipped and fell up to her neck in water, and just as she was about to push herself out of the tub a shape popped up between her legs.
A head, to be exact. With a male face and a mane of long, wet hair. And eyes that betrayed only the slightest hint of surprise before the face smirked at her.
"Well," the Goblin King said. "Fancy meeting you here."
Sarah opened her mouth to scream and managed only the briefest gasp before Jareth clamped his hand firmly over her lips.
"Really, Sarah," he said, his voice as smooth as ever. "You'll spoil all the fun."
She glared fiercely at him, his hand still firmly in place. She was tempted to bite his fingers, hard, if only to wipe that smug look off of his face.
His smile widened. "I'm going to take my hand away now," he said, "and you're not going to scream, because then you'll have to explain to your charming roommate exactly how and why a naked man is currently sharing a bath with you. And whatever tale you spin, I'm willing to wager she won't be persuaded."
Sarah gave a small whimper. If this happens again, young lady, you will find your bags packed by the door. Sarah really couldn't afford to look for a new apartment right now.
Jareth slowly moved his hand away from her mouth. "I'm so glad we understand each other."
She pushed herself further back against the tub, keeping her eyes firmly focused on his face and not…lower. "Why the hell are you here? And how?" she whispered.
He leaned back against the other end of the tub, causing a bit of water to slosh over the side. "I could ask you the same question. About why I'm here, that is."
"Search me. I didn't wish for anything."
He raised an eyebrow. "My presence here would seem to contradict that statement."
She rolled her eyes, noticed his gaze lingering on her breasts and started to cover herself but didn't. It's my damn bath.
His eyes tracked her movements. "Ah, I see you're pretending that I haven't seen all of this before."
She glared at him. "Just because you get permission once doesn't mean it's an open invitation."
"I would never presume such a thing. Although I do recall your being…" he ran a finger over his lips "…more than pleased with our last encounter."
"Good to see your ego's still healthy."
"When a young lady chooses to lose her virginity to you at nineteen and then tells you that you've spoiled her for life, it's a bit difficult not to get an inflated ego."
Sarah felt her face flush in spite of herself. It had been good, damn him. Maybe not as good as he'd like to think but…
No, it had definitely been that good.
She shook her head at the rush of very pleasant memories. Apartment. Phyllis. Consequences. Focus. "At that point I wasn't sure if you or any of it had been real," she said. "Careless wish, unexpected result."
"Yes, I believe your exact words were 'I wish the Goblin King would fuck me into the middle of next week." He smirked. "And we did manage to go for several days, if I recall."
If you recall, like you don't remember every goddamn detail, you prick. "Well, whatever happened when I was nineteen, I didn't wish for anything this time. I just used a peach-scented bath bomb that Karen sent me."
Jareth lifted his arm and let the peach-scented water trickle off of his fingers. "Ah, I see," he said. "I'd thought the goblins were talking nonsense as usual, but apparently one of their hexes actually worked this time."
Sarah's eyes widened. "The goblins hexed my bath bomb?"
Jareth nodded. "I didn't catch all of the details, but apparently they managed to spend some time Aboveground, encountered some peach-shaped things in a shop, remembered that you and I were…connected through peaches—"
"That's one way of putting it."
He ignored her. "—and managed to effect a simple inter-realm transport hex, thus…here I am. Though knowing goblin hex abilities, probably not for very long." He rested his chin in his hands and drew one knee up to his chest. "They might also have remembered that I was, shall we say, less prone to bogging and kicking for several days after I visited you the last time."
She smirked. "Careful. You almost admitted that I got under your skin."
"I wasn't the one who screamed loud enough to make the neighbors knock on the door and ask if they needed to call the police."
Sarah blushed. "I wasn't the only one who screamed."
"Anyway…" Jareth trailed a hand over the rim of the bathtub as if to dismiss the topic. "It would appear that you've got me all to yourself in a bathtub, at least for the brief duration of this hex." He smiled. "Aren't you the lucky girl."
Sarah folded her arms, trying to banish the very vivid memories of that night two years ago—several nights, perhaps, she was fairly sure he'd re-ordered time. "Yeah, well, I'd be grateful if you'd just inter-realm transport yourself back to where you came from, because I'd rather not be kicked out of my apartment, and also I'd really rather enjoy this bath on my own."
"Why, pray tell?"
"Because baths with other people are overrated."
Jareth steepled his fingers. "I might believe that if I hadn't sensed a bit of…longing coming from you in recent months."
"Great, so you're inter-realm stalking me?"
"Really, Sarah. I have better ways to spend my time."
"Bogging disobedient goblins must take up at least an hour or two of every day. And even if I've been a bit…solitary for a while, that doesn't mean I was longing for you."
He smiled. "Perhaps not. But you've gone to the trouble of summoning me here, intentionally or not. I could at least make the trip worth your time."
Sarah groaned. "There is no way you could make this worth my time. Unless you vanish within the next few seconds."
"I see we're still playing the game where you pretend you don't want me."
"I'm not playing any sort of game. I'm trying to take a goddamn bath."
He leaned forward slightly. "Might I suggest a wager?"
Sarah snorted. "I know better than to enter into any sort of bargain with you."
"Ah, but this one's quite straightforward. And regardless of who wins, you'll come out…on top, so to speak."
Sarah crossed her arms. "Fine. What's the wager?"
He smiled. "You grant me one kiss—"
"That's a one-sided wager if I ever—"
"—and if said kiss is to your liking, we'll both remain in this bath until the hex runs out. Should it displease you, I will immediately vanish myself back to my ramshackle kingdom."
Sarah narrowed her eyes, searching his words for loopholes she knew she must be missing. She couldn't find any. Eventually, she held out a hand.
"I accept the terms."
He gripped her hand firmly. "I should mention that I get to choose where I kiss you, of course."
Sarah rolled her eyes and did her best to cover her more sensitive parts with both hands. "You absolutely impossible fu—"
"Calm down, Sarah, I'm sure you remember that I like to move slowly."
She felt a tingling sensation in the lower half of her body, remembering exactly the kind of slow he was describing. "Says the man who shows up naked and uninvited to my bathtub."
"Blame the goblin hex, not me."
Sarah leaned back and closed her eyes. "Fine, fine, hurry up and kiss me so I can get back to enjoying this bath alone."
She felt his movement, felt the water jostle her skin, and she couldn't help but feel a slight tingle of anticipation as to where he might kiss her. Mouth was too obvious, cheek was too chaste, so…
She opened her eyes when she felt his hand encircle her wrist. He pulled it slowly toward his mouth, his eyes locked with hers.
His lips brushed ever so lightly over the skin stretched taught over her tendons, dragging slowly upward until he reached the base of her hand, then sliding back down again. He gave her wrist a proper kiss then, closing his eyes in obvious pleasure as his lips pressed against her, his tongue lightly flickering over her skin, his breath warm.
"If memory serves," he said quietly, his mouth dropping light kisses around her wrist between words, "you particularly enjoy watching me do things to you."
He kept his eyes locked with hers as he sucked a finger into his mouth, closing them as his teeth scraped against her skin. She felt her breath quickening.
He was right. She liked watching—not just what he was doing, but the very evident hunger in his face as he did it. And the self-assured way that he moved his mouth over her. It was making her mind wander to other places she'd very much like to be kissed.
She hadn't realized that she'd leaned back again, letting a small sigh escape her lips, until she heard him chuckle. "That was a victory far too easily earned."
She opened her eyes and let them roam unashamedly over his body. What the hell. Make hay while the bath bomb fizzes.
"Not sure I'm convinced yet," she said, biting her lower lip in a way that she knew some men found irresistible.
His thumb made slow circles over her wrist, and the tingling sensation in the lower half of her body grew stronger as she imagined his thumb elsewhere. "Is that so?" he said.
"Yeah." She leaned forward in the tub until she was positioned over him. "Still think I might be better at this than you are."
He smiled, but she could see heat and want in his eyes. "You do love to talk, don't you? There must be a way to get that mouth to—"
She kissed his lips much as he had kissed her wrist, letting her own lips drag slowly over his, her tongue flickering at the edges of his mouth but never entering. He sucked in his breath, and when she placed a hand on his chest she could feel the quickening rhythm of his heartbeat. Her tongue made a slow, lazy circle of his lips, breathing in rhythm with him, until finally a small moan escaped her lips and he gripped her neck and pulled her against him, pushing her mouth open with his tongue and letting his hands roam down her back.
When he broke away his face was flushed but still smug. "Pitiful," he said, though the smile on his face made it sound less sincere. "You're nowhere near as good as I am."
She bit his neck and let her hand drift lower into the water until he gasped. "Prove it."
"I will…if you think you can be quiet enough not to alert the lady on the other side of that door."
"No promises."
He gave her another fierce kiss. "Stand up."
She obeyed quickly, and he knelt between her legs, gently lifting one of them up onto the rim of the bathtub. She took a moment to simply enjoy the sight of him kneeling in front of her—she'd remind him that he'd done it, that was for certain—and then he kissed the inside of her thigh, trailing kisses higher and higher, then starting back down the other side just before he reached the spot where she most definitely wanted to feel his tongue. She gritted her teeth.
"Need a map?"
He licked her again, and she sucked in her breath, "Just seeing how long you can go without screaming."
"I think you're all talk," she gasped.
"I believe you're the one who needs to be quiet, Sarah." He finally licked at the damp patch of curls between her legs. "Do shut that lovely mouth—if you're up to the challenge."
Any retort she had planned was swallowed in another gasp as his tongue made a long, languid stroke between her legs, pushing inward just enough that she moaned. He had the nerve to shush her.
"Quiet, sweet Sarah, and I'll be very generous."
She bit down on her left hand to stifle the noises she was making, using her right to brace her gradually weakening body against the bathroom wall. His tongue made slow circles and moved steadily faster, only occasionally brushing the bud of nerves that she could swear was burning under his touch. And then he slowly slipped a finger inside her, and then two, pushing downward until the ache was so pleasurable that it was all she could do not to cry out.
He suckled her gently as the thrusting rhythm of his fingers grew steadily faster. "Ah yes, the other thing I remember," he whispered, "that you prefer slow and gentle until you most definitely don't." He added a third finger and gave a slightly harder thrust. "Tell me you want it harder and I'll oblige."
She reached down to grip the crown of his head. "Harder," she whispered.
He licked and fingered her with maddening gentleness. "I'm sorry, I couldn't—"
She pushed his face deeper between her legs. "Harder."
He obeyed, and she stifled a scream as he thrust repeatedly inside her, at which point there was a knock at the door.
"Sarah? You've been in there quite a while. Someone else might like to use the facilities."
Sarah heard Jareth chuckle between her legs and thanked the stars that the bathroom door had a lock on it. "Be out…in just…a moment!" she gasped.
"So indulgent, soaking in that bath for so long. Acting like a queen."
She barely heard Phyllis's words as a steady roaring filled her ears and Jareth's fingers and tongue moved in a perfect rhythm that sent her quickly over the edge. She cried out and immediately disguised it as laughter. Her entire body shook, and she gripped the wall and the tub with her fingers and toes to keep from falling down.
"A queen," she moaned, pulling Jareth up so that they were at eye level. She kissed him hard and smiled as she tasted herself, mixed only slightly with the scent of peaches. He smiled and kissed her one more time before his body flickered and vanished.
"A queen," she whispered again, settling back into the bath. "Well, I certainly don't mind being treated like one."
Phyllis was knitting and watching some sort of cooking show when Sarah emerged in her bathrobe. Her expression must have been unusual enough to make the older woman do a double take.
"Well," she said, clearing her throat. "You certainly look…refreshed."
"Phyllis, refreshed is a pale shadow of what I feel," Sarah said, sauntering over to give Phyllis a peck on the cheek. Her roommate jumped back as if Sarah had bitten her. "Bath bombs are so…rejuvenating. You really should try one."
Phyllis gave a slight 'hmph.' "A regular bath would suit me just fine."
Sarah pulled a box of fancy-looking chocolate out of her care package, opened it, and popped one into her mouth. "That's fine too," she said. "Just…more baths. You, and I, and the world need a lot more baths."
She felt Phyllis's eyes on her as she slipped into her bedroom to pick up her phone and dial Karen's number. Her stepmother answered almost immediately.
"Sarah! How are you, dear?"
"Loooovely. Just wanted to thank you for the care package."
"Oh, it arrived? That's good, I figure you've got at least a few more weeks of college, and every college student needs some nice food and relaxation tools every now and then…"
"Definitely, definitely. By the way, uh, where'd you get those bath bombs?"
"Oh, aren't those wonderful? They're a seasonal thing, Allison got a bunch at a discount—"
"Yeah, I'm gonna need a lot more of those. Like, maybe a dozen."
There was a brief silence. "A…a dozen?"
Sarah glanced toward the crack in her doorway where she could vaguely make out a scowling Phyllis in the living room. "Uh huh." She shivered, her mind already racing with memories and future plans. "I think I may have figured out how to make the next two weeks with Phyllis bearable."
Author's note: Sometimes when you see a picture of a peach-shaped bath bomb on the LFFL FB page the smut just writes itself. ^_^ Thanks for reading!