Chapter 7: Brunch, my dear?

**Warning: This chapter gets quite steamy! I'd recommend grabbing a towel before diving in... seriously.**

The steady glow of Sarah's laptop filled the otherwise dark room and the only sounds to be heard were her roommate's steady breaths of sleep and the tapping of keys as she pounded away at the keyboard in a rush to finish the term paper due at midnight. It was currently 11:45. She glanced at the clock again and cursed as her fingers moved faster. The words flew across the screen and she wondered to herself why she'd left this for the very last second. It wasn't that the paper was particularly difficult; it was a reaction paper to the novel they'd just finished, James Joyce's Finnegan's Wake. However that was probably the reason why she'd left it till the last moment, because of how easy it was.

She let out a sigh of relief as she started on the conclusion. The last sentence was finally out and she glanced at the clock again, 11:56. There wasn't enough time to read over it. She'd have to hope she didn't make too many mistakes. Quickly, she opened an Internet browser, pulled up her school e-mail, and sent the document to her professor. Letting out a long breath, she stretched her arms behind her head and thanked the powers that be that she'd been able to finish on time.

Being an English major had its advantages and disadvantages. One of the advantages being that there weren't too many finals. Most professors in the English department preferred for their students to write papers as their finals. The disadvantage to that being since it was end of the semester, all the papers were due around the same time. Sometimes it was a matter of deciding which paper would be easier to bullshit, but Sarah tried to give all of her term papers fair consideration. Of course, her theatre minor classes consisted of actual final tests as well as a dramatic reading. Thankfully, the final had been earlier that day… well, yesterday now that it was past midnight, and the dramatic reading wouldn't be until much later this afternoon.

Letting out a massive yawn, Sarah unfolded her legs from the computer chair and stood only to take the five steps from her desk to her bed and flop down on top of the covers, too tired to crawl under them.

o O o O o O o

Vivienne stretched and yawned. She rose from her rumpled bed and absently grabbed her bathrobe, a towel, and her bag of toiletries before heading out the door for the communal showers. It didn't take her long until she was showered, teeth brushed, and hair brushed out – let down to dry. She returned to the room wrapped tightly in her robe and started pulling out her workout clothes.

It wasn't until she was about to untie her robe that she heard the loud throat clearing. Slowly, she turned around, hands still clutching the tie on her robe. Sitting on the edge of Sarah's bed was a very handsome, very tall, very blond man. Vivienne racked her brains to remember where she'd seen him before as her eyes wandered up and down his lean form. It wasn't until she reached the unruly blond hair on the top of his head that she figured it out. He was the same guy that Sarah claimed was not her boyfriend because he most definitely was not a boy… and at the moment, Vivienne had to agree with her.

The man before her had to be in his late twenties and held himself with a regal air. Even as he lazily crossed his ankles in front of him he held onto that air. "Good morning," his deep rich cultured voice addressed her.

She mutely waved at him, unable to call up her voice. He chuckled as though he knew what his devastating looks were doing to her. "I hope I did not startle you. I'm here to spend the day with Sarah. She wasn't expecting me though."

Vivienne nodded. "No… no, that's fine. Um… I was just going out actually. Um… I'll just get dressed in the bathroom."

"Are you sure? I could step out."

"No, you stay," Vivienne commanded and grabbed up her clothes to go dress in the bathroom. She returned a few minutes later to find him in the same place as when she'd left. "Umm…" she murmured upon entering. "I'll just go. I was planning on spending the morning at the gym anyway." She grabbed her gym bag and stuffed it with an extra set of clothes, shower supplies, a textbook and her laptop. Once she'd zipped it up, she turned back to the blond man and gave him a grin. "I'll be gone for the rest of the day. Probably won't be back until late this evening." She gave him a wink before slipping out the door.

The Goblin King chuckled again, appreciative of her efforts to allow him time with Sarah, and of the fact that she hadn't commented on his Underground clothes or how he'd gotten in the room. Speaking of Sarah, he turned his torso to look on the woman sprawled over the top of her duvet. Her limbs were spread across the bed, a leg and an arm hanging off one side. Her mouth was slightly open and her hair looked to have seen better days, but over all, Jareth decided that she looked adorable. He slipped off the bed and knelt beside it, resting his head on his hands on the pillow near Sarah's face. "You really are beautiful, my dear," he commented quietly.

Sarah continued to sleep so still she looked like a coma patient. Jareth brushed a gloved hand along her jaw line. She shifted slightly, her face leaning into his gentle caress. He smiled at her reaction and bent down to claim her lips in a chaste kiss. As he drew away, Sarah hummed and smiled as her eyes fluttered open. "Good morning, beautiful," Jareth greeted.

"Mmm…" she stretched. "Morning yerself, yer Majesty," she muttered sleepily.

"You have me for the majority of the day, love. What would you like to do?" he asked, playing with the strands of her hair closest to him.

"Hmm, what time is it?"

"Almost eight o' clock."

"Well, in that case, why don't you crawl under the covers with me for a while and then we can go get brunch," she smiled, moving over to make room for him.

Jareth grinned and removed his boots, gloves, and cloak before pulling back the covers for them both to crawl under. As soon as he was settled, Sarah wrapped her arms around him and pressed the length of her body against him, burying her face in his chest. "Mmm… I've missed you."

"It's only been just over two weeks," he replied wrapping his arms around her as well.

"Two weeks too many," she mumbled.

She could feel it through his chest as he chuckled, and it caused her to giggle as well. They were silent for a while, simply enjoying each other's company until Sarah started to inexplicably giggle uncontrollably. She buried her face in Jareth's silk poet's shirt and laughed all the more. As much as he loved to hear her laugh, Jareth was baffled by her sudden hysterics. He gasped as she pulled him tighter in her arms and it resulted in a certain part of his anatomy brushing against her stomach. "Sarah, love," he tried, but she continued to giggle. Her shaking body pressed tightly against him was pure torture against his male member. "Sarah, darling, as much as I love the sound of your laughter and the feel of you against me, I have to warn you that your starting something that you might not want to finish."

Sarah's laughter halted and she backed away from him with a surprised expression, looking down between their bodies. At the sight of his tented breeches, she snorted with laughter again, but this time tried to stop it as soon as it started. "I'm sorry, Jareth," she snickered. "Really I am! I just had a funny mental image and then just couldn't stop laughing."

"Care to enlighten me, love?"

"It's silly really…"

"Well it's either you tell me, or I get up for a cold shower."

"No, stay, I'll tell you," she sighed and ran a hand through her dark hair. "It really isn't that funny now that I think about it." Jareth quirked an eyebrow and continued to stare at her with an amused expression. "Okay, okay! I was just thinking about taking you to brunch in the student cafeteria and… well, it was kinda funny imagining you there in all your dignified splendor right next to the paintings of vegetables telling students to eat healthy."

She fell silent and looked him in the eye. "I'm sorry that I laughed at you," she muttered. Her eyes lowered, sweeping down his body. "But I can't honestly say that I'm particularly sorry about that," she smirked and her eyes rose to meet his again.

His eyes widened in surprise at her boldness. She body moved back to press against his and her hand lightly ran down his side till she met his hip bone then it moved inward and cupped his manhood. He inhaled sharply and tried to hold in the moan at the back of his throat. Her fingers slid along his length and back down before moving back up again except this time her nails slide along it instead. That was it! He couldn't hold in the deep groan this time and his head fell back, baring his pale throat to her. She took advantage of the fact and pressed her lips to his pulse point, suckling it before continuing to kiss along the pale column.

"Saraaah," he moaned.

"Yes, Jareth?" she asked in between searing kisses and strokes with her hand.

"You – Oh Gods! – I'm not going to… last…"

"Mmm, so stop holding back then."

"I – I…"

"You're thinking too much, Jareth," she whispered against his throat after licking its length.

He moaned again as her whisper blew cool air over the wet streak. He bucked his hips into her hand as she grasped his length tightly. She started to switch between massaging his testicles and running her hand up the length of him, he bucking against her hand more and more. "Jareth," she whispered. "Let go."

He grunted as she gripped him tightly and couldn't control himself as he let what little self-control he had go. His hands fisted in her shirt as she continued to service him until he lay limp and completely boneless. "Gods above," he muttered.

Sarah, a satisfied smirk upon her face, curled up against him. "I owed you from the last time you were in my bed," she commented.

"I'd say you've repaid me in full," he answered, still slightly breathless, before waving a hand over his nether regions, cleaning up the mess he'd made with magic.

She snuggled against him even closer, inhaling his exotic scent deeply while closing her eyes. It was an intoxicated feeling knowing that she could have that much power over the fae beside her – to make him lose all control – to make him react like that with just a simple touch. "Sarah," he whispered.

"Hmm?"

"I think I love you."

Sarah looked up at his serious face. His intense blue eyes drilled into her own mossy green ones. She could see that he was being earnest and she considered her answer before giving it. She knew she felt something for him, and it was something profound. She really couldn't compare the feeling to any other relationship she had. The link between her and Jareth was so much more intense, passionate, extraordinary, and at the moment fragile than any other she'd had with another person. Her cheeks flushed as she came to her conclusion. There was really no other way to describe how she felt for him besides the word love, as inadequate as it sounded.

She gently ran a hand along his jaw line as he searched her eyes for her answer. He relaxed slightly when she smiled. "I think I love you too, Jareth."

He let out a breath and grinned. "You didn't really have to answer just now, you know."

"It was time. Besides, you didn't see the desperate look on your face," she teased.

He frowned. "I was not desperate," he protested.

"Fine, maybe desperate is too harsh. Maybe pleading? Or how about imploring?"

He snorted and pulled her tighter against him. "I'll have you know that the Goblin King never pleads or implores."

"Maybe not, but Jareth the fae might."

He looked down at her, and upon seeing the unguarded expression on her face, knew that he could trust her with his emotions, nodded slightly. "Perhaps he does."

She smiled, knowing that they'd just crossed over a wall in their relationship. "So, wanna get some brunch?" she asked.

"As long as we don't sit by the talking vegetables, that sounds wonderful," he smirked.

Sarah giggled again and pushed against his shoulder. He rolled to his back and she took advantage by climbing on top of him and giving him a searing kiss. His hands rose to hold her face. The tendrils of her hair tickled his face. He held her in place as he returned the kiss and fought for dominance. She fought right back, giving as much as she took. He groaned as her hand brushed against the bare skin of his chest in the V of his shirt. She smiled when he gave into her and she pulled back. "I win," she grinned.

"For now, love… for now."

She laughed as she got off of him and stood, stretching. "Mmm… I just have to get dressed real quick then we can go."

Jareth smirked as he sat up. "By all means," he waved a hand indicating for her to proceed.

"Perv," she grinned as she moved toward her closet. If he wanted a show, then she'd give him one. It would just be his own fault when his breeches tented again.

She sauntered over to her closet and opened the door, grabbing a pair of jeans and a wool sweater. She glanced back at Jareth who was watching her intently, a lascivious grin on his face. She shook her head and slowly slipped her sleeping shorts off, leaving her bottom half in just a set of blue and white stripped panties. Tossing the shorts to him, she saw that his eyes were wide and staring now. She unfolded the pair of jeans and made a show of pulling them up over her bottom.

Despite the fact that she wanted to give him a bit of a show, she was glad she'd slept in her bra last night. She wasn't quite sure she was ready for him to see her that bare. However as she turned to see him after pulling her pajama top off, she noticed that his eyes were now nearly popping out of his skull at the sight of her in just jeans and a bra. She grinned and thought that if he was a cartoon character, his eyes would be popping out. She pulled the green woolen sweater on then and pulled her hair out of the back. "Be right back," she commented, grabbing her toiletry bag before heading down to the communal bathroom.

She quickly used the facility, brushed her teeth, applied some deodorant, and ran a brush through her hair before returning. The moment she closed the door though, she was pressed up against it and a mouth clasped over hers and warm hands wandered over her body. "Mmph!" she squeaked in surprise.

Jareth paid no attention and continued to ravage her mouth. His hands did a sensual dance over her rib cage and down to her hips. Her breathing grew heavier and her heart felt like it was pounding a million miles an hour. "Jareth," she gasped as his mouth moved down to cover her throat in kisses.

"You – have – no – idea," he murmured in between kisses. "No – idea – what – you – do – to – me."

"Ungh… I think… I have a pretty good idea actually," she moaned as he pressed himself against her.

His mouth nestled at the crook of where shoulder met neck and he bit down and suckled at the skin there. Sarah gasped at the intense pleasure and pain all rolled into one. Her hands held his head close to her body, which was roaring with heat. Fire flooded her veins. "Jareth," she gasped again.

He suddenly pulled back, a pleased grin on his face as he took in the mark he'd just left on her creamy skin. Sarah looked in the mirror over her desk to see it as well and groaned. It was just high enough that a regular shirt collar wouldn't cover it. "Ugg! Did you have to do that?" she complained. "That's gonna be there for days!"

"That was the plan, love," he smirked in a completely unrepentant way.

She pushed against his shoulder. "You are such a lecherous fiend," she grumbled, moving toward her closet again to grab a pair of socks and now a scarf.

"Lecherous fiend? My, my… pulling out the big words at so early in the morning?"

She glanced at the clock on her desk then back at him. "Its nearly quarter past nine… it's not that early."

He chuckled and grabbed at the scarf that was lying on her desk as she put her socks on. "Hey!" she tried to grab for it.

"Perhaps I want people to know that all your kisses belong to me?"

"Yeah well, it's kind of slutty and embarrassing walking around with a huge hickey on your neck, so give me the scarf," she demanded.

"Hmm," he considered, holding the scarf out of reach. "Only on one condition."

"Name it," she crossed her arms over her chest.

"We sit as far as possible from the talking vegetables."

Sarah laughed, dropping her eyes from him. "Done," she snickered.

He handed the scarf back to her and she tied it around her neck in an appealing way that wouldn't look too obvious that she was hiding something. "Shall we?" Jareth asked holding out his arm to her.

"We shall," she grinned, taking the proffered arm.

He smiled and a small shower of glittered announced his change of appearance so that he'd fit in more with the college crowd. Sarah slipped on a pair of flats and pulled on a jacket and they were on their way.

The student cafeteria was quite crowded for it being past nine thirty. However, Sarah supposed, finals had mostly ended and most of the campus had probably slept in a little. Despite the crowds though, they managed to find a table on the other side of the room from the 'talking vegetables' and settled in to their pancakes, sausages, and fruit cups. They would've sat there longer, except there was a sudden influx of students around ten o' clock and they were forced to take their tea in to-go cups. So they left the cafeteria to roam the campus grounds, the to-go cups warming their hands from the cold. "So, I'm moving back home for the holidays tomorrow," Sarah said as they moseyed in between the science and math buildings.

Jareth gave a non-committal noise. "When do you return to school?"

"January ninth…"

They continued walking, now just outside the art building. A light snow had started and the ground was just barely covered in the white bits of fluff. Sarah glanced up at Jareth to find bits of snow stuck in his hair. She supposed she looked quite similar and it made her smile a little. "Soooo… are you going to come for Christmas?"

His face took on a pained look. "I don't think I'll be able to. We don't celebrate Christmas in the Underground. We have Solstice, which is a few days before your Christmas, so I'll be busy getting things back in order then."

"Oh…" she muttered, turning her face down to look at her feet as they continued moving past the theatre building.

"But I should be able to slip away for quite a while during Solstice," he said hopefully. "By the time the evening rolls around, most of my subjects are too inebriated to notice much. And those who aren't shouldn't be aware of my absence if I indicate that I'm fatigued."

Sarah frowned, her eyebrows scrunching together. "You've mentioned before how some are expecting you or missing your absence. I didn't think the goblins were so concerned of their monarch's whereabouts?" she stopped by the now empty koi pond.

He sighed and ran a gloved hand along the back of his neck. "It's not the goblins."

"Who then?"

"Fae."

"Why are you being so vague? I thought we moved beyond that this morning."

"It's complicated, Sarah."

"So?"

"So I'd prefer to not drag you into the middle of my problems."

"Maybe I could help."

"I doubt it."

She turned her face back down again. "I see…"

He took in her rejected expression and gently brought a hand up to cup her chin, bringing it back up so her eyes met his. "Don't think for a moment that I don't trust you, love. It's just that there are things going on in my kingdom that are very complicated at the moment and your involvement might actually make it worse. I don't want to put you through what I'm going through. Actually it would be worse for you…"

"Will you tell me later? When it's less complicated?"

"Yes, I promise."

She gave him a small smile and reached up on her tiptoes to kiss him chastely. He returned the kiss and her smile. "I really do love you, my dear," he commented, brushing some of the snow out of her hair.

"And I really do love you too, Jareth," she replied hugging him. "I understand that there are things you don't want to tell me just now, and that's fine. I trust you."

"I'm glad that I have earned your trust."

She hugged him close before suddenly pulling away, a large grin on her face. "Hey, I have one more final this afternoon. It's a dramatic reading for my theatre class. Would you like to come and watch? It's in about…" she checked her watch. "…forty-five minutes."

He grinned at her excitement. "I'd be happy to. What will you be reading?"

"One of Shakespeare's soliloquies. From The Merchant of Venice when Portia meets Bassanio before he goes to choose a casket."

"Ah yes, I know the part," Jareth nodded.

"You do?"

"Of course! 'Tis part of the study for the nobility in the Underground to be familiar with the works of William Shakespeare. After all, he did write of us…"

Sarah considered his words. "You mean A Midsummer Night's Dream is true?"

Jareth laughed. "To a degree… he embellished certain parts as all writers do."

"Huh…" Sarah grunted at a loss for words. "Well come on then, I'd better practice a little," she said grabbing his hand and heading for the side door to the theatre building.

It was forty-five minutes later when Jareth was seated in one of the red cushy chairs in the audience of the main theatre and Sarah had just stepped out on stage. Her professor was marking down the last student's score on a piece of paper. When he'd finished, he looked up at the nervous young woman. "Sarah Williams," he muttered. "You're doing Portia from Merchant, scene two lines one through twenty-four, right?" Sarah nodded. "All right then, begin whenever you're ready, Sarah. Remember, you can have one restart without any consequences."

Sarah nodded and closed her eyes before starting.

"I pray you tarry, pause a day or two

Before you hazard, for in choosing wrong

I lose your company; therefore forbear a while.

There's something tells me (but it is not love)

I would not lose you, and you know yourself,

Hate counsels not in such quality."

Sarah's voice was strong and echoed throughout the theatre as she spoke the words written by the bard who'd lived so long ago.

"But lest you should not understand me well –

And yet a maiden hath no tongue but thought –

I would detain you here some month or two

Before you venture for me. I could teach you

How to choose right, but then I am forsworn.

So will I never be, so may you miss me,

But if you do, you'll make me wish a sin,

That I had been forsworn. Beshrow your eyes,

They have o'erlook'd me and divided me:"

Sarah paused here, a look of concentration on her face as she strove to remember what came next. "…and divided me…" she murmured.

"Come on, Sarah. You can do it, love," Jareth muttered. "…one half of me…" he quoted what came next.

Suddenly Sarah's eyes opened and she started again in a clear voice as though she'd heard Jareth say the next line. She looked directly at him in the audience as she spoke.

"One half of me is yours, the other half yours –

Mine own, I would say; but if mine, then yours,

And so all yours. O, these naughty times

Puts bars between the owners and their rights!

And so though yours, not yours. Prove it so,

Let fortune go to hell for it, not I.

I speak too long, but 'tis to peize the time,

To eche it, and to draw it out in length,

To stay you from election."

At this, Jareth suddenly stood and quoted the next lines spoken by Bassanio. "Let me choose,

For as I am, I live upon the rack."

Everyone was silent in the theatre as they turned around to see the tall blond man standing in the isle, looking intently at the dark haired woman on stage. She stared at him in surprise as well before meekly continuing the dialogue. "Upon the rack, Bassanio! then confess

What treason there is mingled with your love."

"None but that ugly treason of mistrust,

Which makes me fear th' enjoying of my love;

There may as well be amity and life

'Tween snow and fire, as treason and my love." Jareth continued.

Sarah spoke the next lines with more confidence. "Ay, but I fear you speak upon the rack,

Where men enforced do speak any thing."

"Promise me life, and I'll confess the truth."

"Well then, confess and live."

"Confess and love

Had been the very sum of my confession.

O happy torment, when my torturer

Doth teach me answers for deliverance!

But let me to my fortune and the caskets."

"Away then! I am lock'd in one of them;

If you do love me, you will find me out." Sarah finished, stopping at line forty-one.

Silence filled the theatre once more for a full minute before a loud clapping interrupted it. Sarah's professor was beaming at the two of them and clapping. Several students joined him. "Bravo! That was most excellent Miss Williams and Mr. …?"

"Le Roi," Jareth supplied.

"Mr. le Roi. I haven't seen you around the theatre. Are you a student here? If your not you should be! We could use a strong voice like yours in the theatre!"

Jareth smiled. "I'm sorry, sir, but I'm just here visiting Miss Williams."

The professor frowned, "Pity… Well, I can assure you, Miss Williams, that after that performance, your grade is secured. I wouldn't mind seeing you try out for the spring play."

"Thank you, sir," Sarah beamed. "I'll be sure to look into it."

"See that you do. As for you, Mr. le Roi," he turned to Jareth. "You'd be welcome to try out as well even though you're not a student."

"I thank you, but I have obligations that wouldn't permit me to."

"Pity," the professor repeated. "All right then, come on. Who's next?" he said turning back to the stage as another young woman stood.

Jareth had eyes only for Sarah as she jogged up the isle towards him. "That was amazing! Thank you, but you do know you've probably messed up the next girl's speech?"

Jareth frowned. "How so?"

Sarah giggled. "Well she has to follow us! I mean, not to sound pig-headed, but we were quite good."

Jareth chuckled and wrapped an arm around her waist as they made their way toward the doors of the theatre. They headed back out into the snow, making their way back towards Sarah dorm. "Hmm… yes, I'd definitely pick the lead casket, especially if you were the prize," he commented.

Sarah blushed and leaned into his warmth. They walked the rest of the way in silence until they reached her door. "This is where we must part, love."

"You have to leave now?"

"Yes, unfortunately. However I can gladly say that my time with you today has rated among the best days I've experienced."

Sarah laughed, "Mine too. So Solstice?"

"Yes, I'll come to your house around six o' clock in the evening if that is acceptable?"

"Sure, you can join us for dinner again," she smiled. "Don't worry though, there won't be any Aunt Helena there to hit on you," she whispered mischievously.

Jareth chuckled, "Such a pity. I rather enjoyed her at Thanksgiving."

They both laughed. Once they settled, Sarah pulled Jareth close in a tight embrace. "I'll miss you."

He kissed the top of her head, his arms wrapped around her just as tightly. "I'll miss you too, love."

Sarah pulled back slightly and reached up to kiss his mouth. He returned the light kiss then pulled away and disappeared in a shower of glitter. Sarah sighed and turned to enter her room and begin the long twelve-day wait until she would see her Goblin King again.

o O o O o O o

A/N:

Twelve days? Can't I visit her before then?

You know just as well as I do, your Majesty, that that's not possible.

*sigh* I do…

Buck up, your Majesty, it's less time than before!

It'll be even less time if you could write faster…

Hey! None of that now! I'm doing my best what with my new job training!

I know, scribe. But that doesn't excuse the hours you spend reading that Pullman character's books.

*frown* Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials is an excellent trilogy that gives me inspiration.

*scoff* That man has issues… Talking polar bears? Really, what was he thinking?

Whatever, Goblin King. You're just jealous I'm spending time with him and not you.

*scowl*

Labyrinth (c) Henson & Co.

The Merchant of Venice (c) William Shakespeare