Okay, guys. I need to warn you again that this story is rated M for a Reason. Some serious lemons ahead, so if that's not your thing, turn back now.
It's an eternity before the fox returns to the royal quarters. He bursts into the room, his little hat filled with red petals, screaming, "Here, here!" Jareth jumps to his feet and meets him halfway to the bed, yanking the hat from the knight's grasp. Immediately, he's at the nightstand throwing the petals into the mortar, adding some of the water, and crushing them down into a paste. He adds more water until the concoction is more of a soup and tells Hoggle to raise Sarah up so she's sitting against the headboard. Hoggle climbs up onto the bed, just barely dragging his body up the spread. He curses the bed for its height, but shuffles up to Sarah's shoulders, grabbing her below the arms and hoisting her up the bed, holding her upright. The goblins are crowded around the scene, but at a sharp word from Jareth they back up to give their king room to work. He sits on the bed next to Sarah and puts his arm behind her shoulders, brushing Hoggle out of the way. Hoggle lets himself be pushed aside and sits back on his heels. He just wants Sarah back.
"Is she gonna be alright?" Hoggle asks frantically.
"She should be dead already," Jareth answers in a level voice. He tips her head back slightly and puts the small bowl to her lips, opening her mouth slightly. He eases a small amount of the liquid into her mouth then hands the bowl to Hoggle. Jareth adjusts his hold on Sarah so that she's sitting up straighter and he moves his hand down her throat, trying to coax her to swallow. Once she does, he tips her head back again and takes the bowl from Hoggle, repeating the process. He does this until the contents of the bowl are gone and the red liquid has left lines running down from the corner of her mouth. The goblins are sobbing loudly around the bed while Hoggle is silent, staring at his Sarah, waiting for any kind of movement. Her breathing is so shallow that he's not sure if he's imagining it. Jareth holds her against him, feeling her neck for any strengthening of a pulse. The goblins wait for what feels like years for any sign of life from the queen or any reassurance from the king. Finally, Jareth feels a determined thud against his fingers where they rest on her neck. Her heart is fighting the poison and her breathing is deepening. He closes his eyes and moves his hand to the back of her neck, pressing his face into her hair and letting a tense breath seep out of him. He can smell the strawberry shampoo that has become exclusively hers and, faintly, the dust from the Labyrinth. He pulls back to lay her against the pillows again, lifting one eye lid to see that the purple has receded from her eyes, leaving only a trace around the edges. He brings her hand up and the sludge has leaked out of her finger to stain the bedspread. Blood is now seeping from the wound, red and clean. He rips a piece of cloth from his shirt and wraps it around her thumb.
Hoggle waits, watching without breathing. Finally, Jareth looks up at the dwarf. He sees the worry in his eyes and takes mercy on him. "She's going to be alright. The poison is dissolving now, she just needs to rest."
Hoggle cries in relief and falls forward to rest his forehead on Sarah's arm where it lays on the bed, gripping her hand. Jareth's nose wrinkles in distaste at seeing how intimate this dwarf feels with Sarah. The goblins and the fox start cheering and Jareth turns and barks, "Quiet! The queen needs to rest. All of you get out." The goblins all rush out the door and Jareth turns back to Hoggle, who hasn't moved from his position. "I said, all of you."
Hoggle raises his wet face, sniffling. "I ain't leaving her."
Jareth clenches his jaw. "Yes, you are. Don't defy me, dwarf. I am still your king."
"No you ain't, I'm Sarah's. She's my queen and you ain't got no more power so don't tell me you'll send me to the Bog." Hoggle sets his jaw and glares at Jareth, who gives him a cruel smile.
"Perhaps I can't throw you in the Bog, but I can certainly toss you off that balcony."
Hoggle's face fills with fear, but he looks down at Sarah, sighs, and crosses his arms. "I ain't leaving."
Rage courses through Jareth. He knows Sarah would never forgive him if he killed the dwarf, but with everything that's happened today, his tolerance is running dangerously low. His hand shoots out to grab the dwarf by the back of his shirt and he drags Hoggle backwards off the bed, careful to keep his kicking feet away from Sarah. He lifts him straight off the bed and stomps to the door, Hoggle shouting and kicking the entire way. He tosses Hoggle out the door that the goblins had left open and slams it behind him, locking it for good measure. He can hear Hoggle banging his fists on the wood and shouting, but Jareth is already at Sarah's side again. He almost lost her tonight. His life has become nothing but a series of moments in which he decides to kill her or he decides that he can't live without her. Each decision comes so fast on the heels of the one before and his mind is a whirlpool. It's so easy to forget what she's done when she's lying here vulnerable, totally dependent on him. He could kill her right now, but that would be its own defeat. Unless he finds a way to regain his magic without taking her life, to succeed would also mean to fail, no matter what he did. Of course, tonight there is nothing in the world as important as her breathing. Tonight, loving her is the only thing he can do.
He wipes the trails of red from her mouth with the washcloth, but stops when she shivers. Her body is expending a lot of energy to fight the poison and he should have known she'd be cold. He moves down to the foot of the bed and takes her boots off before looking up the line of her body and to see her shiver again. With her boots removed, he ventures back to ease the covers from under her body, being careful not to jostle her too much, and covers her, tucking the blankets close around her, keeping the warmth close. Now that he knows she's going to survive, that she's here with him and safe, he feels the fatigue of the day set in. After leaning down to press his lips to Sarah's forehead, Jareth heads into the bathroom to bathe. Hoggle has finally stopped pounding on the door, but Jareth would wager that when he opened the door in the morning, the dwarf would be sleeping in the doorway.
When he emerges from the bathroom, he sees that Sarah hasn't moved from the position he left her in. She's still disturbingly pale and even from the bathroom doorway he can see her shiver again. There are no more blankets. Maybe he's just using it as an excuse, but he reasons that to keep her warm he'll just have to hold her. Before his mind can think up another option, he moves around the bed so he's on the right side. He pauses with his hand on the spread. He usually sleeps nude, but he doesn't want to upset her in this weak state, even if her reaction to waking up with a naked Jareth beside her would be hilarious. She knows exactly what he wears (or doesn't wear) to bed, but she's always careful about avoiding him when they're both in the bedroom. She lets him bathe first and then waits in the chair with her back to the bathroom for him to finish, then darts inside before he can even make a snide remark. Once she finishes in the bathroom, he's already in bed. It's the same sort of thing in the morning and she's perfected her routine. No, he would be easy on her tonight. He goes to his closet and picks out the loosest pants he has, which isn't to say they are much looser than a second skin. He slips them on and goes to toss the towel in the bathroom, smirking as he remembers Sarah yelling at him for leaving his clothes lying around.
His smile fades and his eyes fill with uncontrollable lust when he looks back to the bed. Even now with her face pale and blank in sleep, she is so incredibly beautiful. She would never be the girl who ran his Labyrinth again. Her face has lost its childlike roundness and her body has become longer, her curves more womanly. Her time here has aged her, and Jareth is undone. His feet take him back to his side of the bed without his permission. He pulls back the covers and Sarah shivers again from the sudden draft. Quickly and smoothly, Jareth slides over to her still form. He glides his arm under the pillow on which her head is resting, causing her to raise slightly, but she doesn't wake. He scoots in close, letting his body rest along the line of hers. He puts an arm across her stomach and lays his head on her pillow. Her scent drifts along him and he falls asleep surrounded by her.
""""
Sarah is uncomfortably warm. That's the first thing her brain registers, followed closely by pain. Her entire body aches as if she's just run a marathon and she's not sure she's ever felt so tired. She groggily tries to roll out of bed, but is stopped by something around her waist. She turns back to see a stirring goblin king snuggled up next to her. If she weren't so exhausted, she would be halfway across the room by now. As it is, her mind is having trouble working out what she's seeing. Everything is hazy and the edges of her vision are blurred. She rolls over to face him, barely able to make out his face in the glow of the firelight. He sleepily opens his eyes and when he sees her looking back at him, they widen and his arm leaves her waist to press his hand against the side of her face. He peers into her eyes with an anxious expression on his face. Seemingly satisfied with what he sees there, he brings her right hand up to unwrap a bloodstained white cloth around her finger. He smiles at it and throws the cloth to the ground, returning his arm to her waist. Sarah blinks a few times, trying to make sense of what's happening.
"Jareth? What happened? I was at the Labyrinth and…"
"Shhh. Do you remember trying to pick a flower?"
Sarah thinks back. She was walking along the wall when she saw… roses? Yes, roses. A thorn pricked her thumb and that's where her memory ends. She nods.
"The flower you touched is called Blanaid's Devotion. It hasn't been seen in the Labyrinth for many years. It's named for the first goblin queen and it's meant to entrance whoever is running the Labyrinth and kill them."
Sarah narrows her eyes, her sluggish mind trying to keep up. "Why am I not dead then?"
Jareth chuckles. "You certainly can turn a phrase. I would guess that your magic kept you alive long enough for me to get the remedy into you. No human has ever survived the poison from Blanaid's Devotion."
"Remedy?"
"While the thorns from the flower are deadly, the petals are known to dissolve the poison in one's veins. I had your little fox knight run to get them and then I made a tea of sorts to give you. You may be the most well loved queen in history, the goblins were quite distraught." He finishes with a smirk.
"Why?"
"They're fickle things and they love best whoever feeds them-"
"No, why did you save me? Seems like this was the answer to your prayers." She would never have voiced this to him normally. Her thoughts are unfiltered, her mind too tired to censor what's coming out of her mouth.
Sarah feels Jareth tense around her. His smirk is gone as he says slowly, "Whatever do you mean, Precious?"
"I mean you can't stand me. You only talk to me during lessons and it's usually just to call me stupid or slow or something. I took your magic and your throne, too. Then you go off for hours and I never know where you are."
Jareth relaxes again. He smiles at her and strokes her side. "Believe it or not, Sarah, I can stand you."
Sarah closes her eyes and sighs, raising her head an inch and then plopping it back into the pillow. "I can stand you, too." Sarah has never been drunk, but she imagines this is what it feels like. She doesn't know if her mind is this fuzzy because of exhaustion or some kind of after effects from the flower, but she is all impulse. Their faces are level on the pillow and she can't see anything that isn't him.
His laughter shakes the bed and he moves to run his fingers down her face again, his right arm still pinned under her. "You're delightful when you've just been poisoned," he says with a smile.
"Well then I know what to get you for your birthday." They laugh together and Jareth feels that familiar melting within him. This is the first time since she threw herself at him in the oubliette that she's been totally open. He's still smiling at her when her face sobers and her eyes fill with intensity.
"Can I ask you something?" she whispers.
Anything. "Try, then we'll see."
She exhales in a huff, making his hair move across his forehead, but her eyes lose none of their intensity as she says, "Why the ballroom?"
He'd been expecting any number of questions, but he hadn't expected that one. He goes still and he takes his hand from her face, extending his arm along his body. "What do you mean?" he asks levelly.
Her eyes are glued to his and he can't escape. "I mean you were trying to waste my time in the Labyrinth. Why not throw me into the oubliette? Or send me back to the beginning. Why would you put me in a ballroom with you?"
His mind is reeling. He isn't prepared for this, especially being so disarmed already. Where did this come from? He tries to conjure up a lie, but he hasn't felt quite his cunning self since he discovered his magic was missing. He tries to tell her that he didn't want her remembering her brother, that he didn't want to risk moving her closer to the castle, anything. Anything but what he tells her.
He swallows hard, and the words are ripped out of him. "I wanted to dance with you."
Her face doesn't change. He curses himself for being such a fool and what was he actually expecting? Nothing, because he isn't in control of anything when he's around this woman. He turns his head away, finally relieving himself of her blank stare and starts to pull back, sliding his arm from under her pillow. He's stopped by a delicate hand on his cheek and he lets her turn his head back to face her. He expects her to look disgusted, or scared. After all, what he told her wasn't about lust, which is what she was probably expecting. If it were about lust, he would have taken Sarah to his bedroom all those years ago. No, he had simply wanted her to see him in a different light, to see him as something other than the villainous goblin king. He hadn't wanted a night with her, because he wanted a lifetime.
So, when she turns his head, he prepares himself for that final killing blow to any dream he even now foolishly harbored within him. Instead, he sees in those green eyes a warmth that breaks down every wall he's ever erected between them. There's no cruelty in them, nothing except everything he's ever wanted. Affection, heat, lust, love. He's hoped and feared for this for so long, he can't move. Her mouth is slightly open and he sees white teeth behind naturally red lips. Her hand moves to the back of his neck, hiding itself in his hair. He's frozen in disbelief, his wide eyes locked on hers. She scoots even closer, pressing herself to him when before they'd only touched. She closes her eyes and presses her lips to his, once. She pulls back just enough to look into his eyes again, gauging his reaction. Jareth's lips feel icy and on fire at the same time and the only thing he can think is that he doesn't want to ruin this. How long had he dreamed of kissing her? Now he's frozen and even though he knows his window is closing fast, he can't move, can't bear to burst this moment. Seeing him still and seemingly unresponsive, Sarah's face colors in embarrassment.
Jareth feels her hand start to slide from its place at his neck and he fills with fear. No, he won't let this end. He shoots his hand up from his hip to grab the side of her face as gently as he could in his terror and desire. He slams his mouth onto hers with a fire that's been suppressed for far too long. He curls the arm that's under her to force her body flush against his and holds his arm firmly against her back. She goes stiff with shock for a split second before she gasps and loses herself completely. The hand in his hair tightens so that it's almost painful, but to his lust-filled mind, it's just another sensation. With him supporting her, she's able to sneak her left arm up and around his shoulder so that it can wrap around his neck.
Their tongues curl and dance together and Sarah's mind flashes back to her dream in the woods. This is nothing like that dream. Every sensation, every ache, every touch is magnified tenfold and her mind fills with nothing but Jareth. His hand moves from her waist to travel down her shoulder to trace her back, glide across her waist, down her stomach and then back again. On it's second pass, his hand ventures to her hip and his fingers hook under her shirt, pulling it up to run his hand along the bare skin of her side. Sarah trembles at his touch and presses her body as close to his as she can. Their breaths come in gasps and Jareth rolls over so that Sarah is pressed into the bed. His mouth moves to her neck and he's determined to taste every inch of her beautiful body. He plants his hands on the bed on either side of her body, raising himself up so that he hovers over her and leans his head down to desperately kiss along her neck and collarbone. Sarah's mind is clearing from the flower's haze fast, but she can't think of anything other than what her body is feeling. She wants him with a desire unlike anything she's ever felt. She'd always wondered about the ballroom, and his answer took her completely off guard. She had to take that dejected look out of his eyes. She had to. They both needed this, because they were in love. No matter how hard she fought it, she's known ever since Hoggle told her that Jareth was missing that she would end up here. She'd felt the first stirrings in the ballroom, and now her love and desire for this man is hitting her like a tidal wave. No one had ever made her feel like this and she never wants it to end.
Sarah raises her hands to trace his bare stomach and he moans against her skin. She feels it both on her neck and through her hands and she smiles up at the ceiling with her eyes closed. She loves that she can make him feel that way and wants nothing more than to hear him make that noise again. She trails her hands up his chest and brings them up either side of his neck, letting her fingernails scrape along his skin until her fingers can tangle in his hair again. She pulls gently on his hair to bring his face up to hers again. He's content to let her direct him and obligingly moves up to kiss her. He lowers himself so that his body is just touching hers. He wants so badly to rip her clothes off and take her, but he knows this is her first time. Of course, if he were any kind of gentleman at all, he would accept that she's had a trying day and she needs to rest. He never claimed to be a gentleman, though, and he's already restraining himself. He's prepared to take things slow, to be gentle with her, but he can't stop now.
That's why he's so surprised when Sarah yanks on his hair, making him fall on top of her, and tosses a leg around his waist. He loses his tenuous grip on his self-control and groans low in his throat, moving his hand to grasp her leg where it hooks around him and presses his hardness against her. Sarah makes a surprised sound into his mouth, but it quickly turns to a moan. He pulls his head back in time to see her eyes roll back in pleasure and her mouth open in a silent gasp. He smiles a predatory smile.
"Just wait, Precious," he growls. Jareth quickly sits back on his heels, removing her leg from his body. Her hands fall from his hair and before she can sit up, too, he grips both her legs just above the knee and pulls her down the bed so that her head is off the pillow and her body is level with the bed, her arms on either side of her face. He sits between her thighs with his hands still on her knees and looks down at her for a moment. Her mouth is open, lips swollen from his assault on them. Her hair is fanned out behind her and her shirt is riding high on her hips, purple panties peeking from underneath. She looks up at him with nothing but anticipation and he needs to show her how much he loves her, how beautiful he finds her in this moment. His hands run slowly from her knees up to her hips, roaming across her stomach and brushing against her breasts, finally making their way up her arms and to her hands. He leans down until his mouth is almost touching hers and entwines their fingers together, bringing her arms up to rest on the pillow above her head. He tilts his head and looks into her eyes. "Can you lie still for me, Sarah?" he whispers.
She swallows and her breathing hitches. "I think so," she says shakily. His hair tickles her face and she looks into his eyes like there's nothing else in the world. Jareth's face softens and he closes the tiny space between their lips. He kisses her soft and slow, letting her feel how much he loves her. His tongue runs along her lower lip and she opens her mouth to let him in. He tastes her mouth and strokes her tongue agonizingly slow, letting the heat build even more. She gives him a low moan and he skips a breath, his hands twitching in hers. He untangles his fingers, and moves his hands just as slowly back down her arms, pausing to press lightly against her elbows to remind her to keep her arms there. When he gets to her shoulders, his hands move to rest on her cheeks, holding her face up at an angle so he can deepen the kiss. Sarah squirms underneath him, she feels like she's going to melt out of her skin. Everything he does makes her lose herself even more.
Jareth moves his mouth from hers to kiss both corners of her jaw before he licks and sucks his way down her neck, moving painfully slow. Sarah's chest heaves with her breaths. His hands move from her face to trace down her sides, resting on either side of her waist as he scoots his lower body back so he can rest his chest against her stomach. He takes her breast into his mouth through her shirt and for the first time, she is grateful that she doesn't wear a bra to bed. He licks her through the fabric and she arches against him, gasping. He gives her other breast equal attention and looks up to see a sheen of sweat across her face, her eyes squeezed shut and her mouth gaping open. He could make her climax by just doing this. He smiles against her before moving his mouth down her stomach. She makes a noise of protest and he gives a low chuckle.
"Impatient, are we? Don't worry, Precious, better things await." When his tongue feels the edge of her underwear through the shirt, he sits on his knees again, pulling the hem of her shirt slowly up, moving with it so his body trails along hers. She arches to let him slip the shirt off of her completely, keeping her hands above her head. He pushes against the bed so he can look down at the line of skin running uninterrupted from her neck to her hips. He sighs. "You are so beautiful," he whispers, his eyes roaming across her. He's waited for her for centuries.
He kisses his way back down her body, making the same stops as before, but much quicker. He needs to see all of her. When he gets back to the line of her panties, he hooks his fingers into the band and pulls them down her legs and tosses them aside. He looks up the line of her body and he's never seen anything so gorgeous. She's perfect, and she's his.
The cold air hits Sarah's feverish body and she shivers, her eyes still on the ceiling. She can feel Jareth looking at her from the end of the bed and it fills her with excitement. Her breath slows as she waits for his next touch. She feels his fingertips on both of her feet and they leave trails of fire as they move up her legs. This is all so new to her, she has no idea what to expect. Sure, she's seen movies and knows what's supposed to happen, but this is already so much better than anything she imagined. She licks her lips and waits, not sure how much longer she can go without exploding from his slow touch.
Jareth can't take much more. His erection is almost painful as he lies down between her legs. Seeing her naked and willing beneath him is almost enough to make him forget that she's a virgin and he needs to be careful with her, needs to make her first time completely hers. He closes his eyes and turns his head to kiss the inside of her thigh. Sarah squirms under his touch and he smiles, anticipating. He skims his mouth along her thigh, moving steadily closer. When he lays the first kiss against her opening, Sarah jerks and gasps a rough, "Jareth!" That's all he needs to plunge his tongue inside her, his thumb pressing her center.
Sarah screams in ecstasy and would have lifted off the bed if Jareth's other hand hadn't been firmly grasping her hip. Wave after wave of pleasure hits her and her hands grip the pillow above her. That's the end of Jareth's control. He rushes up her body to cover her mouth with his own and she can taste herself on his tongue. To hell with the rules, she wraps her arms around his neck and pulls him close to her. All he can think about is how much pleasure he just gave her and he has to be inside of her. He reaches down between them to run his hand down her stomach, reaching lower to feel her wetness. He eases a finger insider her, feeling how tight she is. Sarah gasps against his mouth and a low whine escapes his lips. As he feels her loosen around his finger, he slips a second one in, trying to prepare her for him. His thumb circles her and when her breathing hitches and he feels her start to tense, he removes his hand and slips his pants off, finally freeing himself. He positions himself at her opening and looks into her eyes.
He can't fathom why, but between his panting, he asks, "Are you sure?" He's shaking from the effort of holding himself back.
In answer, Sarah moves her hands to either side of his face and pulls him down for a kiss. This time, she invades his mouth and holds her hips up in invitation. Jareth pushes inside of her. He breaks their kiss with a wild gasp and presses his face into her neck. He stays there for a moment, letting her get used to him. Still inside her, he pulls back to see her reaction. A slight tightening around her eyes tells him that it hurts; he expected that. Then, she squirms around him and Jareth has to close his eyes against the sensation, but he doesn't miss the burst of lust in hers. He starts to move in a slow, steady pace. Her left hand tangles in his hair and the other one is on his shoulder, digging her nails in. She raises her head to kiss him and he can't imagine ever loving anyone more than he loves this woman. He hooks his hips as he quickens his pace and this time she has to break the kiss so she can gasp. His lips lock on her shoulder and she moans, her head thrown back. Unable to hold himself back anymore, he pounds into her and keeps going even after she gives another hoarse cry to signal her orgasm. His movements become frantic and finally he cries out against her hair, giving one final thrust. He holds himself above her and they stare into each other's eyes, silently saying everything they need to say.
Sarah twists in pleasure as Jareth pulls out of her. He moves to lie down on his back beside her and she turns on her side towards him, resting her head on his shoulder and throwing a leg across both of his, an arm around his stomach. His arm slides under her and pulls her close to his side. Sarah's mind is completely clear and she tries to remember just why in the hell she didn't do this earlier.
Alright you guys. That was my first actual lemon and I need your reviews. How was it? Did it satisfy expectations? If not, what can I do to improve?
Also, I was going to start the larger plot in this chapter, but I had to let Jareth and Sarah get it on. They'd been waiting so long.
