Two Weeks Later (Day 157)
Spring had arrived in the Underground, and Sarah was enchanted by the change outside her window. Flowers seemed to have bloomed overnight, some tall enough to reach even Jareth's tower chamber. She laughed with delight when she pushed open the chamber window and saw enormous pink and red blossoms leaning against the wall. She craned her head and peered downward, sure that they were being magically levitated, but the sight of the towering green stalks disappearing down the side of the tower dissolved that notion. "What are they called?" she asked, turning to face Jareth.
He was still lazing in bed, for once not vanishing as soon as she woke up. She forgot all about being angry with him, at least for the moment, too caught up in the wonder and beauty before her.
"I don't know, you'll have to ask the gardener," he replied with a shrug. Sarah made a face, then turned back to sniff cautiously at the blooms, not wanting a nostril full of foul scent as some of the flowers at ground level could offer to the unwary sniffer.
She was in luck; the flowers smelled as beautiful as they looked. Enchanted, she leaned a little farther forward, then yelped in surprise as she felt a pair of powerful hands grasp her by the waist and haul her back inside. "If you tumble to the ground even my magic couldn't save you," Jareth whispered, his breath warm against her ear and neck and sending a delicious line of shivers down her spine. "Shall I coax them inside for you to enjoy?"
Without waiting for a response he gestured, fingers wiggling in a "come here" gesture. Sarah watched, fascinated, as the flower stalks seemed to stretch until the blooms rested almost in her lap.
Jareth continued to hold her as she buried her head in the armful of blossoms he'd brought into the room, mildly surprised that she hadn't wriggled out of his grasp as soon as she could. He fitted himself more snuggly against her, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips as he felt his body responding to the feel of her buttocks against his hips. Without meaning to, his hands strayed from waist to breasts, cupping them gently, thumbs teasing nipples erect.
She shivered beneath his touch but kept her attention outwardly focused on the blooms in her hands, concentrating as hard as she could on the silken feel of the petals beneath her fingertips and the intoxicating aroma arising from the colorful blooms.
Her determined posture brought another smile to Jareth's lips, and his lips to the nape of her exposed neck. With a quick gesture he melted their nightclothes away, sending them first into the ether and then materializing them at the speed of thought into the bathing chamber.
With that minor distraction disposed of, he plied himself more fully to arousing Sarah, moving lips from neck to shoulder to throat, fingers continuing their gentle massaging motions without the impediment of clothing to diminish their impact on her skin.
And he was having an impact, no doubt about that; she lifted her chin slightly, the thrum of a silent moan vibrating the delicate skin separating insides from outsides, and the tension he felt from every part of her belied the deliberate attempt she was making to strike a casual pose.
Fingers of one hand drifted southward, never leaving her exposed skin, eliciting more shivers as they traveled, smooth stroking motions alternated with swirling fingertips barely touching skin but never leaving it, either. Sooner rather than later he reached his destination, fingers continuing their silent stalking, joined now by the second hand, fingers probing, welcoming dampness encountered and finally, finally, a moan escaping the prison of throat and mouth as Sarah was forced to acknowledge what he was doing and how well, damn him, he was doing it.
Fingers moved at last, smooth stroking motions as Jareth leaned his body forward, molding it ever more tightly against hers, a gradual motion that ended with her on all fours and he above her, raining hot kisses on her shoulders and back as his fingers continued their own back-and-forth motions and her throat continued to surrender moans and soft cries of pleasure.
Just short of the ultimate moment he stopped, easing his fingers free and positioning himself to enter her fully, before her pleasure-befuddled mind could realize what he was up to. As he thrust into her any thoughts of indignation at her pose fled, swept away on wave upon wave of pleasure as he increased his rhythmic movements, hands lightly holding hips as he knelt behind her, taking her to the crest and beyond before allowing himself to reach climax and collapse against her.
Again he used gentle motions to urge her into position, this time downward till she lay with her belly and chest on the soft, welcoming cushions of the window seat and he rested above her and within her, unwilling to allow the moment to simply pass, panting slightly in the aftermath and content to hear her own ragged breathing and rapid heartbeat beneath him.
After a few, contented minutes, she stirred beneath him. "Jareth, I can't breathe," she mumbled, giving lie to her words by her ability to speak them clearly. Still, he eased his hold on her, raised himself slightly but still refused to leave her body completely, pulling her close as he nested on his side, chest to back still, tracing rivulets of sweat with his fingers and feeling her shiver beneath his touch once again, in spite of the satisfaction that they'd both just achieved. "Jareth, stop," she mumbled, but there was no real protest in her words and so he chose to ignore them, instead leaning forward to plant delicate kisses on the nape of her neck once more.
The flowers he'd enticed into the room still lay against the window ledge, some petals crushed beneath them and giving off an even stronger scent than before, a heady perfume that he would forever associate with the afterglow of sex. He heard Sarah inhaling deeply and imagined it would be the same for her, but didn't want to ask and cause her to remember that she was supposed to hate him.
Alas, even his will was never strong enough to bend her to him, not completely, and so he let her go when she abruptly sat up and shifted away from him. He watched though half-lidded eyes as she padded across the room, heading for the bathing chamber. He heard the rustle of the tapestry and waited a languorous moment longer before following her.
He was not yet done with this morning, or with her, and his responsibilities outside these chamber walls could wait a few hours, or longer if he could manage to keep the mood between them as cordial as it had been so far.
He paused on the threshold of the bathing chamber, his anticipatory smile fading as he realized she was in the lavatory. He half-turned to leave when the sound of retching stopped him. He waited until the room became silent, then moved to the edge of the sunken tub and called out. "Sarah? Are you well?"
"No I'm not well," came her irritable response. "I'm puking. How 'well' does that sound?"
"Shall I fetch a healer?" he asked as his heart skipped a beat in anticipation of her response. It couldn't be…
She pushed open the mirrored door and glared at him as she sat huddled on the floor, one arm resting on the edge of the human-style toilet he'd had imported just for her. "You damn well know I don't need a healer," she snarled, eyes flashing angrily. "It's been over a month since my last period, you bastard. I should have known you'd find some way to trick me into staying down here." She stood up and crossed the room until she stood toe-to-toe with him, glaring up at him balefully. "Congratulations, Jareth. You're going to be a daddy." Then she stalked past him and into the main chamber without a backward glance.
Unable and unwilling to follow her, he simply stood there for a long moment, then turned and made his way into the sunken tub. He stayed there for a long time, not thinking, not moving, head leaning back against the gently curved marble edging, absorbing the warmth of the water and the momentous impact of her words.
"Congratulations, Jareth. You're going to be a daddy."
His smile was tremulous, and his heart soared with quiet joy.
"You're going to be a daddy."
A/N: Sorry for the looong delay, but I allowed the real world to intrude a bit too much and here we are, almost a month later than I planned, but together at last. Please R&R and let me know what you think. I really wasn't sure if this was the direction I was going to go in this story since that's where I went with my last Sarah/Jareth story ("Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe"), but, well, here we are again in Babyland. Enjoy the ride!