"So, uh… how do you know Sarah?" asked Robert Williams.
Jareth, Sarah, her father and Karen were seated around Sarah's small dining room table having tea and some ginger nut biscuits Jareth had brought over. Toby sat in the corner, stroking Sir Lancelot and regarding Jareth warily.
"We've known each other for quite some time," Jareth told Sarah's father. "However, we only recently met up again-"
"Jareth teaches European Mythology at King's College in London," Sarah interrupted. "He's helping me with my second book series."
"Oh that's lovely," chimed in Karen. "All of my makeup clients have been asking when you were going to publish again."
"Oh! Well, I'm only getting started," Sarah gushed, alarmed. "It's still in the very early phases, so please don't say anything to anyone. You might jinx me."
Her appeal to Karen's rather superstitious nature was successful and her stepmother agreed to keep mum.
"I suppose you'll move back to the states when your book is finished," said Karen.
"I- well, no. I like it here in Great Missenden," Sarah told her.
Her stepmom shot her a look of shock. "What?" she exclaimed. "It's a darling little town, Sarah, but it's hardly home. Do you even know anyone here?"
"Sarah's quite the community darling," Jareth piped up. "Everyone here adores her."
Sarah smiled appreciatively at him. As hesitant as she'd been about having him around her family, she was truly grateful he had come. He'd shown up on her doorstep looking dapper in a long sable wool coat over a black sweater and black jeans. He wore shiny black boots on his feet and a tan Brixton Hooligan hat on his head. Karen had stared open-mouthed at him as he'd stepped into the living room and Sarah introduced him.
"Of course they do," remarked Robert. "How could they not love Sarah?" He grinned brightly at his daughter.
"It's not that I doubt that," Karen said to her husband, "I just worry about Sarah living alone in a foreign country."
"Have no fear, Mrs. Williams," Jareth replied. "Sarah is well looked after." He flashed Karen a brilliant smile and she blushed.
"Yes, of course," she said.
"Where are you staying during your visit?" asked Jareth as he rose from his chair and began clearing the cups and saucers.
"We've booked a room at the Nag's Head," Sarah's father answered.
"Yes," said Karen. "We knew Sarah didn't have room in this tiny little house for all three of us and the inn looked so charming. Like something right out of an episode of Midsomer Murders!"
Sarah rolled her eyes, but breathed a sigh of relief that her family was not going to try to cram all their suitcases and bags into her already cramped house.
"We should probably head back there now," said Robert. "I'd like to catch a nap before dinner. I'm a bit jet-lagged."
"You'll join us for dinner tonight, won't you?" Karen asked Sarah eagerly. "And you too, of course, Jareth," she added.
"We'd be delighted," Jareth replied brightly.
Sarah gave him a look that suggested she was considering punching him in the mouth and he took her hand and squeezed it.
"I'm sure Sarah will appreciate the opportunity to sit and relax with the people she loves most. She does work so hard…" he purred.
"You are so dead," Sarah's eyes flashed. He ignored her warning signals.
"We'll see you all around 7:30 then?" he asked her parents.
"Yes, that would be lovely," gushed Karen.
Jareth led them to the door. "It was delightful meeting you," he said as he took Karen's hand and kissed it. She flushed a deep red. Jareth shook Sarah's father's hand and then said goodbye to Toby who only responded with a sideways glance and a grunt.
"Charming," said Jareth as the boy followed his parents out the door and down the path to their rental car.
"I suppose that could have gone worse," said Sarah when they had gone.
"I think they rather like me," replied Jareth, stretching out on the sofa with his hands behind his head. "It's a pity they aren't staying more than a few days."
He narrowly dodged the throw pillow Sarah chucked at his head.
Dinner that evening was surprisingly pleasant. Probing questions were kept to a minimum and Sarah was grateful. Her dad asked about the Roald Dahl Museum and Sarah was happy to fill him in on all the wonders of the place. Karen's eyes glazed over as Sarah and her father chatted about Dahl's colorful characters and made-up words like Quogwinkle and Squibbling.
Jareth excused himself to smoke and Toby followed him outside.
"I know who you are," Toby said as they stood shivering next to each other in the cold November night air.
"Of course you do, clever lad that you are," Jareth replied between puffs of his cigarette.
"Can I see your balls?"
"What?!" Jareth exclaimed, accidentally inhaling a cloud of smoke. He coughed and hacked and Toby smacked him on the back several times.
"I remember you juggling crystal balls," the boy said when Jareth stopped coughing. "Can you show me?"
"I'm afraid not," Jareth answered. "I'd rather not use any magic in such a public space."
"Oh, right. Of course," said Toby, obviously disappointed. "Can I have a smoke then?"
"Absolutely not."
"I don't remember you having such a stick up your ass."
"I'm beginning to wish I'd turned you into a goblin."
"Relax, GK," said Toby. "I'm just yanking your chain. I do it with Sarah all the time."
"Hmph," grunted Jareth.
"You like her, don't you?" asked Toby.
Jareth looked at the boy and smiled. "Yes, of course. She's lovely, intelligent-"
"No, I mean you like her."
Jareth took a long drag of his cigarette.
"Are you guys sleeping together?"
After another coughing fit, Jareth frowned at Sarah's nosy little brother.
"I hardly think that's any of your concern," he chided.
"Chill dude," Toby said, raising his hands up in surrender. "I don't mean anything bad in asking, it's just… well, Sarah has a bit of a reputation as an ice queen, if you know what I mean."
Jareth understood what he meant, but couldn't see where such a descriptor applied to Sarah. She'd been more than a little warm the evening before in his flat. He thought about her hot hands on him, yanking at his shirt buttons and splayed across his naked chest…
"She's a sucker for back rubs," said Toby, snapping Jareth out of his arousing train of thought.
"What?" he asked.
"If you want to, you know, loosen her up. She likes back rubs," Toby told him.
Jareth took a final puff of his cigarette before extinguishing it and tossing it into an ashtray by the door of the inn.
"Why are you telling me this?" he asked Toby.
The boy shrugged. "I can tell she likes you too. I think she always has. She used to tell me stories about you when I was little. She talked about you like you were some kind of tragic hero. I didn't understand it then..."
Jareth smiled. "Thank you, Toby," he said, laying a hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah, yeah," the boy blushed. "Name your first kid after me. No, on second thought, don't. No one should be named Tobias."
Jareth laughed out loud and followed Toby back into the inn.
The following day was Thanksgiving and Sarah sent her family off to explore what Karen referred to as the "darling little town" while she and Jareth worked on the meal. It was mostly Jareth doing the actual cooking while Sarah scurried back and forth fetching ingredients from the load of groceries he had brought in from town.
"I need the baking powder, Judy darling," said Jareth as he stirred something in a large glass bowl.
Sarah brought him a container and he looked at it and frowned.
"This is baking soda, not baking powder," he told her.
"What's the difference?" she asked.
Jareth groaned and shook his head. "How on earth have you functioned on your own, Sarah?"
"I function just fine," Sarah retorted. "I just don't cook very much. Maybe you could teach me."
"I do magic, not miracles, love,"
Sarah smacked him with a kitchen towel.
"Thanks for helping me," she said.
"Yes, well, we couldn't have your charming family eating cold cereal for Thanksgiving, could we?" he teased and Sarah smacked him again.
"Your brother remembers me, by the way," Jareth told her.
"Oh my god!" Sarah cried. "What did he say?"
"Relax, dear," coaxed Jareth. "He won't spill our little secret. In fact, I think he ships us."
"Did you just use the term ship? Correctly?" Sarah asked, moderately stunned.
"Sarah dear, I'm around college kids all day long," explained Jareth. "I'm familiar with all the slang."
"So my brother is in your corner, huh?" Sarah said, giving him a sidelong glance.
"Yes," answered Jareth. "I know you had said that he'd changed, but I find that he's still remarkably charming."
"Great," muttered Sarah.
Karen oohed and ahhed throughout the Thanksgiving meal. She gushed over the perfectly roasted turkey and the savory oyster dressing. She sang the praises of Jareth's sauteed vegetables and fluffy scratch-made yeast rolls. Sarah had to admit, the meal was impressive.
Jareth had reluctantly used a bit of magic to make the dining area more festive. Sarah's family had arrived to find the room festooned with twinkling lights and garlands of fall foliage. The table was laid with an elegant white tablecloth and set with matching plates, shining flatware and crystal glasses. Sarah had worried that Karen would excite herself into a fit, but Jareth only smiled at the woman's generous praise of his handiwork.
The Williams clan retired back to the inn to rest after dessert and Jareth and Sarah set about cleaning up.
"This was amazing," said Sarah as she stacked the dinner plates by the sink. "You were amazing. I don't know how to thank you."
"I can think of one way," Jareth said darkly. He took her hand and drew her to him.
"Jareth, I-"
"Just a kiss, love."
"I- okay…"
He pulled her close and pressed his lips against hers. The kiss was soft at first, then grew in intensity. Sarah wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed herself against him as he fiercely kissed her. She held nothing back, kissing him with equal fervor. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest and the blood rushing in her ears, but wanted nothing more than to let Jareth plunder her mouth with his adept tongue. His mouth pulled away from hers for a moment and went to her ear.
"Sarah dear, I want you so badly," he growled against the shell of her ear and his voice and words produced an immediate reaction between her legs.
"Let me touch you, love," he whispered. "Let me please you."
"Yes," she whispered back huskily.
He made some sort of guttural sound and picked her up around her waist and set her on top of the kitchen counter. She was wearing the pretty red wrap dress he liked so much and he hiked up the skirt of the dress over her thighs and parted her legs. Lifting her bum slightly, he peeled off her panties and settled between her legs. He inhaled sharply, taking in her feminine scent before pressing his mouth into the dark curls at the apex of her thighs.
Sarah gasped at the feel of his mouth on her and arched into him. He gently caressed her sensitive skin before darting his tongue into her wet core. She moaned and gripped his hair as he tasted her. With his fingers, he parted her folds slightly and dipped his tongue into her again. She whimpered above him and dug her fingernails into his skull.
"Gods, you taste good," he moaned against her thigh.
"Oh, Jareth," she breathed, leaning back on her arms and parting her legs wider.
He took her in his mouth hungrily, nibbling her flesh and sucking on the bud of nerves that he knew would carry her over the edge.
She came hard against his mouth, shuddering and moaning his name. Jareth stood and caught her as she fell forward, trembling with her release. He lifted her chin and kissed her mouth and she could taste herself on his lips and tongue.
"I-I thought I was supposed to be showing you my gratitude," she panted.
"Oh, but you did," he purred, nuzzling against the curve of her neck. "I have your gratitude all over my chin."
Sarah laughed against him. "Happy Thanksgiving, Chips," she said.
"Happy Thanksgiving, Judy darling."
A/N: I won't even make any jokes referencing that wretched Jennifer Lopez/Ben Affleck movie. You know the one.
Anyway, we're about to take a darker (and sexier!) turn in the next chapters so be warned. There will be references to child death and mental trauma.
Thank you for all the lovely comments. Please, keep them coming!