A/N: We're back, with just a sprinkle of lemon zest. Sarah might care a little more about Jareth than she lets on…

When she woke she found herself face to face with the Goblin King, although something seemed odd. Her brain clicked into gear as she realized they were both lying on the stone floor, he very still and pale.

"J...Jareth?" she whispered tentatively, expecting him to respond to his name. Nothing.

Her stomach gave a painful lurch as she scrambled over to him. "Gods, no, nonononoooo…" She laid her head on his chest and to her relief heard a faint heartbeat. It was one shock too many; she buried her face in his ragged shirt and sobbed for several long moments.

"Come now, Precious...Many women have lain with me, but you are the first to cry about it."

She jerked herself away, scrubbing the tears away from her traitorous eyes. "Jerk. You l-look like a bird that smacked into a window."

His mouth cracked into a weak grin. "My apologies. We… revert to natural forms when greatly stressed."

"Am I growing any feathers yet? It's been a rough day."

He looked at her for a long moment, then quirked an eyebrow. "Hard to say really. You do look a bit furry around the edges… have you sprouted a tail? There are tales of Unseelie who turn to giant rats…"

"How do you know about...I mean, isn't my magic something you gave me? I'm not some kind of…" she trailed off, biting her lip. Monster.

"Your aura is of the Winter, whose powers I do not possess. I came to sense it… some time after we had met. The trifling magics I gave you pale in comparison to your own innate power. I consider it one of your more… exotic qualities."

"But the Unseelie are so… violent." she said, her voice small. That doesn't even begin to cover it.

"For someone who loves to play the heroine you do tend to cause a great deal of incidental damage."

"Thanks," she muttered. "All this talk isn't getting you any better - Is there anything I can do to help you?"

He brushed shaky fingers over his sodden chest. "Maiden's tears were an excellent start, maiden's kiss is an even more potent cure."

She blinked for a moment. "You're joking."

"Well, maidenhead is a true panacea, but I am not quite near enough death for that, unless you're offering," he smiled, revealing his sharp, white teeth.

"You… impossible… be serious, for once." The air filled with a long, angry pause as her cheeks burned.

"If I recall correctly, the one time I was in earnest you didn't seem to appreciate it," he said tiredly.

The resignation in his voice caught Sarah off guard. She looked at him hard, and couldn't find any mockery left in his gaunt features. He looked beaten, broken... and as if he were telling the truth. It went straight to her heart. Then his offer was real. Can I possibly stomp on his heart any more than I already have? Maybe I am a monster.

"Then I'm sorry for that," she whispered, tears reappearing in her eyes. "I didn't understand. I was a child."

"I know," he sighed, reaching up to gently brush a fallen tear from her cheek. "A...miscalculation on my part." She froze at the soft touch, but didn't have the energy to pull away. She was exhausted from living up to her own expectations. I'm nowhere close to a heroine… but maybe we can start over.

They sat like that in silence until she felt a tremor run through his fingers.

"I can't leave you this way," Sarah muttered. She placed her hands on either side of his head and looked him squarely in the eyes. "If you're lying about this, I will kill you."

"I believe you, Precious," he said softly.

Then she closed her eyes and kissed him.

Instantly she felt the rush of power that was distinctly Jareth wash over her - the warmth of sun and sky, the strike of lightning in a summer storm. Although she had steeled herself for it, the intensity of the kiss completely overran her defenses. Vaguely she felt him draw her into his embrace, rolling her over onto her back and cradling her head from the stone floor. She could feel the evidence of his desire pressing against her thigh and his free hand sliding into her collar to her breast as she arched into him. A moan caught in her throat- then in a blink she flashed away from him and her skin crackled with angry, icy sparks of magic.

He stood opposite her, unphased by her abrupt change in manner. He now appeared to be in robust good health, looking more like a man who had received satisfaction than one who had been interrupted.

"Enough?" she managed to choke out as she clutched her collar tightly closed.

"Hardly," he whispered, the word a caress in her ears. His eyes burned into hers, hungry and unapologetic.

"I'm leaving," she said, her voice a bit wild, and she disappeared in a froth of dark mist.

Jareth returned to sit before the fire clothed once more in soft leather and silks. He hesitated a moment, then produced a crystal with a practiced flourish. Within its depths he saw Sarah restlessly asleep on the desolate hillside with a flush staining both cheek and lip.

She grows stronger each day, each moment. He sank back into his chair, relishing the thrum of the magical energies she had shared with him as well as the feel of her body singing against his skin.

Do I still have no power over you, Precious? We shall see. He drew his fingers over the crystal in a flourish. The sleeping Sarah relaxed and the flush disappeared. A feral grin spread across his face. Just as I thought.

A/N: You didn't expect him to play fair, did you? evil laugh