Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from the movie Labyrinth. The Labyrinth characters and events in the movies belong to Jim Henson, may he rest in peace as his legacy lives on through all of us. I seek to make no profit from this venture and I promise to return everything back the way I found it.
A Champion's Prize
Story by Jessica Arbuckle (Jessi, Princess of Impatience)
June – probably end of July, 2005
Chapter Four, The Awakening…
In his castle beyond the Goblin City, the King of the Goblins awoke at the same time. Focusing on the dark room, he sighed heavily, sinking back against the grey satin sheets and pillows.
'Just another dream,' he thought sadly. This time, it had felt so real, his bare chest, sleek with sweat, the uncomfortable hardness below and the rapid beat of his pulse real reminders of the events of tonight's dream. He could have sworn it was real, that all the things they had said and done had happened to them, not to his dreaming mind and the image of her it created. Some of it was positively odd, and much different somehow, from the dreams he had prior to this. He stared up at the black canopy above his head and sighed again, remembering her last words.
'I love you, always remember that,' she had cried as the room had begun to swirl dizzyingly before he awoke.
It was almost as if the Sarah of his mind had known it was only a dream. If only it could be true, he would give anything for it to be more than a dream. He sat up and moved from the bed to the window. He would not be able to sleep for some time now, as often happened after he dreamed of her. It was the perfect time for a flight and perhaps he might even fly past her new home. He did not often visit her in the night, but he had not been to this new place yet. No one would need him right now, and even if he was summoned by someone, he would hear it. With that, his clothes appeared on his body and he transformed into an owl, soaring off into the night.
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Sarah pounded the bed, biting back the scream of frustration building inside her. Now there wasn't even a dream of a perfect moment.
"Fine, damn it, I'll just have to do this myself," she ground out, rising from the bed.
Far from the dreams causing her to feel sad or lonely or even regretful upon waking, they had spurred a desire for him that she could contain no longer, a burning determination to tell him everything for real. She had learned, over the years, to never back down when she wanted or needed something. She had learned to ask and even to demand if she was not satisfied. She now knew what she wanted, more than anything she had ever wanted, and she would wait no longer.
Peeling off all her clothes that were now completely soaked, she replacing them with only a simple robe of a diaphanous fabric, meant to cover a nightgown of something more substantial. Alone, it concealed very little, a fact Sarah knew and dismissed wickedly.
"One must be well armed," she muttered with a sly smile. She turned, steeling herself before opening her window. 'I can do this,' she thought.
"I wish Jareth would come to me, right now," she cried out into the night as she swung the window wide.
She waited patiently for several minutes, secure in the knowledge that he would come, although she could not have known for sure, then stepped back as she heard a faint beating of wings. As she did, a large white barn owl glided into the room and landed on the bed. Sarah walked forward, almost right on top of it as it turned from the owl to him – Jareth, the Goblin King, the desire of her heart.
She paused for a moment, almost considering retreat. 'You've never backed down before, don't start now," she admonished herself, and then she pounced. She saw his eyes widen in shock before he hit the bed on his back, Sarah's body landing on him in a perfect fit. Not giving him time to shake the shock of the assault, she leaned down and furiously claimed his mouth. She may not know much more beyond kissing in real life, but he had taught her well in that short dream. Her lips moved over the hard lines of his, which began to soften under hers as he responded. She gently sucked his lower lip between her own and she heard him groan, the sound forcing hot breath against her open mouth. She felt his leather-clad hands tighten on her hips. She also felt, courtesy of the position she had put them in, the most intimate part of him harden again her hip, scant inches from the part of her that still throbbed from the dreams where he had touched her so intimately. She left his lips, trailing soft kisses along the strong line of his jaw, reaching his ear. She took the lobe gently into her mouth, flicking the tip of her tongue over it and he moaned low, the sound impossibly soft.
She laughed softly. "So, we share a desire, do we?" she teased. The words she spoke made him tense and she looked down into eyes swimming with desire. She watched him recover his composure, his mask slipping into place, yet unable to hide the fire burning in his eyes.
"Who are you?" he asked, his eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"You know very well who I am," she said in soft, seductive voice that held a tone of teasing in it as she looked at him with half closed eyes.
"No, I am certain I do not," he said, still suspicious. "You look like a girl I once knew, but you certainly do not act like her."
"So, you do not believe that the girl you once knew could have grown up into the woman you see now?" she questioned, then added in a wickedly mocking voice, "what a pity."
He growled, making a swift movement that somehow reversed their position and now she could feel the lean muscles and hard edges of his body pressed even more firmly to her own. She gasped as the motion brought their lower bodies even closer. She could feel the heat of him through the thin fabric of her robe and the thicker fabric of his breeches. The contact once again made her burn for him.
She was teasing him, mocking him. The real Sarah would never dare to be so bold, to bring him here, attempt to ravish him and then mock him. This had to be a dream, although he swore he had not gone back to sleep.
"You mock me?" he asked her in a rough growl, even as his mind slowly processed the feel of her moist heat through the fabric of their clothing. Looking down, he saw that she was wearing what could barely be termed as clothing, for it left her whole body uncovered to his gaze, only draping it slightly in mystery. He was about to take her, mocking or not, when she spoke.
"No, I would never mock the one I love," she said impishly, watching with happiness as his breath caught in his throat as he processed what she just said.
"Noooo…," he whispered, drawing the sound out in pain, "not another dream." How had he possibly fallen asleep? He had been flying, he was sure of it, and he had never before done that while flying.
He looked so sad that tears sprung to her eyes. Gently she reached up and caressed his face, watching his eyes close in pleasure at the touch.
"No, Jareth, this is no dream. Before was a dream, but all of this is very much real. As real as my love for you," she said softly, placing a light, quick kiss on his lips.
"What do you mean, before?" he asked, even as his mind made the connection.
"I mean, what occurred not but ten minutes before I called to you. Did you forget already?" she said, fighting the sadness that filled her. Maybe he did not remember his dreams. Maybe he did not even know how he really felt, as she had not know only a short time ago.
"I could never forget that," he said, moving off of her and drawing her into an upright position. He tore his gloves off quickly, tossing them to the floor as he gently wiped the tears that coursed down her cheeks.
She reveled in the touch of his bare hands, shocked that it could feel even more incredible than it had only minutes ago. Every touch, every glance, was more miraculously real than she could have ever imagined. She drew her eyes up to meet his, grabbing both of his hands in her own.
"I love you. I have always loved you and I always will love you. It took me such a short time, and yet such a long time, to realize it. I tried to tell you in the dream, but you thought we were playing a game," she said, smiling up at him.
His hands had tightened on hers as she had told him the three words he had longed to hear for the past five years.
"Say it again… please," he begged hoarsely.
"Jareth, I love you," she said, drawing her hands from his grip to frame his face. "I, Sarah Williams, am madly in love with you, Jareth the Goblin King. I love you, I truly love you."
He pulled her to him, his kiss demanding and almost violent in its force. She responded with just as much force, her hands roaming wildly over his face, threading into his long pale hair. The minutes ticked by as they explored each other's mouth and face in earnest for the first time, his hands never leaving her arms and her hands never leaving his hair.
He broke the kiss finally, crushing her to his body. She could feel his heart beating as furiously as her own under her face as it rested on his chest. She heard him sigh, the sound making his chest rise and fall dramatically and she could almost sense his body lighten, as if some terrible burden had been lifted. She realized, with regret, the burden was most likely the last five years.
"I feel like I've been waiting for eternity to hear that," he said, his voice trembling with emotion. Sarah felt surprise at the sound, for she had never seen him display what she was sure he would believe to be weakness. To her, it only spoke of how deeply he loved her.
"I'm sorry, I'm so very sorry I made myself forget," she whispered and then felt his hand slowly stroke her hair as he quietly uttered a shushing sound.
"I forgave you a long time ago Sarah," he said intently against her temple. He drew her face up with a finger, his gaze concentrated on her. "I realized you were too young and I was worried it would drive you to something desperate. When it did, I knew the only way to have you back was to wait for you to realize it. So I waited."
"I can't even begin to imagine what it was like. I am so sorry I caused you such pain and it took me so long," she said, kissing him softly.
He returned her kiss with a gentle one of his own. "I love you."
She had known it, had not needed to hear it, but the words made her heart soar. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, laughing with joy.
"So what exactly changed? How did you come to this realization?" he asked, his face buried in her hair.
"Let's just say an old friend showed me the light and a way into your dreams. Now, about those dreams," she said with a gleam in her eyes. "Would you prefer to start where we left off or go from the beginning."
He looked at her hungrily, his desire returning instantly at her words. "You have certainly grown bold over the years," he said, and she flushed.
"It's an act," she said softly, her face bright red. "I winged it from the first snap of the fabric and the first kiss."
"You've never… at all?" he asked her in shock.
"At all. There has been no one before you… and there will never be another after. I'm hoping you will teach me," she said, almost shyly.
"Oh, help me," he ground out, drawing her close to him. His breathing was ragged as he held on to her, barely daring to move.
"What is it?" she asked timidly.
"I am finding it hard to control my very basic feelings of animal possession and not dance with glee over the fact that I am, and will always be, the only one to ever cause those kinds of responses in you. You came to my dream and you let me touch you in those ways without question, without hesitation, without fear. I only hope," he said softly, "that I can make your first time just as free of hesitation and fear. I want to make it perfect for you Sarah."
"You will," she said softly. She moved from him to lay down on the bed, drawing him down to her once she had found a spot. "Now teach me," she said, gazing up at him.
"Close your eyes," he said, gripping her tightly.
a/n: Please R/R, I would just adore it!