A Focus of Will Chapter 4: The Morning After, a labyrinth fanfic

A/N: Ok, I know I posted this chapter and then removed this chapter and said I was continuing with this story and then said I wasn't… But now I am again! Doesn't that count for something? And the reason I stopped before was because I was suffering from some serious writer's block on this story and I thought it was better to end at an ending-note rather than leave this chapter hanging. But I have the next chapter now!

As always, I don't own anything in this story (Except the curtains. I lent them to Sarah and she hasn't given them back yet).

And of course, Kiss me, Kill me, Peach me, Flame me… if it makes my writing better than I want to hear it. Enjoy.

oo00oo00oo

Karen's regimented morning schedule went like this.

6:58 alarm goes off

7:00 get out of bed

7:02 have shower

7:20 have breakfast (one slice of raisin toast, extra butter) and coffee (black)

7:30 wake children.

The digital clock on Sarah's bedside table was a steady red 7:12 when Sarah woke up. She was sticky and overheated, which was odd considering that she wasn't…wearing… anything… uh-oh.

That last statement wasn't strictly true. Sarah's nightgown may be hanging off the end of a bedpost and her underwear may be – she craned her head – draped indecorously over a figurine of a unicorn (ha!), but she was wearing the arm of an equally naked Goblin King.

7:14

"Hello kitten." Jareth had a wonderful morning voice, not that Sarah had ever been in any particular position to compare. It was husky and sexy. It held promises and secrets. And buried in that delicious accent was something undeniably... smug. Newly abused muscles twinged as she turned in his arms to face him, accuse him of- of- something. But she stopped up short.

Sarah had never seen Jareth in the true light of day. Oh she had faced off to him in the Labyrinth, but as far as she could see while she was there the place didn't even have a sun. Here though, the warm glow streaking in between her curtains lit him up in a whole new way. The shadows weren't right. There was no doubt he was still beautiful, and sexy and dangerous. He could be that in a cave at midnight. But the light gave her pause, so she allowed her eyes to track over the ridges and planes of his face; to try and memorise this new Jareth that was still the old Jareth. He had been, after all, both generous and cruel.

7:16

He had watched her watch him, she realised. And had inspected her in turn. She flushed under his scrutiny, wondering whether she looked different this morning. Would the people on the bus whisper as she walked down the aisle, would the teachers send her to the counsellor as soon as they saw her? It seemed impossible that anyone could glance at her and not immediately see what she had done – what she had enjoyed.

As her thoughts turned Jareth snared her small wrist, stroking her palm with his own. Sarah closed her eyes at the thought of where those hands had been. 'Sticky fingered' was what Karen called people who touched things they shouldn't… and if they hadn't been sticky when they started then they definitely had been by the time they had finished. Abruptly she tried to withdraw her hand out of Jareth's grasp, but he drew it firmly towards his mouth, his lips opening solemnly.

As the warmth of his tongue slid around her Sarah recoiled once more, only this time he let her go. (7:18) She resisted the urge to wipe her hand on the sheet, intensely aware of the moisture covering her index finger. "Why are you still trying to seduce me?"

"You're still resisting." Underneath the blanket he rested a hand on her hip, lightly squeezing the flesh in mock punishment. "Stop making me try so hard." He brought his face in close to hers, her mouth now quivering a mere inch away from his. This seemingly gentle morning seduction was in reality no different from last night's rough tumbling. There was challenge flaring in his mismatched eyes. If last night's game was one of football, of fights and physical contact, today would be chess. Patterned violence under a veneer of civility. Sarah licked her lips. And the King was the most important piece. She exhaled through her nose, warm air tickling Jareth's lips so they twitched. She smiled and tilted her neck forward to claim his mouth with her own. Pawn sacrificed. She invaded him with her tongue, shivering with his muffled grunt of desire. Of course, one often forgot that the Queen was the most powerful player of all… if you knew how to use her properly.