The Truth of a Lie

a/n: I do not own Labyrinth. There is an almost lemon in this chapter, so be warned. Beta-ed by AngelaScarlet.

Chapter Fourteen – But Now I'm Found

It was only a few days later that Sarah had passed the angry stage. Sarah was not the type of person to stay angry for long. It was a waste of time and energy. Instead, she started to try to bargain, to gain favor. And this was a very hard time for the Goblin King.

"Jareth? I'm better now. Could I please have my magic back?" Sarah asked in a soothing tone of voice. She was dressed in a light green dress, and her feet were bare. Her hair was loose and brushed until it shone.

"No Sarah. I know what you are trying to do and it will not work. Deep down, you know it won't," Jareth continued to read the novel he had picked up from the castle's library and pointedly ignored Sarah. She had been trying these little tricks all day. She was trying to use her feminine wiles on him, thinking he would be weak enough to cede the battlefield. He may love the girl, but he was not some weak-minded fool!

"Don't you understand? I promise I am better. If you give me my powers back we can go back home, and we can get married. Please, Jareth, for me?" Sarah kneeled at his feet and worked the muscles in his thighs with her slim fingers. She looked up at him through her impossibly long lashes, and put her lower lip out in a distinctive pout.

"I do not want to marry someone who is not all the way better. I will marry you when you are well, and not before!" Jareth snapped. Sarah stood up abruptly and stormed out of the room.

Jareth sighed. He should not have lost his temper with her, but these late nights and early mornings were beginning to wear on him. She required constant care still, and he was finding it hard. But they needed to do this alone. He needed her fully concentrated on the task at hand. Just yesterday he had been forced to hold her hair back as she regurgitated her supper once again. The spewing had gone down, but was not gone completely. It was progress though, and Jareth would take that however he could get it. He could hear her sobbing and begging from her room down the hall, but he knew that the outburst was a part of what she needed. Her cutting and puking were ways for her to control that which felt out of control. The crying was something she needed to experience. She needed to know that there was always a worse emotional pain to bear. Everybody hurts, and Sarah needed to know that she was human. It was okay to cry, even if you cried until you passed out from the emotional drain it placed on you.

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Sarah had been refusing to leave her room for almost a week now. She was dirty, and she was now not eating instead of throwing it up. She just laid there on her bed, in the fetal position. She was completely silent.

Jareth opened the door and found her the same way she had been for quite some time. He was sick of it. He walked over to the bed and lifted her off of it.

"What are you doing? Leave me alone!" Sarah cried. He was touching her! Why would he want to touch her? She was dirty, miserable and only a cheap whore who could not keep her legs closed!

Jareth threw her over his shoulder and carried her out of her room. He did not say a word as they walked out of the castle and down to the beach. He waved his arm and a crystal platform stretched out from shore to about thirty feet in. It was more like a crystal pier. Jareth vanished the majority of Sarah's clothes and walked out onto the pier. Sarah was thrashing about and pounding her fists on his back. Jareth stopped at the end and unceremoniously threw Sarah into the water. She came up spluttering.

"What the fuck was that for?" Sarah asked, treading water.

"You stink, and you refuse to bathe. You have not left that bed in some time. You will swim to shore, and then you will come inside and have a hot bath. And then, you will have a warm meal. And then, you will spend some time with me, and stop being some kind of catatonic parasite!" Jareth snapped as he walked back to shore. The pier disappeared, leaving an incredulous Sarah to swim back to shore.

Jareth wrapped a towel around her when she did reach the beach, and took her chattering body back inside. He ran the bath while she sat on a stool, and then he unwrapped the towel from her body. With dispassionate fingers he began to disrobe her, only to have her slap his hand away.

"Let me do it. Turn around," Sarah growled.

"I thought you did not care about your modesty?" Jareth asked.

"I don't want your royal hands getting dirty on my skin. Wouldn't want to sully your clothing, now would we?" Sarah sneered. She climbed into the tub and leaned back.

Jareth stood and started to remove his clothing.

"What are you doing?" Sarah asked, her voice sounding weak.

"I am going to bathe you," Jareth explained simply.

"The hell you are!" Sarah sounded indignant and started to get out of the tub. Jareth vanished the rest of his clothes with one gesture, and then climbed quickly into the tub before Sarah could get out. He pulled her to him and settled her between his legs.

"Believe me Sarah, this is not about sex. You need someone in here with you to work the tangles out of your hair and you are too weak to really bathe yourself. I am going to do that for you," Jareth said simply. He reached for a pitcher at the side of the tub and filled it with the warm water. He poured it over Sarah's hair, and watched the wet hair pool around the waterline like a mermaid's would. He poured water over her hair again, and then reached for Sarah's shampoo. Opening the cap, he found that it smelled like fresh air, clean and refreshing. He poured some into his hand and then began to lather Sarah's hair.

Sarah closed her eyes against her own volition, and surrendered herself to the pleasure Jareth was creating with his fingers. Those long fingers were stimulating her scalp, and a small sigh escaped her.

Jareth worked the suds throughout her hair, and marveled at how it changed to silk before his eyes. He grabbed the pitcher and rinsed her hair. There was enough water for excellent dispersion of soap, and he rinsed her hair until it was devoid of the shampoo. He reached for the other bottle he knew to be conditioner and squeezed a generous amount into his hand. He began to scalp massage anew, and hoped that the lovely feeling of Sarah's hair would not translate into a pleased feeling below the waist.

"Why are you doing this? I don't deserve this," Sarah murmured, too relaxed to care that her naked bottom was pressed into Jareth's equally naked groin.

"You do, don't you see that? You saved us. You saved us all! Without you, I would not have a home, or a crown anymore. We are the ones who do not deserve you, Sarah. We were so caught up in everything else that we did not even see that you were hurting. Especially me. I should have known. It was my responsibility to look after you, and instead I sent you away," Jareth really was sorry, and it was hard for him to admit it.

"Yeah, you sent me away. Quickly, too. Needed to get me away, huh? The slut assassin who you agreed to take care of to save your own ass. I was born nothing, and I will die nothing. There is nothing you can do about it Jareth. You can dress me up in expensive clothes and drape me in jewels. You can call me Duchess and set me up in a fancy estate, but that does not change anything. I was an abandoned child left to the wolves in Bangor, Maine. Anyone who ever touched me only wanted to use me. You said that what they did was wrong, and you were right. But, it is too late Jareth. Too damned late," Sarah sounded like she was going to cry, but Jareth knew she would not. She was trying to hold it in.

"No it's not," Jareth told her softly. He turned Sarah to face him, and then he kissed her. Not a soft kiss, but not a hard one either. This kiss was passionate, and needy. It was hungry. Sarah placed her hands on Jareth's bare shoulders to hold her balance, and allowed him to kiss her.

Sarah had never felt a kiss like this. It held the promise of more, but did not demand it. Jareth was holding her head in place, not allowing her to escape; but then again, she did not know if she wanted to escape. What did she want? She was confused. Jareth tugged at her lower lip with his teeth, asking her silent permission to enter her mouth. Sarah opened her mouth and let him in. He caressed her tongue with his own, like wet velvet in her mouth.
She heard herself let out a little moan, and almost back away in embarrassment. He was drinking from her like she was a fine wine, and it was all so good!

Jareth finally allowed them to part when it was clear that they both needed air. Sarah was panting, her swollen and red lips parted slightly. Jareth was quite aware that his groin had gone rapidly from flaccid to erect. He turned Sarah around again, and settled her back between his legs. He heard Sarah gasp when she encountered his erection, but he held her there.

"I am not going to have sex with you tonight, Sarah. But I am going to ask you one thing: have you ever enjoyed the pleasure a man or woman can bring you without having actual intercourse?" Jareth rubbed Sarah's shoulders, willing her to be relaxed.

"N-no," she admitted.

"Never? Never felt someone just service you?" Jareth's fingers worked their way down to one of Sarah's hardened nipples. So she was aroused! He pinched one nipple lightly between his thumb and forefinger, and rolled it between the two digits. Sarah moaned and arched into him instinctively.

"You have never had anyone make you feel cherished? Never had anyone make you climax just for the pleasure of it?" Jareth whispered these things softly as his fingers continued their trek down Sarah's body. He wrapped his left arm around her waist to hold her in place, and used his right hand to slide between her legs

"Open your legs for me, Sarah. Let me touch you. I will not hurt you," Jareth was firm but considerate. Sarah parted her legs, and Jareth slid his bath water slicked fingers down to where Sarah was the hottest, down to the entrance to her womb. He used his forefinger to stroke her once, tenderly, from the bottom of her slit to her clitoris; which was already showing signs of swelling.

"Ahhhhh," Sarah moaned, and her hands came down to grip Jareth's bare thighs.

Jareth stroked her like this, memorizing the feel of her lips and swelling pearl. He took his middle finger and sunk it into her tunnel. Sarah bucked, but did not stop him. He started to move the finger in and out, loving the little whimpers and mewling sounds Sarah was making in his arms.

"Sarah, you are so beautiful; beautiful like this, beautiful at any time. You mean so much to me, do you know that? I want you to come on my hand. I want to make love to you when you are ready. I want to marry you and have children with you, and love you until it is time for us to pass on. I do not want to see you like this. I want you to thrive, to grow, to blossom. I want you to be the Queen I always knew you could be," Jareth used his thumb to rub circles on Sarah's clitoris, knowing that to be the key to her climax, "Sarah, I want you to fly, and be free of all this. Come for me, Sarah. I want you to come for me"

"God! Yes!" Sarah yelled, and Jareth felt her passage tighten around his fingers. Warm fluid coated his fingers slightly before it was washed away by the water. Her passage flexed, and Jareth gently withdrew his fingers to allow Sarah her aftershocks. He kissed her temple, and the top of her head. He gradually felt her go slack in his arms, a sign that she was near sleep.

"See? See how good it can be? Our lives can be just as good Sarah. You can tell me everything. I will still be there after you are done. You do not have to do this alone. But you need to let me in," Jareth said as he let the water out of the tub. He got out and used magic to dry himself. He lifted Sarah out of the tub and wrapped her in a large and fluffy towel. He carried her down into her bedroom and laid her down on her bed.

"You can dry me now, right? Before I start to freeze?" Sarah asked a little sleepily. Jareth let out a little chuckle and did as she asked. He grabbed some underclothes and a nightgown from the bureau and dressed Sarah. Her eyes were closed, and he assumed she had fallen asleep. He blew out the candles and walked to the door quietly.

Her voice was so quiet, so soft, that he wasn't sure he had heard it at first.

"Don't go," Sarah whispered. Jareth turned around and saw her eyes glowing in the moonlight.

"What?" he asked, trying to confirm what she had said.

"Stay with me," she said, a little louder this time.

Jareth stood there for what seemed like forever, torn between staying and going. Get under the covers and spend the night holding the woman he loved, or going and sleeping alone in a cold bed?

Sarah did not say a thing when the covers lifted and Jareth slid in next to her. She just turned over and laid her head on his chest. She was asleep before he could even count to ten. Soon, Jareth gave in to the lullaby of Sarah's even breath, falling down into a deep sleep.