To Sarah it seemed that dinner was flashing by in a series of snapshots. Jareth pushing her chair in for her after she was seated flashed to goblins setting dishes out on the table, which flashed to a plate half-empty and a glance up at Jareth who didn't seem to remember she was there. Mutinous thoughts ran through Sarah's head at that the thought that he'd just forget her and she considered flinging a spoonful of vegetables at him to see if she'd get a reaction.
Sarah looked up again and wondered if Jareth could read her mind. He was gazing intently at her with a mischievous smile curving his lips that screamed to Sarah that he knew exactly what was on her mind. Sarah blushed and looked back down at her plate praying that he wouldn't say anything and would just let it slide. She should have known that she wouldn't be so lucky.
"Are you enjoying dinner, Sarah?" Jareth asked, his eyes never leaving her face and his voice tinted with his amusement.
Forcing herself to remain calm and not behave like a child, Sarah looked up and smiled sweetly at Jareth, deliberately baiting him. "I'm enjoying everything but the company," she replied cheerfully.
"You didn't seem to mind my company outside your room earlier," Jareth observed with a smirk.
Sarah felt herself flush, though if it was more from anger or knowing he was right she couldn't say. "About that," Sarah started hotly. "Just who do you think you are, kissing someone without their permission?"
"I didn't hear you complaining," Jareth's smirk deepened.
"You didn't give me a chance!" Sarah cried out. "You were halfway down the hall before I even realized what happened!"
Jareth drank in the way Sarah looked in that moment, her eyes flashing in anger and her cheeks stained pink, her indignant anger rolling off her in waves. She had never looked more beautiful to him than she did in that moment. In the blink of an eye he was at her side.
"Then perhaps I should give you the chance this time," he murmured softly before his lips descended upon hers.
He kissed her softly but passionately, reigning in his desire so she knew how much he wanted her but didn't risk burning her with the intensity of the fire within him. He smiled inwardly when Sarah didn't immediately push him away and let his lips move slowly over hers, reveling in the feel of her. Slowly, before Sarah could come to her senses and push him away, he pulled back letting his hand caress her cheek before it dropped to his side. Jareth almost moaned aloud from the desire he felt as he looked at her then. Sarah's eyes were half closed and her lips were slightly parted, her breath coming in short pants.
As her hand came up to touch her lips softly her eyes flew open and she stared at him in shock. Desire and anger warred for supremacy in her eyes as her mind raced for the words that she hoped would put him in his place.
"I did not tell you that you could kiss me!" Sarah roared, her voice growing into a shout by the time she was finished.
"A minor technicality," Jareth responded, waving it off dismissively. He was sure that Sarah was about to throw herself at him and attempt to throttle him and he tried to push her closer to that option by smirking at her and adding in a sly tone, "Besides, you liked it."
Sarah spluttered at that and her eyes sparkled with her fury. "How dare you presume," Sarah hissed, shaking in her anger, her voice low and dangerous now, "to tell me how I feel."
Jareth was sure that she was about to launch out of her seat at him and sat there calmly which only infuriated her more.
With a sound of disgusted rage Sarah threw her napkin in his face and stormed from the room, not even paying attention as the door slammed into a goblin that was trying to eavesdrop on the King and his guest. She stalked back in the direction of her room and howled in frustration ten minutes later when she realized she was helplessly lost.
Jareth, on the other hand, tugged the napkin into his lap and watched her retreating form more intrigued than ever with the only person to ever defeat his Labyrinth.
Sarah finally found her room twenty minutes later and paced around it in a high temper until she'd exhausted herself. She flung herself into the window seat and pressed her forehead against the cool glass, looking out into the sunset that was fading behind the Labyrinth.
"I wonder if anyone's noticed I'm missing yet," she murmured dejectedly. "Not that there'd be anything they could do if they did. It's not like they'd know the words to get here or would be able to get out even if they did."
Sarah stared off into the distance letting her mind go blank until the sky was completely dark. Somehow she felt more comfortable thinking about Jareth in the dark, where no one would be able to see her thinking of him and where she felt she could more easily deny letting her mind wander off into forbidden territory.
Why did he kiss me? she wondered. Sarah blushed at her next thought, glad that no one would be able to see her guilty face. It was good. Very good. She stifled a giggle and then got stern with herself again. But it's not going to happen again. At least, not until I know what it is he wants. He's tried this, Sarah blushed harder, seducing thing before and it was only because he wanted me to forget Toby. So, what is it that he wants now?
Sarah sighed, stood up, and started pacing again. She couldn't make sense of her mixed emotions towards the Goblin King. She didn't exactly hate him but she didn't exactly like him either. She certainly didn't like him enough to go around kissing him. And yet, for some reason, she couldn't get her mind off of his kiss and what it might have been like if he'd kept going. She forcefully pulled her mind away from the dangerous waters it was approaching and back onto track. No matter what else she might possibly feel for Jareth one thing was certain, she didn't trust him. And she definitely didn't trust his motives for wanting her here and kissing her.
Eventually, Sarah dropped off onto the bed too tired to bother changing into a nightgown and fell into a fitful sleep where she dreamt of being chased through the Labyrinth by an amorous Jareth who was riding on Ludo's back, while Hoggle and Sir Didymus cheered him on.
Jareth fought the urge to go after Sarah and kiss her breathless again and instead retired to his room for the evening. He chuckled to himself as he heard her yell of frustration when she got lost and shook his head at her stubbornness.
"I would guide you back if you'd only ask it of me," he murmured softly as he walked back to his rooms.
Once in his room he conjured up a crystal and watched her pace her room, ranting to the walls, ceiling, bed hangings, and anything else that would listen about him and his perceived lack of manners and smirked to himself.
"The lady dost protest too much…" he quoted and grinned widely as her blush was projected clearly into his crystal.
He wondered exactly what it was she was thinking that would make her blush like that and look so uncomfortable. He hoped it was him.
"Gods, she is beautiful," he breathed as Sarah took to pacing again. "Stubborn and aggravating and infuriating, but beautiful."
As Sarah drifted off into a fitful sleep, Jareth tossed the crystal away and prepared for bed himself.
As he lay awake, staring at the moon glide slowly past his window, he thought of Sarah and what he felt for her. He was intrigued by her both because she defeated him at his own game and because she wouldn't submit to him so easily. He mulled that over for a moment. He was angry at first when she rejected him. He wasn't used to having anyone throw his affection back at him and he was surprised at how much it had stung him. But as he had thought about it more he realized that Sarah was just as drawn to him as he was to her. She'd shown it in the ballroom when she didn't have to think about finding her brother and he'd seen it in her eyes that she was swayed by his words during their final confrontation. After that his interest in her was piqued again. What would make her refuse him when he could offer her everything she'd ever wanted?
He was also attracted to her, though he knew that even a blind man could see that. What about her was there not to be attracted to? Jareth smirked to himself as he continued to ponder. He'd meant it when he'd said that they were well matched and he still believed it. They were so alike and yet so different, her innocent-cruelty balanced out and attracted his calculating-cruelty, her sharp wit and temper blended perfectly with his own, and he felt giddy at the envy they invoked from the other dancers when they danced together at his ball, her darkness contrasting so well against his fairness.
Beyond that Jareth was loathe to go. He liked her and he certainly wanted to take her to his bed, but he firmly refused to allow himself to believe his emotions ran any further than that. He had offered her a place at his side once and she had refused him, it was an offer he didn't intend to make again.
Lost in his thoughts, Jareth didn't even realize he'd fallen asleep. He dreamt of Sarah locked up in a tower and refusing to come out and join him until he had proved his love for her. He sang her songs of her love and did everything she asked but it was never enough and she cruelly spurned every attempt he made until he thought his heart would break.