Chapter 2: Duty Versus Desire.

Sarah tried to avoid alcohol at work events but after her interaction with Jareth, she asked for a glass of vodka and went and sat down in a secluded corner.

She thought back to the day where she had bumped into Jareth again so many years after the Labyrinth. She had been working in a marketing company and they were running a campaign for some anti-odour product. Sarah had the perfect idea for a foul smell.

Through the mirror in her flat, she had asked Didymus to bring her some Bog water. He did, and her marketing campaign was a stinking success. However, Sir Didymus had been caught.

On the night of the last day of their marketing gala, Sarah arrived home to an irate Goblin King sitting on her couch.

"You stole water from my Bog," he had accused her.

Sarah had offered to return it— first in earnest, and then by threatening to tip it over his poofy blonde head—so they ended up in a row; a heated row that had ignited passion into the two of them. Sarah, horny and high on rage, had hate-fucked him on her sofa.

She didn't think she'd see him again.

But apparently, the hate-fucking had awoken something in him too. He had turned up again a few days later, and they repeated the process. But he had warned her that he was not monogamous, not affectionate and she was not to ask anything of him. It was fine with her. She hated him, so what did she care? Except, a tentative friendship had blossomed from their hate-fucking.

It had spiralled from hate-fucking to fuck-buddy status. Now, he was the one asking for more and she wanted nothing more than to go back to hate-fucking.

Someone sat down beside her.

Benji.

Fuck. She couldn't hate-fuck the Goblin King when she was trying to love-fuck Benji. Love-fuck? What the fuck was that when it was at home?

"Tough night?" he asked, giving her a rare smile.

"Yup." Sarah sculled her drink.

"Easy there, Sarah." He reached out for her empty glass. "You're working remember."

"Benji, when this is over, I am going to fuck your brains out, OK?" Getting over someone was usually hastened by getting under someone else. That was totally a healthy alternative than hate-fucking the Goblin King until she died. Wasn't it?

She rose on unsteady feet and headed back into the crowd to find one of her assistants without waiting for a reply.

"I need a paracetamol, Devon," Sarah snapped at her assistant's assistant. Her thoughts were now swirling around imagining the Goblin King fucking her when she was old and wrinkly. It had to stop. She had to move on. "This whole thing is giving me a headache."

"It's going swimmingly, Sarah." Devon grinned. "No need to stress. It's a piece of cake."

Sarah watched Devon bounce off with a scowl unfolding across her face. He better be coming back with pain relief.

"Want me to send the cleaners after him, Precious?" Jareth whispered over her shoulder.

Sarah resisted the urge to elbow him in the ribs. Instead, she plastered a beatific smile on her face and turned to him. In the brighter light of the main gallery, she could see that he was in an immaculately tailored, three-piece, dark grey suit. He looked like the god he thought he was.

"Mr Delaware-Boothe," she simpered. "How may I help you?"

Jareth's eyes roamed over her face, before he replied in a civil tone, "I believe the dancing is soon to start, and I request a dance with you, Ms Williams."

Sarah wanted to deny him but could feel John's eyes boring holes into the back of her skull. Was that man enamoured with Jareth as well? Well, not 'as well' as she wasn't enamoured. Not at all.

"Certainly, Mr Delaware-Boothe," Sarah answered in her formal business voice.

"Leon, please."

Sarah canted her head. "I just have to take care of a few more tasks first, Leon."

Sarah glanced around and saw Devon heading towards her with a glass of water and two white pills.

"Excuse me." She moved towards Devon, taking the proffered water and paracetamol and swallowing it with haste. She passed her glass back to Devon who took it and flounced off.

She felt a hand slide around her waist. She half expected it to be Jareth but realised it was Benji as his scent—milder than Jareth's —and voice—higher pitched than Jareth's—washed over her.

"I am more than happy to accept your offer, Sarah." He kissed her behind her ear with moist lips. "How much longer will I have to wait?"

"A few more hours." She turned around in the circle of his arms and laced her fingers behind his neck. He leaned forward brushing his lips against hers. Sarah hadn't known Benji to be so forward. But she felt her desire coil inside her as he ran his tongue against hers.

When she broke away she pulled him into a hug. As she opened her eyes she saw—over Benji's shoulder—Jareth hadn't moved from where she left him.

His face was impassive for the most part, but his eyes told a different tale. They had a haunted look about them. He blinked and it was gone. He turned away and spoke to a nearby guest. Sarah felt something ineffable bubble up inside her.

"Thank you for the taster," Benji whispered into her ear. She was suddenly cognizant of Benji seeing Jareth. He would surely recognise him as the man who broke up their first date.

"Let's go to my office."

Sarah grabbed his hand and pulled Benji through the crowd back to her quiet and empty office.

"Aren't you working?" Benji asked as she shut the door behind her.

"I can't wait any longer." She pushed off from the door and wrapped her arms around Benji's neck, stretching up to recapture his lips in hers. As their lips battled for dominance so did their hands.

Benji had slipped his hands down the back of her dress and unzipped it with ease, slipping it down her body to expose her breasts and midriff. Meanwhile, her hands had slipped off his jacket and was working on his shirt.

Yanking his shirt out of his trousers, she pushed him over to her desk until he was practically sitting on top of it. She ran her hand down the smooth plane of his abdomen, following the snail trail down under his belt. Her hand grasped the base of his erection as his hand started pawing at her breasts; his fingers delicately pinching her erect nipples sending floods of heat down to her nether region.

She had just started sliding her hand further down to cup his balls when there was a knock on the door.

"Sarah?"

It was Jareth.

"Shit," Sarah swore under her breath. Already, they were both puffing and sweating and she knew that he would hear them so there was no use pretending they weren't there. She ripped her hand out of Benji's trousers which had him grunting.

"I will be right with you," Sarah called as she hastily pulled her dress up over her breasts. Benji, with less haste, straightened his cock and buttoned up his shirt.

"May I come in?"

"Just—" She tried to pull her zip up.

"Help me," Sarah spat through gritted teeth to Benji, as she indicated her zip.

"Just coming," she called breathlessly, as she smoothed down her dress and checked to see Benji was decent.

"And without me, Sarah," Jareth said from the other side of the door with amusement in his disembodied voice. "I am disappointed."

Sarah flushed red and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Benji frown and cross his arms. Sarah gritted her teeth as she opened the door.

Jareth swept a knowing look up and down her dishevelled appearance. His eyes then appraised Benji and his brow shot up.

"You!" Benji practically shouted. Sarah closed her eyes and folded her arms as Jareth strode past her.

"Me," Jareth replied with a smirk. "Leon Delaware-Boothe."

Jareth held his hand out but Benji shook his head.

"You really don't give up, do you?" Benji snarled. "She ended it with you."

"And you gave up on her at the first hurdle." Jareth brought his hand back to his side. "Tell me, do you think Sarah would want such a feeble quitter like you?"

"Why would she want someone that is seeing someone else?" Benji countered, rearranging his cock through his trousers.

"She is mistaken as I am not seeing anyone," he replied, his voice dangerously low. He flicked his eyes to her. "There was a misunderstanding but I remain faithful to her."

Sarah was on the fringe of scoffing when Benji gave a loud, obnoxious laugh.

"By her own admission all you can offer her is sex," Benji retorted. "I would offer her the opportunity for more."

"She told you that, did she?" Jareth prowled closer to him. "Talks about me a lot, I daresay. Even if she picks you, she will always be thinking of me. Especially when you give her lacklustre orgasms."

"Why? Because they would remind her of how poor your efforts were to please her?" Benji snapped. Realising he had shot himself with the same arrow, he flushed. "There is more to a relationship than how mind blowing the orgasms are."

Jareth laughed and leaned closer. "Only someone who can not find the clitoris would say that. Why would she choose someone who couldn't even move the stars for her?"

"Sarah can make up her own mind." Both men turned to look at her as she spoke. Sarah noticed that Jareth's eyes twinkled while Benji reflected nothing but anger. She expected such peacocking from Jareth, but had expected better from Benji. Their pissing contest left distaste in her mouth. "And quite frankly, I could out-piss the pair of you in this pissing contest."

"You can certainly make up your own mind, but perhaps on your own time." Jareth placed his hands on his hips. "I am not paying your company for you to sneak off for a quick fuck back here. Or to take a piss."

"Oh, I am sure it would be different if she was fucking you though," Benji retorted with a level of snark Sarah hadn't heard from him before. She found she agreed with his assessment.

Jareth pulled his top lip tight, revealing his pointy canines. "It's my event and everything here has been organised for my entertainment. If Sarah wanted to fuck me, then I would only be too happy to oblige. After all, it would be in the purview of keeping the client happy."

"You're clearly a rich guy," Benji observed. "You probably could find some other bird to fuck. Perhaps you could go terrorise someone else and leave Sarah alone."

"I think Sarah would resent being labelled as a bird." Jareth rubbed his chin as if in thought. "She isn't particularly fond of them."

Sarah groaned and threw her hands up in the air. "I was unprofessional and I apologise, Leon. But this" —she indicted the two men— "needs to stop."

"And this" —he waggled his finger between Benji and Sarah— "needs to cease as well."

Sarah covered her face with both her hands. It was ridiculous how much stock Jareth put in her dating life. She'd made it clear they could never work out. She only had a finite life. He seemed to forget that. She couldn't fritter it away with meaningless fucks for eternity as he could.

But even as she stood there with the fae who professed love but she couldn't trust, and the human who she'd taken a genuine interest in, she knew that he had spoiled her for any other man; at least this soon after ending their arrangement. She needed to give herself a break to get him out of her system. Jason had been right; he was a drug she just couldn't quit.

Benji was a decent guy; albeit a little on the soft side. He deserved better than what she could offer him. Sarah knew she couldn't offer him everything. She didn't want to be his Beck and Call girl.

"Alright cocks out, then." Sarah instructed. "The winner is the one who can piss the longest and with more volume. Any other parameters become unfair as I have a vulva and not a penis. Though, that really doesn't help you with aim if toilet seats are anything to go by."

Both males stared at her. She shrugged as she lifted her skirt up in an attempt to pull down her knickers. "Leon, find me three empty containers please."

He folded his arms and refused to budge. "Put your skirts down, Sarah."

"You are both insistent on having this pissing competition, so let's go."

"Sarah," Benji implored, looking away.

"Fine." She dropped her skirts. "I am not a piece of meat to be fought over by two rabid dogs, so please stop."

Jareth blinked and backed away from Benji. "Sarah, I am" —his face twisted as if in pain— "sorry."

"Yeah, Sarah." Benji stuck his hands into his pockets. "I am sorry too."

Sarah nodded, mutely.

"You are right." Jareth moved closer to her. "You're right about so many things."

Sarah wondered if he was referring to the last thing she had said to Jareth in that shiny mirror room. Was he admitting she was right about not embarking on their arrangement if he wanted more? It was so unlike Jareth to apologise. She lost her footing a wee bit as she absorbed that revelation.

"Leon, would you give me a minute to talk to Benji?" Sarah asked Jareth when she recovered. "I will see you back out there for the dance I promised you."

Sarah saw Benji"s smug smile, but she fixed her eyes on Jareth, hoping he would understand what she hadn't said. She wanted to break up with Benji without an audience. Jareth studied her face before curling his bottom lip into a lopsided smile.

"Sure, love." He squeezed her shoulder and went without a fuss. Too easy, Sarah thought.

Benji was scowling at her when they were finally alone.

"Benji—"

"Don't!" Benji threw his hand up. "Save it for someone who cares."

Sarah parted her lips to retort but snapped her jaws shut. It was one thing seeing Benji when it was light and easy; it was quite another when he was faced against an adversary. Sarah wasn't sure she liked Benji when the chips were down.

"If you were really that keen on putting that man in your past, why did you accept the job with him?"

"I had no choice, Benji," Sarah finally said. "My boss agreed to take on the job, and I did as I was told."

"You should probably take a restraining order out against him. At the very least, you should have told your boss it was a conflict of interest"

Sarah couldn't point out that she didn't know Leon was Jareth until tonight.

"You don't have to get nasty, Benji." Sarah flicked her hand towards him as if she were shooing flies. "But I do think you deserve more than what I can give you right now."

"You can't give me you all." Resignation. Defeat. Acceptance.

Sarah nodded.

"He is like a drug and I need to get clean before I can commit to someone else. I fear I'd keep going back to him, and hurting you in the process." Sarah scratched the back of her neck. "I am sorry."

He sighed. "He doesn't deserve you."

"He doesn't," Sarah agreed. "But just because I am asking for us to stop seeing each other doesn't mean he wins."

"He kind of does if you let him spoil what could have been between us."

Sarah's mouth pulled up on one side. "No, I am doing this for me, so I win."

Benji had conceded her point gracefully.

"Perhaps one day down the track, if you're still single when you're ready to move on, then give me a call."

"For what it is worth, I am sorry." Sarah patted his arm. "I really liked you."

Sarah and Benji ended their tête à tête with a hug. Sarah hung back to do some work on her laptop after Benji had slipped out. When she was ready to return to the party, she detoured to the bathroom first; she really could have won the pissing contest. Her hair was a shambles and she undid the dark locks and let them tumble down her back.

She could be angry at Jareth for spoiling what could have occurred between Benji and her. But she knew that some of the culpability rested in her hands. She needed to break her habit before endeavouring on a new one.

She needed to close this chapter and start afresh. She grew more determined the more steps she took into the mill of people in the gallery. That was until she could smell sandalwood and petrichor. And until she could feel strong arms wrapping around her waist.

She should resist. She told herself to resist. Instead, she found herself turning to face Jareth as he nuzzled into her neck.

"Are you ready for our dance, Precious?"

"As ready as I will ever be."

"Unkind," he whispered as he kissed her brow. "What have I done to deserve such a lack of generosity?"

Sarah let him tug her into a dance to the upbeat music Jason was currently producing. She left his questions unanswered.

"If what it takes is a fling with another man to see how much you prefer me, then you shall have it," his voice whispered across the fine strands of hair on her neck. She wouldn't tell him that she had broken it off with Benji just yet.

"What makes you so sure that I would prefer you?"

"We're linked, you and I." His fingers splayed across her back twitched. "There is a reason you and I are so deeply entwined; why we keep coming back to each other."

"Because the sex is good."

"Yes." He tapped her on the nose with his index finger. "But deeper than that. I think you know it. And you deny it because you are too stubborn to admit that you could have feelings for someone like me."

"Someone like you?"

"Someone you love to hate." He pulled her to a stop as the song switched to another. "When you view someone as your enemy it would be seen as a weakness to admit you love them."

Sarah didn't — couldn't —respond. She tried pulling away but Jareth pulled her tighter.

"I am stubborn too, Sarah." He ran his thumb from her brow to her hairline. "It took me years of denial; years of fooling around with everyone else; Jason, Amelia, the twins, half the Underground, to realise that I only wanted you. That I needed you. That I l—".

Sarah cut him off by placing her hand over this mouth.

"Another reason that I could never be with you is that you can come to me whenever you have the whim but I can't even call you." She took her hand off his mouth as he started running his tongue along her flesh. "It is hypocritical and boasts of your arrogance."

He tapped his finger against his now free lip as he released her from his hold. "Yet you have always had a way to summon me."

"I won't make a wish, Jareth and besides you told us not to ask anything of you."

He stretched out his hand, his long, tapered fingers brushed her hair away, and ran smoothly over the mark —his mark—under her ear.

"You just had to say my name as you touched this and I would come."

"That's the information that I have only just learnt right this second."

"Because you never asked the right questions, Sarah-mine."

"Ahem," came the timely intrusion of John just as she had opened her mouth to retort. "I hope you are not being rude to my client again, Ms Williams."

"Indeed she is not," Jareth came to her rescue. "She could never say anything that I would find offensive."

John raised a brow at her. In turn, Sarah frowned at Jareth. His lips curled up into a ghost of a smile.

"Hmmm." John shook his head at her; giving her a dressing down with his grey eyes.

"I better return to work." Sarah gathered her skirts and made to disappear into the thick of the crowd when Jareth wrapped his fingers around her wrist.

"Thank you for all your hard work, Ms Williams." He flashed his sharp canines at her. "Remember I am only a call away." He released her wrist and tapped discreetly at the patch behind his ear.

John threw her another cautioning look. She nodded at Jareth then gave a superficial smile to John before she melted into the crowd.

The rest of the night was a mixture of work, mingling and avoiding her boss and Jareth.

Benji had left, but the twins still remained. They spoke to her once more before the end of the night.

"You managed to get him to dance with you," Leigh said with a pout. "He refused to dance with both of us."

Sarah canted her head and considered them. It occurred to her that Jareth may have trained both women to act according to his wishes. She studied them carefully to see if their cadence belied any falsehoods, or their body language spoke of trickery and deceit.

She could not detect anything from them.

"I danced with him as he is a client of the company I work for, and it is expected of me at these events." Sarah smiled warmly and without artifice. "I did not desire to dance with him."

"I saw him kiss you on your forehead." Leigh again. "And you touched his face with your hand. That's against protocol."

What protocol? Sarah wondered.

"You know, I always thought he preferred Amelia to all of us." Cassie tapped her chin. "But for some reason, he has picked you. Yet, you don't want him."

"Oh, I want him, but not in the way I should." Sarah was honest. "He is hard to quit, but I need more substance in my life." Sarah shrugged at the flush of shock that washed over their beautiful faces. "I am a bit older than you two and Jason. It's time for me to settle down and perhaps look to starting a new family. Something that Jareth could never offer me."

"But you could be Queen," Leigh whispered excitedly.

"No, honey," Sarah replied in a rather condescending tone. "None of us will ever be Queen. We were nothing but distractions as he lived his playboy life."

Eventually, the night started coming to a close. She packed her laptop up and headed back out to the foyer. It was empty save for the occasional gallery staff starting to lock up.

And Jason.

He dragged his suitcase on wheels behind him, his head bowed low, his fringe covering his eyes. Sarah could see his mouth was down turned.

"Why did you lie to me, Jason?"

He stopped in his tracks and looked up. His brown eyes shining with unshed tears. He wiped them away aggressively and snarled at her.

"You'd lie too, if the man you loved turned around, dumped you and promised to cleave only unto one—one who wasn't you."

Cleave? Sarah pinched her arm to make sure she wasn't stuck in some regency era dream.

"I probably wouldn't lie, to be honest." Sarah caught up to him and stood with one leg cocked against the straight one and her arms folded.

"He is my master and I do not know who I am without him." His voice was low, raw and rough.

"Master?"

Annoyance flashed across his features. "Oh, don't tell me he didn't have you call him master."

Sarah shook her head. "No, and I would never do such a thing. No man is my master."

Jason ran his fingers through his hair. As he did so Sarah could see where his mark once sat, now a red raw, bleeding patch on his neck surrounded by blisters and scabs.

"It was my honour to call him my master. You should be ashamed that you were not entitled to do so."

Sarah bit the inside of her cheek to stop a retaliation from spilling forth.

"I should never have slept with you," he continued. "He would still want me if I hadn't tainted myself with you."

"Yes, it was a mistake," Sarah agreed, "But he didn't know until you told him."

"Because we did it on a Friday night and that gave us both enough time to lose the scent of each other before our respective days. Though, I had thought he would have sensed it… "

"Did you" — she couldn't believe he had done that on purpose— "fuck me to try and get a reaction from J—the Goblin King?"

"I was desperate for him to punish me," he cried. "His punishment is his love, Sarah."

Sarah shuddered. How brainwashed was this man? How badly did Jareth treat him?

"What you're describing isn't very healthy, Jase." Sarah reached out to pat his arm. "It is a good thing that you and him have split—"

"So you can have him to yourself." His face was inflamed with rage. "The twins told me you know his name."

Sarah had a harsh, mirthless laugh. "I don't want him. Why does no-one believe me when I say I do not want him."

"Do you know his name?"

Sarah could see the desperation in his eyes. She took a step back.

"I do."

"Tell me."

"I don't think that's wise, Jason." Sarah's stomach flipped as she saw how hungry he was for the Goblin King. Was this a look into her future? Sarah was, after all, Jareth's most recent acquisition. They had all been shagging him years before she agreed to his arrangement. Did she have this mania to look forward to?

"He removed my mark," Jason went on. "Did you know that? It was painful too. Excruciating. I need his name. I need something I can use to bring him back to me."

Sarah would have feared for her life, the way he advanced on her, if they weren't interrupted just then.

Her boss, John, and Jareth walked in chatting amicably; Jareth with his hands in his pockets and John flapping his hands around as he talked.

Jareth's eyes cooly flicked between Sarah and Jason and back to Sarah. Jason let out a whimper and then, gripping his suitcase, fled from the room; the wheels clattering across the tiled floor in his haste. Sarah frowned as she watched him leave before waving a cheery, but false farewell to her boss, and her ex-lover/tormentor.

Jareth waved in a detached manner, while John raised his brows in acknowledgement. Sarah pulled her jacket tighter and left the foyer into the brisk night.

She contemplated walking home, but when she was accosted by the driver who brought her here, she agreed to return with him.

She was sitting in the car, trying to read over her notes from the night on her clipboard in the light from the streetlamp he had parked under when the opposing passenger door opened and shut. Sitting next to her with a frown was Jareth. Sarah rested her clipboard on her lap to stare at him.

He slowly morphed back into the Goblin King, but he still didn't say anything. He tapped the roof of the car and settled back in his seat as the car moved off from the curb. He rested his chin on his gloved hand and stared purposefully out the window. Sarah raised her brow at his lack of conversation or acknowledgement but turned to face out her own window.

The rumble of the car and the low hum of the radio from the front were the only sounds to cut through the silence the entire way to her house. They pulled up and as the driver got out of his side, she cast a look over Jareth.

He was watching her with wary eyes.

"Goodnight, Jareth."

"Goodnight, Sarah —Precious."

Sarah climbed out of the car as the driver opened the door for her. She thanked him and headed towards her flat. She was just putting the key into the lock when the car drove off. Sarah slipped inside and locked the door behind her.

She didn't understand why he had come in the car with her, nor why he remained silent. Had he perhaps given up on her?

After dumping all her work belongings in her study, she showered and changed into her pyjamas. She was just about to slip into bed when there was a knock at her door.

She glanced at the clock, learning that it was 3 am and so she grabbed a knife from the kitchen on her way to the door. She glanced through the peephole and saw Jareth standing there.

She threw the door open and his eyes went straight to the knife in her hand.

"Please don't kill me," he said, mockingly raising his gloved hands in surrender.

"I will consider not killing you if you tell me why you're here."

"I would like to sleep on your couch."

Sarah wasn't sure she heard correctly and asked him to repeat himself.

"I have business in the morning and it takes a lot of energy to travel between worlds."

"Can't you pay for a hotel room or something?"

"I could, but I would also like to not have to use my glamour for a few hours."

"Is that energy-intensive as well, is it?"

"Sarah, I am vulnerable when I am Above ground for too long." His fists clenched and unclenched; the leather of his gloves chirring with the action. "I have been up here now for a few weeks with business affairs and I've used a fair chunk of magic."

He spoke through clenched teeth like it was painful to admit to such frailty. Sarah found her empathy was not lacking and she opened the door to him.

"Thank you, Sarah," he said as he crossed the threshold. "My reason for choosing you is two-fold. I answer your unasked question as a show of good faith."

Sarah frowned. She had wondered why he chose her. Had he tried someone else first and then come back to her?

"The first is that I prefer your company to any of my Aboveground contacts," he went on, making himself at home on her couch. "Despite our recent" —he pushed his fringe back from his face— "disagreement, I would hope that I still have your friendship."

Mercurial being, Sarah thought as she watched him fidget and fuss with his hair.

"You seem hell-bent on ruining our friendship by insisting on spoiling any chance of me trying to find happiness with someone else."

"Don't pin your happiness on another being. That mortal or any other mortal is not responsible for your happiness, Sarah-mine."

"Oh, of course, because I should be pinning all my happiness on you." Sarah rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, as she sat on the armrest of her recliner.

"No." He stopped fiddling with his hair to place his hands on his knees. "I would have you happy, but I wouldn't have your happiness dependent on me" — he paused — "or any other."

"Funny, that's not what you were saying earlier."

"I have had time to reconsider my stance."

Sarah felt a rock drop into her stomach. Was he reconsidering his feelings for her? Why should that matter? She wasn't interested in returning his affections. Was she?

"So you're going to stop ruining all my dates?" Sarah asked, trying to hide the wobble her voice was trying to betray her with. "You will let me quit you."

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I am not a drug, Sarah."

"Well, it seems you are. Against my better judgement, I still wanted you. I kept going back to you. I kept needing you."

"Perhaps it is love and not an addiction."

"What you've done to Jason sounds more like addiction and not… The other thing." Sarah sidestepped his accusation with what she hoped was aplomb.

"Jason" —he sighed— "is both obsessive and delusional."

"You instructed him to call you master."

"Correct." He waved his hand dismissively. "That is the protocol for these arrangements."

Sarah did not want to point out her egregious breach of protocol. Nor was she going to bait him by throwing her refusal to call him such an archaic title, in his face.

"You hurt him, removing your mark."

"Yes it hurts, Sarah." He leaned forward towards her. "It hurt all of them. For some reason, it hurt Jason most of all. I will not hurt you, so do not ask me again to remove my mark."

"What's the second reason you chose me then?" Sarah swiftly changed the subject when she didn't know how to respond to his claim.

"Magic feeds off magic."

"And?"

"And I gave you certain powers, so you are the closest link I have to the Labyrinth Above."

"I have magic?"

"Of course," he muttered. "Your belief is pure magic. You believed in me. I gave you certain powers, and then you gained extra when you bet the Labyrinth and declared you had no power over me."

"So Jason and Co, all have magic too?"

"No." He lowered his head as if in shame. "I never gave them certain powers, Sarah."

"But they believed in you, to call you."

He shook his head. "Not like you."

"What does that mean?"

He closed his eyes and rubbed his brow. "Sarah, I was drawn to you before you called me. I watched you for months, as an owl before you summoned me. Your innate magic called me. It was an elixir unlike anything I have ever tasted."

He paused to cross his legs and tap his knee with his fingers. "You speak of me as a drug you can not quit when I have not the power to get you out of my system. Nor the inclination."

"Ah, so you'll just siphon me?" Sarah brought the subject back to the topic at hand.

"No, but your magic is my magic and it will nurture it as I rest." His fingers stopped dancing across his knee. "It doesn't detract from what you have stored within you."

"Not that I need it or want it, so you could just take it back."

"I can not."

"Why not?"

"You are very tired, Sarah." He rose and walked over to her. "Get some rest and we will finish this conversation another time."

Sarah yawned her assent. She would have to be up in less than 3 hours to go to work. She provided Jareth with a pillow, a blanket and a few sheets before she turned in for the night.

A/N: My children are feral Goblins and have been up to Goblin mischief today. More than usual. So if there are any errors, etc, then please lay a complaint to bowie_queen's crotch Goblins.

bowie_queen does not accept responsibility for their shenanigans. Haha.

So one more chapter. Hopefully up tomorrow. And then I will start working on the third and final installment in the series.

So Sarah is accepting of her magic. She doesn't seem at all surprised. Not really. It's my head Canon, though, that Sarah has some trace elements of magic and that's why Jareth watches her in the park at the start of the movie. What do you reckon? I would love to hear your theories.

THANK you for all follows/comments, etc.

There will be a sprinkling of smut in the next chapter. There will be floods of it in the third of the series, however.