Chapter 3.

Sarah was exhausted at work and even more snowed under with all the paperwork from last night's event, in addition to all her usual work.

Jareth had left shortly after she had risen. Sarah watched as he had dumped spoonful after spoonful of sugar into his tea. Then he thanked her for her accommodation and left.

It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him if he was returning to hers or the Underground after his business. But she didn't.

It was about 11 o'clock now and already she was starting to fade. She stretched out her muscles and yawned just as May knocked on her door.

"Visitor, Sarah."

Sarah headed to the reception wondering if it was Pete from Jiio, Ltd who was due in half an hour when she saw mortal Jareth lounging against the reception desk.

"Mr Delaware-Boothe?" Sarah collected herself enough to address him by the appropriate name. He turned to face her with a smile. In his hands, he held two takeaway coffees.

"Ms Williams." He held up the coffees. "Do you have ten minutes to discuss some business with me?"

Sarah glanced at her watch. "Er, I have a meeting I need to prepare for in less than half an hour. I could probably spare five minutes."

"Who is your meeting with?" John appeared behind her, with his hands on his hips and a frown. He always seemed to be there. Was he magnetically attracted to Jareth?

"Pete from Jiio, Ltd."

"He can wait" He turned to Jareth with a beam. "Come to give us more work, Leon?"

Sarah rolled her eyes at her boss' pandering, so only Jareth could see. He winked at her.

"I've come to discuss such matters with Ms Williams." Jareth stepped closer to her as if to make a point.

"Well, I am quite happy to sit in with you."

"Very much obliged, but if Ms Williams has another meeting, I wouldn't want to take up too much of her time."

"Pete is small fry—"

"And yet, he is equally as important as I am, and I am sure Ms Williams would agree."

Sarah found herself amused and surprised by his generosity towards a lesser client.

"I do." Sarah smiled at the Goblin King. "Pete may be the owner of a small business, but he is loyal and reliable."

"Well, shall we go chat before my time is up?" He gestured towards the door she had come through.

Sarah nodded and side-eyed John who looked like a fish, opening and shutting his mouth.

Sarah led Jareth to her office. He placed a coffee next to her computer and he situated himself regally in the chair opposite her desk, sipping on his own coffee.

"So you want to organise another event, Jareth?" Sarah sat and straight away gathered her notebook to record any of his desires.

"No, Sarah." He pointed at the coffee on her desk. "I kept you from getting a full night's sleep required for a human. So this" —he nudged her coffee towards her— "I have heard, helps keep you awake."

"It is no replacement for sleep." Sarah saw a slight frown marr his handsome features. "But thank you."

"It is the very least I can do after all your hard work and then putting me up when I know you'd rather see me on the streets."

"You're wealthy enough to afford a hotel, Jareth." She found to her surprise she was laughing. "The 'streets' is a bit of a hyperbole."

He grinned. "Thank you for your hospitality, anyway."

"I didn't think I would see you again after you left."

"Disappointed?".

Sarah curled her lips under her teeth as she pondered his question.

"Surprised."

"Will you allow me one more night?" He took a sip of his coffee. "Then I will have completed my Aboveground business and can return Underground."

"Don't you have a house or two, if you are so wealthy?"

"I do." He shrugged. "I have three in different parts of the world. None in the USA, however."

Sarah curled her hands around the coffee and brought it up to her lips. She moaned with delight as she tasted the hot, bittersweet liquid.

"Just what I needed."

"I will of course be offering you more work." He pushed his cup around in a circular pattern across her desk. "As loathed as I am to give it to John, I rather enjoy the way you handled my demands."

"An art exhibition is easier than my usual tasks." Sarah shrugged.

"And you did a stunning job." He grinned. "You're quite the organiser, Sarah. Your job has quite a few transferable skills."

"Wish John would see it that way." Sarah scrubbed her face. Realising she said the word, 'wish,' she glanced up with her hand hovering over her mouth.

"He's a prat."

"He's chummy with you," Sarah said between her fingers.

Jareth shrugged. "I can charm where it suits me. And all he sees is the money I bring to his company." He paused before adding, "And the power."

"Yes, well Leon Delaware-Boothe has been a target of his for a very long time." Sarah picked up a pen and scribbled on her notebook. "I have had to hear your pseudonym for so many years, that I automatically resented him, or rather, you."

Jareth grinned. "I fancy I know your reaction upon learning I became your client then."

"I think I swore."

Jareth grinned wider. "I made sure to let him know it was thanks to you that I switched companies."

Sarah nearly choked on her coffee. "That would go down like a lead balloon."

"Perhaps I need to remind him to treat his staff better if he wants to keep my business."

Sarah waved a dismissive hand. "He will just go back to treating us like second class citizens the moment your back is turned."

"I was always wary about giving him my business for that reason." He shifted his gaze from side to side. "I only did so, so I could see you again."

Sarah flushed like a schoolgirl. She cleared her throat and busied herself by reaching for her mouse and scanning through her email inbox.

"Sarah?" He rose to stand. "Will you allow me one more night? I have replenished enough to travel home, but would like to ensure that I have a surplus."

In the end, Sarah had agreed to put him up, though she didn't understand why she did so easily. By the time Pete had arrived Jareth had left. She drank her coffee, grateful for his small slice of consideration.

Jareth was waiting for her by the time she got home. He leaned against the door outside her flat, chatting amicably with one of her neighbours.

He smiled when he saw Sarah. "Here is the beautiful Sarah now."

He pushed off the wall and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. She watched the reaction of her neighbour with interest. Their face reflected delight in seeing what they would perceive as romance. Sarah returned their look with a polite smile.

Once inside, Sarah headed to the bathroom. She was about to unhook her bra but remembered her house guest. She left it on, grumbling about pervy owls.

She slid back out and headed to the kitchen to make dinner.

"You eat pasta?" Sarah asked as Jareth entered the room.

"Yes."

Instead of just watching her like she expected him to, he made himself useful; setting the table and pouring the wine. He chopped up a salad and buttered her French loaf with garlic butter.

The meal was friendly and comfortable; something that astonished Sarah. Domesticity was not Jareth's forte.

"Are you trying to impress me with your ability to assist with the chores?" Sarah asked as they washed the dishes.

"I don't need to impress you." He flicked his teatowel at her bottom. "I am suitably impressive without trying."

Sarah snorted. "I had a boyfriend once, that charmed me with his domesticated skills while we dated, but then when we moved in together he slacked off and I was left with the burden of a full-time career and all the household duties." She scrubbed furiously at the bowl she had in the sink. "I am not convinced this isn't some elaborate mating ritual of yours."

"If we were to move in together, Sarah-mine, we'd have servants so no need to mop floors or wash dishes."

Sarah scrubbed her suddenly hot brow with the patch of arm not covered by the dish gloves, before returning her focus to the dishes.

"You know me," he said in a quieter voice after Sarah had attacked most of the dishes. "I am not going to suddenly be the Squid King or the King of the Gnomes. I will always be who I am to you."

Sarah passed him the final dish and let the murky water out. "I don't know what any of that means, but you surprised me today, so you have every potential to be someone I don't expect you to be."

He dried the dishes as he watched her wipe down the benches.

"Conrad was a despicable character, Sarah." Sarah's fingers dug into the cloth she was wiping the bench with.

"How do you know Conrad?"

Her ex-boyfriend, Conrad, was her ex well before she started fucking Jareth.

"I watched you before you stole my Bog water." He shrugged as if it was common knowledge. "Conrad tried to treat you like the Queen you were, but ended up treating you like a servant."

"I left him for good reason," Sarah scoffed. She wasn't going to acknowledge his words. As far as she knew that was the first time he had ever uttered the word Queen around her. She felt a coil wrap around the base of her spine and pull taut; the vibrations travelled up her spine like waves. "But more to the point, you spied on me?"

"I watched over you, every now and then," he replied, touching her gloved arm with tenderness. "Pride didn't allow me to go to you. But when you committed treason—"

"It was fucking Bog water, Jareth."

"You stole Crown property."

"I should have made you drink it."

"You certainly shouldn't have fucked me."

The last vestiges of water sucking down the drain was the only sound in the room.

"What?" she asked after a few beats.

"I wasn't ready to forgive you, Sarah." He paced from side to side. "I was still angry at you, for destroying my city; for rejecting my offer to stay with me. I fucked you, and thought I'd get you out of my system."

Sarah raised her brow as he continued.

"But it didn't work. Instead, I grew more fixated on you. But all you wanted from me was to fuck. So that's what I gave you. I lived up to your Bog-damn expectations of me. Again. I thought you'd care that I was fucking others, but you didn't. You didn't care at all."

He was right. She hadn't cared at all. The sensational sex was all the payoff she needed. She looked at him to find he was directly in front of her now.

He curled his fingers under her chin. "But then you wanted to start dating that mortal and I knew I couldn't let you go. I never wished before but at that moment I wished we had never fucked. I wished that I had waited until I could have courted you properly, so we would never be in this scenario where all you think I want from you, is to fuck you."

Sarah took a step back, hitting her spine against the countertop.

"You were right when you told me that I should never have established the arrangement with you." He returned to drying the dishes as Sarah remained frozen. "I should have dissolved all my arrangements right then and there. I should have courted you properly."

Sarah's mouth was suddenly dry. It was one thing for her to have the upper hand and use this against him; it was another to have him admit she was right. She was uncomfortable hearing this admission from him.

"But I know the way you treated Jason and the others," Sarah countered. "You treated them like they were your slaves. At your core you have no integrity. I could never—"

"From your limited perspective, a traditional fae and mortal arrangement would seem despicable." Jareth placed a bowl in the cupboard before selecting the next item to dry. "I lived up to their expectations. Nothing more. I couldn't offer you the full deal, because your expectations were of a higher standard. And I wanted you as my equal. Not my pet."

"Treating a human like a pet is gross, Jareth."

"They liked it, Sarah." Jareth paused in his task of drying the dishes. "They wanted it. They were happy. The fae used to have arrangements with mortals like this all the time. It was mutually beneficial."

"Did they like it or did you just see what you wanted to see?"

Jareth placed his teatowel on the bench and stalked towards her. Even in her anguished state she could appreciate his graceful approach. Until she saw the danger flashing in his cool blue eyes.

"I am not evil, Sarah." He caged her in against the bench. "If they didn't want an understanding, they could have said no at any stage."

"Yet, they couldn't call you or—"

"It was part of the contract they agreed to."

"Jason wants your name," Sarah blurted out. "The twins were pissed that you kissed me on the head and I touched your face."

"Well, he can't have it." Jareth's arms tensed against the bench. "And they knew the limits of our deal and shouldn't have hoped for more."

"You don't seem that keen to keep them happy when they all want you back."

Jareth sighed, and released her from the cage of his arms.

"I am entitled to break it off at any time, just as they were." He swept his hand over the rest of the dishes, drying them with magic. "And as I said, they knew not to expect more from me than what I gave."

"So did I, " Sarah pointed out. "And yet, here we are."

"I wasn't to know I would fall in love with you, Sarah," he shouted. "I made the arrangement between us when we were simply hate-fucking. I didn't plan on loving you. I wanted to hate you as much as I desired you. I didn't think that hate would diminish and grow into a new beast."

"I sometimes think my hate for you has grown," Sarah admitted, staring at the kitchen floor.

"Has it?" He gestured with his hand. "Or has it also changed to love, and you just won't admit it to yourself."

"Stop trying to pretend there are secret, hidden feelings in me, Jareth."

He rubbed two of his fingers against his lips as he thought. Then he closed his eyes, briefly before nodding his head.

"I will go home to the Underground tomorrow and I will not return unless you summon me."

Sarah looked at him through disbelieving eyes. "Why?"

"Why will I not return?"

"Mmm."

"I can't continue to be your Beck and Call King." He shrugged. "Not unless you want to contemplate the possibility of being my Queen."

There was that word again.

"I can't have meaningful sex with someone who finds it meaningless." Jareth shrugged, nonplussed as his words caused blood loss to Sarah's cheeks.

"But that's what we've always done. And what you've always done with all your… sex slaves."

Jareth scowled and the fierceness of his expression almost had her gasping.

"I have sacrificed all that for you." He clenched his jaw. "You missed the part where I said I wanted meaningful sex."

Sarah inhaled deeply. Feeling more centred, she smiled at him. "What is more meaningful than sex with you?"

He frowned before Sarah cut him off.

"Go fuck yourself, Jareth."

"Clever, Sarah."

Sarah fought off a yawn. "I am going to have a shower, and then an early night."

Pale and in shock from his admissions, she made her way to the shower.

Sarah had gone to bed without another word to him. Jareth did not understand why it was such a shock to her that he loved her and wanted her to be his Queen.

He sat on the couch in his silk nightclothes, fresh from the shower. He had been reading a book and sipping wine when Sarah had closed the door to her room.

Now, he was thinking of the first time he had come face to face with her after her run through his Labyrinth. As flimsy as an excuse as it had been, her stealing his Bog water was justification enough to visit her.

Oh, how they yelled and screamed at each other. The passion she showed! Jareth had become hard just watching her curse and berate him. This wasn't how he had imagined wedging himself back into her life.

Sarah had seemed to be just as aroused—he could tell from her scent—and he had been surprised when she launched herself at him, sending him back into her sofa. Quickly, before she had a chance to recover, Jareth had flipped her over so she was under him, pinned to her couch, his knee between her legs.

They had bickered some more as he leaned over her, their breaths mingling as they both started panting heavily. Sarah had ground the apex of her legs against his knee, and he had driven it in harder against her. Oh, the moan she had given him with the flash of animosity in her eyes. Jareth's cock had twitched and stiffened as she growled at him.

The next moment they had been a ball of writhing flesh as they ripped clothes off each other; scratching and clawing at each other like wild animals.

When Jareth had entered her, he watched the fire inside her dim before burning brighter as she thrust forward to take the full length of him.

"I hate you," she had ground out as she dug her nails into his shoulders and her heels into his arse. Jareth had smirked and pummeled her with his body until they had both ripped orgasms through the other. As soon as they had reached that vital peak, they had pushed each other away, sweaty and furious.

Jareth had left her; thrilled to finally have had her; to finally have got her out of his system. A few days had passed when he realised it had made him worse. So he returned to her only to find her in a similar state. They hate-fucked —as she called it —again.

He couldn't think through his lust so decided to offer the same arrangement he had with few of his other (failed) runners. Except he couldn't bring himself to demand her to be subservient. He refused to instruct her to call him 'master.' He gave her a way to summon him, though he failed to inform her of this.

Sarah had more leeway with him than any other creature, living or dead. He had allowed her to touch his head. He realised as he compared his other mortal lovers to her, that he had subconsciously raised her above the others. He had, in short order, stopped fucking his paramours Underground.

It took him a little longer to stop fucking his Aboveground lovers though. But when he realised he didn't just favour her, he loved her, he cut them off cold turkey. Yet, everything remained the same between the two of them.

He couldn't admit, even to her, how he really felt. His other lovers had resented that he was not monogamous. But the one he wanted that from, couldn't care less. She was not bothered at all by his other lovers. She used him as intended and he hated it.

Thinking of their first time together where his lust had flown through his body like aggression had made him rock hard. He rubbed his cock from the outside of his silk trousers, feeling his cock twitch and engorge. He closed his eyes, fluttering them shut, and pictured Sarah as the raw, angry beast she had been that first time.

He was panting and thrusting into his hand in short order. He pushed his trousers down to release his erection, hissing as his naked hand made contact with the bare skin of his cock.

Sarah was lying in bed unable to sleep despite how tired she was from the night before. She got up intending to get a glass of water.

She opened her bedroom door and in the dim light of the one lamp Jareth had left on, she saw him sitting on the couch, his head rolling on the headrest and his hand gliding up and down his cock.

Sarah felt her body warm-up and her nerves fire under her skin. She wasn't going to be a voyeur, despite how much she was tempted.

She cleared her throat. "Er, Jareth?"

He didn't even open his eyes. "Yes, Sarah-love?"

His voice was husky as he spoke, but his hand never stilled.

"I am just letting you know I am here."

"Courteous but I am not concerned," he ground out between groans.

"Clearly."

Jareth chuckled and finally opened his eyes to look at her; his hand still moving over his cock; his chest heaving. Sarah knew she was dripping wet. She considered rushing off to get her glass of water and returning to her room to masturbate.

But daring (and horniness) flared through her. She walked forward towards Jareth with his eyes never leaving her face. She knelt in front of him and took control of his erection with her own hand. Jareth hissed and then groaned as she ran her fingers lightly from stem to tip.

She rubbed his head with her thumb and watched as his eyes fluttered shut again as he bit his lip. The way his head was resting on the headrest exposed most of his milky neck. Sarah wanted to run her tongue along that vulnerable part of his body, but instead, she watched his muscles and tendons twitch with the strain of his control.

Without warning she switched her hand for her mouth, curling her tongue around his tip as she pushed him deeper into her relaxed throat.

"Oh, yes," he hissed, before groaning and thrusting into her mouth. Within seconds he poured hot liquid down her throat, Sarah feeling each throb of his orgasm against her tongue. She slowly removed her mouth, licking underneath him as she did so.

Jareth's eyes were open and boring into her.

"Well, that was quick," Sarah muttered as she swallowed his climax.

"It always is when I'm thinking of you." He slipped his flaccid cock back into his trousers, never taking his eyes off her.

"You were wanking to thoughts of me?"

"Always."

Sarah held his heated gaze for a few moments before glancing away. She was even more turned on than before and she rose to return to her room. There was a vibrator with her name on it waiting in her drawers.

"Sarah?" Jareth crooked his index finger at her. She stepped closer as he stood up. "Your turn. The scent of your arousal is too much to bear. And I would hate for you to have to rely on that toy of yours when you have me at your disposal."

Sarah could barely muster a whimper as he led her to sit on the sofa, parting her legs and pushing up her nightdress to expose her nether region. Kneeling, he traced one long finger against the seam of her cunt. Then he followed with soft kisses. He repeated this three more times before he added his tongue.

And with a gentle thrust, he inserted his finger within her centre, and his tongue slid against her clit. His other hand pushed under her arse to tilt her up to his face.

Sarah arched her back, rolling her head back in a pose reminiscent of Jareth's earlier bearing. His tongue was slow and leisurely, but Sarah could already feel her climax building. In her mind's eye, she pictured Jareth, his eyes rolling back in his head as he stroked himself, unrepentant that he was being watched.

She was gasping and moaning within seconds as the pressure of pleasure built within her. "Oh, yes, Jareth."

Jareth moaned into her cunt as he sped up his tongue and his finger simultaneously. Her muscles clenched and her orgasm burst through her like a freight train, leaving her shaking, writhing and sweating. As her pants and aftershocks subsided, he eased his finger out and withdrew his tongue to slowly kiss her mound, working up past her navel to the border of where her rumpled nightdress sat ruched under her breasts.

He pulled her nightdress down and then drew patterns along her thighs. He had never shown such affection. Usually, they would finish the deed and he'd dress and leave her.

Sarah peeked at him with one eye. "You're not going to fuck my brains out?"

"No," he replied, kissing her knees. "If I leave tomorrow and you never call me, I do not want my last memory being of making love to you, never to do so again."

"I said fucking, not making love." Sarah reclosed her eyes.

"May I use my magic to clean you up?" Jareth asked, softly. Sarah nodded and she felt a tingle as all the sweat and moisture left her body leaving her feeling clean. "Now you need to go and sleep. I will see you in the morning."

Sarah yawned and sleepily made her way back to her room.

In the morning, Sarah was still heavily aroused. With memories of Jareth masturbating and his ministrations between her legs, she was quickly wet. Without a moment's hesitation, she dipped her hand between her legs and frantically rubbed one out, coming quickly within a matter of minutes.

She had the day off today; booked ages ago to visit her mother. So she got up and showered and dressed for the day.

Jareth had made her coffee and some toast. Whether he learnt to use her appliances or magic, she was unsure but grateful either way.

"You didn't invite me to aid you this morning," Jareth accused.

"Aid me?"

"Fae senses." As if that was all he needed to say. At her raised brow, he supplied, "Exquisite hearing and sense of smell. I know what you did between your legs."

Sarah shrugged as she took a bite of her toast. "I didn't need your help."

He grinned. "I'd have liked to watch all the same."

"Maybe next time."

"Are you implying you will summon me?"

"I believe that you will return under your own stamina."

He chewed his toast as he appraised her. Once he had swallowed his food, he spoke, "I won't be returning unless you ask it of me. You have the power."

"Why give me this ultimatum?"

"Perhaps I grow tired of the games we play."

Sarah sipped her coffee. He had made it perfectly to her tastes. Damn.

"Or perhaps you're just bluffing."

"Perhaps." He took a sip of his coffee, baring his teeth as he uttered a sound of delight.

After breakfast, Sarah set about packing a suitcase. She wondered when Jareth was going to leave.

"You've decided to come visit me, Precious?"

"No, I am going to visit my mother."

"Can you stop just for a moment so I can say goodbye to you?" His voice was level; calm, but there was a hint of a plea as he spoke.

"Goodbye, Jareth."

"Summon me, Sarah." He twirled his hand, producing a crystal. "Just touch your mark on your neck and say my name." He held out the crystal on the tips of his fingers. "This is for you."

Sarah wasn't going to ask what it was, only for him to reply with his sarcastic, 'it's a crystal; nothing more.'

She folded her arms, curling her fingers into her own flesh. "What does this crystal do?"

"It does nothing." He looked down at the crystal, then back at her. "It contains something of value to me, that I would like you to look after."

"I won't be summoning you back, so there is no point—"

"It's yours now, so whether you want it or not, is of little consequence." Was he angry? His face had darkened, his lips and brows puckered and his nostrils flared.

He placed the crystal dead centre on the bookshelf nearest him.

"Look after it and don't break it." He ran a finger over the smooth exterior almost longingly. "Please."

As he uttered the word, 'please,' Sarah felt a stab in her chest. She rubbed at it, trying to ignore the bruising.

"I really don't want your freaky spy camera in my room, so if you could—"

"I will not be able to spy on you once I leave."

"Sure."

"This is not a spy camera."

Sarah grabbed an armful of books from her coffee table and chucked them into a bag to take with her to her mother's.

"Sarah—"

"What, Jareth?" Sarah spun around to face him with something close to a fury she wasn't sure why she was feeling. "Time for you to leave and go and fuck some new idiot."

"No, Sarah." He shook his head in a sad manner. "You misunderstand. I could fuck whoever I wanted before I gave my heart to you. Once a fae gives their heart to someone, it would cause them — it would cause me —pain to try and fuck someone else."

His breathing was ragged as if he was trying to hold back some unspoken feeling. Sarah crossed her arms again unsure what to do with her hands as he spoke. Sarah was ready to disregard his metaphors about his heart. She wasn't accustomed to flowery words from him.

He sighed and paced towards her. "I gave my heart to you. A fae can only do that once. I will return Underground without my heart, as it is in your hands. I won't be fucking anyone else..."

His eyes flicked to the crystal and realisation dawned on Sarah. She took a hesitant step back and Jareth watched her with narrowing eyes. He had been literal about his heart. She swallowed as trepidation crept up her spine.

"You mean to break my heart." Pain was etched all over his face. How could he expect her to love him? Even now, as she was saying goodbye with no intent to summon him again?

"You shouldn't trust me with something you claim is so valuable." Her voice was barely audible to her own ears.

His eyes widened. He had heard her. "No, perhaps not."

"So take it back."

"I can not."

He stepped forward. Sarah stepped back until she hit the wall. He approached her as one would a caged animal. He placed one hand on the wall beside her and the other he thrust through her hair to run his fingers tantalisingly across her scalp. They stared at each other with no sound or movement but their breathing and his one hand, carding through her hair.

Inch by inch, he ran his hand from her scalp across her ear to her jaw, which he lifted until her lips were a whisper away from his. He placed his lips on hers, at first gently as if he was timid, but after a few moments, he pressed harder until their teeth clicked together and he was forced to remove his hand to stabilise himself against the wall.

Sarah placed both her hands against his chest as their lips met again and again in searing agony. He tore away from her after she had thrust her tongue into his mouth.

"No," he practically shouted. "Do not give me a taste of what could be. Don't tease me with the dream and offer me a nightmare."

He pushed away from her then, curling and uncurling his hands. Sarah remained, limp and boneless against the wall.

"Goodbye, Sarah." He approached her window. "I beg you to summon me. But if you don't, I wish you well with your life. I wish that you would find happiness and love."

With that, he twisted and dissolved into a mass of cloth and feathers until he was an owl flying into the day.

A/N: That's all, folx. Until Part three: The Calling.

THANK you for your support and love.

I know it was smut lite in this fic but I promise part three will be heavy with it. ;)

We will also see more of Jareth's motivations and wrap this whole saga up one way or another. It may be a while. Someone is trying to get me to write a dark! Jareth fic. Haha.