His Champion stood at his gates, but she did not enter.

Seated in his throne once more, the Goblin King looked into the cruellest and most generous of his crystals yet. It was the one that would show to him – time and time again if he so willed to torture himself with it – the moment his Sarah came to him, and took from him his last chance at true happiness. It would show such a moment, if only she would enter. Instead, she baulked at the castle's threshold, teetering on the brink for just a moment, refusing to go on. It appeared she had stopped playing their perplexing game, and immediately every part of him demanded to know why.

This was the moment he had perhaps been waiting for all along, inevitable, filling him with terror and longing, and now she seemed about to deny them both of it. Not for the first time, Jareth turned his face upward and called upon the greater gods to grant him power – power to see exactly what was going on inside his beloved's brilliant and beautiful mind. As usual, he was granted no such reprieve. His heart had risen to terrifying new heights when she had been but a step from victory, and now it plummeted as she gave her retreat – even more so when she turned her back upon him.

He vowed she would not be rid of him so easily.

New determination rose up within him. He was a king after all, not some cowering, snivelling Bog-beast. If she was to refuse him a second and final time, she would do so to his face.

With but a muttered word, he stood outdoors, the castle at his back; before him, the woman who continued to torture him in the most wonderful, most impossibly cruel of ways. He knew he made for an intimidating sight in his full regalia, cape and all, but it was a sight she did not care to see. She continued to give him her lovely back, though the sight only served to dismay and anger him.

"Sarah, what is the meaning of this?" he demanded. When she did not answer, did not even lift her head at his voice, he stiffened, not too worried to take offence at the insult. His gloved hand clenched at the stone archway, as he forced himself not to go to her. "Sarah, I'm warning you, I will not be made a fool of." Still, she gave him nothing, and he was helpless not to go to her, helpless not to bow to her whim yet again.

He closed the small distance between them. "Look at me. Look at me, gods damn you." His hands lifted, meaning to take her shoulders and force some last confrontation to take place. Then, he let them drop to his sides. She was beyond his touch, beyond his control, as she always had been. "Sarah, please. I ask so little. Don't let it end this way – at least allow me that."

By some mercy, she did.

– You have no power over me –

When she turned to face him, Sarah saw the way his eyes widened. Jareth drew back slightly, giving her a moment to feel ashamed of what she knew must be a set of reddened eyes and tear-blotchy skin. Then, he cupped her cheek, the leather of his glove cool and soothing against her skin, the edges of his cape blowing around them, enfolding the both of them and shielding her from the outside world.

"I never meant to hurt you again, love. I just wanted … I had to …" He sighed deeply. "I needed you gone, Sarah. I've tried not to let my feelings come into this but … I'm sorry."

She made herself shrug. "It's okay. I understand. It doesn't matter. I'm just sick of this … this never-ending war between us; I'm done fighting."

He raised his eyebrows. "Then what is it that stopped you?"

Sarah only shrugged again, chewing at the inside of both lips to keep her mouth busy. If she didn't, if she allowed herself to start speaking, thinking …

Jareth continued to stare into her eyes, searching for what she wasn't giving him. Finally, clearly no wiser and reluctant for the fact, he released her cheek, and took a careful step backwards, giving her space; she could go on, or go back – god knew how much she wanted to do both right then. Instead, she remained still, burning under the Goblin King's scrutiny.

"The doors are open," he said at last. She could not help noticing his tone was as clipped and cautious as his movements.

"I know."

A wry smile curved his lips. "You never could make things easy, could you, precious?" With a sigh, he backed off even further, gesturing towards the doors. "Time's almost up. Let's end this."

Sarah wavered for a moment, but still she did not move, her teeth now worrying a deep groove into her lower lip. Her refusal had clearly unsettled the unflappable Goblin King; he seemed to reject her very stillness, rebel against it, almost, constantly in motion. He shifted his weight from one booted foot to the other and then back again, stopping just shy of starting to pace. His expression strove for indifference, but his lips were pulled into a tight, thin line, the fingers on each hand popping and twitching, restless. Finally, he spoke up again, his words darkened with anger.

"What game do you still insist on playing? Haven't I shamed myself enough for you? If you want me to send you back to your world, then just say the words and have done with it."

"I don't want to go back. Not yet."

"Then what do you want, Sarah? Haven't you demanded enough of me?" Clearly itching to move, he closed the distance between them again, and though she saw the brief hesitation in his eyes, his hands were firm as they closed around her upper arms. "I've given you all I have left to give you: time. You insisted on it, and now you waste what little there remains of it. What more could you possibly hope to win?"

The ridiculousness of it surprised her into laughter, though it was without much real humour; only she could dare to laugh in the face of the Goblin King, and hope to come away unscathed. Judging from his expression, he was unamused. She met his narrowed eyes, refusing to look away. "Win? Haven't you figured it out yet? I'm losing, Jareth– losing like you always wanted me to do."

Guarded as he always was, her words left him entirely open, this time unable to hide his surprise from her. His eyes widened, the hands holding her losing enough of their grip that Sarah thought he might go reeling backwards. Still, he regained his composure quickly enough, scowling down at her, his hands tightening once more. He began to stroke her arms with his thumbs, as though by instinct, and it took him a moment to stop himself. "Are you trying to absolve yourself of blame by deliberately losing to me?"

He didn't understand – she had only just begun to herself.

"When I told you that you had no power over me, it was true. It's still true," she told him. "You can't force me to stay here against my will, you can't force me to feel the things that you feel … and, as we've already proven, you can't even make me go through a door unless I want to. That idea of being weak, of being made to feel powerless, just because of another person … no."

She was hurting him, she could see it in the subtle tightening of his jaw; she pushed on. "But that's the way it's always been with you and me. We felt something for one another, and neither of us knew how to handle it. I've never felt like this before; I had no basis for comparison, and even though you're more, well, sexually experienced … I don't think you did, either. I don't think you've ever really loved someone until now."

Jareth said nothing. She went on. "You've had lovers, partners, but never anyone who took your heart and turned you down. You begged me, threatened me, tried to trick me … all because I'd hurt your pride, and there is power in pride – power that you wanted back. I took that from you, so you tried to strip mine from me. You wanted me to spend my days and nights thinking about you and only you, wanting you; you wanted me powerless in the face of that longing, just like you were … and I didwant you." She swallowed, wanting no more than to go back to silently chewing her lip, but knowing she had to get it all out at last.

"I wanted you more than anything, and spent so much time telling myself it was just sex, that it'd go away if only the dreams would end. I kept telling myself I couldn't feel anything for a man who only wanted to … to fuck me … that I couldn't submit to someone who only wanted to rule me. Even though you said you'd be my slave, I'd be the one having to give up my dignity and call on you, admitting I wanted you. And you … you tried to make me lose – you would have won me, made me stay here, and never had to give up your dignity again by asking me to. Pride, messing up both our lives, but you managed to admit you were wrong before I did. You helped me from the start. You set me free."

Something unreadable flickered across his face, then was gone behind that careful mask he maintained, hidden from her once more, no matter how hard she looked. Jareth returned her stare. "And I suppose you want me to do that begging now?" he asked. "Must I fall down on my knees and plead with you to leave me; tell you I was wrong, how I've changed my mind about wanting you confined here?"

"I don't expect – or want – anything like that. This isn't about what you want … this can't be about you."

He shook his head. "How can you expect me to live with this, knowing you've given up at the last hurdle, knowing you've chosen to bind yourself to me out of … what? Some misplaced sense of pity for me?"

Sarah felt herself smile. "You really think I pity you, after all I've been through today?" When he made as though to speak, she overrode him. "I know – it's been hard for us both. It's been awful … but sometimes, like … like before … it's been wonderful, too. When we were honest with each other – no games, no struggles for power – it was better than any dream. When you're forced into submission, driven into doing things for someone because there's something to gain, or there's no other choice, that's one thing," she said, with a grimace. "But when you find yourself wanting to do those little things because you care, looking out for someone, and asking nothing in return, like you have today … that's not obligation; that's affection … and I do feel it towards you. I can admit that."

"You've felt powerless all this time, stripped of pride. Well, I know now: pride isn't more important than affection … than what I want. You lost to me once, and we can't go on if there's still that imbalance of power between us. If it's what you need from me, to prove we're on the same level, then I'm not too proud to do it – I'm not too proud to lose to you. We could carry on like this forever, lusting after one another, tormenting one another, but now … now it can finally be over."

As if summoned by her words, there came the first thundering chime of the great clock from within the castle – the first of thirteen. Sarah's eyes flicked towards it, and then back to him, seeing the way his whole body seemed to stiffen.

"Sarah." His voice was low and urgent, his pale eyes wide beneath their curious markings. "Sarah, you can still-"

She shook her head. "Not enough time. Even if I run, we both know I'd never make it. It's over, Jareth. I lose."

Heat flashed in his glare. "You had time," he hissed. "If you'd only entered the castle and climbed the stairs instead of this … this." He seemed to shake off his anger, desperation clouding his eyes as the clock rang out, on and on towards its final toll. "Time … I … I can lay more at your feet if I must, but-"

"Don't you dare. Just … please, let me do this. I have to." She dug her teeth into her lip again, fighting to keep her emotions in check. She had lost count of the chimes, but it would only be a matter of moments before it reached thirteen.

"Sarah, please, you don't have to pretend-"

"I know."

"Gods, woman, then why-?"

Finally, she snapped. "Stop trying to change my mind. I'm losing. I'm losing because it's what you need, and because I love you, dammit! I don't know how to make it work – I don't know if it can work between us – but I want it to. I want to be with you, I want that so much, and this is how it has to be-"

Before she could finish, Jareth was on her again. His arms came around her waist, the deep folds of his cape lifting in the wind and enshrouding them both in inky blackness. There was a sense of both rising and falling, of being pushed back but at the same time drawn in, the ground on which they stood seeming to crumble away and yet grow more solid beneath her feet. The only constant was him; him, and she clung to that thought, and that thought alone, with every last part of her being.

The clock gave one last great knell, the sound resonating off the stone walls surrounding them.

When Sarah could see again, she found herself inside the Goblin King's throne room, empty but for the two of them, her cheek pressed to his chest. His arms remained locked around her waist, and somehow, her own had made their way around his shoulders, squeezing him just as tightly as he now held her. "I …"

"Won," Jareth finished for her. His voice was thick with emotion, and it took a moment before he went on. "You won, Sarah. You won long before you set foot in my realm a second time, precious. You've always had that strength, and I won't let it be crushed for my sake. You made it here in time, and I will not see your victory lost though some obligation to me."

She pulled back just enough to look up at him, searching his face, praying that she hadn't come this far only for him to reject her this time. "But … you wanted power over me. I thought … I thought you needed to win."

"The only thing I've needed all these years is you at my side." He shed his gloves so that he could cup her cheek properly this time, warming her skin as he ran his thumb over her lower lip. "If this is truly what you want, then say the words, Sarah. Say you'll be my queen."

She pressed her cheek into his touch, her heart fluttering in her chest. "Yes. Yes, I will."

It was all he needed. When he smiled at her, it was full of elation, awe; it was beautiful. He was beautiful, looking at her as only a man deeply in love can, holding her in his arms, kissing her passionately, thoroughly, like he would never let her go. Deep down, a part of her relished the fact.

When he eventually did release her, she buried her face against the side of his neck, happy just to hold him, and to be held. There was pain to come, she knew, but he would guide her through it. "I … I'm going to need time to say goodbye to my family," she said at last. "I can't say how long that will take, but-"

"You'll take however long you need, love. That doesn't matter a whit to me, knowing I'll have you for eternity one day."

"But what about the changes in me? You said they'd be able to tell I wasn't one of them any more."

Smiling, he touched the moonstone at her throat. "They will, but only when I replace this necklace with a queen's – the day you become my wife."

"And that doesn't have to be right now?"

"Not if you don't want it to be, precious – your promise is enough. If more of your mortal life is what you need before you come to me, then I accept." His lips quirked up at the corners. "I can afford to be generous, after all, with the life we'll have together. I want you – I've always wanted you – but I will wait for you. All I ask is that you don't make me wait another few cursed years to see you in the meantime. I can wait for you to marry me, love, but now that I've got you, I can't bear to have you gone from my arms that long again."

Sarah began to laugh – she couldn't help it, hope and happiness bubbling up in her chest. Both worlds – the best of both worlds, made possible by the man standing before her. "I don't think I could be apart from you for a day. You're going to get sick of me asking you to fly in through my bedroom window when you have stuff to do here."

"Impossible," he growled, against her neck. "I told you, pet, you don't have it in you to bore me, and I have every intention of making my visits Aboveground last. That is, unless you'd prefer to while away an evening or two here instead? Maybe you'd like to reconsider being tied to my bedposts …"

"I've gotta say, it's looking a lot more appealing." She grinned at him. "What about your goblins; your subjects? Aren't they going to object to this whole thing, you taking me as your queen? I'm only a plain old mortal woman, after all."

"A mortal woman strong enough to best their king twice, love – I'll never let it be said that you're anything less. When our people speak of this in years to come, there will be no denial that their Champion conquered the labyrinth a second time, not to mention brought a king to his knees."

His smirk was devilish, and she had no doubt of exactly where that mouth was headed as he started to sink down before her. He would have her moaning in minutes, just the memory of his clever mouth already making her tremble, but it hardly seemed right for a king to kneel in his own throne room. She had no doubt her own smile was at least a little devilish as she reached out to him instead, feeling daring, stopping him with a gentle press of her palm against the generous bulge in his trousers.

"Mmm … what exactly are you doing?"

She leaned in closer, cupping the warm weight of his cock, squeezing him through the thin material, feeling him start to stir to life in her hand. "You may not have wanted me to lose, but you always wanted me to yield, didn't you, Your Highness?" she asked, letting her lips graze his with every word. "This is me, yielding, ready to worship you."

Jareth grinned. "You do it so well."

He kissed her, held her, ran his fingers through her hair and over her body with eagerness, and yet a certain reverence, as though for the very first time. His mouth was soft and sweet, so very sweet, and she could feel her whole self melting into that kiss, giving and taking, love and desire warming every last inch of her skin. With just a few skilled touches, he had her wanting him all over again, her body wet and willing, arching into his keen hands.

"Gods, I need you again," he murmured, and the raw lust in his voice made her shiver. "Are you ready for me, love? I know this is all still so new to you, but-"

In answer, she took one of his hands between her own, and guided it beneath her gown, between her thighs. "Show me," she said, softly. "The way it was in the dreams. You've been mine since the beginning, but you need to know that I'm yours, too. I want all of it – everything from the dreams, every part of you. Show me what it'll be like as your queen. Make me yours."

Needing no further encouragement, Jareth slipped his fingers into her panties, and though the contact made her moan at once, she did not miss the hot spark of lust it brought to his eyes, the way his nostrils flared with pleasure, searching for her scent.

"You're soaked," he said, eyes wide and wanting, his hand pausing momentarily, as if torn by the need to go on feeling that wetness, or to tear her clothes away to see it for himself. Sarah solved the problem for him, arching into his touch and encouraging him to go on, sighing her pleasure as his fingers began to move over her slick flesh.

"Ready for you," she murmured. "I think I'm only just realising how long I've been ready."

He gave her that grin that always had the ability to set her insides fluttering – the one that lit his strange eyes, and told her he was truly happy. "You're sure?" he asked, his fingers caressing her in a way that said he already knew the answer. "You're positive this is what you want?"

"Mmm, this and so much more." The hand between her thighs made her knees want to buckle, her eyes long to roll back in her head, but still she held his gaze. "I want you inside me again."

"Oh, love, there's no place I'd rather be."

The two of them stumbled up the steps to his throne together, half-pulling, half being pulled by the other. His mouth was hot and eager against hers, his hands moving, stroking between her legs, caressing her hair, her back – seemingly any part of her he could reach. He fell back onto the throne itself, drawing her down on top of him, wrapping his arms around her waist and continuing to kiss her as she straddled his growing erection. When he finally released her mouth, it was only to turn his kisses to her jaw, the line of her throat, rediscovering every inch of her with his lips and tongue.

"What you said earlier," he murmured, his breath growing ragged against her ear. "Did you really mean-?"

"I said I loved you," she told him at once. "And I do. Of course I mean it."

There was little time for talk after that, not when his lips captured hers again with a fierce passion, not when he was groaning his happiness against her mouth. Their hands worked in unison, moving to tug confining fabric aside, wanting to be joined once more, needing to have that deepest of connections between them. His fingers brushed her slit as he pulled the crotch of her panties aside, and he hissed and sucked her bottom lip between his teeth when he found her hot and now all but dripping for him. When she freed him, he was rock hard and ready, that need pulsing against her hand.

With a soft moan, she guided him to her entrance, and everything else ceased to matter as, ever so slowly, she let her body sink down on top of him, gently rocking her hips until he was seated all the way inside her. This way, he felt even deeper than the last, her walls clenching around his cock as he urged her body to open for him. She was slick enough to accept every last inch, but he was so thick, so very big … That feeling of fullness – total, blissful fullness – had her gasping atop him, relishing his solid heat.

"Oh, so tight. So tight," Jareth whispered, starting to move inside her, rising up to meet her. He took a firm hold of her hips, helping her, guiding her, drawing her body down onto his. His legs urged her own wider still, and he unleashed a deep groan as the new position caused her weight to sink down further on his shaft. He ran his hot tongue along the hollow of her throat, just above the moonstone he had given her, and that reminder of his love made her skin tingle.

Sarah soon learned the rhythm, her head tipping back in her pleasure as pure instinct took over. It was an age-old cadence – one her body had been more than ready for these past silent and lonely years. Inhaling his scent, fisting his soft hair and caressing the nape of his neck, savouring the pull and thrust of him inside her – exquisite physical pleasures, tangible to her senses, but even they paled in comparison that that deeper delectation within her. It was one that told her she would never again be empty. With this man, the one her mind had sought out through countless restless nights and sinful dreams, she would always feel full, in every way.

Her hips rose and fell, and there was nothing but that deep, beautiful rhythm, the steady, rocking pace that seemed to match the pulsing of her heart, whispering take me, fill me; love me. She clenched him between her thighs as he peppered the tops of her breasts with brief, fiery kisses, every inch of bare skin he touched seeming to sizzle with wondrous heat. She keened softly as he pressed his lips more firmly to the swell of her left breast, and she hoped he might feel the thrumming of her heart there. It would always beat just a little bit faster for this; for him.

Just when everything had begun to come together at last in her mind, her body was swiftly coming apart, melting for him, her hips losing their rhythm as the overwhelming urgency of her climax began to build. She bucked in his lap, not allowing him to pull back all the way now, keeping him buried deep in hard, hurried thrusts. The swollen tip of him stroked her – yes – right there, again and again, his arms locked vice-like around her waist, keeping her body in place as he drove himself to the hilt inside her. His chin pressed between her breasts, his head tipped back, his lustful eyes commanding her own as he gazed up at her.

"Ahh … do you remember the first time I had you in my lap?" he asked. "Seated as a true queen, I said then, but this is the real proof of it – our true union." He encouraged her to move faster as he spoke, heated and breathless, rocking her in his lap and filling her deeply with each movement. "Ohh … I'm going to wed you one day, and then you'll truly belong to me, and I to you … but this … this will always be the moment where we first ruled together. You are perfection; my queen – my goddess – and I've never loved you more."

"I love you … ah! Oh, god, so much … so much, Jareth. You're … oh, you're gonna make me come," she whimpered, her eyes turning up to the ceiling, her lips parted with her pleasure.

"And how you've earned it, love," he crooned. He drove his hips upwards more forcefully, thrusting deep and making her moan. "Look at me," he ordered, both hands taking a strong hold of her hips, moving her harder, faster. "Look at me when you come, love. I want to watch your eyes burn for me."

She obeyed at once, and the look in his eyes almost undid her at once. It was too much; it was far too much. "Soon, oh, god – Jareth – so … so close …"

"Yes, yes, come for me, my Sarah – my queen," he moaned, his arms holding her body tightly to him, thrusting desperately inside her, driving them both to completion. "Your king commands it."

His name was the last thing she gave him, before surrendering completely, her body tightening around him, squeezing him as her pleasure rocked over her. It brought him tumbling over the edge soon after, his body shuddering beneath her with the power of his release, filling her with his own heat. It was as intense as it had been the first time, lost in that place of dizzying pleasure where only he would find her again. They came down slowly together, his hands tracing lazy circles at the small of her back, her fingers tangled in the golden silk of his hair.

When she regained her wits enough to pull back, looking into his face, his beautiful contrasting blue eyes were alight, alive with new power and pleasure. It was what he had wanted all this time, that power shared with her as it was perhaps always destined to be. She had finally bowed to her king, but never so deeply as he had always bowed before her, and there wasn't a single shred of doubt left in her that he would always worship her that same way – would always love her that same way. Funny how the word seemed to lose its awful, damning power when she was here with him this way; it felt more than right – it felt good.

She leaned in to him again, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I love you," she whispered against his hair, smiling at the sound her words made, soft, but fiercely determined. "Love you."

He gave a sigh of pure contentment as his arms tightened around her in a secure hug. "Always loved you, precious thing. Always will. I loved the girl – that strength and tenacity, hardly knowing what you'd eventually become – but oh, how hard I fell in love with the woman. I've waited so long, just hoping to hear you say it in return."

She smiled, wrapping a silken strand of his hair around her fingers. "Then I'll just have to keep saying it. Was it worth the wait?"

Jareth released her and urged her back so that he could look up into her face, his fingers steeped beneath her chin. "Oh, yes. I told you, love, I'd wait a lifetime for you – for my queen to come to me." He ran a finger down along her neck, soft and sensual, smiling to himself when he reached her necklace. "It will look beautiful on you, one day. I know it."

She glanced down at the moonstone he had given her, deep in thought as she watched his fingers toying with the stone. The bond between them would wait until she had taken the Goblin Queen's emblem, their love allowed to flourish and grow in the meantime without it. All she had to do was ask, and he would come to her as he had promised. Still, there was something more, that itching feeling that came with those problematic thoughts of power and responsibility again. Though she had every intent of calling on him often, there was still that imbalance of power – the sense that he would be bound to her whim once more. It wasn't fair … but it could be.

"Is there a way for you to come Aboveground without me calling on you?" she asked. "So you're not just waiting for me, like you were before?"

The grin he gave her, the look of joy in his eyes near overwhelmed her, and he captured her mouth in a long, passionate kiss before giving his reply. "Yes, love. Yes, if you want it. There are words you can speak – a charm that will grant me permission to come freely into your world, so that when I send you back home-"

She stiffened against him; she wasn't ready to leave, not yet. "You won't … you won't send me away from here tonight, will you? Even if we can't marry right away?"

Jareth smiled. "Sarah, after all I've been through to finally have you, I would be a foolish man indeed to be rid of you so soon – particularly when I'm far from done showing you just how much I have wanted you … craved you … lusted after you …" His eyes had started to move down her body again, but now they reclaimed her face. His expression turned a little bashful as he reined in that lust long enough to reassure her. "Nevertheless, you have my word: unless you ask it, I'll never send you away again."

That was enough to make her relax, smiling anew, and she couldn't resist taking the hand that held her chin between her own, pressing a kiss to each pale fingertip. Just the feel of his skin against her lips was enough to make her body feel warm again. The man was addictive … and he wasn't the only one who was far from done. She wanted him again, and could feel herself blushing with the sheer wantonness of it, more so when she considered their current position; they were lucky a handful of goblins hadn't disturbed their tryst.

"Could you … um … send us somewhere else?" Even though he remained buried inside her, she felt a little shy asking outright. "I'd like … I … I didn't get to see your bedroom for too long the last couple of times …"

"Our bedroom," he corrected, brushing a kiss against her throat. He seemed to favour that place where her necklace met her skin, where he might feel the way it made her shiver, and the way it made her pulse race a little faster. "And here I thought your attention would be solely on me, not our surroundings."

She chuckled. "It was, which is why I'd like the chance to actually see them this time."

"Mmm. Then how could I possibly deny you?"

His magic took them to his – their – rooms, and before she knew it, there was silk against her back, and a very naked, very amorous Goblin King at her front, ready to have his way with her again.

As it turned out, she was far too distracted to pay much attention to their surroundings after all.

Neither of them noticed when the sun finally set, throwing them into total darkness – her journey complete, at last. It had been the longest day of her life, and he left her thoroughly exhausted by the end of it. She lay spent and naked in his arms for a long time, thinking herself the luckiest woman in either of their worlds.

When the two of them had regained sense enough to be aware of anything but the other, Jareth brought life back into the dying fire, and set several candles alight with nothing more than a nod. He kissed her hair, and fed her sweet fruits and cheeses, the fae food robbed of its troubling reputation, now that she had no reservations about being trapped here, and he had no need to try. It tasted heavenly.

She had never felt more decadent in her life, sprawled Roman-style across his – their – wide bed, eating and drinking, her legs still entangled with those of a king; her king, the delightful, devious, delicious fae-god of sex. His smile was wicked, flashing whenever she would pause to nip at his fingers instead of the food. He was happy to return the favour. She was content to stay awake most of that first night, sharing food and wine, and long, lazy kisses, talking deep into the early hours.

As he began to caress her breast, it was far, far too easy to imagine a lifetime of this, of him, passion and pleasure galore, moulding to every last one of her lover's whims. Maybe a little assertion of power would be needed after all; it wouldn't do for the Goblin King to think he was in total control – she was quite certain she'd never hear the end of it from His Royal Smugness.

"Listen," she said, starting to smile in spite of herself. "I may like it when you control me in the bedroom-"

Jareth leaned over her body, flicking his hot tongue briefly across her nipple, before moving higher to graze her earlobe with his teeth. "I think 'like' is an understatement, precious, given those wonderful screams I remember hearing, but do go on," he purred.

Easier said than done, with dexterous fingers rolling and pinching her nipple as it peaked for him, his warm tongue sliding along the sensitive ridge of her ear. Already, he'd discovered her weaknesses – a kiss or a nibble on her ear, and she would melt like butter. She knew she would have to start uncovering some of his, before he could gain too much of the upper hand.

She pulled away from him, trying to keep her face straight long enough to finish. "Be that as it may, if we're going to be partners in this thing – marriage and ruling together – then you're gonna have to listen to me, too. I might want you to take the lead for a while, you having more experience and all, but I won't be the simpering little lady forever. You can't expect to try and control me outside the bedroom-"

His laughter was warm and genuine, as was the kiss he pressed against her cheek. "Sarah, sweet one, I don't think I'd ever dare to try. I never want you to be anything less than you are: a champion, and a queen." Still smiling, he kissed her neck, her jaw, finally working his way back to that irresistible spot at her ear as he whispered: "Though if you have no objections, and since we're already in the bedroom, I can think of plenty of other things I would like to try, when you've recovered."

She knew he must hear the way her laughter was already turning to moans, feel the way her nipple had long since grown rigid from his attentions. "You're insatiable."

"Only for you, love. Only for you."

As the first light fingers of dawn came pressing through the window of his – their – bedchamber, they drifted into companionable silence once more. Sarah gave a great yawn, wondering if she would ever be able to move properly again. She stretched lazily upon the well-warmed silken sheets, spreading herself along his arms, and hips, and legs. She revelled in the pleasurable ache of her muscles, and in the feel of his warm, lithe body, matched so perfectly with her own at last. She found she could hardly keep her eyes open, a leisurely smile curving her lips as his fingers stroked through her hair. His firm chest was comforting against her cheek, and the steady thudding of his heart lulled her down into sleep.

She thought of flying that night: pale wings against the dark curtain of the night sky, a billion bright stars watching overhead. As her mind took her on swoops and rolls, there was only the most fleeting awareness of self. In it, she remembered thinking that, for the first time, it was his dream they shared. He held her close as they soared.

When she woke from this dream, she was not alone. Her king was where he would always be: in her bed, by her side. He had given her hundreds of nights of dark, lustful dreams, lost in his carnal embrace, but now, together, they at last found the bright wonder of morning.