Chapter 13.
Sarah blinked her eyes, staring at a manmade waterfall. "You can never touch that part of me that is his." She said with confidence, Jareth's kiss was still fresh on her mouth.
The man in the black mask crooned into her ear; "What I can touch pleases me well enough."
Sarah looked at him, giving him a coy little coquettish look. "You've had your last touch."
"Have I?" He snaked his arms about her, and began to kiss her. "Have I really?"
Sarah freed her arm and slapped him. What happened next shocked her, he slapped her back. Knocking her to the ground, he squatted down over her. "I've warned you, I will not be defied."
Sarah lay on the ground in shock her hand went up to her cheek.
The masked man shook his head, "I'm so disappointed." He lamented. "Now you have to earn the right to be my slave. In addition to that, you must be punished for your audacity, striking the Master."
"I'm not your slave; you don't have a right to punish me." She suddenly found herself saying, but there was fear in her voice she could not disguise.
The man in the mask chuckled softly, "There are ways to punish a willful woman, ways she may even enjoy." He trapped her wrists and pulled them above her head.
"No." Sarah gasped. "No, don't," she struggled. "Please, stop!"
He paid no attention to her begging him to stop. He held her body pinned down with his own. "I do like a woman with fire." He teased as he licked her face. "I don't need cuffs, or shackles or even a whip to bring you to go down on your knees before me. I've a much better way to punish you, my little pet."
"I don't want…"
"Yes, you do." He said assuring her in a droning tone. His lips sought her ear. "You want so much…you sometimes think you will explode."
Sarah closed her eyes, "You're twisting my words."
"Am I? Or have I found the true meaning of your words?" He hovered over her, like a dark angel. "Why fight what you really want?"
"You are not the one I want." She argued.
The Master paused. "You rejected the one you wanted."
"I had no choice…" She struggled to free herself to no avail. "Let me go."
A smile spread on the face of the masked man. "Tell me, little one, why did you really come out here with Sophie?"
"I told you, I came to inform you in person that you'd not be seeing me again." Sarah shook her head and lay under the man huffing.
"Surely you must realize that a foolish statement." He raked his hands down her arms from her wrists. "Part of you must have wanted to see for yourself, to test the waters so to speak. You must have wanted to see if I had any…hold on you. If what has happened between us was a fluke or mutual attraction."
"I assure you, that was not on my mind." She felt his hands move down her arms. "What are you doing?"
"Silence, woman." He was crouching over her now, his hands moving over her arms and then her shoulders. "Are you so young that you don't even know your mind?" He mused aloud. "Perhaps you are." He suddenly stood up, and reached down to pull her up off the floor of the pool house. "Take off your coat." He ordered. Sarah's lips parted to protest, but he placed a finger to them. "Your driver is very likely occupied with her swain. Take off your coat, be comfortable and we shall have some tea." He motioned to the table where he had left his tea cup.
Sarah shrugged out of the coat, "I'll remove my coat, because it's hot in here, but I'm telling you now, I will not be comfortable."
"How do you like your tea, Green eyes?" He asked as if they were having a friendly visit
"I like my tea straight." She said taking a seat at the table.
The eyes behind the mask watched her. "Straight, how interesting."
Sarah accepted the cup passed to her, and sipped. "Why would that be of importance? What significance does it portray?"
"Green eyes, you like things out in the open." He said with confidence. "How one takes their tea or coffee says a lot about them as a person."
"Now that's just weird." Sarah said. "You can't learn about a person from the way they take a drink of tea."
"Of course you can, Green eyes." He said leaning back lazily in his seat. "If you have any powers of observation that is."
"Fine," She placed her cup down. "What do you observer about me?"
"You are a mass of contradictions." He stated. "You want what I have offered you, or at least a part of you does. Yet you fight it, and use the excuse of youth." He watched her face. "We are like the moth and the flame, Green eyes. You don't want to go to the flame and yet you can not resist it. The flame attracts you, and you respond to it, even as you claim you don't want it or what it can do for you."
"Moth and flame," she scoffed.
"Would you care to participate in an experiment?" He asked softly.
Sarah placed her tea cup down. "No thank you." She put on fake politeness.
"It's a small experiment really." He went on as if she'd not just rejected the idea outright. "Won't take but a moment."
"What kind of experiment?" She asked knowing he was not about to be denied his chance to prove a point.
"Come with me," He stood up holding out a hand. "Just a few steps, after all the experiment needs the right …environment." Sarah looked at his hand and hesitated. "Are you afraid?" He taunted.
"No." She stood up and placed her hand in his.
The Master moved toward an alcove in the building, covered in vines and other plants it looked like the entrance of a cave. He looked down at her, "Now, relax." He teased. "Just stand there… and do nothing." She looked up at him, and he whispered. "No protesting, just stand there." He moved to stand behind her, snaked his arm about her waist, and began to pull her body against his. She looked over her shoulder up at him with troubled eyes. He used his free hand to stroke her side, and her neck. Pulling her hair off her neck he bent and applied his lips to where her neck rose from her shoulders. She shivered and let out a surprised little cry. He felt her tense, "Relax, Green eyes." He coaxed moving both his hands up her ribs to capture her quivering breasts and cup them gently. "Relax." He murmured as his lips seared into her skin.
"Stop." She said softly.
"Not just yet," He felt her quake beneath his hands.
Sarah closed her eyes tight. "I want you to stop."
"No you don't." He said smoothly. "Your body loves what I'm doing."
"No I don't." She argued weakly now.
"Green eyes, it does not have to be a contest between us. It could be far more pleasant." He slipped on hand into her blouse. "WE could be like kittens in a basket." He rolled the taunt nipple in his fingers. "Deny that your body wants to be ravaged. Deny I make you…hot."
"I can't." she panted. "I can't do this."
"You can," He assured her as he turned her and took her mouth savagely. "And you will." He made no effort to press her further, content to kiss her senseless. "Now, tell me I am not your flame, my little moth."
Sarah stood clinging to his suit jacket, panting and breathless. "Alright," she moaned. "I admit I find you attractive."
The Master enfolded her in supportive arms. "Now was that so hard?" he asked holding her to his heart.
Sarah nodded, "You've no idea."
Stepping back, he tipped her face upward. "You will come again, you may not want to, but you will come again." When she began to protest he said. "You will have to; your body will not allow you to deny it what I've introduced it to. You will need to feed your sexual appetite. I will be here, waiting for you….Green eyes."
"I won't be your slave." She said sharply shaking her head.
"For now, I shall be content to know you as my teenaged nymph." He teased. "A very bad little girl who likes to play with fire."
"You're wrong, I won't be back." She turned to retrieve her coat. "You don't have anything I cannot get elsewhere! There are always boys who want what a girl has."
"Boys will never do for you Green eyes," he laughed lightly. "You've rather more exotic tastes. You need a man, a strong man."
"Good bye, Mr…whatever your name is…tell Sophie I found I could not wait for her." She pulled the coat on and headed to the door.
"You plan on walking back to your house?" He mused as he followed her to the door.
"Yep." She said heading toward the gate. "Goodbye."
Jareth removed the mask when she had gone a few steps, he was sure she would not turn to look back. He was right she never looked back, even as she passed though the gate. He tossed the mask to the table and picked up his cup to finish his tea. "Oh Sarah, what lovely games we will play with one another. I can hardly wait until you return and warm my bed." He picked up the receiver of the phone and pressed a button. "Tell Sophie that Sarah has begun to walk home."
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Sophie pulled up next to Sarah walking on the road. "You could have waited for me you know!" She snapped.
"No I could not." Sarah said just as bitchy back. "One more moment and things would have begun to escalate to where I'd end up naked."
"And that's a bad thing?" Sophie shook her head. "God you act like you're the only girl who's ever gone to bed just for the fun of getting laid."
Sarah looked out the window. "I'm not a whore, Sophie." She defended herself.
"I never said you were." The blonde huffed as she drove the few miles back to Sarah's house.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Dinner had not gone well. To Sarah, everything tasted like sawdust, and the conversation was one she didn't want to listen to. Her father was complaining about her mother's demands yet again. Karen, bless her, had tried to change the subject several times. She succeeded only when she asked if Robert had heard anything about the new owner of Wilde's house.
"I hear he's as decadent as the old man was." Her father had stated in a disgusted breath. "He claims to be a patron of the arts, just like Wilde did."
Sarah looked at her half finished dinner. "May I be excused?" She asked quietly.
Robert looked at her plate, "What's wrong with you? Too many French fries after school?"
"Must be." She agreed.
Karen placed a hand on her shoulder. "Go on, you don't have to sit here and listen to the rants. Go check on Toby before you go to your room. Open his window a bit, it's a nice night and that room gets so stuffy."
"Sure." Sarah left the table as quickly as she could without looking like she was rushing away. She went to the nursery, and found her little brother cuddled up with her old teddy bear. The love worn bear looked up at her with glassy eyes. Sarah touched the bear, and then her brother's soft skin and baby fine blonde hair. "Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, ….." She bent close and kissed the child's brow. "Sleep well, Toby." Sarah moved to the window and opened it just a few inches to allow fresh air in the room. She turned leaving the nursery light on dim, never noticing the owl on the branch keeping watch outside the child's room.
The owl moved on silent wings toward the window that now rose by itself. A moment later the Goblin King stood over the cradle looking down with tenderness at the child he was so fond of. "Rest well my boy. Sleep and dream of the days to come," his cape draped over the cradle, nearly covering it entirely. "Soon your sister will admit defeat, and you will be returned to me." He stoked the cheek of the sleeping child. "And I shall have your sister in my clutches as well. To birds, with one stone…or one wish…." He laughed softly. "Sleep well my babe." He pressed lips near the spot Sarah had kissed. "My Goblin babe," he breathed as he dissolved in a swirl of dark glittery mist