Author's Note: I am so sorry for taking so long to post! Despite my intention to post on a weekly basis, life interfered. First my father suffered a stroke, a mercifully mild one from which he's already mostly recovered, and then my entire household was struck down with the flu.

Anyhow, thank you for hanging in there. I now present you with the second installment of my first multi-chapter effort. And while I greatly appreciate all of you lovely people who are following the story, a few reviews would also be appreciated!

Chapter 2

In one swift move, Sarah had disentangled herself from him and had rolled off the bed and onto the floor. Her throbbing headache was instantly forgotten with the shock of finding herself in bed with the Goblin King. She sat on the floor, stunned, and as she became aware of the fact that she was still naked, she tried unsuccessfully to cover herself up with her arms and hands. Jareth watched with amusement at her ineffective attempts to cover herself up and chuckled as he quipped, "Oh, Sarah, really. This false modesty is quite unbecoming, especially after last night, and that delightful little thing you did. I had no idea you were so . . . talented!"

Sarah felt her face burn red with shame, which was very quickly giving way to anger. "YOU! What are you doing here? You have no power over me, or have you forgotten!" She managed to control her fury to keep from railing at him at the top of her lungs. Nevertheless, tears of rage began pooling in her eyes.

Jareth continued to look at her with his trademark smirk as he explained his presence. "Oh, yes, I remember how you banished me from your life after you ran my Labyrinth. But as with all contracts, there are loopholes, an escape clause, if you will."

Sarah tried to make sense of his words, but was having difficulty understanding anything. All she could focus on was that she was naked in front of the Goblin King, and she was in the very vulnerable position of being crouched on the floor trying to cover her nakedness. She covetously looked at her robe, hanging on the hook on the back of the door. There was no way she could reach it without standing and walking across the room in front of Jareth.

Jareth turned his gaze toward the object of Sarah's desire, and if possible, gave her an even smirkier smirk. "Oh, would you like that?" he asked, as he pulled the covers off himself and stood to retrieve the item in question. Sarah quickly looked away as she realized he was in the same state of undress as she, except he appeared to be quite unaffected by it. As arrogant as the Goblin King was, she wasn't surprised at his lack of shame.

And suddenly, he was standing directly in front of her, dangling her robe before her as she continued to furiously stare at anything but him. "Thank you," she said weakly as she took the robe, and first used it to shield herself from him as she stood, and then contorted to put it on without revealing herself. Now that she was able to stand, she quickly scanned her room and was dismayed at not finding discarded clothing strewn about. Inwardly groaning in frustration, she realized he must have used magic to undress them last night. And given how smug he was acting, she was not about to give him the satisfaction of knowing just how uncomfortable his nakedness was making her by asking him to conjure himself some clothes. So she took a deep breath, stood up straight, and turned to face him. "Now, would you please care to explain what you're doing here?" she asked in her most commanding tone.

"It's quite simple, my dear," he started, and Sarah forcibly repressed a shudder at being called his 'dear.' "You summoned me."

"I did no such thing!" Sarah replied indignantly.

Jareth chuckled as he continued. "Sarah, Sarah. For someone who has always been fascinated by magical lore, I'm surprised that you know so little of the power of names."

"The power of names?" Sarah asked, as she felt a knot begin to form in her stomach. She suddenly remembered the man with the wild hair from the bar last night. She had mistaken him for Jareth, and as she approached him, oh no, she silently groaned. Thinking he was Jareth, she had said his name aloud. The look of horror on her face told Jareth that she now understood where he was going with his explanation.

"Last night, you said my name. You summoned me, thereby giving me power and invalidating your declaration from twenty years ago." He didn't tell her that he had watched her for years, since she had so callously dismissed her so-called friends from her life, waiting an opportunity to present itself. He didn't tell her how suddenly a few days ago, a chain of events began to unfold which provided such an opportunity when he had learned of Sarah's pending promotion. Then, there was unfortunate wretch in the bar, whose drug-addicted daughter had left him saddled with three screaming toddlers, who was somehow able to correctly recall a rumored legend from his youth to summon him. He was so feeble he never stood a chance at traversing the Labyrinth. As Jareth saw his opportunity come together, the thought of being able to go to Sarah made him feel particularly generous, so he offered the old man an alternate means of winning back his grandchildren. After placing the suggestion of taking Sarah out to drinks in the subconscious of that simpleton Deb, Jareth gave the old man a wig and one very simple instruction. All he had to do was sit at the bar and keep his back turned toward the table with the three ladies. Jareth had taken care of the rest. Of course, Jareth's repeated appearances had left the old man's nerves somewhat frazzled, and had almost been Jareth's undoing when he arrived at the bar. The oldster took one look at Jareth as he blustered in with the wind and decided enough was enough and ran away, never even bothering to ask what had become of the children. Jareth made a mental note that the children still needed to be returned. The old man had fulfilled his end of the bargain, and now Jareth would have to fulfill his as well.

And now, here he was, in Sarah's apartment, in her very bedroom! He briefly considered just snatching her away, but there was the question of Sarah's daughter. He was unsure what to do about her, but he was reasonably certain that just leaving her behind would not go over particularly well with his would-be queen. So he decided to engage in some friendly verbal sparring while he thought about how best to handle the situation. "After twenty years, how could I refuse an invitation from an old friend, a chance to visit and catch up. And I must say, Sarah, your welcome has been quite warm. I have enjoyed my visit immensely!" he purred lasciviously.

"Yeah, well it's been nice seeing you, too," Sarah retorted through clenched teeth, her ire positively bristling at hearing him make light of the fact that he had gotten her drunk and taken advantage of her. "Now kindly get dressed and get out!" And not necessarily in that order, she added mentally.

"No," came the Goblin King's reply. "I'm on holiday this weekend, and I've decided to spend it with you. Should anything occur, I've instructed the goblins to look for me here. And besides, after all the gushing you did last night about your daughter, I would very much like to meet her."

Sarah just stared at him and realized he was deadly serious. "What?"

"I said, I should like to meet your daughter," Jareth repeated patiently.

Sarah felt like the floor had just been pulled out from under her. "You - what? Oh. . . but, but - you can't," she said nervously. There was no way in hell she was going to allow the Goblin King anywhere near her daughter! "No! In fact, she can't find you here!"

"I'm not leaving until you've introduced me," Jareth replied coolly.

"Please," she begged in a heartfelt tone.

Jareth knew that if he allowed Sarah to dismiss him from her life like this, he might never get another chance to reclaim her. "Sorry, precious. I would like to be more accommodating, but you have piqued my curiosity. I should like to see if she possesses your spirit and your pluck."

"No, you don't understand," Sarah replied sadly. "Years ago, I made myself a promise, and now that Kimmie is old enough to understand about relationships, well, we sort of have an understanding. We don't date, we don't sleep around. We don't bring home guys unless we're in a committed relationship. It's my way of being certain Kimmie stays focused on school and it keeps me focused on being a better mother and a good role model for her." There were tears falling from her eyes now, and Jareth almost felt sympathetic. "So you understand why you can't stay?"

Jareth looked at Sarah and then smiled that infuriating smile of his. "Perhaps you should have thought of that before you brought me home and had your wicked little way with me."

"Now look here, Goblin King!" she hissed while trying desperately to keep her voice down so Kimmie wouldn't hear, but Jareth just waved her off and continued without missing a beat. A plan was starting to form, and he would not allow Sarah to deter him.

"The way I see it, you have two options. You can introduce me as just some random man you met last night and invited into your bed. Except that such an admission is not very befitting of the role model you purport to be, not to mention that it would mean that you willingly disregarded your 'understanding' and brought home and bedded a man who means nothing to you." He almost choked on the last seven words, afraid of how true they might be. "Kimmie might forgive you, but then again, she might resent having a mother with loose morals, who won't think twice about going back on her word and will bed any man who propositions her." He paused before continuing to allow Sarah to digest the meaning of his words and saw that they had the desired effect on her. She hung her head in shame, because that is exactly how she perceived the previous night's events. "Or," he continued, "You could introduce me as your boyfriend, thereby keeping her respect for you intact." He could not help feeling smug, because he realized that if could win over the daughter, his conquest of Sarah would be much easier.

"I already have a boyfriend," Sarah said matter-of-factly, hoping she sounded convincing.

"No, you don't," Jareth replied with a knowing smile.

"Well, then I'll just have to tell her the truth!" Sarah retorted defiantly.

Curse this woman! Even now she continued to defy him. Looking at her intently, Jareth advanced on her with a dangerous look in his eyes. He finally spoke, his words coming slowly and deliberately. "And what exactly would you tell her, precious? How you were a spoiled brat who resented having to take care of her baby brother? How close you came to accepting everything I offered you in exchange for him?" He continued advancing on her, forcing her to step back to keep some distance between them. "How you regretted your decision almost immediately after making it? Would you tell her of the dreams you've had?" The look of shock and horror on her face confirmed his suspicion. "Oh, yes precious, I do know what you dream of," he continued. Her back was now against the wall, but Jareth continued closing the distance between them as he spoke. "I'm sure your 15 year old daughter would be very interested in hearing about that." Finally trapping her against the wall, he placed his forearms on the wall on either side of her head and leaned in to whisper in her ear, "Remind me again, Sarah, how old were you when we first met?"

Sarah glowered at him as she pulled her robe tighter against her body. "I hate you."

It was as they stood thus that Kimmie burst into Sarah's room. "Hey, mom, I tried waiting up for you, but - OH JEEZ, MOM!" Kimmie roared as she noticed Jareth and averted her eyes. "A little warning!" She nearly tripped over herself in her haste to get out of her mother's room which was currently occupied by her mother and a strange naked man.