DISCLAIMER: I don't own it (sadly). Don't make any money off it (even more sadly). I only borrow Jareth on occasion in my dreams (wistful sigh…but don't tell my hubby!).

Warning: Mature content…. Some lemon fluff. No goblins were harmed in the writing of this chapter, although several bags of pretzel and almond M&M's were sacrificed to the author, who narrowly escaped an extended engagement in an oubliette when she made the mistake of sharing said M&M's with the goblins. A word to the wise, HisNibs does NOT take kindly to 'choco-fying' his goblins then sending them back home. I pray you learn from my mistake on this one! To atone for my M&M mistake, HisNibs demanded lemony goodness….so here it is. :)

Author's Note: PLEASE REVIEW! Reviews help me find the inspiration to keep going (along with M&Ms and Ben & Jerry's 'Chubby Hubby').

Sarah didn't want to wake up. She didn't want to move and she most certainly did not want to leave the Goblin King's bed.

Although she had been furious with him when he showed up at the club last night, by the time they had left and he had transported them to his chambers in the castle, her anger had dissipated to a faint grumble. She still couldn't believe that after all the years he had been popping in and out of her life, as well as all her visits to the Goblin Kingdom, she never realized that there was such a significant time difference.

- Time difference be damned. You know full well the only reason you forgave him is that he was busy begging your forgiveness by screwing you senseless – insisted her libido. You gotta like a guy who can defy gravity. Wow.

A sly smile crept across her cranberry colored lips. For once, she and her libido were in agreement on something. Yes, Jareth had indeed screwed her senseless, forcing her body to reach new heights of delicious sensation, until she had actually begged him to stop as she could take no more - something she thought would never happen.

- Clearly, Hell is now an ice-rink. – quipped her libido happily, emerald eyes hooded with the look of one who was thoroughly sated. – Do we own ice-skates?

While she understood why he had not been in contact and had forgiven him, she was still not happy about the fact that he didn't think to try to get a message to her, High King, High Council or not. All she had needed was to know that he did in fact care and was not just using her. The thought that he had gotten what he had wanted from her and was now gone from her life hurt terribly and led to many late night date with her favorite broken hearted friends, namely Ben & Jerry, not to mention the weekends she spent drinking herself into a stupor. If it hadn't been for Gina and Alyse staying with her on the weekends, she would probably have had more than one fling in and effort to forget him. As it was, every weekend she was propositioned by at least one guy at the clubs, but turned them all down. None even came close to meeting her standards now.

- Damn him! He has spoiled us for any mere male. – sighed her inner self.

'Yes, he has. Is that a problem?'

- Nope, but there is only one thing for it then…. – added her libido in a sultry purr.

'What?'

- You've got to find a way keep him…permanently.

'I can't leave my life Aboveground.'

- Who says you have too. He can come and go, I bet he'd have the power to allow you to do that too. – suggested her inner-self.

'What if he doesn't want me?' she sighed, feeling a twinge of pain flicker through her chest at the mere thought.

- Hello? Weren't you paying attention last night while he was doing his damnedest to do you in the hallway? – snapped her inner-voice – He said he wasn't grooming you as some plaything, but to be queen.

'He said what?' Sarah wondered, trying to figure out how she had missed that.

- Don't look at me, I was otherwise occupied with the feeling of his thigh wedged between your legs. – shrugged her libido – And I suspect that is why you missed that particular part of the conversation, if you can call what happened a conversation.

'So how do you suggest I go about ensuring that I can be with him forever? Ask him to marry me? He'd never marry a mere mortal girl. He's ageless. He wouldn't want some mortal that is far too young.'

- He wanted you once before, or have you forgotten that?

'No he didn't. That was just a trick to make me forget about Toby, to let my time run out,' Sarah insisted silently.

Over the years since Jareth had re-entered her life, she had often wanted to ask him about that, but didn't want to reopen that wound for either of them. It was one of the only topics that without being overt about it, they had mutually agreed never to talk about.

- Yeah…and 'de Nile' is a river in Egypt. You are either stupid or stubborn. – grumbled her inner-self. – He offered you everything, just to stay with him.

Sarah frowned inwardly. She longed to believe that he had indeed wanted her to stay with him, but was afraid to ask for fear she would find out it was just a Fae trick. She wasn't sure she could stand knowing that.

'I'm not sure I would be happy just to be his…mistress? Bed-buddy? Whatever. I still have some dreams left, even where Jareth is concerned,' she thought wistfully.

And oh yes, she did have dreams where he was concerned, dreams that left her libido shaking in an exhausted, quivering heap. Dreams that left her inner-voice singing happily. Dreams of being with him forever.

- Does the King even plan to take a wife? – questioned her inner-self.

- Does it matter? – snarked her libido – Wife, mistress, love slave. The title matters not a jot in the long run.

'Maybe not to you, but it matters to me and I will settle for nothing less than wife.'

How about Queen – asked her inner-voice, with a mischevious smirk.

'Queen…." Sarah mused, "Queen is good," she thought, a faint smile playing at the corner of her mouth as she lay with her head upon Jareth's chest, letting the debate with herself play out.

With a long sigh, she dug the nails of her left hand lightly into his chest and raked her hand quickly downward toward his hip, purring as he hissed and jumped at the shock of the harsh graze. Looking down at her, he raised a questioning eyebrow, laughing as she arched her eyes back at him, a sly smile flickering into her warm emerald eyes.

"Yes, Pet," he asked quietly, his voice hinting at luscious hours of mutual pleasure. "Did you need something?"

Sarah licked her lips, the tip of her velvet tongue lightly caressing her still bruised lips as she looked at him, the list of things she wanted from him growing with each passing moment.

"Hmm… that depends on whether I am still mad at you or not," she drawled silkily, pushing herself upward upon the bed until she was kneeling next to him, her green eyes flashing brightly in the morning light that streamed into the room from the balcony. With a smooth twist of her hips, she slid over him, straddling his hips with the silken sheet between them. Watching him, watching her, Sarah wriggled her hips while pressing down against him tightly, the feeling of him beneath her making her shiver, a pulse of desire throbbing down her spine to wrap into a tight coil between her legs.

A low chuckle erupted from his thin lips as she moved against him, the heat of her body caressing him through the thin sheet, as her need spoke to his own. Jareth reached around her, lightly trailing his fingers up her back, the electric sensations of his hands making her arch backward, a sensual stretch of feline grace, tempered by the blatant lust sparkling in her eyes.

"Hmmm….whatever happened to 'Jareth, I'm begging you to stop. I can't take anymore,'" he teased, his hands gliding over her shoulders to flutter over the taut nipples that pressed toward him as she arched backward.

"Well, if you'd rather not," Sarah replied flippantly, her emerald eyes issuing the challenge as she rolled off his body, to rise from the bed.

Without a word, his hand shot out, gripping her wrist to tug her bodily back onto the bed, so that her back arched over his hips, her flushed face looking up at him. Sitting up with her draped across his lap, Jareth leaned over her, his look dark with sensual intent as his lips captured hers, gently at first, dancing over her mouth, before deepening, the pressure forcing her lips to part as his tongue thrust against hers, eliciting a moan from her. Lazily he ravished her mouth, his scent assaulting her, cinnamon, amber and pine, with hints of citrus wound their way into her senses, her body responding to his demanding kiss as well as the scent she had come to know as – Jareth. A scent that made her belly throb and sex tremble whenever she smelled it. Sex incarnate in a smell. And it was his.

Sarah kissed him back like a drowning woman, her body thrumming with the magical energy that infused her every time he kissed her or touched her. For years she had known that his gloves served to limit the amount of magical 'run-off' that he imparted to others, particularly when he was Aboveground. The first time he had touched her fully without gloves, his hands had felt like lava rocks, enflaming her senses, and that was just a simple touch of her hand to heal a cut. Whenever lust was added to the mix, his touch became as thermite to her, making her body respond without thought, the flames of desire threatening to consume her whole.

Rolling out of Jareth's lap, Sarah fought to regain her breath, the tell-tale flush of her face and chest betraying her desire to continue, while her rational mind demanded that she stop.

"Don't tell me you've had enough again already," Jareth purred, as he sat up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist to nuzzle the side of her neck, his tongue reaching out to flick along the soft skin behind her ear.

Sarah physically clenched her fists, resisting the urge to throw him back on the bed and have her wicked way with him, yet again, his nearness being all it took to make her want him these days.

"I can't. It's not that I don't want to. But I can't," she sighed, having a vague sense of déjà vu harking back to their first meeting. "I need to get back home, there are things that I must do this weekend."

Kissing along the side of her neck, Jareth murmered softly, "Precious, you know I will return you to whatever time you wish."

"That isn't the point, Jareth," she grumbled petulantly. "I know you can do that, but it uses too much energy to reorder much time. It would be better if we didn't do that as much anymore. As is, I'm mad at you for the fact that you have been doing significant time manipulation for years, whenever I'd come visit the Underground for several days at a time," she said crossly, her jade eyes concerned pools as she frowned at him. "It isn't right to fiddle with time in that way, even if you can. I've been thinking, four days Aboveground is roughly one Underground. I've only been here around 10 hours, so you won't have to reorder much time to take me home."

Jareth sighed. He loved the fact that she was sensible – usually. This was not one of those times. She was right of course. Reordering extensive amounts of time was wearing on his magical energy and always required that he rest, but for her he would reorder years, move the very stars, and more. All she had to do was ask.

On the other hand, her objection to his reordering time could play into his favor in getting her to agree to become Queen. He knew from their many late night chats, particularly when she had been recovering from bad dates and even worse boyfriends (a rather sore point for him at the best of times) that she did not want to be married so young, she wanted to finish school and work a bit first. While his father and others would disagree, Jareth fully believed encouraging her to finish her degree and working for a period, would only benefit her as a ruler.

"Well then, my love, it seems that you and I will be spending our weekend looking for new accommodation Aboveground," Jareth said as he rose from the bed, tugging his heavy brocade robe around him as he moved.

Seeing her look of confusion, he winked at her, a mischevious smirk teasing his lips as his eyes lit up.

"In order to address your objection, I will just have to spend more time Aboveground with you, rather than bringing you here. That said Precious, I draw the line at sleeping in that tiny, horribly uncomfortable bed you have and your apartment is far too small for he two of us, and your goblins. Therefore, we must find more appropriate accommodation. And besides, don't you think it is high time Bob and Squint were promoted to space in a proper walk-in wardrobe instead of that tiny closet you currently have?"

Sarah watched him pace the room, a finger to his lips in thoughtful consideration, her face masked in shock – Jareth, the Goblin King, once her villain and now her lover/boyfriend (if one could call an ageless being a 'boy'friend), the Fae who had been popping in and out of her life since just weeks before she turned 16, was effectively suggesting they move in together. Did one actually 'shack up' with the Goblin King? She started to giggle, then she lost it and began to laugh.

Frowning, Jareth turned to see Sarah sprawling naked on his bed, laughing. At him. A momentary twinge of pain filled his heart at the sound of her laughter. Did it mean that she did not want to be with him? Carefully he schooled his expression to hide the potential anguish he felt, his eyes narrowing as he glared coldly at her.

"And just what is so blasted funny, Pet?"he snapped, his icy voice dropping the temperature in the room, until Sarah shivered despite herself.

Gasping for breath, Sarah sat up, trying to look contrite, and failing miserably, as tears crept from the corners of her eyes.

"I'm s-so-sorry, Jareth. Honestly, I am. It is just…well… you are effectively suggesting that we move-in together, and that is just something I never expected you to suggest, much less agree to," she smiled at him, her face still flushed with her laughing fit. "It isn't that I don't like the idea, I really do. I love it in fact. You just surprised me, is all."

Standing up, Sarah moved to him, her arms sliding between the robe and his skin, to encircle his chest, her own body pressing against the length of his.

"I'd love to have you with me more often. But house-hunting will have to wait until later this weekend. I have a very important party to attend. Namely Toby's seventh birthday," she purred, punctuating her sentences by lightly kissing his bare chest. "I know Toby would be delighted if you would come to his party. And Karen would be thrilled to see that you are still in my life, as she asks if we are still 'dating' each time she calls."

Jareth relaxed, releasing the breath he had been holding since she started laughing, as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Hmm…dating?" he murmured in her ear as his sharp teeth tugged on her earlobe, eliciting a soft gasp from her lips. "Is that what we have been doing? I though it was fucking?"

With a sultry growl, Sarah raked her nails against his chest once more, jade orbs flashing at him, "That is only a recent aspect of what we've been doing," she snapped. "Oddly enough, despite how we originally met and your villainous behavior at that time, what we have been doing for the past year would indeed be considered 'dating' in the Aboveground. What would it be called Underground?"

"Courting, Dearest," he replied with a sly smile, his voice a velvet caress as the meaning of his statement wound its way into her heart and mind.

- WOOT! – yelped her libio.

- Told you so – nodded her inner-self in smug satisfaction.

Jareth tenderly kissed her forehead, then leaning back, looked down into her soft eyes.

"Then it is settled. We'll go to your brother's party and then spend the rest of the weekend finding a new place for you to live. Maybe a nice loft near the university? Or a larger house outside of town?" he mused thoughtfully.

Tickling him lightly, she smiled, "First things first, Kingy…Toby's birthday party. It is a themed party, so you'll have to dress the part."

Jareth groaned, cringing at the thought of having to dress up in a silly costume. While he relished time spent with Sarah and Toby, he had absolutely no patience for dressing up merely for a child's birthday party.

"Oh, don't look so put out, Jareth. For once, your natural style will work Aboveground," she chuckled, her eyes twinkling merrily as she surveyed him. Nodding, she continued, "Yes, I think you should wear your Goblin King regalia….and don't forget the cape and glitter."

Raising a sculpted eyebrow he peered at her, a sardonic smirk lifting his mouth as he drawled, "And just what is the theme for dear Tobias' birthday this year?"

"Well, Toby originally wanted something to do with goblins, but Karen put her foot down on that one. So I talked her into something dealing with knights and princesses."

Jareth's rich laugh echoed around the stone walls of his bedchamber as he pulled her tighter to him.

"And I suppose you will be a princess, Pet?"

"Nope…you'll just have to come to the party and find out."