DISCLAIMER: I own nothing…not Jareth, Sarah or the Labyrinth (mores the pity!). I would gladly snog Jareth senseless if given even half a chance.
Warning: Some mature content that might warp the minds of impressionable young goblins.
Author's Notes: Please read and review…I live for reviews! They make me want to write more and faster. Comments regarding review are at the bottom of the chapter.
In short order, Jareth had transported Sarah back to her apartment to get ready for the party, while he took care of kingdom business before joining her. As he strode into his study to meet Sir Didymus who was acting as his personal assistant, Jareth pondered this turn of events. Sarah seemed surprised, but accepting of his suggestion regarding better housing arrangements, which bode well for what he needed of her. He knew deep down she would be a wonderful Queen, something which didn't officially need to happen anytime soon, so long as she agreed to publicly announce their betrothal by the deadline.
After arranging for Didymus and Hoggle to take over the day-to-day duties of the kingdom for the next day or so that he could spend a week or more Aboveground, Jareth headed to the address Sarah had given him – the Knight and Castle Inn, a bed and breakfast in the White Mountains, which was now teeming with pre-pubescents dressed in various rag tag compilations of armor, dresses and crowns.
Parking the little green convertible Jaguar, his preferred transportation Aboveground, Jareth followed Sarah's directions and made his way to the back of the inn, the leather cloak of his regalia flowing effortlessly with his long stride. The inn itself was fashioned as a small stone castle, complete with parapets and stained glass windows, but it was the acreage in back that made him smile. Although Karen had insisted that goblins were not to be a part of the festivities, Sarah had done her best to help Toby have the birthday he wanted.
The land at the back of the inn was taken up by an elaborate, man-made labyrinth that spanned at least an acre. Running around the stone walls were dozens of children. Boys swinging wooden swords ran by, followed closely by a pack of children wearing elaborate goblin masks. In another area, a group of young girls were twirling about in long dresses and crowns. Watching the children play, Jareth was inundated by visions of his own childhood, playing with his younger sister, only for them it wasn't a fantasy but their reality.
Smiling broadly, he made his way toward Sarah's step-mother, who was attempting to organize what appeared to be a game involved foam swords and a wobbly rope bridge.
"Jeremy! I'm so glad you made it," she beamed, waving at him. "Sarah said you were in town again and were coming along today." Standing back she looked at him, shaking her head in awe, "Your costume is fantastic."
"Hey Jer!" shouted Gina as she and Alyse bounded up to him. "Love the costume. Damn! Sarah said it would blow our minds, but I never thought it would be quite this full on," she enthused, walking a slow circle around him, trailing a tentative hand over the leather of the cape. "Seriously, the leather of the cape alone must've set you back a pretty penny."
Jareth chuckled low, raising an eyebrow in a sardonic smirk as he looked at Sarah's friends. Gina was dressed in what appeared to be Sarah's pale grey dress, the one she used to wear when practicing lines in the park. Alyse on the other-hand, was dressed in pale green tights, a green lace top that fluttered as she moved, and was wearing gauzy green wings on her back.
"Hmm…let me guess. A fairytale princess," he laughed looking at Gina, "And a woodland nymph," he guessed looking at Alyse. "Now where is Sarah for the fantasy trifecta?"
As soon as the question was out of his mouth, he heard an ear-splitting shriek, the kind that only comes from a child who is having a great amount of fun. Toby and several of his friends came racing around the stone outer corner of the labyrinth, screaming, when a dark shape flung itself at Toby, deftly picking him up to dangle him upside down. Jareth's breath caught in his throat at the sight of his Sarah, dressed in something that closely resembled the royal regalia of the Goblin Queen.
"Death to the Goblin Queen," shrieked Toby's friends, turning to attack the dark figure with their foam swords.
"That's Evil Queen, you lot! Get it straight," laughed the figure, gripping the squirming Toby by his calves and tickling his ribs. Looking up to see Jareth, she gave Toby one last dig in the ribs, then dumped him unceremoniously on the ground, watching him bounce up in the way only small boys can.
"That was awesome, Sarah. You make a great Goblin Queen!" he yelled.
"Evil Queen," she shouted after him, her slender hand tucking errant strands of hair back into her elaborate upswept hairdo.
"Goblin Queen," Toby insisted, sticking his tongue out at her, "See…there's the Goblin King!" he yelled, pointing at Jareth.
Cocking an eyebrow in interest, Jareth watched Sarah walk toward them, his teeth bared in a wolfish smirk at the sight of her costume. She was wearing a blood red dress that flowed over her body as if it were fluid, the full skirt swirling around her lithe legs with each step, the low neckline of the dress trimmed with small black jewels that sparkled in the sun. Over the bodice of the dress was a heavy leather corset that accentuated her luscious figure. The outfit was completed by a leather cape that attached to her shoulders, the curved standing collar framing her face. With a hungry smile, he noticed that she had mimicked his own eyes, her eyebrows arching sharply upward toward her hair which was set with shimmering red jeweled hairpins.
Holding a leather gloved hand toward her, he purred seductively when she placed her hand in his, before pulling her close to him, "My Queen. You do indeed look stunning."
Sarah laughed softly, her emerald eyes hooded as she looked Jareth, allowing him to wrap his arms around her.
"Cheeky wench," he growled in her ear, his teeth grazing the sensitive flesh. "Why didn't you tell me about your costume?"
"I wanted it to be a surprise," she whispered, her heart racing at his nearness and the feel of his leather armor against her.
Watching the two of them, Karen grinned widely. "It is so cute that you two chose matching costumes," she gushed.
- If she only knew…. Hi Karen…Dad…this is Jareth, King of the Goblins and my lover. – laughed her libido.
Sarah and Jareth spent the rest of the afternoon in the labyrinth, merrily chasing some of the children, while helping others find the center. After safely delivering a small boy to the play castle at the center of the labyrinth, Sarah was making her way to the entrance once more, when she felt the telltale shift of air behind her, moments before his arms snaked around her, pulling her flush against his leather clad form. His lips were on her, burrowing against her neck, the heat from his body making her shiver in the crisp, early-fall air.
"Tell me, Precious…why an 'evil' queen?" he demanded, his arms tightening almost painfully around her, as if quelling any intention she may have had to squirm away.
Without even turning to see his face, she could vividly sense the intensely sensual look in his eyes, a look that demanded answers and said that if they were not what he wanted to hear he would rip the right answers from her body in other, more pleasurable ways. A look first recognized shortly after her visit to the Underground for her 16th birthday, right about the time his interaction with her turned from friendly and protective, to teasing and vaguely suggestive It was a look she knew quite well by now, yet it still made her stomach flutter and her heart race.
Turning in his arms, she laid her head against the cool leather of his breastplate, breathing deep the sultry scent that was uniquely his, feeling it dance through her veins until it infused her very cells, letting the rest of the world fade from existence around her.
"You had gone, and I didn't think you were ever coming back. Although I couldn't give him goblins or the Goblin King at his party, the least I could do was offer him an evil queen instead," she replied, her voice hoarse with the desire that always threatened her when in his arms. "Besides, who says the heroine doesn't sometimes want…or need…. something…darker."
A wicked chuckle rumbled in his chest as he pulled back to look at her, his lips twisted into a mischevious smirk. Dipping his head near once more, he grazed her jaw with his lips, moving to tease the corners of her mouth as he whispered, his tone almost frightening in its seductive power.
"Then why not be the Goblin Queen, my love?"
Shaking her head, Sarah pressed her face against his chest. In the years he had been in her life, she had never outright ignored a question he had asked her. Even when she had loathed giving him answers, something about his tone always coaxed it from her. Yet this question, so simple really, was one she felt she could not answer – not because she didn't want to, but because to give voice to it would make it real somehow.
She whimpered softly, her whole body trembling as his gloved hand lightly caressed her chin, the strong hand lifting her face toward his. Sarah felt the heat of his lips just before they were upon hers, his taste as exotic as his scent. The sweet power of the kiss making her body surrender him, both body and soul. Limply, she hung on to him as if he were the only solid being left in her universe – and at that moment in time, he truly was. As the kiss deepened, she felt the slow whirl of air around her stilling, as if time were stopping, while at the same time, her blood rushed in her ears, an electric buzzing, drowning out everything else.
Lost in the seductive web of his kisses, her inner-self fought for control.
- My will is as strong….will as strong…so strong…hands…his hands are so strong.
And lost.
Breaking the kiss, her libido managed to wrest some measure of control, albeit through sheer, bloody-minded cheekiness.
"Because to name myself…" she panted, leaning in to nip sharply at his lower lip.
"…Goblin Queen…" she purred, flicking her tongue along the seam of his lips.
"…would be…." She panted softly, her lips hovering a hairs-breath above his.
"…presumptuous," she breathed, before seeking his lips with hers, surprising herself with the force of passion that drove her, as she put every feeling, emotion, hope and fear into the kiss.
Trailing his lips down her neck, kissing and sucking and biting the tender flesh, he purred against her, "It would not be presumptuous, my precious Sarah, since it is what I have always wanted for you."
Sarah's hands knotted themselves in his hair, pulling his lips back to hers. Her kiss turned fierce, demanding, yet he was more than willing to meet her demands, his lips parting at her whim, tongue taunting hers in a tangle of heated flesh. He felt her body press tighter against his, molding itself to him, while at the same time performing an exquisitely, tantalizing dance of desire against him. Groaning against her soft lips, his gloved hand slid up her back, to embed itself in the hair coiled at the nape of her neck. With a feral growl, he wrenched her lips forcefully from his, needing to see her eyes.
His eyes sought hers, darkening with a desire that bubbled dangerously behind the mismatched orbs, her deep emerald pools reflecting the same darkness, a darkness that spoke of hours spent entangled in a sweat-drenched embrace. The dark desires burning within them, underpinned by something else…the one thing he had been working to foster in her since she was 16, something that grew stronger with each passing year, and which was now, a true force to be reckoned with - one that would allow her to be both kind and terrifying as the Goblin Queen. Flickering beneath the heated lust that their impassioned embrace unleashed, was love, for him, for his kingdom and his subjects.
Sarah moaned at the loss of his lips against hers, her body arching against his in response to his look. Her breath caught in her throat as his eyes pierced her, knowing from the depth of his look that there would be no evading whatever his next question or demand would be, he would draw the answer out of her whether she wanted to or not. She shivered anticipating the question.
"Say your right words, Sarah Dearest," Jareth demanded, his voice low and firm, yet caressing her very soul an a way that made her gasp with inner pleasure, as if his very hands were stroking her intimately.
"I don't know what…" she breathed, her senses flaring as if overloaded by the very nearness and meaning of what he was asking of her.
"Quite simply my love, you have a choice. You can be either courtesan or Queen…but you will always be mine and mine alone," he growled against her neck. "You know my preferences on the matter….make your choice, Precious. Let it be done."
Feeling her tremble, he brought his head closer, gently leaning his forehead against hers, his eyes fluttering shut as he pressed against her.
"Say it…," he whispered, the intensity of his voice electrifying her senses, making her mind race. "I need to hear it, Sarah."
She felt as if the grass below them had faded, she was floating, and there was nothing but Jareth and the air around them, still and silent as if it too was awaiting the answer – an answer to a question she thought would never really be asked, but had dreamed off since her return from the Underground on her first adventure.
"I wish…" she whispered, her voice quiet and calm, despite the electric pulses that seemed to be racing from her belly to her brain, threatening to short-circuit her system entirely.
"I wish….to be Goblin Queen," Sarah murmured, surrendering herself completely to his embrace.
With a low moan, Jareth captured her lips with his, the kiss lighter than before, although seemingly more intense, the sudden heat emanating from him at her wish seeming improbable, or at least impossible that she could be so near him and not combust.
"As you wish, Sarah-mine," he breathed against her, the relief he felt making his heart threaten to take flight from his chest.
Sarah shivered as he traced a gloved finger around her neck, leaving a heated tingling sensation in its wake. Gasping, she felt a gentle weight around her neck. She pulled back from him slightly, her hand sliding up to caress the metal that now encircled her neck. Pulling a crystal from the air, Jareth held it before her as a looking glass. Her slender fingers traced the golden torc that now circled her slender neck closely. Flawless in its beauty, the torc glimmered in the fading fall sunset, hanging from its center was a smaller version of Jareth's amulet – the symbol of the Goblin King. Set in the center of the pendant was a blood-red colored stone that glowed faintly against the gold and creamy ivory of her skin.
Thanks for all the comments…they help me find the inspiration to keep going. Please keep them coming! :)
ExperimentalMagic: I for one would NOT object to shaking up with the Goblin King. Sadly tho…my hubby would probably have a few things to say on the matter and none of them would be "Sure Kit…go right ahead and have a fling with your fantasy king." *snerk*
Kaytori: Yup…she is open to it and yup…nothing is easy with her. While he managed to get her to agree easily enough…that is no promise that things will continue that way.
futrCSI1490: Nope…she didn't go as Goblin Queen, but Toby saw right through that (although he doesn't understand it fully).
SamiWami: Yeah… lemon fluff just keeps happening with these two, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.