Hi again. Here is a little more... with a yummy Jareth in it, hope you enjoy ;-) This chapter reaches the M-rating, I think... :-D
The same night, just before midnight, Sarah stood in the dimly lit throne room, nervously rubbing the Pendant around her neck and wordlessly practising the lines she would have to say to complete the ritual. The heavy metal still felt foreign to her and she would be very happy to get rid of it and see it back on Jareth. Around the edges of the room stood a crowd of adult goblins, for once quiet and serious. They were shuffling their feet and whispering to each other now and then, but no one yet touched the small wooden drums in front of them, and when one of them came too close to his, the other goblins hissed at him and drew him back. Sarah had thought it would be a small miracle if they managed to keep quiet long enough, but they were really trying hard.
At the agreed hour, everyone hushed completely, as Jareth swept down the stairs and into the room in full Goblin King costume, his dark petrol sparkling cape flowing behind him. In stark contrast to the black outfit, the moonlight made his uncontrollable hair shine bluish-white, his skin almost translucent, and when he smiled at her, his teeth glittered equally white. She smiled back and took a deep breath, preparing herself.
What they were about to do would not at all be the same ritual that Jareth had gone through when he became King the first time. To his own amazement, he had succeeded in giving her the power with just a small part of the ritual, so after very little discussion that afternoon, they had decided to try an equally limited one tonight. The real ritual would have involved cutting open their palms and mixing blood, hours of chanting and at least one goblin sacrifice done by the old King, and Sarah had felt almost physically sick after seeing the pictures Jareth had drawn in his book to document it.
"How could he do that," she had whispered horrified. "That poor little goblin!"
"It was just the first sign that something was seriously wrong with Cederick," Jareth had answered darkly. "Thinking back, I believe he might even have invented some of the ritual himself, just for his own sick amusement."
The mixing of bodily fluids was a necessary part of the transfer, but Jareth's theory was that that had already happened when they first kissed on the balcony the day after she had escaped Cederick's abduction. Their hands had been bare, their kiss deep and passionate and the magic had swirled around them in abundance, so Sarah was well inclined to believe him. But it hadn't lessened his magic at that point in time, just increased hers slightly and possibly prepared her to accept the Pendant later on.
Jareth walked through the moonlit room towards her and took her hands in his. They felt warm and strong and he looked her deep in the eyes.
"Are you ready?" His voice was soft and earnest, and she nodded.
"As ready as I'll ever be."
He bent down and gave her a brief reassuring kiss, and then she gestured to the goblin crowd. They immediately scrambled forward and took a drum each, and as she gave them another sign and started stamping her feet on the floor in a slow steady rhythm, they followed her and the drums filled the room with an eerie low-pitched pulse.
When she was certain they could keep it up on their own, she nodded approvingly at them, and then turned to Jareth and raised her hands towards him, palms up. With a deeply serious expression, he swept his cape off and placed it on the ground. The jacket followed, then the vest and finally his black shirt, until he stood before her wearing only his breeches and boots. She let her eyes glide approvingly over his well-toned muscular chest and shoulders, pale and smooth as marble in the moonlight, and the drums around them increased a bit in speed matching her heartbeat and clearly showing the link between her and the Labyrinth's creatures. She willed herself to remain calm and composed and placed her hands on his shoulders, pressing down lightly, and he obeyed instantly and kneeled on the ground in front of her, head bowed.
"Jareth," she began her rehearsed speech in a clear formal tone. "I am the Goblin Queen. The power that was once yours is now mine, and mine to freely give. Do you wish the power restored?"
"I wish the power restored," he echoed firmly.
"By what grounds should I give it to you?"
"I swear to use the power to protect the Labyrinth and all its creatures. I swear not to use it solely for my own benefit, but also for that of others." Jareth had not shared with her before what he was going to say, but she was sure that the wording was quite different from the vow Cederick had made him take hundreds of years ago. "I swear to ward off evil and protect the innocent, here and above, for as long as I am King."
She clutched the Pendant steadfastly in one hand and slowly drew its cord over her head with the other hand, continuing the movement, so the Pendant was passed on to him. In the exact moment that the cord was free of her, all the goblins froze and the room became eerily silent, as if the entire Labyrinth held its breath… waiting… wanting. She could only hear her own heartbeat still - and Jareth's. As soon as the cord was over his head, she clutched the Pendant with both hands and Jareth reached up and placed his palms around them, enclosing them protectively.
"Power of Labyrinth, freely given," she started, well aware that this was the critical part. The pendant immediately responded and became warm and tingling beneath her fingers. "Pendant of Kingdom in thy hands…"
Sparks started flying from the pendant, and though Sarah kept the serious face, she was jubilant inside. It worked – it really worked! Her voice became clearer and stronger.
"From old to new, supremacy - of goblins, creatures and lands!"
The pendant flashed brightly as it had done before, and immediately, the goblins in the room came to life again and started murmuring and smiling. Jareth rose slowly and flexed his arms and neck, and then he tossed his head abruptly and was – to Sarah's regret – again fully dressed in the Goblin King outfit.
"Your Majesty!" a goblin cried happily and other goblins followed and came running across the room to hug his legs. "Majesty is Majesty again!"
Jareth grinned as he made a crystal ball and sent it to the ceiling, instantly lighting the candles in the wooden chandeliers and flooding the room in golden light, and then he sent another at the goblins, transforming their drums into all kind of funny musical instruments.
"I am indeed!" he shouted at them, and they cheered wildly and started playing a happy fast-paced melody, dancing and clapping in joy. Jareth turned to Sarah. "And you, my dear. Dance with me!"
He grabbed her hands and drew her close, kissing her passionately, as he started moving to the rhythm, and then he was spinning her around in a wild dance. Sarah laughed in relief and joy and let him lead her, now and then tripping over her feet when he tried to make a really complex dance step, but it didn't matter – she was just happy it was all over.
"Is it true?" she asked breathlessly. "Do you have all your powers back?"
"Well, let's test it, shall we?" he smirked and suddenly all the goblins and noise and music were gone, and they were standing in his bedroom in the exact same spot that Sarah had transported them to earlier that day. "It certainly looks that way, doesn't it?"
She stepped even closer to him and slipped her arms around his neck, pressing her body against his and drawing his head down to kiss him wildly, and he groaned and kissed her back, almost desperately. His hands explored her body, following her curves downwards and slowly caressing her hips and thighs and her skin tingled and burned where he touched. She buried her hands in his hair, enjoying the silky feel of it and the way her touch made his heartbeat faster.
Suddenly he lifted her up and deposited her on the bed, and then stretched out on top of her after swiftly removing his vest and jacket, pinning her down and still moving his hands over her body.
"I know I said the bed would be torture until we were married," he whispered hoarsely in her ear, "but I'm in the mood for a bit of torture. How about you?"
Sarah nodded breathlessly, not quite sure what he had in mind, but she found out quickly enough, as he started opening the buttons on the back of her dress and in moments were able to pull it down over her shoulders together with her white shirt. He let his lips grace hers in feather-light kisses, while his hands inched the dress lower and lower, stroking her bare skin and sending shivers through her, and when he finally cupped her exposed breasts and let his fingers gently pinch her nipples, she gasped and buckled under him in surprise at the jolt of pleasure shooting through her. She tried to sneak her hands under his shirt as well, but he pushed them away and gave her a mock reproachful stare and a little shake of his head.
"No, my dear," he murmured and moved first one and then the other of her hands up above her head and gave them a little push as if to make them stay there. "I don't think I explained myself well enough. It is plenty of torture for me, just to be allowed to touch you and see you without the possibility to do more. You are so beautiful."
Sarah smiled faintly. "That's not fair," she joked, but as he bent his head again and kissed her passionately, pushing her dress further down, she closed her eyes and stretched her body under him, willingly keeping her hands above her head to play her part in his little game. It felt exciting, but at the same time safe – she trusted him completely.
"What will make you feel married to me, Sarah?" he suddenly whispered while tracing the outline of her jaw with his lips in the most distracting manner, while his hands caressed the exposed skin on her hips.
"Uhhmmm… what?" she said and then gasped, as he hit a sensitive spot on her neck and took advantage of it, licking her skin and biting it gently.
"I cannot get us a vicar or a magistrate," he confessed, "so we can't truly be married according to the laws in the Above. But I want to make a vow and show the entire Underground that you are mine forever. What would we put in that ritual to make sure you felt married to me?"
His fingers kneaded her buttocks in a slow insistent way making her warm and breathless and she had a hard time concentrating on his question. His body pressing against hers was hard and firm, and against her thigh she felt the physical proof of his desire. She tried to gather her thoughts and think of dresses and cakes and flowers, but nothing seemed interesting compared to the feelings he invoked in her and the burning ache inside her that threatened to consume her. When he let one hand follow her hips and glide between them, carefully touching everywhere but the place she needed him to touch the most, she writhered against him and crooned in agony.
"Jareth, please!" She tried to look him in the eyes and when she managed to catch his gaze, the heated look in his mismatched eyes almost undid her. "Please…"
"I will give you anything you like," he continued in a voice that was almost casual, but Sarah thought she heard the strain in it that confirmed he was just as tortured as she. "We can say vows, you can have a big fluffy dress, I can get us rings…"
His mouth moved down her neck and found a nipple to suckle on, while the hand continued to tease her, and she whimpered at the jolts of fire shooting through her, that were amazing, but still not satisfying her.
"Jareth, shut up about the wedding!" she hissed at last and he laughed softly against her skin and finally obliged her, sending her over the edge in moments, while she clung to him desperately and cried out his name.
When she opened her eyes again and was almost able to breathe normally, he was still watching her with a strained but affectionate smile on his face. Slightly embarrassed at being nude, while he still had clothes on, she concentrated and was immediately fully dressed again underneath him, and he sighed and rolled to his back staring at the ceiling instead.
"I can't shut up about the wedding," he said in a whisper. "I cannot rest until you are mine, forever."
"I am yours, Jareth. " Sarah lifted a hand and stroked his cheek. "But ok, let's talk about it. What did you have in mind?"