A/N: This is a long chapter (not that you'll complain) and though it's super fun (woohoo) it's also very important to the story on multiple levels. Have fun... teehee...
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Chapter 25
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Sarah woke to the sounds of Toby's incoherent muttering and Jareth's light snoring. Toby sounded like he usually sounded—the mindless ramblings of an Empty. But that was over, wasn't it?
Disoriented, she blinked several times into the oppressive darkness until she remembered they were in the caves, and she'd turned off her flashlight when they'd laid down to rest after drinking their full of water. They'd obviously fallen asleep regardless of the danger, not that she was surprised really. After the adrenalin and subsequent energy drain from Jareth's magic blast, she'd hardly been able to keep her eyes open. She had been able to see how tired Jareth was, though he attempted to hide it. But even in the poor lighting, his usually pale complexion had been nearly translucent.
And then there was Toby…
What had happened? How did he suddenly know her after so long suffering as an Empty? Her heart sped up with fresh hope. Could this be permanent? Sarah listened in the dark to Jareth's breathing and wondered…
Jareth had been touching her the entire time of Toby's capture, but then Toby fell unconscious after his injury. Would he even be able to speak properly once he woke? He was only a few years old when it happened, after all. Where ever his mind had gone, no one had been able to teach him the most basic things.
"Oh, Toby," she whispered to the uncaring blackness. "What's happening?" She fumbled for him in the dark, found his thin arm to her right and curled her fingers around it. He felt too warm, and she worried further. Was that earlier miracle a onetime event? So many questions for her non-existent answers, but she'd found him. Against the odds, she'd found her brother.
"Toby," she said, shoving at him gently as she sat up. He grumbled and swatted at her, but didn't wake up or become violent or ignore her as he usually would have. She smiled in spite of herself at his irritation. That was boring and ordinary and absolutely wonderful.
Now what?
Her stomach decided, growling its displeasure. She couldn't risk a fire, even if she'd had the kindling to start one, but cold rations from her pack would do for now. Sarah released her hold on Toby and found the flashlight where she'd stashed it in her jacket pocket. Using it, she rummaged in her backpack, previously her pillow, for any remaining food. Few items lay hidden at the bottom, enough perhaps to get them home—hungry but alive—if they discovered the way out soon.
"Sarah?"
She faced the owner of the gravelly voice. Jareth shielded his eyes with one hand as he rolled to his side. "Hungry?" she asked, handing him a small bag of jerky.
"Ravenous." He accepted it eagerly and popped several small pieces into his mouth. "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
He nodded towards her brother within their tiny circle of light. "How is he?"
"Better, I think as far as his mind, but he feels too warm."
"Is that bad?"
Sarah rubbed one of her eyes, leaning her head forward. "Maybe, don't you know about infections?"
Jareth shrugged and shook his head. "Mortal physiology never concerned me."
"Fae don't get fevers?"
"Not by infectious causes."
"How convenient, must be nice."
Jareth's smirk was half-hearted around his yawn. "Sarah, dear, don't be jealous."
She glared at him for a moment, then sighed. "Are you as tired as I am?"
He examined his fingernails, refusing to meet her gaze. "Whatever do you mean?"
Kneeling, she scooted closer until her knees touched his thighs. "Don't play games, Jareth. You know exactly what I'm talking about."
His Adam's apple bobbed, and he finally looked up. "The magic I drew from you."
"Yeah."
"I thought you didn't want to know."
"I changed my mind." His brows rose, questioning, sarcastic. "What? Woman's prerogative."
He chuckled and sat up, dusting off his shirt. "If you say so."
Sarah glared at him defiantly. "I do say so." She motioned between them. "What happened between us? To Toby?"
"The mechanics of the process was simple enough, as I stated before, once I tasted your wild magic it was simple for me to draw it forth from merely touching you."
"Okay…"
"Unfortunately, your magic is," his mouth twisted and he see-sawed a hand, "foreign to mine, difficult for me to use and especially…"
"Draining?"
"Energy consuming," he said with quick drop of his eyes.
Sarah waited but he didn't elaborate. "I see, and Toby?"
Jareth leaned to look past Sarah at her sleeping brother. "That…" He curled a gloved finger at his lips, and Sarah inhaled sharply at the spike of heat lancing through her. Jareth paused, his eyes catching hers, and cocked his head as he said in a clipped tone, "I have a theory, but I suspect you won't like it."
"I… I want to know everything."
Warily, he reached out with the hand from his mouth until his fingertips barely caressed her cheek. "Do you?" Trembling, Sarah nodded. Jareth's thumb brushed her lower lip as he shifted his body forward. "Are you certain?"
"Yes," she said with tingling lips against the comforting warmth of his leather. Why was it so hot suddenly? She itched inside her clothes and they felt too tight and confining.
Jareth dropped his gaze to her mouth, his thumb continuing to circle the sensitive skin. "Some things, Sarah, once begun, cannot be undone," he said in a husky growl, leaning closer.
She tilted her head up, refusing to back away as their noses almost touched. "I know that better than anyone, Jareth."
His hand moved from her cheek to the nape of her neck. "Hmm … I dare say you do."
Initially, Sarah thought she might panic when Jareth's hand slid around and held her head firmly in place, but that spike of heat returned and pooled in her gut, sending out hot sparks. Her breathing became shallow, and she waited for something, anything to happen. Why wasn't he moving? Wasn't he supposed to? This intimacy was strangling her with anticipation, so Sarah adjusted her body weight forward slightly. The tip of their noses brushed, making her skin prickle and her mouth dry.
"Jareth…" she whispered, uncertain and straining for something indefinable that danced just beyond her range. His breath winged across her lips, teasing. Was he torturing her now? Her entire body quivered, kneeling forward. She'd never willingly moved this close to a man before, and Sarah didn't know how to…
"Please … help me understand," she said as she laid a hand on his upper arm, hesitant and shaking. He felt slim and wiry, but she knew it concealed a great deal of strength. Something about touching him spurred her new found heat onwards, made it real; she clenched his shirt in her fist, tugging him.
"Gods, Sarah." He finished the last centimeters for her, pressing his dry lips to hers as he angled his head farther, his hand clasping the back of her neck tauter. She moaned and shuddered as he pulled her to him bodily and he fell back to the ground. Sarah sprawled atop Jareth as his arms encaged her, hand buried in her hair and the other bunching her jacket at the small of her back. When Jareth's tongue quested at the seam of her lips, Sarah opened for him and groaned at the clenching low in her abdomen. His deep moan vibrated through her tongue and down her chest, pressed firmly to his.
Lightheaded and growing too hot, Sarah realized this is what lust must felt like. What the girls spoke of in whispers and giggles and the boys told raunchy jokes about. This is what she'd been feeling for Jareth, perhaps as far back as her Labyrinth adventure. How could she have mistaken it for anything else? This blinding heat, this searing pleasure…
She'd always thought the odd flip in her stomach in Jareth's presence was due to annoyance; then later, after the Shift, things were so muddled and wrong, she could never figure out what was supposed to feel like what. And the thought of any boy or man near her gave her panic attacks or violent attacks on them. Maybe she'd always been attracted to him and never understood it because she'd been too young. Maybe so many things could've been different…
"Stop thinking so hard," Jareth said in her ear just before he drew the lobe into his mouth, sending another sharp stab of pleasure to her gut.
"I can't help it. I think … maybe … I've been wrong about a lot of things."
Jareth grunted neutrally. "Haven't we all. Perhaps I can help." He flipped them over, using one arm to support his weight and cradle her head.
She tensed. "W-what you doing?"
"Relaxing you, Sarah."
Her hands flattened on his chest as she pushed. "I don't think this is a good idea…"
"Sarah," he said calmly, stilling her movements. "Do you trust me?"
"Ah…" She grimaced. He waited. "Yes?"
"Mmm, not very encouraging, though it will have to do." Jareth flattened his body flush to Sarah's, molding his lips to hers as she tensed harder. "Please," he said between one-sided kisses and her whimpers. "You can trust me, Sarah. I will not harm you." Jareth pulled back until they were eye to eye.
"We're seriously off topic here. What does this have to do with Toby?"
"Everything, my love."
"You said you had a theory."
"I do."
"Then explain."
"I am, though this is more of a … demonstration."
"You'd better not be lying."
Jareth leaned back in, kissing her neck and clavicle. "Trust me."
Nodding jerkily, she said in a harsh whisper, "Okay."
"In that case we should remove ourselves a bit from Tobias." He sat back on his hunches to her side and held out a hand to assist her.
After a moment, Sarah accepted his help as she grabbed the flashlight. "Alright, but not too far, in case he wakes."
Jareth chuckled and said in her ear, "My dear, that's exactly why we're moving."
Sarah shivered, but didn't withdraw her hand from his as he led her several feet distant before they resumed their same positions. Sarah remained tense and anxious lying on the ground with him hovering over and to her side in the dim light of the small flashlight.
"Are you sure about this?" she asked.
"Sarah, I've never be more certain of anything in my life. We need to do this, and I promise you'll understand why."
She inhaled, then exhaled as Jareth shed his gloves and immediately commenced to kiss any exposed skin of her neck and gradually freed more by slipping her jacket open while his body lay partially across her. He never truly trapped her, but she could feel his masculine weight pressing and moving over and into her legs and torso.
At first, Sarah laid still and allowed Jareth to do what he wanted to prove … whatever it was relating to Toby's cure. She breathed slowly and kept her mind blank of anything but Jareth and the sensations he created, never allowing stray memories of that day to seep in. But the initial lust had cooled, and she doubted it would return until she felt Jareth's fingers touch a particularly sensitive area.
"Uhh…" She arched her back and gasped.
"Did you like that?" he asked, head buried in her neck.
"Uh-huh."
"Would you like me to do it again?" he asked in a drawl.
"Y-yes."
"Mmm, my beautiful Sarah, you're coming back to yourself." Jareth rubbed his fingers over her breast again, making sure to add pressure to the stiff peak announcing itself through Sarah's bra and t-shirt. She moaned and arched closer to his hand, so he flicked it. She jumped and finally brought her arms up from where she'd kept them flat on the ground and gripped his shoulders.
"Would you like more?" he asked.
"Yes!"
Jareth kissed her, hard, as he moved his hand to the bottom of her shirt and edged his way beneath it. His bare skin on hers crept upward, drawing the shirt with it, until he found his goal. When Sarah felt his fingers pull down her bra and caress her sensitive flesh, she nearly cried out, then his mouth followed, tugging and sucking, and she did.
Instantly, she shoved a hand in her mouth and bit down to stifle her cries. Toby still lay unconscious nearby. A flash of guilt hit her. Should they… "J-ja-reth." She ran her fingers in his hair as he looked up from her chest with an evil glint in his eyes, easy to discern even in the low light.
"Yes?"
"Toby, what if we wake him?"
"Then we'll be quiet like eye-moss."
"Like wh-oh nevermind…" She let her head fall back as he continued to create jolts of lust and heat from her breasts to her groin. She kept her fingers threaded in his hair, massaging and wrenching. Soon her mind fogged, and her magic hummed as she forgot everything prior to this point. No Vultures had followed them; no danger seemed close. It felt good to finally let her guard down. Ironic that it would be with Jareth.
"That's it, Sarah. Free yourself."
Jareth's moans eventually echoed hers, and a gradually thrusting of his hips into hers joined his hands and mouth. Sarah knew this should upset her (it would've in the past) but this was Jareth and the motion, with the obvious hardness pressed into her thigh, stirred her lust deeper. Her magic swirled inside like a whirlpool, faster and faster. Perhaps she did trust him after all.
"Oh God, Jareth…" She pulled him up for a real kiss, which he bestowed fervently.
"Sarah … Sarah…"
"It feels so good."
"It's supposed too," he murmured against her lips. "I can make it feel even better."
"Yeah?"
"I want to make you feel wonderful." He slid a hand down to her waistband and fiddled with the button. "May I?" Tongue thick, Sarah was torn between agreeing and stopping him. What would he do? "I promise I won't hurt you," he said.
"Alright," she squeaked.
Jareth kissed her again, distracting her as he worked her button lose and unzipped her jeans. She gasped into his mouth when his fingers skimmed inside her panties and trailed over her mound. Gently, he teased where she clenched her thighs.
"Sarah," he drawled, kissing her cheek and neck. "Relax…"
"I'm … scared." Her nails dug into his shoulders through his shirt.
"I know, love." He curled his fingers, sweeping lightly over her delicate skin. "Please let me in."
Taking a deep breath, Sarah loosened her muscles and relaxed enough to permit Jareth to lower his fingers between her legs. Her expectation of pain never materialized; instead Jareth stroked her until his fingers dipped into a well of moisture she didn't realize existed. Involuntarily, she moaned and clutched at him, her hips bucking when his fingers grazed a highly sensitized nub of flesh.
"What is ... Jareth?"
"Shh…" he breathed between kisses. "I can feel your magic strengthening. Let it happen, Sarah."
Her power built quickly along with the pulses of pleasure as his fingers circled faster and his hips thrust harder. Panting, Sarah closed her eyes and gave herself to the warm waves drowning her. Jareth's breathing huffed in her ear, and she felt his connection to her power increase as his control wavered. Like a cord stretched taut between them, the magic thrummed with unrealized potential, and she caught glimpses of his emotions—lust, worry, fear, anger, compassion and…
"Great Danu," he moaned, gliding one long finger inside of her, shocking her eyes open. She turned her head to face him, and their eyes held, inches apart. She saw a question in his mismatched gaze; he'd stilled his hand, waiting.
She kissed him, hard and hugged him. "Don't stop … please…"
He smiled, brightening his face and restarted the motion of his hand, thumb now caressing and finger thrusting, harder and faster until Sarah felt waves tripping over each to create a bubble ready to burst. Digging her nails into his biceps, she arched her back and rocked her hips with his rhythm, striving for something she'd heard rumors and gossips about, but never known.
"Yes, love, let go for me!"
"Jareth!"
A burst of color erupted behind her closed eyelids as she squeezed them tight when the bubble exploded. Warmth flooded her body the same time every muscle spasmed, released, spasmed, then released her into limpness. Her skin glowed white as her magic flared, engulfing Jareth and even Toby for a few seconds before settling down and fading out.
They both lie calm and motionless, tangled together in the dark illuminated only by Sarah's flashlight and punctuated by Toby's even breathing several feet away, his muttering having suddenly ceased. Jareth drew both hands around her and rolled them over so Sarah lay partially on him, her head pillowed on his chest.
"Was that … did I … I mean…"
Petting her hair as they caught their breaths, Jareth said, "Yes, love, you did."
"Oh. Wow. I've never…"
"I thought as much."
Sarah rested her chin on his chest, cushioned by her hand and gazed at him. "Thank you. God that sounds lame."
Reaching out, he cupped her cheek. "Not at all. You're welcome."
"But what about … you know … you?"
Jareth chuckled as if at complete ease and folded one arm under his head. "Time enough for that later."
"Oh, okay." She laid her head back down on his chest. "You never answered my question, by the way."
Jareth tightened an arm around her waist. "Oh but I did, love. That afterglow of yours wasn't just because of your orgasm." He laughed. "Well it was, but not only because of it."
She looked at him again, brow furrowing. "You mean, my power and your ability to wield magic equals a sort of ... fix?" She gulped.
Jareth smirked. "After a fashion. I suspect Tobias has gained an early benefit from his proximity to us and perhaps his relation to you. It's so obvious now, isn't it? Me—Keeper of the Bridge and sorcerer. You—The Nexus and your world's only source of magic. It's the oldest spell in the book, Sarah love. Sex magic."
"Oh God," she whimpered, tucking further into Jareth's side as he laughed again and held her tighter.
But somehow it didn't surprise her. Her entire life, since meeting Jareth, seemed to be drawing her back to him. Recalling the last years, it felt inevitable that this could end any differently. She would have to have sex with Jareth to save the world. If he would've told her this a few weeks ago, she would've punched first and cussed later. But now…
Her lips, hidden from his view, twitched upwards at the corners.
Now the prospect didn't seem so awful anymore.
Damn Sexy Goblin Kings.
