There were those who insisted upon listening to Christmas music come the first of December. And then there was Sarah. She preferred not getting into the mood too early, or it would just ruin the whole holiday experience. Her roommate Beverly however, begged to differ. For almost two years now they had shared a dorm on campus. Bev, as all her friends called her, was one year older than Sarah, but not necessarily wiser. Still, they got along well. Just not this morning.

"Come on, Sarah, what's so bad about it? Don't you think it's a bit cozy to listen to Christmas songs while baking?" It was nearly 10:30 on a Saturday morning in the beginning of December and the two young women were in the kitchen fighting over who would get to control the radio.

"We've been listening to nothing but Christmas songs for three days straight now!" Sarah countered and switched station. "Besides, you're not even going to stay here anyway." The blonde finally gave in with a huff and a roll of her eyes.

"All right, have it your way. I just thought it would get you in the mood."

"Bev, I have nineteen days left to get in the mood for Christmas." She paused, then asked, "Are you sure you don't want to stay and help me?"

"It sounds like fun," Beverly admitted, "but we both know I'm a terrible cook. I would only ruin it all. I'm much better at spending money." She winked at Sarah who laughed in response. Beverly was going to the mall with some friends and Sarah was certain her roommate would return with a handful of shopping bags. "Are you sure you don't wanna come with us?"

"Yeah," Sarah said. "I have other things to do. After I'm done baking, I'm going to do some reading." Beverly shrugged.

"All right. Maybe some other time, then." She put on her coat and grabbed her purse. "See you later."

"See you later." Sarah heard the door shutting closed and then looked out the window to see Beverly join up with the others. There was a light sheet of snow on the ground and tiny flakes were coming down from the sky above. She did not regret sitting this one out. For once, it was nice to have the dorm all to herself.

She decided that she would make chocolate cupcakes and started to prepare the batter. It didn't take long for her to find what she needed. The kitchen was so small that there was just enough room for two people to move around at the same time and, due to its size, there weren't a lot of cupboards and drawers. Basically all of the kitchen-ware could be found in one and the same place. After turning on the oven, she grabbed a bowl, a couple of measuring cups and began mixing the ingredients with the help of a whisk. An electric mixer was unfortunately not part of the small range of cooking utensils. By the time the batter was smooth, her arm felt like jelly, but it would all be worth it.

Once the cupcakes were in the oven, she set the timer and began cleaning up. When that was done, she took the bowl which she'd mixed the batter in and grabbed a spoon. She always saved a little bit to eat after all the work was done. Filling the spoon, she brought it to her mouth and swallowed the sweet cocoa-flavored mixture. To her dismay, there was practically no music coming out of the radio anymore. Only white noise. She turned it off and had a look outside. The snow was falling harder than before and Sarah was glad she was safe and sound indoors. The same could not be said for the white owl outside the kitchen window, which she barely noticed thanks to the camouflage of the current weather. At first, she thought it was an illusion, but no. The owl was there and it began pecking at the window pane, very much wanting to get inside. Knowing who the owl really was, Sarah stood there contemplating what she should do. Why had he come here? What did he want? He pecked harder and she made up her mind. Putting the bowl back on the counter behind her, she opened the window and let the poor thing in. As soon as the owl had hopped down on the kitchen table, she hastily closed the window. When she looked back, the owl was gone. In its stead was a man with a wild mane of long, blond thistledown hair and the face of an angel fallen from heaven.

"Thank you for letting me in," the Goblin King said, adjusting his black leather gloves. His black silk shirt was open to the waist, exposing his chest where a silver pendant rested. He looked just as she'd expected. Just as she'd remembered. Regal. Powerful. Beautiful. She kept that thought to herself. "It was about time. For one moment there, I thought you were about to let me freeze to death." She smiled and shook her head.

"Even I'm not that cruel." He didn't respond, but simply stared at her with a smirk on his perfect face. It made her slightly uncomfortable. "What?" she asked. He chuckled.

"I think you might want to take a look in the mirror." Hearing him say it was enough to make her understand. She didn't need a mirror to confirm it.

"I have batter on my face, don't I?"

"Yes. On your chin." She made a move to rub it off with her hand, but he stopped her before she could. "No, wait. Allow me." He took a step forward and she instinctively backed away, but realized that there was a counter behind her. There was no way she could escape as he swiftly closed the short distance between them. Despite feeling uneasy in his presence, she forced herself to look him in the eye. It was the only way she could get rid of her disadvantage and hopefully it would help convince him that she wasn't afraid. There was no way she would allow herself to be weak in front of him. During their last encounter, he was the one who had been at a disadvantage. She had won over him. He had no power over her. Then why was she feeling weak at the knees? She thought back on the last time he had been this close to her. She had been so young then. Only fifteen. She often found herself wondering if what happened in the ballroom had really been nothing more than a dream. She hadn't understood her feelings back then. But as she'd grown older, she had begun to understand them perfectly.

She felt a gloved hand underneath her chin, lifting it up higher. She wanted to say something, but was unable to produce any other sound than a short gasp as he tilted his head to the side, leaned down and kissed her chin. His tongue, warm and wet, moved around on the spot to lick up every last trace of the chocolate substance. Sarah's chest heaved up and down as her heart began to race. She had not expected him to do that. When he drew back, he purred contentedly.

"Mm. Delicious." His voice was laced with dark promises. She had really missed the sound of his voice. Had missed hearing him say her name. Snap out of it, Sarah! her inner voice scolded. Show him who's in charge. Clearing her throat, she tried to play it cool. Unfortunately, her voice didn't come out as strong or confident as she had intended.

"You know, you could just take a spoon and eat right out of the bowl," she suggested, avoiding his gaze. What happened to showing him who's in charge? Sarah ignored her inner voice. If she looked into his eyes, she feared she would go lost in them.

"No," he said, "I think I like this method much better." Feeling him leaning in even closer, she forced herself to look up. Oh God, he's going to kiss me. The thought played on repeat in her head. Suddenly he stopped, his lips agonizingly close to hers. She held her breath, staring at his peach colored lips where a smirk was slowly taking form. He knew he had the upper hand. It would have been so easy for him to close that distance, but he didn't. Instead, he simply reached behind her to grab the bowl she'd been eating from. As he took a step back, she could finally breathe again. She suspiciously eyed the bowl in his hand.

"Wait, what are you doing?" she asked slowly. He picked up the spoon and filled it with batter, a mischievous glint in his mismatched eyes. "No," she shook her head back and forth, realizing what he was about to do. "Put that down!" she told him firmly, but he wasn't listening. "Jareth, I'm warning you!" The next thing she knew, he had smeared batter on the tip of her nose. She glared at him. "Really? Of all the places, that's where you put it?"

"Yes," he said, completely unrepentant. "Now hold still so I can lick it off." She blushed at his innuendo, earning yet another smirk from him. Sarah held her breath again as she let him kiss her nose, his teeth lightly scraping along the ridge. When he withdrew, she let out a shaky breath. He licked his lips. "Or perhaps you'd like me to eat you up?" he suggested shamelessly. At this, she woke up from her daze, suddenly angry.

"That's it! Not another word!" she warned him.

"I agree," he said and prepared another spoonful. "Less talking, more tasting." She relaxed, if only a little.

"I'm so glad you came to your senses." He put the bowl down on the table behind him and she eyed the rounded piece of flatware which he held out directly in front of her mouth.

"Open up," he said and the whole image reminded Sarah of all the times her father had tried to make her eat her medicine as a child.

"I think I've had enough, thank you." He simply shrugged, as if he couldn't care less whether she ate or not.

"Well, if you're not going to eat it, then I will." But instead of raising the spoon to his mouth, he used his free hand to move her hair out of the way and before she had time to react, the right side of her neck was covered in a thick streak of chocolate batter. Jareth smiled and finally let go of the spoon he'd used as a paintbrush and took a step back to admire his masterpiece. Sarah, on the other hand, did not look as pleased. Quite the contrary, in fact.

"You did not just do that." She said it through gritted teeth, her voice dangerously low. It should have been a hint for him to take off and run. But that would be very unlike the Goblin King, now wouldn't it?

"Oh yes, I did." While she stood there silently fuming, he snaked his arms around her waist. His leg pressed in between her thighs and she felt a very intimate part of his person. Why did he have to wear those tight pants? His right hand stayed at the small of her back while the other wrapped itself into her hair. Gently, he tilted her head backwards and moved his face to her neck.

"Jareth…" she breathed, attempting to stop him, but it was futile. There was no way she could fool herself. She didn't want him to stop. As he began licking his way up her neck, she threw her head back even further to give him better access, at the same time arching her back. Without warning, he sank his teeth into her flesh, eliciting another gasp from her. She just hoped he wouldn't give her a hickey, or she would have to explain it to Bev.

When he was done with her neck, he moved his lips up to her jawline, planting sweet kisses as he went and then, finally, their lips met. Sarah wrapped her arms around his neck and in turn, he held her closer. Then his tongue slipped into her mouth. It tasted like dark chocolate and peaches. Bitter and sweet. What else could you expect of the Goblin King?

When they broke apart for a breather, he grabbed hold of her waist and hoisted her up onto the counter. Their lips rejoined and his hands were slowly running up her thighs when suddenly a sharp ringing sound caused both of them to jump and Sarah toppled down from the counter. Jareth groaned loudly as his back fell hard against the floor and with Sarah on top of him. "Sorry!" she said, worried that he'd hurt himself bad. He rubbed the back of his head. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he assured, although it was hard to speak or breathe with the whole weight of her body on top of him. He began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" she asked, raising a brow.

"I think we got a little carried away." Sarah realized what he meant and chuckled softly. She could imagine the look on Bev's face if she were to walk in on them right now. Carefully, she got off of him and helped him up to his feet.

"Do you want to have some cupcakes?"

"I'd love to."

Author's note: So I was baking the other day and this little idea popped into my head. I think this is the first time I've ever written a fic with this much "adult-type touching" if you can call it that. I'm really not sure. Perhaps it's too mild to be considered adult-type touching? I was really uncertain about the rating too, but I chose to stay on the safe side. However, if anyone feels that I could change the rating, then please let me know! (Edit: one reviewer just asked me if it's dangerous to eat raw cake batter and honestly, I don't know. All I can say is that I've had it many times and I've never been sick. So there you go. XD)

You might also be interested to know that I am currently working on a longer Labyrinth-fic which I'm hoping to publish very soon. Hopefully sometime in June when I've finished my semester before summer. The story is coming along really great and I can't wait to share it with you! :)