Author's Note: This finishes off the last chapter in this segment. The sequel should be arriving soon enough, so look out for that. Well, if you're interested.

Author's Note 2: I really do need to thank all my beautiful, wonderful, supportive reviewers who take the time to tell me whether my stuff is total crap or not. Most of you have been kind enough to say that you like it. For that, I'm grateful. Hope this chapter is as good as you might want it to be.

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Kyfrem looked nervously around the room. His Lordship had left specific instructions but he still wasn't quite sure that this should be done. Besides, he disapproved of the whole plan on point. It just wasn't seemly!

Jamelia had agreed. Her opinion tended to be guarded at the best of times, even with her old friend, and simply because a tow-headed little half-goblin had once had the habit of coming gravely into her kitchen for chocolate and a chat. And she still jealously protected the King's interests with a rather formidable aplomb. But she had unbent enough to give her opinion and she agreed- it wasn't seemly.

"Well, nothing more to do," he muttered to himself, "Candles, sheets... everything done."

He left hurriedly after that. The goblin valet had no intention of being caught in that bedroom when the volcano erupted. He had barely exited the room when the King strode towards the door. Kyfrem ran.

Jareth blinked at the sight of Toby's valet taking off in the opposite direction in sheer terror. Not that he cared one way or another, but it was mildly off-putting to be treated like an oncoming monster when he'd kept his hands to himself for quite a few days. Eventually he shrugged and entered his suite.

The front room was a type of sitting room combined with a reading room; generally being a place where the Goblin King, and now his consort, could relax without having to lie in bed. Lately, it was littered with a crib in the corner and a few garishly coloured trinkets to amuse the newest addition to their lives.

And Thank the Gods, Arradine was with her daddy somewhere! The girl had the nasty habit of crying most of the night, thereby making her father very frustrated with the lack of sleep.One of them would, naturally, have to go see to her. The first few times Jareth was always happy to get up. After that, he refused. Toby had been fighting the idea of help. He'd pointed out that his mum had done it without help and she'd had to cook and clean on her own while she was at it. It was only with the fast approaching separation that the mortal would consider allowing a nurse anywhere near his baby.

Jareth sighed and proceeded onwards. He loved his daughter with a vengeance that had surprised even himself, but he still found it disconcerting to have to schedule his time around two other people. It annoyed him greatly not having the freedom to do as he liked when he liked, and he was morbidly afraid that Toby was beginning to understand that.

'Where are you,' he sent mentally, testing their connection to see whether they really could hear the other's thoughts over longer distances.

'Shit! Are you there, already? What time is it?'

'We have to be there soon.'

'Jareth, I told you we needed to talk first.'

'I hate to point this out, but I am at the appointed venue. You are not. You are, in fact, throwing the whole schedule off.'

'Hold on, then. I'm almost there.' There was a brief pause. 'You still there? Sorry, talking to the nurse. This will take another minute, I think.'

Jareth sighed and thought despairingly of this new swamp of maternal feeling for the whole world. Toby had something up his sleeve, of that, the Goblin King was sure. The little fire-blond was worried about him. Jareth saw that. And he wished that there was a way he could put those worries to rest but Toby didn't seem to be satisfied with anything less than a full explanation. Jareth wasn't about to give that. Thinking about his problem, the half-goblin decided to save time by changing his clothing for the formal dinner while he waited.

Too late, Toby seemed to realize what he was doing, and exploded into his mind with- 'Don't go to the bedroom!'

Jareth stared at the bedroom in a loss. 'What the hell?'

'I didn't want you to see that just yet. It's part of what I wanted to talk about.'

'You needed to talk about converting our bedroom into a brothel?'

'It's not a brothel.'

'It looks like a brothel.'

'The fact that you're such an expert on what brothels look like scares me. Look, wait there. I'm just going to hand Arra over and then we can get started.'

'I'm beginning to wonder what kind of conversation you had in mind,' Jareth ruminated.

He could clearly feel Toby's mind give a little skip in nervous anticipation. 'Do you like it?'

'It's... full of candles,' he replied, still in a daze.

'It's meant to be! Okay, come out. We need to have that talk now.'

'Toby, we don't have the time...'

He heard the door to the suite open and he went back out, looking sympathetic and surprised and very regretful. Toby was speaking to the goblin nurse who was to help care for Arradine, handing her over with a bright smile before shutting the door. That done, he leaned against it and stared long and hard at his husband. "We are going to have this talk."

"Toby, we have all the time in the world to talk when this evening is over," Jareth stressed.

"No, we don't. You're leaving soon and I'm getting a little sick and tired of beating around this very large bush."

"There is no bush. If this is about those fantastical theories of yours concerning me, I assure you that you are making too big a deal out of this. There's no secret here. There's nothing to worry about." Jareth could practically hear those worries in his head. "My elf, I am fine. This whole family is fine. Can we just believe that and change for dinner?"

"Have you finished protesting?" Toby asked quietly.

Jareth folded his arms and tried to convey his regret with his eyes and thoughts. It didn't work. Toby simply raised an eyebrow and proceeded to ignore it.

"You know," the mortal said, "I've spent almost a year as your husband; eleven months next week, in fact. And you're leaving me in two days to go fight some stupid war with the fairies. Not that I grudge you, but it's just the way it is."

Jareth didn't like this calm reason- "Toby, there's nothing..."

"Wait! Let me finish. Do you realize that in those eleven months, the first time you gave me a blowjob was when I was seven months pregnant? I haven't even touched you for more than a few seconds at a time. This marriage seems a little unbalanced, don't you think?"

Jareth's jaw dropped. That was why the candles were there, to entice him into a blowjob? Well, that was unexpected! For a brief moment he wondered whether Toby was proposing to pleasure him or asking to be pleasured himself. He shook his head determinedly. "We have to go. They expect us in an hour."

"No, they don't. I told Gringol and your- what was his name- General Gatshill that we'd be late... very late! So we have a little time on our hands."

The Goblin King drew himself up to his full height and stalked menacingly to his smaller lover. Toby didn't cower, but then Jareth didn't expect him to. "Are you telling me," the half-goblin demanded, "That you deliberately did something like this without my permission?"

"Yes," Toby said simply.

"Why?" Jareth demanded, "And you may forget about whatever it was you had in mind; we are attending it in an hour."

Surprisingly enough, whatever Jareth was expecting Toby to do, didn't happen. There was no pout and no instant cry or plea to listen. All Toby did, was let his triumph flow over the both of them and smile. It was a dangerous smile at all events, seemingly guileless and innocent with those devilish blue eyes glittering with amusement.

"We certainly could attend in an hour," Toby agreed, walking to his husband and laying a hand on his arm, "But don't you think it would hurt you to be taken so fast?"

Jareth's reaction was exactly what Toby had expected of him- he pulled away and switched off, staring his cold disavowal. The floods of shock and anger and hope and denial were almost overwhelming, but the mortal didn't seem to be put off by them. He moved closer still.

"I knew you wouldn't talk to me. Fucking seems to be how you communicate. And I did say I would help you,"Toby reminded his lover softly.

"Not like this," Jareth spat, "I never had this in mind. And I do not think I care for the idea."

'You will... when it's happening and you can't stop yourself from wanting more.'

'Don't do this to me, my elf. Please don't ask me for this.' "And what makes you think I would let it progress that far?"

'You need it now, Jareth. Can't you see that?' "I may have no experience, but you're far too attracted to me for your own good. Can't you just see it- the two of us on the bed, passion and chaos combining around us like it always does? But this time you'd be the one calling out, the one asking for more, the one who needs to submit so badly that you're willing to feel pain to find ecstasy."

Jareth was well aware that he was being subtly maneuvered towards the bedchamber. He let himself be forced beyond it, watching with hooded eyes while Toby locked the door behind his back. Both knew that he could apparate to any part of the Kingdom or Aboveground that he wanted. They knew that, were Toby any other male, the Goblin King might have killed his prospective suitor without a second thought. But both also knew that no matter how hard Jareth struggled, he wasn't going to win this eventually.

"Undress and lie down," Toby instructed, preparing to watch his husband strip without lifting a finger to do more than watch.

"I don't take orders from a mortal stripling," Jareth growled, "You would be well advised of that fact. You've never done this before. I have not the least inclination to let you start now." 'Let things go as they always have, my elf. I treat you well; I give you pleasure. Is it so horrible to let me control you?'

Words within words; meanings within remarks. Toby ignored the words and went straight to the emotions. "Every time you first thrust into me, I think there's something sick inside me to like it. But then I remember who it is doing the thrusting and I don't give a shit because everything you do might as well be perfect. And you do control me; I fear you and love you to death, my King. But just because I serve under you doesn't mean I can't call the shots."

The candles flickered as Jareth opened the windows and let the fresh breezes into the room. The candle flames flickered, but didn't go out, casting moving shadows on the wall that added an air of mystery to the ordinarily rich Gothicism of the furnishings. He turned and directed a blank gaze at his lover.

Toby stared right back, shocked to feel distress and sadness come from his lover. It made his resolve weaken. He softened his voice and relaxed enough to rake a hand through his loose hair. "If you truly cannot do this, then I won't force you. But you need this. Hell, I need this! I trusted you enough to give you my body when it had been abused. I think you might do the same for me."

A flinch passed over the sculpted features- a surprising reaction from someone who seemed carved from marble and ice. Without a word, Jareth stripped off the long jacket he was in, dropping it in a nearby chair before starting on his clothes. Ordinarily he would have used magic in such a restricted time, but he was waiting to hear Toby say it was a joke, hoping that the fire-blond would take pity on him and leave him be. But the shirt came off and Toby said nothing.

"Where do you want me?" Jareth enquired softly. He shot a helpless look around the room, seeing ghosts and memories where there shouldn't have been any. Seeing times he'd hoped to forget. He prayed Toby wouldn't ask him to lie on the bed. He'd prefer to be bent over a chair if it came to it; his dignity would heal where his mind might not.

"The bed," Toby commanded.

The bed. Over two hundred years ago he'd learned not to hate that bed for what had happened in it. He had proved to himself that his trauma didn't exist when he'd slept in it as King since the night of his coronation. But he had always known better than to invite trouble like this.

"The bed, Jareth. Now."

He went to it and stared down at the sheets. Toby had obviously gone to the trouble of ensuring that this would be good for him. The sheets were silk, black as ebony against his pale skin as he climbed in. He looked up; blue eyes gazed at him from the edge of the bed. There was nothing more he could really say to stop this.

The boots followed. But he stayed his hands after that. If Toby wanted him completely undressed, the mortal could damned well do it himself! Jareth wasn't going to help him rip his soul to shreds.

Toby followed shortly after. Mismatched eyes were burning at him with a fury that would, at any other time, have terrified him out of his wits. But he understood this anger. "I hate this bed too," he remarked softly, "You brought me here after the first time I was raped. I was in this bed for the first dream He sent me. I suffered pain and heartbreak in this bed, Jareth. But I came back here for you. It's just a bed."

"Just a bed," the half-goblin echoed bitterly, "It has never been just a bed. I cannot be taken here. If you must do this, fine; but somewhere else."

"No; here."

'I can't stand this!' "Please," Jareth growled expressively. He was as close to begging as he had come in years. And why only with this child? What the hell had Toby done to him to make him beg?

Toby shook his head again and reached out a hand. He cupped a warm cheek, feeling the skin soft beneath his palm. "Lie on your back, Jareth. We've wasted enough time."

Gods above, those words! "Lie on your back. We've wasted enough time." He had said those words to him. He had spoken them with a cool affection and a thirteen-year-old had been sent to hell and dragged back through the ashes.

Toby felt a very real twinge of fear as Jareth's eyes went huge in his face, skin turning chalky grey as if he had seen a ghost. "Jareth? What's wrong?"

"I... please. I can't do this."

"Hush, my love. It will be fine." Toby had not been prepared to find himself holding a tall, shuddering slender figure. He had expected some fear; but not this. "Trust me."

"I can't. Not like this."

But Jareth didn't struggle when Toby pushed him flat on his back. Instead he stared up with glazed eyes, seeing someone else where his husband gently soothed him, seeing the world around him in a different way. The soft feel of lips shocked him out of his mental retreat, making him gasp and blink as he pulled away.

Toby held back slightly and let the Goblin King adjust back to reality. The shadows fell over the high cheekbones, making the pretty face seem almost freakishly skeletal. "Okay," he smiled, "Relax. I'm going to make everything all better."

Jareth shook his head hurriedly and composed himself.

"Your only instruction," Toby continued, ignoring the slight daze still clinging to Jareth's eyes, "Is to follow my orders. If I tell you to do something, you do it. Get it?"

The world made no sense so Jareth nodded. His brain was having a hard time fighting back the shock. "I understand," he murmured. His angel was leaning casually over him, a small hand resting over his heart and the other bracing his weight beside his head on the pillow.

Toby smiled, a small smile that made him feel a little less lost, a little more like he would be cared for. "I love you," the mortal whispered, just the instant before his mouth took his husband's in a hard, branding kiss.

Jareth allowed it to happen.

He said nothing when that hot mouth began to explore, holding still on his back until his body wouldn't let him any more. And all through it he was aware of his bond mate's silent reassurances that everything would be all right. There were times when the fear returned. And then there were times when he lost himself so much that he twisted and cried out beneath the exquisite torment. He barely noticed it when Toby urged him to turn onto his stomach.

"Breathe deep," the mortal soothed, "It won't hurt if you let me."

A carefully oiled finger slid in and Toby was a liar; it did hurt. Horribly! But the physical pain receded soon enough leaving Jareth nothing more to cope with than the emotional mess. The finger became three and he couldn't stand the rhythmic pressure on that little slice of heaven inside him. It wasn't meant to be like this! He was not supposed to want this after what had happened!

And then his lover was inside him. He heard the groan leave his lips and unconsciously clenched around the persistent intruder inside him.

Toby strangled a howl at the feel of that. From the way Jareth spoke, he had expected to find that the Goblin King would be unused to presenting his back, but he hadn't expected to take what felt like a virgin. "Jareth, relax," he ground out, stroking the half-goblin's side, "Just breathe and let me handle it."

Jareth felt the discomfort for the both of them and forced his body to stop overreacting. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Not ever. God, do you know how wonderful you feel? Never been in anyone else before. You're my first. And you feel so wonderful."

The words distracted him, drove him away from obsessing over the feel of the hardness inside him. He felt his lover pull out slightly before slowly taking him again. There was still pain and he moved restlessly, trying to provide the right angle.

Toby must have felt that because he moved too. And he picked up pace, feeling Jareth's desire lessen somewhat with slight mismanagement. "Up," he asked, "On your knees."

Jareth obeyed almost absently, saying nothing as the strokes began to come harder. He held still and bit his lip, clenching his fingers in the silky black sheets. A golden hand reached around his waist to stroke him back to the same fevered pitch he'd been at before. He didn't fight it. There was no point. Besides, he'd forgotten how very beautiful this feeling could be- the most intimate of shared embraces. It was one thing to be inside someone; it was quite another to have someone inside him.

'Are you alright?'

Just like Toby to worry. He nodded, pushing back as need absorbed into his blood. "Harder," he asked, "A little... yes! Gods, yes!"

Toby had been waiting for that. He himself had almost reached his climax twice, unable to believe it had come to this. But it was happening. And Jareth was so open about it, so wanton. Blood surged at the sound of that soft cry and if anything it made him want to give his husband everything he'd always dreamed of.

The wind almost stilled and the open window let in the sounds and smells of the Goblin Kingdom and its Labyrinth. And suddenly Jareth threw back his head and let out a low keening wail from the back of his throat, the sweet sound echoing out into the night like the howl of a wolf at full moon.

Toby slammed in so hard at the sight of it that he had one split second to wonder if he wouldn't hurt his bond mate before he clutched at Jareth's hips, crying out as his lover's climax pulled him to his own.

There were no dancing streams of colours or magic, no jerking of time or space. All it had been was a simple act of joining that banished the shadowy ghosts, and when Jareth finally scraped together the energy to turn around and look up, only a pair of grateful blue eyes were there to greet him. He pulled Toby down to him and kissed him, feeling the kind of relief that he hadn't felt in years.

"Thank you," he whispered.

Toby nodded and kissed him again, forcing his King and husband to submit, just one more last, delicious time.

That night, under the watchful eyes of a hundred of the goblin nobles and commanding officers of his army, the King of the Goblins swept cold eyes over his assembled guests and announced that the army would leave for war in two days. He allowed himself a small smirk as he noticed a nearby Lady look puzzled at his chest.

He glanced down the demure front of his consort on his arm and felt the smirk widen. The Medallion of the Ruling Monarchs was far too long and too imposing. But knowing how things stood, it looked good around Toby's neck.