“I swear, if I get jabbed by another pin, I’m going to lose it and stab the dressmaker to death with her own scissors,” Keliana complained as she walked into Jareth’s study and motioned for him to move his arms so she could drop into his lap. He shoved the chair back, accepting her weight with a pleased sound as his strong arms encircled her.

The last month had sped by in a flurry of wedding preparations and plans. Dress fittings and menus, doctor’s appointments to remove the contraceptive implant in her thigh. It seemed that marrying a prince of one of the noble houses was very different to marrying a Colonel in the prince’s guard. She cast an absent look at the paperwork on Jareth’s desk.

“You work too hard,” she complained, leaning against his chest and running her lips along the side of his neck. The scent of the cleansing gel he’d used this morning in the shower and his aftershave whirled around her, under it all the unique scent that was pure man, pure Jareth. A heady combination. She bit back her moan of need as she nibbled along his jaw, lips abraded by the rasp of his stubble. She loved his jaw, the strong line and the small cleft at the front. A cleft she dipped her tongue into as she worked her way around to the front and up to find his lips.

“Blame Seth. He’s a slave driver.”

He rumbled a deep sound of approval in the back of his throat at her actions as his arms tightened around her. Taking that as permission to continue, she wriggled happily and turned all her attention to his lips. Nibbling along the full lower edge, she teased him with little kisses until he growled and chased her lips. With a giggle, she shook her head, and carried on teasing him, reveling in the fact that she could.

“Minx.” He ran out of patience and bent her backward over his arm so she couldn’t escape. His strength thrilled her as he held her effortlessly. His free hand slid into her hair and captured her at the nape of her neck, holding her head still as his lips claimed hers. Firm and sure, they stroked along hers in a toe-tingling caress. Back and forth, teasing and tempting until she was the one chasing his lips instead of the other way around.

Small pants escaped her as she cleaved herself to him, pressing her curves against his solid, muscled body as she tried to tempt him into kissing her properly. Deeply. His tongue driving into her mouth to tangle with hers until she didn’t know which way was up.

As a courtesan she’d learned many sensual arts over the years, things to drive a man out of his mind with need and wanting, but her favorite thing had always been kissing. It was so close, so intimate, and Jareth was good at it, turning a mere touch of lips into an art form that had her quivering with need within minutes.

“You love it,” she managed between kisses, fingertips playing with the fastening on his uniform jacket suggestively. She knew he was working, the classified files spread over his desk and the absorbed look on his face when she’d snuck into the room were evidence enough of that, but she didn’t care. She had no morals when it came getting him naked so she could have her wicked way with him.

“Hell, yeah.”

He shifted in the seat and the thick length of his cock pressed against her thigh. Triumph surged through her as he upped the ante, nipping her lip so she gasped and thrusting his tongue into her mouth to dally with hers. She moaned helplessly as he teased and tormented her with shallow thrusts, then took command with deep strokes that had her eyes rolling into the back of her head and her pussy quivering with need.

This was how it always was with him. He only had to touch her and all sense went out the window. One touch of his lips, one stroke of that clever tongue and her ability to think clearly or breathe properly vanished. And she loved it.

Wriggling her ass in his lap, she tugged on the jacket zip until it gave. The heavy fabric parted to reveal the strong column of his throat, the long strands of his hair spilling over the high collar to brush against his skin. A pleased sound in the back of her throat she worked her way from his lips, across his jaw and down the newly revealed skin.

Head dropping back, he let her have her way, hands stroking over her back as she worked her way down the front of his throat. Mischief flared within her and she shifted in his lap, straddling his hips and pressing her groin against the thick length of his cock constrained by his pants. His hands bit into her waist as he groaned, the sound vibrating against her lips as she kissed his Adam’s apple.

“Lady, you’re killing me here…”

A grin curved her lips as he settled her more in his lap and rocked his hips against her. She’d expected to be kissed until she was breathless, swatted across her backside, and told firmly to wait until he’d finished working. But he wasn’t putting her from him, the low groan from the center of his chest and the tiny movement of his hips feeding her excitement.

Feeling like a child in a sweetshop, she yanked the tab on his jacket and peeled the fabric down until it parted and folded either side of his waist to leave his chest bare. He didn’t wear anything beneath it, his flat nipples hard and puckered as he watched her through eyes dark with passion.

She didn’t give him time to think about it and remember all the work on the desk behind her. Instead she leaned in and flicked her tongue over one of his nipples. He jerked, his muttered curse half a groan as she sucked the small nub into her mouth and suckled. His big hands drove into her hair as she flicked her tongue over it in a rapid movement.

“Goddess…”

The rasped curse made her smile against his skin as she wiggled some more and transferred her attention to his other nipple. She laved it with her tongue, nipping the tight bud gently just to feel him jerk in reaction, and the savage pulse of his cock where it was trapped between them. Feminine power rolled through her. She had this big, powerful man—the most feared soldier in the princedom—at her command. All that power and fury constrained as he watched her slither from his lap to her knees between his spread legs.

The look in his eyes was super-heated as she reached for the zipper at his crotch. He swore and dropped his head back as she stroked him through the fabric of his pants. Rock-hard, the rigid length of his cock strained against the material as though desperate to be free. She pulled the small metal tab. The zipper resisted for a second, then gave with a metallic rasp.

“Fuck…”

He was back to watching her, his eyes as dark as midnight as she pulled the zipper more. Her lips quirked into a grin when she realized he wasn’t wearing anything underneath. Her commando had gone commando. All amusement fled as his cock sprang free, pushing at the fabric of his pants as she opened them. Long and thick, the shaft topped with a wide purple head, just the sight made her shiver in anticipation.

Licking her lips, she looked up at him as she leaned forward. He groaned as she swiped her tongue over the head. His taste exploded on her tongue, musk, heat, and pure Jareth. Humming in pleasure, she wrapped her lips around him and took him into her mouth.

He swore, long and low, hips jerking up as she sank down. His cock was wide and thick, filling her mouth as she took as much of him as she could without gagging and then started to move. Her fingertips trailed delicate patterns over his sac as she worked her mouth along his length, sucking him deep before lifting off and swirling her tongue around the sensitive head.

No part of him escaped her attentions, not even when he fisted her hair as she nibbled along the underside of his shaft. He tore a few hairs loose, but from his ragged breathing and the slam of his head back onto the headrest of the chair, she knew he didn’t mean to hurt her. He didn’t know his own strength at times.

His cock pulsed against her tongue, hot and needy for her attentions. Attention she was more than happy to give, bobbing her head up and down as she sucked him from root to tip.

His hand tightened in her hair again and when she looked up, his expression was between as aroused as hell and pained. She sucked again, lifting her eyebrow in question, not quite ready to let go of his cock.

“Off. Now.” His words emerged as a pant, he pulled her head back until his cock slid free of her lips, sliding across her cheek. She didn’t get time to argue, Jareth already surging forward, lifting her as he moved.

Papers scattered, sent flying by a hard sweep of his arm and a second later her ass hit the desk. Jareth loomed over her, his face a mask of feral need and erotic determination. She couldn’t help the smile that spread over her lips, knowing she’d pushed him past his limits.

“Oh, you think this is funny, do you?” He snarled, all heat and mock anger that turned her insides to mush. With hard hands he shoved her legs apart and wedged himself between them. His hard cock found its way beneath her full skirts, the rigid length pressing hard between her thighs, right where she needed him the most.

“We’ll see how funny you find being screwed right here on the desk.”

No sooner had the words left his lips than he reached between them, hooked his fingers in her delicate panties, and tore them from her. She gasped, the tiny sting as the ribbons bit into her skin before they snapped turning her on all the more. The gasp turned into a moan as he stroked strong fingers along her pussy lips, parting them and spreading the slickness he found there up over her clit.

“So hot…wet.” Their groans combined as he thrust two fingers deep into her slick pussy. Pulling them free, he lifted his hand, watching her as he sucked one wet digit into his mouth. “You taste fantastic. Later I’m going to spread you over the bed and lick you until you scream.”

“Later?” She pouted as her clit throbbed in protest. She didn’t want later, she wanted his hot, clever tongue around her clit, in her pussy now. If he made her wait, she’d go nuts.

“Later,” he repeated, moving back. Before she realized what he was about, he’d flipped her on the desk, pressing her face down as he flipped her skirts up to reveal her ass. A gasp escaped her as his big hand smoothed over the gentle curve and his foot kicked hers further apart.

“First I’m going to fuck you, hard and fast, until you beg me to stop.”

The thick tip of his cock pressed against her as he spoke, the delicate tissues of her pussy parting under the insistent pressure. He didn’t let up or pause to let her catch her breath. Instead he pushed into her with a strong movement, the slickness of her arousal aiding him until his hips met hers and she felt impossibly full. She clamped down around the tight pressure of his thick cock, the tiniest movement causing ripples of pleasure to explode along her sheath and cascade out through her body.

He shifted, the heat of his chest against her back, mostly bared by the blue silk gown she’d worn to please him this morning.

“I’m going to fuck you…” His words were soft against her ear, stirring the small curls that lay against her neck. He pulled back as he spoke, and shoved into her again, dragging a moan of pure pleasure from her lips. “…knowing that you’re all mine, and I can take you whenever I want.”

His hands smoothed down her arms as he set up a steady rhythm, his hips slamming into hers with a fleshy smack each time. She whimpered, jolted forward with each thrust into her willing body. His fingers played with the plain bracelet on her wrist. His bracelet.

“Because of this…this says you belong to me. You’ll be my wife, my princess.”

The raw possessiveness in his voice turned her heart over in her chest, her insides turning to a quivering mass as he stood, holding onto her hips to power into her. With each solid thrust and strong slide, she felt his silent claim. He wasn’t just fucking her over his desk, he was declaring his ownership of her body and her soul. Claiming her as his own in the most primitive way possible. And she loved it.

Tension coiled, wound tighter each time his hips met hers. Soft moans and gasps filled the room, mostly hers, but she didn’t care as she thrust her hips back, desperate for the release only he could give her.

“Jareth, please,” she begged, pushing back against him.

His soft chuckle rumbled against her ear as he hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her up against his chest. His cock throbbed where it was impaled behind her, shifting and pressing against her in ways that made her eyes roll back in her head as he sat down in the chair behind them with her in his lap. Strong hands parted her thighs wide over his, pushing her skirts out of her way until she was completely exposed to his touch.

She whimpered as his fingers found her clit again, stroking and teasing as his cock drove upward into her needy pussy. Driven by instinct she turned her head for his lips to claim hers, opening in surrender at his demanding kiss. He growled in triumph and thrust his tongue deep to possess her utterly.

It was too much. His tongue and cock thrusting inside as he rubbed circles over her aching clit. She couldn’t bear it, straining against him as her heart thundered. Tension became pleasure-pain then shattered. She cried out, the sound lost in his mouth as her body stiffened and she was dropped into pure ecstasy like a diver into a crisp, clear mountain pool.

Bliss enveloped her, surging through her veins in warm waves as he impaled her again and again. She whimpered, riding them as surely as she rode his cock, her head on his shoulder as he broke the kiss with a harsh curse.

His hips hammered into hers, no longer controlled but frantic, almost desperate. Two…three thrusts before he bellowed her name, his entire body rigid as he came, the hot pressure of his release deep inside her pussy warming her through as she lay spent in his arms.

They sat like that for minutes, until both their breathing had calmed. Jareth moved, flicking down her skirt to cover them both as he laid soft kisses along her neck.

“That was amazing. You’re amazing.” He nuzzled her skin. She knew without being able to see that his eyes were closed. Her commando in one of his quieter moments. Finally he moved, sitting up and pulling from her. She pouted at the sense of loss until he turned to pull her properly into his arms and held her close.

“I have to go away,” he admitted softly, his voice filled with regret. “Just on patrol for a few days, I’ll be back well before the wedding.”

* * *

She didn’t like it when Jareth was away, she never had, but now they were together properly Keliana found she liked it even less. From the moment he’d left aboard the Vengeance she’d kept herself busy with last-minute arrangements for the wedding. Even so, she often found herself idly staring out of one of the palace’s many large windows, her eyes trained on the gap between the twin moons in the sky overhead, as if she could spot the big battle-cruiser the instant it returned.

“Get a grip,” she told herself softly after she found herself daydreaming again. With a shake of her shoulders she snapped herself out of her reverie and started off down the corridor again. “It’s not as if he’s gone for long.”

Her skirts swished on the polished floors as she headed back to their suite. Their suite. Her and Jareth’s. She turned the plain metal bracelet, large on her slender wrist, as she walked. It still felt like a fairy tale. The prince and the whore. Her lips quirked. Sounded just like one of those trashy bodice-ripping holo-novels the harem-women had been fond of. A happy sigh escaped her as she reached the suite and pushed open the doors. She didn’t need to sigh and dream fictional happily ever afters now she had her very own.

The room was dark. A frown creased her brow. What had happened to the automatic lighting system?

“House? Lights please?” she asked, waving her hand over the manual sensor panel at the side of the door. A swift stab of irritation hit her. Household repairs were the last thing she needed—

Hard hands grabbed her from behind, something soft jammed over her mouth to muffle her instinctive scream. It smelt wrong, the sickly-sweet wrongness of it invading her nostrils and crawling down into her lungs.

Panic filled her as she struggled, trying not to breathe at the same time, desperate to get free. More figures flitted around her in the darkness, just discernible as her eyes adjusted to the lack of light.

“For fuck’s sake, hold still, you little bitch.”

The voice rumbled in her ear as she screamed behind the rag and kicked backward. Her foot connected with what felt like a shin, which drew another soft curse but her slippers were too soft to do any damage, pain lancing up her leg from her heel.

Her lungs burned, desperate for air as she held her breath. Tears filled her eyes and flowed unchecked down her cheeks. This wasn’t good. Bitter amusement filled her at her own thought. Of course it wasn’t good, people didn’t break into a prince’s chamber for tea and a nice little chat. Her struggles weakened, her head swimming as she chose lack of oxygen over inhaling whatever it was on the rag over her mouth.

“That’s it, sweetness, you just take a deep breath. It’ll all be over soon.” The voice crooned, hard arms wrapping around her as her own body turned traitor and forced her to take a gasp, sucking air through the rag. The chemical burned it way down to her lungs like cherry-scented wildfire.

Warmth spread through her, the comfortable feeling she equated with the period between asleep and awake making her limbs heavy. Dimly she was aware of voices around her as she was lifted in a pair of strong arms.

“Lady, she’s a feisty one. You got the kit?”

There was movement, but she couldn’t make herself move to do anything about it, the lassitude that filled her body affecting her mind as well. All she wanted to do was sleep, to slip into the warm and welcoming darkness that beckoned temptingly. She couldn’t though. She had to stay awake, find out what was going on.

Fear spiked through her as doors banged open. What if they were after papers in Jareth’s office? They were all classified, military secrets. She had to stop them.

“Set up in that corner, you’ll get the best light there.”

Light? Why did they need light? All they had to do was snatch the files. She was trying to make her sluggish brain work when she was dropped onto something soft and a light snapped on overhead. Wincing in pain, she turned away and tried to shield her eyes. It felt like she was moving through treacle, every movement an effort.

“Good, you’re still with us a little. That’ll make it more convincing.”

A hard body dropped down next to her. Drugged she might be, but she had no trouble recognizing a naked male body when it was pressed against her. Her fear descended into stark terror as a cruel hand ripped open the front of her gown, the delicate ties giving way easily.

Cold air washed over her body, her hands easily constrained as she tried to fight him off. She opened her eyes, but the light was too intense, the canopy of the bed and a distorted male face swimming in and out of focus above her.

“That’s it, sweet pea. Show daddy a little love…” The coarse voice murmured in her ear as he moved over her, hard male body all but crushing her as he parted her legs. A cry of panic escaped her as she felt pressure against her pussy, his lips hot on her neck as he rubbed against her.

She was going to be raped, in her own bed. The bed Jareth had taken her in frantically the morning he’d left. Using the surge of fear and rage that washed through her, she managed to lift her hands to beat at his chest, but he captured them easily.

“Oh goddess, baby. That feels so good.” He moaned, dry-humping her as he pressed her hands to his muscled chest. Fear hammered through her, drying her mouth and sending her heart rate into overdrive. Any moment now he’d reach down, tear her panties from her and drive his…

Flaccid cock into her.

She frowned as he claimed her lips, clamping them shut against the intrusion of his tongue. It didn’t seem to bother him, the rumbles and groans from the center of his chest the same as if he was buried both cock and tongue deep in her body.

What the fuck was going on? He was totally limp between her legs, but going at it like a madman. Had he somehow missed the vital concept of sex between a man and a woman? That tab a went into slot b?

Breaking away, he buried his face into the curve of her neck as he gasped and ground his way to a totally fake orgasm while she fought the drug that held her in its sickly chemical web. It could only be Ravastine, the date-rape drug. She racked her foggy brain for details, but it wouldn’t cooperate. All she could remember was it was used to keep the victim semiawake and pliable for a period before causing deep unconsciousness.

“That’s it baby… You’re good. Milk daddy’s cock…ugh… Fuck!”

He shoved against her, his entire body rigid as his hips jerked against her just as if he was buried balls deep inside her and coming. Finally he stopped and rolled off her as though nothing had happened. She closed her eyes, too spaced to even cover herself as everything started to fade around her.

“Did you get it all? Fucking A! Now let’s get out of here, I need a fucking week-long shower after pretending to fuck that.”