He Will Protect Her, She Will Save Him

Keira's POV
My mother stood up and took my hand. "Come on," she smiled and I smiled back. I went upstairs with her and she led me to a large bedroom. The walls and carpet were cream and light browns. Soft lights glowed from the corners. There was a large four poster bed in the centre of the room. It looked so inviting. The room was beautiful. "There are clothes in that closet," she said pointing and I nodded and smiled. There was something I couldn’t help but think about.
"What is he going to do to Jareth?" I asked her. She frowned slightly but then smiled knowingly.
"A good talking to about his daughter's virtue probably," she smiled and I blushed, imagining that conversation. I nodded and she smiled. "You like him?" she asked but I knew she knew the answer already. I smiled but shrugged. "He is very honourable, very loyal." I smiled. I didn't like him for those reasons even though I knew they were true. I liked him because I was myself around him. Really myself, and he seemed to like the real me. My mother looked at me and then hugged me. "I'm glad you're back," she said gently and I smiled. Me, too.

She left after a few minutes. Despite my rush of exhaustion only a few minutes before I was wide awake now. I realised there was a balcony opposite my bed. I went out onto it and heard voices. "How dare you go into her room? At night? While she was on her own?" I heard my father shout. I frowned slightly. I didn't want him to be mad at Jareth.
"I'm truly sorry," I heard Jareth say. "I don’t know what came over me." There was a silence.
"How have you been, Jareth?" my father asked after a long while.
"Great," he said enthusiastically. I smiled and my father laughed. "Honestly. When you first gave me this job, I admit, I thought it was a waste...but I realise now how important it is. I didn't realise how many would be after her. It became my life, looking after her." I felt my heart leap and I smiled slightly. My father was silent again.
"Will you carry on then?" he asked. "Will you continue to be her bodyguard now that she is here?"
"I will, I want nothing more," Jareth said. I was worried my father would get angry over that comment but he laughed and then there was the sound of a door opening and closing.

"I know you're there," a voice said softly, making my heart leap. I moved to the edge of the balcony and I looked down to see Jareth smiling up at me.
"How did you know but my father didn't?" I asked and he smiled and shrugged.
"Maybe I am more aware of your scent. I'm so used to following it, I trace it without realising," he said. "Or, maybe your father did know you were there..."
"Why wouldn’t he say anything?" I asked.
"Maybe he wasn’t concerned about anything we were saying," he said and I smiled, remembering what they were saying. How happy Jareth had been when he found out he was to keep protecting me. I bit my lip slightly.
"Can you come up here?" I asked him and he frowned slightly.
"I shouldn’t," he said, glancing in what I guessed was the direction my father had just gone in.
"Please," I said and he sighed. Seconds later he was standing in front of me, so close I had to take a step back.
"What is it?" he asked and I regained my original conviction that I'd had when I'd asked him to come up.
"Thank you," I said softly and he frowned.
"That's it? You couldn’t tell me that when I was down there?" he asked and I smiled slightly.
"I could have," I said softly as I stepped closer to him. I saw his breath suddenly catch in his throat. "But then I wouldn’t have been able to do this..." I whispered and pressed my lips against his. I sensed his shock but I didn't pull away and after a long second he kissed me back. I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around him and deepened the kiss. He put his hands on my waist and held me to him. He kissed me passionately, desperately, like he'd been holding this inside for a long time. I met him with all the desire that he stirred inside of me.

He pulled back after a long time and leant his forehead against mine. "You shouldn’t have done that," he whispered. I noticed that he didn't take his hands away from my hips, he continued to hold me close to him. "If your father finds out..."
"He's not going to," I whispered back. I put one of my hands on his cheek gently and smiled at him. He smiled back.
"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that," he whispered, making shivers run up and down my spine.
"But you have, haven’t you?" I whispered, closing my eyes and remembering the dreams. "Once..." I noticed a smirk spread over his gorgeous mouth.
"Let me rephrase...you have no idea how long I've wanted to do that while you were awake..." he smiled and I smiled back. His eyes scanned over my face and suddenly his eyes landed on the twin pricks on my neck. His face became instantly serious, instantly sad, instantly distant. "I'm sorry," he said, gently touching the marks and then he jumped off the balcony and left. I frowned and put my hand to the twin pricks. Instantly I realised what they meant. He had been going to bite me...I knew I should feel fear, but I didn't. I knew I should be upset, but I wasn’t. I had no negative feelings towards being a host for Jareth. It made me feel like less of a damsel in distress. He protected me and I would give him my blood. We would be even. If it worked that way...I didn't know how it worked.

I went back inside and sat on the edge of my bed. Despite my mother telling me I had been given clothes to wear, I just stripped down to my underwear and climbed into the bed. It was large and comfy and I fell asleep instantly.

Jareth's POV
Seeing the close bite marks on her neck I knew I had to leave. I couldn’t control myself well around her. She was too beautiful, too delicious. I went back to my apartment. Despite the fact that I hated myself for nearly biting her a night ago, I couldn’t help but smile. She had kissed me. A lot. And I was her body guard. I would be with her all the time. Not in the way I wanted. But I would still be around her. And that's enough. I could feel dawn arriving. I shut all the solid wooden shutters and stood in the darkness.

Her father was almost ready to kill me for sneaking into her bedroom when she was under my own protection. If he found out that I'd nearly bitten her...God knows what he'd do to me. There was the chance that he wouldn’t find out. The mark would have healed immediately after my mouth left her skin, unlike the stupid pin pricks I left behind on her skin. She wouldn’t remember anything. All of a sudden I found myself imagining how her blood tasted. Roses and Strawberries. That was her scent. I wondered if her blood tasted any better. Something told me it would. I pulled myself out of my thoughts with a growl. I couldn’t think like that. I was never going to get a taste, no point imagining it... I knew, however, that no matter how hard I tried I would never be able to stop dreaming about having her in my arms, having her neck under my lips, having her blood trickling down my throat. I growled and threw myself down on my bed. I had to tell myself the sun was already up to stop myself going to her room.

Keira's POV
Two weeks later I had gotten used to being at this place. The large house all belonged to my parents, who were rulers of the vampire community. There were smaller houses around it as well as apartment buildings which were all purely for vampires. The place was like a mini city. There were about 1000 vampires walking around here at night. Jareth was with me all night. He stood guard, not exactly with me, but as close as he was allowed. I watched him most of the time and couldn’t help but smile when I thought about him. I wanted more from Jareth, but I didn't know how to get it. I didn't know what was allowed. I didn't know what was wrong.

Now that I was in this place, I had no phone calls. I hoped that they had lost track of where I was. Boy was I wrong.