Chapter 11

All bets are off

Bulma sat with Radditz and his father, Bardock, during the dinner portion of the evening. Bardock couldn't believe how Bulma could keep up with his every word and counter every theory with her own. He had never been so engrossed in a conversation in his whole life and deduced that the woman who had just a minute ago been an object of lust for every man in the room was indeed a genius. He had started wishing that perhaps she and his son……

"Lady Bulma, would you honor me with a dance?" Radditz extended his hand along with his invitation. Bulma happily accepted, seeing as how she could tell that Radditz and his father actually saw her as more than an object, but as an equal. "So, you seem to be doing well for yourself since you moved into the palace. I never doubted your ability. And let me tell you, I am grateful for your continuing attack on our all too cocky prince. Did you know that the other soldiers and I actually have bets going regarding your little games?" Radditz couldn't help but be amazed by this woman's abilities.

"As I understand, our feuding has become quite the source of entertainment for everybody in the palace, but I fail to see why. I thought that everybody would regard it as childish." Bulma still wandered why their jokes were always the hot topic.

"It is because, dear Bulma, nobody has ever pulled one on the Prince the way you have and lived to tell about it. He is very proud and cannot stand public defeat. We all thought after the first prank, you would have been blasted, but it seems he actually craves your attacks." Radditz was going somewhere with this, Bulma could tell. "I can tell you, Bulma that you are the closest person that the Prince will ever have as an equal, and I think he knows this as well." Radditz had been observing the two, and decided all for himself that Bulma was exactly what the prince needed to change him into a better person and king.

Vegeta sat watching his sparring partner dance with the woman that he had been admiring the whole night, and couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. He also noticed that Ilia would not leave his side for one second, so that if he tried anything, he knew she would be there with her erection killing shriek. And tonight, he could afford no hindrance to his efforts. He eyed Nappa sitting alone, and remembered that he had been one of Ilia's many friends. He walked over to the bald brute to start phase one of his plan. "Nappa, I am in need of your services." Nappa was confused because he was told that he would have the night off for this party. "Just tell me what I can do for you, my prince." "I need you to keep Ilia busy by any means necessary for the remainder of the evening. Use her for your own benefit, I do not care. Just keep her out of my hair." Nappa remembered his many trysts with the promiscuous little nymph and accepted happily. "I will keep her entertained for as long as you need me to, sire, perhaps even longer." Nappa's look grew hungry, and Vegeta couldn't help but feel disgusted at his soldier's eagerness to bed what he referred to as "community property." With that, Nappa walked over to Ilia to invite her to dance, and seeing as how Vegeta would be paying her no attention this evening, she happily accepted.

'Now that that is taken care of, time to move onto phase 2.' Vegeta marched over to the spot where Bulma and Raddtiz were gracefully spinning and did not hesitate to interrupt. "I would like to cut in, Radditz." Bulma rolled her eyes at his lack of manners and his all too bluntness. "As you wish, Prince Vegeta."

"That was really rude, you know. You could have at least said please." Bulma scolded. "There was no need. I am the prince and he is but a first class soldier. He was dancing with the woman that I wanted to dance with, so I exercised my right to take her for myself." Bulma couldn't help but feel a little annoyed and a little turned on at his claiming her like some kind of prize. "I see that you came here alone woman. What's wrong? Couldn't find some poor third class soldier desperate enough to take your arm even for one evening?" Vegeta thought that this baiting was exactly what he needed to intrigue the female. Bulma knew one thing, she did not get all dressed up and pass up the many dance offers to stand here with this asshole and be insulted all night. She knew that the Prince was always plotting, so she figured if she wanted him to stop, she needed to catch him off guard. "Vegeta, do you think I'm beautiful?" Bulma's question both shocked and amazed Vegeta. He wasn't prepared for her to ask his honest opinion of her, and his pride would not let him be ashamed of what he really thought. "I can tell you this, Bulma Briefs, I have been to 1,392 planets, seen 1,645 different races of females including our own Saiyan women and without a doubt, you are the most beautiful creature I have ever laid eyes upon.

Bulma blinked three times in confusion. She hadn't expected him to lavish her with such sincere devotion. "And what of me, woman? Are you attracted to me?" Bulma thought that she owed it to him to tell him what she really thought. "Back on my planet, Vegeta, you have the body that men would have killed over trying to obtain and women would abandon all that was special to them to get one night with. Your arrogance and confidence make you seem like an untamable beast and you make me hotter than the Vegeta sun in the dead of summer. Vegeta smirked. "So why the attacks then, woman, why not do to me what you truly wish to do?" "Because it would lead nowhere. You are engaged to be married and I am an alien female that you would consider for nothing more than a fun time. I am no prude, mind you, but I refuse to be your whore, Vegeta." Bulma suddenly became angry with the validity of her statement. "If you will excuse me, I need some fresh air." With that, she hurried quickly out on the balcony, leaving a very frustrated Vegeta.

"Damn, they were close that time, I could sense it," the queen commented. "I told you my dear, that damn pride of their's is going to be their downfall." "Well not if we have anything to do with it. You work on Bulma, I'll work on our darling boy." The queen walked over to her son, while the king stepped out to the balcony.

"Still haven't figured out how to win the ladies, eh Vegeta?" The queen teased. "Don't give me that, mother. The woman is just too damn emotional, worrying about every little thing I say." "Well, my inexperienced little gem, your problem is that you talk too damn much. Take some action for crying out loud Vegeta. If the sexual tension between the two of you gets any thicker, we are all going to suffocate." Vegeta looked at his mother, perplexed. Never had Lydia been so forward with her feelings towards her son as she had been at that moment. "She doesn't want to mother; she says she doesn't want to be my whore." "So don't turn her into your whore. There is no law saying that you have to marry a Saiyan and she at least keeps you more entertained than Ilia. Besides, I actually think that she has it in her to be a wonderful Saiyan Queen, being one myself." "But what if she still doesn't want to, mother." "Just use your powers of persuasion my dear." With that, Lydia winked at her son and walked off. 'Powers of persuasion? I never wasted my time with that garbage. Any other time, whenever I wanted something and the owner didn't give it up, I just took it.' With that thought, Vegeta knew exactly what his next move would be. He turned his attention to the woman who was having a conversation with his dear father.

Out on the balcony

"Bulma, did you know that once Lydia beat me in a sparring match in front of my father and all of my comrades?" The king began to smile softly. "No your majesty, I was unaware. What did you do about it?" Bulma became intrigued and wanted to hear this. "Well, I got revenge in the best way that I could think of at the time. I rigged the sprinkler system in her room to give her a very nasty wakeup call." "Oh that couldn't have gone over well with Lydia." Bulma began to chuckle. "Indeed it did not. For the nest month, she and I devoted all of our efforts to be better than the other. I grew tired of our stalemate, so I devised the perfect way to show my superiority over her. I had planned to bed her, to show everybody that I could make even a woman out for my blood want me." The king seemed drawn further into his story than he had originally intended to be. Bulma wandered why the king was telling her all of this. "So then what happened?" "Well, our efforts to best each other did not end at the bedroom. Even during our activities in there, we still tried to outdo one another. What was supposed to be one night turned into several until neither of us wanted anything more than to spend the night in each other's company. I knew at that point that nobody would ever be able to captivate me the way Lydia did, so I did the most reasonable thing I could think of. I married her and made her my Queen. I figured when I ruled, it would be better to have her on my right side than be in her path. And I actually felt sorry for our enemies that dared to cross her." Bulma was amazed with this tale. "So you just started as a battle of wills. What about love?" "Well, the love was always there, that is what drew us to each other in the first place. But, Bulma, heed my advice. Sometimes, you need to cut down the trees to find the forest." The kings ambiguous statement left Bulma perplexed and the king hoped that she would get his analogy. "Well, my dear, I will return to my opponent. I think I have quite the competition planned for her tonight." The king chuckled and left a bewildered Bulma standing on the balcony.

The king walked right past his son and before he was away from him, he whispered in his ear, "I will expect a thank you in the morning, Brat!" And hurried towards his Queen.

Vegeta did not have the time to try to decipher his father's meaning and was closing in for the kill. "Checkmate, woman!"

A/N: looks like things are starting to move a little faster. Look for a lemon in the next chapter, and please review. Thanks to all the people who are keeping up with this story and giving me wonderful feedback.

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