Chapter 28

Raditz let Arrah easily coax him into two more rounds of rutting before they even considered touching the food that had sat waiting for their attention. A few of the dishes had gone cold but neither saiyan cared as they shovelled it down, Arrah sitting in Raditz's lap as they ate. Raditz took pleasure in offering her food and pressed his nose into her hair with a satisfied smile when she ate from his fingers before licking them clean. This was the bonding he'd so craved and it left him feeling smitten.

Arrah was pleased with his attentiveness to her. Not that he'd not been attentive before. He'd done a lot for her, but the threat of other women wanting his affections had driven her to want to hurt him in order to bring him into line. She was very surprised by the overwhelming need to dominate him and force him into loyalty. It was even more surprising when it worked. Anytime she moved, he wanted to remain close, even if it was just across the room.

It made for a very awkward, if somewhat funny, conversation when she needed to use the bathroom located in a tiny room off to the left of the cooking area. Their tails too, wanted nothing more than to remain linked, even if Arrah wished to pull hers free. It was as if it had a mind of its own.

Once the plates and bowls were empty, Raditz pinned her to the floor and brought her to completion yet again before they finally curled up on the plush, cushion laden mattress that lay under the big bay window. They dozed for a long time, the sounds of the ever busy market outside drifted in. Arrah pressed her cheek against Raditz's bicep as he lay with his arm cushioning her head while he spooned her and her fingers found his to hold his hand.

With tired eyes, she let her gaze trace up the length of his long arm, the light catching all the tiny silvery scars that littered his skin. In those moments of clarity after they'd mated, she noticed that he was covered in scars. Most were silver with age but there were still a few that were still pink or tender looking. They didn't appear to bother him though and Arrah wondered if he ever realised he was even injured.

She lay there, trying to think then if she'd seen scars on Nappa and Vegeta. Of course she had. She'd just not taken much notice with all the excitement. Nappa in particular was heavily scarred across his chest and stomach and Arrah found herself getting irritated that he'd be so bullheaded and throw himself into danger that would cause such scarring.

"What's the matter?"

Arrah started, her eyes opening wide at the sound of Raditz's tired voice from against her ear.

"Nothing..." She said quickly and wiggled further against his body. Raditz gave a lazy hum of satisfaction and pressed his hips against her backside.

"Your tail is fluffed." He muttered and Arrah could feel his mouth split into a smile against her ear. "You got all tense, too."

Sulking at the prospect that she was so easily read by him, she huffed and wiggled. Raditz released her long enough for her to turn in his arms to face him and he continued to smile tiredly at her as she watched him.

"What?" He chuckled as she continued to stare.

"I want you to be careful." She said seriously. Raditz smirked and cocked an eyebrow.

"Why? Are you going to beat me up?" The smirk didn't leave him and Arrah half wondered if he was trying to tempt her. When she'd stopped her jealous rampage, she'd been horrified by marks she'd left on his body. She'd tried to apologise but Raditz had laughed at her and kissed her before telling her that it was fine, that he enjoyed it. The pain gave the pleasure a sharper edge. She'd thought he was weird, but then he'd demonstrated on her, fucking her from behind until she was toeing the edge of her orgasm before laying the hardest slap to her ass that he could manage without causing her serious damage.

The sharp, burning pain made her scream and the climax it brought made her feel like she'd gone deaf and blind.

The next thing she could remember was Raditz cradling her close, his fingers stroking her bangs out of her face as he beamed down at her. He informed her, with a laugh, that she'd passed out and then wiggled his eyebrows with a "See? I told you it was good."

Rolling her eyes, Arrah shook her head and then reached to trace her fingers along his jaw.

"No. I mean, when you go out to do...whatever it is that you guys do."

Raditz looked at her for a long time before realisation passed over his face.

"Oh, you mean our work for Frieza? Yea, I'll be careful." He said and leaned to kiss her, trying to reassure her. Arrah kissed him in return but was still frowning when he pulled away.

"I want all three of you to be careful." She told him and Raditz shifted a little, the hand that had been resting on her hip coming up to rub his nose.

"Well I'll pass along the message. But I can't promise Vegeta and Nappa will behave."

"They will. I'll make them." She said firmly and Raditz's hand dropped back to her hip. He looked back at her with a half smirk but something in his eyes told her he thought she was playing around.

"Uh huh." He mumbled and then pressed his nose into her bangs.

"I will!" She said again, even firmer than before. She leaned back away from him on the mattress and Raditz seemed irritated by her avoidance.

"And how are you going to do that?" He asked.

"The same way I did with you." She huffed.

Sighing, Raditz scratched his throat lazily. "Vegeta isn't going to let you pin him down and bite him all over, Arrah. He isn't going to be so easy to dominate."

"Nappa will." She spat back without hesitation.

"Nappa won't..." Raditz opened his eyes, his fingers stilling against his throat as he thought for a second or two. "Nappa probably will." He conceded. "He feels the same way about you as I do, Arrah. I'm sure of it. But Nappa isn't easily controlled. He's... He's a lose canon."

"Tell me about it." Arrah snorted and Raditz narrowed his eyes at her.

"What you've seen of him is only a small part of that man's crazy." Raditz told her. "He wasn't always like that, Arrah. He used to be calmer when he had a reason to remain controlled."

Arrah frowned and moved to snuggle against him again. "What changed?"

Raditz gave a bitter snort and wrapped his arms tightly around her. "The planet blew up and took everything he cared about with it."

Arrah was silent then, her mind obviously overworking. Raditz took the opportunity to yawn and tangle his leg between hers. He closed his eyes and hoped that would be the end of the conversation so he could sleep. This kind of downtime, even when he visited Zula with Vegeta and Nappa, was never this peaceful. Vegeta always had somewhere to be and Nappa always wanted to fight, drink or fuck. Raditz very rarely got a say and ended up just following the other two around.

"If he cared for me enough, do you think it would help him?" Arrah asked and Raditz internally groaned.

"Maybe. Possibly." He muttered, not opening his eyes.

"Do you think..."

"Do we have to talk about Nappa right now?" Raditz growled out through clenched teeth. "I never get a break from that bald prick and now all you want to do is talk on and on about him."

Arrah was silent then and Raditz didn't open his eyes to look at her expression. The thought fluttered through his head that maybe that was a little harsh on her and that she was just trying to mean well. But Raditz refused to bring himself to think of Nappa or Vegeta while he lay there with Arrah, solely to himself.

After a long time, curiosity got the better of him and he cracked an eye open to look down at her.

Arrah had ducked her head and curled up tighter. She wasn't asleep but she was definitely upset. Even her tail had gone limp against his own. Raditz felt the tightness of regret in his chest and with a sigh he shifted to kiss her head.

"I'm sorry I snapped." He whispered to her. She didn't answer and he ran his hand up her back comfortingly. "Arrah?"

"Do you hate them?" She suddenly asked, her voice small.

"Hate who?" He asked.

"Nappa and Vegeta?" She lifted her head to look him in the face.

Raditz suddenly felt put on the spot and chose to close his eyes again so he wouldn't have to look at her. "I don't hate them I suppose." He said honestly, defeat in his voice. "I hate the way they treat me sometimes. I hate the way they cling to classes that no longer exist. I hate the way they mock my fighting ability..."

"So you do hate them." She said.

"No." He shot back, opening his eyes to look down at her. "I wouldn't have chosen them to be stuck with if I'd have had a choice in the matter. But I don't hate them. Nappa...Isn't how he used to be. But he's more or less raised me and Vegeta. He's been stuck with that job and trust me, Vegeta was a nightmare when he hit puberty."

"Was he shorter then or did he just not grow?" Arrah asked, her face and voice totally innocent. The question caught Raditz off guard for a second and he burst out laughing when it finally hit him. Arrah pouted as he howled himself silly, rolling onto his back on the mattress to clutch his stomach.

"What?" She snapped, sitting up.

Raditz laughed until he started coughing and had to sit up and reach for the water jug on a small side table nearby. He took a long drink from it, not bothering with the pottery cup that had been sat next to it and then sighed with relief before chuckling a little. Arrah was still glaring at him.

"What?" She asked again and Raditz reached to cup her cheeks before kissing her hungrily. She kissed back but she reached for his wrists, trying to pull his hands away from her face. When he finally released her and lay back, she moved to lay on his chest. "Why were you laughing?"

"Vegeta's just short." He smirked at her, his hands reaching to grope her ass. "That's why he's got such a chip on his shoulder."

"What's your excuse then?" She snapped snottily at him before sticking her tongue out. The question didn't even phase him and he raised an open palm before bringing it down sharply on her left cheek with a crack. Arrah gasped and squealed, jabbing him in the ribs again with her two fingers.

Raditz jumped and squirmed and grabbed her hand to stop her from going in a second time. "Who taught you that shit?" He demanded.

"Maddie. The girl Nappa killed. She knew stuff." Arrah told him, trying to wiggle her hand free of his grip. He didn't release and watched her, his eyebrow raised.

"She knew stuff?" He repeated, mockingly.

"Yea." Arrah spat, sticking her tongue out again. "And she showed us girls where some pressure points were so we could fight off the guards if they tried to hurt us."

"You want to be more careful." Raditz Purred, pulling on her wrist so she'd have to move up his body to follow it. Once close enough, he let his tongue stroke against her lips. "If you keep sticking your tongue out at me like that, I'll have to teach you some tricks for it to keep it occupied."

He watched with great satisfaction as her cheeks grew pink and her tongue slipped out to swoop across her bottom lip. Gods, the urge to cut his losses and go on the run with her was so goddamn tempting. He never wanted to have to share her again. He wanted her all to himself.

"Why do you have to be so fuckable?" He growled, tangling his fingers in her dreads at the base of her skull and using that hold to guide her onto her back so he could settle between her legs again. Instinctively, she brought her legs up to wrap around his hips and her hands went to his shoulders. Her face was bright red by then but she was smiling so prettily at him, Raditz nearly crooned with delight.

His lips moved to her jaw and he began to nip his way along it, savouring the little gasps she made and the trembling that had started again in her body. Her fingers slipped into his hair and grasped the roots but she made no attempt to pull.

"Stop." She laughed, her breathing laboured. "I'm a bit sore." She protested halfheartedly. Her body was ready for him though and Raditz had no intention of stopping.

"A bit sore?" He mocked her again. "That's not good enough. I want you to feel me when you try and walk next."