Thank you so much for all the support with this, guys! I loved reading the comments.

In this chapter we follow up on what Bulma pulls off with her discovery :)

Once again, sorry if there are any massive mistakes with the language and grammar and all that. English is not my first language. I hope it doesn't ruin the experience.

Chapter 2

Bulma poured more wine in her glass telling herself that would be the last one. It was only Wednesday and she had already drunk nearly a whole bottle. The last thing she needed was to wake up with a hangover and go to work with a headache the following day.

The room was strangely silent that evening with no background noise coming from the television. She just wasn't in the right frame of mind to watch anything right now.

After downing half the glass in one go, the scientist applied chalk on the tip of her cue stick. Playing pool alone wasn't as fun as playing it with her friends but at least it got her mind off recent events.

Her ex-boyfriend had shown up on her front door earlier that evening, right after dinner. Yamcha had been confident enough to assume a reconciliation between them was a sure thing, so he was caught by surprise when Bulma stated that she had no interest in going forward with their relationship.

Truth was, Bulma had grown too comfortable and that had made her blind to the painful reality: that relationship did not make her happy. After their last breakup, roughly a couple of months ago, Bulma had come to realize that she wasn't in love with Yamcha anymore and probably hadn't been for a while now.

It just took her longer than usual to see it. Maybe she just didn't like the idea of being single and that's why she had avoided acknowledging the truth, but that wasn't a good enough reason to be with someone. Bulma deserved better and Yamcha probably did too. He could be a jerk sometimes but he wasn't a bad guy. After Bulma learned about his infidelity, the spark she'd once felt was completely was gone, and that helped her put things in perspective. The decision to break up for good should have been made a long ago and Bulma was glad she had finally done it now.

It still hurt, though. Yamcha had been in her life for so long that she hardly knew what it meant to be single any more... and it wasn't like she was still a teenager. Soon enough, her mom would go on and on about how she should find a man to marry, have children, and all that blah, blah, blah.

With a sigh of impatience, Bulma grabbed the glass and emptied what was left of the wine.

She heard footsteps of someone approaching before she saw him. Vegeta had been on an intense training streak the last few days, missing dinner repeatedly. She had barely seen him at all. That's why she was so surprised when he entered the room without saying a word and headed straight towards the armchair he usually occupied. But when he noticed that the television was turned off, he got up and turned around, ready to leave.

"Wait!" Bulma nearly hit the wine bottle with her cue stick in a clumsy attempt to stop him from leaving, "Vegeta, hold on. Where are you going?"

"To my room," he said it like it should be obvious.

"Do you want to play?" Bulma asked impulsively.

The guy had given her enough reasons to assume hanging around him wasn't a good idea. Bulma's conscience buzzed reminding her that he was ruthless, way too proud and potentially dangerous. For some inexplicable reason, she wanted to believe that what lay beneath the surface was worth cracking his rough exterior.

But it was hard for Bulma's logical, analytical mind to be in balance with her strange feelings. The scientist in her refused to trust something without evidence to support it at the same time her empathetic nature stubbornly defied that and firmly believed he wasn't going to do her any harm.

"I don't know that game," Vegeta said, looking at the pool table without interest.

"It's really simple," Bulma held her cue stick and demonstrated as she spoke, "all you have to do is line the tip of your stick with the ball and aim for any of these little pockets," Bulma hit a ball that rolled over the smooth green felt, "there are variations to the game but I like to play best of four. You get four balls and I get four balls. Whoever sinks all of them first wins."

"Wins what?" Vegeta scoffed. Judging by the look on his face, he hadn't been very impressed with Bulma's proposal.

"Just wins," she smiled, trying to be convincing. Her cheeks were burning a little after the wine. Bulma didn't think she was drunk but she had to admit she wasn't exactly sober. "I thought Saiyans liked winning."

"We like winning battles," Vegeta crossed his arms in front of his chest, observing her more carefully. There was something different in the woman tonight but he couldn't quite tell what. Her speech was a little slower than usual and she was making eye contact for much longer than he'd learned was appropriate.

"Alright, then let's pretend this is a battle," she proposed with a silly grin.

"I don't battle with weaklings."

Bulma rolled her eyes.

"You're such a dick. I don't know why I even bothered to invite you."

Vegeta shrugged. He took a step in the direction of the door but an idea popped in his head before he could exit the room.

That stupid table game was so simplistic that he was sure even a Saiyan child with lower-than-average accuracy could outplay any human. It would not be a challenge for someone like him. He doubted he would be entertained playing it, but perhaps he might just get something better in return.

"Alright, I accept your challenge," he returned to the pool table with large strides, startling Bulma. The Saiyan leaned against the pool table and crossed his legs at the ankles," but if I win, I want four more of those drones you built."

"Absolutely not," Bulma frowned. "They take forever to build and you destroy them in like, five minutes. Get your own damn drones from now on."

"Three?" Vegeta bargained.

Bulma's immediate response would be to reject his offer, but she held her words in time to process the situation.

"Two new drones," she circled the table, a sneaky smile creeping on her lips. If he beat her, she would have a lot of work to do in the lab. But what if she actually managed to outplay him? There was nothing she would like more at that moment than wiping that arrogant smirk off his face. That vain Saiyan got to her nerves more easily than she would care to admit, so it would be great to get to annoy him for once. "But if I win," she took a step in his direction, getting closer to him than she'd ever been, "what do I get?"

Vegeta's normal reaction would be to grab her neck and get her out of his personal space, but two things prevented him from doing so. One, she was not a threat. A human girl as tiny as her? He could smash her like an insect with two fingers only. And two, he was intrigued by the enticing scent on her hair. He had never smelled something that distinctive before and couldn't understand why it felt so strangely good. It was like someone had bottled up freshness, delicacy, and femininity to create a distillation that intoxicated his senses in a way he had never felt before.

"You're a terrible negotiator," he deadpanned. Vegeta didn't know which was worse, the fact he was delighted with her proximity or the possibility that she discovered it. "You're asking me to lay out your terms? That's stupid."

Bulma suppressed a laugh. What was happening? Shouldn't she feel angry or offended? Or both? Okay, maybe she was a little more than just tipsy.

Her brain chose that exact moment to remember the conversation they'd had the previous week, immediately giving her an idea so bad that she shouldn't even consider it. But Bulma couldn't help it. She just had to provoke him.

"If I win," a mischievous smile slowly formed on her lips, "you're going to let me kiss you."

"Kiss me?" He repeated her absurd proposal. "Do you mean that attempt of sucking up a breath the other person has already taken? The one you made me watch last week?" Vegeta scowled. Her mocking laughter in response made him even more outraged, "why would you even want to do that? It looked extremely uncomfortable."

"Because I like to piss you off," Bulma replied. It wasn't entirely a lie… but it also wasn't the only reason why she wanted to go through with it. Telling herself the only reason that she had any interest in kissing him was pure curiosity, Bulma proceeded with her terms, "if I win, I get to kiss your virgin lips," she teased him, even though he didn't seem to get the joke, "and you have to say something nice to me."

Vegeta furrowed his eyebrows, confused.

"It means you have to give me a compliment," Bulma explained, impatiently shaking her head with his lack of knowledge, "for once in your life, you have to tell me something pleasant."

"That's ridiculous."

"Take it or leave it, buddy. Those are my terms."

Vegeta thought about it for a moment.

"If you're having two conditions, I am want something else as well."

"I am not having sex with you."

Vegeta looked shocked for a moment.

"What? I would never suggest that," he scowled, looking at her as if Bulma was insane.

"Okay, now I am offended," Bulma sighed.

"If I win, I get four drones. Two for each one of your demands."

"You get two, and that's it. One for the kiss, one for the compliment."

He grunted, displeased. After a long silence, he nodded almost imperceptibly, silently agreeing to her terms.

"Okay, then," Bulma opened a drawer on the luxurious billiard table and grabbed two sets of four balls each. "I will play with the red set and you take the blue ones."

Vegeta noticed the smartass smirk on her face as she sorted the balls out on the table. Something wasn't right. She looked way too confident. The woman might be a mere human but he had long ago noticed she was crazy smart. Way more than he would have thought any human possible of. He was sure she had already noticed people from his race were far superior in every physical skill, so she shouldn't act as if victory was a sure thing for her.

"No," he looked at the sets on the table, "I will take the red ones. And I get this too," he decided, taking the cue stick from her hands.

Bulma sighed in front of him, looking upset. But when she turned her back to him, she smiled mischievously.

"You think I rigged the game?" She asked with an innocent voice, reaching for another stick.

Vegeta huffed.

"Let's just play."

"Fine," Bulma grabbed a piece of chalk and used it before throwing it in his direction. He caught it mid-air without even looking directly at the object. His impressive reflexes shouldn't surprise her, but they did. "Are you sure you don't want a mock round first to practice?"

Vegeta moved forward with an aura of annoyance. He had held one of the balls in his hand and felt its weight. Same with the cue stick. With his usual arrogance, he balanced the stick perfectly in his hands and gave the first red ball a perfect hit, rolling it to the nearest pocket in a perfectly straight line.

"Asshole," Bulma muttered through her teeth. He glanced sideways at her with a ridiculous nonchalant smirk.

Bulma stuck her tongue out at him.

She took her first shot and missed the pocket by less than an inch. Vegeta's mocking demeanor served to annoy her more. But as the rounds progressed, Vegeta's accurate attempts proved not to be enough.

He sunk one more ball before she could successfully hit her first pocket. But then, his three following attempts hit the corners of the table pockets. In each one of those times, the ball motioned like they were about to get in only to go back out. In the meantime, Bulma successfully landed three in a row.

Immediately after he was done with his third, tying the game, she successfully landed her fourth, much to his dismay.

"Ugh," Vegeta grunted, holding the cue stick with a grip so tight that it accidentally snapped in half.

"Hey! That was my favorite stick," she couldn't miss out on the opportunity to tease him. "I guess weaklings do get to beat strong, might Saiyans, huh? All it takes is a little accuracy."

"You got lucky," he snorted, proudly defying her words.

"Not yet, actually," she bit her bottom lip provocatively, but he didn't seem to get the reference that time either.

Bulma took two steps in his direction, ready to say she wanted to collect her debt. She must have been seriously out of her mind to even suggest those terms in a bet. After all, she didn't even like the guy… right?

"I want a rematch," Vegeta demanded. "Best of three?"

"No," Bulma stealthily moved in his direction. She could feel some kind of vibration coming from his body, an energy so strong that it was impossible to ignore. He remained expressionless as she got closer and closer, but Bulma could feel a change to his breathing, and that made her intimately smile. She had long ago realized and accepted that she was physically attracted to him. And now, she was just getting proof that he wasn't as immune to her as he liked to pretend. "I won. I want my prize."

"Fine," he exhaled through his nose impatiently. Vegeta absolutely hated to lose but he was too proud not to keep his word. "You can do the breath stealing thing but make it quick."

"Oh, you bet I am going to leave you breathless" Bulma stared intensely into his eyes and slightly tilted her head back.

Vegeta didn't look away. Light blue clashed with intense black and suddenly it was like an electric charge was locking them together, preventing either of them from breaking eye contact or stepping back.

"Put your hands on my waist," Bulma said in a low voice.

"Why?" He asked, mesmerized by her eyes. That woman was a pestering brat, he didn't recall ever meeting someone as annoying or as bossy… She infuriated him.

But damn, she was amazing to look at. Vegeta felt like he was robbed of any rational capacity when she stood so close to him, and he hated himself for it.

"Just do it," she reached out to grab his wrists.

Bulma didn't notice the little gasp that escaped her lips as she felt his skin with her palms. She had never touched him before, so Bulma didn't imagine it would send a heatwave through her system that went straight into her lower belly.

Vegeta was done training for the day, so he didn't have his gloves on. His body radiated warmth, but it wasn't uncomfortable to the touch as when someone had a fever. On the contrary. It was soothing, pleasant.

Addictive.

Vegeta allowed her to touch him, mesmerized by his discoveries and the strange throbbing in his veins that was making him restless. Bulma placed his hands on her sides and for the first time, he looked away from her gaze, diverting his eyes to her waist.

She was slim and had dainty hands. How could someone so ridiculously flimsy cause such powerful reactions? She hadn't done her earthling thing to him yet but he was already feeling like the air was compressed around them.

"I am going to kiss you now," Bulma had planned to touch his shoulders only, but she couldn't help the urge to run her trembling hands through the whole extension of his arms up to his chest. Her palms traced each sculpted slope of his masculine figure before her fingers tightly grasped the fabric of his collar to pull him closer.

Bulma took a small step forward. Their faces were so close now that if she moved an inch, their noses would touch. The last thing Bulma thought about before letting go completely was just how dangerous and destructive he could be. That could turn out to be a bad bargain for her…

"Don't bite," her voice was throaty as she finally closed her eyes.

"I won't." Vegeta's reply was the last rational thought in his mind before he lowered his head to traverse perhaps the only physical limit he had never really tested.

—-

Glad you made it here! I would love to hear your thoughts/suggestions/constructive criticism :)