Stolen Hearts Chapter Fifteen
Vegeta stood alone on the mountaintop. It seemed you could see everything from the outlook, but he couldn't find one thing to fill the void inside or quell his turmoil. He was trying to find a way to forget that damnable name. Bulma.
She made him think and feel things he did not wish to think and feel, and it angered him to a point of near madness.
Now the trouble with trying to make yourself stupider then you actually are is that you often succeed. He had convinced himself that what her felt was no more then a passing strangeness that was a side effect of being so isolated. Yes he longed for her but any warm blooded man would. The fact stood that she was the Fey Princess and anything to do with her would be utter and complete folly if nothing else. She should have only contempt for him and visa versa, right? That was they way things were.
'Then why didn't you just let the Trolls finish the job? Why didn't you just off her to begin with? Why did you put yourself through the turmoil of rescuing the bitch like some god damn knight in shinning armor? That's not you. You don't know how to feel. That part of you died a long time ago,' Vegeta told himself bitterly.
'What have you gotten yourself into Vegeta,' he sighed, wondering what he could steal, what treasure would make the sky turn blue again, so he could feel alive, or at least feel numb like he used to. She had torn his worn apart, and his mind was reeling from it.
How? She couldn't possibly be the answer could she? He had been stripped of everything except the flesh that bleeds; he had nothing to offer her. Her life was cold and dark and yet she was unafraid, he saw that in her eyes. She did not need him; he would only make things worse for her. That must be apparent to her and she probably had already resumed her life without wasting another though on the surly Elf that was pathetically consumed against his will. He was losing whatever grip he had...
Hope was falling away. Everything remained the same, yet nothing was the same. She had robbed him of whatever self-sustenance and foundation he had achieved over the years as easily as counting to three, and she probably didn't even know nor care. He had always been good at masking his feelings, burying them, but now…… He should be embarrassed at his weakness, and he was.
He was sorely disgraced at the fact that he could not stop the feeling, and it drew him into self loathing. His hardness was all he had, and now even that was gone.
Now he had silly feelings about how she had burst into his life like the music of angels, the light of the sun, and his life seemed to stop as if something was over and something had scarcely begun. And it was wrong in every way. He should not and would not care! He had gone this long without it and he could continue to do so!
It was easier said then done. No matter what detriment it had to his pride, he couldn't deny the feeling of being struck to the bone with breathless delight. He had never felt the way he did when he kissed her, and it was more addicting then the sweetest wine. The world was changed in just one burst of light, and what was right seemed wrong and what was wrong seemed right.
He felt his soul on fire! And now that she was gone he felt the loss of something indefinably precious, the loss of something he hadn't even known he'd valued until he had crushed it under his egotism.
And must he now begin to doubt, who never doubted all these years? His heart is stone and still it trembled, as the world he had known was lost in shadow. Was she from heaven or from hell? His brain ached with these unknown ideas as he returned to the dark in pursuit of relief and fugitive sleep, cursing his suddenly weak heart, that should be dead by now and giving him no more ailments.
Had he been pretending his whole life? He always thought he was cold, indifferent, and needed no one. Even when he was smiling it was clear he was angry at the world like a bomb ready to explode, but maybe it was just easier to be that way.
He had always known he was alone without anyone who cared if he lived or died, it was a horrible emptiness he couldn't escape. This is what made him able to battle with such fearsome abandon. Would the world remember him when he fell? Could it be his death would mean nothing at all? Was his life just one more lie?
These thoughts were pointless. All he could do was never sink so low as to let one tear fall. Never let them know the pain he suffered.
Why couldn't he hate her? Hate had never been abstract for him, but he realized his hatred had never been a reality, only a constant. He had little personal feeling against anybody and everybody. His attitude was more of malice at random, just a general anger all the time. It is dreadfully tiring to be angry and uncaring always.
At the beginning of this uncharacteristic feeling he had for her there had been restlessness, so that he had felt that if he only kept moving every moment there might be some hope of escape. Now his power to be busy was gone. He felt the frightful pang of hopeless love, and he was drained of effort. Even if he could accept his love there was no way in heaven or hell the Fey Princess would want anything to do with him. He was now only waiting to see if his heart would break or not.
He shuddered. Was it possible to feel so much and so little at the same time?
The forest was eerily quiet yet tranquil as night tightened its grip on the world. Unable to sleep Vegeta stood stoically looking upwards searching. When the day ends, the blazing sun relinquished the sky to the pinprick glimmerings of a multitude of cousins. Scattered like diamond chips about the cosmos, the stars looked deceptively serene to the earthbound observer. Each one was actually a creature of extraordinary violence hidden behind a beautiful appearance.
A soft sound caused Vegeta's eyes to slip downwards and his breath caught in his throat with a gasp.
In the glad below him Vegeta beheld the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. It put the stars to shame.
She stood all the more beautiful in the pearly light, in a clearing in the forest, where there was a wide sword of moonlit grass and the white rays shone full upon the trunks at the opposite side. She was still and silent and ethereal among the majestic white trunks, the stars shinning bright with approval in the velvet sky. The jewel he had given her let off radiant effervescence that glittered upon her features perfectly. She seemed to glow, her long pale hair flowing out protectively about her with a glorious sheen in the starlight. All was moonlit, all was silver, too beautiful to describe.
He moved wordlessly towards her, like a moth to a flame, not thinking, not breathing, just drawn by some inexplicable pull.
Her head spun towards him as he emerged from the shadows, eyes wide with a mixture of emotion.
"Vegeta."
It was a whisper, a prayer, a declaration contained within one word that echoed in his troubled mind. Her voice trembled with joy and all his unrest seemed irrelevant. She looked at him and the dam of tears broke, she sobbed so hard her ribs ached. Vegeta instinctively went to her side and wrapped his arms around her trying to soothe something he didn't understand. Bulma was lost and found in the same instant. No words were spoken no judgments were passed as each wondered if they should stay. Did they dare?
Bulma stood pouring out her miserable heart in tears, and Vegeta's stoic eyes watched. He almost wished he was brave enough to do the same. It took more strength to cry and admit defeat.
"Why are you doing this to me?" he said in a rather breathless voice, "I saved your life, isn't that enough? Won't you let me be?"
"That's right," she said after a long pause, subduing her tears and taking her time as if every moment she was at war with herself to reach some crucial decision, "You saved my life and now you are responsible for it. You must have saved it for a reason. You must have seen something that no one else has. That I haven't seen. Something worth saving? I would have let myself die, but you didn't. You opened the door...just give me a chance, maybe you'll see it again. Maybe you've been scared by the pain, but I'm not like the others, I've been scarred too."
"I know," she continued in a breaking voice when he remained silent, his face wreathed in shadow making it impossible to determine his reaction to her request, "I know it's too much too expect, but its not too much to ask. I just...don't know how to stop feeling this way."
Silence again lingered in the air with a wild tension. Vegeta's heart raced from self control as he tried helplessly to subdue the feelings he thought they shouldn't have, that were never meant for people like them. Would you not feel anxious if you found a large pile of gold that appeared to be yours for the taking, would you not doubt?
They both took in sharp breaths, for luck.
The love was real but disguised, could it be possible? Was she really here in his arms crying to be his? Was this some strange hallucination from his lack of sleep? He felt her scorching heat against him and knew she was really there, as mind blowing as it was.
He couldn't deny that the way he felt about her made him long to be fair, that he could be what she needed, not just a hopeless distraction that would hurt her in the end.
She let out a long breath full of sadness, resignation, even dread. Her face was dejected, tormented, ill-looking. She looked at him in a pleading way, as if asking for an escape that she would never find. In her eyes there was a cry for help that he could not ignore, her young eyes were puzzled, saying: It is I, inside here, what have they done to me? Look at me! I am still here, in this prison. Help me out! Some distant part of her spirit was still alive and refused to submit.
And as their eyes finally met for the first time, in just that one look he knew that he was stuck. With one look he knew he had nothing to fear. He would do anything for her. He understood finding the place you were in an unbearable prison and the idea of something completely different is a haven. He was burned by the fever and scorched with desire.
'Heart, you bully, you punk, I'm wrecked,' he thought to himself, "I'm shocked stiff. And you? You still try to rule the world even though I have you, identified, locked in a cage where you will not leave alive, no matter how you hate it, or pound the walls. Brute, spy, I trusted you. Now you real and bawl in your cell, but I am deaf to you rages, your greed, your eloquent threats of worse things (knowing me) you could do. You scare me. I know I must let you out. We must reform, become one again and joy may come and make its test of us.'
The fist clenched around his heart wringing a gasp from his throat. When could he not love the pain of love? This had the strong clench of a mad man, this was gripping on the edge of unreason, but you could hear his hear breaking down, melting from it frozen prison. If this didn't matter then what did? It had never been easy, so why wish for it now? Was it worth the pain? Could he believe it was?
He plunged howling into the abyss.
Bulma thought she would go mad standing there so close to him, yet so far away. What kind of grave mistake had she made? How could she let herself trust a hope? She was a fool, how many times would she have to fall before she learned?
Just as she was about to flee in shame and despair, most likely to end up a meal for some ferocious nocturnal creature, he reached out and touched her cheek in the softest caress, as if to make sure she was real, and with just that simple movement she was more then satisfied.
"Are you sure?" he whispered.
There was hopeless hope mingling with pain that mirrored her own in the beautiful ebony eyes she was now allowed to see, sparkling like the night sky above. There was an edge of madness to them as well, but madness was needed if they were going to go through with this.
"Yes."
They were at a risk of more danger then they had ever faced before now that their hearts were open. One look, one word, was capable of shattering their souls for they were perched so precariously on the edge of a cliff. They were infinitely fragile when so exposed. They had not yet reached that plateau of safety and trust in each other, and had shrunk at the thought of what would become of them if they were wrong. If they failed.
Funny thing how it was not love or happiness or kindness in the others eyes that brought them so fervently together, but the pain and sadness they saw reflected. This was the grounds for their bond that entwined into a trustful abandon. There was no need to fear if the other feared the same. There was inevitability about their union that made it tempestuous and passionate for he could not deny her and she could never deny him.
They would be the glue that held the others soul together; for tears are harder to break then smiles. It might be a lost cause, but fate will unwind as it must.
Vegeta's reason, which he had not followed often anyway, left him completely, and without further thinking, only wanting to escape from this horrible, gnawing desire, he lowered himself slowly, closed his eyes and kissed Bulma's slightly opened lips with infinite tenderness. The feel of this touch shot through his body like a thousand butterflies and rendered his knees weak.
Not needing another word, they continued. Bodies pressed closely together, arms wrapped tightly, almost desperately, heads slanted instinctively to deepen the kiss. They kissed each other like they meant it. They knew that they meant it, and they soared through a world that was new, that was free, and it was more ecstasy to feel that passion returned then any could ever know.
Vegeta had never had so many thoughts and feelings flying through him at once, but above all of that he still felt the kiss burning on his lips and further within, where desire burned like an unholy flame. He lost himself in this feeling and the world around him blurred. Neither swam in the fog now, they reached out to grab hold of the sunlight and to be away in one rush, holding on to their heaven. There was a spring sweet rhythm dancing in Bulma's head and she slipped into her lover's hands.
"Kiss me, won't you kiss me again?" she murmured captivated, "I would sleep forever inside your mouth. I will wait for no one but you, spend this time with me, and share this smile. We have dreamed so much, and now it is here."
Bulma closed her eyes tightly as she surrendered to the delicious sensations that coursed through her body as Vegeta complied willingly, running his tongue over her lips before delving inside. Bulma moaned into their kiss and grabbed hold of him, pulling their bodies tightly together. They could feel the desire surging between them. She was drowning in a sea of tactile sensations. The fire that razed through her veins and her breathing quickened, lungs heaving, body quivering with need so intense that her eyes squeezed shut.
She had never felt so alive.
They gave themselves over to absolute pleasure, to swim the warm waters of the sins of the flesh, erotic nightmares beyond any measure, and sensual daydreams to cherish. They were wild and untamed things. Their hearts pumped and their blood sung. They had seen blue skies through the tears, and they realized they were safe at last.
Vegeta buried his face deeper into the fragrant dips and hollows behind Bulma's ear and down her jaw, never seeming to get enough of her. Hands roamed in slow, long strokes over heated skin, alternating between feather-light caresses and teasing fondles, exploring and exciting.
Bulma cried out softly and arched up, writhing and moaning, she noticed his hands on her breasts, first rubbing delicately, then hard, producing the most exciting feeling. As he continued his assault with his mouth, she thought ardently 'This must never stop.' Vegeta gazed down at her flushed visage, beguiled by the vision, savoring each strangled gasp. He was zealously bewitched.
Two bodies entwined in the inky darkness, slick and feverishly heated, wantonly writhing and arching, moving to a privately intimate carnal dance; where the beat and steps were determined not by the sensual strains of music, but by the flow and wash of sensations that coursed through them. Screams and cries rent the air as sweaty bodies moved in intimate harmony, perfectly matched, muscles flexing and shifting under glistening skin.
Bulma's world was narrowed down to the marvelous stimulations, and lava seemed to be blazing through her body. Blood thundered in her ears as the pressure within her increased in an ecstatic crescendo, her body writhing in a delectable tension never elicited before. She was so tantalizingly close... All coherent thoughts and any remaining doubt fled from her mind as she cried out.
Heartbeats and movements quickened as the dancers ascended the spiral stairs of hedonistic pleasure, bodies clenching and tightening in burning tension, vocal chords rippling with incoherent sobbing mews and cries that rose in intensity until both found the pure and utter bliss of release, contracting inexorably and stiffening with a howl.
They lay entwined, chests heaving in ragged breaths and limbs trembling ever so slightly. Soon, Bulma fell into a blissful slumber, breathing evenly, a sated purr resonating softly from her. Vegeta drew her lithe form to him, basking in the afterglow.
They lay under the stars of spring, no longer frosty and metallic, but glowing as if they had been newly washed and swollen with moisture. It was a lovely evening without a single cloud. The sky between the stars was of the fullest deepest velvet black. There was also the unfolding scent of benighted flowers and no less then five nightingales within earshot. It was too beautiful for him to sleep and he didn't want to wake to find her gone.
He looked up at the sky in a kind of trance. The stars seemed to be hovering as close as moths to his face, but at the same time they were so distant that the unutterable thoughts of space and eternity would baffle themselves in his sighing chest, and he would imagine himself to be falling upwards, higher and higher among them, never reaching, never ending, leaving and losing everything in the tranquil speed of space.
Soon he was asleep.
Another day, another destiny.
AN: So they got together indeed...but how can they stay that way, what does the future hold for these two, and how long will this new happiness last? Thanks for reading!