Spar

Mrs. Brief quietly watched her two children as they ate their lunch. She sighed happily, thinking to herself how wonderful it was to have love in the air. It was unmistakable the way they would steal short glances at each other, playfully nudge each other, steal food from each other's plates, tease each other relentlessly, and blush and avert their eyes when they accidentally made eye contact. Well, Vegeta didn't blush so much, but that wasn't the point. In Mrs. Brief's opinion, it was about time they started falling for each other. It only took them a year and a half to realize they were a perfect match. Still, it seemed the most they were doing was flirting, which also meant they hadn't moved anywhere in their relationship. Maybe they needed a gentle push in the right direction.

She already considered Vegeta to be a son, so giving him the official title of son-in-law was by no means a stretch. Nothing would make her happier than to see them together, hopefully giving her many beautiful grandbabies. They weren't getting any younger; if they hoped to have children they needed to get going soon. When Bulma stood up and took her plate to the sink, Mrs. Brief kept watching Vegeta, noting how his eyes followed her as she crossed the room. As soon as she left the kitchen to go back to her laboratory, Vegeta's gaze turned back to his plate, but his tail uncoiled from his waist and stretched out across Bulma's chair, the tip curling and beating against it contentedly.

The blonde woman giggled as she thought about how much nicer both of them looked when they came to the table now. Bulma had never really cared much about her appearance when she worked at home, but now she wore alluring clothes every day, often showing an almost obscene amount of cleavage or bare legs. Vegeta, on the other hand, never showed up to a meal covered in bleeding cuts and sweat anymore, always sure to have himself cleaned up. And, more often than not, he didn't enter the kitchen with a shirt. Did they really think they had to work so hard to gain attention? Vegeta was already enchanted by Bulma, and she was enraptured by him.

For weeks these little interactions had been going on between the two lovebirds, and still they didn't seem to realize their feelings were reciprocal. Mrs. Brief shook her head. She knew she wasn't the brightest crayon in the box, but even she could see that they were attracted to each other. They were so similar they could either get along or go head-to-head with passionate fury, but they were also so different they complemented each other perfectly. If only they would open their eyes and see the obvious. Everyone else saw it, even her husband, one of the most oblivious men in the world when it came to recognizing the feelings of others, even his own family members. Every morning at breakfast he would quietly chuckle, raising his newspaper to hide his amusement as they flirted shamelessly. And the other saiyans, they seemed to go out of their way to make sure Bulma and Vegeta had plenty of time alone, obviously hoping that by being together they would realize their mutual feelings. So far, though, they hadn't.

When Vegeta finished his lunch, Mrs. Brief stood up and took his dirty dishes to the sink to wash later. "Are you ready to go to the store, honey?"

Vegeta nodded, standing up. "Hn."

"Okay, let me just grab my purse and we can go," she said as she pranced out of the kitchen. Vegeta followed closely behind her, waiting for her to get her purse from the hall closet, and went outside with her to the driveway where she threw her car capsule on the ground. Vegeta went around to the passenger side and got in, buckling his seatbelt while Mrs. Brief turned on the engine and started backing out of the driveway.

Mrs. Brief smiled as she started the daily drive to the grocery store. "Isn't that dress Bulma has on today just darling?"

Vegeta quirked an eyebrow. He didn't want to let on that he noticed it, but it was hard not to. Bulma's dress was bluer than sapphire, the color making her hair and eyes look even bluer than usual. The flowing skirt only went halfway down her thighs, and the front was a low V-neck, giving him a clear view of her ample cleavage. The back dipped even lower, down to the middle of her back. And the tight fit around her slender waist was rather appealing. He shrugged one shoulder and turned to look out the window. "Hn."

In the grocery store, Mrs. Brief headed for aisle five and started dumping groceries into the cart while Vegeta walked alongside her, reaching items on the top shelf when she needed them. He stopped with her when she paused, tapping her finger against her chin as she studied the many varieties of sports drinks. "Vegeta, dear, do you remember which one Bulma liked the best last week? I tried a few new ones and now I can't remember."

The saiyan reached over and grabbed a bottle of strawberry-kiwi flavored sports drink and handed it to Mrs. Brief. "This one."

"Oh, that's right." Mrs. Brief giggled quietly as she put a few more jars in the cart. "I'm so glad you remember what she likes."

Vegeta released his breath slowly, looking away from his surrogate mother. Of course he remembered what Bulma liked. He remembered everything about her, from the way she would chew her thumbnail when she was concentrating to the way her ki would fluctuate slightly when he passed her closely in the hall. He had her scent memorized and he could practically hear her laugh when he thought about it.

Of course Mrs. Brief knew her daughter's favorite flavor. As long as it had strawberry in it, it was sure to be Bulma's preference, but she wanted to see how much Vegeta had been paying attention, not only for her benefit, but hopefully to make him realize he knew Bulma quite well in case that was the reason he was hesitating in pushing their relationship further. Mrs. Brief didn't pester him too much more through their shopping trip aside from asking him to reach things for her when she couldn't get them. All the while she hummed to herself as she moved down aisles five and six of the grocery store.

"Vegeta, sweetie," she said as she pushed her cart across the parking lot to the car, "You seem awfully distracted today. Is there something bothering you?"

He shook his head, not wanting to tell her that the only thing on his mind was Bulma when it should have been training, figuring out ways to grow stronger faster. He was running out of time before Frieza would come and it was starting to make him anxious. But that anxiety was totally eclipsed by his interest and pursuit of the blue-haired girl. No, not a girl. He smirked to himself as he imagined her luscious curves, the sway of her hips as she sashayed through the compound, the way she looked at him shyly over her shoulder, the way her full lips pouted when he teased her.

'Such sentimental foolishness!' he reprimanded himself. Still, he didn't mind too much. If she had managed to gain his attention so fully, why shouldn't his mind keep wandering back to her? Kami, he wanted her.

"You're sure you're okay?" Mrs. Brief asked once they were sitting in the car. "Your face looks flushed. You're not running a fever, are you?"

Vegeta shook his head again, mortified when he felt sweat dripping down his temple. He wiped it away and kept his eyes on the road ahead, willing his mind to take a turn away from Bulma into safer territory. The last thing he needed was his body giving away his thoughts. That would be far too humiliating.

…

Bulma ducked under Nappa's swinging fist and threw two small balls of ki at his chest. The small explosion that followed blasted her away, making her tumble across the ground a few yards before finally coming to a halt upside down. Groaning, she turned over onto her butt and pushed her hair out of her eyes. Of course Nappa wasn't even fazed by her attacks, but the clothes he was wearing weren't so tough. There was a smoldering hole in the front of his shirt. She smirked as she stood up, dusting herself off.

"How was that?"

"Better," her saiyan sensei told her, "But not good enough. If I'd been trying, I could have easily blocked that attack and it wouldn't have done any damage. You're going to have to be faster and more cunning to survive a fight against Frieza's soldiers."

The blue-haired fighter nodded, sighing quietly as she moved back into her fighting stance to try again. She had gotten even stronger since she finally mastered her ki, but it still wasn't enough. She was still weaker than the majority of the tyrant's army and she needed to be much stronger so her safety wouldn't be a worry and a distraction to Vegeta. Besides, she wouldn't mind taking a few of them out as her own revenge against Frieza for all the things he had done to the saiyan prince. Her power level was now around 750, but she wouldn't be happy until she at least reached 1000, assuming she could. Every day she pushed herself to her limit and beyond during her training session with Nappa, but she felt like her power was growing slowly compared to everyone else.

"Again."

Bulma nodded, then rushed forward and ducked under Nappa's fist, then rolled between his legs and jumped to her feet behind him, firing two ki blasts at his back. This time, she prepared herself for the shockwave and remained grounded, holding her arms in front of her face to protect her eyes.

"Better," Nappa grunted. He turned around, pulling off his shirt. It was mostly burned off anyway, so it made little difference. "Again."

They were still training when Vegeta and Mrs. Brief got home from shopping. After helping her bring the groceries inside, Vegeta headed out back to train more. By then he was accustomed to seeing Bulma training with Nappa since they made no effort to hide it anymore, but when he saw them together, he stopped in his tracks, watching for a minute. At first he was interested in seeing how much she had progressed in her training, but as he watched he felt a surge of jealousy coursing through him. Growling, he approached them, his tail bristled and lashing behind him.

Bulma looked over when she saw him coming and waved before ducking under another punch and striking Nappa in the gut with a quick ki blast. Training without being allowed to use punches and kicks was difficult and frustrating, but Nappa assured her it was the best way to force her to learn to use ki at close range. Anybody could throw a ki attack from a hundred yards, he said, but it took a great degree of skill to use ki attacks in the middle of hand-to-hand combat. She rolled out of the way of a retaliating kick and jumped high in the air, raining a short barrage of ki attacks down on the large saiyan.

Vegeta stopped a safe distance away, not yet sure if he wanted to interfere. Bulma was performing exceptionally well given her strength; in the end, curiosity won out over his anger as he watched her battling his old bodyguard. Nappa was holding back, obviously, but she was doing well against him. Her fighting skills only made her more attractive. It was fitting that the Prince of all Saiyans should have a mate capable of handling herself well in battle. He wanted someone strong, someone who could stand by his side as he fought. She would never be as strong as him, not even close, but she was becoming an exceptional fighter in her own right.

When they paused in their training for a short break, Vegeta walked over, strategically placing himself between Nappa and Bulma, turned so he could see both of them. He couldn't quite place what was bothering him so much about their training. Nappa wasn't interested in her as a mate, and as far as he knew, she had no attraction to the old saiyan. Why, then, did he want to separate them? He looked back and forth between them, finally concluding it was because of their attire. Nappa wasn't wearing a shirt and Bulma was wearing a tight-fitting tank top and very tight, very short shorts. He swallowed hard when his eyes moved over her long, shapely legs.

"Something the matter, 'Geta?" she asked after taking a long drink of water.

He stared at her a moment longer before answering, "No, nothing. Has Nappa taught you to suppress your ki yet?"

She shrugged and took another drink of water. Wiping her mouth, she replied, "We're working on it. It's basically the opposite of raising your ki, right? I'm getting better at it, but so far I can't push it below 125."

Vegeta nodded, not really concerned about the level she could push her ki down to. He felt it all the time; he couldn't make himself stop sensing her no matter how far away she was. So he already knew the progress she was making and knew that it wouldn't be long before she could push it down to a negligible level. "And don't call me that."

"What, 'Geta?" she asked, smirking as she saw the tip of his tail flick with irritation.

"Stupid woman."

Bulma gaped at him. "Did you call me woman?" She huffed indignantly as she put her water bottle down on the ground and brushed some stray hairs away from her face. "Well, anyway, I need to keep training, 'Geta. I'm getting a lot better at using my ki. Maybe I'll be able to kill some of Frieza's soldiers, you think?"

Vegeta raised an eyebrow slowly, wondering why she would want to kill anyone. As far as he knew, she never entertained the idea of killing before, even if it was Frieza's army. Maybe she would beat them up, knock them out, but never kill. It was so unlike her to want blood on her hands. "I hope you won't have to," was his answer.

"Yeah, well, I'll do what I have to, right?" She gave him a half smile and turned to Nappa, who was waiting for them to finish talking so they could resume training. "You better get back to training too. I want you to beat that bastard."

Chuckling to himself, Vegeta turned and started walking over to the gravity room. "Don't worry, he'll die by my hand."

Bulma watched him until he disappeared inside the gravity room, not realizing Nappa was waiting for her to begin another spar. When she turned to face him again, she saw that he had a very knowing expression, but what he knew she didn't know. She frowned a little. "What?"

"You love him."

The blue-haired woman glanced over again when she heard the gravity simulator start up. Nervously, she rubbed the back of her neck as she faced Nappa once more. "I don't know what you're talking about."

He rolled his eyes as he sank into his fighting stance. "Don't you? Then explain why you're always working so hard to gain his attention, why you have this sudden spike in interest in learning to use ki, and why you can't take your eyes off him whenever he's around."

"Shut up, Nappa! What do you know about love anyway?" She wiped the sweat off her face, hoping she could take her blush away with it.

"You may think saiyans didn't know anything about this love thing, but you're wrong." He jumped out of the way when she threw several ki blasts in close succession at him. He landed in a low crouch, ducking under more ki attacks. "They may not have called it love," he explained, leaping away from a rather large ki ball, "but they loved. And I can see that you love Vegeta."

Bulma growled with frustration when she couldn't hit her large moving target. "So, what difference does that make? Even if I do love him, he doesn't love me, so it doesn't matter."

Nappa batted a few orbs of ki away, running a circuit around the yard while she tried to hit him. "So what, you're just not going to tell him?" He was practically boiling over with frustration when she told him she didn't think Vegeta loved her. Of course he did, but damnit, he wasn't allowed to tell Bulma about Vegeta's true feelings! Nappa ducked under a particularly large ki blast and covered his head as flying debris cascaded over him.

"Why would I?" Bulma asked bitterly through her panting. "He'd laugh at me."

'You really are blind!' Nappa thought, smacking his forehead with the palm of his hand as he rose to his feet. Both of them were blind. Trying to rein in his exasperation and stop himself from telling the prince's secret, he changed the subject. "You're getting good at this. A lot of your attacks are peaking around 1000."

"Really?" Bulma completely forgot her irritation, thrilled that she had gotten so strong.

The bald saiyan nodded as he walked back over to her. "You've learned well to fight against me, but I think it would do you good to spar with someone else to test your skills."

"Like who?"

"I don't know," Nappa said, looking over at the gravity room. "Maybe someone smaller and quicker than me."

Bulma followed his gaze, her jaw going lax when she realized what he was implying. "Oh, no. No, no, no, no. There's no way I could spar with Vegeta. He would pulverize me!"

Nappa shrugged. "I don't think so. He's quite capable of holding back when he wants to."

"Look, I don't have a death wish. And even if I did, I don't want to look weak to him. He already thinks I am…" She trailed off, punctuating her fears with a sigh.

"I think he'd actually be impressed, though he might not say it." Nappa turned away from the gravity room and crossed his arms over his chest. "He knows where you started and your natural abilities. I think he would respect you more if you challenged him to a spar. But what do I know? I've only been his bodyguard his whole life."

Bulma playfully punched his arm as she walked past him to go inside. "Thanks for the tip, big guy. I'll think about it, but if I'm going to spar with him I think I need to rest first. Your training wore me out."

He grunted and moved into the starting position of his kata.

"Oh, and Nappa," she called over to him once she reached the door. "Don't tell him, okay?"

Muttering curses under his breath, Nappa nodded. These two were absolutely impossible. If they would stop worrying about rejection they might open their eyes to see their feelings were mutual. But now he was bound from both ends not to tell their feelings. With more gusto than usual, he threw himself into his training, hoping to work off some of his frustration.

'Would he even be willing to spar with me?' Bulma wondered as she went into her bathroom to take a quick shower. She stripped off her clothes and stepped into the shower, sighing contentedly as the warm water erased the aches in her muscles and washed away the sweat and dirt clinging to her skin. 'Nappa wouldn't suggest it if he didn't think Vegeta would agree, would he?'

Figuring all that could happen was Vegeta killing her – or worse, laughing at her – she decided she would take a chance and challenge him to a spar after dinner. That matter settled in her mind, she got out of the shower and dried off, wrapping herself in her towel before going back to her bedroom. She sat on the edge of her bed, then lay down. 'A nap might be a good idea. I want to be at the top of my game tonight.' She crawled to the center of her bed and pulled her covers over her towel-clad body and soon drifted off to sleep.

Bulma was jolted awake when she heard loud pounding on the door of her bedroom. She sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, and looked at the clock on her nightstand. 6:23PM. There was another round of knocking on the door. "Woman! Wake the hell up!"

"Vegeta?" she squeaked. He must have taken that as an invitation in because he threw the door open and strode in. Bulma yanked her covers up over her chest, horrified that he would barge into her room like this. "What are you doing?"

"Your mother sent me to get you up for dinner. So get up." Vegeta crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her, daring her to argue with him. He was hungry and wasn't going to be kept from eating because of her laziness.

"Oh, right." Bulma yawned and scooted to the edge of the bed. "Well, I'm up, so you can go downstairs now. I'll be down in a minute."

"No, you will come now." He took a step toward her menacingly, the threat to pick her up and carry her to the kitchen clear.

"Don't touch me!" she shouted. "Kami, I'm not dressed! I said I'll be down in a minute."

Vegeta froze as his more animalistic urges clawed at him from the inside, egging on his curiosity to pull her covers away and see if what she said was true. Quickly regaining control of himself, he turned away and left her room. "One minute or I'm going to drag you down there."

Bulma sighed with relief when she heard her door slam shut. That was a close one. Good thing it was dark in her room or he would have seen the blush that was burning across her face. "How embarrassing would that have been?" she muttered as she got out of bed and grabbed panties, a sports bra, a pair of shorts, and a tank top out of her dresser. She dressed fast and ran out of her room to go down to eat, not wanting Vegeta to have to carry her like a child again.

"Sorry," she said as soon as she burst into the kitchen. "I definitely didn't mean to take a nap that long."

"That's all right, dear," Mrs. Brief said as she started serving the food. "We know you've been needing to catch up on sleep."

"Yeah." Bulma sank into her seat and smacked Vegeta's arm. "And don't ever come into my room unless I say you can."

Vegeta smirked devilishly. "I'm pretty sure 'Vegeta' means 'come in.'"

"Wrong." She stuck her tongue out at him and yelped, nearly falling out of her chair when he snapped his teeth at her.

"Jerk."

"Brat." The saiyan prince snickered when she pouted. Really all she was doing was making him want to bite her lip, but he dismissed that thought and instead focused on his meal.

Though she was very hungry, Bulma limited herself to a light dinner, not wanting to get cramps when she went to spar with Vegeta. She finished a long time before him, but stayed sitting for a while chatting with her parents. The longer she waited the more nervous she became. Afraid he could smell it on her, or maybe hear her fast heartbeat, Bulma excused herself and went to her laboratory to work for a while. As she sat at her computer playing solitaire, she had to keep wiping the palms of her hands on her shorts to dry them. She didn't want to see desperate for his attention, so she would wait a while before going to ask him to spar. Soon she found herself checking the clock every few minutes until finally it was 8:00PM. Surely enough time had passed that he would have been training for a while.

Taking a deep, calming breath, Bulma shut down her computer and rose from her chair, ready to go challenge the saiyan prince. Practically running up the stairs out of her lab, she headed to the gravity room. The fear of rejection was no longer there, just the intense excitement of getting to test her skills against Vegeta, to prove to him that she wasn't weak, that she was worthy of his affections. Outside, she saw Nappa doing some light training with Raditz, but she didn't pay them much mind as she hurried over to the gravity room and started pounding on the door with both fists.

Each second that passed before the door opened felt like an eternity to her. She was sure she was going to go into cardiac arrest or have a stroke as she waited, straining her ears to hear what was going on inside. Finally, the gravity simulator powered down and a short while later the door opened. Vegeta stood there with a towel draped over his shoulders, arms crossed over his broad chest, and scowl on his face.

Vegeta looked her up and down a few times before asking, "What do you want?"

Bulma grinned sheepishly and clenched her hands into fists at her sides. "I – I came to challenge you to a spar, 'Geta."

His expression betrayed no emotions until his eyebrow slowly rose. "Why would you want to spar with me, woman? I could kill you."

"I know that," she said, "But I know you won't. You can hold back. C'mon, afraid you can't take me? Nappa said I should try sparring other people. You know, to sharpen my skills. So, I'm asking you to spar with me."

Vegeta's scowl turned to Nappa, who had paused in his training to watch the exchange between him and Bulma. "Why the hell would you tell her to spar with me?"

He could hear Nappa's laugh from across the yard. "Suppress your power. She'll surprise you, I promise. She's tough."

"You're an ass."

"Maybe, but you aren't going to back down from a fight with a girl, are you?"

"I hate you." Vegeta closed off the mental link, hesitating as he tried to decide if he should spar with Bulma or not. He didn't want to back out of a challenge, but he was afraid of hurting her. What if he lost control? He frowned as he stepped aside, allowing her entrance.

"Don't worry," she teased. "If you accidentally kill me you can wish me back with the dragon balls."

"You're forgetting one thing," he quipped, "I plan to use the dragon balls as soon as they're recharged so I can kill Frieza."

She was unfazed. "Yeah, as if you'll need them. You'll be strong enough without any stupid wish." Turning away from him, she started stretching.

He decided not to answer that, preferring not to tell her he was afraid he would never be strong enough to defeat the lizard. He closed the door to the gravity room and walked to the center, waiting for her to finish her warm-up.

"Damn it's hot in here," Bulma said, fanning her face with her hand. "Don't you ever use the air conditioner?"

Vegeta shrugged. "I work best in high temperatures. Saiyans are a desert species."

"Well, it's definitely not working for me." Bulma sighed, then smirked mischievously as she pulled her shirt off, throwing it to the side of the room.

"What the hell are you doing?" he choked out.

"Evening the playing field."

The saiyan was pretty sure that counted as an unfair distraction, but he didn't tell her so. He forced himself to keep his gaze above her shoulders and lowered himself into his fighting stance to begin, pushing his ki down to her level. "Ready, woman?"

"You bet." Bulma spread her legs and raised her arms defensively, ready to begin their spar. She jumped back, crossing her arms over her chest when Vegeta suddenly appeared in front of her, aiming a punch at her chest. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she blocked a fist heading for her gut and caught the other aimed at her face.

"Not bad," he taunted as he pulled his hand free. A second later, he disappeared.

Bulma was about to make a snide retort, then screeched when a ki blast came hurtling toward her from the ceiling. "Not fair! I can't fly!"

"You'll have to learn how to fight someone who can," he responded, his voice seeming to come from everywhere at once.

The blue-haired fighter turned in circles, trying to catch a glimpse of her saiyan opponent, but he was nowhere to be seen. How ridiculous, the room wasn't that large and there weren't many places for him to hide. He had to be moving around so fast she couldn't see him. How, then, was she supposed to catch him? When she felt the air move behind her, she whirled around and struck at Vegeta, who had finally appeared. But he caught her fist and jabbed her between her ribs.

Not letting that discourage her, Bulma kicked at him with her left leg, irritated when he blocked with his right knee. Immediately she dropped to the floor and swept his left leg, flooring him. As soon as he started falling she shot a small ki blast at his chest and jumped over him, kicking at his head before he could recover. But her foot moved through an afterimage, making her nearly lose her balance.

She flew forward when Vegeta kicked her back, making her cry out in pain before her body slammed against the wall. Turning around, she searched the room for her opponent, but he was gone again. Growling, she cautiously moved out to the middle of the room, ducking when she felt the air moving near her head. She barely missing being hit by a right hook. Before he could retract his arm, Bulma caught it and twisted it, trying to force him into submission.

"How's that, 'Geta?" she snarled, wrenching his arm to the side.

He growled a little, then kicked her leg, making her lose her grip enough for him to break free from her hold. Bulma quickly recovered, swinging her body around in a roundhouse kick that he jumped over. While still in the air, he kicked her shoulder, numbing her arm. She screamed as she staggered away from him, shaking feeling back into her arm. Nearly blinded by anger, Bulma ran forward and started punching Vegeta with every bit of strength and speed she had in her body. He was infuriatingly fast, easily dodging every one of her blows until finally he let one hit. While he was unfazed, she jumped back, hissing in pain as a tingling sensation exploded through her hand.

Ignoring her pain, she started gathering ki in both hands, then threw it at the prince, chasing him around the room until she was surrounded by explosions. Panting, she hardly had the energy it took to raise her arm to block a punch from Vegeta, but somehow she managed. She struck back with her left leg, jabbing her knee into his gut, then crashed her fists down on his back when he doubled over. When he landed on the floor, she kicked his ribs as hard as she could, sending him rolling across the room.

While she waited for him to get back up, she sank into her defensive stance, glaring at him as she tried to regain her breath. She groaned when he stood up, wiping a bit of saliva from the corner of his mouth, and gave her that cocky smirk she both loved and hated. He cracked his neck from side to side before resuming his starting position. "Not bad, woman, but you'll have to do better than that if you want to beat me."

Not letting him get the first move in this time, Bulma rushed forward, feinting a right hook and catching him with a kick to the ribs from her left leg. As soon as her leg connected with his solid body, she pulled her leg back and jumped high above him, forming a powerful orb of ki in her hands to throw down on him. But by the time the ki left her hands, he had moved behind her and smacked her to the floor.

She rolled over and sat up, looking around for the saiyan. Then, suddenly, he was in front of her. When she extended her hands in front of her to blast him away with ki, he gripped her wrists, effectively cutting off the flow of her ki with his own. "You lose, woman."

Trying to pull her hands free, she growled, "You haven't won yet, Vegeta."

Before she knew what he was doing he had her pinned down on the floor, her hands held above her head and his legs straddling her waist, making it impossible to use her legs against him. "Vegeta? What are you doing?"

He bent forward, sniffing her hair. "Concede."

"What? You want me to give up? No way!" Bulma struggled under him, but she couldn't break free. She couldn't even make him budge an inch. He was too heavy, too strong.

He chuckled, moving his left hand to her face, stroking her cheek with his thumb. The fury in her eyes was almost too much for him to handle; he was losing control of himself, and having her in such a compromising position was not helping him keep a clear head. "I'll hold you here until you say the word."

Bulma's eyes flickered from his hand to his eyes. The longer she looked at them, the more she felt as if she was falling into a deep black abyss, free-falling into a bottomless pit. It terrified her, but at the same time it fascinated her. Her breath hitched in her throat when he moved even closer. She could feel his breath fanning lightly against her face. Unconsciously she drew her tongue across her lips. "Vegeta…"

"What, woman?"

"I…" She swallowed, hardly able to make her voice work. But what did she need her voice for? He was so close. Closing her eyes, she lifted her head, pressing her lips against his. She gasped when he responded in kind, viciously attacking her lips with his own, drawing her bottom lip into his mouth, sinking his teeth into it. She moaned when she tasted her own coppery blood, parting her lips to allow his tongue entrance. He tangled his free hand in her hair, pulling it free from its ponytail. With fevered passion he kissed her, bruising her lips with his forcefulness, chewing her soft lips until they were swollen. Bulma sighed as he pushed his tongue into her mouth, gliding over her teeth, tasting her sweetness.

"Please…Vegeta," she panted, turning her head to the side to break the kiss. He paused, waiting for her to go on, begging her in his mind not to push him away. She took a few deep breaths, then turned back to him. "I concede. Fuck yes, I concede."

Vegeta smirked as he released her hands, then crushed his lips against hers again. He hardly noticed as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him closer. All he knew was her taste, the feel of her lips, the elation of finally claiming her. Both hands free now, he moved back, never breaking their kiss, and pulled her to sit up.

Bulma shifted so she was kneeling, leaning against him for support. Feeling her body pressed against his chest was almost more than he could stand. He needed to feel more of her. Roughly his hands moved over her body, gripping her hips, then sliding up her sides, cupping her supple breasts. She mewled as he touched her, growing more aroused by the second until she was burning with desire. She had no idea that Vegeta could smell her arousal, that it was intoxicating him, making him lose himself to instinct.

Somehow, Vegeta managed to pull himself away. Bulma looked at him through half-lidded eyes as if in a daze, wondering if it was just her imagination when his eyes appeared even darker than before, his pupils dilated. "What's wrong?"

He shook his head. "Nothing."

"Oh," she breathed, "Does this mean you love me then?"

Vegeta pulled her closer, wrapping his tail possessively around her thigh. He kissed and nipped along her jaw and down her neck. "I want you as my mate."

"Mate? What does that mean? Like a girlfriend?"

"No, you foolish woman," he purred. "I mean for life."

"Oh, I see." Bulma shrugged and kissed his cheek. "Sure, why not?"

He chuckled as he gently bit her lips, initiating another mind-blowing kiss. He was amused at how lightly she took it and how quickly she agreed. She really had no idea what she was getting herself into, but he was willing to let her discover that as time went by. She belonged to him now, and he was never going to let her go. His purr intensified when she wrapped her legs around his waist. Yes, he thought as he lay down on top of her, further deepening their kiss, he had chosen the best mate the universe could offer. For once, fate was on his side.

A/N: I know Raditz hasn't been seen much in recent chapters, but he's not really doing anything other than training, so there's not much to say about him. He'll be back more when the action starts. And that'll be starting soon, really. I finally finished chapter 66 but it's in need of serious revision before I can go on to 67. Hoping this doesn't take too long... I really like having more chapters written ahead of my updating than this. I know I updated a few hours later than usual, but sleep schedule's been off this week. Whereas I was going to bed between 7 and 8 in the morning, I now can't stay awake later than 9PM. Two days ago I went to bed at 7:30... What the heck? Anyway, this has nothing to do with my story or writing, but I may have convinced my parents to get me a bulldog for my graduation/birthday present and I'm going to see the puppy today. So, wish me luck! Ha :D

Beta'd by lilpumpkingirl

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