Chapter Nineteen:

Bulma didn't really understand what the prince was looking for this time. She'd been under the impression that they were here to figure out what to do with the planet and its people and report back to Planet Vegeta. There was a part of her that thought she would have to fight the prince about the destruction of a planet, much like Earth. But he seemed like something else was on his mind. And he was taking them to strange places for whatever information he needed.

Back alleys were one thing, seeing as all he needed to do was stand close to her and the people around them left her alone. But as he kept talking to different people, the areas they went to in the middle of the night became more and more crowded, and she made sure she was always in arm's length, in case she needed to grab at him for her own safety.

And yes… she felt unsafe. The people were very couple-oriented. Most of them were in pairs—women hanging on men, men hanging on men, and sometimes more than one at a time. But Bulma was grabbing the attention of the men and women that were alone. She wasn't falling over Vegeta like most of the women fell over the men they were with. In fact, he seemed to be ignoring her altogether… He only pulled her closer when she got scared and grabbed onto him, but he was quick to let go of her when her fright passed.

After the first man he spoke with, Vegeta got a name from the man, and now he seemed to be focusing on that for some reason. This didn't seem like the business he'd talked about at all. And now they were nearing a dimly lit building, with loud music and shouting coming from the inside. Bulma jumped as they got closer to the strange place and a loud shatter of glass could be heard from inside. She jumped again when Vegeta turned to her, and gave her attention for the first time all night. He looked straight at her and his eyes were hardened.

"Don't leave my side," he mouthed. And then he grabbed her wrist and continued dragging her along behind him, walking right for the front door of the loud building. One man stood outside, but he didn't even look at the two of them, much less try to stop them from entering the place.

As soon as she crossed the threshold, ever one of Bulma's senses were given a jolt. The sounds were high pitched enough to ring in her skull. The vibrations shook her down to her rib cage and she felt it in her heart. The smells filled her nose, for better or for worse. And the lights blinded her, a mix of bright yellow and a dull blue. The lights were moving, and so was the throng of people, huddled together inside. It was a big building, and yet it seemed small compared to the people inside.

She felt Vegeta's hand grip her wrist even tighter and she flinched, involuntarily pulling against him when she felt his thumb press a little too hard. Next thing she knew, he was whirling on her. Her eyes went wide and her face flushed when he put his face less than an inch from hers, but when he spoke, she realized he had to get that close in order for her to hear anything he said.

"I told you to stay with me!" he shouted, and she felt his cool breath hit her face. He raised his hand, still gripping her, and put it in her face.

"You were hurting me!" she shouted back.

He rolled his eyes at her but loosened his grip anyway. Then he pulled her closer and wrapped his arm around her waste instead. At first she thought they were trying to blend in, but he stepped behind her and started leading her forward, through the wiggling crowd. She thought they'd all been dancing to the music, but their movements didn't look like any dancing she'd ever seen before. They were just… moving. And not in step with the beat, either. People watched her as she was shoved past them. She kept apologizing but she knew none of the people around her could hear her low voice. She didn't even know where she was going, but eventually she was guided to the end of the crowd and she stood in front of a big curtain in front of a white wall. Vegeta kept shoving her forward, so she pushed the curtain aside and found a small hallway in the back. She turned her head around to look up at him.

"How did you know this was here?" she asked, but he didn't seem to hear her.

As they kept walking, the loudness behind them lessened, and she could finally hear herself think. The hall was barely wide enough to fit the two of them, so she turned and faced Vegeta when she felt more normal.

"Why are we here? What is this place?"

He looked down at her, obviously a bit irritated that she'd stopped walking forward. He raised his hand and pointed to a door on the left. "The last man told me I could find the information I need here."

"Information about what?" Bulma asked, tilting her head. "I still don't understand why we're here, Vegeta. You told me that this was about figuring out what to do with this planet, but you seem more interested in learning about this one guy. What was his name again? Brol—"

He clamped his hand over her mouth and sneered at her, as if speaking the name was like cursing out the king. She didn't understand what was going on at all, or if he'd been lying about their objective here. He shushed her before removing his hand from her mouth and she frowned.

"At least tell me why we're here then."

"I just did. I'm here for information."

"Information about… this guy?"

"It's none of your business."

Bulma crossed her arms and glared at the prince, but he didn't seem phased by her. Instead, he moved her to the side to slide past her and head towards the door. Bulma was tempted to walk away, just to see if he'd come after her, but she didn't want to start trouble for once. This place seemed like it could be dangerous if she wasn't careful. And not just the people. She didn't even know how to get out of the building, back through the large crowd and the lights and the pounding vibrations. She knew she was better off sucking up her questions for now and following the prince.

He didn't hold the door, and she caught it just before it shut in her face. Her frown stayed glued to her while she eyed up his back, hoping he could feel her glaring. But once she was inside the new room, she had to blink a few times. The lights were much brighter than outside, and it was very quiet. There was also a lot of smoke in this room, and it was decorated with strange, large posters along each of the four walls. A large round table was in the center and there were a number of chairs around it. Three burly-looking men sat at the table, and the each looked up at Vegeta when they walked in. She peered around him to get a better look, and two of the men glanced at her, as well. The third man just kept staring at Vegeta.

"You're not from around here, are ya?" the third man asked, a strange smile on his face.

"Tell me about Broly," Vegeta said, calm yet terse.

"Right to the point, eh? And what's your business with Mr. Broly…?" The man lifted one eyebrow, clearly expecting Vegeta to introduce himself.

"Broly used to live here. You're going to tell me what you know about him."

"No please or thank you?" The man barked out a laugh, but his face fell quickly after.

A woman walked into the room from behind and Bulma jumped when her shoulder got brushed by the woman. She set down three glass tumblers and poured some orange liquid into each glass, less than half full. The third man took a sip from his glass and then set it back on the table in front of him. The woman scurried out, and she shut the door behind her. Bulma stared back at it, wondering if they were being locked in.

"You'd better choose your words carefully from now on," the man said arrogantly. "You barge in here and start demanding things from us?" He took another sip of his orange liquid and set the glass down quietly. "And you think you can just order us around and ask about our king?"

"So you were involved with his coronation?" Vegeta asked, crossing his arms. "That's interesting. And I'd bet that you were involved with the public vote, as well?"

"And what exactly are you willing to bet?" the second man asked, his eyes quickly turning on Bulma. Vegeta didn't even flinch, but she took a step backwards. The second man chuckled as he continued to stare at her. She wanted to recoil behind the prince, but he didn't seem to care about the man staring at her, so she hoped there was no threat here. Although, no one in the room seemed friendly.

"Listen, stranger," the big man said, leaning forward onto the table. It creaked under his upper body weight. "I get it, okay? I can tell you're not from around here. You wanna know how I can tell?"

"Because your king isn't, either," Vegeta replied dryly. Bulma looked between the two men, not understanding what they meant. "I need to find him. And you're going to tell me how to do that."

"How hard could it be to find a king, hm?" the smallest man snickered.

Bulma didn't understand the tension. She barely understood what was happening. It just looked like Vegeta was talking to unfriendly strangers, and it certainly didn't look like they wanted to give up any information to him.

"But her…" the second man said. His eyes never left Bulma. "Is she one of us? She's certainly not one of you… If I had to guess, I'd say she's something else. Isn't that right?"

"Ignore the wench," the third man said, eyes still on Vegeta. He narrowed them, pushing his glass away, his drink unfinished. "Let's stop with this bullshit, shall we? We know what you are. And we know why you're looking for our king. But he's going to save our planet, so we can't exactly just hand him over to you."

Vegeta just smirked. "So you know what I am and you still deny me?"

"We have little choice, as I'm sure you know."

"Whatever he's paying you, I can give you more," the prince said flatly. Bulma just kept getting more and more confused by the second. Were these men saying that they knew that Vegeta was a Saiyan? Did they know he was the prince?

"You can't give us more than what he offers," the smaller man said, crossing his arms.

"Is that your bet?" Vegeta asked, but the second man looked at Bulma again when he mentioned bets.

"And what about her?" the biggest man said, finally acknowledging her. Bulma gulped. "She's not one of you. And she's not one of us. Is she one of your wives? How about you part with her for a night and we'll talk about the king in the morning?" The man smirked, but Vegeta didn't flinch again.

"You already know why I'm here, then," he growled. "I'm not leaving until you tell me how to find him."

"What's the matter? You can't feel another's energy like he can? Maybe that's how he killed so many of you," the burly man laughed and Vegeta narrowed his eyes at him. "And he still managed to escape. You and your people claim to be the strongest and the most ruthless, and you think we don't know why you really came to our planet? And then one of your own, who has the power to kill the lot of you, sides with us? So what are you really here for, hm? Because I doubt you could take him down. I doubt an army could take him down."

"I want to know how he did it."

"Ha!" the man laughed, and the other two joined in. The smallest even spit his drink out onto the table and started coughing. Vegeta didn't look entertained. "Is it so hard to believe that someone can be that much stronger than you? Look at us, for example. We know who you are, Saiyan. We know you could kill us all in a heartbeat. And yet here we sit, still alive. Now why is that?"

"Because I haven't killed you yet."

"No, no. It's because you know that we are on the winning side. And you know that if you attack us, he may very well go after you. And you'll end up as helpless as we are against you." He laughed again. "You don't need strength to win a war. You just have to be on the right side when the fighting starts."

"He's hiding out here, and you all are protecting him because he provides your entire planet with protection…" Vegeta said softly, half to himself. He looked around the room, mumbling something under his breath. "How do you think a traitor will react once he doesn't need you anymore? Have you thought about that?"

"I suppose we'll think about it when the time comes," the man replied. "But I know that's not the answer you're looking for… You've already made your decision about my people, haven't you? This man is the only thing stopping your armies from destroying this planet. Am I right?"

"He needs to face Saiyan justice. I'm sure you can understand, can't you?" he asked sarcastically.

"And what about the Colds?" the man asked, raising an eyebrow, but the question seemed to take Vegeta by surprise. He froze up for a second and blinked a few times before he went back to narrowing his eyes.

"What about them?"

But the man stayed quiet for a moment. "You don't know… Well, I'm not going to be the one to tell you, but… Maybe your people aren't as bright as you think you are." Everyone in the room went silent for what felt like a whole minute.

Vegeta immediately grabbed Bulma wrist again, harder than last time, and whipped around, kicking down the door. She winced and let herself be dragged out of the room and back down the hallway, listening to the shallow laughter coming from the men behind her. She turned around and saw one of the smaller men whisper something to the biggest man, who just nodded and pointed a fat finger at Bulma, just as she rounded the corner and was out of sight.

"What was that?" she asked, trying to pull her arm back from the discomfort. He ignored her and kept pulling. "Vegeta!" She tried to stop, but he pulled her again and she fell forward, her knees hitting the ground. He turned and snarled at her, yanking her to her feet. "Stop hurting me!" she shouted, trying to squirm free again. But instead, he simply released her arm and she almost tumbled backwards. Annoyed and confused, she huffed and hurried after him, trying not to fall behind as the re-entered the crowd in the busy building.

As soon as the exited the hall, a bright yellow strobe hit Bulma in her eyes and she covered her face with her hand. It was gone in a second and she readjusted herself, but someone hit her shoulder and she spun, and suddenly she was in the middle of a group of moving people, with no sense of direction. She felt her wrist get grabbed again and was thankful for it, for once. She followed the pull through the crowd until it was a bit clearer, but she followed the hand, up the arm, to a man she didn't recognize. She yelped and violently tore her arm away. This man wasn't the prince, much less a Saiyan, with how she could easily twist out of his grasp. She backed up, but fell into another man, who caught her and pushed her upright.

"You're not with anyone?" the new man shouted in her ear. His smile revealed a set of yellow teeth.

"I'm with my boyfriend!" she quickly shouted back, backing away.

"But I don't see him!" He grabbed at her shirt, but the first unfamiliar man grabbed her hair and yanked her back again, and the second man rolled his eyes and turned his back to her, giving his attention to someone new. Bulma tried to reach behind her and free her hair, but she couldn't twist far enough. Where was Vegeta?

"You're coming with me. I'm sure our king will want to know everything you can tell us about that Saiyan man. And you will talk," he hissed next to her face. But as if he'd been called, the prince's hand grabbed the man's arm and with a fluid motion and a cracking noise, Bulma's hair was free and the man squealed out in pain.

"You want to know about me?" Vegeta asked mockingly. "You could've just asked."

"Can we get out of here?" Bulma shouted at the prince, but he shook his head and she frowned.

"Let's have some fun," he smirked, nodding for her to head further into the crowd. He put a hand on her shoulder and guided her to lead the way. She glanced over her other shoulder to see if anyone was following them, but it was impossible to see in the crowd. She tried to look up at his face, wondering why he would want to stay, especially when he seemed in a rush to leave that back room. She paused and Vegeta leaned forward over her shoulder, nuzzling her hair.

"W-What are you doing?" she stammered. "Shouldn't we be getting out of here?"

"Aren't you the one who said you wanted to have fun?" he whispered back, his breath on her ear making her shiver and squeeze her eyes shut for a moment.

"What about those men?" she asked, trying to keep her voice from shaking. Her butterflies were coming back. In this big place with all these people, and his scent still filled her nose. She couldn't help but breathe in deep.

"They can't do anything to me."

"And what about me?"

Vegeta pulled her shoulder and whirled her around, stopping her short to face him, and he simply raised an eyebrow at her and gave a slight smirk. He was cocky and confident, but Bulma still felt the need to peer over her shoulder one more time. But when the men from before were nowhere in sight, and she saw a figure in the distance retreating into the curtain, she sighed. Goku's words started to enter her thoughts again—forget about everything. Just make it about him and her… in the moment.

Bulma took a few seconds to close her eyes and concentrate on calming her breath. And when she opened her eyes, she looked up at the prince from under her lashes and nodded at him.

"What?" he smirked, and she decided to start moving with the crowd, although her movements were more in-time with the beat of the music, and she liked to think she looked like she was dancing, in comparison to the others. Vegeta didn't budge, but his smirk remained as he watched her.

"Here," she said, grabbing his one hand and putting it on her waist. Bulma had no idea how to dance, but she figured it was so dark that no one could really see her anyway. She just moved her hips, trying to feel a little sexy… It wasn't working, but she was glad to have the prince's full attention. She grabbed his other hand and placed it on the other side of her hip, but before she could keep swaying, he pulled her forward, hard against him, and then they both were still as stone. She felt him, ever so slightly…

He still smirked, but her eyes were glued to his face. Feeling him against her again brought back sensations and recent memories. She could feel her face heating up as her brain put the prince's moans on repeat in her head. God, she loved when he made those noises… And right before he'd… and all over her hand and himself… It was the most seductive sound she'd ever heard come out of a man's mouth. And she wanted to hear it again.

She let her hands roam, starting on his arms and slowly running up his shoulders. Then she moved back down, trailing an outline of his muscles into the middle of his chest and back out to his sides. She let her hands rest on his hips as well and used a little bit of force to pull herself closer to him. She'd looked away a moment ago, and her eyes focused on his neck, but she could feel his eyes stay on her face.

"You sure you don't want to get out of here?" she asked loudly so he could hear her. "The people back there weren't exactly friendly, you know." But the prince shrugged one shoulder at her, lifting a cocky eyebrow. Obviously he wouldn't care whether or not they were friendly towards a Saiyan warrior, but Bulma didn't like it when she was the one who couldn't fight her way out of a crowd. She would just have to put her trust in his protection… And she didn't doubt that he would protect her.

The familiar orange-looking liquid was being passed around, and Bulma looked confused at a stranger when she was handed a plastic cup with the strange drink inside. Vegeta quickly took it from the man and sneered at him before giving the drink a sniff. He eyed it like it could be poison for just a moment, but then took a sip of it and shrugged again.

"It was offered to me, you know," Bulma said, wondering why she even wanted to try it. She assumed it was something like the liquor back on Planet Vegeta, although she'd never had much herself. But she'd heard stories about how it made people "loosen up"… and do things they normally wouldn't… She watched the prince like a hawk as he downed the orange drink, and wondered what would happen to him if he had several more. What would the prince do if he wasn't acting like himself…? "Is there more?" she quickly asked him. What would she do…?

"Don't leave my side," he mouthed, just like before, as he grabbed another plastic cup from a stranger and took a sip. He nodded once to himself and handed it to her.

The first thing Bulma did was smell it, and holy hell, it reeked something fierce. She almost retched in her mouth from the scent. What even was this drink? It was the consistency of syrup, which she hadn't noticed before, and it looked more like ooze than a drinkable liquid. But she looked up and the prince was downing another cup's worth and tossing it to the floor, so she held her nose with one hand and tilted her head back. She heard the prince laugh as she swallowed her first gulp, spitting some of it back into her cup. Clenching her teeth together, she opened her eyes and then stuck out her tongue. Even with her nose shut, the taste was terrible. She shook her head a few times before pouting up at the prince. He rolled his eyes and reached to take her cup, but she pulled it back, and as he lifted an eyebrow at her yet again, she quickly downed the rest of the syrupy drink, groaning as she swallowed it.

She wondered why nothing was happening to her. She thought it would make her feel drunk or something, but she could still see straight, and the room wasn't spinning. What was even supposed to happen now? But before she could think about it much longer, Vegeta handed her another cup… Another one? How many was she supposed to drink? She took it from him, just as he downed two more and tossed the cups aside, same as before.

She frowned at the drink, but feeling impatient for results, she held her nose and drank the whole thing in one forced gulp. She looked at the prince and tossed her cup where he'd thrown his, showing him a sheepish smile.

"This place is lame," she suddenly shouted at him, not liking that the people in here didn't dance to the beat of the music. It just felt like a really bad party… Not like she'd ever been to a good one, but this wasn't what she'd imagined it would be like. "Can we leave?" she shouted again, her face getting a little closer to his.

The prince nodded at her and placed his hands on her shoulders, spinning her around. She thought he was about to guide her through the crowd, like he'd been doing, but his breath met the side of her neck, and drifted down to her shoulder, and across her collarbone, and her head rolled to the side as she sighed. She felt his fingers trail up her back and brush her hair over her one shoulder, and his lips touched her skin.

"Vegeta," she breathed, as he kissed her lightly there. She closed her eyes for a second, and when she opened them, he reached around and handed her another drink. She took it without hesitation but hesitated before bringing it to her lips. Was this really such a good idea…?

Her fingers went back to her neck and he let his dull nails scrape her upper back, and trail a little up into her hair. It felt so good and she let out a quiet moan. He started kneading her skin, massaging her shoulder and putting light amounts of pressure on her throat… It felt amazing, and she couldn't help but close her eyes and enjoy the feeling.

"Drink," he said, grabbing her one hand around the cup and pushing it towards her mouth. Bulma resisted for little less than half a second, and drank the liquid in one gulp again. For some reason, it didn't taste as bad as before. Maybe it was watered down…

"Let's go," she whispered, eyes still closed, and head still tilted back. She realized her body was leaning into his, and she tried to focus on how firm his body held her weight. It was intoxicating. Everything about this moment was—this place, the drinks, the lights, the sounds and smells, even the people. And the prince… was the frosting on the cake, and Bulma felt like she had the worse case of sweet-tooth in her life.

"Mhm," he murmured in her ear, a seductive undertone in his voice, and then he started to guide her. She was eager to breathe in some fresh air, so she pushed herself to move quickly through the throngs of slow-moving dancers and tried to see if she could walk faster than the prince. His hands remained on her shoulders, but they neared the exit faster than she thought they would. And before she knew it, they were outside, and the air was cold in her throat.

"I feel hot," she breathed, finally turning around to face him. But as she spun, she nearly fell, and he steadied her with a slight laugh. "Why am I so hot?" she pouted, lifting one leg involuntarily, only standing one the other. Vegeta lifted and eyebrow and tilted his head to look at her leg. Then his eyes went back to her face.

"Do you want me to answer that?" he smirked.

"No, I know why. It was what you gave me, right?" she mumbled. Her words felt spun together and she wondered if he could understand what she was saying.

"Can you walk?" he asked.

"I'm not a baby. Of course I can walk!" But she didn't move, and the prince didn't take his hand off her shoulder. She turned and glared at his hand on her. "You think I'm a baby now?"

He rolled his eyes and moved to push her again, but she fought him.

"Take your hand off me!" she groaned. "I can walk on my own! You big jerk!"

And he just lifted his hand and raised both into the air, shrugging at her. But as soon as she moved to take a step, she had to lean into the brick building beside her for support.

"Just give me a minute!" she shouted back at him, moving along the wall. "Don't be a jerk!"

"Didn't say anything," the prince muttered, slowly following along behind her.

"How come you're all… normal?"

"Because Saiyans have a high tolerance for everything… Well, compared to someone like you."

Bulma turned and put her back against the wall. "What do you mean, someone like me?"

"An Earthling."

"And you don't like that?" she asked puffing out her bottom lip. Vegeta moved to stand in front of her, and put his hands on either side of her, palms against the wall.

"I never said that." He leaned forward a bit, looking down at her.

"So you like it?" Bulma asked slowly.

"Like what?"

"I don't know. What you just said."

Vegeta closed his eyes for a second and pinched his nose between two fingers. "Do I like that Earthlings have a low tolerance compared to Saiyans?"

"Sure," Bulma said, pouting again.

"Woman, you're not making any sense."

"Do you like it or not?" she spat.

"I don't particularly care."

"So you don't care about me?"

The prince took a deep breath before removing his hands from the wall. "It's time to head back. Let's go."

"I mean, I know you don't care, but you don't have to make it so obvious…" she muttered.

The prince grabbed her by the wrist and lead her back towards where they were staying for the night. Bulma staggered, but he pulled her just enough so that she stayed upright, and staggered in the right directions.

"Remind me not to give you spirits ever again."

"What do ghosts have to do with anything?" Bulma spat angrily.

"Just walk…"

Bulma groaned her complaints for a while until their home for the night loomed above her. "Oh… we got here so fast… I thought we'd spend more time… out…"

"At least you'll get some rest," the prince said, but Bulma was partially ignoring him now.

"You know!" she shouted, and the prince paused to look around for a second. The only people around them were a group way down the block, and they were too absorbed in their loud chatter to notice anything besides themselves. "I take that back! Because I know you care. You're just a coward, so you can't tell anybody."

The prince rolled his eyes again and started to drag her along. "I thought three would be fine."

"What do you mean? You think there's something wrong with me?"

"I meant I gave you too much."

"So now you're saying I can't handle it."

"Yes."

"You don't have to be a jerk about it."

He sighed. He didn't even know why he kept replying to her while she was like this. "We're almost back. You'll be fine once we're upstairs."

"So I'm not fine now?"

"No."

"You're just full of nice things to say today, aren't you?" she rolled her eyes, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Step," he said blandly, and Bulma looked down and noticed a step before the entrance to the building. She lifted her leg and the prince held the door for her and followed in behind her.

Bulma narrowed her eyes as soon as she was in the building. She looked straight ahead and saw the same woman behind the counter… The same woman who had scowled at her when the prince requested a single bed for their stay. And before the prince could stop her, she stormed right up to the counter and leaned her full upper body over the top of it. The woman took a startled step backwards, but then narrowed her eyes back at Bulma when she recognized her face.

"I remember you…" the woman said. "Are you… enjoying your stay?" She eyed her up and down, clearly expecting her to get off the countertop. Bulma just leaned forward even more, almost falling into the woman.

"Yes, I'm enjoying my stay with my boyfriend," she shouted. Immediately, the prince grabbed her and hauled her back to a normal distance from the woman. "And why in the world would you have thought we would need two beds?" she yelled, her voice echoing in the room. She heard the prince growl but ignored it. "Obviously, we sleep in the same bed! You just got jealous, is that it? You took one look at him and prayed that he wasn't with me, but ha ha ha!"

"Oh, no, sweetheart. I was just surprised that someone so attractive would have the stomach to sleep anywhere near someone so disgusting. I would've offered him a completely separate room, but I figured you probably have no money of your own, and I didn't want to leave you helpless out on the streets, where not even the most desperate of men would pick you up."

"What did you just say to me—"

"You're like a child!" Vegeta groaned, grabbing her around the waist and hauling her over his shoulder.

"Me?!" Bulma screeched, pummeling his back with her fists. "Did you hear what she just said to me?!"

"Stop provoking our host, woman."

"Why can she be rude to me and I can't say anything?!" She screamed and pounded on his back even harder. "And why don't you say anything either?! She just called me ugly! And said that you're too attractive for someone like me!"

"Because I don't care."

"Yea, yea! We know that already!"

"You're not going to sleep, are you?" he groaned.

"You think I'm ugly?" she sighed.

"No."

"So, you think I'm pretty, then?"

"If I answer that, will you go to sleep when we get upstairs?"

"I'm not tired…" She rested her head on his shoulder blade and sighed. "How come you had like twenty drinks and you don't even care? It's like you had nothing."

"That's not true."

"Sure it is," she rolled her head back and forth, but he leaned over and set her down on her feet. She eyed his face.

"We're here. Go inside." He unlocked and opened the door. When Bulma didn't budge, the prince rolled his eyes and stepped in first. She followed, eyeing the back of his head now.

"You're not."

"Not what, woman?" His voice sounded tired.

"You're the one who told me to drink them, you know! And now you're acting like… like… like…"

Vegeta sat on the edge of the bed and kicked off his shoes. He quickly stripped off his shirt and moved to the hem of his pants. He looked up at Bulma first and waited.

"What?" she spat, crossing her arms.

"You're not going to try to stop me?"

"It's nothing I haven't seen before. You're always naked." She narrowed her eyes and tightened her arms across her chest.

"Go start me a shower," he ordered, "And make sure the water isn't too hot."

"Heh?" Bulma sneered. "But you love hot showers."

"But you don't," he smirked.

"Actually, I do like super hot showers. You wouldn't know because you never took any time to get to know me, but who's complaining?"

"Either way, I don't need you overheating after having those drinks."

"And who says I'm going to shower with you, anyway?"

"I do."

"Yea, right!"

"I'm the prince of Planet Vegeta, and you're a lowly servant. You have to do what I say."

Bulma was about to charge at him, but he was smirking. So instead, she kept glaring, and kept her arms crossed. "Not my prince," she said.

"No?" he asked slowly, standing from the bed. He still only had his pants on. "But I thought you wanted me… Isn't that what you said before we left the castle?"

"No, I said I loved you," Bulma spat, and the prince froze mid-step, clearly not expecting such a blunt answer. Bulma could barely think before the words came out, anyway. "But you threw it in my face, remember?" He quickly regained his composure.

"It means the same thing."

"No, it doesn't."

He paused, then glared at her. "I did not… "throw it in your face," woman."

"Yes, you did. You told me not to say it anymore, and then you invited another whore into your bed and sent me away. And now that it's just me here, you want me to shower with you? You've got some nerve. You only want me when it's convenient for you."

"Is that what you think?" Bulma nodded. "It's not true."

"Prove it!"

"You're never convenient for me."

"Wow. Great answer."

"Yet I still want you."

"You just want somebody."

"No."

"Then prove it."

"I just did."

"No, you didn't!"

"Take off your clothes."

Bulma hugged herself tight and shook her head at him.

"Now, woman."

"No!" she dropped to the floor and hugged her legs to her chest, putting her head down.

"Really?" the prince sighed. "It's not out of your system yet?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" she mumbled into her legs. She only lifted her head to watch the prince walk past her, into the tiled room, and she heard him turn the water on.

"Stand up," he commanded, leaning over and lifting her one arm.

"I don't want to."

"Why not?" he rolled his eyes.

"Because you're going to make me go in there."

"That's because you need to."

"No, I don't."

"What if I told you that you smell terrible?"

Bulma pouted.

"Stand up," he repeated, and she slowly stood. The prince leaned forward and gently placed his lips by her ear. Bulma froze. "Good girl," he breathed, and butterflies erupted in her stomach.

"W-What are you doing?" she stammered, but the prince just kept breathing down her neck. Something about him changed, and she froze. He moved until his body was almost straight up against hers, and she could feel his heat warm her clothes. She wanted to feel it on her skin…

"There you go," he whispered, his hands trailing down to her waist. She barely noticed when he lifted her shirt, and his warm hands crawled up her stomach. Her whole body erupted as if on fire.

"What are you… doing?" she breathed, but he didn't answer. Instead, he bent down and slid off her shoes, then her socks. There was a weird feeling when he stood back up, his body back on hers. Her shirt was lifted, and she felt his body heat on her stomach. And before she knew it, her feet were on the cold, tiled floor, and the running water was beside her. He slipped a finger between her hipbone and the top of her pants, and she didn't know why, but she just looked down, and watched him slide them off. She lifted her feet for him, watching him slide them off both her legs and toss the thin clothing to the floor beside them. She breathed out when he came back up to her face, barely an inch away.

She could feel herself slipping. This was just like before, and she knew what it was. She tried to hold her ground with him, but she did… love him. And when he played these games with her, it was impossible for her to resist him. It made her feel like he might feel the same way. But he always managed to prove her wrong when all was said and done… But she remembered him saving her from the dungeon, and getting so angry about Yamcha… And Chichi and Goku were so… sure. She didn't know why she couldn't be as sure as her friends when it came to the prince… Maybe because she knew what it felt like to love him… and she knew that if he felt the same way, he wouldn't do some of the things he did. He wouldn't say some of the heartless things he said…

But when he removed her shirt, and she stood in front of him, wearing only her panties and bra, she felt worse than helpless. She felt like there was nothing she could ever do to rid herself of him. She felt like she was destined to bear with this torture… torture for loving someone she should have never gotten involved with. She should have never tried to get to know him. She should have never let herself take those second-too-long looks before he fucked one of his whores. She should have never allowed herself to care about someone who was only going to hurt her… And she knew it all along. She knew it from the very beginning. She knew who he was. She knew who his father was… She knew his people, and she knew what Saiyans did to her planet… to her parents.

But what choice did she have now? She couldn't just choose not to love the prince. It was never a choice for her to begin with… It just… happened. And even thinking that she wanted to take it all back stung and felt like her heart was getting ripped out of her chest.

She didn't have the option to leave. She didn't have the option to find another job. She was just stuck… and the prince knew that. He didn't care. He just knew that she had nowhere to run to. Nowhere to get away from him, and he relished in the fact that she cared for him. Maybe because he'd never felt it before… Maybe because his whores only lusted after him, and sought fame and money… He probably never felt what it was like to have someone genuinely care whether or not he was okay, in all aspects of the word.

Bulma suddenly felt a surge of pride in herself… That didn't mean that she was weak. It didn't mean that she was stuck. It just meant that she was the better person. Yes, she loved Vegeta, and she cared whether or not he was okay… She hated seeing him hurt, and she wanted him to care for her in return, but… She suddenly felt very strong. And it clicked.

The reason the prince felt anything towards her… was because she was incorruptible. No matter how much she cared… No matter how badly she wanted him to care for her back… She wasn't going to be used by him. And that was all part of his game. He just wanted to win. Once the game was over, he wouldn't care anymore, and she would be free… Once she gave in… she could be free…

He would let her go.

And this was her choice. This was why she felt stuck—because the prince made it seem like she had to act this way because she cared. But no… He didn't care for her. He played mind games with her and played tricks. He acted out of lust and desire and pride. But she could play his game. Now that she knew the rules, and she understood why she felt so helpless. She didn't realize that she was in control the entire time…

Without a second thought, she unhooked her bra and let it fall to the floor. She watched the prince's eyes widen, very aware that this was the first time he'd actually been able to look at her this way. And before he could regain his composure, she bent over and slid her panties off. She stood before him, straight and proud, and watched his eyes roam across her body. His lips slightly parted, and she heard him exhale slowly… rigidly.

But then he sighed, and his eyes closed. He gritted his teeth before stripping his own pants, and then they were both naked. Skin on skin. Eyes on skin. The prince sighed again and Bulma frowned.

"What?" she asked, but he ignored the question. He steadied her with both hands on her hips, and guided her into the water. She looked down and noticed that he was erect… very much so. "Are you going to mark me again?" she giggled, but he didn't seem amused. In fact, there was a twinge of annoyance in his expression, and immediately, Bulma felt like covering herself. She tried to hide her self-consciousness, but it was no use anymore. Her arms came up to cover her breasts and she looked away from him. Her face felt hot. What did she just do? Why did she do that?

"Shh," he said softly, surprising Bulma with his tone, and grabbed a bar of soap. "Here." He gently spun her around so that her back was pressed against his chest. He ran the bar of soap up her sides and over her shoulders, but he didn't touch her the way she thought he would. Instead, he just let the suds fall over the rest of her. "Close your eyes," he whispered, and when she did, she felt his hands in her hair. He massaged her scalp for a few minutes, and she kept her eyes closed, letting the scent of soap calm her. He gently pushed her forward until her head was in the stream of water, and rinsed out her hair for another few minutes. "Hold onto me," he said next, and Bulma slowly opened her eyes, blinking a few times to get the water out of her lashes. He bent down and lifted her right leg, gliding the soap bar over her knee and up her thigh. His face was dangerously close to her apex and she almost yelped. Although he must have felt her jump a bit, because he backed off and set her leg back down. "Shh," he whispered again, and she nervously looked in his eyes. "It's okay," he finally said. "You're okay." He reached around her and turned off the water, but her eyes stayed on him. "Come on."

"Vegeta," Bulma breathed, but he shook his head at her. She wondered why. She didn't even ask him anything yet.

He grabbed a thick, white towel off the counter and quickly wrapped it around her upper body. Bulma turned and noticed that the bottom of her butt hung out of the bottom of the towel, but the prince held her and moved her out of the tiled room. It was cold, out of the water, and she shivered. He easily let her down onto the bed and stood over her. Her eyes immediately went to what was right in front of her… He was still… And what rang through her head were his words from before…

"You're going to find someone else to help you with that?" she asked, pointing a long finger at his thick erection. The prince didn't reply. He didn't even move away. He just pulled off her towel and started drying her hair. "I didn't know you knew how to take care of somebody," she breathed quietly, wondering if he'd even been able to hear her.

"My mother used to do this for me," he said flatly, and Bulma looked up at him. She almost didn't believe that he'd said those words… She'd never heard him mention his mother before, and she realized she never even thought he had one… as stupid as that was.

"She… sounds sweet." She didn't know what else to say. And the prince stepped away from her in the next second. He grabbed another towel and wrapped both around her, then pulled the covers back off the bed and lifted her, placing her in the middle of the mattress. "Where are you…?"

"I'm going for a walk."

"You're going to leave me in here?"

"You need to get some rest. No more alcohol for you."

"You don't want me…" she breathed, turning her face into the pillow.

The prince was standing over her in the next second, and she looked up, surprised to find his face so close to hers. She was mesmerized, but he leaned just a bit farther down, and his lips met hers. He kissed her for a second before pulling back an inch. "I want you," he said, leaning back down to kiss her again. It was so… soft. It felt so easy to kiss him back.

"But I just…" He cut her off, pressing his lips harder on hers and parting his lips. Bulma breathed him in, but tried to speak. "And you didn't even… touch me…"

"How many times do I have to tell you?" he sighed against her lips. His eyes cracked open and they looked at each other.

"But…"

"Shh," he sighed, pulling back. "I'll be here when you wake up."

"Why…?" She didn't know why she was so sad. She thought she knew… She thought she knew how he felt, but every time she thought she knew something, he would prove her wrong. She was so confused.

He pulled the covers up to her shoulders and leaned down to her again. He didn't kiss her, but his face was close enough to make Bulma's heat up.

"Why…?" he repeated, as if he had to think about what the answer was. "Maybe I just realized," he said, "that I don't know what I'd do if I woke up tomorrow," he kissed her on the forehead and stood, "and you hated me."