Radditz returned to the cafeteria, unsurprised by the amount of food that Goku had already replicated for them.  Apparently Vegeta had wasted no time in ordering Goku to conjure up the food, nor had he hesitated in beginning his meal without the others.  He was, after all, royalty, and royalty waited for no one.

Yamcha was still a little stunned as he got out of bed, shaken more than he cared to admit by the other man's presence, then glanced woefully at the door and knew what hell Bulma was going to raise when she noticed its absence. The baseball player sighed deeply and strode across the room to the closet to dig out something to wear. He pulled on his clothes, straightened his appearance somewhat by shaving and tying back his hair at his neck, then headed down the hall to the mess hall to eat.

He had been successfully been avoiding Radditz for the most part that week. The handsome man told himself that he was merely not in the same place as Radditz at any given time, and if it turned out the two should end up somewhere together, he always made sure they were not alone. It wasn't as if he were afraid of what the other man would do. Yamcha was simply afraid of his own desires.

He was startled out of his thoughts when Kuririn caught up to him in the hallway and joined him on his way the mess hall. When the pair entered, neither was surprised to see how much the Saiyajin were eating. Yamcha and Kuririn both got their meals, Yamcha making a point to not sit anywhere near Radditz.

"Good morning," he greeted his younger friend, who was eating more than his young son and older brother put together. "I take it we are still waiting for Bulma?"

Goku nodded. "Vegeta said she wanted to take a shower first."

Yamcha chuckled. "She's going to take forever.  You know her; she has to be gorgeous.  I think she's obsessed about her appearance."

Goku smiled between mouthfuls of food. "I am sure you know that better than I do."

Radditz snorted at that, causing several glances to shoot in his direction.  He had smelled the fact that neither of these two had ever touched one another.  Despite what Goku might believe, he doubted Yamcha had ever had any intimate knowledge of Bulma at all.

Yamcha glanced at Radditz out of the corner of his eye when he heard his snort, then ignored him as he remarked to Goku. "Well, she still takes forever getting ready.  She always had to take showers and do her hair, even when we were out in the middle of nowhere with no one around except each other.  Remember how dirty we used to get?  She always hated that." Yamcha smiled at the memory. "She would get so mad at me when I didn't cut my hair or shave."

"But you did do it, though," Goku commented, consuming his tenth bowl of rice.

"Of course I did. I wanted her to be happy." Yamcha smiled, feeling a little nostalgic and more than a little regretful it had not worked out. "And I still do. More now than when I was a teenager."

Vegeta arched a brow at the turn the conversation had taken. Yamcha, it seemed, was still fond of Bulma. He could hear the affection in the other man's tone. ::And as long as it is only fondness and nothing more than that, he can keep living.::

"Do you think I should go and check on her?" Goku asked.

Yamcha shook his head. "Nah, you can't rush her. She will go slower on purpose."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bulma had stared for several long minutes at the door after Vegeta had left, unable to get her thoughts together.  It was the slam of a door in the hallway that finally shook her out of her trance.  She shivered when she realized how Vegeta had affected her.  She didn't want to be attracted to him, but had to reluctantly admit to herself that she most definitely was.  Something about him drew her, despite her better judgment.  She had been fighting it all week - successfully, she had thought - but then he just demolished her defenses with a single kiss....

She shivered again, then moved briskly towards the bathroom.  She heard shouting in the hallway but decided to ignore it. She had no intention of encountering Vegeta again, and she assumed he was waking up her friends as she had requested.

She took her shower more swiftly than usual, not lingering in the shower, but spent extra time doing her hair and make-up.  She couldn't admit even privately that she wanted to look her best for some reason.  Yet the care she took in her appearance definitely showed in the subtle touches of make-up and hair styling.

She was so caught in her bemusement as she headed towards the cafeteria that she almost missed the devastation in the hallway.  It was when she tripped on some of the debris that she pulled herself out of her distraction.

She stared at the destruction of the door to Yamcha's room.  It took several seconds before it sank in that the door was simply gone.  Those doors had been made of a very strong metal - someone would have had to be deliberately trying to destroy it for it to be demolished that way.  What had they been doing?

She felt her ire rising as she stormed towards the mess hall.  She would find out what those *men* had been doing if she had to threaten to cut off their food supplies.  But they were NOT going to get away with destroying her property on her ship, not without paying for it in some manner.

Just as the men were finishing their meal, Bulma walked in.  The back of her hair was still slightly damp from the shower, testament to the fact that she hadn't spent as much time blow-drying it as she normally did.  She didn't pause to greet them, but instead stomped over to the table, put her hands on her hips, and tore right in.

"WHAT do you idiots think you were DOING down there?  Destroying my ship?  Who did it, and what the HELL did you think you were DOING?!?"

"All right, all right..." Yamcha held his hands up in front of him, to try to calm Bulma down. "I am sorry about that, Bulma. I will figure out some way to fix it. It was my fault."  He could feel several pairs on eyes settle on him when he admitted guilt. "You see... I..." He brought his hand up to the back of his head, trying his best to look repentant.

He did not know why he wanted to put the blame on himself, when it had been Radditz who had blown up the door to his room in the first place. He told himself it wasn't because he actually cared about the other man, Yamcha simply reasoned that Bulma would be less angry with him than she would be at one of the Saiyajin. "It was an accident," he finished finally. "I'll clean it up after breakfast."

"An ACCIDENT?!?  How do you 'accidentally' blow up a DOOR?!?"  Bulma was shouting furiously, looming over the human warrior, her fangs flashing dangerously.

Radditz grunted in disgust.  "He didn't do it, woman," he growled.  "I did.  He didn't wake up when I knocked, so I made my own way in.  *You* were the one who made it so we couldn't enter someone's room without their permission.  But since you were in such a hurry to have them get up, I took liberties."

Bulma stared at him, her mouth agape.  "You destroyed a door, just to wake someone up?  It wasn't *that* important!"

Radditz' eyes narrowed.  "It was an order from my Prince, so it *was* that important!  If Vegeta orders me to do something, I do it, and I don't care what else gets in the way!"

Bulma continued to gape at him, her mouth opening and closing, reminding them of a fish.  Finally she snapped it shut, sputtering at them.  "You... you... you barbarians!  Gah!  What did I do to *deserve* this?!?"

She threw her hands up in the air, not knowing whether to cry, or kill them all.

"It's OK, Bulma.  Really," Yamcha said trying to calm her down. "Have some coffee; you'll feel better."

When Bulma took a breath, apparently about to break into another tirade about the uselessness of the male gender, Vegeta spoke up. "You are overreacting," he informed her. "Just sit down and eat."

Bulma turned her glare from Yamcha to Vegeta.  She wanted to find some way she could blame him for everything, but knew it wasn't at all his fault.  She wanted to yell at Radditz, but knew that would accomplish nothing; he didn't seem fazed by her tirade at all.  Instead she stomped to the replicator and dialed up a cup of coffee, then moved to the table, seating herself next to Goku.  She continued to glare balefully and uninvitingly at the men around the table, as though daring them to say anything to her at all.

The rest of the meal finished in an uncomfortable silence. Bulma continued to glare at Radditz and Yamcha. While Radditz seemed undaunted by this, Yamcha squirmed awkwardly in his seat. Goku merely smiled at his son's questioning looks.  Piccolo never put in an appearance, which was not all that unusual, since the Namek never socialized with them much, anyway.

It was Goku who finally managed to break the silence when he stood and ruffled his son's hair. "Come on, Gohan. We will go and train while we are waiting for the others to get finished with Bulma. Unless," he looked up at the blue haired scientist, "you want to teach Gohan, too?"

Bulma's baleful glare didn't soften as she turned her gaze towards the young man she had known almost her entire life.  "It would probably be a good idea if you *both* learned how to run this ship.  Or at least pilot it.  That way if one of these bakas forgets how, you can help them out."

She stood up, taking her coffee mug to the dispenser and dropping it into the recycler.  She hadn't eaten more than a muffin, but had simply waited while the men gorged on their breakfasts.

"If you're done stuffing your faces, I'll show you how to pilot this ship.  If you're not *too* dunderheaded about it, maybe I'll even be able to show you some of the weapons controls.  Just in case we run into any trouble."

"Weapons?"  Yamcha blinked a bit. "Do you really think that we will run into trouble?"

"Why do you think we wouldn't?" Vegeta asked. "You seem to forget this is a race, Freeza knows we are coming and will do anything to slow us down. He might send a few fighter ship after us."  His eyes narrowed on Yamcha. "Then again, there are enough pirates out here to slow us down without Freeza's help."

"Pirates?" Yamcha frowned. "A battle in space? That is a nice thing to know."  He folded his arms over his chest and glanced back over at Bulma. "We might have a problem if that happens.  We're ground fighters, what do we really know about fighting in space?"

"Absolutely nothing," Bulma replied acidly, still irritated from earlier.  "Which is why I'm going to show you how to use the weapons systems.  There are also some simulators for them in the capsule room.  I would suggest all of you get some... 'training' in them, just to be on the safe side."

She smiled mirthlessly and wickedly at them.  "It may not make you any stronger, but it just may save our lives if all of us learn how to use them.  *I've* already practiced at home.  You'll be able to see my scores on the computer.  Good luck trying to beat those!"  She smirked at them triumphantly.  She had always been very good at things like video games, which was essentially how the weapons controls worked.

"But we'll do those later. Most importantly, you need to learn to navigate and fly the ship, just in case we get lost or need it.  So, if you're ready?"

Kuririn stood up, scratching his head.  He hadn't, of course, eaten as much as the Saiyajin, so had finished a while before they had.

"I guess I am," he said hesitantly.  "If everyone else is...."

Yamcha stood up. "Why not? It's not like I have any plans for the next few weeks anyways."

Goku scratched his head, watching his friends all get up from the table. "I don't know how good will be at this kind of thing. But I guess I can come with you. At least for the flying part."

Yamcha slapped Goku on the back, as he walked by him. "It's all right," he told the other man with a smile. "Do you think I'll be any good at this?"

Goku grinned back at his friend's encouragement, returning the gesture by clapping his hand against Yamcha's shoulder on the way out the door. Vegeta did not miss the sudden scowl that settled on Radditz' features when Yamcha touched Goku. It was easy for him to tell that Radditz was jealous of the easy camaraderie between the two men. But it really was not his concern that Radditz still had himself tied up in knots over the human male.

If Vegeta had really been honest with himself, he would have realized his situation was similar to his companion's. He had not made any progress with Bulma, but the Saiyajin Prince had yet to lose interest in her. "Come, Radditz. I am sure this will prove to be quite interesting."

The seven of them went to the bridge, where Bulma taught the men how to pilot the ship.  She was less successful at teaching the earth-based warriors about navigation; Radditz and Vegeta had some experience in that field, so had some idea what the coordinates meant and how to use them, and the fact that the ship was based on the design of Nappa's pod certainly helped.  Her friends, however, never having had to deal with something like this, really didn't understand what she was trying to explain.  She finally gave up on teaching them more than the basics of navigation, and simply showed them how to pilot the ship without navigating the star charts.

She didn't know if she was relieved or disturbed that the two Saiyajin understood it so well.  It meant that in an emergency they could set the course if necessary, but it also meant they might set their course for a location that might be dangerous for herself and her friends.  She wasn't entirely certain she trusted them just yet.  Unfortunately, there wasn't anything she could do about that, so she decided not to say anything for now.

::I suppose I could set the controls so they can't override my commands.  It wouldn't be difficult.  There's no way they would ever figure out my passwords.::  That idea satisfied her enough, and she decided it would do for the time being.

~~~*~~~

Vegeta muttered to himself as he made his way from the mess hall to his bedroom. Midway there he changed his mind and headed to what everyone on the ship had taken to calling the 'capsule room'. He decided the best way to get rid of some of his sexual tension was to go and do some serious training.

He wasn't there long when he became aware of another presence in the room he had chosen to decapsulate.  Vegeta stopped in mid-sit-up to glare at Goku.

The other Saiyajin was looking at him with a puzzled expression.  "I thought Radditz said you trained with weights because of Vegeta-sei's gravity."

The Saiyajin Prince scowled at him. "Yes, we do. It is ten times that of Earth."

"Then why aren't you using the gravity machine?" he asked, scratching the back of his head.  Vegeta just looked at him blankly.  "Bulma put a machine in here to adjust the amount of gravity that you can train in. No one told you about it?"  Vegeta's answering glare was enough that even Goku took a step back.  "Here, I'll show you how it works.  Umm...." Goku's eyebrows pulled together while he concentrated. "I think Bulma said it goes up to three hundred times Earth's normal gravity."

"I see." Vegeta folded his arms over his chest, apparently thinking. "Turn on that machine."

Goku cocked his head, then nodded.  Within seconds, Vegeta felt a difference in the air around him.  Then when the other warrior turned, he launched himself at Goku with a series of kicks and punches that were too fast for normal people to see.

If Goku was surprised by the sudden attack, you would never have known it by the way Goku effectively blocked most of the blows.  Goku smiled at Vegeta's ferocity, glad for the challenge.  He was relieved that Vegeta seemed to be relaxing a bit as the fight went on.

This sparring match continued for quite some time.  Goku wasn't even sure when Radditz arrived and joined the fray, but Goku noticed that Vegeta held back less once Radditz was there, showing the brothers more of what the Saiyajin Prince was capable of.

It was late when the trio called it a night.  Vegeta was the first to leave the capsule room and headed down to his room, very sweaty and a little bloody but still on edge. Despite the fact that most of his frustrations had been vented on the two Saiyajin warriors he been sparring with, all he had to do was remember a glimpse of pale, silky smooth skin, and the brief taste of Bulma's lips, and it was back to square one.  For someone who prided himself on restraint, he was at the limits of his self-control. He was honest enough with himself to admit that all he had been thinking of when she had been teaching him the ship's navigational system were ways on how to seduce her. Even at dinner, when she had accidentally brushed past him to seat herself at the table, that brief contact had made it difficult for him to breathe, let alone think.

Deciding that the only way to get his mind off her was to leave and cool off in the shower, he had abruptly - and without a word to the others - stopped sparring and stormed off to his room.  Vegeta stripped the moment he reached his quarters and headed for the shower.  But much to his surprise, when he tried to turn on the water nothing happened. He glared at the controls, very much tempted to blast the faulty equipment into oblivion, but opted instead to go and force a certain pale-haired scientist to fix the problem.

He was about to storm out of his room naked, when he realized she would most likely have a fit.  For once the Saiyajin prince wanted to avoid an argument, so he slipped a towel around his hips and banged on Bulma's bedroom door. "You need to come with me," he demanded harshly.

Bulma gaped at him in disbelief, almost letting go of her robe in her shock.  "You're out of your *mind*!" she shouted, her anger finally overriding her astonishment.  "You show up at my bedroom naked, and want to drag me into your room?  How stupid do you think I *am*?!?  Maybe your other women fell all over you and you could do what you want with them, but I'm not like that!  You can go back to your room by yourself, thankyouverymuch!"

Vegeta was in no mood to argue with her. He reached down and grabbed her wrist, then flung her over his shoulder. "I need you to fix the blasted shower, woman," he growled at her.  Only when they reached his room did he put her back on her feet. "The damned thing won't turn on."

Bulma didn't want to admit to herself how she had felt when Vegeta had touched her, although it quickly became anger at the way he had cavalierly manhandled her.  She glared at him furiously when he set her down.

"How DARE you do that to me, you barbarian!  You are so rude!  You could have just *told* me instead of... instead of carrying me over your shoulder like a sack of potatoes!"

With that she yanked her arm away from him, and turned to storm back towards her room, furious beyond measure.

Vegeta reacted without really thinking.  Grabbing her around the waist, he pulled her abruptly against him. "You will fix this, woman, otherwise I will bathe in your room."

Bulma couldn't help gaping once more in astonishment.  "You will *not* bathe in my room!  Whatever gave you the idea you would be permitted to?"

"Then fix the damned thing!" he shouted at her, still holding her in a loose embrace.  "Or deal with the consequences."

"Can't it wait until *morning*?!?" she shouted back at him, incensed.  "WHY do you have to have me do this in the middle of the night!"

Vegeta wasn't sure what triggered it. It could have been because he was tired. It may have been that he was more than a little sore at the punishment he had taken sparring with the others.  Or maybe he had just reached the end of his endurance. But he knew he could not get her to shut up to listen to him, so he did the first thing that came to mind.

He kissed her.

It was not a gentle kiss by any means; it was rough, demanding, and was meant to silence. Vegeta had intended to make it quick and hard, but something in him wouldn't relinquish his claim on her mouth, and he deepened the kiss as his fingers came up and tangled in the mass of her hair.

Bulma was too surprised by the sudden intimacy to think of struggling at first, and after a few seconds, the assault on her senses overwhelmed her.  Her legs buckled under her, and she didn't consciously realize he had lifted her into his arms, keeping her from falling.  As he moved towards his bed, one of her hands slowly snaked around the back of his neck, as the other began lightly tracing the muscles on his shoulder.

At first Vegeta dismissed the caress of Bulma's hands on him as nothing more than wishful thinking. After more than a week of lusting after the woman, he credited it to nothing more than an overactive imagination.  But as he settled her on the bed, he felt her fingers graze lightly down his spine, and he knew that what was happening was indeed reality.

Vegeta broke the kiss and stared into beautiful, passion-glazed sapphire eyes.  His lips tilted upwards in the first hint of a real smile that Bulma had ever seen on the Saiyajin Prince as he brushed his mouth over hers in the briefest of kisses, before moving lazy kisses along her jaw to her ear, where he paused to give the lobe a gentle nip.

~~~*~~~

A sudden rise in ki from the direction of Vegeta's room had the gradually relaxing Radditz suddenly alert.  The Chikyuu-jin warriors had started teaching Radditz and Vegeta how to sense and control their ki levels, but he wasn't familiar with different kinds of spikes.  He knew, however, that the ki he was sensing was Vegeta's, and without hesitation he tore out the door, running towards where he sensed his Prince.  It didn't occur to him to cover himself up; indeed, if it had occurred to him, he wouldn't have stopped to do so.  The life of his monarch was more important than any modesty could ever possibly be.

Yamcha paused in undressing as he felt the sudden rise of Vegeta's ki. Normally something like that would have sent the scarred warrior down the hall at a dead run, but something about it seemed familiar.  He knew logically there couldn't be any danger on the ship, so he figured the Saiyajin Prince was sparring again.

He slipped his shirt over his head, trying to ignore it, but then felt a slight increase in Bulma's ki as well. Yamcha started a bit at that, and then frowned. The last time that had happened, the group of them had walked in to find Bulma and Vegeta in a compromising position. He stood there a moment, undecided on whether he should interrupt them, when he felt the sudden spike of Radditz' ki as well.

The scarred warrior sighed.  If Radditz interrupted them now, Vegeta would probably kill him.  He stepped out in the hall to intercept him.  "Radditz, wait..." he called out, his voice trailing off when he realized the other man was naked.

Radditz didn't hesitate - he glanced briefly at Yamcha, but continued to run by.  "My Prince is in danger!" he growled out at the handsome Chikyuu-jin.  "I have to go to him!"

"No, he isn't.  Radditz, stop!" Yamcha shouted down the hall at him. "If you interrupt him this time..."  He found that he suddenly lost the ability to speak again when Radditz turned around, completely nude. "He is not in danger," he repeated, trying to distract himself.

Radditz had no idea what Yamcha was going on about, but something in his tone made Radditz hesitate, as he was about to blast Vegeta's door down.  He cursed.  If that hesitation cost Vegeta his life, then Yamcha would pay for it with his life, no matter how Radditz lusted after him.

"Answer, ningen!" he barked impatiently.  "Or I'm going in no matter what!"

"You can't or he'll blast you," Yamcha replied. "Not that I care if you get splattered all over the hallway. But I would rather you not embarrass Bulma again. She is in there with him."  He folded his arms over his bare chest and eyed Vegeta's door as if he expected the Prince to hear the racket and come out to maim them all. "You do remember what happened the last time they were alone, don't you?"

Radditz' eyes narrowed, then widened in realization.  He glanced at the door, scratching his chin.  "Well, I wonder if they've finally come to their senses about each other," he murmured thoughtfully.  A sudden wicked grin lit his face.  "Well, well, well.  Maybe he won't be quite so cranky now."

He turned away from Vegeta's door, still grinning, then his gaze lit on Yamcha and the smile faded.  Despite the fact that Yamcha was half-clad, wearing a modest pair of pajama bottoms, Radditz felt as though the human warrior in front of him were taunting him with what he couldn't have.  A sneer formed on Radditz lips as he unconsciously tried to reject his feelings towards the human.

"I remember.  I remember what it's been like to be where Vegeta is now.  Can you say the same?"

Yamcha bristled under the implied insult. Well, so what if had never been with anyone, male or female?  It did not mean Radditz had to remind him of that. It was almost as if the other man were mocking him with the reminder that he was lacking in that aspect of his life.

His eyes narrowed on the male in front of him and he snorted. "I have no interest in that kind of thing with anyone," he replied. "I'm sure it's overrated."  ::Fine, he wants to insult me.  I can do it right back.::

Radditz felt his temper rise at that insult, but decided to use his anger as a weapon.  "Oh, really," he taunted back.  "No interest in that kind of thing?  With anyone?"  He strutted slowly towards Yamcha, deliberately showing off his entire physique.  "No interest in it at all?"  He smiled when he saw a flash of something in Yamcha's eyes.  "Liar," he accused with a wicked smile.

It wasn't the first time Yamcha cursed his inexperience with anything that had to do with sex. Especially now, with Radditz so obviously wanting to goad him into some kind of reaction.  He forced himself to keep still and his expression bland as Radditz stopped right in front of him.  He was forced to look up at the other man since Radditz towered over him.

"I had one of the most beautiful women on Earth," he responded, his tone subconsciously daring the other man to dispute it. ""Why else would I have remained the way I am, if I were interested in things of that nature?"

Radditz paused, looking thoughtfully down at the human male.  It was certainly something to ponder.  "But you never 'had' her, did you?  I do not know how you humans are, but with Saiyajin we will mate with either sex.  But in some species I know there are some who prefer their own gender exclusively, and some that prefer another.  It could be that you had no interest in the female simply because you have no interest in females.  Especially since I can sense a great deal of passion within you."

He couldn't stop himself, as his hand snaked forward, lifting Yamcha's chin so they were looking each other in the eyes.  "A great deal of passion," he repeated.  "If only you wouldn't suppress it so much, you might not be so frustrated."

Yamcha was going to protest his little quip about not being interested in women, but was distracted by the feel of Radditz' hand on his face. The sudden warmth that pooled low in his belly was sending warning signals that he needed to move away and fast. So instead of leaning into the caress, Yamcha reached up and smacked Radditz' hand off of his face.

"Maybe I was not in love with her.  I might have recognized that in myself on some subconscious level, and knew I could not give her what she needed.  Have you considered that?"

Radditz arched an eyebrow at the mention of the word 'love'.  Many species used that word, although to a Saiyajin it was completely foreign.  "What does love have to do with sex?" he returned.  "You didn't desire her, yet I know you desire me, despite your protests.  I feel the passion in you.  Why do you continue to deny it?"

Radditz was surprised at how calm he was at the moment.  Inside his emotions were in turmoil, but for once he managed to keep them from his expression.  Instead he looked only blandly amused, as he continued to gaze down at the scarred human.

"Love has a lot to do with sex. But I suppose you are too primitive to understand that." Yamcha was deliberately trying to get him angry. He could deal with Radditz ignoring him, he even could deal with an angry Radditz in battle, but this was a part of the Saiyajin male he did not know how to handle. "So what if I desire you?  It's not like it means anything."

Radditz' eyes narrowed as he began to growl, his tail lashing furiously behind him.  "Primitive?" he said, in a deceptively quiet voice.  "Saiyajin were in outer space when your people were still building mud huts.  In fact, your planet still hasn't developed space travel.  This ship?  Your female used *our* technology to build it.  If she hadn't had Nappa's ship to work with, she would never have developed anything like this.  Although I'll admit that she was quite ingenious with it.  Too bad your planet didn't have a Bulma a hundred years ago.  You *might* have been less 'primitive' yourself had that been the case!"

Then without another word, Radditz pushed past Yamcha, striding towards his room.  As the door slid open, he paused and looked back at Yamcha.  "If you ever change your mind, ningen, you are always welcome in my room.  But *you* will have to make the move.  If you believe it means 'nothing', then you can spend your time alone!  I'm sure I can find a willing partner when we get back to Chikyuu!  Kuso, if Zarbon is on Namek - and it's likely he will be, if Freeza is going there - maybe I can convince him to have a little fun.  He's even prettier than Bulma."

He didn't wait for Yamcha's reply, but stepped into his room, allowing his tail to show one last twitch to Yamcha before the door slid shut behind him.  Had Yamcha been Saiyajin, that action would have been a blatant invitation.  But as the human was unaware of Saiyajin sexual practices, he had no idea what it meant.

Yamcha did not know whether he should insulted by the assumption that he would join Radditz in his room one day, or flattered that Radditz made the offer. And what was starting to annoy him was the fact that he was more than a little curious about what Radditz could teach him.

He had been surprised by the gentleness of the larger man's touch when he had gripped his face. Yamcha's imagination went into overdrive when he considered all the other places on his body that the Saiyajin male could touch, where Yamcha wanted him to touch. The baseball player suppressed a shiver, fighting the warmth that seemed to originate somewhere in his belly and settle in his groin.

The handsome man bit off a curse as he ran his hand through his hair and turned on his heel to back into his room.  He wondered if cold showers really did help in this sort of situation, because he found he really wanted one.

~~~*~~~

Bulma stared back into Vegeta's obsidian gaze, feeling confused and overwhelmed.  His dark eyes - normally so cold and impenetrable - seemed to flicker with something dangerous and compelling.  Bulma felt herself drawn into them, pulled towards him almost against her will.  She couldn't pull away from him, and for once she didn't want to.  His skin - bare now that he had dropped his towel - was warm against her own, yet she shivered from the contact.  She closed her eyes, her hand on the back of his neck pulling him back down towards her face, drawing him into another kiss.

Vegeta decided to comply with Bulma's silent request as her fingers threaded through his hair and tugged. Still, he found no reason to rush as he nibbled at the skin on her jaw as he moved his way back to her mouth. She gave a sharp tug, on the verge of pulling as he finally reached her mouth, but still Vegeta did not comply.  Instead he made her wait for the kiss he knew she wanted by giving her a teasing swipe with his tongue over her lips first before he finally gave in.

Vegeta was not satisfied with simple kisses for long; the hunger he felt for the woman pinned underneath him compared to nothing in his experiences. Simple desire he had dealt with and could recognize, but he knew subconsciously that he was craving more than her surrender to his touch.  He wanted - no, needed - for her to enjoy this as much as he knew he was going to.

He released Bulma's mouth, despite the tugs in his hair to try to keep his mouth on hers, and gave a nip to her lower lip before sliding his lips over her chin and down her throat to nuzzle the soft flesh. He alternated between nips and flicks of his tongue as he moved downward, intent on tasting as much of her as he could.  But then he encountered something he had forgotten about.

Though the cloth was silky and smooth to the touch, it was still a hindrance.  Vegeta wanted to give in to his first impulse and simply rip the useless bit of clothing off her, but he realized that might startle her out of her trance. The possibility was slim in her present state of mind, but he was unwilling to take the chance.  He pondered his options as he moved back towards her mouth, his hands sliding down her sides, to her hips, and then across her belly, searching for the ties to her robe.  Vegeta smirked smugly as his fingers deftly untied the knot without Bulma's awareness.

Getting the material out of the way seemed easier than he had assumed it would be; all it took were some small caresses up her arms to get her to relax, then he slipped the silky material off her shoulders and pushed it out of the way. The nightdress was even easier to get rid of; he simply slid his hands under the material, smirking as her back arched off the bed and into his touch, unconsciously helping him with its removal as he lifted the material up and over her head.

Task completed, Vegeta moved his mouth down to the valley of her breasts, only to stop when he reached her navel. He paused a moment to dip his tongue into the indentation, and smirked again when he felt her shudder in response. ::So responsive. I knew you would be.  Let's see what else you like.::  Vegeta shifted his body so his hardness brushed against her warmth, then lowered his head to one pink nipple and took to suckling it into a hard nub.

Bulma thought she was going to explode as Vegeta continued to touch her.  As she felt the air caress her skin, a part of her - a tiny part that was easily overwhelmed by everything else - was screaming at her that she shouldn't be doing this, that she shouldn't allow an almost complete stranger to undress her.  But it felt so wonderful, the wondrous sensations overwhelming her and overturning all her inhibitions, she simply couldn't deny him.

She moaned, her legs parting automatically as he settled on top of her, feeling a strange hardness pushing at her womanhood.  Instinctively she bucked towards him, as though trying to pull it into her.  The bare soles of her feet rubbed up and down his muscled legs, and she reveled in the sensation of his skin.

Vegeta smirked as he released her breast and made his way downward, pausing every now and then to give nips to her skin. He noted rather absently that some of them were certainly going to leave a bruise on her fair skin. But that was fine, at least to him; it was in a sense marking the female as his, for as long as the relationship lasted.

It was little wonder that when he paused between her legs his hands were trembling.  Vegeta had no idea until that moment that he wanted Bulma this much, but as he now had her exactly where he wanted her, he found it difficult to go slow.  The warrior willed his trembling to still as he ran his fingers down the insides of her thighs, to the backs of her knees, brushing near where he knew her need was, but never touching where she wanted it most. It was when she arched her back off the bed, moaning, only aware of the sensations that Vegeta was causing and nothing else, that the Saiyajin prince grasped both her hips with his hands and pinned her to the bed, lowering his head between her legs to taste her.

The smallest swipe with his tongue had the woman beneath him whimpering and trying to arch up into his mouth to deepen the contact. But his hands held her still, as he deliberately took his time, alternating licks with blowing on her skin. Finally, when he deemed she wanted more, he gave in to his desires and drank her in.

Bulma knew that what Vegeta was doing to her was wrong.  She shouldn't be allowing a complete stranger - particularly one whose motives she didn't entirely understand - to touch her this intimately.  Yet there was something so incredibly *right* about what he was doing to her, the pleasure swamping through her, that she just couldn't resist him.

"Vegeta!" she cried out when he did something to that most intimate part of her that had her practically flying off the bed.  But he held her down firmly, insistently, and continued to cause such sweet torment that she thought she would go insane.

Needing to do something, she reached down and twined her fingers into his hair.  She was surprised at how stiff it was, but that thought vanished as she instinctively curled her fingers against his scalp, crying out and arching against his mouth as he continued to assault her senses.

Vegeta felt a rush of pure masculine satisfaction as she arched upwards into his mouth, whimpering and writhing in pleasure. When her fingers tightened their grip enough to make a normal man wince, Vegeta left her with one last flick of his tongue and was surprised as Bulma pulled him up by his hair for another kiss.

Their kisses grew more heated as Vegeta rubbed his hardness against her, teasing her before releasing her mouth and looking down into her eyes. For some reason, he wanted to look into her eyes as he took her, and he was not disappointed as lust-hazed azure eyes met his. He smiled a little as he positioned himself and slid just the tip of his length inside before withdrawing and repeating the action.

If Bulma's sighs were any indication, he knew he had not hurt her yet; he was merely prolonging the inevitable.  But he forced himself to go slow.  He was determined to take extra care with her, as he had never done before with any other lover.  Vegeta was perplexed as to why he hesitated as he slid into her once more, but the decision to take her gently was taken from him as she arched up against him, taking him deep.

He shuddered as he sank into her warmth and forced himself to remain still. He had felt the resistance of her barrier as he broke through, and the way that her body had tensed under his.  The warrior did not even realize he was whispering soothing words to her as her body grew accustomed to his intrusion. He found himself trailing kisses along her jaw that were meant purely to soothe.

"It gets better," he murmured as he slowly drew out only to thrust back in gently. "Much better."

The tearing pain had jarred Bulma from the haze of lust and sensual pleasure he had wrapped around her, and she couldn't help freezing under him.  She shivered as he kissed her, shuddering no longer from pleasure but from dread.  What had she just done?  Why was she allowing him to do this?

She turned her face away from him, tears of regret leaking from tightly closed lids as she wished now that she'd had enough willpower to resist him.

Vegeta regretted the pain he knew she was feeling, but coaxed her mouth back to his to distract her from it. It would not last long, and it wasn't what he wanted her to remember about this experience. Vegeta kept the pace slow as he gently thrust into her, his fingers sliding between their bodies, seeking something.  When he found what he was searching for, his thumb brushed slowly against the sensitive nub in time with his thrusts, gradually rebuilding her passions.

He was rewarded with a low sound that reminded the Saiyajin Prince of a cat purring. He smirked against her lips as he increased the pace, and found that soon Bulma was matching him thrust for thrust. It was not long after that he felt Bulma moan out something that sounded like his name, her body wracked with shudders as she climaxed, her body clenching around him.  It was the only stimulus needed to push him over the edge.

Vegeta growled out Bulma's name before he lost all control. But some rational part of him knew not to collapse on the woman beneath him.  Instead, Vegeta rolled over, taking Bulma with him so that she was resting on his chest.

It was several minutes before Bulma's consciousness came back, and she vaguely became aware of the warm male body beneath her and his ragged breathing.  Once again Bulma froze, this time out of a strange feeling of fear.  What had she done?  She had allowed herself to be seduced, had been a completely willing participant.  She had been more than willing; she had panted and cried out his name like a bitch in heat.

A wave of shame washed over her, and her face flushed in mortification.  He was an *alien* for Kami's sake!  He wasn't even human!  But she knew that argument was irrelevant; whatever he was, Goku the same race, and he was human as far as she was concerned.

Somehow Bulma felt faintly guilty, as though she had done something for which she should feel ashamed.  Maybe she still felt connected to Yamcha...?  There was friendship there, she realized as she weighed that carefully, but no more.  She had, she realized also, been trying to hold on to the idea that maybe they would eventually get back together.  But this last week on the ship had shown her - even if Yamcha himself didn't fully recognize it - the reason he had left her in the first place.  The fact was that he didn't belong with her, and never had, and someday he would find a nice man that would make him happy.  Whether that would be Radditz remained to be seen, of course.

Bulma felt a strange purring rumble coming from Vegeta, and she wondered if he had fallen asleep.  Could she leave without him realizing it?  She turned her head up from where it rested on his chest, to look up into his face.  To her dismay, he was not only awake, but he was studying her carefully.  What he was looking for she didn't know, but she had a sudden urge to run away from him.

It was almost as if Vegeta sensed that she wanted to bolt as he reached up and wrapped one arm around her waist, a silent signal that he wasn't going to let her up anytime soon.  His other hand he ran lightly up her spine, then tangled his fingers in her hair. For once in his life he wished his abilities extended to the deep telepathy he knew some of his species had been capable of.  He really wanted to know what she was thinking.

He was at a loss for what he should say to her.  The way she was looking at him was making him more cautious than normal. But words of reassurance were not his forte. Nothing in any of his previous encounters could have prepared him for the sudden rush of possessiveness he felt simply holding her against him.

"Didn't I tell you it gets better?" he remarked dryly, as he trailed his fingers through her hair.

Bulma's brow furrowed in puzzlement, as she tried to figure out what he was talking about.  Then she remembered, and blushed faintly.  She tried to smile, but was too nervous to manage more than a weak one.  She couldn't help but agree, but she wished she couldn't.  She had this vague feeling he was going to brag about his conquest of her to the others, and she couldn't help the feeling of mortification that washed through her once again.  How would she be able to face them?  They would all feel she had betrayed them, wouldn't they?

Bulma wasn't certain what her friends would think.  She wasn't sure what *she* thought just yet.  She was feeling more and more uncomfortable as she lay there on top of him, the warmth of his skin penetrating her own.

She cleared her throat abruptly, and the sound startled her.  "I should fix your shower, so we can go to bed," she said, knowing she was trying to avoid thinking about what they had just done.  Maybe if she ignored it, she could pretend it had never happened.  She wasn't entirely certain that she wanted to, but she wasn't quite sure how to face it just yet, either.

"You do that," he said, hiding his disappointment that she was such in a hurry to leave. "Given my recent work-out, I am in more need of a shower than ever."  It was a novel sensation to him, his unexplained desire to have her stay with him. But like all emotions, he simply disregarded it as unimportant, even though something was nagging at him that this particular feeling shouldn't ignored.

Yet it was exactly what the Saiyajin Prince did as he tilted his head to one side and continued to study Bulma. "Don't let me keep you from your duties," he said dryly.

Bulma blushed, and looked pointedly at the arm holding her down.  With a frown he released her and she sat up, moving quickly away from him.  She was suddenly nervous.  She had no idea what to say to him or how she should act; she had never been in such a position before.

Without a glance at him, she hurriedly shrugged on her robe, then gathered the nightgown in her hands.  She looked down at it, feeling mortified.  "I'll be right back," she choked out, and abruptly ran from the room.

Vegeta watched her retreat with some amusement. ::She acts as though a thousand of Freeza's warriors are chasing her.:: That thought, however, was more than enough to sober the warrior out of his good humor. The mere notion of that lizard laying his hands on what was his was enough to make the prince hate Freeza even more than he already did. It never occurred to Vegeta that he was already beginning to think of Bulma as his female. If he had, he might have been a bit more concerned about his feelings.

Vegeta sighed, folded his arms underneath his head, and turned his gaze to the ceiling as he waited impatiently for her return. He was about to get up and go see what was taking her so long when she came back in. "Get lost?" he asked, not even bothering to glance over at her.

"Got dressed," she snapped back irritably.  She had realized she had to do that, or she would never feel comfortable around him; she already felt uneasy around him, and what they had just done only made it worse.  She didn't look in his direction as she headed towards the bathroom. "Just stay out of my way, and I'll fix your shower," she called out from the smaller room.

"Heaven forbid I should get in your way when you have tools in your hands," he remarked dryly.  "Who knows what could happen?"  His tone, though it contained a hint of mockery, seemed strained, even to himself. ::What the hell is wrong with me?:: He knew that normally after such a pleasurable encounter he would be satisfied, but now he felt even more on edge.

In the bathroom where Vegeta couldn't see her, Bulma clenched her fists in anger and seethed.  She was feeling unusually irritable at the moment.  She assumed it was anger at Vegeta for seducing her that way.  How dare he touch her like that?  She would never let him touch her that way again, especially if he was going to be such an ass afterwards.

Not that she *wanted* to know what he would be like afterwards on any other occasion.  It wasn't like she was ever going to let him get near her again.  Not unless at least one of her friends was around.  She never wanted this... barbarian... to have his way with her a second time.

Bulma pried the cover off the shower controls a little more roughly than she should have, and began checking the wiring.  She didn't know if the problem was in the plumbing itself, or in the controls.  Hopefully it was in the controls; she didn't like the idea of having to get into the plumbing when she was this tired.  It would require that she go down to the lowest level of the ship, and then travel through the inner shafts.  Not something she would look forward to even at the best of times.

After about ten minutes she had fixed the problem; a faulty connection had caused a misfiring, so the shower controls simply hadn't worked at all.  She was relieved it had been that simple.  The less time she spent in the presence of this irritating alien, the better.

When she exited the bathroom, she couldn't help the way her gaze automatically shifted over to Vegeta.  She immediately blushed in embarrassment.  The Saiyajin Prince hadn't moved, but was still lying on his bed, arms behind his head, and still completely naked.  She knew enough about men to realize that his obvious arousal belied his apparent indifference to her.  She didn't know if he was still aroused by their previous encounter, or if he was looking to continue his attentions at the moment.

Either way, she wasn't going to give him a chance.  "It's fixed!" she snapped at him, even as she strode hurriedly towards the door.

Though it looked like he wasn't paying any attention to her, Vegeta watched as she hurried to the door.  It was almost as if hell itself was chasing her. Though he really wanted to leap off the bed as his hormones were demanding, he decided he had more pride than to chase after her like a lust-crazed teenager. Instead, he kept his gaze focused on the ceiling, and quipped, "Hopefully the rest of the ship won't be as faulty as your plumbing system. Otherwise I might have to come and wake you up at all hours of the day and night for your assistance."

Vegeta was sure that Bulma caught that he was implying their encounter wouldn't only be the one time, and he waited to see what her reaction would be.

Bulma's fist clenched at his statement that her equipment was faulty, hesitating before the door sensor.  "I apologize, Your Majesty," she replied, the title coming out of her lips as an insult.  "I'll make sure that none of my 'faulty equipment' bothers you ever again.  If you'd prefer to sleep in the brig instead, you won't have to worry about it!"

She raised her hand swiftly, running it over the door sensor, and strode out as it opened.  "Good night, Your Royal Pain-in-the-ass!"

Vegeta was so angry, he could not figure out if she had caught his promise, or if she was deliberately avoiding the issue. For the first time in his life, he found himself wishing his telepathic abilities extended to mind reading. He really wanted to know what she was thinking - if she was angry with him seducing her, or if her anger was at the implied insult that her equipment was defective.

The frustration Vegeta experienced at the entire situation was startling and slightly alarming.  Usually when Vegeta picked a lover, once was enough to satisfy him until the urge came again. Never before had the desire for a female clouded his judgment to the point that he forgot Freeza and his quest for revenge.

The scowl that settled across Vegeta's features would have sent many beings in the universe running for cover.  He came to the conclusion that maybe there was some truth to what Radditz has claimed earlier.  Swinging his legs out of bed, the Saiyajin prince stalked to the shower, determined to wash her scent off his skin, and to clear his head of these unwanted emotions. There was, he rationalized, a logical explanation of what just happened, but it eluded him half an hour later after he had gotten out of the shower and settled in to bed to sleep.

END PART 16