Not Quite Seduction

Here's Chapter Two. I had thought about making this a one-shot, but I just can't leave them that way! ;)
I think this just may be a two parter. I'll try and close this story up, but you know how it is. If it wants to go on, it will.

Oh, and in a review I got, I wasn't sure if the reader was complementing me, or accusing me of plagiarism.

So let me be clear.

This is a spin on the Bulma/Vegeta pair that popped into my head that didn't come from anything else. If it was "inspired" by anything, it was the
simple fact that I tire of the pairings with Vegeta portrayed as a horndog and Bulma, a raging whore. Other than that, it was the simple chemistry of
the couple.

Thank you.

Again, please review, or at least rate. I really want to know what you think, lest I wouldn't even post anything on a public forum like this. Tell me
what I can improve upon, or just click the little rate button with the +'s you think are appropriate. I long to hear from you!


Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z, any of its affiliate series, or any of the characters. I do not make any money from this story.



She burned for him.

And it didn't go out with time. Weeks past, and they continued to avoid each other.

She knew why she was avoiding him. She had told him why.

If she wanted someone, it would be more than just one night. But she had yet to figure out why he avoided her. He didn't seem like
the kind of man who would be embarrassed by something for too long, if at all.

He would justify it with "weak human," or something of the sort, and be done with it.

But they both carried on with awkward glances, monosyllabic answers, and quick escapes. He didn't demand as much from her along the lines of "Improve
this outdated machine!" And when he did, it was brief. "The gravity machine is malfunctioning. Correct it." Is what it had turned into, and it lacked
its previous venom.

She realized now that she had wanted him for some time. Why else would she let him stay here? Why else would she put up with all of his demands?

She had answered Vegeta truthfully when he had asked her why. But she knew now it was for more than just to make him happy.

She wanted him to want her.

On some level, she guessed she got her wish. But so far, he had only conveyed the want for sex. She knew sayan men weren't that basic. After all, Goku loved
Chichi, didn't he? On more than just a physical level?

She tinkered with some various machine or another in her lab. She was having tough luck finishing anything these days. Her father had started to get on
her back about it, in his roundabout, passive-aggressive way.

"Well, normally I would be happy to finish this up for you if you're having trouble, dear. I'm just so busy anymore that I just don't have the time, however."
He would start. "I guess if you just really can't do I, then I will have to find the time." Then he would skitter away and leave her under a pile of guilt.

Autumn was sinking fast into winter and her deadlines were rapidly approaching for a new, unique heating system. She had two weeks to finish it, and she
had barely even drawn up the blueprints. "I am so toast!" She yelled at herself as she sat at her work table.

"I should at least look at it, I guess. I might get inspired." She set the previous item she messed with aside, and pulled out the bothersome blueprints.

She stared at it, not getting inspired, until she thought her eyes were going to bleed. The only thing on her mind was him. How he smelled. How he tasted.
What his hands felt like on her. She shivered.

She rolled the prints back up and put them away.

Everything about him drew her attention now.

She thought about him occasionally before, but never like this. 'If he would have just left me alone this would never have happened...'

She gritted her teeth and shook her head. This was his fault.

She would have never acted on these feelings if he hadn't done it first.

'Feelings...? He may not even have any for me...' She thought, dejected.

'Well I'm not going to get anything done just sitting around here.' She needed to clear her thoughts.

She pushed various items aside on her way to the window. It overlooked his training chamber. She, again, supposed that was no coincidence. This hadn't
been the first time she found herself looking out there after him.

She thought about their encounter. Every time she did, her body felt like it relived it. She became hot, and nervous.

Then she wondered if this was simply her wanting him on her own terms.

What about him would make it so different?

She shook her head. "I already feel differently for him." She compared her feelings for him to her feelings for Yamcha, and there was really no comparison.

But she had told him what she wanted. Didn't that mean it was his move now?

She supposed it did, and as she looked out her office window down below to his gravity machine she thought about when it had collapsed on him.

She cared about him. He had been the only man to really challenge her. Nothing was ever as easy with him as it was with everyone else.

"... I could "buy and sell this town," so for some reason, that means the same rules don't apply to me." She remembered that statement, and how with
Vegeta, THAT didn't apply. He didn't care 'who her father was' or that she was "Bulma Briefs, Capsule Corp. heiress."

He had asked her what her intentions were, and she hadn't really thought about what he meant until now.

The door to the gravity machine opened, and he stepped out looking as he did every day after training; like he had been hit by a meteor.

He stood there, and she watched him, thinking about what he had said.

"I have never encountered anyone like you. Ever." That was the most honest she had ever heard him be.

"I wonder if that's good, or bad." She absent mindedly raised her hand to touch the glass, as if somehow she could reach through it and out to him.

She continued to watch him as he slowly began his trek back to his room, where he would spend the evening until dinner. Lately she was eating before him
simply to avoid him. "If you didn't care about me at all, then why would you have been so honest?" She asked his retreating form.

She had to talk to him. She needed to talk to him.

She would find out if he cared.



His training, lately, had been suffering.

All he was thinking about was her; How good it had felt to be pressed up against her. How soft her hair felt in his hand...

He cursed himself. It had taken him a good week just to work past the humiliation of being refused by her.

'What about "Do you accept me?" did she not understand?' He asked himself as he delivered blows to the simulation opponent. He had let himself
become weak for her. He had offered himself to her, and she thought him nothing more than her previous mate, Yamcha.

After that week, he had come to the conclusion that was what she expected of males; mating, then leaving. ""I don't want some 'loneliness
alleviation.' If I'm going to be with someone, its not going to be just once.""

He accepted that he cared about her, and there wasn't much he could do about it. It was one thing that she was embarrassed and avoiding him. He
had done his share of avoidance, and could understand, but he figured she would have gotten over it by now. Her desire for him was apparent.

He growled. She made him so furious! She was the only creature he had ever met that made him so angry, yet lived another day. It was a kind of fury he was
unfamiliar with.

His blood boiled for her, yet all he wanted to do was take her to bed. He had felt lust before, but nothing like this. He simply chalked it up to
her being the mate of his choice. "I didn't think it would be this fucking difficult!" He shouted at no one.

He couldn't understand why she hadn't sought him out. 'Maybe she really does compare me with him.' The thought sickened him some, but if that was
all she had known, he couldn't really blame her for doing so.

His disgust got the better of him, however. Disgust for comparing him to Yamcha, and his own disgust for being so weak for her.

"Fucking- disgusting- human- weakling!" He pummeled a poor titanium dummy into a pile of scrap as he thought about Yamcha.

He had to talk to her, her embarrassment be damned!



Bulma hung around the kitchen with her mother, waiting and waiting for dinner to finally be ready. She wasn't even hungry, but after her decision to
make Vegeta fess up, the night couldn't go by fast enough.

"How much longer, mom?" She asked for what was probably the tenth time in five minutes.

"My goodness! You certainly are hungry this evening! I wonder if I fixed enough?" Her mother looked over the various pots and pans, heaping over with food.

"You fixed enough." Bulma said, flatly.

"Well it shouldn't be more than ten minutes. Go get your father, and Vegeta, and when you get back it'll be done!" She chirped in her usual perky tone.

She had no idea what she was asking of her.

And though they were the words Bulma had been waiting to hear, they paralyzed her.

The prospect of facing Vegeta, she decided, was suddenly too real, and too much to bare. "Well, I- Could I just... I mean-" She could barely form words.

"Well? Is something the matter, dear?" Her mother looked at her, vacantly.

"No, I just... Um, I don't think Vegeta's back in from training. That's all." She blurted out an excuse.

"You are mistaken, woman." A deep, male voice announced.

The sound of his voice brought with it a terror that reduced her to feeling as insecure as a schoolgirl.

"Oh hi, Vegeta!" Her mother waved him in with a large spoon she had been using to stir some pot that was about to boil over.

He simply stood in the doorway, leaning, and grumbled.

"I'll go get dad!" Bulma squeaked in a voice not her own and jumped up from her seat in a mad dash to the door way. She had to make her escape while she
still had the ability to stand.

But she had to walk past him. 'Oh my god, what is WRONG with me?!' She scolded herself. 'Just put one foot in front of the other, and he will move when you
get there. It's as easy as that!' She encouraged herself.

When she got to the doorway, he continued to stand in her way. "You will stay and eat." He barked softly, and motioned back to the table.

"Excuse me." Bulma whispered, trying desperately to get out of there. "Please move. I'm just going to get dad."

"We both know you will not return." He whispered to her, making a small move closer to her.

Her mother was obliviously stirring away at dinner.

"I will. I just-" She could barely work out anything resembling an excuse.

"Our avoidance stops, now." He ordered in a tone barely above a whisper. "And we will discuss this later."

She secretly admired his ability to cut right to the point. She couldn't speak, and he was as cool as cucumber.

"Vegeta, I can't!" She finally whispered back. All of her uncertainties from before suddenly set in stone in her mind. He didn't want anything real from
her, she knew it. He just couldn't! He was Vegeta: Calm, set, certain. If he had wanted anything, he would have gotten it. And he wouldn't have rested
until that was so.

She was locked in her own little world of doubt and self-loathing right before his eyes.

He didn't know what else to do, and anticipating her retreating to her room and not coming back down for another month, he grabbed her arms gently, and
gave her a little shake. Her eyes snapped up to his in surprise.

"Woman!" He shook her again to make sure she was paying attention. "We will talk later." He rubbed his thumbs over the skin of her arms softly.

"I will retrieve your father. Sit and eat." He continued. The gentleness of his tone and demeanor threw Bulma for a loop. Maybe she was wrong?

She guessed she would find out soon enough.



Vegeta did as he said he would. He went and got her father.

And she, not knowing what else to do, sat and waited for dinner.

She was so busy in her own head that she didn't even notice them return, and dinner being served.

"Hello, dear!" Her father greeted her, startling her out of her thoughts.

"Oh, hi Dad." She responded as he sat across from her. Her mother sat next to him, and Vegeta sat at the far end of the table leaving plenty of space between
him and everyone else. This was normal. He had to have room for his many dishes, after all.

And to be honest, Bulma was relieved. She didn't know what she would do if she had to sit next to him like she did the other day when he shared his food
with her.

Part of her couldn't wait for dinner to be over. And the other part was terrified.

"Bulma, how is that heating system coming, dear?" Her father inquired.

"Oh... Um it's..." She didn't know what to say. 'Gee, dad, I've been daydreaming about Vegeta fucking me so much that I haven't been able to get inspired
to finish it!'

'Yeah. That would go over well.' She snickered, and her father only stared, waiting for a reply. "Its-"

"We are working on it together later." Vegeta answered for her between mouthfuls. He didn't even look up from his plates.

"We... are?" Bulma and her parents looked at Vegeta, confused.

"Yes, woman. We are." He looked up and stared at her hard. She might have been scared for her life, if she didn't know any better.

"Why, Vegeta, I didn't know you knew about such things!" Her father piped up.

"I lived on a nearly constantly traveling ship for most of my life. The technology was far superior to your own." He went back to his food, pausing
briefly. "Before you even ask, I make it a point to be familiar with my surroundings."

"Why didn't you tell me? I could have put you to work by now!" Her father jested and her mother laughed.

"You didn't ask. And training is more important." He concluded.

"Well, then, that settles that!" Dr. Briefs chuckled.

Her parents tried to make small talk with them both for the rest of the meal. She didn't really say much, and could feel Vegeta's eyes on her every so often.

She pushed the food around on her plate for what felt like an eternity.

Out of the corner of her eye she watched Vegeta go through plate after plate. The food kept disappearing and her excitement built. Was it excitement? Was
it fear?

she sighed and stood up. "Dinner was great, Mom. Thank you."

"But you hardly touched it!" Mrs. Briefs chirped. "And you seemed so hungry!"

"I can save it for later. I might come back to it." She conceded.

"Ok! I'll wrap it up for you, dear!" She bounced out of her chair and wiggled her way to the plastic wrap.

"Going to get to work, dear?" Her father asked with a wink and she could see Vegeta stop eating for a moment.

She knew whatever she said, he would seek her out. So there was no point in lying.

'Do I even want to lie?' She still didn't know if, where ever she went, Vegeta was going to make a case for them to be together, try to get sex from her
again, or worse, tell her it was a mistake.

"Yeah. I'm going to the lab." She glanced at Vegeta, who resumed eating.



She toiled away in there for at least a few more hours, inspired by the need to have something for Vegeta to critique when he finally showed up. It didn't have
to be good. It just had to be something other than a blue piece of paper.

He always called her an idiot, but she didn't want to actually feel like one.

'I want to impress him.' She finally accepted the thought. 'Heh... he's become my muse on this.'

She then wondered what was taking him so long to come to her. He had, after all, practically made her tell him where she was going, so he knew.

He knew where she was and hours had passed.

'I know he's not still eating. And he doesn't train this late.' It was around ten o'clock at night now.

Once again, her world of self-loathing opened up and swallowed her whole. 'What if he's just playing with me? He thinks I'm too 'weak' for him!'

Her head was nearly spinning with thoughts of Vegeta and subconscious thoughts of the small beginnings of the machine in front of her.

Before she even knew what really happened, she stopped at looked at the quite masterful design taking shape.

She hadn't even made a print for it. It just seemed to assemble before her.

She examined it to find out exactly what she had done.

"Super heated water conduction... Well, it's not new, but it's definitely effective." She concluded, a little triumphantly.

"Does it have to be new? Your inferior technology has room for improvement." Vegeta's voice thundered, startling Bulma from her seat and onto the floor.

He smirked and approached the work bench she had previously been occupying, and sat.

"Well, come on." He scooted over, leaving a space for her, and turned his attention to the task in front of them.

Bulma watched him carefully as she slowly got up and sat down on the section of bench he left for her.

She expected him to immediately begin questioning her, or at the very least, making snide remarks about her design so far.

But he didn't. And they worked in productive conversation until the task was nearly completed.

"I trust you can handle it from here?" He asked her after the majority of the work had been done. Only a few loose ends remained.

"Oh yeah, I totally got the beautification!" For the first time in weeks, she felt good.

She hadn't thought about her and Vegeta that whole time, and the focus of work had been uplifting.

She brought her wrist up to look at her watch. "Oh jeez... its already almost three!"

It was then that the reality of the situation set in, and she became nervous again.

She tried to nonchalantly get up and leave the room, saying that she would finish the small stuff tomorrow.

"No. Don't do that." He stood up after her.

And, at his command. She stopped in her tracks, standing, facing away from him. At least then she could hide her fear written on her face.

'But he can smell fear, can't he?' She bit her lip.

He touched her shoulder, gently. "You don't have to fear me." He said, answering her question.

"It's not you I'm afraid of." That much was true. His physical being didn't scare her anymore. It hadn't since they had come back from Namek. She never really
stopped to understand why.

"But I thought that was what you wanted. You wanted everyone to fear you." She took at step forward, just out of his reach, and stopped.

He fought to bite back his anger at her. She was right. He wanted that, at one point.

"I did. But your fear of me stopped long ago. I don't want your fear anymore." He stayed where he was.

"Wh-What DO you want?" She ventured, quietly.

He growled. "Why do we have to play these games?"

"Why can't you answer me?!" She turned to face him.

"Because you already know what I want! I offered myself to you and you-" He cut himself off out of anger and mild embarrassment at recalling the moment.

"You offered sex! And I told you that wasn't all I wanted!" She shouted.

"I did NOT offer you sex!" His usual indignation couldn't help but be laced with sadness.

"Um, I'm sorry, but I think pinning me against the wall and dry humping me constitutes offering sex!" She spat back at him.

He shook his head, his anger softening a little. His face remained hard. "You really... have no idea, do you? Do humans really all just mate, then leave?"

She blushed and looked away.

"Oh. I see. So I was right. Not all humans do that. Just the humans you know." He couldn't help but be smug that he was about to ultimately prove her wrong.

"Well..." He closed his distance between them and pulled her against his chest, crushing her arms between their bodies. "I'm not human. Never compare me to
him again."

She briefly struggled in vein, pretending she didn't want him to hold her.

"Vegeta..." She sighed his name and gave into his grasp, looking at him expectantly.

"I'll ask you again, woman, and this time, think about it." He searched her eyes. "Do you accept me?"

She looked back at him, recalling the previous encounter's events and realized exactly what it was she had missed.

"I'm such an idiot..." She trailed off.

His brow furrowed. "Hmm?"

He shook her softly, his eyes pleading with hers.

Taking a deep breath, she mustered all her nerve and closed the distance between their lips, kissing him gently.

She pulled away, releasing that pent up breath.

"Yes, Vegeta. I accept you."


~~~

Bum bum BUUUUM!

Ok, so its not really a cliffy. And I know, I'm going to be massacred for not letting it go to lemon, but the chapter felt like it wanted to end here,
so THIS ONE shall end here. Yes, that's right. There will be another. And I will make it lemony. It kinda has to be, right? I mean, what else is there
to write after this? THAT'S the question...

And I shall answer that question as soon as possible.

Thank you for reading this, and (if I haven't asked this enough) can you please please please please PLEASE review, or at least use the + rating
system? Thank you in advance.

~*E.A.*~