After they had taken the final plunge and become lovers, everything changed for Bulma and Vegeta.

As the months went by, he grew more obsessed with her and more overprotective, at times reminding her of her father—and not in a beneficial way.

Their relationship as lovers continued, and they made love nearly every day. Vegeta, however, grew concerned, because Bulma always insisted on walking back to her home—she still lived with Juuhachigou—after making love with him. In spite of all the progress she had made, her heart still held firmly with many of the beliefs in which she had been raised. Thus, in spite of Vegeta’s numerous protests, she refused to live with him. To do so would scandalize everyone, even some of the most brazen superflappers. She would never be able to hold her head high again, knowing that she was his kept woman.

But that didn’t stop Vegeta from attempting to make her succumb to his wishes, and using every trick that he had at his disposal, including that clever tongue that she so adored, to make it happen.

Night after night, after he finished making love to her, he would attempt to persuade her to see the situation from his point of view.

His fingers teased her, one night, after he had just brought her to heaven and back, stroking her breast in a smooth, slow rhythm as his voice tempted her, floating above the thick clouds that veiled her mind.

"Come live with me," he murmured lowly in her ear, his teeth gently tugging on the lobe, making her entire body shiver with lust.

"I … I can’t," she told him, trying in vain to ignore the sensations that his skillful caresses were building within her. She had to keep a level head about this; she had to stand her ground; she had to …

"Oh …" As his careful ministrations continued, the cloud in her mind dimmed to a fog, then a light, sensual haze. She couldn’t think, she could only feel …

"Why not?" If there was a hardened steel edge to her lover’s voice, she didn’t notice it; she didn’t notice anything at all, other than the wonderfully amazing feelings his fingers provoked as they stroke from her breast to her belly, then even lower …

"I asked why not." The steel edge was very much in place now. Vegeta took his hand from her body and pulled away from her, leaving her wanting.

Bulma moaned and glanced at him helplessly. He looked so angry, but all she wanted was for him to cover her with his body, to enter her as he had so many times before, to make love to her until thoughts and words and feelings were no longer necessary, no longer possible.

She reached down to touch herself, since his fingers had left her, but he caught her wrist in a hard, angry grasp. Bulma winced, and his grip immediately loosened; even when she aroused his temper to the fullest, he refused to allow himself to harm her.

"I asked you a question. Why do you refuse to live with me?"

The haze was gone now, cruelly ripped away from behind her eyelids, leaving only calm, cool rationality in its place.

"Because," she replied, turning her face from him, "I refuse to live with any man until he puts a ring on my finger."

Vegeta growled and stood, pacing the room like a caged panther. "What is it with you females and marriage?" he spat. "You spend almost every night here; it would be more convenient for both of us if you just came to live with me. It would hardly change anything! And yet you continually refuse!" He was seething now, a scowl burning across his face.

Bulma pulled the covers up around her naked form, not caring that it was far too late in their relationship for modesty. "You just don’t understand, Vegeta," she said softly, trying to be calm even though deep inside she wanted to yell at him that he was the problem. All he had to do was marry her and it would fix everything! And yet he never even brought the subject up. It was humiliating. It made her feel as though she were just another gangster’s moll, a pretty little piece of eye candy that would be out of his life in the blink of an eye, just as long as it took him to find a vapid, empty-headed replacement. She wasn’t just another woman in a long string! She was the woman he loved.

Although she would have been much more confidant about this fact if he would just once say the words.

"What don’t I understand?" he snarled. "That all women are greedy gold diggers who want to get their claws into any man with a fat wallet?" He let out a mirthless laugh. "Oh, I know that already, woman."

Bulma frowned. "Vegeta you can be such an idiot sometimes!" He growled at her, but she continued. "I’m not like them. You know that! Sure, I come from a poor family. And everyone hates us—do you know what it’s like to walk down the street with men shouting derogatory things at you just because of your ethnicity? It’s always, ‘hey Mick, go back to Ireland!’ or ‘Goddamn harps, taking all our jobs!’" Tears welled up in her eyes, remembering how complete strangers had once sneered mercilessly at her. "But even so, my father always ignored them. He raised me to be a fine, upstanding citizen … and I let him down." She bowed her head. "If he could see me now … he’d kill me. I’ve disgraced his good name—and my own." She turned her tear-stricken face up to his. "But I don’t care! Because being with you meant more to me than all his platitudes and outdated morals. Because I’d rather be with you than go to Communion every Sunday, even if my soul should burn in Hell for it. But some things …" she shook her head. "There’s no reason for me to live with you! Only your own fears. What can Frieza do to me? I already managed to escape him once, and one of your men is with me almost every moment of the day. So why should I do this? Why do you want me to?"

He stared at her for a minute before snarling and pulling her roughly to his body, capturing her lips with his own and invading her mouth with his vicious tongue.

"This is why," he breathed against her lips. "I want this." Pressing her back against the wall, he devoured her.

Bulma moaned, unable to refuse him in this. She loved him—and she wanted him.

"Vegeta," she moaned as he lifted her legs onto his waist. She linked her ankles behind him as he plunged inside her, groaning with sheer pleasure.

"You’re lovely," he breathed as he moved inside her. "So … lovely."

Her entire body quivered, loving the feel of him pressed against her, the cool wall against her back providing her with myriad new sensations as he plunged in and out of her, slamming his body against hers with enough passion to make her mind reel.

His pace grew faster, wilder, as he reached his climax.

"So … goddamn … lovely," he groaned as his soul flew away from his body, entering a new plane of existence far above the earth, where only she had ever taken him.

"Vegeta …"

Bulma wrapped her body more firmly around him as his knees buckled and he collapsed to the floor, still holding her tenderly in his arms.

As she lay snuggled against his heaving chest, Bulma could have sworn she touched the stars.

Bulma checked the room twice to make sure she hadn’t left anything. She had ordered an incredibly expensive last-minute plane ticket off the island; her flight left in half an hour. She didn’t have much time to get to the airport.

She called the front desk to request that a bellboy come to her room to help her take down her bags. Then she sat on the edge of her bed to wait.

She nervously tapped her feet against the soft carpet. Am I doing the right thing? She questioned herself. Of course I am! The man is a monster; he killed me once, there’s no telling what he might do again.

Even so, Bulma had a very bad feeling. A premonition that something might go wrong. Just like that time when Chi Chi and I ran into Frieza … Her eyes widened. "Chi Chi?" she exclaimed. "No way! That’s impossible! And … Juuhachigou …" She closed her eyes. All my friends in this life are the same ones I had before … how can this be?

She shivered, a cold, wet dread clinging to her spine. Something’s going to happen, I know it.

What would Vegeta do when she left? She had no doubt that a man as rich and as powerful as he could easily find her anywhere in the world; but would he have the inclination?

As she struggled with these thoughts, a knock came on the door. Bulma sighed, deciding to ignore her feeling of dread for now. Vegeta was no where around, and she would be safely off the island and in the air returning home within a matter of minutes. She could worry about what he might do later.

But as she opened the door, she realized that she had been wrong the whole time. Her premonition had nothing to do with Vegeta.

It had to do with the man standing in front of her.

The man grabbed her in a vice-like grip and put a chloroform rag under her nose.

Yes, came her last thought before consciousness escaped her, history is repeating itself …

"I’m really worried about him, Chi."

Bulma sat in the passenger seat of Chi Chi’s fivver, discussing her concerns with her friend.

Chi Chi rolled her eyes as she took a sharp turn. "Ish kabibble," she said. "You’re always worried about him!"

"But … I really think there’s something wrong this time, Chi."

"Then keep it to yourself, will ya! Pipe down about it."

Bulma frowned. "What’s eating you, Chi?"

"It’s none of your beeswax!" cried her dark haired friend as she sped up.

"Chi! Watch out!"

Chi Chi just barely managed to avoid driving straight into a ditch on the side of the road before she stopped the car and burst into tears, burying her head in her hands.

"Chi!" Bulma put her arms around her friend. "I know something’s wrong, Chi, so spill!"

"I … I’m knocked up."

"Oh, Chi! Why didn’t you tell me?"

Chi Chi shrugged uncomfortably. "I just found out yesterday. I haven’t even told Goku yet … I don’t know what he’s going to say about this!"

"Why don’t you just try telling him? I’m sure he’ll be thrilled!"

Chi Chi snorted. "Oh yeah! He’ll be absolutely thrilled that his quiff of a sheba got herself knocked up!" She shook her head.

"Well, Chi Chi, I have to admit, I …" Bulma blushed. "I have the same problem."

Chi Chi stared at her friend. "Says you!" she exclaimed. "Bulma Briefs, the timid little mouse, got herself in trouble? Oh yeah, I really believe that!"

"No, it’s true! You know how Vegeta and I have been … well …" Bulma’s blush deepened.

"What! That cake-eater knocked you up and now he’s leaving you high and dry!" She gritted her teeth.

"No! I haven’t told him, either."

The two women stared at each other for a minute before bursting into giggles.

"What do you say we tell them together?" Bulma asked.

"I’ll say that the two of them won’t even last a minute after they hear the good news!" Chi Chi laughed.

Minutes later, the two women stood outside the door to Vegeta’s office, prepared to relate their ‘good’ news to both him and his right-hand man, Goku.

As Bulma raised her hand to knock on the polished oak door, however, she heard voices coming from inside.

"I wonder what they’re talking about," she whispered to Chi Chi before bending down and putting her ear up against the keyhole. Although there were many things that she wouldn’t do, she simply couldn’t resist eavesdropping on one of Vegeta’s private conversations. It wasn’t as though this were the first time she’d done it, either.

"He wants you to come alone," came a deep, cold voice that Bulma had never heard before.

"Why?" Vegeta’s voice barked. "He won’t be alone, will he? He’s an idiot if he thinks I’ll just waltz right into his ambush!"

"You misunderstand," the deep voice came again. "He wishes to make an … exchange. His offer is very lucrative. He will have one man with him to secure the goods, and that is all. Neither of them will possess a weapon upon their persons. You can be assured of that."

Vegeta snorted. "The day I trust Frieza is the day Hell freezes over," he snarled. "Tell him I’ll think about it. He should go ahead and show up as planned, but he won’t know if I’m coming until I show up—or don’t."

"As long as you come alone, Frieza has no objections."

"So be it."

"He will see you tomorrow at three o’clock then—if you choose to show up."

Hearing footsteps, Bulma quickly backed away from the door and grabbed Chi Chi’s arm, pulling the other woman with her up against the wall beside the door hinges. The door swung wide as it opened, nearly touching their cowering forms as Frieza’s torpedo, a large, heavily built man stepped through, not bothering to look back at the two women as the door slammed shut behind him.

After he had gone, the two women sank to the ground with a sigh.

"Kakkarot!" Bulma heard Vegeta yell from within his office. "What do you think?"

"I think it’s a trap, Vegeta. Frieza wants to get you alone so that he can kill you easily."

"That’s what I think, too. But …" there was something odd in his voice, something Bulma had never heard before, a sharp, vicious razor’s edge. "I want a shot at him. I don’t care if I go down as long as he goes down, too. I have too many deaths to avenge to keep playing this cat-and-mouse game with him! It has to end sometime, before he takes the life of another member of the family."

"But, Boss … I have a feeling he’s still angry over the death of Zarbon. It was amazing how you took him for a ride like that, but there were rumors that he and Frieza were lovers, and if that’s true, I’m sure Frieza’s out for revenge, too!"

"What would you have me do, Kakkarot?" Vegeta asked, his voice low and menacing. "Wait until he and I are the only ones left? Until you and …" he paused, "everyone else is dead? I can’t do that. If this is going to end, it will end now. If I don’t come back, you will be the head of the family; it will be your duty to avenge my death."

Silence reigned after that macabre statement, and Bulma and Chi Chi slowly slunk away.

"I can’t let Vegeta do that!" Bulma whispered to her friend as the walked out to Chi Chi’s fivver, their plans for the day totally forgotten. "I can’t let him go and get killed by that … that monster!"

"What about me?" Chi Chi exclaimed. "If Vegeta dies, then Frieza will be after my poor sweet Goku next! I can’t let that happen either!"

Bulma frowned. "You can’t go, Chi! You don’t just have yourself to think about anymore; what about your baby?"

"Well, if Goku’s dead, then there won’t be a baby," Chi Chi declared.

"But Goku’s not the one who could die tomorrow! Vegeta is. I’ll follow him tomorrow afternoon to where he’s going. All you need to do is drive me, and then you leave! If something happens …" Bulma swallowed hard. "If they bump off Vegeta, I don’t want to live, anyway!"

Chi Chi looked stricken. "Bulma …"

"It’s the truth, Chi! I love him. I couldn’t live without him—I won’t live without him! If there’s anything I can do to help him, anything at all, I will.

"Even if it means risking my own life."

"What is it?" Vegeta barked into his cell phone.

Right in the middle of his meeting, Vegeta had received a phone call from the front desk at the resort. He had excused himself from the meeting room to take the call, saying that it might be important.

"Sir," came the pleasant voice of the female front desk clerk, "You asked us to inform you if anything odd occurred involving a guest named Ms. Bulma Briefs."

"Yes."

"Well, just a few minutes ago, Ms. Briefs phoned the front desk asking for a bellboy to bring her things downstairs, and to order her a car to take her to the airport. She planned to shorten her stay and leave this afternoon."

Vegeta’s heart stopped. She remembered! That has to be it. She remembered what happened, and now she’s running away. He cursed inwardly.

"Don’t let her leave," he barked into the phone, anger rising within him. She couldn’t leave, not now, not after he’d finally found her again! He was so close …

Now he knew why nothing had happened the night before. He hadn’t succeeded fully at his task.

"Wait, sir, there’s more," the clerk went on. "We sent the bellboy up, but when he arrived at the room the door was ajar. Ms. Briefs bags were there, but there was no sign of her. We believe something may have happened to her. And …"

"What?" Vegeta snarled into the phone, quickly losing his patience with the long-winded woman. "What else is there? Spit it out!"

"It’s just that, the bellboy found a note on the scene, and, well, it’s rather cryptic and we don’t know what it means!"

"Read it."

"It says, ‘I’ve won. You know where to find me. F.C.’"

Vegeta stared off into space, remaining silent.

"Sir? Sir, are you there?"

Vegeta turned off his phone and dumped it into his pocket.

He couldn’t believe this—of all times, why now? Why did that monster have to come and ruin everything now?

"Damn you, Frieza!"

* * * * *