Garden Delights Ch. 3
By Mayumi H

Floating.

Chun-Li had the sensation of floating. It was difficult to remember what had happened, even which way was up. The faint scent of blooming lilacs wafted over her senses, giving her a gentle nudge awake. She lifted a hand to her forehead, and yawned.

"Good morning."

Chun-Li sat bolt upright, her eyes wide. "Wh- Vega!"

A short distance away, sitting in a straight-backed chair that was angled toward the light coming in the windows, sat Vega. He was wearing a pair of tailored pants and a white shirt that was obviously unbuttoned to show off his physique. He was also smiling at her. "Would you care for some breakfast?" He held up a biscuit or muffin of some kind that he had been munching on.

Chun-Li looked down at herself, only just now noticing that she was wearing her bed sheets and very little else. She clutched the sheets to her chest, her cheeks reddening a little; he was still looking at her. The flush of embarrassment quickly turned to confusion, then anger. "What am I doing here?"

Vega stood up, carrying the small tray of food that had been sitting next to his chair. "Eating breakfast," he told her simply. He sat down on the bed next to her.

Chun-Li narrowed her eyes at him. "That's not what I mean. I mean-"

"I know what you mean," Vega said softly, concentrating more on the food than on her for the moment. He picked up a piece of fruit and held it up for her. "Mango?" he asked, offering it to her.

"You didn't answer my question."

Vega pushed the fruit closer to her lips. "First eat, then answers."

Chun-Li backed away. "How do I know it's safe?"

Vega shrugged. "Fine." He took a bite out of the fruit, then held the remaining up to her. "I'll eat half."

Sensing that she was probably being childish about the food, she leaned in and took the fruit from his fingers with her lips. As she did so, she let them linger on his fingertips for an extra moment, savoring the taste of the juice.

"How do you like it?" Vega asked, looking at her lips, then into her eyes.

Chun-Li suddenly became very quiet. All of the feelings that had roared up the night before came to her again, and she realized with a very intense certainty why she was here this morning and not in her hotel room. Her colleagues at InterPol had warned her that Vega was dangerous and cunning, but she hadn't been quite prepared last night for his level of charms. It would be different from now on.

She touched his face, using her finger to curl an errant lock of hair behind his ear. "Very good," she murmured breathily, her chest rising and falling slowly beneath the sheet she still held clutched to her breast. She pulled his face closer to hers.

"The rest...?" Vega queried.

Chun-Li lifted her lips to his. "Later," she whispered, kissing him gently at first, then more firmly. She was pleased (though not surprised) that he followed her lead; he wasn't the only one with seductive charms. However, he did push away from her, albeit with reluctance, after a few moments.

Vega had to clear his throat before speaking. What was it about this woman that flustered him so? He had romanced and seduced many women before, and never had he been unable to control the situation. But this woman had affected him like no other; she knew exactly which of his buttons to push and when to push them. Still, he couldn't forget the real reason she was here, or why he was here, for that matter. "The Arena...calls."

Chun-Li settled back into the pillows, causing her long, black hair to billow around her head like a dark, shining halo. She put on her best sultry smile and turned her head slightly, to look at him coyly. "It can wait, can't it?"

Vega looked down at her, offered so freely to him. Then he looked up, out the window which boasted a panorama of the island's verdant hills and, atop them, its competitors' arena, where he had met Chun-Li face-to-face only yesterday. Bison would have been there since dawn, watching the crowds of spectators and the string of combatants showcase their talents.

The Shadow Lord would not be pleased with Vega for missing the day's events, especially if he knew the nature of his detention. But was he not his own man, if nothing else? And he could hardly deny the lady in front of him. Bison had charged him with learning all he could about the Chinese fighter; Vega convinced himself that, by staying, he would be doing just what Bison would want him to do.

Vega settled down next to her on the bed and smiled confidently. "It can wait," he admitted. Then he kissed her again, forgetting the Arena and Bison's orders and all of it, in favor of her.