Chapter 1.4

Chapter 1.4

Rei stopped there, however, and looked at Mako urgently. Did they have to pull everything out of his nose? "Bath or wash off with warm water?" he wanted to know gruffly. His grip on Quinn was tight enough at that to keep her from collapsing. But without hurting her unnecessarily.

She squirmed in his arms, but more in pain than trying to escape.

"As you prefer. It goes both ways," Mako said with a shrug. "If we put her in the bathtub, someone will have to make sure she doesn't drown, and if she's merely washed off, someone will have to do that job as well."

For a moment, Rei pondered what made the most sense. Perhaps a bath would be quicker to alleviate the symptoms. However, he didn't exactly feel like saving someone from drowning.

"Go get the warm water and towels," he instructed Mako before simply lifting Quinn up and bringing her into the room to lay her on the bed.

She was still bleeding profusely and squirming as her hands scraped over her skin, and she painfully tried to pull it off again and again.

She had closed her eyes, but tears ran down her cheeks and mixed with the blood.

Rei would probably have to re-cover the bed afterward. It was already soaked with blood.

Mako returned with a large bowl of water and several cloths and looked at Rei questioningly.

In the meantime, he had had to hold her hands down to keep her from scratching herself even more.

"There are shackles in the chest. Give them to me," he asked the green-haired man without letting go of Quinn.

The latter set the bowl down on a nightstand and placed the cloths next to it before walking towards the chest to take out said shackles and hand them to Rei.

As he did so, Mako inconspicuously eyed the young woman. He had witnessed many transformations but never before had he seen a woman who appeared to be so strong that she seemed as if she were healthy between phases.

The way she had walked through the castle and eaten had actually indicated that the transformation was already at an end. But this was evidence of something else. She was in the middle of it, and her body seemed to react differently than many other women.

With nimble fingers, Rei put the handcuffs on her. These were made of dark brown leather, with a clasp that allowed him to adjust how tight they should be. Thus they were suitable for different hand sizes.

Then he asked Mako to hand him the chains in the chest, and shortly afterward, he tied Quinn to the bed so that she was lying there with her arms spread out. The chains gave her some space, but not so much that she could scratch herself.

This caused her to open her eyes and look around as she tried to get free. As she did so, she continued to squirm and even tried to pull her socks off with her feet to scratch herself with her legs. The feeling of her skin burning was just too strong, and she only managed to relieve it by scraping the skin of those areas.

Rei indicated to the green-haired man with a nod to her feet to tie them up as well. Rei pushed her linen shirt up before dipping the cloth into the warm water. If there was no other way, he would cut the top.

Rei began to rub her body with the warm and damp cloth without letting on what he thought.

At first, this action elicited a soft, pained cry from Quinn, but soon after, she seemed to relax a bit.

During this time, Mako tied her legs and unnoticedly looked at the young woman's belly. It had been ages since he had seen a woman up close, and she was beautiful.

Relatively small, but with curves in the right place. After the transformation, she would probably become a natural beauty.

The look hadn't escaped Rei's notice, even though he was sitting with his back to him. "Don't stare, help," he drove at Mako unexpectedly, tossing him a cloth.

Shortly after, there was a knock at the door, and Liron entered with a tray. He, too, seemed to wonder why she was lying in Rei's room. Nevertheless, he said nothing about it but wordlessly placed the food on the table. When he asked if they needed help, Rei said to bring fresh bedding.

Liron nodded and disappeared from the room while Mako began dabbing Quinn's skin.

As he did so, he noticed that it was very hot, and the skin came off very quickly in some places. However, not everywhere. "May I ask when you plan to continue the transformation?" asked Mako, who actually knew this body reaction from the third stage. But giving a woman while she was in one stage to another dragon was never a good idea. With the new dragon, she had to get used to its blood first, which was usually only advisable at the end of a stage. Otherwise, it would delay everything unnecessarily, increasing the likelihood that the human would die.

"As soon as she's a little better," Rei replied, somewhat indignantly. Why he of all people should perform the transformation, he did not understand. He had never done it before. Nevertheless, he knew what had to be done. Also, how it was done.

However, Quinn had just arrived and should calm down first. It was not advisable to go ahead with it immediately, but better to wait a few days.

In some places, Rei had to rub a little harder to loosen the skin. He was careful not to hurt her unnecessarily.

Quinn suddenly reared back as best she could, and Rei felt the magic that suddenly flowed through her body as if it wanted to tear the young woman apart from the inside out. The latter screamed in agony as she clenched her hands into fists as if that would somehow help.

Silently cursing those who had decided to bring her here, he became gentler again in his rubbing and nodded to Liron as he came into the room with fresh bedding and water. Wordlessly, the latter then left the room, having received no further instructions.

If the skin did not come off so quickly in some places, Rei would leave them out for now. With a wave of his hand, he indicated to Mako to bring him a pair of scissors from the chest at the end of the bed. He would have to cut Quinn's linen shirt to get to all the places from the looks of it.

Carefully, Rei cut through the fabric, exposing her skin. Whether the sight of her triggered something in him or not was impossible to determine. Neutral, just as he was with everything else, he looked at Quinn as she lay bare-chested on the bed. Mako pulled the blood-soaked, cut top away from her.

Now Rei could work on Quinn's arms and hands while Mako worked on her legs. He was instructed by the blue-haired man to go no further than her thighs.

Mako couldn't tell if that bothered him, but it was clear to see that he kept sliding his eyes over Quinn's body as he worked.

It was the first time a woman was here, and then he could see her naked as well. A desire stirred in him because he had not had any contact with women for many centuries. Thereby he had been very gladly together with them before.

Quinn, who had always reared up until now, suddenly went limp and fell onto the bed, where she remained, breathing heavily and trembling.

Silently they worked until Rei turned to Mako and looked at him out of narrowed eyes. "If you keep staring like that, you might as well go back to the kitchen," he warned the green-haired man grimly. He would have no fun with something like that.

Women were sacred and precious, so he wouldn't tolerate men looking at Quinn as an object of desire.

"It would be a shame not to appreciate her beauty," Mako said softly. "I won't touch her, but she is a feast for the eyes, or does she leave you cold?" he asked as he gently cleaned her legs. Now that she was no longer squirming, it was easier.

A small cloud of ice poked out of Rei's nostrils as he snorted. Responding to that, he refrained. Until now, he hadn't really looked at her but had concentrated on easing her pain. Besides, it was none of Mako's business.

It wasn't Rei's place to have a wife when he was here. So why even bother with such thoughts that would never come to pass?

"Shut your mouth and go back to the kitchen," he ordered Mako. If he wasn't quiet, Quinn would find out more quickly where she was. And Rei didn't want that. She needed to get better soon so they could start getting used to his blood.

Mako took the opportunity to run his fingers up her legs once before rising and putting the cloth back. "As you wish," he said and made his way back to the kitchen.

With that, Rei was now alone with Quinn, who seemed to be slowly coming around.