Jill put the teacup down and lowered the kami's head back onto the pillow. She rubbed at the wet tracks on his face astonished when he turned into the light caress nuzzling at her palm.

"Are you okay?" Jill didn't know what to think or do. None of the extensive research she had done indicated male kami's ever being with a female of any species. She thought perhaps he wasn't as well recovered as she thought and might be delusional. He nodded into her palm again pressing his cheek against the flesh as though afraid to lose contact. Jill felt the first warm quivers of desire in the pit of her belly and gasped at her body's response.

"I...I need to get you cleaned up okay? I'm Jill by the way. Um, what should I call you, I mean I know your D too but that just sounds weird, ya know?" The kami gave her a small smile.

"I have been known by many names. You may call me Ningkuang if you like other humans have." Jill stumbled over the pronunciation a few times before he stopped her amused at her attempts.

"Call me Ning if that would be easier." Jill gave him a grateful smile.

"All right Ning it is. Okay, I'm going to pull you to sitting or as close as I can. Ready?" Jill tugged on his arm and rolled his body forward his other arm pulled taunt behind him held fast by the rope. Jill unbuttoned the cheongsam and used a damp washcloth on the areas where it adhered. Once free of his body Jill pushed it down over the rope. He tried to hold himself up but otherwise no longer struggled against the ward that sapped him of his strength.

Jill discarded the bloody rag and supported his back with her right arm while working loose the sheets and bedding from the corner of the bed with her left arm. She bunched them around him and sadly pulled his right arm back to the ropes.

"I'm sorry, Ning. I really am." His body followed the pull of the ropes. Jill eased him back down to the bed. She commanded the knots on his left wrist to release and watched the already loose bonds snake back across his wrist and retie itself letting the other bond go. If the situation hadn't been so sad she would have been fascinated by the magic going on around her. Jill carried on pulling the remains of the shirt off the bed and working the bedding loose on that side as well.

She released his left foot and felt a flush creep across her face at the prospect of removing his pants. Flat on his back with soft black hair spilling across his chest and his long lashes laying on his cheeks he presented such a vision of male beauty that Jill felt a catch in her throat. A part of her rose to the surface that wanted to inch the silky pants off his helpless body and expose all there was to see. She felt the flush intensify at such a brazen fantasy. Jill folded a towel and laid it over his hips instead though and pushed her hands under the terry cloth and took hold of the waistline. Her hands were shaking as she wormed the cloth down carefully trying not to jostle the towel out of place. Although popular with everyone very few people had chosen to take her home in her life time because it was easy to tell that Jill and the word casual sex didn't belong together. It didn't help that she had had to save the towel twice each time her hand brushed his skin an illicit moan came from his throat. Jill bit her lip in frustration and literally blew out her breath in relief when the clingy material cleared his hips. She quickly scooted back down to the end of the bed and tugged the hem over the trellis of bones of his foot. She quickly did the same for the other leg and tossed the pants over with this cheongsam. It took a bit more tugging to get all the old bedding off but she succeeded and added those to the pile.

"You still hanging in there Ning?" Ning opened his previously screwed shut eyes and stared up at the ceiling. He was breathing every bit as hard as she was and the faint pink hue to his cheeks showed just how unsettled he was.

"I am all right Jill." Jill didn't really believe him but nearly stumbled backing out of the room to get away and put distance between him and her. She took several calming breaths out in the kitchen and splashed cool water on her face berating herself the entire time for being aroused by the 'enemy' of all people. It was just hard to remember such details with him splayed out helpless his body warm and pliable beneath her hands. She grabbed a cola from the fridge and gulped some of the biting liquid.

"All right, Jill you can't leave him naked on the bed with only a towel to cover him. Get it together girl." Jill told herself sternly and tossed back a few more swallows. Jill reentered the room and gave Ning a wobbly smile. Ning shivered in the cool air spurring Jill to get on with it. She let his right arm loose again and pulled him back up into the now familiar slouch. She had the foresight to grab a hair clip on the way back from the kitchen and used it to loosely pile his hair out of the way. Instead of making him look disheveled several strands escaped framing his face giving him a soft lustrous look and sending another ping of desire through her.

Jill brought the bowl of warm water onto her lap after placing several more towels around him so as not to dampen the bed. Squeezing out a clean washcloth Jill rubbed his body down wiping away the sweat and blood from his face, neck and torso. She would stop frequently and rinse the rag and took several breaks to dump and refill the bowl with clean water. She worked a clean cloth over his back cleaning right to the base of the towels and then proceeded to his arms taking care to clean between each one of long elegant fingers.

Occasional teardrops fell and eventually she wound up holding him in her arms his head resting on her collarbone. She couldn't know that her very touch opened windows in his mind he couldn't close and his tears were of sorrow and regret. Jill's spirit and soul flowed through his veins with every brush of damp warm cloth followed by the gentle rubs of his skin being dried with one of her fluffy towels. He was shamed by the inherent nobleness of the woman and mortified to feel the conflict swelling within in her to care for him or to be true to her friends. It belittled him to know she would defend him against intruders and it mocked him know she would be all to willing to give him a second chance should he want it. Even more unnerving was the realization that he would like that chance to gain her respect. She stroked his back and rocked him in her arms unsure and giving comfort the only way she knew how.

"It's okay. You'll be free soon. I'm sorry this had to happen." She crooned to him softly easing him one limb at a time into the silk pajamas only hesitating briefly at his hips pulling the garment up under the cover of the towel. Jill was getting proficient at moving around the dead drag of his body weight and the three bond hold. She snagged a clean fitted sheet under him one corner at a time rolling him on his side as necessary and pulled a fresh flat sheet and coverlet up over him. The end result of her endeavors was a clean warm kami tucked into a freshly made bed.

She freed his arm one last time and helped him to sip at broth she had warmed up and followed it up with a couple of teaspoons of chocolate syrup and a cup of tea. Jill had gotten smarter about it though and had climbed behind him letting him lie back against her for support his head on her shoulder. She even brushed his teeth using just clear water so he wouldn't have to try and gargle anything. Ning couldn't keep the light purr from happening when Jill brushed out his hair. She chuckled behind him in response.

"I guess you must like having your hair brushed, hmm?" Ning murmured yes in Chinese. Jill took her time carefully combing through any tangles brushing until his hair hung in a glossy curtain of black.

"You really do have beautiful hair Ning. You know that?" Jill asked as she parted it in three equal strands and braided it down his back into a thick rope.

"Mmm, thank you. Yours is lovely as well." Jill wrapped her arms around his waist and gave him an impulsive hug. She didn't need to be empathic like the kami to know that something had changed for the better. The feel of it hummed in the room all around them.

"I guess I should let you get some rest." Jill slid out from behind him and lowered him back down. A silent communication passed between them a conversation held within their eyes. Jill caressed the side of his face gently and smiled when he pressed his lips to her hand.

"You should get some rest Ning. I'll be on the couch just holler if you need anything okay?" Jill told him her voice soft and dreamy.

"May I ask a favor of you Jill?" Ning asked his eyes large and wide and just a little afraid of what he was doing.

"And what would that be Ning?"

"Stay with me. Please." Jill could hear the pleading in his voice of someone who had been terribly lonely for to long. Someone who had spent to much time in solitude just as she had.

"Are you sure Ning? I'm the bad guy you know." Ning smiled.

"Yes, I'm sure. And I believe I am the bad guy am I not." He said in teasing voice. Jill cut off the light and slid under the covers and up against the length of his body.

"Then I guess we're both going to be in trouble for conspiring with enemy aren't we?" Jill whispered into his ear tucking her head just beneath his chin. Ning sighed and let his body relax as much as possible into the warmth of her embrace.

Sometime in the night Nana came to him in an ethereal state floating beside the bed. She mentally greeted him in Chinese and gestured to the warm cocoon of their intertwined bodies on the bed.

"You have learned much from the human woman have you not?" Ning nodded afraid his grandmother had come to take him from her side. She laughed at the distress she read in his mind.

"I see you do not wish to part from her so soon. So you would be willing to be tied and held in bondage to stay with her a little longer, ne? How compelling. Do not fret. I have not come to release you at this time. The wards I put on you were not only for the woman's protection but to give you a taste of what you have promised your son into. The only difference is the woman has taken care of you with kindness and compassion. She has not used your body without your consent. Wu Long will not show the same kindness to my great grandson. You've condemned him to the life of a slave unable to turn away from the whims of his master. Perhaps now you might feel differently?" Ning whispered yes to her in Chinese his hands twisting in his bonds.

"That is good. Your father and I will come for you soon. I cannot release you in this form. I have not left you without a fail safe. The animals will release you if should become necessary before my return." Nana faded away and pulled her presence from her mind. Like all kami's Ning could see clearly in the night and gazed down at Jill. He had never really loved anyone before. He wasn't sure what it felt like and he didn't know if love could happen so fast but he thought just maybe, maybe the emotions the woman raised in him just might be the beginning of love. Ning whispered an apology to his son before settling back down to sleep.

In Leon's apartment D woke up from a strange dream where his father hugged him for the first time in his life and told him he was sorry. He told him that whatever he had done wrong he would make it right. D curled in Leon's arms and sobbed feeling the true imprint of his father through the dream.