It took another ten minutes for him to fully recover and yet he was still incredibly protective of her, high on adrenaline and his need to keep her safe.
He refused to let her go to Kai, instead keeping her pressed against his side and inhaling the scent of her hair.
When Kai was allowed closer, his eyes searched her face and then her body, but Jaia's blood had done a wonderful job reducing the damage and she was feeling considerably better.
"Kai, how did you find me?" she asked, extending her hands and he cut the bindings without getting any closer to them.
"I don't really know, Jaia said he could smell you and when he smelt your fear and blood, he panicked. We thought you were dead. He ripped the castle doors off their hinges and came streaking out here," Kai said gently.
The moment she was free, she wrapped her arms around Jaia, her fingers gentle and soothing on his hair and face.
The touch soothed him, and he blinked at her, frowning his confusion as he tried to see through the blood lust and terror rage.
"Your face…" he said in anguish, touching her swollen lip tenderly.
She had completely forgotten about it in her passion and when he touched it then, it made her flinch.
"Oh, Etani. What did they do to you?" he breathed.
She shook her head, not wanting him to know. "Don't think on it." She kissed his temple gently, leaving a smear of blood on a mostly clean patch of his skin.
Glancing at Kai, his eyes were again on the elf and a crease had formed between his brows as he saw what was wrong with the picture. His eyes snapped back to her dress and the scrap of what had been her undergarments, but she tuned herself, settling herself firmly against Jaia's chest.
His arms were around her in an instant, cradling her there tenderly.
"I was so scared you had been killed," Jaia whispered, and she made a soft hushing sound, not wanting him to worry.
"I'm fine now thanks to you," she said gently.
He nodded, resting his cheek against the top of her head.
"Versalis will be ripping the basement apart if we don't get back soon," Kai said gently.
Jaia looked at him, nodding his agreement before scooping her up into his arms.
"Jaia?" she asked gently, barely daring to raise her voice as Kai led the way. "If I can't get my magic back… will you turn me?"
His shoulders tensed and he looked at her, frowning. He nodded after a pause and she smiled, resting her head on his chest as he carried her back to the castle and into the basement where she felt safest.
Daemon was beside himself at the state of her, fretting like an overbearing mother as she was set down on the chair in Jaia's lap, her fingers tight on her dress to hold it shut.
"Give her your blood!" Daemon demanded but Jaia stared up at him in anger.
"If I give her anymore, we run the risk of turning her," Jaia snarled, his arms tightening around her protectively.
Daemon stared, seeing the posture and her willingness to stay in his arms, her body turned to him, and legs curled up. His eyes narrowed suspiciously but he said nothing, turning and stalking away.
"What happened?" Versalis said gently, coming to examine her face and the bruises on her arms as well as the cuts on her throat and chest.
"The brother of the first man I ever assassinated in Ayathian. He had been trying to get to me all this time," she breathed, her mostly untouched cheek nuzzling against Jaia's chest.
Jaia let out a slow breath as he finally let go of his tension and his head turned to rest his jaw against the top of her head, eyes lowered in his knowledge that she was safe in his arms.
"They beat the living hell out of her, and it looks like a knife wound," Versalis said quietly and Kai murmured a soft agreement.
"They were all men. Her dress was ripped open. I think they were only a matter of minutes from slitting her throat," he said, anger in his voice at the implication.
"We need to fix this," Versalis growled, understanding.
"I think I know how," Daemon murmured, and the group dispersed, leaving her alone with Jaia.
Tilting her head, she looked up at him and motioned for the bedroom.
Immediately he lifted her up and took her into the privacy of the room, setting her down on her feet, slipping the ruined dress from her shoulders. He reached behind her and removed the clasps of her brassiere, and the shreds of undergarments were removed.
Sitting her down on the bed, he retched a cloth and filled a bowl with water from the jug.
Coming to kneel before her, he gently wiped blood from her face and neck.
She watched him, unmoving as he tended to her so gently that she barely felt it.
He worked slowly, careful not to hurt her and she smiled, her eyes lowering as she caught his hand and pressed it gently against her cheek.
His breath hitched, and in response, she leant down and placed a tender kiss against his lips.
Dropping the cloth, his hands found her jaw and he kissed her back firmly.
Her hands found the buttons of his shirt and she slid them free quickly, her fingers finding his bare chest and she smiled when she felt him sucking in a breath at the gentle touch of her against him.
She traced her fingers slowly down over his muscled chest and abs, feeling him teasing as she trailed lower but then she stopped, and he felt her grin.
He gave a warning growl, though it was more playful than threatening as he gripped the back of her thighs and jerked, her back hitting the bed.
In the next instant he was over her, his knee between her legs and his elbows on either side of her shoulders.
He kissed her fiercely, passionately, and she kissed him back just as passionately, need and fear waring inside her as she used his shirt to tug him down, easing his weight onto her.
"Jaia?" Kai called out.
Jaia froze, eyes snapping open in realisation of their position.
He was gone in an instant, his fingers moving down his shirt to correct the buttons and she frowned at the ceiling, frustrated and hungry.
Kai hadn't seen them, and Jaia licked the blood from his lip, giving her a wolfish smile as she sat up.
He was gone in an instant and she flopped back down, left wanting.