Without hesitation he carried me down into the bathtub full of cool water.  It was a relief.  “Get your hair wet,” he leaned me back.  I closed my eyes and started to float.  “We can't stay in for very long, so enjoy it,” he told me.  And I did enjoy it.  After a few minutes he told me it was time to get out.  I stood up and climbed the stairs.  He followed me to the closet.  I handed him a robe and put one on myself.  I twisted my hair up into a towel.  He rubbed his hair dry with a towel.  I handed him a brush from the vanity and he brushed his black straight hair.  “You really need to lay down,” he started.  “I’m fine,” I told him.  “The cramps will start suddenly and they will bring you to your knees,” he warned.  I took the brush from him, walked back to the bed and sat down.  I took my hair out of the towel and brushed it.  Then discarded the robe and changed to a dry t-shirt and shorts set.

I laid down in bed and covered up.  Max was waiting in the plush chair in the corner.  “There's dry shorts in the dresser,” I told him, “Aris doesn't use them.  They are all fresh.”  He got a pair of shorts out, turned his back and changed into them.  He kept the robe on.  He sat on the edge of the bed next to me.  “Jade, I can help you.  That is why I came early,” he told me, “but Max will have to leave.”  “Why?” I asked.  “He will see things that he is not allowed to see.  Things that will kill him,” he answered, “I really don't want to kill him.”  “I would like to see you try,” Max stood.  “If you see these things, you will face tribunal, be judged guilty and sentenced to death,” Nathan told him, “I will be the one to carry out the sentence.”

That shut Max up.  After a minute of thought, “I am sorry Jade.  I have to go.”  “I know Max.  It's okay. Go,” I replied.  Max left the room.  Nathan engaged all of the locks on the doors, then came back to the bed.  “I’m going to have to lay down with you,” he told me.  “Why?” I asked.  “I’m going to take some of your pain,” he answered, “I don't want to fall off of the bed.”  I moved over to accommodate him.  He laid down next to me.  He pulled me flush next to him.  I put my head on his shoulder.  “Now hold my hand,” he instructed, “when the pain is almost unbearable you squeeze my hand.”  I took his hand.

“When will it start?” as soon as I asked I started feeling it.  It was mostly in my belly, but all of my muscles were contracting.  I felt a tear slide down my cheek.  “If you feel like crying, it is time to squeeze,” he told me.  “But it's not unbearable,” I whispered through gritted teeth.  He squeezed my hand and I started to feel blessed relief.  He was extremely tense though.  I looked up at his face.  His jaw was clenched.  Then he started to relax, relief washing over his face.  He let go of my hand.  “Squeeze my hand before you cry,” he emphasized.  “How many more of those will we go through?” I asked.  “It's different for everyone, but they will lessen in intensity,” he answered, “try to rest.  It takes a lot of energy.”

I took his advice and dozed, still holding his hand, with my head on his shoulder.  I woke to a knot forming in my stomach.  Then my muscles started knotting.  The pain hit me so fast and so hard that I didn't think to squeeze his hand.  I cried out.  He squeezed my hand, giving me much needed relief.   There was some pounding on the door.  “Jade!” Max shouted, “Are you okay?”  I didn't have the energy to answer him.  “She's fine,” Nathan called out, “Leave us.”  “Jade! Answer me!” Max called out again.  “I’m fine,” I yelled as loud as I could, hoping that he could hear me.  He didn't ask again, so I assumed that he heard.

I dozed off again.  The next set of pains I remembered to squeeze his hand.  I started squeezing his hand as soon as I felt pain.  “Good girl,” he encouraged me, “It's starting to lessen now.”  I wasn't about to test it to see.  I just kept squeezing his hand.  “Look in the mirror above us,” he told me.  I looked and couldn't believe what I saw.  My hair was black.  My skin was black and scaly.  The only thing that was the same were my eyes.  Then I saw my left eye.  It was glowing purple.  I felt of my face then my leg.  The scales were smooth and sharp to the touch.  I looked at Nathan.  It was the same with him.  Black scales and inky black hair.  Then I started to change.  My hair and scales went white and stayed white.  Nathan's scales stayed black, his left eye glowing green.  I stared into his eyes.  “You're so beautiful,” he whispered, leaning in to kiss me.  Then I felt another contraction.  I squeezed his hand, “I’m so sorry,” I whispered.  “I gladly take it,” he told me.  The pain in his eyes was almost unbearable, but I didn't look away.

When the contraction ended I put my head on his chest and let my hand wonder.  It went to his stomach.  I left my hand there for a minute to give him some pain relief.  “That really helps,” he whispered taking my hand back in his, “How about you do that after.  Your hand needs to stay in mine for now.”  I gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek, “Thank you.”  I laid my head back on his shoulder to rest.  My eyes were so heavy.  I dozed off again, comforted by his scent.

“Jade.  How do you feel,” Nathan asked, rousing me from sleep, “You haven't squeezed my hand for about an hour.  Do you think that you could eat some lunch?”  “Are you hungry?” I asked him.  “Yes,” he answered, “I will have it brought in here.”  “Okay.  Sounds good,” I agreed.  I looked at myself in the mirror above us.  I was back to regular Jade.  I took a deep breath relieved.  He was back to regular Nathan too.

Nathan got up and unlocked the door.  Max rushed in past him, “Jade are you okay?”  Worry encompassed his features.  I got up and took his hands, “I’m okay Max.”  He hugged me, “I heard you scream and I have been worried since.”  “I’m okay,” I smiled weakly, “Could you have Lia bring us lunch?  I don't feel up to going to the table.”  “She will be here soon,” he said sitting down on the edge of the bed with me, “Why did you scream?”  “It was a cramp,” I answered, “I hope to never feel that again.”  “Oh, you will,” Nathan told me, “but hopefully not for a while.”  “Today?” I asked, worried.  “No.  It will be a long while,” he answered.  I breathed a sigh of relief.

Lia entered with a tray of sandwiches, chips, fruit, vegetables, dip and some drinks.  She set it up on the desk in the corner.  “Come Jade,” Nathan helped me to the desk and had me sit in Aris' desk chair, “Eat up.  You need to keep your energy up.”  “Are we not done?” I asked, afraid.  “We are done with that,” he answered, “now you have a reprieve, then on to the next stage.”  “What's the next stage?” I asked, worried.  “Eat, then I will tell you,” he took a sandwich, “I mean it.  Eat good.”  I took a sandwich and the only diet Coke.  I devoured the sandwich.  To my surprise, I was hungry.  I ate another sandwich.  Then I ate some carrot sticks with dip, then some strawberries and grapes.  “I’m so full,” I announced finishing a small bag of Dorito’s.  Lia picked up the tray.  “Could you bring us some bottled water?” Nathan asked her.  She left.

“Max, you don't have to sit outside and wait.  Please go eat,” I pleaded with him.  “I’m ordered to.  In case you need something,” he told me, “don't worry.  Lia is going to come have lunch with me out here.”  Lia brought another tray and set it up in the hallway, then brought us four cold bottles of water.  Nathan stood up, “I’m going to lock the door again for safety.  As soon as Aris and Ripley get here they need to come to this room.”
Max and Lia went into the hallway.  He locked the door behind them.  He turned to me, “I’ll help you back to bed.”  He helped me up out of the chair and to the bed.  “The next step is extreme fatigue, for the both of us.  “Drink this whole bottle,” he handed me a water, “then lay down.”  He guzzled a bottle of water himself, then reached for another.  I finished my one bottle at the same time that he finished his second.  He threw the empty bottles away in the trash by the desk.

He took his robe off and put it with mine.  He got in bed next to me.  “Do you still hurt?” I asked, “I can help you while I sleep.”  I laid my head on his chest and let my hand move to the same spot as before.  “That feels so good,” he told me, “how do you do that?”  “I don't know,” I answered, “I just do.”  “Are you tired yet?” he asked.  “Yes,” I whispered.  “You may have some strange, or even bad, dreams,” he warned me, “Just remember that I am right here with you.”  He turned off the lamp beside the bed and the room darkened.  Within minutes I was asleep.

“Jade,” Nathan said my name softly.  I couldn't open my eyes.  “Jade, you can't put your hand there,” he removed my hand from his crotch.  I sluggishly moved my head from his chest to his shoulder.  I put my hand by his heart.  I went back to sleep.

I heard voices.  I still can't open my eyes.  “I got her through the cramps, she ate a good lunch, now she is in the extreme fatigue stage,” Nathan said, “I can’t be with her through the next stage, since She hasn't mated with Ripley yet.  I suggest that you keep her Aris, but take her away from here.  There's too many men and they won't be able to resist her.”  “Why can I not keep her?” Ripley asked.  “She will probably be violent.  She will not be her normal self,” Aris answered, “I will take her to our cabin.  I will let you know when you can come for a visit.”  “I suggest that you take her now,” Nathan said, “the next stage can start any time.”

I felt someone pick me up.  I felt clothes and then a blanket wrapped around me.  I felt a blast of cold air, then we were outside.  I opened my eyes a little.  “She's starting to wake up,” Nathan sounded stressed, “Hurry.”  “It will be fine,” Aris assured him, buckling me into the front passenger seat of the hummer.  He shut the door.  I slumped against the door.  The cool glass felt good.  I saw the three of them exchange words that I couldn't make out.

Aris got in the driver's seat and put the Hummer in gear.  We started moving.  A few minutes later we stopped at our cabin.  He got me out and carried me inside and up to bed.  I dozed in and out of sleep.  Nathan was right.  I had a lot of strange dreams that didn't make any sense.  I woke up screaming from one, but still couldn't make enough sense of it to describe it.  “Are you okay Jade?” Aris was at my side.  “I don't know,” I answered truthfully.  He sat me up and had me drink some water.  I was drenched in sweat.  “I am going to run you a cool bath,” he laid me back down and left my side.  I heard the water turn on and he came back, picked me up and carried me down into the bath.  The water was cool and felt wonderful.  He leaned me back to get my hair wet and let me float.

He let me float for a while, then washed my hair and cleaned me up.  He carried me out, stood me up to put a robe on me, then sat me on the vanity.  He dried my hair with a towel then brushed it.  “Aris, what is wrong with me?  Is this ever going to end?” I asked.  “You are in heat and, yes, it will end,” he answered, “Do you think that you can eat a little?”  I nodded my head yes.