Chapter 168

I woke up with a groan. It took me a second to realize why my ass hurt so much but I remembered where I was after I looked around bleary-eyed. I reached back and touched my sensitive butt. It felt bruised, not a feeling I could say I was used to. I was sleeping between Morrigan and Mimi, she must have come in at some point while we were still asleep.

Grace had somehow gotten in between Morrigan and Bella, she was now fully nude as well and Morrigan was sleeping on her chest, basically using the woman's large breasts as pillows. Everyone looked completely out of it, sleeping deeply, except for Grace whose eyes fluttered open while I was looking at her.

"Did you sleep well Lilith?" she asked.

I slumped back down against Morrigan's back and groaned. "I don't know if that even counts as sleep, I passed out after our... 'session' last night... and my ass still hurts."

Grace smiled with an impish grin. "Good, then you will be sure to remember your punishment."

I sighed. "I didn't realize you had such a mean streak in you."

She idly traced her fingers along Morrigan's back. "I would not say I was being mean last night. But I will not lie and say I did not enjoy our session either. This tends to be my role here at the Ruby Vixen, one that I do relish."

Chuckling dryly I leaned up to get a look at her. "I didn't realize you worked as a dominatrix here, I assumed your role was more strictly accounting related."

She nodded. "Most of the time, yes, but I also work as a dominatrix for those willing to pay for the experience. My prices are not cheap, after all." She sighed and pet Morrigan's hair. "That was not originally my intention for last night but based on what Raya told me, I thought the experience would do all of you some good."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Hmm... Well, from what Raya told me and what I gleaned from the bond, I could tell there was some lingering guilt between the two of you. Being 'punished' can absolve you of that and let you move past it. Hopefully while allowing you to take the experience to heart. As for Morrigan... I get the feeling that she is still holding herself back a little. In a way, being a succubus is... freeing. It gives you an excuse to have sex for sustenance and takes away some of the hesitation. She doesn't have that freedom so I believe what she needs is a bit different. Last night, she needed to have some barriers broken down. So, I dangled a reward in front of her while leaving her a way out if she needed it, I gave her the excuse she needed to explore her desires with you and with Bella. Being a lesbian and pining solely after women before meeting Bella makes things a bit more complicated for her, I do not think she was fully comfortable with Bella's anatomy and I suspect she still is not fully comfortable with it. All of you will need to explore more to suss out her boundaries but I'm sure you can handle that from here."

"You've given all of that a lot more thought than I would have expected."

Grace smiled. "Well, I have worked with a lot of people over the years. I may not look like it anymore but I have been around for a long time," she said with a wink.

I kissed Morrigan's shoulder and leaned on her again. Despite how much my ass still hurt it felt nice being sandwiched between my lovers. At some point Mimi's 'sleeping' state had incorporated naturally breathing so I felt the reassuring rise and fall of her chest and the breath on the back of my neck as she slept. I drifted back into a light sleep until Bella finally awoke.

With a groan she sat up and rubbed her butt while looking over the pile of bodies in the suite's bed.

Grace turned and smiled up at her. "How are you feeling Bella dear?"

"Mmm, my butt is sore..." Bella grumbled out.

Grace giggled. "Lilith said something similar when she woke up."

"I'm sure, it didn't feel like you went easy on us... Can I heal the bruises yet?" she asked.

"Sure, I feel like you have suffered them enough."

A pale green glow of magical light lit up the room for a moment and Bella sighed in relief. She sank back down on the bed and rolled onto her back. "Ah, much better."

I groaned in jealousy. "Ugh, Bella, would you mind doing me next?"

She sat up and looked at me with a gentle smile. "Sure thing." She leaned over the two bodies between us and I felt her magic soothe the pain while she gently groped my butt.

I chuckled. "You don't have to be shy, you can feel me up whenever you want. That feels good, keep doing that."

In response, she stopped healing me and pulled away which made me sit up a little in confusion.

"If you want me to keep going come over here then," she said as she patted her stomach.

I shimmied out from between my two other girlfriends and slid off the bed to join Bella on the other side. Once I climbed back up she guided me over to her. "Here, lay on top."

She pulled me into a position where I was straddled over her stomach with my ass cheeks in each of her hands and my breasts in her face. I don't think I had been flustered very much with Bella lately but this pose felt a bit compromising and I could feel blood rushing to my face. I wasn't sure what exactly was embarrassing me but I couldn't help it.

She began to gently grope and massage my ass as her healing magic soothed the pain. She took the opportunity to catch one of my nipples in her mouth to gently suck on while she continued to massage and grope my butt. The feeling was nice and I began to grow wet at the attention. It was incredibly erotic to look down and see her mouth suckling at my breast with her eyes closed.

She continued like that for a while, even a bit past when my butt was fully healed, but she eventually let go of my nipple and stared up at me. "I think it was true that I wasn't being honest about how I felt... I am okay sharing you with others but... I don't want to be left behind. I want to stay by your side. ...I want you to give me attention too." Her ears went back and she turned to the side, unable to keep eye contact with me. "You made me feel so special when we first met and I want more of that feeling. I know you still love me and I can feel it through the bond. I'm probably being a little unfair but there's been a lot of people trying to get your attention since we've come to the city and I still want some of your time to myself..."

I slid down to lay next to her and I pulled her into a hug. "It's okay Bella. I'm sorry I didn't notice how you were feeling sooner. It's true that I haven't made enough time for you lately, I promise I'll make it up to you. You are special, not just in general but to me."She squeezed me harder and buried her face into my neck. I kissed her forehead and traced my fingers through the back of her fur as I enjoyed the peaceful moment.

"I promise to make sure we have some alone time when we can but you have to promise to tell me when you need it. I'll do my best to make sure we have time for things like dates and cuddling but please talk to me before we get to this point again, okay?"

"Okay," her muffled voice replied.

"Good." I kissed the top of her head again and just lay with her for a while longer.

***

I leaned down to lace up my boots. I had hoped to get a bit of an earlier start today but after last night all of us needed a little bit of extra time to recover this morning. We were supposed to meet Cecilia at the stables and get the last of our supplies ready for the trip. That means refreshing our rations and some of our other consumable camping supplies.

Morrigan, Bella, and Torien were sitting around the coffee table drinking tea while Mimi sorted through some of the miscellaneous stuff in her pocket storage. She told me she had been able to increase it a bit with some of the experience she was gaining from fighting monsters lately but that meant she needed to rearrange things in her space. I didn't completely understand how her ability worked so I didn't question it and just watched as he pulled things out and put them back away.

When everyone was finished with their tea and Mimi was done with... whatever it was she was doing, all of us filed down the stairs to where Raya, Sibyl, and Silva were waiting for us. Raya and Sibyl had empty-looking backpacks on, just full of some of the few possessions they kept. They were going to need new supplies for the trip. The more I thought about it the more I was excited for them to join us tomorrow. I liked the two of them a lot and Raya in particular felt like a boon to my mental health, she proved to be very grounding and I felt safe talking about some of my insecurities with her. Things I don't feel as comfortable talking about with my actual lovers. I also didn't dislike the idea of sharing a bed with the two of them from time to time either.

Theo was across the room eating breakfast in the corner and he gave me a short wave when he noticed me. Silva had talked him through the plan for tomorrow, but being mostly uninvolved, he wasn't going to head to the stables with us. Instead, he was going to sort out his own gear he needed for the trip. I offered him some money for supplies but he turned me down, it seems he still had a bit of money with him despite everything he had gone through since coming here.

Grace was already back behind the brothel's desk in a fresh and clean outfit. She looked like she was in a great mood this morning and even gave me a wink when she noticed me looking at her. I smiled back and gave her a small wave. I already liked Grace quite a bit but last night's play/couples therapy session was really hot. I would miss her when we left, she was probably the one I felt closest to that wasn't going to be coming with us. Even if she did want to come with, there was way too much going on here for her to leave. The Ruby Vixen needed her and she still needed to help her sister adjust to her new circumstances. I still wasn't completely comfortable with what had happened to Lia but only time would tell how things changed for her. I'll make sure to get an update when we pass through Goldenhearth again.

"You ready to go Lilith?" Sibyl asked. "We're running a bit late and we still need to pick up our supplies."

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready. Let's go."

Our group was getting larger all the time. Bella, Morrigan and Torien, Mimi, Silva, and now Raya and Sibyl. Though the latter two would be traveling with us they wouldn't be part of our party proper, at least not right away. Raya still needed some training, both in magic and general survival skills. We'll be training her up in both as we went along. It would be good practice for me as well, I could use a crash course in survival techniques even if I had been doing some of that already. Theo also promised to teach me some Enhancement Magic on the trip across, that was another thing I was looking forward to.

We once again found ourselves in the shop I had bought my last set of gear from in Goldenhearth since it was on the way to the stables on the other side of town. The old man at the counter recognized me and nodded to our group as we came in. The prices of everything seemed quite high, especially the traveling rations, but all of that was expected under the circumstances. He told me that despite the food shortages he was able to secure some rations to sell to travelers, it was one of the major purposes of his shop after all. He also told me that the food situation was looking like it would start to stabilize soon with caravans from the capital and Traehall finally coming in to supply extra food. Goldenhearth was going to need to import food until their next harvest but unless something major happened again, things wouldn't get worse from here. Knock on wood.

Once we finished buying our supplies and filling Raya and Sibyl's backpacks with camping gear, we headed off to the stable.