Ticklish pleasures

Chapter 23

I awaken the following morning in Sienna's bed, blinking the sleep from my eyes and rolling over to look at her. I stifle a chuckle as I see her, sprawled out with her hair messed around her face, part of it stuck to her cheek and a small amount of drool running a line down her chin. I reach over and gently use my thumb to wipe it away, then wipe it clean on her nightgown.

She grumbles softly and rolls onto her side facing away from me, pulling a pillow against her and squeezing it to her chest as she mutters my name. I can't stop the laugh this time and gently squeeze her shoulder. "Sienna, I'm over here. That's a pillow."

A groan escapes her and she rolls her head back toward me, half opening her eyes and looking at me before blinking and tossing the pillow to the side without a second thought. She practically throws herself onto the other side and grabs me instead by the shoulders, pulling me against her and squeezing me like she had been the pillow.

I laugh again against her chest as she holds me, wiggling in her grip. "Mm canf breef!" I mumble, gently pushing away from her, just slightly, and turn my head to rest my cheek against her again. "That's better."

"It's hard to tell the difference between you and a pillow, you're both so comfortably squishable." She mutters into my hair, giving my rear a firm squeeze as if to verify her statement, making me squeak and laugh again. "So comfy."

"Thank you, I guess." I sigh, nuzzling into her and wrapping my arms around her too and giving her a firm squeeze too, holding it for a minute before reaching my hand up and gently poking her nose. "I'm hungry. I wanna get up and get something to eat."

She lets out a huff of annoyance, mumbling curses to herself as she gives me one last firm squeeze before letting me go. "Alright, fine, I guess I don't want you to starve to death. You would lose your squish," She rolls over off the bed, adjusting her night gown a bit and just throwing her robe around her shoulders.

I giggle and slip out of bed myself, pulling my clothes on that had obviously been carelessly thrown onto the floor the night before when she brought me to her room. We head out into the dining hall, immediately greeted by Karin and Cynthia with a small wave and a smile behind Mistress' glass.

There is already food set out on the table for me and I sit down to eat, while Sienna sits on the other side of the table with the other two. I invest myself into my breakfast as the three of them start talking about the upcoming ball.

"What about security? Maybe we should ask Ramus if any of his men would be willing to be on guard duty. Normally it's not needed, but given recent circumstances, it's probably for the best that we have some backup." Karin leans forward in her chair, resting her chin on her knuckles with her fingers laced together.

"I don't know. I feel we should at least try to keep this whole situation under wraps. Not that I don't trust him, clearly, however I'm sure that Jenny doesn't really need everyone knowing her business. Look at how long it took her to tell us. And the others could also consider her a threat, given her powers and her hatred for vampires." Cynthia replies, letting out a soft  sigh.

I take a break between bites and chime in.  "First of all, I can't say I hate all vampires anymore. Whoever this bitch is that we're dealing with is my only enemy anymore. And of course any who would support her. Of course, we know nothing about this woman, so it's difficult to say who we can and can't trust. If we had some ideas, it would probably make the list of people who we can ask for help longer, but for now, there is too much of a  risk to really tell anyone right now.  But that doesn't necessarily mean that we have to give any details. Although, should something happen, and whoever we ask for help does end up having some sort of connection to her, we could end up at a disadvantage anyway."

Cynthia sighs and runs her hand through her hair, leaning back in her chair. "You make a good point. It almost seems like using the ball to gather any information is a bad idea in the first place. It may even be better to ask for help outside of vampires for answers."

I finish my food and take a large gulp of what's left of my drink, wiping my mouth and pushing the plate back to rest my arms on the table. "If that's the case, I can think of a couple of people that I can ask, but it may be a bit of a risk to bring any of you with me. Not necessarily because they hate vampires, but more along the lines of a general fear and dislike." I put my chin in my hand and tap the fingers of my other on the table. "So for that part, I would need a little bit of leeway and some trust from the three of you - which I know that you have no particular reason to give to me, given my escape attempts."

Cynthia's mouth twists a little bit in thought, eyebrows furrowing before letting out a soft sigh. "I think we've made leaps and bounds in terms of building trust with each other for the past several weeks, and given that you've opened up to us about your problem is another big step, but I feel like I would be more open to the idea if you at least took Anjennica with you. She's already aware of your situation, yes?"

I nod slightly and smile. "That's true... But whether or not we would be able to get Master Ramus to agree to let us borrow her, especially to meet with other supernaturals would probably be the hard part."

"The thing about Anjennica," Sienna slips in "Is that she has earned a lot of trust between herself and Ramus. It's likely that she can ask for time with you without having to actually tell him what she's doing."

"Uhh, how long has she been around you guys for exactly?"

"Hmm... She's... What... Thirty-four? Been around since she was around your age, so about fifteen years?"

I blink and sit up again, furrowing my eyebrows. "Wow, really? That definitely explains a lot... Why she was so open to hearing my story about my family, and why she brought me to you guys. I'll bet this was part of her plan from the beginning, asking the three of you for help. So yeah, if anyone can be trusted, Annie is definitely it."

"So we're decided then. We can call on her to take you to meet with your contacts, and the three of us will focus on just trying to get everything ready."

I nod. "That sounds like a good idea. The less involved in the search you are, the better anyway. Vampires asking around about other vampires would probably lead to a lot of questions being asked that are better left unanswered. Just keep doing things as you would, and let my 'friends' handle the rest."

Cynthia gives me a soft smile and reaches over, gently taking my hand into hers and giving it a squeeze. "Agreed. But don't do anything to put yourself into any danger either, sweetheart. By the way, you said 'other supernaturals'. What exactly are these friends of yours, Jenny darling?"

I stiffen up a little bit and Cynthia obviously notices, raising an eyebrow at me. I let out a soft sigh and look down at the table for a moment, before looking up to her with a small, sheepish grin.

"Umm.... Werewolves~?"