TWENTY-NINE

"He's gone!"

Antonella walked in our bedroom carrying the heavy breakfast tray, she usually asked for one of my girls' help but she brought the tray alone that morning and left it on the table before turning around and looking at us excitedly. Terra was lying on the bed reading, she was feeling well again after spending an entire day resting, and Ruby was standing in front of the wardrobe helping me to pick out a T-shirt from the dozen she'd bought for me online. The three of us stared at the housekeeper confused while she was busy pouring cups of tea and coffee.

"What are you talking about?" Terra got up slowly attracted by the smell of freshly baked cinnamon rolls and winked at me mischievously before biting one. I couldn't help blushing and hid my red cheeks behind my tea mug.

"About John. He left early in the morning, he told Marcus he had a business meeting in Rome and will come back in two days."

"Let's hope we'll never see him again..." Ruby growled chewing some bacon.

"I'm so happy he's left that two days of freedom feel like heaven to me..." I answered relieved.

The truth is that I'd managed to avoid John while taking care of Terra, Ruby felt fine after sleeping one night and eating a good dinner but my Spanish vampire needed one more day and, even if she was sore, she got really bored lying there and doing nothing... This was really weird because she was able to read for hours alone in her library, quietly, but when she was forced to remain idle against her will, she became grumpy and wanted attention. We watched TV, had lunch together, I read a magazine out loud for her, the other vampires and Vera came to visit... all of them except John.

I could talk to Dario and Aren about my suspicions while Ruby kept Marcus busy, I explained them I believed that idiot had lured werewolves to my father-in-law's property somehow with the aim of causing trouble, but they shook their heads in disbelief. Dario admitted that John despised us but a big pack of wolves could be dangerous and no vampire would give them the location of a comrade's den voluntarily. Aren agreed with Ruby: it was unlikely but the guy was crazy enough to try it... I was sure something smelled fishy, we'd never told those mutts where we were from, they couldn't know if we were heading back to Rome, to Spain or to USA after visiting Sicily and yet, there they were, in the forest that surrounded Marcus' house. Dario frowned when listening to my theory and admitted reluctantly that it was weird, a very happy coincidence for them since millions of people lived in the south of Italy but they were able to find the vampires very quickly.

"Maybe they can smell you..." I shrugged and Aren smiled amused.

"You're right, Iselen, their chances to find us were low... someone has guided them and we all know who he was... But I don't know how we're going to explain this to my father." The Viking stared at me while Dario grimaced.

"What are we going to do today?" Terra asked snapping me back to reality and my breakfast. "Do you want to go out for a walk?" I looked back at my pretty vampire, hesitating for a few seconds, till an idea made its way through my mind and I got up abruptly.

"I'll be right back..."

"What? Iselen, babe, where are you going?" Ruby followed me confused while I ran across the house till reaching the bedroom my friend shared with Aren, in fact, the Viking was talking to Marcus in the middle of the corridor right then.

"Ships! You have ships, don't you?" I asked out of breath and the blond guy stared at me puzzled but nodded. "Do you have one here? Or we could rent one... I'd like to spend the evening sailing, fishing, swimming... Antonella can make food and put it in picnic baskets or something like that... I don't know if you think this is a good idea..." I whispered the last words while the vampires kept looking at me confused.

"We can go to Capri..." Aren suggested and Marcus nodded, smiling delighted.

"It'll be fun... That was a great idea, Iselen." My father-in-law hugged me before turning around to look at the Viking. "The Black Swan is docked in the port of Naples, isn't it? It needs a crew of five but we're only three with sailing knowledge: Dario, you and me..."

"But we're vampires and Ruby and Terra could help following our instructions..."

"I know how to handle a sailboat, I'm the daughter of a Venetian merchant..." Ruby crossed her tattooed arms over her chest, slightly offended. "I admit I know nothing about modern engines but the Black Swan was built in 1899... I remember how excited you were when the shipbuilder finished it and gave it to you." Aren nodded laughing amused and drawing Vera's attention, she stuck her head through the door in order to find out the cause of the noise in the corridor.

"What's going on?"

"We're going to sail to Capri on a sailboat with your mate as a captain..." Marcus started walking away slowly but kept looking at us over his shoulder to speak to us. "Don't forget to grab some clothes in case we decide to spend two days on board, it has five bedrooms after all so there's plenty of room for everybody... I'm going to tell Antonella to get some food ready for the trip... We're going to have a great time."

*****

"I think I caught a jellyfish..."

"That's a plastic bag, Dario," I answered laughing while putting a T-shirt on. The sun had set and I felt a little cold but Terra pouted at me disappointed, she'd spent the evening whispering in my year how beautiful I looked wearing my red bikini while her hands touched my ass shamelessly under the water, Ruby swam with the grace of a dolphin around us and Vera and Aren jumped from the boat to the sea screaming like crazy again and again, splashing around. Marcus and Dario found some fishing rods and they got down to work but my father-in-law gave up eventually complaining about the noise we were making that was shooing away all the fish in the Gulf of Naples.

"Damn it! I wanted a bass."

"And I wanted a colonel but he didn't love me."

"Were you in love with a colonel?" Ruby frowned next to me, looking at me confused and upset at the same time while her sister laughed her ass off sitting on a wood deck chair.

"It's a Spanish quote, it means you cannot have everything you want in life." The beautiful vampire explained while Dario struggled to get rid of the plastic bag.

"Thank goodness, I thought I had to find a poor war hero and punch him on his face." I rolled my eyes hard when noticing the hint of possessiveness in Ruby's tone of voice but remained silent and helped Dario to unhook the white bag and toss it in the trash.

"Well, I'm a vampire used to get whatever he wants and I wanted a bass."

"Antonella saves the day." The housekeeper climbed the stairs from the kitchen carrying a big tray with delicious fish coming directly from the oven, the smell drew us to the table decorated with blue napkins that the woman had set on the deck and where some bowls full of pasta and rice salad were waiting along with trays full of cheese and grilled sausages. Dario dropped the rod and was the first one sitting down while Marcus poured some wine.

"This is way better than fishing, this bass comes with garlic, parsley and olive oil ready to enjoy... Oh, and spicy chilli pepper! Delicious."

"Aren, I love your sailboat." The Viking smiled and winked at me while holding Vera's phone because she was determined to take a picture posing as the figurehead of her mate's boat, she looked like a nymph that jumped out of the water with her curly dark hair falling freely over her back and wearing a golden bikini.

"Here, babe..." Terra gave me a plate and I started eating hungrily. We'd spent two wonderful days sailing, swimming, laughing and visiting Capri on an old boat but perfectly maintained since every cabin panelled with precious reddish wood and bronze decorations had been restored. The kitchen had state-of-the-art appliances hidden inside cabinets and my father-in-law had given us the master bedroom because it was bigger and had an ensuite bathroom. Marcus admitted reluctantly that everybody's mood had improved but no one dared to mention John's name as the party pooper.

"Are we far from Salerno? I'd love to visit the castle," I mumbled with my mouth full of delicious sausage.

"No really but it's better if you go by car from Naples through the highway... it takes around 45 minutes..." Dario answered before grabbing a chunk of breath that he dipped in the spicy olive oil around his piece of bass.

"We'll plan it and I guess you'd love to visit Rome before going back to Los Angeles," Marcus suggested smiling but he looked nervous and wanted to know if we were planning to go back home soon, obviously.

"It's Iselen's decision," Ruby answered moving her plate closer to Antonella so the human could serve her more pasta salad. "She's the one who wants to visit half of the country while we're in Italy, we've told her we can come back whenever she wants but..." I blushed and vampires chuckled around me, I was still getting used to the idea that I'd have centuries to travel all over the world sightseeing but Terra told me that was normal and I'd learn how to take things easy later.

"I'm having fun, I guess we can spend two or three weeks here... But yes, I'd love to visit Rome and Florence at least..."

"I have a safe house in Rome where we could stay all together and work as Iselen's tourist guides," my father-in-law answered happily. "There're hordes of tourists in Florence but we'll manage to find a good and discreet hotel... What about Siena?"

"Oh yes, please, and Ravenna..."

"That's on the other side of the country," Terra complained but her father hushed her.

"Leave my daughter-in-law alone, if she wants to travel through Italy from shore to shore I'll follow her happily..." The vampire shook her head, dismayed and amused at the same time, while Aren and Vera joined us finally and started eating.

"Do you want to visit Florence and Rome? Marcus has a house in the capital," I asked my friend and she opened her eyes wide in surprise while swallowing a bite of her rice salad.

"Of course I do.... And the Leaning Tower of Pisa... Can we go shopping to Milan? Although it's an expensive city..." Vera pouted at Aren and the Viking stared at her in disbelief.

"We'll go wherever you want and you can melt my credit card." The tall guy answered immediately and Dario choked on a piece of bread, drinking a sip of wine to pretend he wasn't laughing while we all looked at him perplexed.

"Sorry, it's just that I never thought I'd see... A fierce Viking warrior who looted cities, a skilled ship captain, a man who's lived for centuries... So whipped that he'll wait in the middle of the Vittorio Emanuele II gallery for his mate to finish shopping while holding her Versace bags resigned and bored... If you could wear your helmet with horns, it would be great..." The French guy burst into laughing and we all laughed too, Vera included, while Aren looked at us angrily stabbing a sausage with his fork and shaking it in front of us.

"We didn't wear helmets with horns!"

*****

"It was great..." I whispered wearily dropping my bag on the floor of our bedroom and kicking the sandals off my feet. "Promise me we'll go sailing one more time before leaving Italy, please."

"Of course, we'll do whatever you want... Wait, where are you going?" I stopped looking at Terra, confused, and pointing at the bathroom door.

"I'm going to take a shower to get rid of the salt on my skin..."

"I have a better idea," the pretty blue-eyed woman cut me off, taking me in her arms and moving so fast that I blinked and realized we weren't in our bedroom anymore, not even in the house.

"What the...? Oh no, you damned pervert vampire..." I whispered angrily and feeling a little dizzy watching Terra taking her clothes off and jumping in the pool. Ruby was lighting torches around the edge and putting some clean towels on the sunbeds before taking her clothes off and jumping in the water too. "Are you nuts? We don't live alone in this house..."

"Aren and Vera are fucking in their room and Marcus and Dario are running a bath for two in their suite... Antonella is making dinner in the kitchen."

"Terra!" I whispered outraged.

"I'm sorry, it's not my fault, I can hear them... Come, babe, jump..."

"If I turn into a vampire..." I grumbled taking my T-shirt and shorts off along with my underwear after taking a cautious look around. "Will I spend the eternity listening to people having sex?"

"Among other things but you'll learn to ignore them and focus on your interests... You're so pretty..." Terra smiled naughtily hugging me and her lips met mines in a hot kiss. Her sister chuckled behind me and put her arms around our waists while nibbling at my nape sending a shiver down my spine despite the water was warm and their bodies stuck to mine were hot. Ruby slid one of her sharp fangs down my neck slowly and I shivered holding back a moan.

"It's not fair," I whispered feeling Terra cupping my breasts and pinching my nipples. "You take advantage of the fact that I'm a weak human easily hypnotized by your charm... I'll take revenge when I turn into a vampire, you'll go crazy for me..."

"We're already crazy for you," Ruby whispered in my ear, sliding her hands around my hips till sneaking them between my body and her sister's. Terra took my thighs and put them around her waist, drawing a trail of kisses from my jawline to my lips again. Her tongue licked and teased me till tearing a moan from my throat.

"Well, you'll go crazier then..." I answered against the beautiful vampire's mouth. "Luckily, you can't have heart attacks... Fuck, Ruby!" My girl had buried her fingers in my pussy without previous warning and my back arched against her chest, I tilted my head back over her shoulder when she started pumping while Terra watched me entranced. The blue-eyed vampire leaned her thumb on my clit and started circling it following the pace her sister was setting with her fingers. My body jolted as if I'd touched a wire and a soft cry escaped from my throat.

"You're very hot," Ruby growled thrusting her index even further but Terra remained silent, moving her thumb and looking at me mesmerized while I writhed between them biting my lower lip to muffle my moans. Torches shone on her wet skin covered with tattoos and her eyes turned violet, sparkling like the ones of a snake hypnotizing its prey. Suddenly, I stopped twisting and my body went limp between them, allowing them to take control of my will and build an ecstasy with their fingers at the same time I tilted my head back, offering them my neck. Ruby leaned her lips on one side and her hand pumped nonstop, my uterus clenched around her fingers because Terra moved her thumb aggressively, determined to give me an orgasm as soon as possible while she leaned her mouth on the other side of my neck.

My muscles got tensed when both vampires bit me at the same time but I didn't feel pain, only hot pleasure running wild through my veins like a stream of molten lava, my toes curled up but that was the only thing I could do while shattering between them. I experienced one of the most powerful orgasms in my life and I think I cried when I chained a second one and a third while they swallowed my blood feeding on me but my body remained meek till they pulled away reluctantly, licking their lips and sighing ecstatic.

"So delicious... Be careful, babe..." Terra rushed to hug me when her sister let me go stepping back and she noticed I almost sank in the swimming pool. My muscles were still weak and didn't obey me so the vampire decided to push me to the edge and helped me to sit down.

"It's not fair," I whispered again leaning my forehead on her shoulder and she chuckled.

"Come on, amor... I'll dry your body with a towel and take you to our room, you'll lie in bed while Ruby takes care of you and I'll go to the kitchen looking for some food..." Terra's voice became weaker as she talked while staring at the house with a furrowed brow. "What's that commotion?"

"What are you talking about? I can't hear anything..." I mumbled sleepy and could almost feel her rolling her eyes before stepping back and making room for Ruby to hug me, wrapping my body up in a towel.

"Take her to the room while I get dressed to find out what's happening..."

"Oh please, I hope it's not your stupid brother again..." I complained even if I felt tired and satisfied, ready to take a good nap with my girls. The last thing I needed was a judgemental vampire snooping around and ruining my holidays.

"No, that's not his voice... It's Marcus... and Mara?" Ruby stopped in the middle of the corridor, shocked, holding me tight against her body.

"What is she doing here? It's been more than a century..."