EIGHT

I woke up slowly, lying face down as usual, but that time I wasn't hugging my pillow... I had my head comfortably leaned on the shoulder of a stranger, my arm enclosed her waist and my leg was tangled with hers enjoying the heat of her body. My confusion only lasted for a few seconds before I remembered that I wasn't in my bed. 'Who's this? Mmm... she's Ruby...' I decided to cuddle a bit closer. My prediction got confirmed when she spoke:

"Good afternoon, babe." Her hand stroked my hair slowly.

I just smiled in response knowing that she could feel it. This wasn't half bad, I could get used to wake up like this every morning although it'd be even harder to get out of the bed to start working every day. Yawning, I extended my arm towards the other side of the mattress, looking for... nothing, I couldn't feel anything and sheets were cold. Suddenly, panic burst in my chest forcing me to jump. Kneeled down in the middle of the bed, I shook my head looking in every direction frantically while my lungs struggled to get enough fresh air.

"Terra," I mumbled, feeling like suffocating. "Where is she? Where?"

Ruby was sitting next to me and I grabbed her arms digging my fingernails in her flesh. My heart was racing and threatening with pounding out of my chest, I gasped for air but it wasn't enough and started hearing a ringing in my ears that was muffling noises around me, I couldn't hear what Ruby was telling me, my head was about exploding in pain... I felt dizzy and small white sparks were dancing in front of my eyes. The edges of my vision turned black and cold sweat coated my skin. 'I'm going to pass out,' I thought clearly, my overloaded brain still retained a bit of rational consciousness but it wouldn't last. I started shaking uncontrollably till someone puts their arms around me and I could smell a distinctive perfume, fresh and soft like a forest soaked in rain. My heart got its steady pace back slowly and my brain was able to think properly again.

"Calm down, amor, I'm here..."

My ears worked again and I realized that the rhythmical sound that was echoing through the room were my own sobs. Tears ran down my cheeks and landed on Terra's shirt on her shoulder where I was leaning my forehead. I was hugging her so hard that my knuckles hurt and had to force my fingers to move one by one in order to release her. Finally, I raised my head and looked at her right into her eyes, her face expression was cautious while she checked if I was in my right mind again. I felt exhausted and my voice was barely a whispering but she had a vampire sense of hearing, luckily.

"Where were you?"

"I was bringing our breakfast," she pointed at a tray on a table where some steaming cups of coffee and tea, glasses of juice and a bag of cookies were waiting.

"Breakfast... of course..." I felt embarrassed suddenly because I'd been unable to think of something so obvious before freaking out. "I don't understand what happened..."

"You've had a panic attack." Ruby answered handing me a wet towel to wipe my tears away.

"But why? I thought I was going to have a heart attack." I rubbed my face on the towel awkwardly and stared at them confused.

"It's the bond," Terra answered. "It's not sealed completely and it's a bit unstable. When you realized I wasn't by your side, your brain assumed I was gone or vanished and you got very scared. It was a natural reaction, not rational. I'm sorry, babe, we'll make sure you know where we are at all times, okay?"

"What does 'it's not sealed' mean?" I started to feel panic flooding my chest again, my heart hurt because I was afraid of losing them: the feelings associated to this bond were too intense and overwhelming for a human to deal with them.

"Calm down, we aren't going anywhere. The problem is that you've drunk our blood but we haven't tried yours yet. That will close the loop and put things between us in their right place finally."

"And why haven't you...?"

"There's no rush..." I stared at Ruby in disbelief, I didn't want to have another nervous breakdown so I thought there was a rush indeed. "Seriously, babe, everything will be all right. We'll make it when you're comfortable and calmer, this is important and we want it to be... especial."

"You make it sound like I'm going to lose my virginity or something like that." I grimaced amused while throwing the towel to a chair.

"Well, maybe it's something like that," Terra answered hesitating, almost nervously. "It's something intimate and... mmm... if we do it properly you won't feel pain, not even a prick, but since you don't like us to manipulate your mind and we want this to be a real and genuine experience for you... we can't put you in a trance so... we must do it during sex. But don't worry, everything will be all right, honestly."

I opened my eyes wide in shock not knowing what to say. It was pretty obvious that I wasn't ready to take that step, the idea of playing in a bed with too vampires got me really anxious despite I'd already slept with them, they kissed me and hugged me but... I didn't even understand why: I was an adult and no prude but they were two... and way more experienced. Maybe it was the taboo, a threesome seemed terribly indecent, obscene and lewd, and wanting it made me look like a shameless woman. My family wasn't especially religious and I didn't have a rigid, traditional education but it seemed that I was carrying centuries of decency and social conventions on my shoulders and I didn't even know it. It was funny since I was a lesbian and didn't mind to play with leather handcuffs, I'd always bragged about having an open mind and being ready to try new things, and I realized how conventional I could be in the end under that mundane façade.

"Everything will be all right," Terra said again, hugging me... and I realized.

"You're naked." My outraged tone of voice tore a sincere laugh from her throat while she pulled away.

"Technically, not." She answered winking at me.

"Yes, well, you're wearing a shirt but it's completely unbuttoned and hanging from your shoulders open. I can see your... tattoos..." And other things too, in addition to the ink Terra's toned abdomen and small breasts were perfectly visible, firm and perky with pretty pink nipples. I swallowed hard and she raised an eyebrow in response, her cocky smirk made me blush till Ruby came to rescue me. She kneeled down behind her and put her arms around her torso, covering Terra's chest with the fabric of her shirt and kissing her nape gently before explaining me:

"You'll get used to it, she walks around wearing even less amount of clothes usually. Boyshorts, basically, and nothing else."

"Aren doesn't care?" I asked surprised while trying to look anywhere but at Terra's breasts.

"There's nothing new for him to see here after all these past centuries living together." They both laughed like it was some kind of private joke.

"But you weren't walking around like this... naked... these weeks." I insisted, fixing my eyes on the blankets.

"I tried to show some deference towards my housekeeper, I didn't want to scandalize her, you know. But now that she's my girl and sleeps in my bed, I don't need this anymore..." Terra moved away from Ruby and took her shirt off slowly, wearing only her boyshorts: her body was perfect, slim and toned, covered with warm and soft skin. Her mischievous smirk allowed me to see one of her fangs partially extended, enough for me to notice it clearly; it made me feel butterflies fluttering in my stomach but not of fear, it was arousal. I wondered how it would be to feel it grazing my skin, biting me gently. She got up casually grazing my tank top and I blushed again while her sister looked at us amused. I heard her moving behind me and taking a seat. "Tea is getting cold. Come on, Iselen, sit down and have breakfast."

I got up keeping my eyes low and walked to the table where Terra was comfortably sat on a chair, her long bare legs were beautifully displayed with her ankles crossed, holding a cup of coffee in front of her breasts. She drank and heaved a satisfied sigh enjoying the bitter taste of her favourite coffee, she liked her lips and I held back a moan. Ruby chuckled behind me. Honestly, I failed to see the humour: I had to clear my mind to understand my feelings and, in addition to that, I had to see Terra walking almost naked around the house. Poor me...

*****

Comfort food, that's what I was craving. I felt exhausted after my panic attack and, honestly, the life as part of a vampire threesome was getting on my nerves. Would it be so dramatic, always? I didn't understand how it was possible for some of them to get bored of life after some years, even centuries, because everything felt like a rollercoaster of emotion to me. I hate rollercoasters, I don't like to feel my stomach on my throat, I feel like vomiting. Comfort food... apple pie? Nothing can beat my grandma's recipe.

That's how Ruby found me some minutes later, peeling apples on the kitchen island while listening to the radio. She sat next to me and watched me working quietly, trying not to disturb me with a conversation; her energy was calmer than Terra's one, more restrained. 'No way, pretty face, we all work in this house,' I though and handed her a knife and two apples without a word: she started peeling and chopping, enjoying the texture and smell of the fresh fruit and my company. Of course, Ruby was able to chop a ton of apples in a few minutes thanks to her vampire speed, but she'd understood instinctively that it was funnier if we did it together, slowly, stealing chunks of crunchy fruit to eat it laughing. We were enjoying the fact that we were together, just that...

I added sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and some brandy to the fruit and caramelized it in a pan with butter, slowly: the vampire leaned over the fragrant steam and sniffed delighted, the smell was delicious. It was the first time Ruby was cooking, probably, or at least she worked as a kitchen helper and was having the time of her life so I let her stir slowly the content of the pan while I went to the fridge looking for the puff pastry. I rolled it out a bit and put the dough on the pan covering all the fruit before waiting for a minute till the caramel was done and putting the cake in the heated oven.

"Now we just have to wait for 25 minutes till the pastry is golden and crispy. We'll take it out, turn it upside down and we'll have a caramelized Tarte Tatin... I'll serve it warm with vanilla ice cream."

Ruby nodded enthusiastically, she took me in her arms and started dancing a waltz around the kitchen island: a genuine Vienna waltz, of course, with turns to the left and change steps following the rhythm of the Strauss melody she was humming. Actually, I was almost holding onto her body and my feet didn't touch the floor but I couldn't stop laughing. Suddenly, my dance partner stopped abruptly staring at the door: Terra walked in and her face was terribly serious, with her arms crossed over her chest and a surly grimace on her lips. Great, what was happening again? A minute ticked by, then two, and they kept glaring at each other but quietly till I realized they were having an argument but not out loud and they were ignoring me deliberately; despite our bond, I wasn't able to hear them if they didn't want to. I cleared my throat trying to grab their attention and... nothing. I cleared my throat again but they didn't bat an eye. Seriously? I was starting to get pretty mad.

"Hey!" My yell echoed through the kitchen. "I'm here, do you remember? I want to know what's happening and I want to know it now. Stop shaking your head and answer me, Terra."

"Ruby screwed up," she blurted out pointing at her partner sullenly.

"I couldn't do things differently, you know it." She answered furiously. "You know the rules..."

"You could have come up with an excuse." Terra crossed her arms over her chest again pouting like a grumpy baby.

"Which one?"

"Hey!" I yelled again, they were behaving like unbearable spoiled brats. "I'm still here and still want to know what's happening." Ruby turned around to look at me and realized I wasn't joking so she sighed and started to explain.

"Three days ago I bumped into some rogues, nomadic vampires that travel around the world and don't have a permanent resident: a couple I barely know and their friend, Giulio, who I've met long time ago. They asked me for accommodation, one night or maybe two, and I told them there was no problem and they were welcome."

"We aren't a safe house or a hotel," Terra replied furious.

"But we can't deny asylum to a member of our race if they ask us: hospitality is sacred and you know it." Now they were both yelling.

"Hey! Calm down you both..." Stony silence fell on the kitchen... 'So this is my role in this threesome: mediator between two dominant personalities,' I thought: soon, I'd have enough experience in resolving conflicts that the UN would want to hire me. "All right, I understand that according to traditions or vampire rules or whatever, Ruby was unable to deny a polite asylum request. What's your problem exactly, Terra?"

"I'm worried about you, this whole situation is new and stressful and you've hardly got used to our true nature. Now you'll have to meet new vampires and we aren't all the same, I don't want you to get a bad impression and get scared and... Giulio is an asshole!" she yelled out loud again.

"And what was I supposed to tell them instead?" Ruby answered harshly. "No, we can't provide accommodation for one night because maybe my new mate won't like you and that's a problem because my old mate wants to earn her trust desperately so she can fuck her brains out."

"Desperate... who, me?" Terra yelled back outraged. "Look who's talking, do you realize I can read your mind? I'm able to see all those erotic fantasies that fill your brain every night with Iselen as a main character dressed in black lace lingerie. Now that Giulio is coming for a visit you could ask him for some advice, he was a good-time buddy of the one and only Donatien after all, wasn't he?"

"Hey! I'm still here and you're getting on my nerves." Shit, I hate yelling like this, I don't like to be part on arguments and the whole situation was giving me a headache. "All right, let's try again. Ruby couldn't deny an asylum requirement and you're worried about me..." they both nodded firmly. "Okay, we have to accommodate them for one night or two, obviously, it's not that bad. But I'll stay close to you or Aren all the time they'll be in this house, you'll never lose sight of me and can protect me if I need it. Do you agree, Terra?"

The vampire nodded reluctantly, I turned at Ruby who nodded abruptly too... we couldn't do anything else, to be honest. I didn't want to face the challenge of accommodating and feeding three strangers who were vampires either, I was willing to stay near my girls all the time because I needed then to calm my nerves... otherwise, I'd hyperventilate and pass out in front of three bloodsuckers I didn't know. Fortunately, all the vampires seemed to respect the basic rules and etiquette didn't allow them to bite humans who were under protection of other vampires, much less if they were part of the family.

"Okay, now we'll organize the schedule to clean and get the bedrooms ready. Where's Aren?" The vampire stuck his head through the door behind Terra immediately, I realized he'd been hidden in the corridor all the time and didn't dare to interfere. 'Coward,' I said in my mind sending my thought to him knowing that he'd be able to read it but he just shrugged and smiled shyly. I rolled my eyes hard... "I'm going to make a big grocery purchase in order to have the pantry and fridge full since it's pretty obvious I'll have to make at least one formal dinner, could you please check if your fridge is well-stocked? You know, the one in the cellar that I never touch..."

"Of course, I got this..." he left the kitchen in a rush without another word. Seriously, an adult Viking who had looted half of Europe in the good old days was scared of his two furious sisters, I felt like laughing... I turned to talk to my girls.

"I'm going to make a list with several menus for lunch and dinner and you'll pick out the ones you prefer. I guess our guests will want meat, a little bit of fish and no veggies, and maybe a sweet dessert. When will they arrive, Ruby?"

"In three days, they'll stay for the weekend..."

"Okay, everything will be all right if we work together." They both looked relieved and didn't want to argue again but I still had my doubts. "One last thing, Terra... that friend Giulio had... Donatien... the name isn't that common in France so... are you talking about infamous Marquis de Sade?" The blue-eyed vampire stared at the floor not wanting to give me a clear answer but she finally nodded reluctantly. I turned to face Ruby utterly outraged. "May I know what kind of perverted fantasies you picture in your brain with me?" The vampire blushed and looked down at the floor copying her partner; it was funny to see them like that for a change, usually they made fun of me and I was the one flushing. I decided to give them a little taste of their own medicine. "All right, whatever you want to do to me just remember, please... I don't like to be spanked... too hard..."

I left the kitchen without saying another word leaving my girls behind me, staring at me with their mouths wide open in shock.

"Shit, the cake!" I almost forgot it. That's how I ruined the effect of my wonderful exit when I had to rush back in the kitchen, shoving them away to take the Tarte Tatin out of the oven before it got burnt. Damn, why those things always happened to me?