TEN

Holding the platter with the leftovers of the roast lamb on one hand and the potatoes platter on the other one, I walked in the kitchen opening the door with my hip: both platters were almost empty and all the vampires were happy with the dinner... except for the side salad, I was the only one eating that. It was pretty obvious that vampires hated veggies and I almost felt sorry for Aren, he must be swallowing a ginger and spinach smoothie at that very moment with a fake smile on his lips: he was spending a lot of hours around Vera since he'd found out she was his mate, although she wasn't aware of that, and he'd decided not to attend that dinner with us. That left Ruby, Terra and me as hostesses and everything was going okay so far.

Guests had been led to their rooms and Ruby had given them a tour around the house while I gave the last touches to the dinner and Terra put flower arrangements on the dining room table. The vampire was still worried about me and never left my sight to make sure none of our guests went too far or talked about an awkward subject in front of me. To be honest, I thought she was behaving like a drama queen, they all were being extremely polite and from the moment I served an appetizer to the moment I brought the platter with lamb, I only heard praises about how good cook I was, how beautiful the flowers were and how clean the house looked.

Dominique and Marianne were a lovely couple not only because they were beautiful, he was tall and dark-haired and she was petite and blonde, but because of their manners and intelligent conversation. They seemed genuinely happy to share a dinner with us and didn't care about my curious questions. Marianne was the daughter of a Breton noble and had survived the French Revolution by a whisker, she'd been turned shortly after that by a vampire who was saving young aristocrats from Robespierre's Reign of Terror. Dominique was from Provence and lived a happy childhood till he was called up at the beginning of WWI. There, in the middle of a trench with mud to his knees and breathing poisonous gas, he was wounded on a leg and was taken to a field hospital where Marianne was a nurse. According to her, taking care of wounded soldiers was the simplest way to feed... I admit I got goose bumps with disgust when hearing her talking so casually about it, as if finishing off dying soldiers was a natural thing and letting the remains of their blood getting lost an unforgivable waste, but I swallowed my nausea and kept eating my dinner. Terra was watching me, ready to take me in her arms and drag me out of that room if I showed any sign of anxiety and I didn't want to ruin the party.

As for our third guest, Giulio... I shook my head pensively while putting some lime and meringue mini pies on a tray along with some small glasses of sweet liquor.

"May I know what the hell is wrong with you?" Terra had walked in the kitchen quietly and was whispering in my ear so the guests couldn't hear her. "You've been humming Toccata and fuga in D minor by Johann Sebastian Bach in your mind all night long. I like baroque music, you know. But you've passed it on Ruby and now I have you both playing the organ in my brain and can't hear anything else."

"I'm sorry, it was the first song that came to my mind... it seemed appropriate for the situation. Would you have preferred Lady Gaga?"

"This isn't the Phantom of the Opera," she answered rolling her eyes. "Actually, I'd rather know what's wrong with you."

"Vampires can read humans' thoughts, can't they?" I looked at her, worried.

"Well, not all of them, some are unable to get clear thoughts and only understand your mood in general but yes, I guess you could say that we all perceive what's in your mind, more or less. So what?"

"It doesn't matter when you get on well with vampires like Marianne and Dominique because you think kindly of them but when vampires are stupid like Giulio, it's pretty difficult to control yourself and not send him to hell in your mind... and he's going to know."

"That's what you're worried about?" Terra chuckled amused. "I'm pretty sure it's not the first time Giulio hears that he's an idiot, he must be used to it by now."

"Seriously, he was supposed to be a friend of the Marquis de Sade and good-time buddy when he lived in Italy so I was expecting a bit of, I don't know... charm, intelligence and flirting skills. But he's a dirty old man! He looks young, I know, but he's a dirty old man in his mind, vulgar and rude. I'm very disappointed."

"It's okay, babe, I got your back. I'll wrap your mind with a veil only accessible to Ruby and me, our guests won't know what you're thinking and you'll be able to call Giulio idiot in your mind as many times as you want but being a perfect hostess."

"All right, thank you. I don't know what I'd do without you. Take the glasses and I'll carry the tray with pies."

"I told you I'd give you anything you needed, amor, this is nothing compared to what I'd do actually..." Terra leaned forward to kiss me, just grazing my lips, before turning around and walking back to the dining room.

The rest of the dinner passed without incident and our guests left the table finally in order to go to their rooms to get ready for a walk: they wanted to visit some tourist attractions in the city. Ruby went with them to give the vampires some instructions while Terra was putting the clean silverware back in the sideboard of the dining room and I put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher of the kitchen. I felt exhausted after leaving things ready to make breakfast the next morning and only wanted to go to bed, even if it was barely midnight I thought I could persuade one of the girls to take a nap with me; probably Ruby, Terra wasn't happy with me after I spent half of dinner humming Poker Face by Lady Gaga in my mind for the sole purpose of annoying her.

I chuckled while heading to my old bedroom in order to grab my pyjamas: although I moved in with my girls some of my stuff was still in the apartment behind the kitchen, I'd have to bring it all upstairs sooner or later. I rummaged in the drawers till finding my blue pyjamas with cats printed and left the bedroom, bumping into Giulio who was waiting in the living room, casually leaned on the wall staring at the framed watercolours. I must admit the guy was really handsome: a tall and dark-haired Italian with blue eyes that looked like a model out from a Milan catwalk. It was a pity he ruined the effect every time he opened his mouth.

"Are you lost?" I asked confused, the house was big but vampires were supposed to have a good sense of direction.

"No, I was looking for you, actually. I wanted to say thank you: dinner was delicious."

"Oh well, thank you, this is very kind of you," I answered smiling shyly.

"The only problem was de dessert, it wasn't enough to satisfy me. I would've loved to eat more cake, I have a sweet tooth." Giulio shrugged while moving a step closer.

"I'm sorry, I'll remember it tomorrow and will bake a cake only for you," I assured him with a conciliatory tone.

"Why should I wait one whole night if I can eat more dessert right now?" One step closer...

"Do you want me to bake you a cake tonight?" I asked shocked: okay, I like to be a good hostess but he was going a bit too far.

"No, darling, but you can be my dessert. I know you like me, you've been smiling at me all night long..."

"Giulio, you're wrong, I was trying to be kind and besides, I'm with Ruby and Terra..." I started to get anxious when I finally realized that I was alone with an unknown vampire on the other side of the house and he was getting loser.

"I know, but I also know that the bond isn't sealed yet. To be honest, if you were my mate, I wouldn't wait to drink from you... I think you mean nothing to them. I've caught you staring at me a few times and you've been humming that annoying song nonstop so your bosses didn't notice you were thinking about me all the time, right?"

"No, you're wrong. I've spent the whole night trying to pretend you don't seem stupid to me and I wasn't looking at you: I was trying not to roll my eyes hard every time you opened your big mouth." Oh God, I was in trouble... My Spanish temperament forced me to reply with bad manners to a vampire...

It was pretty obvious that whatever I said to that asshole was going to fall on deaf ears so I decided to shut up and move one step closer to the door in order to run and find my girls. Of course, I was no match for his vampire speed and one second alter he was holding me against the wall with his hand on my neck, my feet barely touched the floor and I started to see white sparks dancing in front of my eyes due to the lack of fresh air. He spoke but I heard it like he was in the distance:

"Come on darling, quit pretending, I know you want this..."

His hand squeezing my neck didn't allow me to say a word so I screamed inside my mind calling my vampires, I didn't know if they'd be able to hear me in the distance but I also knew that I'd be lost if they didn't come soon to rescue me. Things got blurry but I was aware of the fact that Giulio's eyes were turning red and his fangs were completely extended, he looked like something out of my worst nightmare. I was still calling my girls inside my head desperately while his breath fanned my neck when he moved his mouth closer, his lips grazing my skin...

Everything happened in the blink of an eye, enough time for me to take a deep breathe bringing fresh air to my lungs and clearing my mind, and still I'm able to remember it like it happened in slow motion: suddenly, someone forced Giulio to step back abruptly releasing me. Ruby dragged the vampire, taller and stronger than her in appearance, to the middle of the room and then she jumped on his back to be able to reach his neck, she tore apart flesh and bones almost breaking the spine with only one bite, arterial blood splashed all around while Giulio let out a gasp that sounded like a bubbling. His body landed on the floor violently with Ruby still on his back, the vampire put her hands both sides of his head and ripped it off definitely with a sudden movement, letting it drop on the floor: the head rolled till the leg of the coffee table stopped it. I could hear the splashing sound her sneakers got from the carpet drenched in blood when she got up. She turned to look at me finally, fixing her eyes that showed a bright yellowish-golden colour on my face while the Italian guy's blood still dripped from her fangs.

I remained paralyzed, my mind went blank, trying to process what had happening. The sequence of events had been too fast for my poor human brain to follow and it was hard to understand. Like I was in a trance, I watched Ruby raising her hands in a sign of submission, she was trying to reassure me probably but I was only able to see red: red blood staining her mouth, soaking her shirt and dripping on the floor. Slowly, with restrained movements, the vampire unbuttoned her shirt and took advantage of the back of the garment where the fabric was clean to wipe the blood off her mouth, neck and hands as much as possible. She still had some reddish stains on her skin and sports bra but at least she didn't look like coming from the set of a terror movie. She let the shirt fall on Giulio's head, hiding it from my view, and focused her attention on me raising her hands once again.

"Iselen," she whispered calmly. "I won't hurt you."

"What?" I didn't understand a word.

"I won't hurt you, calm down, please." I stare at her utterly confused for a few seconds. Hurt me? The hell was she talking about?

"Of course you aren't going to hurt me... you're my mate, Ruby, you'll never cause me any harm." My tone of voice was firm and clear, I was convinced of my words.

"All right... I'm sorry you had to see something like this." The vampire seemed cautious, not very sure about how I was going to react.

"No, it's okay, he attacked me and you defended me. This is your home and I'm under your protection so it was the right thing to do, wasn't it?" I swallowed hard trying not to look at the floor.

"Yes, that's true. But you're taking all this surprisingly well, I thought that all this violence would impact you more."

"That's because you're holding my mind so I don't pass out," I answer smiling.

"No, babe, I'm not doing anything to your mind. You're on your own right now and I think you're in shock."

"Really?" She nodded in front of me. "All right... Ruby..."

"Yes, honey?" She kept watching me cautiously.

"I think I won't be able to get rid of that stain on the carpet, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry, babe, it's okay... I'll buy you a new carpet."

"Okay... Ruby, I think I'm in shock after all," I stuttered.

"All right, listen, Iselen... I want you to walk around the couch towards the door. Terra will take care of you while I clean this mess, okay?"

I nodded quietly and did as I'd been told: taking the long way around the living room trying not to look at the head of the Italian guy that was still covered with the bloody shirt. Terra was waiting at the door and hugged me tight, she put her hand on my ass forcing me to enclose her waist with my legs and carried me all the way to out bedroom while I hid my face in her neck and smelled her delicious perfume. She rummaged in the wardrobe without releasing me till she found an oversize T-shirt and some panties, took me to the bathroom and turned the shower on. I realized that tears were running down my cheeks and a cold sweat coated my skin, I was freezing and needed to warm up.

"Do you want me to help you?" My girl whispered gently. I shook my head, I didn't think I was going to pass out. "Okay, I'll wait in the bedroom, if you need anything just tell me, you don't even need to say it out loud."

I enjoyed the warm water for a while and walked out of the shower when my skin got wrinkly, putting on the T-shirt Terra picked out for me with my hair still wet. The vampire took a towel quietly and forced me to sit down between her legs on the bed in order to dry it and comb it. She hugged me tight again, leaning her back on the headboard, and covered my body with a warm blanket. My muscles relaxed and everything that had happened came back to my mind, my brain was processing the information finally, the adrenaline level dropped in my veins and I shook uncontrollably. I tried to hold back my tears and muffle my sobs but it was futile.

"I'm sorry, I promised to stay by your side but failed. Please, forgive me." I held her tight crying nonstop.

"Calm down, babe, I know... it's okay, but don't do it again. You've scared the hell out of me today," she answered smiling. I nodded satisfied, my world was perfect if they were fine and happy with me. Terra's heat and the blanket made the miracle and the cold vanished, I fell asleep after yawning and making myself comfortable in her arms.

I woke up one hour later, turning on Terra's arms, and realized that Ruby was sat at the foot of the bed wearing an oversize T-shirt with her legs naked too, she was staring at me but averted her eyes and fixed them on her hands that were on her lap. She'd taken a shower, her hair was still wet and her skin rosy because she'd scrubbed it too hard in order to get rid of the last drop of blood. She looked insecure, like she didn't know what to say or how to react, that was so uncharacteristic of her that it almost scared me. I tried to lighten the mood with a little of conversation:

"What are we going to tell Dominique and Marianne?"

"The truth," Terra answered behind me. "Giulio attacked you and was punished, no one can deny it was correct."

"Okay, Ruby..."

"Listen," she cut me off abruptly before looking down embarrassed again. "I know I'm the calmer vampire of us both, the peacemaker who tries to fix things talking. Terra is the one who acts without thinking and has no qualms in fixing things fighting while I'm supposed to treat with humans easily but sometimes... I just do what's necessary. I don't want this situation to change the perception you have of me, I don't want you to be scared of me... He attacked you and my protective instinct kicked in. I'm so sorry you had to see me behaving like that..."

"It's okay, don't worry. Besides, Aren told me before..."

"What?" Ruby raised her head, confused, and looked right into my eyes.

"He told me that in the vampire world nothing is what it seems. You're supposed to be more friendly but as powerful as Terra, despite you're younger, and a cruel bitch if you get mad. I was able to check it first-hand today. Besides, it's my fault, I left the kitchen without telling you. Ruby, can you hug me?"

My girl crawled through the bed quietly and put her arms around me slowly, making herself comfortable between my legs while I kept my back leaned on Terra's torso, I nuzzled her neck and took a deep breath, then frowned: the pungent scent of the shower gel was hiding her delicious fruity perfume, she must've been scrubbing her skin for a long time to get rid of the blood. I wondered what she'd done with Giulio's corpse but decided not to follow that train of thought and looked for her lips with mines. Ruby remained still, shocked because I wanted to kiss her despite what she'd done with her fangs an hour before but I didn't care. I just wanted to feel her close so I slid the tip of my tongue along her lower lip making her moan. I chuckled with my mouth still stuck to hers and that seemed to awake her aggressive nature.

Ruby shoved me against Terra's body abruptly while she leaned her entire body on mine and started kissing me greedily, her tongue went deeply in my mouth and her teeth bit my lips gently before kissing me again. Her hand grabbed my chin and forced me to tilt my head back over her sister's shoulder before drawing a line of kisses from my cheek down my neck where she nibbled at my skin. Moaning, I writhed in their arms and turned my face looking for Terra's lips. At the same time Ruby's hands snaked under my T-shirt finding my bare flesh, her sister's tongue licked my lips with lust before thrusting it deeply into my mouth and starting a frenetic dance with my own tongue. The combined caresses of both girls drove me crazy and I stopped thinking, focusing on the intense sensations.

Ruby's nimble fingers found my nipples and she pinched them making me scream in her sister's mouth. Involuntarily, my pelvis fluttered looking for her body, pressing against her crotch: the touch sent sparks of pleasure running through my veins. I bucked my hips once again looking for the heat of her body and she seemed to understand what I wanted because she leaned all her weight on me, shoving me more against Terra who moaned when she felt the pressure of my butt on her core. Tortuously slowly, Ruby started grinding her pussy on mine, our flesh separated by the delicate fabric of our panties that got wet immediately. Despite I had little room of manoeuvre between my girls, I managed to rub my body against theirs, twisting without control trying to put more pressure on my clit while rubbing my ass over Terra's pussy making her moan again. It wasn't enough, I needed more...

Ruby listened to my silent plea, pulling away slightly despite my muffled cry when I whined about losing her contact, and rubbed her fingers over the soaked silk, circling my clit with her fingertips before grazing it gently with her nails. I moaned desperately, my legs started to shake both sides of the vampire's hips. Terra tangled one of her hands in my hair, forcing me to tilt my head back even more over her shoulder and exposing my neck to Ruby's lips: she licked and nibbled but never stopped the feverish movements of her fingers. Her sister placed her lips on the other side of my neck under my jawline and sucked hard, again and again, at the same pace as Ruby was rubbing my clit; I realized that Terra's purpose was marking me with a hickey. I reached the ecstasy on Ruby's fingers when I felt the fangs of both of my girls scratching slightly my neck skin, but avoiding carefully tearing it and drawing blood, convulsing while a high-pitched scream left my lips.

I collapsed on Terra's arms gasping for air, the orgasm had been short but very intense and I was still feeling little shudders in my core. I opened my eyes and found a flushed Ruby gazing at me adoringly kneeled down between my legs. I extended my arms towards her smiling mischievously thinking what I should do in order to return the favour but the vampire shook her head and pulled away winking at me. I looked at her shocked and feeling hurt because of her rejection. Terra hugged me behind me and kissed my ear lobe trying to calm me down before explaining:

"It's been a very long, exhausting and traumatic day, not the right time to play, you need to rest, amor."

"That's true, babe." Ruby agreed while grazing my arm up and down gently. "We'll finish what we've started very soon, I promise, but it should be a day with long hours ahead when we're well-rested and comfortable, oaky?" I nodded reluctantly because I knew they were right despite wanting them so bad. I pulled away Terra's body and got up quietly, feeling my legs a bit shaky.

"Where are you going?" They both asked worried. I straightened my back with all the dignity I managed to gather, staring at them seriously, and answered with a neutral tone of voice:

"I need to change my panties."