NINETEEN

A kind middle-aged woman, short and with dark hair, took my bag and smiled in a very human way when she realized I was very nervous: I guessed she was Antonella, Marcus' housekeeper and his trusted person, the one in charge of keeping the house in pristine condition and the food ready. I thought she'd have some help since the villa was a massive mansion with a terraced garden that went down the hill almost reaching the beach and sea and she was also in charge of coordinating the workers' schedule and, above all, protecting the owner's privacy. A gardener would come to this house to work three times per week during his entire life and would never know that the man paying his salary was actually a vampire.

The bloodsucker in question was a tall man with dark, curly hair and a few white hairs, tanned skin and a straight nose that showed his Etruscan origin clearly, he looked like he was around 50 years old although in good shape and with a youthful style. He was very attractive, as usual among them, but it was the first time I met one that hadn't turned into a vampire when he was young... It was pretty obvious that Marcus had lived lot of adventures as a human... In Rome during the reign of Emperor Adriano... I shook my head still in disbelief even if I had him right before my very eyes.

Ruby had run into the house and thrown herself at her father's arms, laughing happily and kissing his cheeks, Terra was a little less effusive than her sister but she looked happy too and put her arm around Marcus' waist while he patted her shoulder. Aren appeared all of a sudden and whispered something that made them all laugh, it was obvious they were a lovely family and adored each other; they looked really comfortable even if they hadn't seen each other in years, well, from a human point of view, maybe 75 years wasn't a long time for a vampire. The four of them turned around abruptly, staring at me intently, and my heart skipped a beat.

I got closer shyly when Ruby waved her hand at me, walking across the gorgeous inner yard that looked like something coming from an Archaeological museum. The floor was made of white marble and had a grey and blue mosaic border, a small square pool in the middle would collect rainwater and was embellished with the bronze statue of a girl dancing, Corinthian columns supported the roof of a continuous porch painted in yellow and terracotta shades embellished with wonderful works of art and Mediterranean plants in pots, and several doors made of carved wood led to other bedrooms and courtyard gardens. The sky was getting dark and stars started shining when I shook my father-in-law's hand.

"I'm pleased to meet you..."

"Welcome to Naples, Iselen... Can I give you a hug?"

"Of course," I whispered when I realized that the powerful vampire was as unsure of how to behave as I was and didn't want to mess things up. He hugged me firmly and made feel better immediately, I knew right then that Marcus and I would be good friends since we shared a special connection through the bond that bound me to his daughters: I felt safe and protected, something inside me was telling me that the man would give his life for me because I was a member of his family and I could always count on him. Maybe he was the one sharing his thoughts with me to reassure me a little but the truth is that it worked well and we connected from that moment on.

"It's a great day, my kids are back at home and I've met my two beautiful daughters-in-law. We're going to have fun..."

"I arrived with Vera a couple of hours ago but she was exhausted and went to sleep." Aren explained to me pointing with her thumb back over his shoulder.

"I understand, jet lag must be kicking her butt hard now... I'll see her tomorrow at breakfast." I smiled at my brother-in-law and followed my vampires when Ruby took my hand and dragged me towards one door. We walked into a second yard, rectangular and way bigger, small aromatic herbs bushes and flowers grew around several fountains and white tall columns supported another continuous porch with more carved wood doors.

"These are the family rooms, the most private area of the house because I accommodate my guests in other wings, usually." Marcus explained to me pointing at the other side of the garden. "Aren likes to watch the sea from his window even if the ocean breeze can be cold sometimes, my rooms overlook the orchard... These three doors are yours. There's a living room in a Venetian style that Ruby decorated according to her taste: hardwood floor, oriental carpets, walls panelled in cream coloured wood with golden embellishments and the crystal chandelier look a bit weird in a Neapolitan summer villa but this is what she wanted and it makes her happy..."

"I understand," I smiled amused seeing Terra mouthing 'spoiled brat' at Ruby and the beautiful vampire stuck her tongue out at her in response. The truth is that my girl had an excellent taste and, even if Venice was far away from Naples, the couches upholstered in silk looked comfortable, the sunset light poured in through the wide windows and the beautiful Murano mirrors multiplied it and the lions sculpted in white marble both sides of the fireplace were a masterpiece. A terrace with two steps led to the gorgeous garden crossed by several paths between camellia trees. "I bet she asked for a library..." I winked at Terra who blushed awkwardly while her father and sister laughed their asses off.

"You know them well, don't you?" Marcus opened another door and pointed inside with his index. "The British style is rather austere, you know, all those walls are panelled in dark wood, there're leather Chester couches, armchairs upholstered in burgundy coloured velvet and lot of shelves full of books... It doesn't match my Roman style villa either but... this is what Terra wanted... And the light coming through the wide windows helps a little so it doesn't look like a medieval monk studio."

"It's very beautiful too..." I whispered appreciatively, maybe Ruby liked bright colours and my Spanish vampire was more austere but they both had a good taste and only bought the best stuff. "Do you always give them what they want?" Marcus scrunched his nose and nodded amused.

"It's easier that way and I like to see them smiling..."

"I understand it perfectly, I do the same thing every time I cook something for them, I always end up making their favourites dishes... By the way, someone told me you love a good piece of cheesecake..." My father-in-law put his hand over his heart and stared at me thrilled, holding back his breath standing in the middle of the porch.

"I love it, cheesecake with raspberry jam... but you're my guest, you're supposed to have fun and not to cook anything..."

"No problem, it's easy to bake and won't be hard..." I answered delighted when seeing his big grin.

"Why didn't you marry her before?" Marcus asked the vampires pretending to be angry, crossing his arms over his chest, and they stared back at him shocked.

"We hadn't met her..." Terra complained and his father waved his hand with contempt.

"Excuses, excuses..." The vampire winked at me while I held back my laughter and opened the door of the third room. "Well, dear Iselen, you've posed a dilemma to me... I wanted to do something special for you and thought I could decorate this bedroom in a modern style, you're a 21st century girl after all, but Ruby told me not to do it because you're an historian who loves antique works of art although she didn't kwon what your field of expertise is..."

"I'm a medievalist," I whispered walking behind him.

"Ha!" Ruby and Terra high-fived behind me and looked at their father with a smugly smile on their faces.

"But you were working in The Getty Villa in Malibu where there's an important collection of antique Roman works of art..." Marcus raised an eyebrow in a silent question while ignoring his daughters. I guessed that debates about what period of history had been the most important for humanity, with the best philosophes, artists, scientists or the most useful inventions, would be frequent in that house at dinner time and, judging by the triumphant grin on my girls' faces, the Middle Age scored a point right then.

"Yes, it's true, I also love Roman art although my doctoral thesis was on Romanesque monasteries in the County of... Terra, stop it..." I shook my head in disbelief, laughing when I noticed that my vampire, the always formal scholar, was shaking her hips in a very peculiar victory dance. Everybody looked way more relaxed since we arrived to that house, some kind of festive energy was flowing in the atmosphere and, suddenly, I couldn't wait to start my vacation, go to the beach, eat, dance, laugh and wander around with my beautiful vampires having fun. "You win, I'm an expert in your... time."

"How else would she know the name of that Spanish godforsaken village?" Ruby snorted and her sister stopped to look at her, offended.

"I beg you pardon?"

"Oh come on, you can't compare it to the Most Serene Republic of Venice."

"And nothing compares to the Eternal City of Rome so you'd better stop fighting and go to help Antonella to bring the trays with your dinner, your girlfriend must be starved." My girls vanished at vampire speed obeying their father while I blinked confused. "I hope you like what I've done here... The walls are painted copying the style of Livia's Villa in Rome, a garden with fruit trees and birds on a blue background, and furniture is Empire style, inspired by the ones I owned when I was young but bigger and more comfortable: couches, table and chairs, a desk... The bed is very modern and minimalist with four simple wooden posts... I tried to mix styles so it doesn't look like a museum exhibition."

"It's perfect, Marcus, gorgeous... I've never seen such a beautiful bedroom before." I looked around with my mouth wide open, there were antiquities scattered around, soft carpets and pillows, and behind a door there was a bathroom that looked like fantasy in golden coloured marble with a bathtub the size of a small swimming pool. Antonella had carried our suitcases and bags and they were waiting in the middle of the room for us to unpack. "You didn't have to go through all that trouble for me... Is that a real Etruscan vase?" I pointed at the black piece of pottery painted with dolphins and swimmers in a reddish colour.

"Of course, it is... and it's no trouble at all. Aren asked me to turn one room into a gym for Vera and thought that I could do something for you too as a present..."

"I love it, thank you very much..."

"Iselen, come and eat your dinner before the pasta gets cold..." Terra appeared out of the blue carrying a tray and Ruby followed her slower with bread, cheese and a bottle of wine on another tray. They both set the table at vampire speed following his father's instructions while I washed my hands in the bathroom.

"I'll leave you now so you can have dinner and rest, vacation will start officially tomorrow when Dario arrives... What do you think about a picnic on the beach?" Marcus said goodbye kindly and Ruby pulled my hand to force me to sit down, food smelled wonderfully and I could feel my stomach rumbling slightly.

"Who is Dario?" I asked with curiosity before trying the spaghetti with fresh tomato and closing my eyes while a moan escaped from my lips. "This is so good."

"Dario is our father's partner, well, not partners like we are... they aren't bound and energy doesn't flow so it's more like an agreement: they like each other and have known each other for centuries, they get on well and sometimes live together. Later, Dario leaves the house and roams freely for a few years, he travels while Marcus does business and buys antiquities, that gives them time to miss each other and fans the flame of love or passion or whatever is going on between them... I don't know, it works for them." Ruby shrugged while chewing. "Our brother John doesn't like him..."

"Why not? It seems to me that Dario is a very practical and sensible man... I know you never talk about your brother but..." Terra grimaced and kept eating, feeling visible awkward. "I'm sorry..." I whispered feeling unsure, I was bringing up a sensitive issue, apparently.

"It's okay, my brother is... special and our relationship is a little tense, we're kind of different. We have different points of view concerning life." The beautiful blue-eyed vampire answered while eating more pasta and she made sure I had enough on my plate. Ruby shrugged and grabbed her glass of wine.

"I don't know him that much, I hardly lived with John except for a few days every century when he visited Marcus..."

"And what's his problem?"

"Theological..." Terra answered with contempt. "My brother was an assistant at the court of Constantine I and very close to his mother Helena..." I opened my eyes wide in shock but kept eating quietly, listening attentively. "He attended the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. where they laid the foundation of Christianity, around 300 bishops decided what laws would rule the Church, how new priests would be admitted, how to ordain bishops and all kind of administrative issues but they also decided who was a good Christian and who wasn't. They got rid of all the gospels against the new rules and only accepted 4 canonical books as valid..."

"I know, the original Christianity was very different, there were several doctrines and each one understood the teachings of Christ their way adapting them as the circumstances required... You know, people who have power and rule don't like that, usually, chaos and free thought... They prefer everything to be uniform so different parties don't fight..."

"My brother doesn't like chaos, certainly..." Terra cut me off and pushed her empty plate aside. Ruby got up and brought some bowls full of delicious tiramisu while I stared at the garden painted on the walls, lost in my thought.

"So your brother is a religious fanatic?"

"John is a stickler for rules and regulations, he doesn't believe in God and I don't think he ever did, but believes that an orderly world where we all follow the same rules and obey the same wise and honourable rulers, will be prosperous... He would be a member of the ruling establishment, of course." Terra snorted sinking her spoon in the sweet dessert. "I never understood why our father turned him into a vampire but I guess he was still confused by the fall of his empire, I mean, it didn't catch him off guard because he had been a witness of the changes and fights against barbarian tribes all over the borders but I guess he was expecting Rome to become something different... Not that the empire and the city collapsed down passing the torch to Constantinople, his big city made of marble, full of manors, thermal baths and stunning public buildings became a small village and everything got ruined little by little..."

"And you think that John and his ideas about order and uniformity reassured Marcus in a time when he was going through a... mental breakdown? I guess it makes sense... Although I still don't know why Dario is a problem for your rigid and pretentious brother..."

"Rules say nothing about two men living as partners, quite the contrary... You know..."

"Come on, seriously? Homophobic vampires exist? Are you kidding me?" Terra shook her head sadly and took Ruby's tattooed hand, entwining her fingers with hers on the table. "This is why you barely know him, he got upset when you both fell in love and decided to leave this family? Oh fuck..." I dropped the spoon and took and napkin while choking on my tiramisu and my vampires stared at me in disbelief, I burst into laughing hiding my face with the soft cotton fabric feeling tears running down my face. Ruby and Terra looked at each other confused but I kept laughing hysterically, gasping to bring fresh air to my lungs.

"Iselen, baby..."

"Oh God... Fuck..." I cut Terra off laughing nonstop. "Do you realize...?" I moved the napkin down taking a deep breathe while letting out a laugh from time to time and pointing at my own chest, then at them, wiping my tears away with the back of my hand. "If he thinks Dario is a problem, he'll die from a heart attack after meeting me... We're a women threesome... We're the biggest walking offense that a homophobic asshole could picture in his mind... Poor John... I almost feel sorry for him..." The vampires stared at me with their mouths open for a second, perplexed, before bursting into laughing too. Terra shook her head, amused, and kept eating happily after her good mood was back finally... It was pretty obvious she didn't like to talk about her brother but couldn't help asking again. "Do you know if he's going to visit us soon?"

"I don't know, amor, he comes and goes when it suits his plans..."

"Well, if he comes here I'd like you to do that thing... You know, that thing you do with your tongue on my..." Terra raised an eyebrow while her cheeks flushed beautifully. "Promise me you'll make me scream, very loud, for hours..."

"I can do that..." she whispered amused leaning forward till her lips brushed over mines and I could feel her sweetness.

"So loud a vampire could hear it in every corner of this massive house... I want your scent and Ruby's perfume stuck to my skin and hair..."

"Oh my God, he'll have a heart attack for sure... I can't wait." The green-eyed vampire smirked mischievously licking the remains of tiramisu from her spoon provocatively and my pussy walls clenched hard. I got up slowly, staring at her...

"Ruby, my love, would you mind to do the same thing in our bed... but without the spoon?"