Hotel Ferrero (Chapter 45)
Title: Hotel Ferrero
Pairings: Gasquet/Nadal, Djokovic/Roddick, Ferrero/Safin, Federer/Moya, Ancic/Robredo
Other characters: Janko Tipsarevic
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Vampires, mentions of blood.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters and this is a fiction.
Summary: The traditional year-end party at the Hotel Ferrero turns out to be a success, friends and couples gathered in the cozy atmosphere.
Author's note: I feared that I would talk too much, so I rather put the author's note at the end of the story. This is the final chapter but I hope that the epilogue will be up soon. Thank you for reading the story :)
From the previous chapter:
Marat and Juan Carlos had filmed their second home movie while Richard had tried the new blood-drinking supplement. He had also found the courage thanks to Rafael to paint during the sunset for the first time of his life. Novak had been disappointed to hear that his boyfriend couldn’t make it to the hotel’s year-end party while Andrew and Tim were happy in their homeland.
Chapter 45: A bloody farewell
“Gold dragon, leaving the cave. I repeat. Gold dragon, leaving the cave, headed to the jungle.”
Marat spoke into the radio and Juan Carlos smiled softly. “Gold dragon” was the Russian’s idea of calling him rather than using his real name for safety reasons.
“Dragons are fat, Marat. I don’t like being fat.”
“They are? Hmm, you’re right. They're fat. All the more reason to call you like that. It will be safer.”
“Aww, aren’t you suspiciously sweet tonight.” Juan Carlos could smell that his lover was up to something but he couldn’t really put his fingers on it.
“I’m always sweet, aren’t I? And, you’ve been very cooperative throughout our… let’s call them art sessions so I’m just a little bit sweeter than usual.”
Marat wrapped an arm around his boss’ neck and pulled him in for a kiss. No matter how fast the Russian pulled them together, their lips always happened to meet without any kind of disastrous accident. It was one of the few advantages that Marat found in sticking with the same vampire.
As the kiss deepened in a heartbeat, Janko decided to use his short break to send a text message to his boyfriend who must be dressing up for the party in his room by now.
‘I hope he knows that whatever he wears, he’ll look stunning. And, well, whatever he wears will come off faster than he thinks, haha.’
While the three creatures were busy doing what they were doing, a set of feet hurried up to the top floor.
“Boss! Boss! We don’t have time for that kind of unnecessary activities! I changed bits and pieces of your speech so you’ll have to read it again!”
Mario put on his most serious business face and was pleased when he saw his boss pull away in a hurry.
“Juanqui…” Marat whined but Juan Carlos knew better.
“I can’t afford to be late or fail to take care of even a little detail tonight. Everything has to be perfect.” The Spaniard smoothed his shirt collar which had been slightly wrinkled by his lover’s grip.
“Starting the perfect night with a perfect kiss sounds perfect to me.” Marat lured.
“Aww, don’t you think that we already shared a perfect kiss even if it was short? Well, I think so.” The hotel owner smiled and started walking.
“So Mario, what were you saying? You changed some parts again?”
“Yes, boss. I…”
Marat grumbled as he saw the Croatian stand a little too closely to the Spaniard and heard Janko chuckle at his misery.
“Don’t laugh like that. That’s not very nice.”
“Hey, at least, you get to see your boyfriend every day. That must be very nice.”
Now Marat felt bad for his colleague. “Ah, you weak human, break his leg or something so he won’t be able to walk back to the States.”
“Haha, that’s not so nice of you.”
“Have I ever been nice?” Marat asked as a matter of fact.
“No. But I can’t really hurt him.”
“Ah, too bad that you can’t get pregnant. Women always fake pregnancy when they want their guys to stay around.”
Janko burst into laughter at his fellow bodyguard’s words when he felt a sharp stare land on his cheek.
“Boys! Am I standing next to you? How are you going to protect me if you’re both so far away?” Juan Carlos’ voice was stinging and the bodyguards realized that their boss was a few meters ahead of them.
“So much for protecting the Gold Dragon.” Mario added and ignored the Russian’s glare.
Marat thought about getting back at the assistant but it was a huge night for everyone and especially for Juan Carlos and him since he had planned to give his lover a surprise gift, so he decided to act like a mature vampire and drop the issue.
‘If he wants things to be perfect, that’s how things are going to be.’
Marat quickly joined his boss and made sure that he had his gun loaded. If anyone or anything dare tried to jeopardize his lover’s safety, he was more than willing to take it down.
Fortunately, the party had started smoothly and Juan Carlos had successfully delivered his welcome speech. As the hotel owner came down from the podium, Richard busied himself clapping his hands as fast as he could manage. The speech had been heartful, inspiring and sophisticated. He was so proud that he was living with such a warm-hearted yet charismatic vampire.
“Wow, you clearly know how to clap fast and loud. I so need you in my box for every match.” Rafael chuckled and Richard stuck out his lips for a quick kiss.
“Sweetie, we don’t stick out our lips like that in public.”
Juan Carlos pushed the red lips back into their original position and greeted the world number one. He did trust Rafael but that didn’t mean that he was going to be thrilled watching the strong Spaniard engulf his precious Richard’s lips in front of his burning eyes.
The French pouted as he waited for Juan Carlos to give his poor boyfriend another round of instructions about how to keep a half-vampire safe and healthy, especially when one insists to keep drawing in the sun.
“Ah, Juanqui being all Juanqui again.”
Richard turned his head and smiled at Carlos. It was nice to see one of his favorite players even during the off-season.
“Yeah, poor Rafa. But it must be a small price to pay to date such a cute vampire, right?” Roger pinched the stringer’s cheek and tried not to laugh too loud at the awkward look on Rafael’s face.
“I’m the one who’s lucky to go out with him, no? He’s unbelievably nice and strong, no?” Richard tried his best Rafael imitation and the two tennis players enjoyed the show. The boy could be cute like that.
Roger’s family had officially invited Carlos over to their house for a Christmas dinner and Carlos had been there accompanied by his exotic aunt. The dinner went smoother than Roger and Carlos had expected until the auntie had decided to tell embarrassing stories about her nephew. If the family dinner hadn’t been successful, the vampire was going to skip this party but thankfully, even Roger’s father had enjoyed those embarrassing anecdotes.
“Roger, you want a piece of that yummy looking cake? It’s off-season so I guess we can afford a few pieces, no?”
Carlos pointed at a huge, white cake that was absolutely begging to be eaten and could almost hear Roger swallow hard.
“Ahaha, wait here. I’ll go get some for you.” The vampire kissed his lover on the lips with as much affection as he could pour out. He was thrilled to be at the party with his beautiful Swiss for yet another year.
Everyone seemed to be enjoying their time in the cozy atmosphere except for one spiky headed vampire in the corner.
‘Ah! Stop smiling so creepily like that or I’m going to borrow a tennis racquet and break a bone out of you!’
Novak muttered to himself as he swiftly turned away from a vampire that had been staring at him since forever.
‘God, I wish Andy was here. Then, I probably wouldn’t have had eyes left to even notice that creepy guy.’
The Serb shuddered and picked up a bloody drink from a waiter and gulped it down. Everyone seemed to have brought a partner or a friend with him -of course, except for the creepy guy who must have no boyfriend or a friend- and Novak felt lonely.
‘Ah, Andy… Perhaps I should get myself a glass of lemonade and try to feel close to him. Oh, I could call him and listen to his voice.’
Then, Novak’s eyes grew a little wide as he smelled something that reminded him of lemonade.
‘Huh, interesting. Maybe I feel like I smell his blood because I thought about him. Wow, it really smells like his blood.’
The vampire shrugged his shoulders and served himself a honey-bloody apple pie when he felt a familiar pair of arms wrapped around his waist.
“Missed me, kid?”
Not even caring if one of Marcos’ ambitious pies had just hit the floor, Novak turned around.
“Oh, God…”
“Aww, Nole. I know that I look great but God? Don’t feed my ego like that.”
“Andy!”
“There you go. Just call me Andy.” The American smiled and felt his travel fatigue melt away as the vampire clung to his neck.
“You have no idea how much I missed you!” Novak didn’t forget to turn his head around and stick out his tongue to the creepy guy.
“What? He bothered you?” Andy asked, as he placed a kiss on the warm forehead. He had missed his boy’s intriguing accent and the twinkling eyes.
“He kept winking and smiling like that when I have such a hot boyfriend like you!” Novak was eager to rat on the lonely vampire to his stunning boyfriend.
“Ah, I’ll smash his face with a racquet if he does that again. Don’t worry.”
The human being kissed his boyfriend on the tip of the nose and remembered something important.
“Oh, I told mom about you and she bought a truck of vampire books the day after.”
“She did? I told mom about you too and she said that she couldn’t wait to see you!”
“Tell her that I can’t wait to meet her too. Now let’s stop talking like school girls and do something manly.”
Novak had never considered kissing a particularly manly business, but if Andy said so, he wasn’t going to raise questions about it. He had Andy with him now and the party had just started.
In another corner of the party hall, Mario was looking around if everything was going as planned. If his boss wanted the party to be perfect, it was going to be perfect.
As the music changed to one of his favorite songs, Mario smiled a little. It was dance time in one part of the hall and everyone seemed to enjoy their time there.
“Would you like to dance with me?”
The Croatian laughed as he saw his boyfriend hold out a hand.
“I don’t know. I haven’t danced for a while.”
Despite his age, most of the things that were date-related were still awkward for the slim assistant. He hadn’t had much luck in previous relationships and when he was longing for his boss, he hadn’t dated anyone at all.
“You just follow my lead and I promise I won’t yelp even if you stomp on my foot.” Tommy enjoyed the light laughter that brushed his heart and felt whole when he had the Croatian’s hand in his own.
Soon after, the two moved softly on the dance floor and Mario felt comfortable as he rested his chin on the Spaniard’s shoulder while Tommy held him close to his heart.
“Oh, I’ve got a little something for you.” Tommy whispered.
“You do? I have a gift for you as well.” Mario blushed and was relieved that Tommy couldn’t see his face.
“I’m nervous about my gift though. If you don’t like it, you can always go change it.”
“Well, I’m nervous about mine too. But sorry to tell you that I won’t let you exchange it.” Mario giggled, hoping that Tommy wouldn’t be disappointed in his nocturnal abilities.
“Whatever you got me, I wouldn’t want to change it.”
“Aww, aren’t you the sweetest boyfriend ever.” Mario smiled peacefully before asking with so much impatience, “So about that gift of yours, when do I get to see it?”
“Haha, how about after the party? I don’t want you to get upset about it, just in case it doesn’t meet your high standards.”
Now Mario was curious than ever. What could it be?
“Well, in that case, you’ll have to wait for yours till the party’s over too.”
The poor assistant couldn’t exactly remember how the rest of the party had gone on or how he had had the honor of saying goodbye to the guests thanks to a favor from his boss. He could have hung onto those dear memories if he didn’t have such a powerful orgasm only a few minutes ago.
“Tommy… that was…” He struggled to find the right word.
“Wonderful? Fantastic? Incredible? Haha.”
Tommy lifted a hand and captured a drop of sweat that was running down the side of his boyfriend’s face. He had imagined on numerous occasions how it would feel to achieve another level of intimacy and he had to be grateful that it had been even lovelier than he had ever imagined.
“Exactly how many vampires have you slept with?” Mario’s voice didn’t sound that lovely any more.
“Ouch, you really want to know?”
“No, I don’t. Don’t answer that.” Suddenly feeling a pang of jealousy somewhere in his stomach, Mario wrapped his arms around the Spaniard and rested his head on the hard chest. It felt safe to be around Tommy and he knew that it wasn’t because his boyfriend could do kung-fu.
“So this was my lovely present, I suppose. I enjoyed every bit of you. Thanks.” Tommy kissed the top of the Croatian’s head before pulling out a parcel from his bag near the coffin.
“Is that my present?” Mario twinkled his eyes like a child on Christmas morning.
“Yes, feel free to open it.”
Even before Tommy had finished his words, Mario had sprang up and torn the parcel open while Tommy held his breath. He had tried so hard to come up with the perfect gift.
“Oh my god… Tommy!” Mario yelled out in joy.
“Can I take that as a good sign?” The Spaniard had to be sure. He was aware of how meticulous his boyfriend was when it came to schedulers.
At first, he was willing to let the assistant choose among several samples but then the surprise would be ruined. Then, he thought that he might just stay out of the whole scheduler business and rather get him something else, but he couldn’t get over the sad voice that came through the phone one night, talking about how busy he was to go through the long process of choosing the perfect yellow scheduler.
“This is perfect! The right tone of yellow, the right material, and I like how I can add extra paper in it. Oh, and since I always have so many things to cover in one night, these hourly divisions are downright perfect. Plus, it’s not heavy, the perfect size for me to carry and I see that you even put some pictures of you inside!” Mario rattled away happily.
“I’m so relieved that you like it, baby. I must say that it wasn’t the easiest task in the world. Who knew that there would be so many types of yellow schedulers in the States? I think that, at some point, I even lost my fingerprints.”
“Oh, you. Don’t be silly. You can even smash bricks with your fingers. Don’t whine over some sheets of paper.” Mario playfully slapped the Spaniard’s arm and placed a gentle kiss at the forehead of his brand-new scheduler.
“Thank you so much, Tommy. It means so much to me. And, I never thought that you’d get me anything after that… that…”
Mario still felt horrible about what had happened between his boss and him the other night. He still felt terribly guilty in front of his caring boyfriend.
“Forget about it, Mario. When I said that I forgave you, I really meant it. And, hey, I got to taste you myself tonight, so I’m more than fine now.”
Tommy’s voice made Mario’s whole body turn red.
“Ahaha, how can you still blush so easily at your age?”
“How can you not even blink when you say such a thing?”
Tommy’s eyes grew darker. “Do you really want to know?”
Strong fingers moved up and down his thighs and Mario could tell what was coming next.
“Tommy…” He whined a little, knowing how much his boyfriend liked the tone. He was getting to know about Tommy a little more each time they talked on the phone. It was nice.
“Tommy…” He automatically whined again as the same fingers traveled along his naked body with infinite freedom. He thought about acting like a prude but the Spaniard’s caresses were too gentle to pretend anything. So he rather threw his long arms around the lovely vampire’s neck and enjoyed all the sensations that sparkled inside him.
Meanwhile, one floor above, Mario’s boss had just enjoyed another round of coffin fun. Marat had been unexpectedly nice all night and Juan Carlos was dying to know what he was up to.
“Tell me now or suffer a violent death.” The Spaniard threatened his lover while he tried to catch his breath.
“What a nice way to talk to the father of your child.” Marat laughed as his fingers toyed with the sweaty strands of hair that stuck on the Spaniard’s beautiful forehead.
“What did you say?” Juan Carlos opened his eyes and stared at the Russian. He couldn’t have possibly heard what he thought he heard.
“What? I’m not going to repeat myself when you intimidated me like that. Be nice, Juanqui.” Marat chuckled at the awe-stricken face which was very rare to see.
“No, you have to repeat what you said. I didn’t get it.”
“Yes, you did. Don’t lie to me.”
Slap.
“I said that I didn’t get it, Marat!” Juan Carlos became violent again as his heart started to pump blood faster than ever.
“Ouch, if they know how violent you can be, they won’t let us go through the adoption, don’t you think?”
Marat rubbed his right arm even if it didn’t really hurt. Sometimes he wondered if he enjoyed all those domestic abuses a little too much for his own good, but he liked to think that every couple had their own thing and sexy violence was one of theirs.
Juan Carlos blinked his eyes as fast as he could. Marat’s words were swimming in his mind and for once, he didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t believe what his lover had said with his own lips but if he wasn’t dreaming, he figured that he had heard him right.
“Is everything okay, Marat? I thought you were sober by now. Or aren’t you feeling so well?”
The Spaniard’s face wore a look of concern as he checked the big vampire’s pulse and put his hand on the forehead to figure out if he wasn’t too hot.
“If you promise that we get a professional nanny so I can stay away from dirty diapers, everything is okay. Oh, and that nanny has to be with us 24/7 because I won’t accept a baby vampire interrupting our coffin sessions.” Marat wasn’t going to back off. His conditions were simple and he was going to stand by them no matter what.
Juan Carlos sat up slowly and threw on some clothes with a very sad look on his face.
“What are you doing?”
Marat couldn’t understand what was going on. According to his plan, the Spaniard should be worshipping him like God by now. He had made an offer that he had never thought that he would make, and his lover was acting very strangely.
“Don’t worry, Marat. You know that we have the finest doctor here.” Juan Carlos flashed a broken smile towards his lover before he picked up the phone with trembling hands. His Russian had lost his mind.
Half an hour later, Marat had his mouth stuck out like a duck, fuming like a hungry lion that had just missed his prey.
“I’m sorry, Marat. I thought that you had gone mad.” Juan Carlos apologized with an awkward smile on his face. He had called the hotel doctor and had him check on the Russian for any physical evidence of temporary insanity.
“I made you such a romantic offer and you call the doctor?”
“I’m horribly sorry, baby. I really am.” The Spaniard stood up and pulled the impossibly annoyed vampire in his arms. His hair felt soft despite all the anger that he was displaying.
“Give me an earth-shaking kiss right now or my offer is off the table.” Marat demanded and Juan Carlos did as he was told. Shift of power didn’t happen often so Marat was aware that he had to enjoy the very short time of his reign.
“So you want a boy or a girl?” The Russian asked, feeling a little bit better after a heartwarming kiss. His lover knew how to kiss like no one else did.
“How did you know that I wanted a baby vampire when I didn’t even know it myself?”
Marat put on his best bragging attitude. He straightened his shoulders, stuck out his neck and put on his most badass smile. “I know you better than you know yourself.”
Juan Carlos chuckled and gave him another mind-blowing kiss before he made a decision. “We need a girl.”
“What do you mean, we need a girl?” Marat raised his eyebrows.
“We’re mostly surrounded by men here. Some girly influence wouldn’t hurt us.”
“Don’t tell me that you’re planning to wear makeup together even though I might be interested to see you put on eyeliner.”
“Don’t even dream about it.”
Juan Carlos somehow managed not to hit his lover while Marat was anticipating a hard slap on the arm.
“And, as sweet and touching as your suggestion is, I think we’ll have to wait a few more years to have a baby vampire around.”
Now this was the last thing that the Russian had expected. Perhaps he didn’t know the Spaniard as much as he thought, after all.
“Why is that?”
“We fly around almost all year. Babies can’t keep up with that. And, I work too much to have enough family time.”
“And, waiting a few years will change that?”
“Well, who knows? I’m just saying that we’re not ready yet to have a younger creature in the house.”
“Fine. But don’t blame me if I change my mind before that time comes. Or who knows? One day, I might get super allergic to baby vampires and die if we have one around.”
This time, Marat got his expected slap on the arm and pulled his lover down for a kiss that would lead to more delightful actions.
There were times when he hadn’t been too sure about settling down with the vampire in his arms, who happened to be quite a nerd and a violent abuser, but whenever they made contact in any kind of type, it was just obvious that they were meant to be together. No more doubts, no more need to think.
“Tell me you’ll love me more than whichever kid we’ll pick.”
Marat’s voice was almost a whisper and his breath hit the sensitive spot on the Spaniard’s heart.
“Marat… I promise that I’ll love you more, no matter what. Nothing could possibly stand between us, right? If anything does, I'll kick it in the ribs.”
Juan Carlos heard a satisfied moan as he felt his lover lay him down in the coffin. The party had been perfect, the hotel was perfect, and his life was perfect.
THE END.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Thanks to...
Well, here I am standing at the finishing line, wearing a smile with little tears in my eyes. It has truly been wonderful seven months for me and I’m very glad that I managed to hang on to such a long period of time despite my humble level of writing.
All credit and my deepest appreciations go to the readers who have been so kind to take time out of their busy life and leave me comments that made me smile and cry throughout the days. I mean it with all my heart when I say that those comments and reviews gave me the strength to keep on writing while still having so much fun with the players that I love and like.
Of course, there are so many things that I wish that I could have written better but I suppose I have to admit that that's my limit for now. I’m happy that I feel like I have improved a bit and again, I couldn’t stop thanking all the readers who have been so encouraging and patient with this impossibly long story.
My special thanks go to my dearest friend and reader Slyreflection, who inspired me with the idea of a vampire Juan Carlos and who has always been incredibly helpful whenever I was stuck with the storyline or even with little details. And, I would like to thank another muse of mine, Jeu_set_match for appearing at the exact moment when I needed her and helping me go through the challenging chapters with beautiful artwork.
I know that I’m too talkative for my own good, you should know that by now when I wrote a forty-five chaptered story, haha. Hugs and kisses to everyone who read the story and I hope that you enjoyed your rest at Hotel Ferrero. Thank you very much^^
- Irene