Hotel Ferrero (Chapter 42)
Title: Hotel Ferrero
Pairings: Ferrero/Safin, Federer/Moya, Djokovic/Roddick, A.Murray/Henman
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Vampires, mentions of blood.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters and this is a fiction.
Summary: Carlos and Novak go home with an Olympic medal while Marat wants to talk to Juan Carlos after unbearable days.
From the previous chapter:
Juan Carlos had used his rest day in an unexpected way; giving a shelter to a lost bird and giving a blowjob to his favorite assistant. The fire alarm had gone off, stopping all actions and Marat had seen his lover walk out of Mario’s room with his wrist in the Croatian’s hand.
Chapter 42: Born again
“Nahmm… dabaduba…”
Roger’s humming was jovial, making the flowers dance to the rhythm. He was back home in Switzerland, making the house look as beautiful as it could get. Carlos was coming home tonight.
“Dadiduda… mmhmm…”
He stopped watering the flowers on the veranda and looked out the window. It was drizzling outside.
‘Ah, it’s been ages since we’ve kissed under the rain.’
As many other romantists, Roger also had his fair share of romantic ideas. And, no matter how cliché it was to kiss in the rain, he couldn’t help himself from enjoying it.
‘He always used to say that we’ll catch a cold. But he always warmed me up so that we wouldn’t, haha.’
Thinking about all the sexy ways that his vampire had used to warm him up, Roger felt a pleasant shiver go through his body.
‘God, I miss every single bit of him.’
Shanghai had been disappointing for the Swiss but he felt comfort in the fact that his lover had won the gold medal in Beijing last night.
‘Aren’t we the shiniest couple of the year?’
He loved the sound of it and smiled widely when he felt a knock on the window of the veranda.
“Holy Jesus!!”
Carlos laughed at his lover who had almost jumped out of his skin.
“What the heck are you doing there, standing in the rain? The door’s at the other side of the house, you know!” Roger opened the window and yelled.
“I know. I just thought that you might want to come out here.”
“Without an umbrella? No way. I don’t want to get bald. You know what my hair means to me.”
Roger’s words only made the vampire laugh harder.
“Are you coming out or not? It’s just a light rain, no? I could give you a kiss if you come out here in two seconds.”
Roger put his hands on his waist and made a face. “Mr. Carlos Moya, I’m not a bee who can fly outside the window in two seconds.”
“Well, if that’s the problem, I can help you with that.”
Roger saw Carlos lean closer to the window with his arms wide open. “Oh, no. You’re not going to do that. I’m going to hurt my legs!”
“No, you’re going to be fine. Now give me your arms, Rog.”
Carlos grabbed his lover tight and pulled him out of the window.
“Carlos!!” Roger yelled as he felt himself fly out in the rain.
“Don’t worry, you’re safe.”
The vampire took the human in his arms and caressed the lovely curls. “You don’t need a door when you have a strong vampire boyfriend, no?”
“Carlos, you’re going to catch a cold! You’ve been standing in the rain long enough already!” Roger yelled again as he felt raindrops get heavier and heavier.
“Hey, isn’t that supposed to be my line? You just stole my line!” Carlos raised his voice while there was a smile hanging on his lips.
“So what? You’re going to make me pay by stealing my lips or something?” Roger couldn’t stop laughing at the intended cheesy line. He was excited to be back in the arms that he had been craving for.
“Oh, yes. I’ll steal your lips like they’ve never been stolen before.” Carlos did his part in the play and captured the inviting lips with his own.
The rain was falling harder by the minute but Roger couldn’t let go of his lover.
‘Oh God, I missed him so much… We were only apart for a little more than ten days or so.’
During those ten days, the Swiss had had a lot to deal with. Other than a seriously upset stomach and a horrible back pain in Shanghai, he had to see his weak mother at home, giving him back his photo album. His mother was certainly recovering from illness but Roger wasn’t used to seeing her without a scary frown on her face. And, he was even less used to seeing her mention Carlos’ name with a small smile on her lips.
‘Oh… I still can’t believe that she put a picture of us in the corner of the kitchen.’
One day, Roger had found a small frame with a picture of him and Carlos in it. The two had their arms around each other’s shoulder, smiling like they were the happiest creatures in the world. Roger had remembered that he had kept the films at the very last page of their album but hadn’t expected his mother to make use of it.
“I missed you, Carlos. You have no idea what great news I’ve got for you.” Roger pulled back and panted. He hadn’t told the vampire about his mother yet, fearing that it might distract him from his game.
“Me too. I missed you. But how can you possibly have greater news than something shiny and gold I brought for you?” Making sure that he fully stressed the important word, the Spaniard put his lover back on the ground and picked up his suitcases.
“Well, I’d say both are equally great news for me! So are you going to warm me up with that shiny gold thing?” Roger giggled and took one of the suitcases from the vampire.
“Yes, just promise me that you won’t bite it too hard. It’s real gold, no?”
Carlos placed a quick kiss on the cool cheek and hurried into the house with Roger’s hand around his waist. Whatever had happened, Roger looked peaceful and he was going to do everything in his power to keep him that way; starting with a nice warming up in the bedroom.
Andrew was waiting for Novak to come and pick him up. He had seen his best friend win the bronze medal in the Vampiric Olympic Games two nights ago and he had been hyper enough to fly to Serbia to meet his favorite medalist. Whatever had been happening between Tim and him, he was still Novak’s best friend.
“Hey, over here! I’m sorry that I’m late!”
Andrew heard the joyful voice and turned around with a smile. Just as he had expected, the Serb had the bronze medal around his neck, smiling a golden smile.
“Hey, it looks great on you.” Andrew approached the car with his bags.
“Thanks!”
The Scot pulled his friend into a bear hug and enjoyed the little laughter coming from the medalist.
“Did you tell Roddick about it?”
“Of course! I’m glad that he was so excited about it! He had hurt his ankle in Shanghai so I was happy to give him some great news!”
“Ahaha, I’m sure he’s proud of you. And, I’m proud of you too.”
“Ah, thanks, Andrew. Now if we don’t get our butts back home in half an hour, mom is going to kill us both.”
“She’s waiting for us with food?”
“Yes, her very best hippopotamus calves with crocodile birds’ eyeballs.” Novak grinned and Andrew’s mouth watered immediately.
“So how are things going with Tim?”
Novak had asked casually when they got into the car but Andrew’s face turned red in record time.
“Oh ho ho. Now isn’t this interesting…” Novak stuck his face out in front of his friend’s while the Scot pushed him away.
“Tell me what’s going on. I’m intrigued.”
“Nothing’s going on.”
“Liar! You guys kissed, didn’t you?” Pleased with his own conclusion, Novak started giggling.
“Fine, we kissed. Now stop making that frightening noise. We played a tennis match and he won. He wanted me to kiss him as a reward. What a horrible winner he was.” Andrew pouted.
“Is he any good? I always thought that Brits weren’t great kissers.”
A fist came flying at his direction, but the athlete managed to save his face from the fatal punch.
“Stop laughing, Novak Djokovic. Or I’ll persuade Tim to make you wear something even uglier than this summer.”
Novak opened his mouth in shock. “Hey! Aren’t you supposed to persuade him not to make me wear such outfits? Ah, I get it. Now that you’ve got yourself a boyfriend, you’re dumping your best friend just like that! Boohoohoo…”
The Serb’s clumsy act of crying made Andrew feel as if they were still together. Novak had always been the one to make jokes and act stupidly. Usually it had hurt seeing him act casually around him this year, but surprisingly, it didn’t hurt this time.
‘Now that’s a relief. Maybe I’m finally moving on.’
Glad at his discovery, Andrew playfully poked Novak in the ribs. “Drop the act and let’s hear how you’re holding up without Roddick.”
“Andrew! I asked you first. Why did you blush when you I asked about Tim?”
“I told you that we kissed.”
“Yeah, just a kiss. Big deal. Don’t try to fool me. I know that there was something else.”
Even though Andrew was quick to turn his head, Novak didn’t miss the change of color on his friend’s cheeks. The Scot was too white to be able to hide his blushes.
“Did he try to touch your private area?” Novak lowered his voice.
“What? No! Of course, he didn’t!” Andrew jumped from his seat, yelling at the top of his lungs.
“Jesus, alright. I’m not deaf, you know. But you’re acting suspiciously. Why don’t you just tell me what all this fuss is about, so maybe I can help you out?”
Andrew went through his options. He could pretend that he was free from any kind of worries and avoid getting laughed at, or he could come clean and ask for help. After all, it seemed that Novak was doing well with the horny American.
“So?” Novak blinked his eyes, hoping that his friend would still trust him enough.
“I think he wants to sleep with me.”
“And?”
“I can’t do that.”
Novak’s eyes grew wide. “Why not?”
“I don’t know. It just… doesn’t feel right.”
Novak rubbed his chin with a serious expression on his face. As far as he was concerned, Andrew Murray wasn’t exactly a vampire that could be categorized in the ‘less horny’ category.
“That’s a first.” He tried his best not to laugh but Andrew was already glaring at him.
“It’s not like you don’t like him, right?” Novak wanted to make sure that his friend was moving on with the right vampire.
“Yeah, I do like him. So it’s really weird.” The Scot admitted and felt better by getting it off his chest.
“But you’re a guy. You know, we naturally…”
Novak suddenly felt uncomfortable talking about the issue. And, he had to admit that whatever that was even remotely related to sex reminded him of the American Andy.
“Nole, quit thinking about him. I don’t want to explain to your mom why you have dark green eyes when you rode in the car with me. We’re almost there.”
Novak looked out the window. Andrew was right. He could already see the plants on the front yard.
“Oh, Andrew. I think that I just found out what can solve your problem.”
The Serb clearly remembered the conversation that he had with Richard on the phone earlier.
‘Right. Marcos’ new herb. I’d have to get my hands on that.’
“Oh, don’t grin like that, Nole. I know that you only smile like that when you’re up to something.” Andrew shivered, feeling very unsafe.
“Don’t worry, Andrew. I’m just looking forward to my Adidas photo shoot next week. You’ll be there too, right?”
“Uh… yeah, I suppose I’ll be there.”
“Perfect.” Novak beamed and opened the door to get out of the car.
“Hoo…”
Marat lit up another cigarette and saw the smoke vanish in the cold breeze. He was standing at the end of the parking lot even though it was freezing outside.
‘Huh, I’ll need to buy a new one tomorrow.’
He realized that he had only two cigarettes left in the pack which made his thoughts drift off to a certain Spaniard.
‘It feels like a bad dream.’
But he remembered that night all too clearly for a dream. Ironically, the first thing that had popped in his mind when he had seen Juan Carlos walk out of Mario’s room was a wonderful sense of relief. He could swear on his vital body part that he had stopped breathing when he had seen the hideous pink striped blanket burnt in the staircase.
‘Hmm, if anything good came out of this, it’s that I don’t have to see that horrible blanket again. He’s a billionaire and he can’t get a decent blanket. Gurgh.’
The Russian took another puff on his cigarette and toyed with the pack in his pocket. He hadn’t bought this pack himself. Juan Carlos had. After the mess was sorted out and the two had gone back to their room, the Russian had immediately pulled out his pack of cigarette, only to find it empty. The Spaniard had said sorry before turning his back on the bed and when Marat had woken up the next evening, there were two new packs of Marlboro Blood with an epic letter of apology.
‘So he knew all along that I hadn’t quit smoking. There’s no way he could’ve found it by accident when I had stashed it so deeply inside the bag.’
“Hoo…”
‘Sometimes it’s almost scary that he knows me so well. That clever, pretty headcase. And, guh, that awful letter. I only got a headache out of it. I’m sure he wrote it that long and difficult on purpose!’
The letter had medical and psychological terms in it, and Juan Carlos had to make the whole letter stylish by twisting the sentences here and there.
‘Like writing a great letter would make me forgive him, huh.’
Marat stubbed out his cigarette and thought about the past three days. He had still slept in the same bed with the Spaniard, still had meals together and still did his job without causing any drama.
He was angry about what he had witnessed that night, there was no doubt about it, but he didn’t know what to do with the anger. He had tried smoking his lungs out, playing tennis until his elbow hurt and had poured vodka inside him until he couldn’t tell if it was a vampire or a penguin that was next to him on the bed.
‘Ah, Juanqui…’
He hadn’t called that lovely name for the three torturous days. Their time together had been painfully quiet and Juan Carlos had made a habit out of saying sorry and kissing him on the palm before they went to bed.
To be honest, Marat missed his vampire. But reading a letter or getting a kiss on the hand wasn’t going to dissolve all the anger that was piling up in him. Strangely, he didn’t have hard feelings against Mario. Juan Carlos had explained in the letter that it had been all his fault but Marat knew that it wasn’t because of the letter that he had forgiven the Croatian much easily than his own lover.
‘Well, I never expected much from that skinny, little albino, did I? But Juanqui should’ve known better.’
Frustrated that he somehow couldn’t grab the Spaniard by the neck and yell murderous words at him, Marat walked back inside the hotel.
‘Well, at least, now I know that he’s not perfect. It’s not the best way to find out but it can help me with my ego.’
The Russian thought about all the times when he had realized that he had the perfect vampire in his arms. No matter what other vampires or humans thought about the Spaniard, to him, Juan Carlos was what he would call perfection.
‘And most of the times, he understands me so well. Even my own mother wouldn’t know me that well. It’s a shame that I can’t manage to return the same amount of attention to him.’
He stepped inside the elevator and pressed the top floor before his mind was clouded with thoughts again.
‘If only I could help him earlier…’
It wasn’t that Marat had blamed everything on the Spaniard for what had happened that night. He knew that he hadn’t been the perfect lover either. He knew that perhaps he had been too busy drowning in his own misery, trying to get rid of useless nostalgic feelings about the tennis world.
‘He’s much more sensitive than people think. And, I know that, right? I knew he was falling apart. I knew he had to hold onto something when he had picked up that bird. And, what exactly did I do? He smoked, for god’s sake. And, I know better than anyone that he’d gone through all sorts of trouble to quit smoking.’
Now Marat wanted to kick himself in the shin. When they had made love in the lake near Juan Carlos’ house under the moonlight years ago, on the Spaniard’s birthday, he had sworn on the moon that he would do everything to stand by the lovely vampire and keep him safe. That was the reason why he had attempted to quit smoking, tried not to drink blood from humans that resembled his lover and had made himself a promise not to sleep with other creatures again.
‘Ah, I haven’t touched him in three days. Wait, make that four since I didn’t get to feel him that night either.’
As Marat walked out of the elevator, an old memory that he would never be able to forget about crept into his mind.
‘Hmm… What did he do when I had cheated on him? He had bowling balls hanging above my head when I had opened the door and he had superglued my hand to the fucking phone!’
Rage enveloped the vampire and it was then that an idea popped in the Russian’s head.
‘It’s not like I’m going to dump him for a stupid blowjob, right? Ah, I’m so going to make him pay.’
Aching to touch his vampire as he used to do, Marat put on a wicked smile before heading to his boss’ office.
Meanwhile, Juan Carlos was at the pet shelter again, for the third time already in one night.
‘Hi, baby Richie, how have you been doing? You missed me?’
The hotel owner opened the bird cage and smiled a little as the baby sparrow rubbed its cheek against his finger.
“Haha… you cute little thing.”
He was lonely. He missed Richard who had gone to see his mother in France, he missed Marat who had been calling him boss and he even missed Mario who had been acting awkward around him.
‘What had gotten into me that night? Jesus, I forgot to stub my cigarette properly and burnt the blanket. And, if that wasn’t enough already, I got drunk and did that… thing to Mario.’
He had said sorry both to Marat and Mario but they technically hadn’t accepted his apologies. Marat hadn’t responded at all and Mario had told him that he had enjoyed it too much than he should have, so apologies weren’t necessary.
‘Then, what am I supposed to do now?’
Juan Carlos wanted to smoke so badly but he had made up his mind not to touch a cigarette again. He had done enough bad things this week and he was ashamed of the way that he had been dealing with his midlife crisis.
‘So the doctor was right after all. I am in a severe state of that horrible crisis.’
The Spaniard caressed the bird’s back and the bird started to sing for him. The soft twitter was soothing and it reminded him of Richard.
‘What is Richie going to think about me? God, he must’ve been so disappointed in me.’
Juan Carlos’ shoulders drooped. He hadn’t had time to talk to the stringer properly before he went back home.
‘I cheated on Marat. He’s going to think that I’m a hypocrite or something. Why did I have to worry so much about him having sex when I couldn’t even stick to my own boyfriend?’
It all seemed like a useless worry now and the vampire gritted his teeth not to shed a tear. It was all his fault and there was no excuse to make. He was going to step up and deal with the mess like a grown-up vampire.
He missed the unique method of communication that he and Marat had shared; going out blood hunting, playing tennis and making bets, asking Marat to stack up vodka shots and make an alcoholic fountain for him, and so on and so on.
‘When did they all stop? Why did they stop? Was it my fault?’
Knock-knock.
Startled at the knock, Juan Carlos swallowed hard and turned around. He recognized the familiar sound of knock.
“Can I talk to you after you’re done with him?” Marat tried not to feel bad at the slender body that seemed to have gotten even slimmer throughout the past few days.
“Sure. I’ll be out right away.” Juan Carlos let out a sigh of relief as soon as the door was closed.
‘He wants to talk to me? It can’t be a good sign, can it?’
Giving the baby bird a few pecks here and there, the hotel owner put it back in the cage and waved his hand before leaving the room.
“You wanted to talk?”
Juan Carlos found the Russian looking out the window on the second floor. The hallway was empty and quiet except for the distant noise coming from the pet shelter.
Marat forgot about the scenery and laid his eyes on the Spaniard. He looked tired, sad and even a little scared. It wasn’t the confident, devious, keen Juan Carlos that he knew and loved. Someone totally different was looking at him with weary eyes. It wasn’t what he wanted to see. It was simply unacceptable.
“You want to sit?”
Marat pulled two chairs near the window and offered a seat.
“Thank you.”
Juan Carlos didn’t say anymore and sat down. For once, he had no idea what the Russian might want to tell him. He was pretty sure that a simple blowjob wouldn’t break down everything that the two had built up but Marat had been quite moody himself for the past few weeks.
“Juanqui…”
Juan Carlos couldn’t tell if hearing his nickname was good or bad.
“Marat…”
“I’m your bodyguard.” Marat’s voice was too calm for the Spaniard to recognize.
“Yes, you are.” He answered softly.
“And, I haven’t done my job properly. I should’ve kept you safe from anything in the world.”
Juan Carlos’ head snapped up. He had no idea where this conversation was heading.
“Do you want to quit?” The hotel owner had to close his eyes for a moment to handle the stabbing pain.
“What?” Marat looked at him as if his boss had grown a third arm. “Are you out of your mind? This is a job given from Heaven. Well paid, just standing in front of door, and I even get to fuck the boss.”
“Who had cheated on his boyfriend…” Juan Carlos swallowed his own guilt. He had to live with what he had done with his own mouth and hands.
‘Well, his boyfriend had cheated on him too, in a much messier way, I’d have to say.”
The Spaniard felt a lump in his throat. Now he could finally tell why the Russian wanted to see him. He was going to be forgiven.
“Marat…”
“Don’t say sorry. You’ve said it enough already. That’s not the words I want to hear from you.”
Juan Carlos had never gotten the chance to get used to a mature Marat that only happened to be alive probably every three years or so. But he wasn’t going to complain. Getting to know another side of Marat excited him to no end.
“What do you want me to say then?” He was going to say whatever it took to get another chance to love his bodyguard again.
“You know what I want to hear.”
Juan Carlos stared into his lover’s eyes. ‘What does he want me to say?’
He hesitated only for a moment and decided to say whatever came up in his mind. He was too tired to think anyway.
“I love you, Safin. I still love you.” He didn’t know what else to say.
As Marat’s expression became a little softer, Juan Carlos became bolder.
“And, I want you to love me more. Love me much more than you’ve done in the past. I want more.”
Marat didn’t respond. His gaze was fixed on the window and it somehow infuriated the Spaniard.
“I want more. You hear me, damn it? I want more from you! I want more!!”
He wasn’t aware that he was sobbing until Marat held out a finger to capture a heavy teardrop.
“Who said you could cry? I’m going to get fired if anyone sees you cry in front of me. Everyone cares about you in this hotel, in case you forgot.”
“Marat…”
Juan Carlos felt like he had become a big baby vampire. He couldn’t stop his tears from falling down his cheeks and didn’t hesitate to fling his arms around his lover’s neck.
God, he had missed the feeling so much. He had missed this unique scent of his grumpy vampire, this irreplaceable intimacy so much.
“Seriously, we should kick that midlife crisis’ ass. And, I happen to know just the right cure to it.”
Juan Carlos recognized the unmistakable horniness in the Russian’s voice. That was something that he was fully familiar with. Suddenly finding himself in extreme danger, he tried to free himself from the strong vampire’s arms.
“No. You’re not going anywhere, my love.” Marat gave a long lick on Juan Carlos’ cheek and he was treated with a pleasant moan.
“You want to be forgiven? You’ll have to star in my home movie collection. Remember talking about those?”
The Spaniard’s brain automatically got to work. He had once gone wild and taped their love making on tape just to annoy a certain Australian but he hadn’t planned to make any more of those.
“Don’t roll your brain and try to outsmart me. You cheated and this is what you get. Besides, you know that you’ll get to enjoy it as much as I will.”
“I thought that you were going to help me with my crisis.” Juan Carlos made his point.
“Well, this miraculous cure works for both; it will make me forgive you and help you feel young enough to get over that stupid crisis.”
“Of course.” The slender vampire snorted.
“You didn’t just snort on me, did you?” Marat snapped, secretly enjoying the fact that he had his vampire back in his arms again.
“No, of course not. How could I dare snort on you?” Juan Carlos snorted even louder this time.
“You’re going to pay for that, boss.” Marat playfully grabbed his boss’ chin. His whole body was screaming to kiss him already.
“How are you going to make me do that?”
The boss licked his lips as sensually as he could manage and was happily reborn in his lover’s kiss.