Into the fields of Summer - 80. Vampire Christmas

Chapter 80 - Vampire Christmas

Entering the large kitchen of Luca’s Mansion just before Christmas Eve dinner was a mistake, getting myself a drink from the refrigerator was quite the task as there were more than half a dozen servants either cooking or prepping meats and vegetables.

The kitchen smelled amazing, and one of the servants just smiled at me as he cut some tomatoes. After getting my juice, I got out of the kitchen and made my way back to our bedroom.

I must have looked exhausted when I entered the room as Victor only gave me a knowing smile.

“I told you it’s busy down stairs” he said.

“You didn’t tell me they’d be that busy” I sighed, as I flopped down on the bed beside him.

“It’s gonna be delicious, I promise.”

“I don’t doubt that” I replied, Victor snuck in closer to me and just played with my hair as we laid down in the bed in silence.

“We should get dressed soon” Victor said as he continued to play with my hair.

“Yeah, just give me a moment...I like being close to you” I replied as I looked at my boyfriend with pure love in my eyes.

“I love you Chris”

“I love you too” then I had to laugh a bit which earned a curious look from Victor.

“What?” He asked, still smiling.

“Are you always going to be this mushy?” I giggled.

“Well...can’t help it” he shrugged.

“Yeah...can’t help it either” I said pulling him in for a kiss.

—-

An hour later we arrived at the main dining room just as the rest started making themselves comfortable. There weren’t any overt Christmas decorations or lights or anything like that, but holiday songs did play in the background.

We were all wearing semi-formal clothes either red, white, or black.

Victor and I wore matching white shirts and dress pants with dark leather shoes.

And in honor of Luca’s heritage, the food for Christmas Eve dinner was Italian. And boy was the table full! The food looked enticing and smelled great, it was absolutely mouthwatering.

Various dishes were prepared, we had: Pasta with Mussles & Vodka Cream Sauce, Crispy Fried Cod Bites, Lemon Cream Shrimp Scampi, Cornmeal Crusted Calamari, Mussels in a spicy broth, Lasagna Bolognese, Gnocchi alla Senese, Pasta alla Norma, Antipasti Chopped Salad, Lemon Panna Cotta, Rigatoni with lamb, Italian meatballs, and White Clam Pizza.

The table was bursting with food, and I honestly thought we wouldn’t be able to eat even half of it, which I was later proven wrong.

Leo and I exchanged looks, and we both knew we were hungry. Looking at the feast before us got our appetites going.

“This is amazing, Luca” August remarked.

“Thank you, but you have to thank the staff later, I just pay for it” Luca laughed a bit at that.

We all enjoyed the food as we all exchanged observations and praise on the taste of the food. Any thought of the other dinner I was dreading tomorrow evening were pushed aside.

Everyone seemed to genuinely enjoy the food, and company, even Stefano and Hashim were starting to get comfortable around the larger crowd. Jokes and promises to visit each other were made.

After dinner, we all sat and made ourselves comfortable in the large living room. Despite the lack of decorations, the mood was festive. We even decided to watch a vampire movie, I mean like an actual movie played and produced by vampires, I never knew they had those.

“This is actually a thing, vampire movies?” I whispered to Victor as we sat together in the couch.

“Yes it is” Victor smiled back at me.

What weirded me out the most was that the movie was actually a romantic comedy, it was about a Human male courting his new neighbor that he doesn’t know is a vampire. It was weird seeing a vampire play the human role for once.

We all exchanged a few laughs, and it was good to know that vampire humor, well, at least in the movie, wasn’t that far off from humans.

Later on Victor told me that the movie was catered to younger vampires and played by younger vampires, which explained the similarities.

After the movie, it was gift giving time! Well...to be more precise, it was Councilor gift giving time as it was only Luca and August that gave out gifts to everyone. It seemed there was an understanding that only the Councilors would be doing the gift giving tonight.

I had to profusely thank Luca when I opened the small gift box he gave me, it was an exquisite silver and gold bracelet. Truly stunning!

I gave August a hug when I opened the envelope he gave me which contained a $5,000 gift check to an upscale sportswear store.

Leo was rendered mute when he opened August’s gift to him, which by the looks of it was a rather expensive watch.

Dad thanked both Luca and August for their gifts as well. Dad was more than happy to receive a lifetime membership card to an upscale vampire owned hotel from Luca and he was more than delighted of August’s gift which was a new MacBook.

—-

As Victor and I retired to our room.

I said, “that was rather generous of them, wasn’t it?”

“Get used to it, they’re Councilors, they can afford to splurge, and didn’t you see the look on their faces? They absolutely loved giving out the gifts”

“Hmm...you’re right, they did look pleased with themselves”

“Okay...now time for your gift!” I announced, as I ran towards the bathroom. Victor just gave me a look as we both promised no gifts to each other.

When I got out of the room, I was wearing my white bathrobe, while Victor was laying on the bed, under the sheets. I saw that he was at least half naked in that moment.

“So... where’s my gift?” He asked.

I slowly opened and untied the robe to reveal to Victor my naked body. He took his time to take in the sight of my exposed skin, he smiled as he saw a red ribbon around my cock and a few seconds later , he couldn’t help himself, he started laughing.

I was about to feel offended when Victor pushed off the blanket from his body, and I saw that he had done the same! I broke out in laughter, and Victor just let out a boisterous laugh as well.

We both held our stomachs as we couldn’t just stop laughing.

“I can’t believe you had the same idea!” I said.

“Well...I did see you buy a red ribbon at the holiday market”

“Cheater!” I remarked as I lunges towards my boyfriend.

We made passionate, no, more than passionate love that night, it was amazing, we had three rounds of sex, I was loopey, and if I can just say, I left Victor well fed with some Elven blood.

—-

Surprisingly, everyone made it in time for breakfast the following morning. The festive spirit wasn’t lost, and it was nice to see Hashim fall for Lucy’s antics. It was certainly amusing to see these powerful vampires acting like kids.

Dad, Troy, and Patrick decided to drive around the nearby towns just for the heck of it, Patrick was more than happy to show Dad and Troy some more of the countryside.

Well, it wasn’t really the countryside per se, but it wasn’t as crowded as London, so there’s that. There were also several estates and mansions Patrick mentioned that they could drive by not far from where we were.

The rest of us decided to stay in and watch another vampire movie.

—-

At exactly 3pm, Mr. Pawsey himself arrived to deliver our attire for the evening. And just as promised, the results of his efforts were exquisite.

“Jordan, you never fail to impress” Victor said to the man.

“Thank you, Governor”

“None of that...thank you, this is amazing” Victor said as he felt his hand over his dinner jacket and vest.

“Do you have any counterpart or partner in the States?” August asked the man. Which only earned a warm smile and nod from the tailor.

“That can be arranged, Councilor”

“This is mighty fine” August observed, and he let out a small whistle when he saw Leo is his own, nicely fitting jacket, and shirt.

We all were wearing the expected attire for a black tie event, the only difference amongst our clothings were our cufflinks and shirt studs; Victor had rose gold shirt studs and matching cufflinks, I had black silver, August had sterling silver, while Leo had dark blue ones made of some sort of gemstone I think.

And when I saw Luca wearing his attire, i would have to admit, I had a semi, the guy is totally hot. Victor had to snap me out of my sexual delusions with a nudge.

Stefano was gorgeous as well, he would be joining us, as he’d be Luca’s plus one for the event, and also as security.

While we were all getting ready, Luca spoke to me.

“Chris, most likely there will be other governors at the dinner, most of them are either Victor’s age or a little bit younger or a few years older, so they won’t be as familiar as me with the smell of an elf, but Robin Latham, well... he’s almost 300 so, it’s safe to assume he’s more familiar with the smell of an elf. So whenever he’s near, make sure to be no more than 12 feet away from me, with that, I can use my skills to dull his senses”

“Uhm...okay” my throat going dry at that point. “Uhm... I’m really sorry...for having you do this”

Luca cupped my face with his right hand in a soft manner and smiled.

“Chris...you’re family now, we look out for each other, so don’t worry, we just have to get through this dinner, and I’m sure Robin Latham will not bother us for a few more days”

“Thank you” I said as I hugged the man. And damn did he smell good.

Leo seemed a little bit nervous leaving the estate, but August was right beside him calming him down. Luca also told Leo to not be anxious and enjoy the evening, and told him “welcome to our world”

“Mostly vampire world...” August teased. “We werewolves ain’t this fancy” Which earned a mock look of indignation from Luca.

Luca answered back by saying “Sorry to disappoint Leo, but your boyfriend is lying, just wait until you attend the annual Crescent Council Dinner” Which only earned a look of confusion from Leo who stared back at his boyfriend.

Luca smiled and said “oh, he doesn’t know? I’ll leave it to you then” Luca waved back at us as he made his way to the car much to the chagrin of August who was now pacifying Leo by assuring him the Crescent Council Dinner wasn’t that fancy, it didn’t help that August let it slip that it was usually hosted in a very exclusive and upscale hotel in Paris.

We left the estate at 6pm in four black bentley sedans. All were driven by agents, The first, aside from the driver, had 2 security agents in it, while the second one had Luca and Stefano, in the third were August and Leo, and Victor and I were in the last.

It took us about an hour and a half to get from Luca’s mansion to Runnymede in Surrey, where the party and Robin Latham’s mansion was.

There were four agents at the gate of the large estate that checked the identity of everyone entering.

The estate was large, the driveway long, but not as grand as Luca’s. Not far from where we were, as we approached, I saw a well lit white mansion.

“Damn...he has good taste” I whispered.

“Yeah, he’s flashy too” Victor teased.

“I’m nervous...” I say to Victor.

“Just stick to Luca if Robin approaches you, I’ll let you know if I see any older vampires you’ll have to look out for”

“Okay”

And with a quick peck on the lips, we get off the car. The open door was flanked by two well built agents that had the build of a rugby player, one was a tall dark guy the other was a tall white guy with auburn hair. Just a few feet off them was a guy, that had a smile plastered to his face. This guy was about 6’1, short brown hair, brown eyes, and fair skinned. He looked to be in his early thirties and I guess ruggedly handsome? He’s quite a looker. Gosh I haven’t really met an ugly vampire.

The man’s eyes lit up as he saw our party. “Councilors, Governor...I’m glad you could make it” said the man.

“Happy to be here, Keith” Luca answered for us.

“Keith...” Victor greeted the man with a handshake.

Victor then introduced me “Keith, this is my boyfriend Chris, Chris...this is Keith Andrews, Governor Latham’s deputy”

I steeled myself and brought out my hand for a handshake.

“Nice to meet you” Kieth greeted me.

“The pleasure is mine” I reply.

Then August introduced Leo to Keith as well and we were then ushered by an attendant to a large entertainment hall or ballroom? There were circular tables with white linen on top of them.

“Your table is right here gentlemen” the attendant said to us.

The food has not yet been served and by the looks of it, we just arrived on time, the room was just about half full.

I can see vampires and...if my senses were right...some werewolves as well, sitting with wine in hand, some were walking about making idle chat with the rest.

Two vampires near the end of the large room played the piano and violin. I’m not an expert in music but it sounded like they were playing a classical piece. The entire atmosphere was classy yet not that formal, but still classy enough to unsettle both me and Leo.

There were six of us already seated at the table and there were two more empty chairs, whom we’d be sharing our table with remained a mystery at that point.

A stocky man who looked to be in his early forties approached the table, and he caught August’s eye.

“Councilor August Smith?”

August was surprised as well to see the man. “Yuri...” August answered as he stood and shook the man’s hand.

“Werewolf businessman” Victor whispered to me.

Leo and myself were introduced to the man, and Yuri somehow was able to drag August a few feet farther from us to discuss business.

Leo looked lost without August and Victor and I caught it and told him we were there for him.

“You’ll get used to it” Luca explained to Leo as he soothed my best friend’s back.

“It’s all just...” Leo answered.

“Overwhelming?” Luca smiled a bit which earned a nod from Leo and myself.

After a few more minutes August made it back to our table and mentioned that the Russian werewolf had some investment plans in the United States.

The room started filling up, and we were left alone except for the occasional hi’s and hello’s to the councilors and Governor in our table. And I was already sipping my glass of white wine when a guy, who looked to be in his mid twenties, medium length blonde hair, green eyes, had a lean and fit build, and a clean shaven face approached up.

“Councilors...Governor...it’s nice of you all to make it” the man said, his voice deep and he had a warm smile to his face.

“Robin” Luca said as he shook the man’s hand. “Thank you for inviting us”

“My pleasure” he said.

August introduced Leo and then Victor introduced me to Robin.

And I swear the guy took his time to give me a once over before he shook my hand.

“Robin Latham, it’s a pleasure” he smiled at me.

“Chris Rogers” I replied.

“This is a wonderful party Robin” Victor said as he engaged his ex in idle talk.

“Thank you, you know how it is” Robin answered as he gave my boyfriend a sly wink and then went on to talk about how this was one of the largest parties he’s ever organized yet. He mentioned names of several vampire and werewolf businessmen in attendance, and we all just nodded.

“Uhm...if I may ask, who are sitting with?” Luca asked Robin.

“Oh...of course” Robin answered with a proud smile.

“Well...it’s Governor Allan O’Hara, and his husband Tony”

“Ah...I see” Luca replied slightly relieved.

I then look at Victor and pulled in closer to me and whispered to me “Allan O’Hara, District Governor of Scotland, he’s a few decades younger than me, he won’t know your smell” I only nodded in recognition as I caught Luca glancing at us while he engaged Robin in small talk. I can feel Luca’s power at work at the table, he was clearly dulling Robin’s sense of smell.

Robin at one point offhandedly said that it seemed Victor couldn’t shake off his fetish for blonde men, referring to himself, Gustav, and me. I took it in stride and laughed with him a bit. Yeah, he is a jerk.

Robin excused himself to socialize at another table, it was then Allan and his husband, both good looking guys, arrived and sat with us, as they were escorted to our table.

“My my...am I in the big leagues now?” Allan laughed as he noticed the two Councilors and other vampire Governor in his table. His laugh sounded warm and genuine and his husband laughed with him as well.

Both vampires looked to be in their late twenties or early thirties. Allan had a short strawberry blonde hair and closely trimmed beard, while Tony had dark hair and a clean shaven face. Both had hazel eyes and probably stood at around 6 feet and had athletic bodies.

“I hope I’m not in trouble” Allan mused as he looked at Luca.

“Well...I haven’t received any reports” Luca laughed a bit.

Allan then directed his attention to August and Leo. He expressed surprise and was genuinely happy for the two, and then he set his gaze upon me and Victor, he spent several minutes quizzing Victor and me about our relationship. He seemed to be a genuine guy, unlike Robin.

“To be honest, I thought you’d be much more of snob” Allan said to Victor.

“Really? How come? We’ve met before ...”

“I know...it’s just that...you know, you have this reputation”

“What reputation?”

“Ah. Nothing” Allan waived it off.

And Victor decided to not press on further.

As dinner progressed and food was served. We all engaged in idle chat, I could sense myself relaxing a bit and it seemed Leo was as well.

An hour into the dinner service, a handsome guy with dark brown hair that almost tied with Luca for looks approached the table. He was Antoine Dufay, Governor of Northern France, including Paris.

And at some point somehow, he was able to whisk Victor away about some vampire business talk together with Allan and some Dutch vampire businessman.

It didn’t take long for August to be dragged away as well by 5 werewolves, three werewolf businessmen that all seemed to be American and two local pack alphas eager to discuss werewolf business.

Stefano, Leo and I were left alone in our table, exchanging awkward glances.

“Things like this happens, they’ll be back soon” Stefano said, trying to comfort us.

“It’s okay... it’s just a little bit new, that’s all”

“Tell me about it” Leo huffed.

“Don’t worry, the first time Luca brought to me to one of these functions, I felt like fish out of the water, power players everywhere, and you feel like you don’t belong” Stefano said in a warm tone.

“Yeah...” I agreed.

“I gotta pee...” Leo said as he stood.

“Me, too” Stefano said. “Coming with us?” He asked me.

“Nah... I’m fine”

“Okay, we’ll be right back” He replied.

They then both promptly left for the toilet as I spent some time observing the people around, some were still seated, talking to their table mates, some standing and chatting with wine glasses on hand.

I then decided I needed some fresh air, so I went for the large door beside the ballroom. The door opened towards a nice terrace that overlooked a large well lit garden.

I breathed in the crisp cold evening air. And to my surprise it was nearly empty. Aside from two vampire ladies several feet away from me.

Later, I felt a presence approach me.

“May I join you?” Came from a husky baritone voice behind me.

I didn’t look back and just answered “sure”, he felt slightly off, and I started scanning him in my mind,

I scanned the guy behind me, then one of the lady vampires a few feet from us accidentally broke her glass of wine.

The man leaned against the Terrance railings with me and when I looked to my right, I saw, a man, most likely in his late twenties, he dark hazel eyes, middle eastern features, fair skin with a light bronze undertone. He was handsome like most vampires, he had a clean shaven face, and an athletic build.

His short military style haircut only added to his sex appeal.

“So what brings you here?” He mused.

“Well...my friends got caught up with some business of their own”

“Ah...I assume you came with an officer of some sort”

“You can say that” I smiled at him.

“I’m sorry if I’m intruding, you seem to have been enjoying the garden” he answered.

“No... it’s fine”

“Oh...sorry, I’m Reza by the way” he said, reaching out for my hand.

“Chris...Chris Rogers” I replied as I shook his hand.

“So...just Reza?” I curiously asked, happy to not be alone.

“Reza Hatami”

“Ah...Persian?” I asked.

“Smart...yes, yes I am”

“So what brings you here?” I asked the handsome man beside me.

“Was in town, got an invitation, and thought...why not?” He laughed a bit.

“You know Robin well?”

“A bit, yes, good enough” he answered. The handsome man was a bit reserved, and clearly older than what he seemed, he acted conservatively with his mannerisms and movements as well.

Then a young vampire approached us and spoke in Farsi, I suppose he was with the Reza, they exchanged a few a few words and Reza seemed to have dismissed him.

“You seem important” I said to him.

“What makes you say that?”

“He clearly was one of your subordinates”

“Hmm...I’m a nobody” Reza answered with a slight smile as he drank his wine on hand.

“Just how many people did Robin invite? I don’t think I’ll be able to wrestle my boyfriend from those people.” I laughed.

“It’s a larger than a usual gathering, most likely there’s more than two hundred” Reza replied, then he set his glass on the stone railing and asked “so...who are you with?”

“Uhm...I’m with my boyfriend and friends...Uhm Victor...Victor Meyer...”

“Ah...I see” Reza answered calmly. “I assume Councilor Tremonti is in your company?”

“Yes...our friend August Smith is with us too” I added.

“Oh...the werewolf Councilor?”

“Yes”

“My my... what a gathering Robin has organized”

“You must be someone... “

I humored him.

“Just some guy who happened to receive an invitation, that’s all”

“I doubt Robin is the kind of guy to give out free passes” I laughed a bit.

“Hmm...” Reza stifled a laugh of his own “that you are right young one... Robin... is a handful...but he does the job”

“So you do know him?” I teased the vampire.

“By all means we’re not friends... but he’s a governor... of course I know of him” he answered.

“I see...”

Reza and I then spoke of nothing in particular for the next 10 minutes or so, he asked if I was being hosted by Luca to which I confirmed. I asked him if he knew Luca and he answered “who doesn’t?” We had to laugh a bit at that.

Then the vampire agent that talked to Reza earlier spoke to him again. They exchanged a few words and the agent left.

“I guess...it’s time for me to go, it was nice to meet you Chris” Reza said as he reached for a handshake which I gladly took.

“It was nice meeting you too”

“Till we meet again” Reza said as he waved his hand.

I then several more minutes taking in the outdoors and then I went back inside.

August was already back at the table when I returned and he was in a lively conversation with Stefano and Leo and another vampire whom I was introduced to as Hywell Edwards, the District Governor for Wales.

A few minutes later Allan and Tony joined us and Luca and then Victor followed.

Victor apologized to me for getting himself dragged by other vampires, but I just told him it was okay.

Robin Latham dropped by our table again before the night ended, and I swear he gave me one of those appraising looks again, as if he was trying to size me up.

It was midnight when we left the party. *Sigh* crisis averted.

As we walked towards the car, Victor asked. “So...it wasn’t that bad wasn’t it?”

“Yeah...it was fine” I shrugged. “But let’s not make this a nightly habit”

“Of course not!” Victor said as he softly nudged my shoulder with his own.

The drive home was quick and we were all thoroughly drained when we arrived at the estate.

As we entered the mansion, Leo asked me within earshot of everyone where I went when he and Stefano went to the toilets.

“I just went to the terrace...gotta give it to him, Robin has a nice garden”

“Nicer than mine?” Luca joked.

“Of course not...I also met a vampire and we had a good conversation, pretty decent guy” I answered.

“And who might this guy be?” Victor asked in an inquiring yet also jealous tone.

“Hmm...he says he’s name was Reza...”

When I said that name, Luca, Victor, and Stefano, and even August exchanged knowing looks of surprise and alarm?

“Reza? Uhm...did he say what his last name was?” Luca asked as he recomposed himself.

“Reza Hatami...why? Do you know him?”

“And you spoke with him? Alone?” Victor asked, his voice betraying him, he was clearly worried.

“Yes...what’s the matter? He was very nice, we even exchanged a few jokes” I explained.

“Chris...I’m sorry, this is my fault” Luca said with a hint of guilt in his face.

“Why? Did I do something wrong?” I asked.

“Well...No...but Reza...well...he’s old.”

“Old?” I asked not knowing what they were talking about. Then it dawned on me “Uhm...but I did try to scan him, he seemed old but not that old, he felt like he was almost Victor’s age”

“He’s an illusionist like Luca... he can make you perceive it that way if you weren’t looking out and not concentrating” Victor added.

“Just how old is old?” I asked, getting nervous.

“568 years old...he’s the oldest member of the High Council” Luca answered, as he clasp his hands together. “He’s been on the Council since the 1680s”