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High Priestess

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They had reached the safety of the Vampire King's lair.

The palace guards paid their respects as they passed, placing a hand on their chest and bowing with reverence.

The Vampire King continued to walk as if he didn't even acknowledge their existence.

As if something might have light up his ass, Apollyon's urgency and impatience had started to get under her skin.

He had dropped her arm and stepped ahead, and she hurried after him through the maze of corridors.

He seemed to have a one-track mind to go straight to wherever room he would lead her.

The skirts of her dress trailing behind her were still heavy even if the Vampire King had already ripped a good portion of it.

Her pride and reputation as a newly-turned vampire kept her from asking him to slow down, even if it made her fall right behind.

She was supposed to be quick and graceful, but this damned dress—Luna couldn't wait to take it off.

Can she even take off this tight voluminous gown by herself?

She could ask the Vampire King for his assistance, but that would lead to---

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Vampire King

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He could smell the High Priestess' desire filling his nostrils, messing with his control to keep his barely contained lust tight and secure for their wedding night.

He might not be able to read minds, but he could feel Luna's emotions right at this moment, and he was sure that his wife's ripe, sensual body was screaming for his, too.

He was fully erect by the time they thoroughly turned about the corridors.

Apollyon let go of her hand to walk ahead of her so that she wouldn't see the evidence of his need.

The High Priestess was hardly likely to be at ease by the sight of him primed and ready.

He wasn't exactly comfortable with it himself.

Luna's anxiety had pressed hard in his skull that his headache had worsened.

The sexual beast in him—not the savage stirrings of the Blood Beast but his alone-- batted at her scent as he recalled the taste of her blood in his mouth, hungering for more of it.

He couldn't let out this ferocious hunger and impose them on her, demanding something she couldn't give.

R*ping, his new wife wasn't one of his plans on his wedding night.

Apollyon was determined to keep the High Priestess' virginity intact if that was what it took to give her complete trust in him, then he would play along until she was ready.

Despite what he had just reminded himself, he had to fight the urge to preen.

Knowing that the High Priestess wanted him based on her emotions was as intoxicating as a drug.

Without turning to look at her, the Vampire King opened the door.

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High Priestess

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This was the room she had recognised as the one where it all started—where the hell had broken loose, where the Blood Beast had dragged her to exchange their blood.

It was ironic to come back here with the Vampire King.

Did he remember what the Blood Beast had done to her while he was in Apollyon's body?

Luna was having trouble breathing, and her muscles quickened in remembered sensation.

Apollyon's bulk filled the door frame as he passed through, and then he spun towards her, lifting a beckoning finger paired with a come-hither grin. "Get inside, my wife."

Luna paused in the hallway, hesitating.

She cast a nervous glance inside the room and saw the bed.

Heat crept into her cheeks as she struggled to keep her wicked imagination from conjuring up shocking images of the duties a man like the Vampire King would require his wife to fulfil.

Will they do it tonight?

Tonight was their honeymoon.

Will her new husband force himself on her?

She couldn't bring herself to walk over the threshold.

Will the Vampire King lift the skirt of her dress, penetrate her, then cover her back up when he was finished?

But the Archdemons had shown her some stimulation techniques before they do the deed.

Her knowledge of lovemaking was limited—too limited.

Maybe, Apollyon would respect her wish to remain as a virgin, and they would sleep together on the bed.

Right.

There was nothing to be worried about.

Apollyon tilted his head and arched an eyebrow. "Is there something wrong, my wife?"

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Vampire King

*****************

He could feel the High Priestess' anxiety spiking higher, but she didn't even show it in her expression to his credit.

The Vampire King wished that the bond would allow him to read his wife's thoughts sometimes every time her face turns blank, but despite his best efforts, all he felt were her emotions—and they weren't soothing at all, either.

And even then, especially if he was distracted, it was hard for him to decipher what was his and what was hers.

The Vampire King eyed his wife with critical interest, considering his next words. "Were you waiting for me to carry you over the threshold as per marriage tradition?"

"No." The High Priestess studiously avoided looking at him, but now, there was no missing the embarrassment replacing the anxiety growing in the back of his mind.

What had elicited her embarrassment?

The Vampire King frowned, mentally reviewing his words in his mind.

Luna was acting strange, and he didn't know why.

The silence stretched long beyond the point of awkwardness.

His wife was incredibly nervous, which was making him nervous for no reason.

He was the Vampire King.

A king like him should never get nervous when it comes to fucking since he had top-notch expertise on the art of giving pleasure to women for over millennia.

In addition to that, Apollyon had women in the Consortium with who he had sexual congress every day.

Not even only one female but multiple.

He had concubines, and he had them whenever he felt like it.

Ah, that wasn't entirely him.

That was what the Blood Beast had driven him to do so that he could at least be normal.

Now, why was he acting like he was a horny fifteen-year-old boy who just had his first wild rendezvous with a comely servant at the kitchens?

Apollyon ordered himself to think of something interesting to say to break the tension.

So far, everything he came up with sound stupid or boring.

He might as well do what he wanted.

The Vampire King stalked towards her and ran one hand on her hair, massaging her scalp.

He tugged and tilted her head back as he delighted in the texture and life of her straight, silky hair overflowing in his hands.

His lips closed in on her neck as he dragged his wet tongue, licking from behind her ear down to the swan-like curve of her neck.

Her body jerked when he took her earlobe between his teeth, biting it gently.

Letting go, he touched her cheek with his hand and turned her face to his.

"Would you like to play for a bit with me?"

The desire to tease had turned into a desire to take.

But for the time being, he could satisfy himself with kissing her as if it was the last time.

He would take it slow so that Luna would get used to his attention until she would be the one to beg him.

Running his thumb over the softness of her lower lip, Apollyon wanted to taste her again more than he wanted to breathe.

The High Priestess gave a slow nod.

Apollyon didn't give her a chance to change her mind.

He bent his head and ran his lips across Luna in a quick hot slide.

Her lips were so warm, so soft and delicious that they invited him to return.

His teeth tugged at her lower lip and his fangs extended from the excitement.

He accidentally bit them.

Apollyon eased the hurt with his tongue, and the taste of her heavenly blood exploded in his mouth.

He kept the kiss shallow as he tugged at her lower lip this time.

A soft, innately female moan pierced through the silence.

Dark heat sizzled through him.

*****************

High Priestess

*****************

It wasn't that the Vampire King repulsed her –he was handsome, and if she was honest with herself, the strange drink the High Priest had given her had drawn out stirrings of desire she would gladly do without.

Shivers danced across her flesh.

The lazy greed and ardour with which he was kissing her were the most dangerous of temptations.

His movements were so sensually languorous, a seduction so subtle and delicate, that she had opened her mouth to him before she knew it.

It wasn't threatening at all.

Shocked at how far the liberties she had allowed him, she pulled back, her body pulling away from his as if she had been burned.

She ran a finger over the tender swell of her bottom lip.

Judging by the devastating skill of his kiss, his husbandly duties would probably afford her just as much pleasure as they did him, if not more.

Luna shifted restlessly in her place, feeling unaccountably irritable.

Terrified by her reaction and the smug realization that 'she had truly desired him' in his eyes, she said, "We should stop now, Apollyon."

The Vampire King didn't fight her withdrawal, but he watched her with those glittering sapphire eyes tempered by arousal.

Luna attempted to thrust aside her feelings to better focus on his, which became an exercise of frustration.

The Vampire King was aroused, that much she could say, but she could also sense a whisper of disappointment, unhappiness and discontent.

It wasn't a nice feeling.