Apollyon moved past her as he stuck his head out into the hallway, looked left and right before pulling her into the room and then, he slammed the door shut.

The instant she walked into the room, it shot through to inferno levels.

How could she ever forget this room?

Clapping a hand over her mouth, Luna faked a yawn and then directed the Vampire King an apologetic look.

"I think I am done for the night," Luna said as she sighed as deeply as she could in her tight dress. "I'd like to get ready for bed."

"Do you need assistance, wife?" Apollyon tilted his head as he looked her over from head to toe.

"No, I can do it myself." She replied with a nervous laugh as she stepped backwards.

The Vampire King appeared like he was sizing her up, his smouldering gaze lingering on the curves and dips of her body--especially her slender neck, her curvy waist, the swells of her breasts--but Apollyon was more fixated at the juncture of her thighs.

Just one look from the Vampire King and Luna felt like she was already naked, standing before him.

Luna's eyes widened when the Vampire King closed the distance between them again as he gripped the sequined fabric of her décolletage, pulling her towards him roughly and bringing their faces closer.

"This dress is so tight, wife." Apollyon pointed out, the faint echo of his husky murmurs made her heart skip a beat.

"I know," Luna replied as she held his wrist tightly and pushed, removing his grip out of her clothing.

The Vampire King was too strong,,, and he didn't budge at all.

"Let me help you by ripping it to pieces if you are having a hard time removing them." He suggested as he gave her another one of his predatory grins.

"No, that is not the problem," Luna said abruptly, her words tumbling over each other.

"You just don't want me to see your naked body when I have already seen it before." He said drily as he let go of her, lowering his hand to capture her fingers and bringing her palm to his lips.

"No, that's not it." Luna scowled at him as she curled her hand into a fist, unnerved by the devilish twinkle in his eye. "Wait a damn minute. You have seen my naked body before?"

Him?

Not the Blood Beast?

Luna didn't dare mention the Blood Beast,,, or her new husband might go ballistic.

"I saved you at the pool gardens,,, and you attacked me the moment you were conscious." The Vampire King shrugged, the twinkle in his eye only deepening.

"Oh."

Luna forgot.

"To be honest, wife, when you threw the dagger at me. That turned me on." Apollyon replied before mumbling, "I wanted to fuck you that night, but I stopped myself because I was aware that you were the High Priestess."

"You wouldn't think highly of me as your husband if you thought I couldn't control my most primitive urges. You can calm down now. We had stayed on this room for a little while, and so far, I haven't jumped you so that we could breed a bunch of vampire babies to run about the royal nursery."

His languid, come-hither grin caught her attention, as did the huge erection tented in his pants. As she bit her lip from the temptation presenting itself to her, that was

when she realized he was more than capable of performing.

It was as if it was an arrow pointing towards her, the source of his arousal. "I am not going to force you to bed if you are not ready, even if we were bonded. You have my word."

"Actions, Apollyon." Luna crossed her arms and looked straight into his blue eyes.

She wanted to make herself clear on what she will require of him. "Show me how you honour your words with your actions."

Apollyon subtly placed his hand on her backside as he eyed her darkly, rubbing them. "I honour your body, but that didn't mean I wouldn't try to persuade you, beloved."

Luna swallowed, her mouth suddenly going dry. "Let us compromise. I will settle with any physical contact you want because I also wanted to honour you as my husband. You have prided yourself with your iron-grip of control, Apollyon."

Luna couldn't believe she was allowing Apollyon to do something like this, but, oh well, it was apparent how much her husband craved physical contact after his curse was broken.

She was obligated to give what he craved as his wife. "I will entrust you with my virginity, for now, Your Highness. I believe in you."

"I will respect that you wouldn't want me to help you remove your clothes."

Gently tilting her clasped hand, he ran his parted lips over the delicate skin on the inside of her wrist.

His voice grew huskier.

"Do you want me to call the servants?" Luna was unable to ignore the melting sensation radiating from the caress of his lips.

She wrenched her hand free from his clutches.

"No."

"I wanted to rest for a while," Luna announced as she flung herself down to the nearest chair to halt his unnerving scrutiny.

She leaned her upper body against the headrest, stress and exhaustion starting to take hold of her.

"Suit yourself then." Apollyon turned away and began to prowl their bedchamber.

Luna watched Apollyon shake his dark fall of hair over his shoulders and smoothed the claret silk of his waistcoat.

The Vampire King started to unbuckle the belt at his waist, setting it carefully on the table.

He crossed over to his closet and rummaged through his wardrobe.

Apollyon untied his cravat with a quick jerk, folded it neatly, and put it on a shelf.

He poked his head out of the closet, and Luna could see the dark circles under his eyes.

The Vampire King still looked divine, but it was heartbreaking to see all his sleepless nights catching up to him, and so did she.

"Are you going to sleep in that dress then?"

"I was going to rest first, husband." Luna lied.

began to undo his buttons and shrugged his waistcoat off his broad shoulders.

Then, he started removing the silver studs from his shirt's front one by one.

Luna was near as mesmerised by the deliberate grace of his fingers as she was by the impressive expanse of the chest that was gradually being revealed, each stud sliding from its neatly stitched mooring.

He pulled it off him and laid it across the back of a chair.

Luna stared at the contours of muscle rippling in his naked back.

His lazy movements gave her ample time to admire the intriguing play of muscles as he stirred about.

She suddenly felt slow-burning warmth filling her body, and her fingernails bit into her palms to keep her mounting desire in control.

Apollyon froze.

He could probably sense the direction her mind was going.

He knew that she admired his body.

Squeezing her eyes shut, Luna waited for him to make some snide remark that would make her look like a silly fool.

Luna cleared her throat to divert his attention from her emotions. "Why are you dressing in front of me?"

"You are my wife." Apollyon slanted her provocative look beneath his lashes, "You are allowed to see my body."

"I know. Your concubines have seen them, and I'm not that interested." Luna meant it as a joke, but the anger and jealousy she felt after she had uttered the words was so overwhelming that she had wanted to kill all the girls in the Consortium her husband had dallied with.

"Are you sure you aren't interested?" One corner of his lips turned up, and she could suddenly sense his confidence and conceit. "Because I might take that as a challenge, you know?"

He knew that Luna was jealous about his Consortium and the bastard revelled in it.

Luna avoided eye contact and waved a dismissive hand. "You can disrobe at the corner over there—er---go someplace where I couldn't see your body."

"You can look away, but if that is what you want, I will oblige you, my wife." He replied, turning away from her.

Apollyon reached into the closet for a clean shirt and gave her one last arrogant look before he walked towards a private dressing screen at the corner of their marriage suite.

The dressing screen had separated the large room into two: the lounging and the sleeping area.

Luna could see his silhouette behind the silkscreen.

She was convinced that he was deliberately trying to torment her.

"When will you get ready for bed and wear your nightclothes, wife?"

"After you, husband." Luna was having trouble thinking past single words, her eyes riveted to her husband's shadowy form.

Apollyon's hands had voyaged to the top button of his pants, and his body began to turn to present a profile.

Luna half-wished she wasn't there to witness the shadow of his huge cock.

She counted from one to ten with her eyes closed. Luna was relieved that she had a few minutes to calm herself down.

Then, she placed her hands on her cheeks and exhaled a breath.

Flushing fever-hot, she moved her gaze away from the panel to look at the rest of the room.

It was spacious and airy, with multiple windows overlooking the forest.

A massive cushion was placed on the opposite side of the windows.

Lengthwise, it was more than enough for ten people to stretch out on.

Luna stared at the physical things around her to fight the repeating loop of pleasure, anxiety and fear.