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

The Vampire King

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

Everything irritated him, the High Priestess, his sexual frustration, the hot room and most especially, the nightshirt and a set of pyjamas he had never put on before.

Apollyon even threw on a matching robe on top of them for good measure.

Now, he knew what presents felt like: all trussed up in paper and ribbons: itchy.

The Vampire King grimaced.

'Hell. If he thought the getup he had on was going to keep him in check, he was out of his mind. '

Apollyon wanted her so badly that what he was or wasn't wearing wouldn't make a lick of difference.

Apollyon was having trouble concentrating when he sensed the High Priestess' thoughts, making him totally aroused.

His body was so hot he felt like his blood was going to dry out in his veins.

He changed his mind.

Apollyon shook his head as he took his nightshirt off again, including his silk pyjamas.

He never wore clothes to bed not even once, and that's not going to change, even if her wife wanted him to.

He never had only one female for his pleasure, either.

Apollyon didn't bother telling the High Priestess that she had a separate household reserved for the Kingdom's Empress a quarter-mile from his.

He should warn his Cadre not to tell her about it or else he would have a hard time gaining access to her wife's presence.

He knew she would never give him the time of day if she found out about Scleranthus.

Scleranthus was the designated Household of the Queen, his wife and his Empress, and it was shrouded in mystery because it had been a long time ever since it was occupied.

The place was full of traps and restrictions so complex nothing can nullify the spell, not even Apollyon himself.

No night creature, not even the strongest vampire in this Realm, of the opposite sex, was allowed in there—even the eunuchs weren't permitted when technically they don't have a penis anymore.

They disintegrate into dust once a male stepped foot on its entrance, and even if the Vampire King was confident of his warlock abilities, he didn't try to step his foot in its soil.

Scleranthus was cursed, and Apollyon didn't know what kind of ancient spirits live there.

The last Empress in line who stayed there was Apollyon's mother, and she rarely came out of the cursed Household.

The past Empress he had chosen from the concubines—to be honest, he didn't even remember her name—wasn't even given a chance to inhabit the Empress Household because he had already ordered Cederic to behead the viper when he found out about her relations with a Duke.

She was hailed as the Empress, but he didn't marry her yet at the time.

Now he didn't know what to do about his cock when the High Priestess was obviously against any sexual congress but making her comfortable with his physical touches was a difficult feat in itself—but a feat nonetheless.

The High Priestess would give in sooner or later if he were smart about it.

The damn thing was hard, stiff, acting like a bitch, and his fantasies fluttered to the High Priestess's hands caressing his skin as they made love, sending a cold shiver through his body.

He came out of the dressing screen, showing her the entirety of his glistening skin.

When Apollyon approached her, the High Priestess stood up from her chair in attention, slowly backing away from him.

"What are you doing?" Luna asked in a high-pitched voice as they circled each other, keeping her distance.

He would have chuckled at her demands which came out as a squeak, but the hot pump between his legs sucked the humour right out of him. "What do you think I'm doing?"

He flashed her a glimpse of what the front of him was up to.

Luna needed to know.

Hiding it from her was inevitable.

Maybe, the High Priestess would take it as a compliment that she was the reason of this monstrous arousal.

Luna couldn't take her gaze off his engorged cock no matter how hard she tried to bring her eyes back to his face.

"Apollyon," Luna muttered his name under her breath, and he smirked.

Apollyon heard her swallow audibly as she receded behind the couch she had flopped on earlier.

"Where are you going, my wife?" There was a twinge of amusement in his voice. "Come here."

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

The High Priestess

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

The Vampire King came out of the dressing screen in his full naked glory that it made her momentarily speechless.

Slack-jawed, Luna tried to avoid looking at any specific part of his body, but it was hard.

It was really 'hard', indeed.

She tried hard not to stare at it like it was some foreign little thing.

Anyway, she changed her mind.

There was nothing little about it.

"Come here."

Luna narrowed her eyes suspiciously and replied, "I don't want to."

There was a seething edge of temper in his eyes when she danced quickly out of his reach.

The atmosphere suddenly changed—the air was thick with tension that you could cut them with a knife.

Suddenly, she became very aware of the room and checked all other possible exits in her peripheral vision.

"Don't make me chase you." He growled as he reached for her hand, cold fury coating his every quiet word. "Don't run away from me. We are just going to sleep, that's all."

"Without your shirt on?" Luna gritted her teeth, her own temper spiking as she sensed the Vampire King's frustration.

She looked at him straight in the eyes. "Why aren't you wearing any clothes?"

"I changed my mind," Apollyon answered in a low growl that made every tiny hair on her body stand up. "It's going to be hot tonight now that you are here with me."

"What was that supposed to mean?"

"I don't want to wear the shirt anymore." His smile when he said it was a very masculine expression of satisfaction and possessiveness, and it suited him as the Vampire King.

Luna was about to teleport out of the room, and the Vampire King had anticipated it.

He had advanced towards her faster than she could ever blink and gripped her neck carefully in a gesture of strength and dominance, pulling her toward him.

It wasn't lost on her.

He was acting like a savage beast like Ravin all of a sudden, and it scared the fuck out of her mind.

Was the Archdemon of Gluttony back?

"If you teleported right now there would be a naked Vampire King attached to wherever place you wanted to go who had his hand around your neck in a chokehold." He said, his tone was pure steel. "Do you want that?"

She kicked him with her right foot hard, catching Apollyon on the shin.

He didn't wince.

She should have kicked him in the balls.

"You'll pay for that." It was a silky warning.

"Let go of me." Reaching out with her mind, she pushed the Vampire King so hard that he was three feet from her before he could even blink.

Apollyon froze as if he couldn't believe what she had done.

His new wife had just attacked the Vampire King in their honeymoon.

Hmm, too bad because he had been acting like a Neanderthal.

Meeting those eyes, which had glowed into a lighter blue, she put her hands on her hips and tried to pretend that she wasn't afraid of her husband at all.

"Still want to play?" Luna arched a perfectly shaped eyebrow

It was a taunt she had never have made before as the Vampire King's wife.

Maybe, fighting on their honeymoon would be better than having sex.

"Oh, yes, wife, I want to play." The Vampire King advanced toward her with his lightning-fast reflexes; his emotions were a mix of excitement and challenge.

He was turned on.

The Vampire King was a crazy husband.

Ready to use all her strength, she crouched and stretched her legs to jump high enough to the bed.

Her action was almost catlike, moving in a light, graceful motion of a leopard she had mimicked from Catriona.

Apollyon found Luna halfway across him, and his eyes barely widened in surprise.

"Catch me if you can, husband." Luna taunted.

'Because there will be no honeymoon tonight.'

The Vampire King started to smile, but he did not chase her further. "If I catch you, will you allow me to play with your body?"

Luna's lips twitched.

That was a dangerous bet she couldn't afford to take a part of.

Feeling silly crouching on the top of the bed where the Vampire King wanted to play with her, she jumped off to stand in front of him so that he wouldn't attempt the challenge.

His hand held her neck in a possessive grasp except for this time; there was carnality instead of anger in his touch.

Apollyon's kiss burned her all over.

When he lifted his head, she took a few moments to catch her breath.

"I just want you to get comfortable with my naked body because now I want you to strip in front of me as you wear the nightgown."

Great.

She had found an opening for a marriage negotiation.

Luna wanted her revenge against the Vampire King—the despicable bastard--for tempting her with his striptease earlier.

"Hmm, I guess I can do that." Luna reached out one hand to trace a finger from the centre of Apollyon's throat down to that happy trail in his abdomen.

She gulped when her touch stopped at his rock-hard abs.