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Archdemon Empress Luna

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"Husband." Tucked under red silk sheets gliding along their bare legs, Luna had laid comfortably on the bed beside her husband in a flimsy nightgown.

Wide-eyed, Luna was awake and had no intention of falling asleep.

There wasn't a need.

Apollyon didn't look sleepy either, so they might as well talk.

"I wanted to ask about Lilith."

"Hm." Apollyon hummed absently as he turned his head to glance at her.

His arm was around her as she rested her head on his armpit.

"Even if we had successfully driven that Archdemon away and I have brought you back, that fiendish name of hers still come out from someone's mouth after all these years," Apollyon said coldly, but she knew his rage was addressed at Lilith, not her, for mentioning it. "I am tired of it constantly ringing in my ears like an annoying mosquito. I only had immense hatred for that bitch that ruined our life. I shall ban that name when we arrived back to the Vampire Realm."

Luna snorted. "How will we address the Archdemon if you banned her name?"

"We shall create a moniker for the Archdemon of Envy."

"What do you suggest?"

He raised an eyebrow, "Hag?"

Luna cackled as she playfully punched him in the chest, "You are really funny, husband."

"I'm happy and contented now that you are back, wife." Apollyon's intense sapphire gaze remained fixed on her, and Luna missed his undivided attention. "You brought a light back into the smiles I have lost in your disappearance."

She placed her palm on top of her lover's heart, gently patting him in the chest.

Luna smiled back so that her husband would have reasons to smile whenever he saw her face.

She wanted to be her husband's strength.

Squinting at him, Luna whined. "Don't change the subject and fill me out on the details when Lilith took over my body."

She rubbed her palms on Apollyon's nipples with just enough friction to arouse him. "I have no idea what happened and how she did it because the Grand Torturer had taken me and locked me in prison. I broke one of the rules of Hell as a fledgling."

When his eyelids fell shut, and he began to groan in pleasure, Luna removed her hand on his chest.

Was he still listening to her?

She had told Apollyon that she would have to postpone the sexual congress and content herself in her husband's arms.

Apollyon did not push and respected her decision.

Luna couldn't believe that the Vampire King now was capable of consistency.

It was shocking, considering how she had met and known Apollyon.

People do change, but in her husband's situation, it was drastic that he must have been unrecognizable to his past peers.

Giddy, Luna's lips curved upward, feeling lucky that she had married well.

Her birth mother would be proud.

They still had many years to catch up and talk about, but why did it feel like they weren't separated for a long time?

There was no awkwardness at all.

They were two puzzle pieces falling perfectly into place when Apollyon had successfully summoned her back through Lilith's conjurer.

"I am more interested in your story in Hell," Apollyon murmured huskily as he pulled her closer to him. "Tell me what happened."

He turned to the side to face her and caress her hips with his large hand. "I am worried about you."

"Are you alright?" The motion brought her silk nightgown upwards, exposing her flesh. "Have you recovered from your suffering?"

"What's this depressing conversation?" Sighing, Luna did the same and caressed her husband's side.

He was deliciously warm and half-naked for her perusal.

The ridges of his corded muscles brought her comfort, reminding her that she was present with her husband.

She wasn't in Hell, and this wasn't a dream. "We just couldn't take a break even if we are in our bed-chamber."

"This isn't our bed-chamber." Apollyon glanced around the room as if he just remembered something and he needed to check it out for some reason.

Luna also followed his line of sight.

Red velvet canopies encircled the bed.

Silver curtains with royal blue trimmings hang by the floor-to-ceiling windows.

There was a vanity mirror beside a gigantic wardrobe.

Old furniture carved in ivory and ancient wood.

Persian rugs by the flaming hearth, keeping their private room at just the right temperature while the relaxing scent of lavender permeated through the chilly night air.

The floors were all covered with fluffy carpets.

There was nothing wrong with it, though.

"This is mine," Apollyon told her. "I slept separately with Lilith because I have sensed immediately that she wasn't you."

"Good," Luna said. "You are a loyal husband."

"I am." He nodded, and the conviction in his deep baritone bothered Luna because she definitely wasn't a loyal wife, for she had accidentally fucked Luxen without her knowledge.

She didn't have the heart to admit that to Apollyon,

He would hate her and accuse her of cheating!

Averting her gaze, Luna pulled back, keeping a little distance.

"You look uncomfortable. Is there something wrong? " Apollyon observed as he traced the shape of her jawline with his fingers. "Would you have preferred I slept with the impostor?"

"Of course not!" Luna didn't mean to raise her voice like that.

Apollyon had raised his eyebrow, wondering why she had reacted so defensively.

She cleared her throat, fidgeting. "Tell me what happened, husband. I want to know your side of the story because the time frame is longer in this Realm compared to Hell."

"I wonder what you have been doing." Luna's hands were now on her husband's neck, scratching the skin with her fingernails to mark him.

"A couple of years back, Prince Aspen and I had gone to the Whispering Forest to interrogate a demonic faerie. After that fruitless endeavor, you came back out-of-the-blue."

"That wasn't me, Apollyon."

"Yes. The military general had alerted me about her when his curse broke the moment she woke up in your body." He said. "I have dealt with the impostor. We figured out quickly that it was Vampire High Priestess who became an Archdemon."

Apollyon's hand rose upwards without warning, squeezing the side of her breasts.

"It was Lilith," Luna said, mirroring her husband's victorious smirk. "She was the Archdemon the Faerie High Priestess had served, gaining limited Archdemon Magic in exchange for the blood of the Unicorns."

"You were right. It was her who stole your body, pretending to be you." Apollyon agreed. "It also became easier for the conjurer to make her demonic faerie sacrifice work because it was still Lilith who she had to drive away from your body, the same Archdemon she summoned in exchange for her Magic."

"I have no idea how Lilith managed to do that."

"It wouldn't matter as long as you're back for good." Apollyon moved closer, erasing the distance between them. "I'm just afraid that they would retake you."

"No Archdemons can take me back to Hell ever again, Apollyon. I had trained under the tutelage of a Master in Archdemon Magic. It will be hard to defeat me now because I would fight them by any means necessary."

Apollyon lifted her chin and stared deep into her eyes. "You sounded like a true Archdemon."

"Because I am." Luna shrugged.

Then she asked the one question she was afraid to address. "Apollyon." Luna just had to make sure. "You didn't sleep with Lilith while she was inside my body, pretending to be me, right?"

"No. I'm telling the truth." He faced her straight on as he jutted his chin. "I am loyal to my wife's soul."

The serious look on his face showed that he was bored of just touching.

"Thank the goddess!"

Apollyon's sapphire eyes smoldered into hot coals boring into hers.

"I always felt like there was something wrong when I was around her. She kept seducing me when I hadn't figured her out at first." Apollyon explained. "Cederic had watched over us like a hawk, determined to keep us apart. Prince Aspen had also sensed that there was something wrong with her when she couldn't remember certain events and names."

"The Faerie Prince was pissed off." He said and Luna's lips parted when Apollyon's other hand had descended, parting her legs with his long, nimble fingers without notice. "He couldn't believe a lady would ever forget his pretty face, claiming it was impossible."

"He is a handsome...prince with an...unforgettable beauty." Luna kept her breathing even despite her husband's gentle caress on her soft, sensitive mound. "He must have...claimed that... nobody could forget his name--" Apollyons's long tapered fingers stopped rubbing her hard throbbing clit and Luna glowered at her husband in frustration, "--even if they had just seen a glimpse of him."

"You have guessed right." Apollyon smirked.

The tension in Luna's muscles loosened and she watched him with hooded eyes. "It was either she lost her memory, or she didn't have the memories in the first place.

"The hag claimed she had lost her memories, claiming it had been a long time since she was gone. We didn't believe the bullshit, especially now that Cederic had grown." Apollyon's nostrils flared, but Luna wasn't sure if it was from arousal or anger. "I just played along, but I didn't let it reach that point."

"I am perfectly capable of self-control. I don't want to have associations with Archdemons." Her husband reassured her, and she leaned more to his touch as a show of her trust. "I was afraid that I might have a blood bond with one. I don't want a repeat of your situation with the Blood Beast."

"How about you?" Apollyon lifted one muscled leg of his and settled it on her thigh.

His pupils were dilated as he licked his lips. "Did you sleep with your… other… mates?"

"I—I'm pregnant with your child, Apollyon."