Apollyon squeezed her upper arms so tight as they exchanged raspy breaths.

He murmured drunkenly in her mouth, "I'll make love to you."

Gritting her teeth, Luna fisted her hands and pulled away from his grasp. "Apollyon. This doesn't seem right."

Apollyon acted like he didn't want to let her go at first, but when the fingers encircling her arms loosened, her muscles relaxed. "You didn't answer me when I asked you if you killed someone."

One hand wrapped around her upper back as his fingers trailed on the curve of her spine like butterfly's wings descending to her lower back.

Now, both hands spread over each globe of her ass.

Apollyon slapped it hard enough to inflict that smarting pain and pleasure, making her quim ache with need.

Closing her eyes, Luna moaned in a long hiss, too late to notice that her hands were now resting on Apollyon's nape.

Liquid heat bloomed at her core like gasoline, and Apollyon was the match that lit her body on fire.

Apollyon lifted one hand from her buttocks so that he could unfasten his pants and growled, "That's because I didn't want to answer."

Luna merely observed him as he struggled to do it with one hand.

He added, "I will leave that to your imagination."

A wave of languid warmth uncoiled in her stomach as her secret flesh quivered, and she was tempted to drop her hand lower and do something about it.

She bared her teeth in a growl, "There is nothing left in my imagination if you have blood all over you, husband."

"Then I guess you already figured out the answer you need," Apollyon said absently as his blue eyes glanced down at his fly, his brows knitting in confusion as if he already forgot the mechanism on how to untie his belt.

Apollyon didn't want to remove his grip on her buttocks, but he had to figure out a way to set his erection free.

He wasn't impatient to fuck her and rip his pants into pieces which was a shock.

As her husband's hand hovered unto his belt, he squinted at it like it was a puzzle he needed to solve—a strange dilemma he saw for the first time.

Biting her cheek, Luna stared at the bulge.

That was when she knew that Apollyon was dead drunk.

Should they even do it when her husband couldn't perform when his mind wasn't in the right place?

A sigh of disappointment.

What if he forgot how to have sex after drinking the alcohol concoction he just had?

Apollyon was drunk right now, so she might as well pull some information out of him.

Drunk words are literally sober thoughts.

"Why did you do it, Apollyon?" Her voice softened, coaxing him to tell her the truth without avoidance, "Did you kill innocent people for no reason?"

As if her sudden question broke Apollyon's trance, he lifted his head and looked her in the eye for the first time.

It was her real husband inside those Prussian depths—-not the one who was the psychopath with the ax, and she exhaled with assurance.

"Contrary as you might think, I didn't kill innocent for no reason." There was a tic in his jaw when Apollyon gritted his teeth, "I killed them so that I could take my revenge and for those bastard's victims as well."

Shaking her head, Luna placed a hand over his heart, and her fingers were now smeared with strangers' blood. "I don't understand! You can only avenge me when you killed the Archdemon of Lust... which is impossible."

"I know that." The harsh lines of his face showed how determined he was as he gripped her waist in a possessive fury. "That is why I'm trying to find ways to summon an Archdemon so it could turn me into one. I think you are capable of turning me into Archdemon, wife. You can try—"

Luna cut him off. "No. Apollyon. I wouldn't take part in making your insidious dreams come true. Even if I can turn you into an Archdemon, I wouldn't do it."

"How selfish! Even if you didn't help me, I would find a way to do it myself!" Luna glared at her husband as he went on, explaining the reason for his insistence. "I killed many Faeries today so that I would become a worthy Archdemon! I tortured convicted criminals at the prison earlier--those criminals who the Archdemon of Lust had possessed."

Luna's mouth was wide open in shock. "Did you mean those criminals convicted with rape?"

Apollyon was looking for the trouble in the Faerie Realm!

What if the war between the Vampires and Faeries pushed through because of this?!

She wanted to tell her husband about the consequences of his impulsiveness, but she didn't dare.

That might hurt Apollyon even further, and there was no point talking sense with a drunk husband!

For the first time, Luna understood the suffering she caused him.

Her husband couldn't stand his suffering from her revelation, so Apollyon decided to dispatch them himself to gain justice for her.

"Yes, those bastards who raped their neighbor's women and those deranged pedophiles who raped babies have a special place in my heart. It was satisfying to see the flame of life snuffed out of their eyes." He gave her a slow arrogant smile and jutted his chin as if he expected her to give him a round of applause for a job well done. "I would compare the pleasure I felt close to drinking my mate's blood. Ah, even the happy-go-lucky Faeries from the Spring Courts, who were known for doing all they can to avoid pain and heavy responsibilities and choosing to exalt in wine and merriment every single day, weren't rid of these stone-cold monsters."

She sighed. "Too much blood on your hands already, Apollyon."

How many times had she told him that?

Did he listen?

No.

Apollyon sluggishly pressed a kiss on her brow. "I'm going to keep doing this until I become an Archdemon. Lilith became an Archdemon this way, so it might increase my chances to become one if I play my cards right."

Luna began to see what her husband was saying.

He was as stubborn as a mule and she also wondered how a drunk vampire can still keep himself upright.

Nothing could change his mind when he finally decides that.

"Apollyon, you don't have to do this anymore. We are mates. I will figure out a way so that you can access Archdemon Magic from me. Archdemons are vessels of immense power. That's why conjurers aren't afraid to summon them despite the consequences." Luna threw her arms around his neck and forced him to lean down so that she could press her cheeks against his, "Let's find another way where we don't have to involve other people, sucking them into these blood sacrifices."

"I talked about this with Prince Aspen. The cult leader who killed the unicorns conjured Lilith's power from Hell as the Archdemon of Envy's vessel, but the conjurer wasn't able to bring her in this Realm when Lilith had nobody to manifest herself in. She helped me summon you through the sacrifices I made and brought you back to your body." Apollyon told her.

"I didn't know if it would work, but I trusted it because it was my last resort, but I'm glad it was successful." He caressed her face, rubbing her dried tears with his thumb. "Becoming an Archdemon is my main priority right now."

"If we could pull that off without getting another Archdemon into the mix--" Luna trailed off and let the threat hang in the air, her stomach twisting into knots.

"Let's not think about that. I answered your question honestly, so you have to let my bloody fingerprints all over you tonight." Apollyon murmured in a sensual promise as his large hand squeezed one breast.

Luna gasped in surprise.

"Apollyon! This isn't something to joke about." She gently slapped him in the chest, scandalized by his behavior. Did he think her breasts were his toys to be played with? "You will mess up the bed with all this grime!"

Tilting his head, Apollyon slid his hands through her skin and held her fingers, marking her with the blood of his prey.

It was disgusting, but Luna should be glad that those criminals were dead.

She prayed for their souls to rot in Hell and not destroy the Spring Courts.

"Do you want me to get cleaned up first?" Apollyon blinked slowly as he said in a husky drawl. "My wife must think me a savage. Want to bathe naked in the rain with me?"

"No. Just take your clothes off." She let all of her love for Apollyon pour in her gaze. "Completely."

Apollyon followed her demands like a good page, and this time, she assisted her drunken husband in undressing him.

Licking her lips, her eyes scanned him from head to toe, lingering on the parts which made her heart skip a beat when she watched her husband's form.

The sight of his strong, corded muscles on his arms and legs incited the animal in her.

He looked so large and masculine as he stood in front of her, and he let her have her fill with the man she craved that it physically hurt.

"Do you find me dirty after I killed the criminals?"

She shook her head. "No."

"Good," Apollyon said. "I don't find you dirty, too."

Luna's skin was sensitive from his touch, and her quim swell with desire, and she couldn't wait to rub against him.

She knew that Apollyon also hungered for her tonight, but Apollyon being so insanely patient drove her insane.

He might be intoxicated with alcohol but having him so close to her like this made her addicted to his irresistible musk.

Breathless, Luna glanced up at him. "Does it mean you forgive me?"

Apollyon didn't respond.

He cupped her cheeks and kissed her.