Hell's Consort

"I will give you an ability to access magic if you stay with me here and become my queen for eternity." Ravin stood so close as if he couldn't bear the thought of giving her personal space because the Archdemon thought he had owned every space in Hell.

"I couldn't wait to claim you as mine." Ravin cupped her neck and tilted her head, whispering huskily in her ear. "I would make you forget the Vampire King's existence."

Luna glanced up at the Archdemon of Gluttony when she felt his burning gaze.  "If an Archdemon wanted a woman, all he had to do was whisper sweet nothings softly in her ear for if she hears, it will echo in her head many times."

The bastard had the audacity to smirk at her when their eyes met.

Evil is, above all things, seductive.

When the devil knocks on your door, he doesn't have cloven hooves.

The devil is beautiful and offers you your heart's desire in whispered airs like a siren, beckoning you to ruinous shores.

The Archdemon appeared smug--accompanying it with a wide grin--as if he was promising her the world and expected her to jump for joy and be grateful for his offer.

She didn't.

"Next. I have had enough, Ravin." Luna had expected much more than this, but she already expected her offer. "You can shut up now."

Luna knew him well enough if it wasn't for Apollyon.

They used to share the same body and same consciousness even though the other was trapped when one of them came out.

"You are in an Archdemon's territory, and now you are telling me to shut up?" Ravin's voice was deep and clear as he dropped his gorgeous smile, his words toneless.

He was a threat.

A cool, dangerous presence.

"I think I'm better when it comes to sex if that's what you are curious about." Luna sputtered, scandalized by what he had said so casually as if they were talking about the weather.

"You and your bargains. Was that all you wanted from me? " Shaking her head, Luna glared at him. "Sex?"

Oh, she didn't have the mood for an Archdemon's charms.

It was an insult to her character.

"You have severely low expectations on my character if you think I would agree to this. I did not sign up for this. Take me back to the Vampire Realm and pick one from your Kingdom." She was breathing hard, trying to control her temper that the action alone made her smell his scent, enticing her further. "Stop wasting my time, having this useless conversation."

Ah, Ravin had smelled divine that she couldn't help but inhale more of his scent despite her frustration.

"You are acting like Apollyon, and I couldn't handle two misogynistic pigs in one day," Luna said, noting that Ravin had smelled like crisp winter wind around a hotter flame of blue.

"Are you---" It was hilarious to hear Ravin stutter because it made her feel like he was the opposite of 'danger'.

"Are you calling me a misogynistic pig?" The Archdemon of Gluttony appeared cold and emotionless, but there was amusement in his tone. "How dare you?'

"Yes, I am Ravin. Your mind had been incorporated with Apollyon's that it didn't come as a shock to me that you operate the same way." Luna glanced down at her feet because she couldn't handle the naked heat in his golden eyes.

"I can't handle my husband sometimes, and you're signing up also to become a bane of my existence?" Luna said without looking at the male who stood in front of her, his height towering more menacingly over her as minutes go by.

She waved a dismissivehand, "Thanks, but no thanks."

"But they aren't you." He said in a grim confirmation. "You are my wife."

If anyone would have listened to this conversation, they would probably find this amusing.

She wasn't amused at all.

"I have three husbands from different Realms, and there were respected Kings, two of them were Archdemons, in their own right but why can't nobody treat me right and just continue dishing the same old bullshit in the silver platter?" Luna said out loud, complaining to nobody in particular. "By the Goddess Hecate's name, I would rather be alone than being with one husband how much more if you and Luxen were in the picture?"

"If you sample me in bed, I bet I can change your mind."  She heard that dark promise in his husky voice, especially when he caressed her arms, seducing her to sin, tempting her to commit adultery.

The Archdemon looked serious as hell.

How did one commit adultery when you have three husbands?

"My needs are pretty simple. Ravin." Luna shifted her gaze to face him, and Ravin's golden eyes had gone lighter. "Can I have a husband that wouldn't put any conditions over my head at least once? A husband who wouldn't kill me if I made a mistake? A husband who would give me everything he got without taking from me, such as asking for something in exchange? A husband who would love me unconditionally no matter what I do and regardless of who I am?"

The colour of Ravin's eyes was beyond amber and hazel, but it became a pure crystalline purity of yellowish hues the more she spoke to him. "A love that isn't similar to a flame that sparks in a short period of time before it crashes and burns. A love that isn't filled with ego, suffering, selfishness, disappointment and betrayal."

Ravin's eyes had dilated, only the jet black of his pupils broke the startling yellowish-golden depths of them. "A love that isn't of lack and blaming each other when things go wrong. A love which isn't forced."

"A love that would not hold me back and treat me like I was a slave to the mating bond." Luna pressed on. "A love that isn't focused on possessing each other like the other person is a bird that must be placed inside a gilded cage. I want a love that would give me freedom, not an irreversible contract."

Luna parted her lips to argue with him more, but when she jerked her attention back to him, his pupils had flared.

His eyes were a sea of darkness which had already eclipsed the translucent gold in them.

"My love for you is eternal regardless of who you are regardless of the situation, but I will love you with the only way I know how," Ravin said, his tone was flat and even, yet his voice was hauntingly beautiful in its clarity and pitch.

Luna's heart started to pound as she sensed the lethal strength which he was emitting at the moment.

Was he using magic in his voice so that he could convince her to give herself to him?

Did he profess his undying love for her so that she would agree to become his Queen?

Kings were well-known for empty promises.

"I have been an Archdemon for a very long time. I was in the Vampire Realm inside Apollyon's body for millennia, but I have known that love was nothing if it wasn't for all the things you mentioned."

Ravin continued to hold her gaze without discomfort, and Luna automatically read them as a challenge, but every time he talked to her, his clear voice made things inside her shiver with awareness.

The more she stayed in his presence, the harder it was to control herself.

"There are many kinds of love a creature can experience, and I can give you that if you choose me." He said, his words clipped and cold.

She had already suspected an odd resonance she couldn't quite explain which had elicited a peculiar physical response from her.

It was magic, but nothing had compared her suspicions yet.

Luna couldn't believe she was caught in this tragic love triangle between the Vampire King and an Archdemon.

She must respect her husband even if the Archdemon of Gluttony had better promises and a much more beneficial proposition.

Luna didn't think she would dare to replace Apollyon even if she is given a chance to experience profound love from an Archdemon.

Impossible.

Archdemons are ruthless, perhaps more ruthless than Apollyon, and weren't capable of love.

Ravin had already told her this a long time ago, so why would he change for her to make her stay?

Can his love be real, powerful and undying?

There were suddenly dark red embers glowing to life inside of her. "There is a clear distinction about being giving of my love and giving myself up for love."

Just because Ravin made her feel some way like Apollyon didn't mean she had lost her common sense.

Narrowing her eyes, she said, "I don't want to love out of guilt or obligation because that's too tiring and will lead to a lot of resentment."

"You are an Amazon, but I admire the mystery of your femininity." The Archdemon of Gluttony folded his arms, setting his feet apart to assert his dominance. "I bet you are a sensual goddess in bed because I have sent spies all over the Vampire Realm to watch over you."

Ravin's voice went huskier, deeper, straight out of a woman's fantasy, making them his slaves. "My spies… They say your sexual appetites are legendary after the Vampire King deflowered you in the marriage bed."

"Had the Feline King struck a chord in your memory? " Ravin raised an eyebrow in both curiosity and fascination. "I hear you seem to favour Kings as your lovers. "