The game

Peyton wanted many things but marrying a king of Eden was the topmost.

She wanted power. She wanted to command respect from both royals and commoners. She wanted to be Queen.

Relevance in the time of wars and raids was an insult to her dreams. She might have been groomed to lead armies but she wanted to lead kings as well.

Tonight was going to be a vital step towards her dreams. King Luca Jordan was a man whore. The man was swoon by anything with a pussy.

She had been with him long enough to tell he had no intentions of an exclusive relationship not to mention marriage. He was all about living in the moment. She couldn't tie him down even if she wanted to.

Mufasa was simply a manipulative bastard. The man was ambitious and cunny. He was just like her and that was a glaring red light.

He was simply her backup plan. If she couldn't get either of the kings, it'd be easier to fall back on one with ambition.

Jared King. He was simply her mission tonight. Aside from the fact that he was dangerously sexy, Peyton knew nothing about the King than the rumors.

Jared was different from Luca in many ways. The King was a living mystery. Right from the disappearance of his wife, Elena, to the mysterious deaths of those who share his bed.

Jared was gender blind with an obsession for humans. Both men and women whom the king picked interest in, never lived to tell the story.

A few corpses were found outside Eden but the rest simply vanished. No trace of existence.

None of it mattered to the vampire women who were dying for his attention. It certainly didn't matter to the humans who couldn't pass up the privilege.

Peyton was one of those vampire women you couldn't look away from. She could have easily been the hottest thing to grace the earth, with no exception to Eden.

Her beautiful dark eyes shone as she got to the King's door. The man might not have a thing for vampires but she was Peyton. Everyone had a thing for her.

She knocked twice but got no response so she pushed the door open and walked in. He was nowhere in sight.

She sniffed the air and almost moaned in delight at how intoxicating his scent was. He was somewhere in his chambers.

She walked pass the living to his library. He wasn't there. She walked further to his bedroom but he wasn't there either.

One more sniff in the air, she knew exactly where he was. Walking noiselessly on the heels, she found her way to his tub.

The steam made the room foggy. His scent had some kind of minx with blood. Her eyes glowed as she approached the tub.

She made out his figure, submerged in the water. He was backing her and she couldn't help drooling as his muscles flexed when he pushed his hair back.

She had never seen his hair down. It was always in a bun or braided. The hair was thick with a black shine even when it was wet. It stopped halfway to his waist.

He sank into the water again and she took another step closer to catch a glimpse of him.

Suddenly, a force shoved her hard against the wall and she gasped in shock. Staring at her were a set of grey orbs.

"My L-Lord" She swallowed, lowering her gaze. Her cheeks heat up as soon she did. Her eyes drowned every detail of his toned chest. He had a tattoo on his chest. The words were written in a strange language.

She would have understood if she paid more attention but her eyes were taking in his abs down to the teasing v-line.

She gulped, forcing her eyes away before her trembling knees would betray her. This man was larger and more terrifying than she thought. Or was it just the situation?.

"Yes?".

She couldn't understand how a voice so deep could be hard and soothing at the same time.

"I-I.... actually....I.." She couldn't form the words to explain herself. His cold hand pressed against her chin, forcing her face to meet his.

His expression was unreadable but it gave her reason to notice how sharp his features were. This man was definitely sculpted by the goddesses after everyone else was made.

"My hands are itching to crush your face. You have five seconds to give them a reason not to" The calmness was there even when he was giving the deadly threat.

Her legs went jelly completely. It was his grip on her face, holding her up and it was hardening every second.

"M-Message...." She choked out and he released her immediately. She crashed to the floor and he simply stepped over her to get his robe.

"Five minutes" He said and walked out. She got up and massaged her chin gently before following him.

The man was rougher than she thought. She didn't even think of him as rough which was funny now considering how brutal was on the battlefields.

She watched him dry his hair with a towel and wrap it in a bun.

"Three minutes" He said and she blinked. He dropped the towel and stared intently at her for a moment.

"What's your name?" He asked and her jaw dropped. Was this some kind of joke?.

"Peyton, my Lord" She replied nonetheless.

"Whoever sent you clearly couldn't find someone more intelligent. What is you work here?" He asked and she could only stare in disbelief. Was he insulting her on purpose?.

He had a bored expression on this time. She took a deep breath to push back the anger.

"I am your second-in-command, my Lord. Commander of the royal army" She explained.

"That's new. How long?" He asked and she forced herself to stay calm.

"Seven decades, my Lord. I have been fighting by your side for seven decades" She said almost seething.

"Mmm... you're not as unintelligent as I thought. Why are you here? I'm sure the introduction was no part of your genius plan" He said and her eyes snapped to his.

His lips twitched in amusement.

"Don't act so surprised, Python. You didn't wear all that perfume and interrupt my bath just to introduce yourself. If you're here to seduce me, you can as well get on with it" He shrugged.

She was paralysed with shock. She didn't even care about what he called her.

He reached for a drawer and pulled out a blade. Her body tensed at the sight of the switch blade.

She trembled as he approached her and stepped backwards.

He kept coming until her back hit the wall. He leaned against her. His breath moved up to her ear.

"Entertain me" He commanded and the lights went off. She panicked as she felt the blade running up her expose skin.

"And if you fail to arouse me, we will play a game" He whispered. She never felt more terrified in her entire life.

Vampires were hard to kill and they healed up quickly but she didn't know what this man could do. She didn't know half the things he was capable of.

"W-What g-game my L-Lord?" She stuttered.

"Oh, it's just hide and seek. You just have to find me before I find you" He nibbled softly on her ear and she whimpered.

"That's it, darling. We seduce with blood".

Then he slashed her back with the knife. She shrieked and staggered back.

It was then she realised how much trouble she was in. She had literally walked into her death. This man was a demon.

"You can call me that. Others just say Jared" She flinched as she heard the cold whisper in her ear but he had given her another cut across her stomach.

How he had taken off her clothes was a mystery but these cuts were not healing as fast as she thought they would. She had to defend herself.

"Yes, sweetheart. Time's up. Let's play". She sensed a knife flying towards her and caught it.

It burned her hand so much that she almost let go. Realisation dawned on her. She suddenly realized why her wounds were healing slowly. Silver!

She felt a cut across her shoulder blade and winced. She stretched her eyesight she couldn't find him.

She needed to hide inorder to seek him out.