Chapter 16
Nuri rested his head back against the wooden headboard, staring sightlessly out the large bay window to his right.
This side of the mansion overlooked a vast lake that was currently frozen over.
Thick, fluffy snowflakes drifted down from a light gray sky, momentarily making him consider being grateful he was indoors and secure under the heavy duvet.
He let out a disappointed sigh. That had always been his problem.
He was too quick to look on the bright side and be grateful for small things when everything else around him was seemingly going to shit.
Fact of the matter was, he was right back where he’d started.
Trapped within the confines of the Rien family home, under the order of the Emperor.
The only major difference was the soreness in his limbs and rear. It’d taken well over an hour since he’d woken for him to even be able to sit, and even then, he had to constantly shift to a more comfortable position every couple of minutes or so.
The clock on the nightstand read nine AM and he was alone in the Emperor’s room.
He’d considered trying to get up to go to the bathroom but figured he’d need a bit longer for his body to adjust. The aches and pains were new to him, since the only other time he’d partaken in sex that rough had been in his fantasies, and though they weren’t entirely awful, a part of him hated what they stood for.
Last night the Emperor of Ignite, CEO of Rien Inc., and secret one-sided crush of Nuri Narek, had fucked him.
For hours.
Nuri was certain he’d even come close to passing out a time or two from dehydration and overexertion. They’d gone more rounds than he could count until the first rays of the sun had lightened the sky outside, and yet for all but the final time, Nuri had been the only one who came.
As if Silver had held himself back on purpose to further taunt Nuri. Almost like he was silently saying, “Did you really think you stood a chance against me?”
Not only had Nuri lost their bet, but he’d also lost miserably.
Groaning in mortification, he covered his face with his hands, grateful at least that he was alone and could wallow without an audience.
This was exactly why it was too dangerous for him to continue being around the Emperor.
Whenever he was, lust messed with his cognitive skills and turned him into an idiot.
Although…At least now he knew. He’d finally experienced what it was like to be held down and roughly taken by Silver Rien. He could successfully check that off his Bucket List and move on.
…Right?
This wouldn’t do. He needed to come up with a plan of action, a way of getting himself out of this mess.
Starting with returning to his own room.
Staying here wouldn’t do him any good, and besides, there was little doubt in his mind Silver would kick him out the moment he was back from wherever he was anyway.
The least Nuri could do was save himself further humiliation.
His room was located down the hall and was half the size of the massive one he was currently in. Though it’d remained mostly untouched since he’d moved out and into his apartment. Nuri never enjoyed those times when he was forced to stay in that old room, even surrounded by familiar things.
He’d been allowed to decorate his personal space however he liked, and had even been given a hefty sum of money to do so by Sij.
Silver had taken Nuri out shopping and the two had made a day of it.
It was one of the rare fond recollections he had where nothing had gone wrong and Nuri had been able to pretend things were different between them.
It’d almost been like a date even, and at the end of the day, he’d been so caught up in the thrall of it all that most of the items had been selected by Silver instead of him.
Nuri hadn’t minded then. But ever since they’d graduated the room had changed meaning for him, soured some over time.
That almost perfect day he used to look back on with fondness had turned into a sick joke, a mockery of all the things a na?ve teenage him had longed for but would never actually have.
Would last night eventually tarnish in the same way? Losing its luster the longer time passed, until the almost exhilarated feeling he had now over having finally experienced it was nothing more than resentment and woe for something he could never have again?
Last night was a fluke, he was sure of it, Silver’s angry and possibly desperate attempt to back Nuri into a corner after he’d tried to resign.
How he’d known Nuri would be susceptible to that type of advance was beyond him, and frankly, he didn’t want to puzzle over it for too long for fear it’d only heighten his embarrassment.
When Silver called him his, he meant it the way one did their car or their favorite blanket. Sure, it was nice that there was an edge of serious possessiveness there, of perhaps even fondness, but it didn’t change the facts.
Nuri was a person, not an object.
What he wanted from a future partner was to be treated as such, and that was something he’d known for a very long time now, Silver Rein was simply not capable of.
That was one of the major reasons Nuri had put those na?ve thoughts away after high school graduation.
It’d been a long time since he’d felt those old feelings rise up, and he didn’t like that they were doing so now.
It was one thing to be sexually attracted to the Emperor. Everyone was, so Nuri couldn’t be faulted for that. But to actually like the guy? To truly fall for him?
Only an idiot would do that, and Nuri had always been top of his class.
“What are you thinking about so hard by yourself?” Silver’s deep voice penetrated Nuri’s thoughts, startling him. The Emperor stood just within the doorway, the door already closed at his back, hands tucked into the front pockets of the navy blue dress pants he wore.
The suit was well made, tight in all the right places to help accentuate the breadth of his shoulders and the length of his legs.
He’d loosened the black checkered tie around his neck carelessly, and undone two of the top buttons on the pearlescent white dress shirt, giving him an almost disheveled look that typically would have had Nuri’s heartrate skyrocketing.
But Nuri was still too exhausted and overwhelmed by yesterday’s events, and he almost laughed at himself for it.
Maybe getting into an accident was the best thing that could have happened to him, if it was what had led to this and was allowing him to finally break the cycle of secretly pining after his boss.
“Narek,” Silver prompted a bit impatiently, signaling to Nuri that he’d been silent too long.
He cleared his throat. There were so many things he wanted to say, and none of them felt appropriate to mention, so he ended up with the one topic that seemed the least taboo. “Is Nate up?”
“He’s already had breakfast,” Silver informed him. “He’s collecting his meager things and preparing to leave for the airport. I’ve ordered Falc to accompany him.”
“I’d like to go with him.”
“Not after last night.”
“I—”
“Don’t pretend you aren’t sore, pet.”
Nuri paused, suspicion rising, and though he was embarrassed, he couldn’t stop himself from voicing his new doubts. “You did it on purpose, didn’t you?”
“Fucked you over and over enough times to ensure you’d find it difficult to walk today?” Silver easily picked up on what he was asking. “Yes. I’ll be impressed if you can make it down the hall to the study, let alone through a large airport.”
“That wasn’t necessary.”
“You enjoyed it too.”
“You promised you wouldn’t do things like this.” So much for that. Nuri should have known better than to believe him even for a second.
Silver cocked his head. “I promised to refrain from controlling you everywhere but in the bedroom. I kept that promise.”
“Bullshit. Screwing me hard enough to keep me from doing daily tasks outside of the bedroom is still controlling me outside of the bedroom.”
“You’re angry,” Silver sighed. “It’s fine. I knew you would be.”
“And yet you did it anyway?”
“I couldn’t risk you attempting to leave with your brother. If you’d made a public scene...”
Nuri considered it and then snorted. “Don’t pretend that my doing so would have forced your hand. That wouldn’t have been enough for you to drop my name from the list and we both know it.” He inwardly cursed. “I can’t believe I was in here feeling bad.”
That caught Silver’s attention. “Bad for what?”
The petty part of him wanted to refuse to answer, but really, he was only slightly upset at the Emperor for his actions.
The fact of the matter was, even though he wouldn’t confess as much out loud, Nuri had enjoyed last night.
Even if it meant dancing to the Emperor’s tune another day, he didn’t think he’d take it back if given the opportunity.
There was also the matter of how he’d delivered his resignation in the first place to consider. He didn’t want to, but now that he’d had some time for the rage to settle in his gut, Nuri could admit that he’d been hasty with his decision to quit on the spot the way that he had.
“A couple of weeks should give me enough time to properly train my replacement, at least on the basics. I believe Marta would make a good choice, as she’s already familiar with many aspects of my job.”
“Have you forgotten our agreement already?” Silver moved a step closer. “Do you perhaps need a reminder?”
“I’ve thought it over and I realize that I was too harsh,” Nuri tried again. “Leaving you in the lurch was irresponsible of me, and unprofessional.”
“Unprofessional?” Silver grunted, seemingly holding back a grin. “You’ve had my cock up your ass, Narek. I think we’re way past that, don’t you?”