Chapter 24
Silver wasn’t waiting up for him when Nuri arrived at the hotel later that night. Admittedly, a part of him had been expecting it. Had pictured the Emperor standing in the foyer, arms crossed, ready to interrogate him about how he’d spent these past ten hours without him.
But the suite was offputtingly quiet.
Slipping out of his shoes, Nuri left them by the door and trudged into the living area. The lights had been left on the dimmest setting, making it easy enough for him to see as he made his way down the hall toward the bedroom. When he eased the door open, he found Silver already in bed.
He hesitated, considering his options.
This would be the perfect opportunity to sleep elsewhere. The couch looked particularly comfortable, he could definitely have a good night’s rest there. And in the morning, if Silver got mad about it, he could just say he’d been too tired to bother going all the way to bed.
Slowly, he retreated, shutting the door once more.
Back in the living room, he rearranged the throw pillows and removed his jacket, using that as a blanket.
The hotel was designed to please dignitaries and celebrities, with all the amenities and expensive furniture one could expect.
The couch was as comfortable as it’d appeared, soft yet springy enough to cradle his body in all the right places, with the barest hint of lilac and vanilla fabric softener.
It was every bit as comfortable as his bed back home.
And yet…
Nuri couldn’t fall asleep.
He tried. For almost an hour.
It was too quiet though. Too still. The temperature was perfect, and yet Nuri had grown accustom to the warmth a body lying next to him could provide.
He could be stubborn. Could lie to himself and pretend this was nothing, a one off, and stay here until morning.
But if he did that, he’d no doubt be too exhausted to give Nate and Neve the proper attention they deserved, and seeing as how it was their last full day together before he had to return to Ignite…
Nuri tossed off his jacket, leaving it where it landed as he gave in and made his way back down the hall. He was just as quiet entering the room, and didn’t bother changing into his pajamas.
Silver always took the spot closest to the exit, so Nuri rounded the bed and tried to be as careful as possible as he lowered onto the mattress and covered himself with the comforter.
He’d only just closed his eyes when a strong arm settled over his waist and warm breath fanned across the back of his neck.
The Emperor slid to his side of the bed, engulfing him from behind. “What were you doing?”
Nuri checked the clock on the end table and saw that it was close to one am now. “I got here around eleven fifty,” he swore, only for Silver to nuzzle against him soothingly.
“Did you have fun?” his voice was thick with sleep.
“Yes.”
Silver hummed. “Doesn’t sound like it.”
He blew out a breath. “Neve surprised me by bringing her boyfriend.”
“You don’t approve?”
“She’s my little sister.”
“She’s in her twenties.” He chuckled, hand smoothing over Nuri’s stomach, before finding its way under the hem of his shirt.
“Silver.”
“You don’t want to?” His hand stilled, but he pressed his lips to the spot just beneath Nuri’s ear and then gave a light suck, laughing when Nuri’s body quivered. “So responsive. Here. Let me help you relieve some stress, big brother.”
Nuri opened his mouth to protest when Silver switched directions, but the words caught in his throat the second he grasped his dick. He was hard in an instant, writhing shamelessly in the Emperor’s hold.
He rubbed up against Nuri, the bulge in his pants pressing between Nuri’s cheeks suggestively as he jerked him off.
After all of their times together, Silver knew exactly how he liked to be touched, working him into a frenzy within minutes. The sound of him panting and mewling filled the room, and he lifted a leg, partially parting his thighs.
Silver took the invitation, hand slipping lower to cup his balls. He rolled them in his palm, then gave a small tug, licking at Nuri’s throat when he moaned. His finger delved further, tapping against his taint before pulling back and returning to his aching dick.
Nuri was so wet, his pants were already sticky and soaked through, and he whined when Silver fisted him, pressing his face into the pillow as waves of pure pleasure skittered from his shaft throughout the rest of him.
His hole puckered and cinched around air, his sounds turning more desperate and pleading with each passing second.
“You’re so hot, Narek,” Silver whispered directly against the curve of his ear, the gust of warm breath making him shiver. “Do you know how often I pictured having you like this? How close I came to climbing into bed with you and waking you with my hands when we roomed together at university?”
If that were true, no, Nuri had been completely unaware.
There was something dangerous in the admission, something he should have been more alert about, but it illuded him.
The feel of Silver at his back, on his dick, humping against his ass, it was all too much.
He couldn’t keep a clear thought to save his life.
“You’re going to come calling my name,” Silver decreed. “Then I’ll carry you to the shower to clean up. We can fuck if you want to. If you don’t, we won’t. Either way, I’ll have you back and tucked into bed within the hour, so you don’t have to worry about waking in time to meet them.”
“Do it now.” Nuri couldn’t even hold onto the embarrassment. He didn’t care if he sounded pathetic. “Put it in. I need you.”
“My hand gets to pleasure you first, pet.”
“Please.”
“Do you want my cock that badly?”
He shouldn’t. It hadn’t been that long since the last time, yet that didn’t seem to make much of a difference to his body.
“Yes.” Nuri angled his hips, grinding against that bulge more forcefully.
In the next instant, he found himself rolled onto his stomach, a cool breeze skating across his flushed skin as the blanket was tossed aside and his pants were pulled down to his knees.
Silver didn’t seem to have the patience to bring them any further than that, lifting Nuri by the hips.
His cock rammed into him, pushing past unprepared walls.
A growl rumbled up his chest and he drove in harder, balls slapping against Nuri’s taint, each lewd whack causing them both to rise higher and higher.
It stung, but the burn didn’t last long, Nuri’s pained whimpers shifting into howls of rapture.
The curved tip of that massive cock massaging his prostate in a steady rhythm.
He clawed at the sheets and screamed into the pillow when Silver flattened over him, his heavy weight keeping him fastened in place as he railed him.
“It can be like this,” Silver tempted. “Always. Wouldn’t you like that?”
Nuri raised his hips in response, feeling him press against some forbidden space so far inside of him he hadn’t been aware it existed.
“No,” he surprised him by saying. “Not the sex. I’m not talking about fucking you, Nuri.
Or, at least, not just fucking you. I mean all of it.
Lunch with your siblings, movie night’s meeting their significant others.
Having someone to come home to. I’ll always be here.
Waiting. Don’t you want to claim me every bit as much as I do you? ”
Nuri found it difficult to comprehend him. Silver never spoke plainly. There were always several twists and hidden meanings in his words. There was something he wasn’t getting, but the pumping didn’t slow, and it was impossible to think straight when he was being filled so thoroughly.
“What’s wrong with you tonight?” he asked. “You’re acting strangely.”
“You know why I did it. Why I gave you the Swiftbond. A part of you figured it out right away. You’re just too afraid to admit it to yourself.” Silver burrowed into him and gyrated his hips. It didn’t seem like he’d even heard Nuri.
“No.” They both knew what he was refusing, but that didn’t stop the Emperor from continuing.
That hidden meaning revealed itself in an instant, causing Nuri’s anxiety to spike despite how amazing his body was being made to feel.
“If I had that type of reassurance,” he coaxed, “I wouldn’t feel the need to follow you around. You could wander on your own again. Travel, even, if you wanted. Visit your siblings. But only if I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, you couldn’t try to leave me.”
“Silver, don’t.”
“You said it yourself. You know what I want. You’ve known for a while now.”
“No.” He shook his head, fear cutting through the desire. “Stop.”
There was no proof. No reason for him to believe that tiny voice that had whispered the impossible when he’d found out about the bond.
No matter how many times Silver called him his, or threatened to never let him go, Nuri still wouldn’t let himself consider, even for a second, what that could truly mean.
“Stop,” he said more firmly.
“Beg me for it one minute and then resist the next?” Silver tsked. “I’m not just a warm body you can use at your leisure. You can’t view me as an object to be toyed with and discarded. You aren’t one either, despite how desperately you’ve tried to make the both of us believe that’s how I see you.”
“You’re giving me too much credit. I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he lied, crying out when Silver’s thrusts turned bruising.
“If we keep at it like this, someone won’t be able to walk a straight line in front of his siblings at breakfast.”
Nuri bucked in protest, but barely managed to lift a centimeter off the mattress. He didn’t stand a chance against Silver’s weight.
“Think. You’re happy that I let you spend time with them, aren’t you?”
“It doesn’t make up for all the other times you held me back,” Nuri managed to growl.
“The future can be different,” he told him. “I can be more trusting. Laxer.”
“You’re a possessive, arrogant, and presumptuous asshole, your majesty,” he retorted. “You’ll never change.”
“Trying to anger me won’t alter the outcome.” Silver saw right through him. “You’ve had a few days to sit with it. Nate and Neve have helped relax you. You’re ready, Nuri. Ready to hear it, even if you may not be ready to accept it. Yet.”
“I’m going to quit.” His determination sparked and then fizzled just as quickly when Silver pulled his cock back and used his crown to rub directly against his prostate repeatedly.
“You’ll have to win first,” he reminded.
“I’m going to.” Nuri groaned and saw stars as he was edged closer to the finish line. “Quitting doesn’t mean taking on a different position. I’m going to move here, Silver. I’m going to quit and—”
“A Royal Consort can’t reside on a planet separate from their Imperial.”
Even though he knew what they were working up to—or at least, his subconscious had—hearing it out loud, having it confirmed, caused him to whimper. If it were possible, he would have caved in on himself and pulled away, but Silver wasn’t going to let him off that easy.
“I won’t name you until you agree,” the Emperor said.
“But you will agree, Nuri. As soon as we’ve finished this game, once you’ve lost as per our terms, you’ll become my Royal Consort.
No one will dare covet you then. Not Romeo Brixton or anyone else.
And you won’t have anywhere left to hide.
But that’s the beauty in it, don’t you see?
In my knowing you’ll be snared, you’ll finally gain your freedom. ”
It was simple enough for Silver to claim he’d allow Nuri to travel between planets now, with his cock battering him open and his broad shoulders keeping him caged.
But what about later, when the coital bliss had worn off, and they were facing each other once more and he could see the defiance in Nuri’s eyes?
Because he was defiant in this.
Being Royal Consort didn’t mean freedom. It meant giving up what little pieces he’d managed to scrounge together over the years. It meant loosing this knotted, fucked up thing between them, and willingly chaining himself the Emperor. Forever.
Ever since they’d been dumb teenagers, Nuri had failed to treat Silver with the proper level of caution. The Emperor was a bonfire, and he was the fool getting too close, greedy for warmth.
He was about to burn alive, and it was his own damn fault.
“Don’t cry, pet.”
Was he crying?
Oh.
“I’ll make you happy,” Silver darkly promised.
Nuri came on a sob, the orgasm so intense he momentarily lost consciousness. It wasn’t for very long, a few seconds, ten at most, and the Emperor was still fucking him when he came to.
He ripped through Nuri with his exacting cock, prolonging his climax to the point of overstimulation, rutting him into the mattress with enough force it was hard to breathe, and it didn’t appear as though he was going to let up any time soon.
It was as if something had taken him over. Like a part of him thought he could fuck Nuri into submission and make him agree to the sort of proposal.
“You can’t stay here. You can only ever live with me. You’re mine, Nuri. You always have been.”