Chapter 3
Nuri shouldn’t be doing this.
He knew he shouldn’t.
It was wrong on so many levels.
And yet…
A moan slipped past his lips and he quickly buried his face against his pillow to muffle it.
He’d been sure to lock the door to his bedroom after dinner but still feared being caught in the act.
Another reason he’d wanted freedom from this place and an apartment of his own.
At times like this, it was like being pulled back into the past, where he was little more than a timid, horny teen, afraid of getting caught and embarrassing himself.
The vibrator inserted deep inside of him kicked up a notch, reminding him that he’d set it to alternate between speeds when it had him jerking and crying out.
He was lying on his stomach, straddling his other pillow, the plush material gripped tightly between his thighs as he humped into it, stroking himself in time with the pulsations currently causing his toes to curl.
It didn’t allude him what he was doing. Mirroring the pose from the video. Chasing after a dark fantasy. If Silver knew about this, knew how often his secretary pictured him naked, would he be disgusted? Feel betrayed?
Who was he kidding.
Silver would laugh at him and then tell him to pass the morning meeting notes.
Admittedly, Nuri’s imagination wasn’t typically very…
colorful, when it came to this sort of thing.
There was the occasional taboo thought when he’d gone too long between touching himself.
Thoughts where Silver got a little rough with him, but for the most part, his daydreams were of the vanilla variety, things like Silver making love to him in the semi darkness, tenderly and sweet.
Of course, he’d known that style of sex was likely unheard of for the Emperor, considering his personality, but in the safety of his own mind, Nuri had allowed himself to pretend.
That was all it’d ever been, and all it’d ever meant to be.
No part of him actually envisioned a real sexual relationship with Silver, let alone a romantic one.
He loved the idea of the man, purely because he’d been kept so intrinsically tied to him there were no other contenders for Nuri’s mind to latch onto. But, despite what his siblings might believe, Nuri understood his place.
He could never be anything more to Silver than what he was right now.
And that was fine.
But damn the man for showing him that video.
It’d been pure torture to work in the same office as Silver for the rest of the day, trying to hide his semi-hard state.
Whenever he dropped his guard even a little, he’d felt the tell-tale burn of the Emperor’s eyes on him, which had only made him rethink of the images on that screen, and in turn rekindled that arousal.
What the hell was wrong with him? It’d been aggressive and somewhat illegal. Silver had completely ignored Ackor’s wishes, and used him.
Pinned him down.
Made him scream.
The vibrator switched speeds again, slowing this time, and Nuri turned his head and seized the opportunity to gasp for air. His eyes caught the time flashing on the clock and he was startled to discover he’d been at this for over a half hour and had yet to come.
Typically, it took him a maximum of ten minutes, not that he partook in masturbation often.
The toy massaging his insides was one that’d been stuffed in the back of his dresser drawer for years, left there untouched.
He’d only even recalled its existence when the cold shower hadn’t worked at cooling him off and he’d gotten a bit desperate.
His personal playtime could be summed up in two words: short and sweet.
Maybe four, since fast and easy also applied.
It wasn’t that he didn’t have a libido, it was more that he was rather good at curbing those desires and focusing his attentions on things that actually mattered.
His work kept him busy, and there was always something else that needed to be done that he could pour himself into whenever his body craved release.
He’d had sexual engagements in the past, though few and far between. Had experienced satisfaction, if not the aftereffects of supposed bliss he’d heard so much about. Maybe he should listen to Nate and seek out a partner. A real one. Perhaps an adult relationship would do him some good after all.
If nothing else, it would surely stop him from experiencing a lapse in judgment like he was right now.
The vibrator sped up again suddenly, and he barely covered his mouth in time.
This was insanity.
What was he doing?
He should be going over the information he’d dug up on Ackor Hue one last time before calling it a night. He had an early start in the morning, and then needed to finish packing for his trip.
He didn’t have time for this.
Didn’t have time to hyper fixate on the sight of Silver’s proud cock, glistening from precome. Or the way it’d looked furiously pounding into Ackor’s body. Forcing itself all the way to the hilt in powerful motions that had to have caused discomfort as much as it delivered pleasure.
Of the veins in Silver’s hands as he dug his fingers into the other man’s hips, bruisingly tight. Almost as though he was afraid to let go. To lose him.
Was he seriously romanticizing the Emperor’s actions now?
He—
The sound of his multi-slate beeping cut off his train of thought, and he grit his teeth and turned his head toward the nightstand just as N.I.M. connected with the device and pulled up the message he’d received.
N.I.M. projected it against the wall next to the headboard, neon blue words appearing vividly against the white paint.
Seeing the message from his sister—threatening to kidnap him if he even considered breaking his word again about visiting—should have killed his hard-on, but the vibrator switched to the maximum speed then, and Nuri found himself pushed over the edge instead.
His vision blurred, the blue lines of text becoming illegible as he gasped and twitched, his dick squirting all over the pillow he was riding.
His ass clenched around the toy, still buzzing, the onslaught of continuous vibrations almost enough to have him drooling as his orgasm tore through him, controlling him and keeping him locked in place, forced to ride it out.
As soon as he was able, he made a desperate attempt for the remote resting next to N.I.M.
, but it was just out of reach. Tears prickled at the corners of his eyes as overstimulation kicked in, but he barely had the energy to extend his arm another inch, let alone to reach beneath the covers and pull the toy out.
A fleeting thought flashed through his mind unbidden, that maybe this was a little bit how Ackor Hue had felt that night, pinned beneath Silver, forced to keep going despite wanting it to end.
The second orgasm was such a shock it took Nuri down. He dropped onto the bed, jerking and whining as more fluid shot from his tip, staining the already drenched material between his thighs.
He’d never gone twice in a row before. Not on his own, or with a partner.
Minutes passed before he was finally able to collect his strength enough to make a try for the remote again.
This time, he managed to grab it, hitting the off button and then sighing in relief when the vibrator stopped.
He still didn’t have the energy to pull it out, but at least most of the torture was over.
At some point, he must have dozed off, because he woke with a start almost an hour later to the sound of his multi-slate ringing.
“Hello?” Nuri cleared his throat, frowning down at the screen when he realized the call was coming from one of their distribution centers a town over.
“Royal Secretary Narek,” a panicked male voice came through the line, “I’m sorry to disturb you this late, but there’s been an incident. I think you’re going to have to come down here, sir.”
“What happened?” Nuri shot out of bed, wincing when the toy lodged inside of him shifted.
He yanked it out and squeezed his eyes shut against the discomfort before using his other hand to grab his multi-slate.
He headed to the bathroom, dropping the toy into the sink and flicking the water on to clean it as he waited for the man on the phone to explain.
“There was a break in,” Keng, the facility’s site manager, began.
“We’re trying to sort through what’s missing, but they managed to trash Section 09 before the alarms were tripped.
It gets worse. A fire broke out in Section 13.
We’re assessing the damage…it doesn’t look good.
The police are here, but they’re requesting someone in charge be present. ”
Which meant Nuri. As the CEO’s righthand, it was his job to oversee things like this and help solve the problem in a clean and concise.
“Are the press already involved?” Nuri would need to get a handle on the story before anything pertinent leaked through the media.
He rushed back to his room, quickly pulling clothes from the wardrobe. This particular warehouse was a twenty-four-minute drive from the estate. He’d need to leave immediately so as not to keep the officers waiting longer than necessary.
“They arrived not too long ago,” Keng said. “I’ve done my best to keep them on the outskirts of the parking lot, but some of them have managed to snap photos of the building.”
“Take inventory as quickly as possible,” Nuri instructed. “Log everything. Cooperate with the police as well, and tell them I’m on my way.”
“Of course, sir. I’ll have a detailed report by the time you arrive.”
Nuri ended the call and snatched N.I.M. off the end table before making a beeline for the exit. He tugged the door open and stepped out into the hallway, not catching sight of the tall object standing there until it was too late and he’d already smacked into it.
Strong arms reached out, capturing him around the waist to steady him before he could stumble back more than a step.
“What’s wrong?” Silver’s voice pulled Nuri’s gaze to his face.
“Apologies.” He freed himself from the Emperor’s hold.
“Where are you going?” Silver frowned as he took in Nuri’s outfit. “It’s almost midnight.”
“To the warehouse in Avery. There’s been an issue that needs my attention.” Nuri started walking past him, but Silver caught his arm and pulled him to a halt.
“Narek, surely whatever it is, it can wait until morning.”
He shook his head. “Someone broke into the building. The police are there now. Majesty, I need to go.”
Silver’s hand slid down his arm, and before Nuri realized his intent, he’d slipped the hovercar key from his hold. “I’ll drive then.”
Nuri opened his mouth to argue, but the Emperor didn’t give him the chance, already halfway down the hall before Nuri could so much as blink.
* * *
“Only twelve units survived the fire, sir.” Keng handed over a holopad with the detailed descriptions of what was broken or had been taken, rubbing a hand over his face afterward. He was older than Nuri by a decade, and looked exhausted.
Nuri had arrived over an hour ago, and had only just wrapped up his discussion with the investigating officers.
It was clear that whoever was responsible for this destruction, they’d had insight.
Not only had the security cameras somehow been switched off before the infiltration, but whoever had entered also knew exactly where to find what they were looking for.
“They targeted Serenity.” Nuri flicked through the list of items. “The destruction in Section 09 was a diversion.” There was nothing of importance stored in that part of the warehouse, mostly spare parts that could easily be replaced at a relatively cheap cost. But it was located on the opposite side of the warehouse, and once the alarms had been triggered there, the guards had all headed that way.
“Someone is trying to prevent our launch.”
“A competitor?” Keng pursed his lips. “I’m having all of the old security footage combed through. If anyone suspicious is spotted lingering around the place in the past couple of months, I’ll have them identified with copies sent to you and the police.”
“Narek.” Silver, who’d been speaking with the detectives on the other side of the room, approached, hands in his pockets.
Nuri and Keng both turned and bowed to him.
“Your majesty,” Keng kept his head down, “I apologize. I’m in charge of—”
“Why didn’t the sprinkler system activate the moment smoke was detected?” Silver questioned tersely, but his eyes weren’t on Keng. They remained locked on Nuri instead, cold and unblinking.
“I’ve ordered diagnostics,” Nuri said. “They were in working order as of last weekend when I had the systems thoroughly checked.”
“And yet, somehow, they failed to respond, and now we’re out millions. Billons, if our launch date is affected because of this.”
He straightened his spine. “I’ll figure things out and ensure the product will still launch as planned.”
“See to it that you do, Narek.” Silver finally acknowledged Keng’s presence with a glare, though his next words were still directed at Nuri. “Open an investigation into all employees here. I want to know how this happened, and want everyone who failed to do their job tonight immediately dismissed.”
“Sir.” Nuri glanced between him and Keng. “If I may interject—”
“Falc has sent a driver for me.” Silver tossed the hovercar key at Nuri. “I’m heading home. Make sure you aren’t late for the morning meeting.”
Nuri caught the key, knowing better than to try and reason with him at a time like this.
Instead, he waited until Silver had exited the room, and then sighed and turned to Keng.
“He isn’t wrong about the security detail.
They’ll have to be replaced. But don’t worry about your position.
Once I figure out the real person responsible, CEO Rein will forget all about what he said here. ”
Keng had been employed with the company since the beginning and was a hard worker.
“You weren’t even scheduled to be here tonight,” Nuri reminded. “But I’m told you arrived within ten minutes. Your wife must be worried. Go home. I can take care of the rest.”
“I couldn’t possibly—”
“You already started all the right processes,” he said. “All I have to do is oversee them. It’s fine. I have to make a ton of calls, so it’s not like I’ll be leaving any time soon anyway.”
“Still—”
“This is my job, Keng,” Nuri allowed his tone to take on a slight edge. “I humbly request that you allow me to do it without getting in the way.”
Keng opened his mouth, but then closed it and nodded. “Understood, sir. Thank you.”
“Tell Avelina the cookies she sent to the office last month were a huge hit. The staff appreciated her consideration.”
Keng smiled, nodded again, and then left Nuri to it.