“Is that so?” Silver let him go so suddenly, Nuri fell against the side of the table. Then without skipping a beat, Silver stormed over to the front door. He practically slapped his palm against the key panel at the side, and yanked it open with enough force it was a wonder the thick wood didn’t completely tear off its hinges.
“You want to leave so badly?” He motioned with a dramatic sweeping of an arm as he held the door wide open. “Be my guest.”
Nuri already felt the gust of icy wind, could smell the frost on the air as it blew into the foyer, instantly causing his skin to prickle, but he turned to look outside anyway. A heavy layer of snow decorated the stone steps leading down to the pathway, the porch only clean due to the awning that protected it. The lights that trailed down the driveway helped illuminate the storm, making the large flakes of snow that were tumbling down easy to make out even in the dead of night.
He’d been so eager to go Nuri hadn’t even thought to check the weather forecast.
“That’s what I thought,” Silver taunted, and maybe it was because of the accident and some yet undiscovered head injury, but that had Nuri’s hackles rising.
His spine straightened and the next thing he knew, he was dragging his bandaged foot toward the door, intent on walking out into the storm as if to prove some point. So what if he hadn’t gotten the chance to call for a cab. He’d find one on the road or take public transportation. Anything to get the hell out of here and away from that smug look painted across the Emperor’s devilish face.
He’d just placed a single foot over the threshold when Silver reacted. Nuri let out a cry of alarm as he was yanked back inside and immediately tossed over the other man’s shoulder like he weighed nothing.
Silver slammed the front door and turned, carrying Nuri across the foyer and then up the stairs, ignoring the way he struggled against him.
“What are you doing?!” Nuri demanded, trying and failing to shove himself upright, unable to with Silver’s arm pressed against the backs of his thighs, holding him in place. The fact something like this had never happened before in all the years they’d known one another had his brain partially malfunctioning.
“Putting you where I can keep an eye on you.” Silver took the stairs two at a time, not even bothering to glance in Falc’s direction when the older man appeared at the end of the hallway leading to his room.
Falc was busy tying the sash to his silk sleeping robe, frowning at them as Silver walked past.
Nuri dropped his gaze, cheeks heating with embarrassment. Even as a kid, he’d always been extra carefulto keep himself as composed as possible around the older gentleman, and in one fell swoop Silver had managed to dash all those efforts to shreds.
He buried his face against the soft material of Silver’s dress shirt, not daring to lift his head until he heard the click of a door lock. When he did, that initial panic he’d felt when Silver had lifted him returned tenfold. “What are we—”
Silver flipped him down onto the mattress set in the center of the room, holding onto the back of his right leg longer so his injury wasn’t as badly affected by the drop. Once he had Nuri sprawled out on his back, he straightened. But he didn’t move away. Instead, he hovered there, staring down through narrowed eyes, his enigmatic expression causing Nuri’s fight-or-flight instincts to kick into overdrive.
They were in the Emperor’s bedroom, with Nuri currently lying against the Emperor’s blood-red silk sheets. As kids, he’d oftentimes be called in here to help Silver study or because he was bored, and once in a while he’d perch himself on the edge of the bed, sure, but never like this, and never as an adult.
The large velvet curtains had been drawn from the window on the other side of the room, painting the entire place in moonlight. From the moment they’d entered and Silver had been touched by it, he’d changed, his appearance altering to the secondary one he kept a mystery to the world.
Nuri had seen it before of course, since they’d roomed together it would have been impossible not to have, but it’d been a long time, and something about it always set his heart thumping wildly, the dirty thoughts kicking into overdrive, spurred on by the primal appearance of a Swift in their moon-kissed form.
Silver’s horns were such a dark shade of blue they were practically black, set just above his temples, curved back over the top of his head. His hair had turned the shade of his namesake,like spun, delicate strands of metal that glistened in the light of the room. His expression was the same, a mixture of anger and determination, but the sudden amethyst color of his eyes and the ring of vibrant gold that circled the irises somehow made him seem fiercer.
Very few people had seen this form, and Nuri was amongst them, something that always made him feel special for no real reason at all.
Only…something was different.
He inhaled sharply when his body responded, his dick hardening almost to the point of pain faster than it ever had before. His hole clenched, and the realization that he was empty came with a stark yearning so intense, a moan ripped out of him before he could stop it.
“What’s happening?” He tried to cover himself, but that only irritated the Emperor, who pulled him into a seated position long enough to tear the coat off of him and toss it to the ground.
Nuri held his breath as he waited for whatever Silver planned to do next, unable to get his body to even consider moving away. He felt entirely out of sorts with this situation, and though he hated himself all the more for it, he couldn’t calm the lust racing through his veins. His hand lifted toward Silver’s belt, but he caught himself just before making contact and forced it back down to his side.
“What did you do?” he demanded, but it didn’t appear as though the Emperor cared to explain.
“You shouldn’t be wandering around on an injured ankle,” Silver said, voice cutting through the tension like a blade, causing Nuri to jolt. “Should have just stayed in your room where I left you.”
Some of his good sense returned and Nuri straightened his spine, careful not to lean too forward otherwise he’d endup planting his face against Silver’s chest. Finally, he was able to tear his gaze away and he set it on the closed door instead, clearing his throat before trusting himself to speak.
“I’ll head back there now and—” He found himself shoved down all over again, this time with Silver’s heavy palm splayed against his shoulder, keeping him pinned.
The move brought the Emperor kneeling over him, one knee pressed between Nuri’s spread legs on the bed, his other hand landing at the side of his head. Silver braced himself, all the while maintaining eye contact and never once losing that blank expression.
Nuri was usually really good at reading the other man’s moods, even when he wasn’t giving any outward tells, but no matter how closely he stared back, he couldn’t for the life of him figure out what Silver was thinking.
“Did I say you could leave?” Silver asked in a rough tone.
