A million different hidden meanings flicked through Nuri’s head, each one more horrifying than the last. The Emperor could make someone disappear with the snap of his fingers. He could have them tortured and tossed into a cell where they’d rot and be forgotten. He could—
“Do you really think so low of me,” Silver’s voice was barely above a whisper, the thread of hurt in his tone catching Nuri’s attention, “you believe I would actually ever physically harm you?”
When he gathered enough courage to meet the other man’s gaze head-on, there was no sign that Nuri had hit a nerve, despite the comment.
Silver stepped back and reached for the body wash, squirting a dollop onto his palm before he captured Nuri’s hand with his free one and tugged him directly under the spray.
Nuri sputtered and turned his head, blinking past the water droplets rolling over his eyes. Strong hands came down on his shoulders, rubbing circles into his skin before traveling down the lengths of his arms and then back to trail over his spine.
The Emperor was bathing him.
Finding it impossible to locate his voice, Nuri could only stand there as those hands explored his body, stroking over hisstomach and around his thighs. He didn’t react until he felt fingers dip between his ass, though it was barely a ghost of a touch, there and gone faster than he could blink.
Despite his earlier comments and that one graze the act didn’t come off sexual. Silver stood close enough that Nuri could feel him there behind him, but aside from his hands, no other part of him made contact.
“It wasn’t a tantrum,” Nuri said quietly, brave all of a sudden with his back turned and the soft caresses against his skin. “You crossed a line.”
“I was angry over your refusal to go to dinner,” Silver surprised him by admitting. “I didn’t like watching you walk away from me. It was childish and petty. It upset you this much?”
“I haven’t seen my siblings in years,” Nuri reminded. “They’re disappointed in me enough already and now…” Tears threatened to slip past his defenses and he hung his head and clenched his jaw in an attempt to keep them at bay.
“Should I order Neve back to planet?”
Nuri spun around, almost whacking his face against the other man’s chest in the process. “Don’t you dare. Don’t fuck with my siblings. It’s bad enough Nate is here. They have a good life on Vitality and I won’t let anyone screw that up, not even you.”
“I didn’t mean for it to sound like a threat,” Silver reassured him. “And you’re the only Narek I want to fuck with. Both literally and figuratively.”
So long as Nuri played the role the Emperor set for him, he meant.
“It’s safe for them there,” Nuri stated.
“Because they’re away from me, you mean.” There was a flash of anger before Silver seemed to get it under control and that blank expression was back. “I’m trying to be gentle withyou, but it seems like you’re intent on fighting me at every turn. All right, if that’s the way you want it.”
Silver lifted Nuri, securing his legs around his waist before he affixed him to the shower wall. His mouth dropped to his in a bruising manner, forcing Nuri to part for him with a nip that came close to drawing blood. His tongue swept in, tangling with his, and the hands he was using to hold Nuri up kneaded his ass.
He wanted to resist, mostly because he was sick of being pulled and tugged in every which direction, but it wasn’t long before Nuri found himself wrapping his arms around Silver’s neck. He held him close, grinding his semi-hard dick against the Emperor’s stomach, and moaned into his mouth.
Everything about this was wrong. They’d been talking about his siblings and he’d been so infuriated just a second ago, but all it’d taken was one taste of Silver’s tongue and now Nuri was a hot mess for him all over again.
Maybe—
A knock on the door had them both pulling back, breathing labored, cheeks red from the exertion and the steam from the shower that surrounded them. The sound came again, a bit more firmly, and with a curse Silver slowly eased Nuri down, careful not to set him too hard on his hurt ankle.
“What?” Silver demanded, stepping from the shower and making his away across the room to the door to yank it open. He kept his body shielding the entrance so whoever was on the other side couldn’t see Nuri at least, but seemed completely uncaring about his own nakedness or the puddles of water he’d tracked over the tile.
“Pardon my intrusion, majesty,” Falc’s calm voice came from around the Emperor, “but the COO of True Ink placed an urgent call for you. I tried to inform him you were otherwise engaged, but it sounds like it may be an emergency.”
They’d been working on a deal with True Ink for months now and the contract was almost finally secured.
“I’ll finish up here and be there in a moment,” Silver said.
“I can manage on my own,” Nuri interrupted, shrugging when Silver sent him a glare over his shoulder, still careful to block the butler's view. “You saw for yourself I can mostly walk on it.” His ankle hurt and it would take him twice as long as it usually would, but he could do it. “We can’t risk losing this deal.”
Something about that statement had the corner of Silver’s mouth tipping upward and he nodded in agreement. “I’ll take the call in the study, Falc.”
“Of course, majesty.”
The Emperor exited, not even bothering to grab a towel off the rack, and pulled the door shut behind him.
