Page 16 of Rogue Royal
Hours passed as Douglas researched each charity and what they did and had done over the past few years, and it was well past midnight by the time he rubbed his blurry eyes and called it a night. Closing the laptop, he yawned and piled his notes on top, resting everything on his bedside table.
Before he knew it, his phone was beeping at him, and he groaned. There was no way he’d slept enough. Surely it wasn’t morning yet. But the sunlight streaming through the windows told otherwise.
Douglas rolled to his back and threw the covers off. He stared at the ceiling, trying and failing to get his eyes to remain open for longer than a second until he swung his legs over the bed and stood. Necessity demanded his eyes open so that he didn’t fall, and although he yawned continuously, he made it into the shower without incident.
Washing took most of his energy, but his mind buzzed with the ideas from the previous night’s work. He needed to do more before he could approach his parents, but if he could collate everything together, he could ask Maverick to help him make it sound better. Once he was back from his break, anyway.
When his thoughts turned to Maverick, his cock hardened. He hadn’t finished berating himself for taking advantage of Maverick, so Douglas refused to do anything about it. It would go down—eventually.
After he was presentable, he grabbed his laptop and papers and moved to his desk in the sitting room. He called down for breakfast to be delivered to his room, and when it arrived, his eyebrows rose at the printed schedule provided with it. The staff member told him Maverick had requested it sent to him that morning.
Douglas leaned back in his chair and pulled out his phone.
DOUGLAS:Good morning. I hope this doesn’t wake you. How are you feeling today? Thank you for the schedule. I must admit, I wasn’t sure who I needed to approach about asking for it. I’ve been leaning on you too much, and for that, I’m sorry. Have a relaxing break, and I’ll see you in a day or two.
Douglas’s eyebrows lowered as he put his phone down. Despite being a Dominant, he was dropping the ball on real-life things, especially when he should handle them instead of palming them off on someone else. It needed to stop. As Freddie had told him several times, he needed to grow up. He thought he had been, but at thirty-six, he obviously had a lot more to do.
Starting today, it would change.
****
Chapter 6
Maverick
The first thing Mav did when he arrived home was to grab some dinner. He threw a packet of pasta and sauce into a saucepan and cooked it, standing and eating it straight from the pan when it was ready. Once his stomach was full, he filled the pan with water and left it in the sink to soak for when he washed up later. He didn’t have a dishwasher; there was no point when there was only him there.
Double-checking he’d locked the front door, he strode down the hallway to his bedroom, undressed and climbed into bed. Despite the early hour—it was seven o’clock in the evening—and the sleep he’d managed that afternoon, exhaustion consumed him, and he was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
When he woke, he checked the clock to see it was six in the morning. He lay staring at the ceiling. What was he going to do with an entire day off? Two days off? He’d taken no extended breaks for months—it wasn’t anyone’s fault but his own because he should’ve requested someone to take over from him on his days off. The idea of someone else doing what he considered his job was inconceivable, and he never requested a substitute. Instead, he sometimes worked seven days a week to complete the job.
It meant he had less free time to do the things he enjoyed doing. Now, he had two long days of free hours, and he wasn’t sure what to do first.
Climbing out of bed, he jumped into the shower, cleaned and dried off, then dressed in a silk shirt and a pair of cotton trousers. He loved the combination, and the fabrics felt delightful on his skin. Silk was a bugger to clean, but he couldn’t resist, though his dry-clean bill had increased with the more shirts he bought.
Mav switched the radio on as he wandered past it, aiming for the kitchen for breakfast. He never minded getting up early, but no matter what time it was, there was always the hustle and bustle of traffic outside. Sitting at the small dining table to scrambled eggs on toast and a cup of coffee, he stared out of the window as London continued to wake up. He rose once to refill his cup and reclaimed his seat, watching the world go by. It was nice to not have to rush anywhere.
His phone beeped distantly. Patting his pockets, he couldn’t find it and retraced his steps to the kitchen and bedroom until he found it on his bedside table. There wasn’t much charge left, so he plugged it into the living room socket and settled on the sofa. The message was from Douglas, and Mav’s heart raced. He rubbed his forehead and told himself to stop being stupid. Nothing could happen between him and Douglas because of the BDSM thing. Douglas was a Dom, and Mav wasn’t in the lifestyle. He needed to stop the fanciful thoughts.
He read the message, a small smile playing on his lips. He’d purposefully written up the schedule for the next couple of days so Douglas wouldn’t have to ask anyone, which Mav knew Douglas hated doing. As for leaning on him, wasn’t that what Mav’s job was? He was not only Douglas’s social media manager but in charge of his schedule, too.
It was nice of Douglas to check on him. Mav hadn’t expected him to—out of sight, out of mind sort of thing. He tapped his fingers against his lips, remembering the way Douglas had helped him the day before. His hands tingled, and he stared at his palm. Did the sensations Mav felt happen because it was Douglas doing it, or would it have happened with anyone?
He lifted his other hand, his fingertips caressing his skin, sending little sparks of electricity through his hand. Pausing, he clenched his fist to remove the feeling, then opened it wide again. Using his forefinger, he started at the tip of a finger and softly skimmed it over his skin, following the path up and down his fingers and around his palm. Tingles raced after his movement until his hand was one ball of sensation, and his eyelids fluttered. It wasn’t the same as when Douglas had done it, but it still felt amazing. When he stopped, he could feel the ghost of the tickle.
He licked his dry lips when his cock made its presence known. It was hard beneath his trousers, but not in an urgent way. Mav would leave dealing with it until later; he enjoyed waiting occasionally.
He’d set his guitar strap over his head when another message came through.
ZARA: Are we going to have time to video call at some point soon, TG?
Mav laughed. He’d not seen Zara in person for about a year, but they always called or messaged. They’d met in university, both doing media studies, and Zara had moved to Edinburgh with her girlfriend, Tex, as soon as they had finished the course. She and Tex had built an amazing event planning business with Zara taking on the social media side of things and Tex the actual planning.
He dialled her number. It rang a few times before Zara’s face filled the screen, accompanied by a squeal.
“Oh my god! I dropped my phone when you rang because I couldn’t believe you were actually ringing! He lives! Praise be! He lives!”
Mav snorted. “Stop being a bloody drama queen. You know I live because I’ve been answering your random messages all hours of the day and night.”
