Ricochet (21 page)

important part of yourself." He shook his head

sadly. "I am so sorry, Matty."

"Sorry for what?" Matt croaked.

"For all the doms who've failed you up to this

point. You deserved so much more." His green

eyes suddenly seemed very close. "That was the

sweetest spanking I've ever given anyone. I can't

believe nobody found a way to unlock that in you

before but thank you for allowing me the honor."

He leaned forward and placed a light kiss on

Matt's forehead. "Sorry - I always feel protective

after giving an intense spanking. Do you mind?"

Usually, Matt didn't like people being overly

affectionate with him but after what they'd just

done, it felt right. He gave Rick a hazy smile. "No.

I like it."

Rick sat down on the couch beside him and

then rolled onto his side and pulled Matt against

him, so that he was holding him. "This okay?" he

asked.

"Yeah. Mmm." It was exactly what Matt

needed as he came down from his sub-space. He

wanted to feel a dom's arms around him, cradling

him as he came back down to earth. He closed his

eyes and enjoyed the sensation of being held.

Reality was slowly seeping in, and he was

aware of his body feeling warm and heavy. He

suddenly became aware of one other very

important fact, and he opened his eyes in surprise.

"I'm not counting!"

Rick grinned. "Hah! Knew it!" he said, far too

smugly.

Matt didn't begrudge him his moment of

triumph. "That was amazing - thank you, Rick," he

said sincerely.

"You're welcome. I knew there was a way to

connect you to your inner sub."

"So…" Matt turned and looked up into Rick's

eyes. "Uh… could we do that again?"

Rick shrugged. "Well, when you first came in

here, you mentioned daily, so…"

"Yes. Daily!" Matt stretched, luxuriating in

the idea that he might get to feel this good every

single day.

"Not always the same though," Rick said.

"We could mix it up a little. How do you feel

about that?"

"Mix it up how?"

"You ever done any role-play?" Rick winked.

"Not really. I've never dated a dom

imaginative enough to give it a try. They all felt too

stupid doing it. I think I'd feel pretty self-conscious

too," Matt admitted.

"Well, I'm an actor and so are you, so - view

it as improv?" Rick had a wicked gleam in his eye.

"See, I have a feel for how your dynamic works

now, Matty, and I think you'd love to act out some

scenarios. Helpless little slave boy, maybe? Or

snippy sub in need of a lesson?"

Matt felt his cock harden, and he looked

down, blushing. Rick laughed heartily.

"Oh shit." Matt buried his face in Rick's shirt.

"Yeah, I think you like that idea!"

"I got hard when I was over your knee too,"

Matt admitted into Rick's chest.

"I know. I felt it. What's the problem?" Rick

lifted up his chin, so he was looking at him.

"Seems natural enough to me."

"But this is a spanking thing, not a sex thing,

and I know you have that no reruns policy with

subs, so…"

"Hey - I'm happy if you get turned on when I

spank you." Rick grinned. "How you take care of

that after is up to you. This way we get to be spank

buddies, no strings, nothing messy, and we can stay

good friends too - deal?"

"Yes - deal." It was definitely the simplest

arrangement, and Matt had no intention of entering

into a more meaningful kind of relationship with

Rick, no matter how good his spankings were,

because he was still, well,
Rick
, and vastly

annoying with a chaotic lifestyle that made them

completely incompatible. So this was by far the

best idea.

"We could have some fun role-playing," Rick

mused. "How do you feel about me getting really

physical with you? Grabbing you, holding you

down, maybe using a blindfold?"

Matt shivered. "It sounds fantastic. Not

bondage though. That freaks me out. Just your

hands."

"Sure. I figured that, what with you being a

little control freak and all." Matt poked Rick in the

ribs for that, making Rick laugh. "If we're going to

role-play, you'll need to tell me your safeword,"

Rick continued. "You know, so you can act out,

call me names…" He winked. "You know how

much you love calling me names, Matty. I want you

to feel free to let go - to holler, and scream, and

wriggle - because I have a feeling that's what you

need, but obviously I need to know when you're

playacting and when you really want me to stop so,

what's your safeword?"

"I've never had one before," Matt said,

feeling excited about everything Rick was saying.

"I remember spending ages thinking them up when

I was in high school but then I never actually role-

played with anyone, so I didn't really need one."

"Insane." Rick shook his head. "Let's take it

as read that I hate every single dom you've ever

been with."

"Well, it was kind of my fault too. I never

told them what I wanted. I never really told you,

either." He glanced at Rick. "You just seemed to

figure it out."

"It seemed pretty obvious." Rick shrugged.

"You're kind of an open book, Matty - to me at

least. So - what word do you want to use?"

Matt wondered how on earth he was having

this particular conversation with Rick O'Shea. It

was insane. Had he really let Rick take him over

his knee and spank him, and were they really

discussing this becoming a regular thing, complete

with role-play scenarios and safewords? How the

hell had his life become this bizarre?

He felt like he was bouncing off the trailer

walls, lurching from one insanity to another,

and… "Oh!" He looked up, struck by a sudden

sense of inspiration. "That's easy! There's only one

word it can be."

"Well? What is it?"

Matt grinned. "Ricochet!"

Rick felt as if he'd woken up from a long,

drugged sleep. His energy, which had been so

lacking lately, returned with a vengeance. Much as

he'd missed having a sub in his bed, what he'd

missed most was having one over his knees,

trusting him to take them into the stratosphere, and

the afterglow was all the more exquisitely sweet

for having been absent for so long.

"Was it… uh… good for you too?" Matt

asked anxiously.

"Idiot. It was fantastic!"

"Only, I know you've spanked a lot of subs,

and I'm not very good or experienced, so…"

"I told you, you don't have to be perfect

around me. Look what a screw up I am!" Rick told

him firmly. "It was fantastic because you were

honest with your reactions, and I loved that."

There wasn't time to discuss it any further

because there was a knock on the door, and they

were called back on set.

For the first time in weeks, Rick couldn't wait

to get there. He bounded down the trailer steps

with Matt keeping pace behind him and positively

pranced over to the set.

"Hey people! I'm back!" he announced in a

loud voice as he stepped onto the
Collar Crime

HQ set. "Oh yes, Rick O'Shea is back in the

building!" He grabbed one of the twins, launched

her into the air and twirled her, and she giggled

helplessly in his arms.

"We've missed you, Rick," she said, as he grabbed

up the other twin and snuggled them both together.

"You have Matty to thank. Wonderful,

adorable Matty!" Rick twirled Matt too, and

although Matt rolled his eyes heartily, he was also

laughing.

Rick launched himself into the scene - a

conversation between Alex and Ben in the bullpen.

"
Ow…
" Rick sighed, rubbing his ass as he

hopped pathetically over to Ben's desk, in

character as Alex Tanner.

"
Aw - did the chief punish you again?
" Matt,

in character as Ben, grinned at him as he delivered

the line, and Rick found himself grinning back

inanely, amused by the scene's subject matter in

view of what they'd just been up to in Rick's

trailer.

"
Hah - just you wait! One of these days he'll

spank your virgin white ass and then you'll know

how it feels,
" Rick replied, still grinning, far too

amused by it all.

"
I'm not naughty like you, Alex. I'd never

make him so mad that he'd spank me.
" Matt gave

him a sly little wink.

"
Oh, we'll see,
" Rick purred, moving in to

stand close behind him. Rick could feel the heat

radiating from Matt's recently spanked ass, and he

couldn't help a proud little sigh escaping from his

lips. "
It's a cute little ass, Ben - the chief might

not be able to keep his hands off it!
" He gave it a

little spank to illustrate the point, loving the way

Matt squealed and jumped in response.

"Okay - stop!" the director yelled.

Rick glanced up, surprised - the scene wasn't

finished yet.

"Could you do it again, only without making it

look like you want to throw him over your knee

and spank him yourself," the director said to him.

"Alex and Ben are both subs, and while we don't

mind flirting with kinky on this show, please

remember that this relationship is supposed to be

brotherly."

"Brotherly. Right. Yes." Rick glanced at Matt,

and they both doubled over in a fit of giggles.

"At least that's an improvement on the temper

tantrums." The director sighed. "I think," he added,

with a roll of his eyes, when Matt and Rick

wouldn't stop laughing.

They did the scene again, but again the

director interrupted them.

"Could you do it without the spark?" He

waved his hand at them.

"What spark?" Rick asked.

"The spark between you that's lighting up the

shot as much as the freaking lighting rig. All I'm

getting from this scene is Alex fixating on Ben's

ass, and Ben shoving it in his direction constantly.

It looks like flirting, and that's not even remotely in

the writing."

Rick tried to bring it down a notch or two,

and he saw Matt valiantly trying to do the same,

but it was no use - every time he got close to Matt

he wanted to touch his ass and somehow that

showed up on film, no matter how hard he tried to

hide it. They did the scene several times and

eventually the director washed his hands of it.

"We'll cut around it - or put it in and hope

nobody notices," he said grumpily.

Rick didn't care; he was on too much of a

high. Suddenly life was fun again, and he wreaked

havoc on set for the rest of the day, carrying out

practical jokes on each and every cast member.

Daniel found that all the files in the chief's

office had his photo from the
Hot Tops in Hot

Tubs
shoot taped to them; the twins screamed

enthusiastically when they found cockroaches in

their undercover wigs; and Estelle found that her

cigar holder had been replaced by a joke one four

times longer, so she could barely reach the end of

her cigar to light it - although she bravely lit up

anyway, solemnly declaring that the new version

was a great improvement.

Rick saved his pièce de résistance for Karl,

who discovered in the middle of a scene that all

his props had been replaced by various sex toys.

Unfazed, he smoothly delivered his dialogue into a

butt plug instead of a cell phone, not once breaking

character. Everyone on the set cracked up, and

Rick felt on top of the world.

He was well and truly back.

When Matt left his trailer at the end of the

day, he found a small group of people gathered

outside. The twins, Daniel and Karl were all there,

leaning on his trailer, waiting for him. The only

cast regulars missing were Estelle and Rick, who

were both still on set filming the final scene of the

day.

"Well?" Daniel raised an eyebrow.