Ricochet (49 page)

Rick had done his homework and everything

in the script was something he'd incorporated into

their play session, so there was nothing Matt

would be unfamiliar with when he came to shoot

the scene.

Karl leaned over Matt and tied his arms to the

ornate iron headboard of the bed, and Rick saw

Matt's fear of bondage rising up immediately; he

pulled on the ropes around his wrists, a look of

panic on his face that was all him and not Ben.

Rick went and stood in Matt's direct line of vision,

and Matt relaxed and got back into character again.

The camera swooped around Matt, and Rick

could see that Chang had an eye for how to capture

Matt's body on film the way Jason was capturing

Ben's body in the script.

"Slap him - hard," Chang ordered, and Karl

feigned a hard slap across Matt's jaw. "Really

force him, Karl. Make it count. I want Ben taken

down to his core - I want him to feel exposed and

lost. He's never done this before, so he doesn't

know that Jason is a bad dom - he's got nothing to

compare him with."

"He feels it," Matt said. "He feels it's wrong,

but he thinks maybe he had all these stupid,

unrealistic notions of how it would be in his head."

"Yes!" Chang agreed. "Let's see that - I want

to see it in his eyes: the wrongness, the fear."

"He's trying so hard… he's done this big,

reckless thing because he wanted his life to

change, and he thought his courage would be

rewarded," Matt said, and Rick thought of Matt

kneeling on the floor at Fantasia awaiting his

fantasy dom.

"But now it's all turning out so differently,

and he doesn't know if he should love it…" Chang

continued.

"Or hate it. He so wants to explore who he

is."

"He's hungry for experience."

"And he's struggling - he's struggling with

himself to find his own submission."

"Yes!"

Chang and Matt exchanged a look of perfect

understanding, and Chang called for the next take

to begin. The camera began swooping around Matt

and Karl again, and you could have heard a pin

drop.

Matt took everything Karl threw his way and

ran with it, totally immersed in his character; Rick

could see that he now understood what Ben was

doing and why, in a way he'd struggled with a few

days ago.

"
You're mine now,
" Karl said, straddling

Matt's body and stroking his fingers over Matt's

nipples, and Rick felt an unexpected surge of

possessive jealousy. It was so strong that he had to

clench his fists hard by his sides.

Matt didn't belong to him, he reminded

himself, so he didn't have any right to feel jealous

about another dom touching him. Besides, this was

all make-believe anyway; it shouldn't bother him.

Rick dug his fingernails into the palms of his

hands, trying to focus on the pain rather than his

own emotions.

Karl leaned down and pressed a kiss to

Matt's belly, and Rick felt so sick he had to look

away. He wanted to leave, but he couldn't abandon

Matt now. He'd promised to be here so he'd damn

well stay, but it was hard watching another dom

stroking their hands all over Matt's naked body. He

felt an unreasonable urge to go over there and slam

his fist into Karl's face. He wanted to untie Matt,

carry him back to his trailer, sink his cock into

him, and claim him for his own.

He fought a silent struggle with himself,

breathing deeply, trying not to lose control as Matt

squirmed and fought against Karl's insistent

seduction.

Jason Jarvis wouldn't be denied; he ignored

Ben's safeword, and Matt's eyes registered Ben's

shocked realization that he was trapped, and there

really was no escape.

"
I'm going to take you whether you like it or

not,
" Karl purred, taking hold of Matt's legs and

forcing them open. "Surrender to me."

Rick was clenching his fists so tightly that he

could feel his fingernails cutting into his palms.

Matt played Ben's inner turmoil perfectly. He

was scared and confused, but he was hanging on in

there. He knew that he was going to lose his

virginity to this handsome seducer, and he could

either do it willingly or fight it all the way - it was

his choice.

Matt paused and looked straight over the

cameraman's shoulder, directly at Rick, and Rick

gazed back at him, spellbound by the expression in

Matt's eyes. He looked confused, troubled and

unsure. Then his expression changed, and he

seemed to find some core of inner peace. He

stopped fighting and surrendered - and he offered

that surrender directly to Rick.

Rick was transfixed by the truth and honesty

in Matt's eyes in that moment. He'd stripped Ben

bare and laid him out for all to see, and Rick felt

he'd got a glimpse into the character's soul.

"
I do surrender to you,
" Matt said quietly,

talking directly to Rick. "
You can have me - all of

me.
" There was a pause. "
I'm yours,
" he added, his eyes blazing with sincerity.

Rick held Matt's gaze, unblinking, and when

Chang called "cut" there was silence in the room.

Chang cleared his throat. "Yeah. Shit. That'll

do. That'll fucking do!"

"No more takes?" Karl asked.

"Nah. We got what we needed right there."

Chang glanced at Matt. "You - sweetheart - you're

pretty, but you've never touched me with your

acting before today. I kept pushing at you, trying to

goad you into finding the truth of the character, but

it seemed to me like you were never prepared to

really put yourself out there. You always clung on

too much to yourself, like you couldn't quite let go

and be someone else. But today… today you

fucking rocked, Matt! That blew me away."

The crew burst into a round of spontaneous

applause, and Matt blushed and bowed, as best he

could with bound hands.

Rick pulled on his jeans, and then he went

over to the bed and threw a bathrobe over Matt,

covering his naked body while he untied his arms.

"Wow - so the evil Steve Chang just

complimented you," Rick said with a grin, pleased

that nobody was touching Matt now except him.

"I always liked him," Matt said, with a

completely straight face. "He's my favorite

director."

Rick pinched him for that.

"Hey - what happened to your hands?" Matt

caught hold of one of his hands and examined the

red crescents where Rick had dug his nails into the

palms.

"I was just on edge, wanting you to do this

well," Rick lied. He drew his hand away,

shouldered himself into his shirt, and began

buttoning it up.

"That was amazing," Petra said, sitting on the

bed beside them while pulling on her tee shirt over

her bra at the same time. "Matt, you were fantastic,

honey - you captured everything I wanted to see.

There's so much poignancy in knowing that Ben

has finally found his surrender - but with the wrong

person."

"Yes," Matt murmured, glancing at Rick.

"We could see in that moment that Ben is

giving his heart to Jason Jarvis, but the audience

knows he's going to get it broken, and that's so

devastating." Petra gave a happy sigh.

"Yes." Matt looked away again.

"And I could feel it! It felt so real, so

tangible. Amazing acting, Matt!" She leaned over

and patted his shoulder and then got up and left.

"She's right. That was an amazing piece of

acting, Matt," Rick said softly. Karl glanced at him

sharply from where he was doing up his jeans

nearby.

"It wasn't acting though," Matt replied,

looking up and meeting Rick's eye again. "Was it,

Rick? The uptight sub finally finds his sexuality but

with the wrong dom, and he gets his heart broken

in the process. Sound familiar?"

Rick sat there, staring at him, speechless.

When he made no reply Matt got up, wrapped the

robe around his body, and left, without saying

another word.

"Are you going to just let him go?" Karl

asked.

"What business is it of yours?" Rick growled,

getting up.

"It's my business because I feel responsible

for this whole damn mess!" Karl grabbed his arm

and shoved him into a corner, out of earshot.

"What the hell are you doing?" Rick pulled

his arm angrily out of Karl's grasp.

"Look, O'Shea, when I first walked onto this

set it was clear as day that you and Matt were

crazy for each other. All the squabbling, teasing,

and flirting, and the way you'd touch each other all

the time and pretend it was play fighting."

"What? Don't be an idiot! Everyone knows

we're just friends."

"No! Everyone bloody well knows you've got

the hots for each other, and we're all sick and tired

of watching you dance around each other all the

time!" Karl threw his hands up in exasperation.

"So when you threw that ridiculous hissy fit about

missing a spanking partner, I rigged it so that Matt

drew the short straw and volunteered for that

dubious pleasure. I thought it might bring you

together."

Rick blinked in surprise. "You rigged that?"

"Of course I did! I texted the others to come

to my trailer ten minutes before Matt arrived and

told them my plan, and they all agreed to give it a

try. None of them was ever going to draw the short

straw - I made sure of that. For fuck's sake, can

you seriously imagine Daniel Mayfield of all

people, coming to ask you for a spanking?"

"Well…" Rick paused. "No, I guess not."

Even his lurid imagination couldn't supply the

details of the dignified, grieving Daniel offering

himself up to be his spank buddy.

"Or Estelle? She's old enough to be your

grandmother! Or the twins?"

"Why not the twins?" Rick glanced over to

where they were roller-skating through the set,

causing an adorable kind of mayhem, as usual.

"Because they were into Petra and just about

to start dating her! Damn it, Rick, don't you have

eyes in your head?"

"Well, I did wonder…" Rick paused and

glanced at them again. "Wait - they're dating Petra?

Both of them?"

"Of course! They're a package deal. You

know they'd never be split up, not even in love -

they were always looking for someone dom enough

to take them both on."

"Ooh. Twincest. Kinda kinky." Rick gave

Karl a leering wink.

"For fuck's sake - what is wrong with you?"

Karl snapped. "I look at you sometimes, and I see

there's someone in there, Rick." He pointed his

finger at Rick's forehead. "Like today, during that

sex scene - you were someone else on set today,

and I finally got what Matt must see in you because

up until now I'd been wondering."

"Aw. I'm hurt." Rick made a face.

"Is that it?" Karl asked quietly. "You'd rather

keep up the big act than go after that sub and be

honest with him?"

"I don't want to…" Rick hesitated and pulled

himself up to his full height, which was half a head

taller than Karl. "I don't want to break his heart,

Karl."

"Newsflash, O'Shea: by the looks of it, you

already did. Now the least you can do is dom up,

go over there, and explain to him whatever the hell

is going on inside your stupid head."

Karl gave him one last look of disgust, and

then he stalked off.

Matt sat on the floor of his trailer, behind the

couch, and wrapped his arms around his knees,

feeling like he'd just made a giant fool of himself.

Chang might have praised his acting, but Matt felt

like he'd laid his soul bare for everyone to see and

it wasn't a sensation he was comfortable with.

Maybe that was the point. Maybe this was what

acting was supposed to be - really digging deep,

finding the truth of the character inside, and then

exposing that private part of yourself for all to see.

"Acting sucks," he muttered, wondering if it